-2024-

- 21 years after the appearance of The Giant -

- 8 years since the introduction of Project Gestalt -

A dull hum softly permeated through the iron walls of the spacious elevator as ominous metallic creaks and clangs accompanied its deep descent. The huddled mass of people within the sinister-sounding machine looked about in terror at every new horrifying sound that popped up, the fear of a possible malfunction that would lead them to an untimely demise sitting uncomfortably in the backs of their minds.

If it were not their only destination toward possible salvation, of survival, many of the people currently situated within the descending box would have never even thought of setting foot inside the possible deathtrap. But the fear of death from a sudden drop hundreds off feet to the ground was nothing compared to what was out there in the world above. And so they all decided to take their chances here as they descended into a dark unknown.

Leah looked at the crowd with growing unease from her spot in the corner of the elevator, her back pressed uncomfortably into the unyielding metal of its walls, trying to even her breathing as the wall of people threatened to send her into a claustrophobia panic. She had never been one to be afraid of cramped spaces, living in a tiny apartment with five other people during college ridding her of that fear quickly, but being surrounded by so many people, with rising terror in their chests just like hers, caused an uncomfortable fear to grip her as she took in deep shuddering breaths to help calm her rising tension.

The lack of space was not the only thing to put her mind in a state of worry as the high pitched shrieks of terror of frightened mothers, whispers of impending doom between middle-aged men, and prayers to any god that would listen were making Leah fear that someone might panic, which would end up putting the whole group in danger. Like everyone else, Leah didn't want to have come all this way for a chance of survival, of escaping this wretched world she has grown up in, just to be done in by a random squeak of a loose bolt or a sudden hitch in their descent.

"Everything is ok, ladies and gentlemen." Turning her to the sound of a new voice, the rest of the group mimicking Leah's movement, a tall man in a white lab coat stood at the front of the elevator, a relaxed smile adorning his weathered features, his face crinkling with the faint sign of wrinkles as he addressed the terrified crowd. "This elevator is state of the art and will last for many more centuries, long after we are gone. We are all safe."

While still skeptical herself, Leah was relieved to find that his calm demeanor and deceivingly charming smile helped alleviate some of the passenger's fears, the grounds nervous ranting and shuffling slowly dying down. Though Leah noted, quite worriedly, that their nervous smiles were proving that his words were merely a temporary band-aid for their concerns. And so, with silent hope in their hearts, the passengers continued their eerie descent in a hushed nervousness.

Luckily for them, their reprieve would arrive swiftly as their slow descent came to a sudden stop, the last jolt of the elevator reaching the bottom jolting the passengers roughly. Releasing a collective sigh of relief as they felt the mechanical whirring of their metal confine come to an end, the crowd impatiently awaited the opening of the doors, the crowd squishing more to get out of there as fast as possible.

A cheery ding, followed by the opening of the elevator doors, belied the dread and fear that was hanging uncomfortably in the air as Leah was ushered out of the elevator with the flow of the crowd, her small body swept up against her will. The man in the lab coat, who had addressed them earlier, turned to the mass of people shuffling out of the elevator with a jubilant smile on his face, his arms swinging out in a grand gesture.

"Welcome, to the Salvation of Mankind!" Voice booming through the cavernous laboratory, his coat fluttering behind him as he swung around to gesture toward his creation, the immensity and splendor of what they were seeing left the crowd in awed silence.

Large pillars of reinforced concrete and metal rose to impossibly tall heights, the tops impossible to see as the blinding florescent lights of the lab failed to illuminate the ceiling. Thick cables ran crisscross along the length of the floor, some thicker than a person's arm as they attached to generators and electronic devices the size of closets. Various computers, measuring devices, and all other sorts of gizmos were hooked up to these generators, strange lines of data and graphs lighting up the screens that the congregated people couldn't even begin to fathom what they would be used for.

A large medical tent was set up near the entrance, big enough to hold a whole platoon's worth of soldiers, where a series of doctors were taking vitals and samples of several members of the group, jotting down various notes onto clipboards as they were ushered to continue on. Leah assumed they were checking everyone to make sure none of them had any symptoms of the disease, the whole project they were running here would end up being a failure if any one person ended up infecting the rest.

At the center of the room, a deep chill surrounding the area, stood two long rows of cylinders made of reinforced steel and impenetrable glass. Each one was bigger than a normal-sized human, thick plating covering every inch of it, all the equipment in the vast laboratory seemingly dedicated to running these devices.

"I know you all must have many questions, but we, unfortunately, don't have the time to go into details." The man in the white coat spoke once more, Leah having correctly deduced him as the head researcher here, more grabbing the attention of the crowd with his booming voice. "What we have set up here is what, in layman terms, you would call cryogenic chambers."

Leading the enraptured crowd down the long line of tubes, running his hand across their cool, smooth surfaces in an affectionate manner, he indicated toward one with its door sitting open, a gentle mist flowing out of its cooled interior.

"These chambers have been made with the most advanced technology known to man, each one rigorously tested and expertly crafted to withstand any and all kinds of situations. From the smallest programming hiccup to the strongest of earthquakes, these things will survive for generation, nay, millennia! It is with these, that humanity will live on!"

Smiling widely at the crowds looks of wonder and awed whisper, a sense of pride and arrogance washing over him, the head researcher could feel his inner showman slowly take over. He was finally getting a chance to show off his creations, what he had been toiling over for three centuries, and he finally had an audience to unveil it to, each one listening to him with rapt attention. Who cared if he indulged in a little ego-stroking?

