2070 May 15th: Arctic Ocean, 400 meters below the sea surface
Due to global warming, even huge icebergs which are estimated to have remained in a frozen state for tens of millions of years have started melting, causing the sea level to rise uncontrollably.
According to the predictions, if this situation continues, there are chances that many small islands and large territories of several countries close to the sea may be submerged under water.
But at this alarming time, a piece of news from Antarctica had shocked people worldwide.
After a massive block of ice slid away from a previously unexplored area of the sea, archaeologists discovered the existence of an ancient temple about 400 meters below the surface. Its architecture was similar to that of ancient Indian temples, and by primary estimates, it dated back more than 9000 years.
Newspapers, channels, and broadcasts all over the world attracted worldwide attention to this event, since if the primary estimate is correct, then this will prove that Earth had a civilization capable of building such temples even before the Sumerian civilization, which is known as the oldest civilization to date.
A group of archaeologists from different parts of the world who were skilled at diving were gathered here to explore the temple, representing different countries. Though most of the archaeologists were just junior archaeologists without much practical experience, they were still ranked at the very top in their fields.
It could not be helped. If you ask experienced old professors to dive 400 meters, they might die due to the cold and pressure before even seeing the underwater temple.
"Alvin, let's go inside the temple. We have already searched the surroundings, but there is nothing particular to note except broken remains of some buildings," just as Alvin was looking at a wall painting with the light from his diving headlamp, a voice rang out from the communicator attached to his ears.
Alvin turned to look toward the temple and saw a person blinking a flashlight at the entrance of the temple.
Since below 400 meters it is practically dark, they could only communicate with one another through the communicators attached to their advanced diving suits or with signals like blinking the flashlights to locate each other.
Alvin blinked his flashlight in the person's direction to inform them of his location before swimming toward the entrance of the temple.
After the twelve archaeologists had gathered at the entrance of the temple, they swam inside and started exploring the interior.
Alvin saw many strange statues of humans and different types of animals inside the temple. There were also words written in ancient Sanskrit characters on the walls.
As Alvin was looking around, he saw a picture of a man holding a book depicted on one of the wall paintings.
"If this temple really is 9000 years old, from where did this book come from?" Alvin mumbled to himself and called out to his companions on his communicator.
"Guys, I have some important discovery here. Come over..."
All the other archaeologists swam to Alvin's side when they heard his voice through the communicator.
As Alvin was looking at the picture carefully, he suddenly saw that the book in the picture was glowing slightly.
"Huh, is there any phosphorescent pigment in this picture?" Alvin slightly touched the glowing book in the picture curiously.
"Sizzle"
Suddenly, Alvin felt as though millions of small ants were biting all over his body, and his vision went dark.
When the other archaeologists reached Alvin, they saw his lifeless body floating before the wall painting.
But what nobody ever knew was that the picture on the wall no longer had the golden book in the man's hand.
...
"Huh? What... happened... where am I?" Alvin groggily opened his eyes enduring the severe pain coursing throughout his body.
When his vision got cleared, what entered his sight was a dimly lit room with iron bars instead of walls.
It didn't take Alvin much time to realize that he was now inside a large cage. He tried to stand up, but he felt as though there was no strength left in his body to even stand.
"Subject 321, regained consciousness. There is no sign of body morphing or abnormal state of mind."
Suddenly, Alvin heard a rough robotic voice from his side. Turning his head to the side, he saw a floating robot which was the size and shape of a football staring at him with its two blue eyes.
It seemed as though the robot was reporting something to its superior.
Alvin squinted his eyes as he stared at the floating ball before him. He did not speak anything as he was simply clueless about everything happening around him. He didn't even consider this whole situation being a dream as it was too real to be one.
Just then, several footsteps were heard and more than twenty people wearing white coats like doctors walked into the room. They stopped outside Alvin's cage and sized him up with glowing eyes.
"John, conduct full body check up on him. Check the compatibility of all the nine integrated cores and tell me if his body is showing any sign of rejection," an old man who seemed to be the head of this group of doctors said to the middle aged man beside him excitedly.
The middle aged man nodded. He unlocked the cage Alvin was in by scanning his identity card and waved his hand.
Suddenly, a light green wind formed above his palm and under the man's control, it lifted Alvin up from the ground like an invisible hand.
Without saying anything else, the doctor named John walked toward another room with Alvin still floating behind him like a ghost.
"What in the world is happening here..." Alvin muttered to himself weakly. He couldn't even understand head or tail about the whole situation before him.
After some time, John entered a small room made of glass and placed Alvin on the bed at the center of the room.
"Lie down quietly. We will give you the money we promised once the experiment is over," John said to Alvin emotionlessly before walking out of the glass room.
But Alvin didn't respond to what John said. He was now totally stunned after seeing his own reflection shown in the glass walls around him.
A skinny kid around the age of sixteen was lying on the bed at the center of the room. He had purple eyes and long black hair which reached his shoulders. On his right ear, there was a black hoop earring and he had purple pupils which had a captivating glow in them.
Even though he was wearing a loose hospital gown, he looked quite handsome compared to the models Alvin had seen in his life.
Alvin moved his fingers to confirm if this body really belonged to him. The next second, the reflection on the mirror also moved its fingers, indicating that this really was his body...