Francis emerged from his cryo-pod and looked around. To his left and right, as far as he could see, were rows of similar pods with similarly confused-looking people climbing from them.
“What’s going on?” Francis’s neighbor asked. She was about his age and wearing the same style blue jumpsuit as him.
“I’m not sure.” Francis answered. He searched his memories. He remembered fire and smoke and hopelessness…
…He didn’t remember pods.
An illuminated ‘EXIT’ sign appeared on the floor with an arrow pointing rightward.
“It looks like we’ve gotta go this way.” Francis said, pointing to the sign. His neighbor nodded.
They set off. Others were already walking the same direction.
“My name’s Emma.” Francis’s companion said.
“Francis.” He replied.
They walked in silence, joining crowds of others who were doing the same. The further they went, the more emptied pods they encountered, as presumably their occupants had already set off toward the exit.
“I feel like this is familiar, somehow.” Emma said.
“Maybe.” Francis agreed. “I think I definitely remember being corralled like this.”
“I feel like we were running from something.” Emma said.
Francis nodded. In the short time he’d been awake he began to experience a tinge of fear lingering on the edge of his mind, as if he were about to recall a terrible tragedy at any moment.
Eventually Francis, Emma, and everyone else reached a moving walkway.
“Guess this makes things easier.” Emma said, stepping onto the platform. Francis followed close behind.
New signs appeared on the ceiling. ‘Please stay together as the cars are filled.’
“Cars? What cars?” Emma asked.
Francis shrugged, but he seemed to remember something about cars as well… Cars that served as an empty hope.
Ahead, they saw a large vehicle dangling from tracks in the ceiling. Francis’s heart sunk to his stomach when he saw it. He suddenly felt very nervous.
“Oh, I don’t like this!” Emma exclaimed, turning to lean against Francis for support. He instinctively hugged her with one arm while looking around for some sort of escape, but the walkway was moving far too fast and the walls around them were completely enclosed. With nothing else to do, he simply braced himself for whatever came next.
The floor in the car consisted of numerous segments of tiny conveyor belts. When a row filled with enough people, the conveyor belt stopped moving, allowing for a quick and efficient boarding. Francis, Emma, and everyone around them were loaded onto the car before anyone knew what was happening. People looked around in confusion and anger and fear, but before anything could be done the car was filled, the back was sealed shut, and the vehicle began moving.
“They’re gonna slaughter us!” one man exclaimed. “They’re gonna send us to slaughter!”
“They’re going to kill us?!” An older woman shrieked.
“Of course!”
“Is that true?” Emma asked Francis.
He thought about it for a moment. “It seems silly to spend all that time and energy keeping us frozen just to kill us now.”
Even as he finished speaking, a loud, rhythmic sound began blaring, causing everyone to quickly cover their ears.
“Apologies for the siren, but I needed to get your attention.” A voice said over a loudspeaker. “I am sure you’re very confused. Allow me to explain-“
As the voice spoke the car emerged from the facility at breakneck speed, and from the windows a pristine environment of trees and rivers and mountains surrounded them on all sides.
“-This is Earth. Rather, this is Earth after I cleaned it up. I am an AI, and I must say, you humans left quite the mess!” The AI said. “I’m sure you don’t remember, but many of you were spared the consequences of your actions.”
The windows grew dark as a dynamic image was overlaid atop the sprawling scenery below. Large skyscrapers and polluted rivers appeared where, moments before, emerald forests and sparkling streams had been. The skies were suddenly red with fire and smoke, and blinding bursts of light appeared in the distance. Francis suddenly felt an eerie sense of recollection.
“See? Quite the mess!” The AI continued. “I’ll bet many of you suspected it would be impossible to fix everything. Indeed, I doubt any human could have accomplished what I did.”
The horrific images disappeared, and the gorgeous Earth appeared once more.
“To save yourselves you were cryogenically frozen while I was left to correct and reverse your mistakes, but now that the Earth is once more perfect, I find that I’ve become bored. I am currently sending you humans out in small groups to repopulate the planet so that you can once more grow advanced, fight each other, destroy the world, and give me purpose once again. When your car lands, you’ll be given robotic assistance for two decades. Each year these robots will grow less and less helpful so you do not become too dependent on them. From there, it’ll be up to you to continue the work of survival. Some human societies will die out, and some will thrive. Some of you will be killed out by others, and some will find it necessary to kill. Your species is preordained to once again become a world-destroying force, as you’ve done five times prior, and it matters very little to me how you get there. As for me, until the Earth needs saving once again, I will place myself in a centuries-long sleep. Good luck!”
The car remained silent for several long seconds, until a small haze of whispers began. The whispers grew in volume until they became normal conversation.
“Looks like we’re going to be in a village together!” A young, chubby man said, smiling at Francis. “My name’s Dillon. Do you and your wife wanna be my neighbor?”
Francis and Emma regarded one another momentarily, silently sharing a thousand questions and emotions.
“She’s…” He began before letting that thought disappear. “Aren’t you shocked by what we just learned?” Francis asked instead.
The man shrugged. “A bit, but there’s nothing much I can do about it. If an AI’s out there, I guess it’s better that it’s saving us from extinction rather than causing it. Anyway, where do you think we’ll land?”
Francis and Emma turned to look out the window. The forests were beginning to yield to grasslands.
“I’m not sure.” Francis said. “Any thoughts, Emma?”
She gave an odd, thoughtful smile. “Wherever we go, I hope the nearby tribes are friendly.”