"You all may have heard of the Gestalt Project the government has created to counteract the threat of the White Chlorination Syndrome, but we believe it to be too risky and too reliant on this so-called 'magic' to be a viable solution to the problem." His voice lowered darkly at the mention of magic, his jovial smile twisting into an angry sneer as his hand clenched at his hip.

"Humanity is reaching its end, that much is true, but we must rely on our own creations, our own ingenuity to save ourselves! Humanity has created such amazing feats in our short time in the universe, we will not be cowed by monsters and the mystical!"

Some people started to cheer as his ranting continued, only emboldening the man further, his grin growing wider as his voice got louder and words more bombastic. Leah could only watch all this transpire with a look of disgust and dismay. She was grateful for this chance of survival, there was no denying that that, but using these people's fears and want for comfort to make yourself feel big and special was just pathetic to her.

"We have chosen -you- to continue humanity! To preserve our existence! We don't believe humanity should be entrusted to just the wealthy and the elite, but to everyone! So you all have been chosen by random lottery out of a pool of hundreds of thousands to be part of this marvelous event! May the future smile favorably upon you!"

Raucous applause echoed through the grand cavern, yips and cheers following the researcher's bold and powerful speech, though, through it all, Leah herself stayed silent. She was glad to have been chosen for this experiment, a chance for survival impossible to turn down in the current state of the world, but that did not mean she did not remain skeptical of this man's promises.

Leah herself had borne witness to the horrors of the White Chlorination Syndrome, seen its effects first hand as she watched her mother turn into a statue of pure salt. The process had not been swift, it taking merely a couple of days for the process to fully complete, her mother living in agony every single day, the fear of it happening to her child and beloved husband leaving her final days to be spent in pain and despair as she sequestered herself for their safety.

Leah knew the head scientist of this Cryogenic Experiment was merely deriding the Gestalt Project for his own ego and to expand his future glory should his experiment prove successful, even in these dark times humanity couldn't help but reach for fame, but she knew there was some truth to his words.

The Gestalt Project was not to be trusted. The disappearance of her father was proof enough to her for that. He had been skeptical of the project too, finding the idea of transplanting yourself into clones sounding absolutely preposterous, but he had gone at the summons of the government anyway, in a quiet hope that if it didn't work that at least his daughter will have been saved. Leah never saw him again.

So here she was now, in a group of strangers chosen by random from around the country, being checked over by a medical professional, to be finally be inserted into a metal coffin and sent into a deep sleep, to hopefully awaken in a time safe from the otherworldly threat of the White Chlorination Syndrome. It wasn't any less crazy than what the government promised with Project Gestalt, but at least this way she would still be herself. She would still be in charge of her own fate.

With a reassuring pat on the back and a kind smile, Leah was ushered by another scientist to one of the numerous cryogenic chambers, her medical file attached carefully to the foot of the pod with a clipboard. It felt all too similar to a morgue for her taste.

"You are all set to go under. All your vitals are good and you are in great shape." The scientist, Leah noted his name-tag saying Nishikata, punched in a series of seemingly random numbers onto a display screen attached to 'her' pod. The thought unfortunately gave her no comfort as she looked at the metal contraption with great unease.

"All you have to do is lay down and relax as best you can. I will activate the rest from here. Any questions?" Fixing her with a kind smile as the glass door slid open with a gentle hiss, Leah could feel that, unlike his boss, that he was a genuine and good person.

Leah had a million questions she wanted to ask, all of them flying around in her head as a jumbled mess. Will this work? Will this kill me? How can this possibly stay operational for decades? Won't my clothes get wet? Who will operate it while we sleep?

Questions, from the serious all the way to the mundane, flashed one by one through her brain, not a single one jumping out to her to be worth asking. She knew the risks when she applied for the lottery, that this was not a sure thing and that she might not even make it to the future. Leah had resigned herself to this, this time not having anything for her anymore. What did she have to lose?

There was only one thing she needed to know, one single question to help put her mind at ease.

"Will the future be safe?"

Shock spread over the scientist's face, clearly caught off guard by her heavy question, but his warm smile returned just as quickly as it had left, his dark brown eyes shining with honest care and kindness.

"I assure you. The future will be splendid."

All Leah could do was smile back, the heavy feeling in her heart calming as she tentatively stepped into the metal contraption. Laying her head back onto the sewn-in pillow, feeling neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, Leah stared into the unearthly glow of the florescent lights as the glass door slid shut in front of her and sealed with a heavy click.

A slight vibration ran down her back as the chamber powered on, running through her body like a rough massage as a chilling mist started enveloping her from head to toe, obscuring her vision of the outside world until all she could make out behind the lightly frosted glass was the thin strips of light she had been staring at before.

Leah's eyelids grew heavy as she was blanketed in a gentle chill, her body starting to feel sluggish as a creeping blackness crawled in from the corner of her eyes. As Leah's vision of her current world slowly faded to darkness, her heartbeat slowing as her body prepared for its long slumber, her last thoughts were of a safe, beautiful future until she finally drifted into unconsciousness.

A/N: So there it is. My first ever story. I've always liked writing but never had the courage to share anything, but I really enjoyed writing this story and coming up with plot points so I'm giving it a shot. Any criticism and help is highly appreciated!

July 14, 2020 Update: Decided to give this a quick rewrite since this was my first ever thing posted and I believe I have gotten a little better at writing.

This chapter is still on the shorter side, mainly due to it being a prologue and merely a setup for the story proper. But I added a couple more details here and there as well as giving Leah a bit more personality than we get to see in later chapters. I changed some of the dates and info around to better fit the timeline of Nier universe.

Hope everyone enjoys what's to come!