The full intensity of the light from outside the pod hit Jack, forcing him to squint so hard his eyes were nearly shut. Thankfully his eyes adjusted quickly to the heightened light level and he could once again see clearly. Beyond the pod was a vast wilderness covered in trees of various species and stages of growth. The sky was a pleasant blue with a few wispy clouds making a lazy trek across the sky. Finally the motors finished their work and the pod fell silent leaving only the sounds of nature all around. Leaves rustled in a gentle breeze, birds chirped in the distance announcing their presence, and most importantly Jack could hear the sound of a nearby stream as it meandered it's way to lower elevations. Jack sat up trying to take in the full scope of his surroundings. He was in the middle of a forest best he could tell, but behind the pod was a long straight line of broken and fallen trees. They looked as though something had torn through them. Then it hit Jack that it had been his pod that cut through the trees as the odd line of destruction terminated right where his pod was, but where had the pod come from, and how long had he been asleep in that thing. It was clear from the damage to the trees and the presence of birds nearby that it had been some time, but the fresh growth of moss on the broken trees suggested it had been at least months, maybe even a few years since the pod had arrived.
Thinking back Jack didn’t remember ever leaving the pod before this. In fact, he didn’t remember anything before a few minutes ago. A cold creeping panic began to crawl through Jack as he realized all at once his situation. He had been dropped here, presumably in the middle of nowhere, with no memories of who he was or where he came from. “Well, shit.” Jack said, not knowing how else to sum up his situation. Then Jack shivered slightly as another light breeze blew through rustling the leaves as it went. Jack looked down to assess his clothing situation and was surprised to find that they didn’t actually exist. Jack was stark naked sitting in his pod. “Perfect,” Jack muttered with a hint of bitter sarcasm. He began to look around the pod, hoping that whoever had sent him here hadn't left him with nothing, but there were no panels, no hatches, no cubbies, just sheer metallic walls and his seat. Giving up his search, Jack began to climb out of the pod, hoping he could quickly find something to cover up with.
As Jack left the pod he felt the seat start to rise with him. Excitedly he turned to look at it and was overjoyed to find a compartment beneath the seat containing what appeared to be a set of clothes made of some soft, but durable material, a pair of boots, and a backpack, presumably full of all he would need to survive this experience, or at least he hoped it was. Jack dove upon the clothes like a naked man stranded out in the wilderness and put them on in a hurry. They breathed surprisingly well, yet kept him warm from the breeze at the same time. There wasn’t much to the clothes, some tan pants and a grey t-shirt, but they were considerably better than nothing. The boots, also a tan color similar to the pants, fit perfectly and were soon laced up tight on Jack's feet.
Finally dressed Jack sat on the ground leaning against the pod and pulled the backpack over to him. It was a sturdy cloth of some kind, reminding jack a bit of canvas. It too was a tan color, though a little darker than the pants or the boots, probably as a result of being made from different material. The front of the pack had one big pocket and two smaller pockets hung on either side. Between those one big pocket covered by a flap that was buckled down made up the rest of the pack. Finally hanging from some straps on the bottom of the pack was a modest bedroll that was an olive green in color. Jack was excited to see that as it meant he wouldn’t need to improvise some sort of bedding in his shelter.
Jack opened the side pockets first, to his delight the first one contained a survival knife and a fire starter. Jack took the sheath that held them both and attached it to his belt so it was always handy. The other side pocket contained a small first aid kit with various items to help treat a number of injuries and ailments. No doubt that would be invaluable. Jack opened the front pocket next revealing a single large canteen with a built in filtration system. This meant that Jack could fill this from any water source put the filter back on and then simply drink letting the canteen filter the water for him. Finally Jack unzipped the large main pocket. Inside was a short machete saw combo, a roll of paracord, a small one person tent, and enough freeze dried food to last at least a week if Jack rationed it carefully. There was also what looked like some sort of tablet with solar panels built into the back of the device. Jack pressed the power button on the device and it immediately turned on. The first thing that popped up was some kind of video message that began to play immediately. A man of average height appeared on screen and began talking as the camera zoomed in to focus on his face.
“Greetings. We’re sure you must have so many questions. This is natural and all will be answered in time. Right now though you need to focus on surviving the wilderness and finding the others. There are 26 of you, each has been dropped nearby and given the same equipment to help them survive alone until you can all come together. Each tablet has a tracking beacon built into it to help you all locate one another, then you can get to the business of building your society. All the information you need to survive in the wilderness has already been downloaded into your minds, and all the information you'll need to build your early settlements has been provided in these tablets, schematics for buildings, types of building materials and how to get them, early trade skills, absolutely everything you could need to know about building your new civilization. Good luck, we know you'll make us proud.”
With that the video ends and the main tablet interface opens up, granting you access to folder after folder of information on everything regarding the establishment and growth of a new civilization. There was no time to peruse all the information now though. The video left so many unanswered questions. Not just unanswered, but new ones. Whoever that was, whoever he represented expected the 26 of us to establish a settlement and develop it into a civilization? First thing was first though, Jack needed to find his way to that stream he could hear in the distance and get a fire going before he set up his small tent. The sun was setting and soon it would be pitch black out there. The video left so many unanswered questions. Hopefully the others would know more. Jack got up, slung his backpack up onto his back and began walking towards the sound of the stream and toward what promised to be a particularly restless night.
