A slight humming sound could be heard from a stasis pod, echoing inside the massive catacomb-like cryogenic stasis bay. A small emerald blue light could be seen from the same direction, lighting up like lone firefly inside a thick forest.

Inside that pod rested a human. For how long had they been resting, no one was really sure, but judging from the thick layer of dust that covered the pod, one could assume that they had laid there, resting and unmoving for a very long period of time.

Suddenly, the pods rhythmic humming was interrupted by a small racket, which only began to increase both in frequency and loudness. The pod hummed one final time and died. That was followed by the light inside the pod flickering out like a dying star in the middle of a dying universe, leaving the enormous room in utter darkness.

Once the pod finally shut down, a pneumatic sound was heard, signaling the slow rising of the pod lid.

The human inside was still as the dead. After a couple of seconds, a deep gasp left their lungs, proving that they were still alive. The human gasped a second time, then a third, and then they took a deep breath.

Once the human returned air to their long unused lungs, they opened their eyes. Only to find themselves in complete and utter darkness. Suffering from the confusion of waking up after countless years of being essentially comatose, they thought themselves to be blind, and began to panic, trying to flail around. Years of atrophy caused both arms and legs to fail, making them fall face first into the incredibly cold hard floor.

Nearly hyperventilating, the human ignored the slight twinge of pain on their nose, which had thankfully been mostly blocked by their helmet, and frantically began to search for their torch inside their pockets.

Once found, they took a firm grip of it, pointed it towards their face, and turned it on. Naturally, the bright light was more than enough to blind their eyes, making them drop the torch while letting out a gasp of pain.

The human dropped to their knees, frantically patting down the floor for the fallen torch, while still being blinded by it.

After a moment they had recovered both the torch and their sight. Using their still weak legs they stood up carefully, using their former stasis pod for support.

Their balance regained, they looked around, only seeing rows after rows of unlit stasis pods.

Still somewhat dazed by their waking up, they began to take a few small steps, looking around for any sign of life.

Approaching one of the pods and touching it, they noticed the thick layer of dust that caked the entirety of the pod.

Concerned by the lack of any signs of life, they let out a loud shout, hopeful for any kind of answer, but the only answer they received was their own echo, bouncing off into the darkness.

Growing more concerned by the minute, they began to walk without any set direction. Hoping to find a technician, since it seemed that they had been released from stasis before time, or God forbid, there had been a malfunction with everyone else's pods.

They continued walking on aimlessly, between columns of never-ending stasis pods. Only stopping for the occasional drink from their canteen, once the water had unfrozen, and to give the occasional shout hoping for an answer that wasn't their own echo until the light of their torch seemed to shine on something other than the infinite pods.

At first glance, it seemed that they had reached a wall, but upon further inspection, it seemed that it was in fact either a gigantic gate or elevator, obviously unpowered.

After several minutes of investigating, they found what looked like a computer terminal. Which, after being cleaned from its thick layer of dust, displayed the following message: "Facility running on emergency power mode. All non-essential functions have been shut down. Power sources have been detected on the surface. Proceed according to protocol and orders of your CO."

The message obviously left the human quite disturbed. How long, or what could have happened that had forced such a facility into an emergency mode? There was also the problem with consulting their CO on how to proceed since it seemed that only they had woken up.

Despite the fear the lone human felt, they couldn't give into it right now. Hundreds of thousands of lives could very well be resting in their hands right now, now was not the time to give in to despair. So gathering their strength, they began to look for an exit.

Eventually, they found what looked like a ladder that led to a hatch. Attaching their torch to their helmet, they began what appeared to be quite a long climb up.

Three minutes into the climb and everything appeared normal until the torch began to flicker, before shutting down, leaving the human in complete darkness.

They took a deep breath in order to not panic, and possibly fall to their death. With the slowness of a sloth, they fumbled with their pockets, until they found the batteries. Taking great care not to drop the batteries, they detached the torch from their helmet and slowly began unscrewing the cap, letting the spent ones slide of the torch, and fall into the darkness below. With the torch now empty, they pressed their weight into the ladder, allowing them to remove their other hand from the ladder, their heart beating at an incredible rate, and a cold sweat permeating their mask.

After what seemed like an eternity, they had replaced the batteries, turned the torch on, and attached it once more to their helmet. The human, at this point, was both physically and mentally exhausted. But they could not give up when so many lives depended on them, so, they kept on climbing.

After a minute or so of even more climbing, they reached a hatch, also covered in dust. Planting their feet firmly onto the bar, they began to slowly turn the hatch, which was thankfully not completely stuck, while praying to God that they were not about to be blasted with enough radiation to get turned into mush. With a final rusty squeak, the latch came undone, allowing the human to stare into the sunny sky once more in a very long time.