Pain ripped her from sleep.





Her forehead slammed into something hard—a gasp tore from her lungs, and she tried to lift her arms to protect herself.





Her arms didn’t move.





A strange, gurgling whimper bubbled up from her throat. What’s… Why is… She tried to shake her head to clear her thoughts, to focus her vision, but again, nothing happened.





Fuck, said a distant voice in her mind. Fuck. She was paralyzed, pinned to the surface beneath her like she weighed a thousand pounds. She fought against the numbness, lights swimming in her vision as she strained with all her strength—but it was no use. Her body was heavy and lifeless. A corpse encased in block of lead.





Dread began to pool in her stomach, began to clamp around her lungs. The more she tried to move, the more she panicked, her chest burning with the need to escape her own body. What was happening? Why was it happening? Another sound made its way out of her—a choked sob. Jesus Christ, why is this happening?





“Deactivating cryo.”

Her mind went blank at the sound of the woman’s voice. Is someone else here? She tried to open her mouth to shout for help, but her lips were cemented shut.





Then, all at once, her muscles began to tingle. She tried to move again, and this time, her body responded, albeit sluggishly. She could now feel the cold sweat on her arms, the heat radiating from her cheeks.





She was lying on her back beneath a sheet of clear material. Glass, maybe? She wasn’t sure. The material was scratched, cracked, and dirty; she couldn’t see anything beyond it.





Her muscles twitched as her remaining numbness faded. She lifted her arms again, more easily this time, and pushed against the surface above her, exhaling in relief as it swung slowly upward. Hissing filled her ears. The world beyond the glass came into focus.





It was a ship. A little ship, and a destroyed one, but a ship nonetheless. She tried to remember what she was doing in a ship, but nothing came to her. Surely there was a reason she was here. Maybe she... she...





She couldn't remember anything.





The thought struck her like a blow to the stomach. She couldn't remember anything. She suddenly felt like she was trapped in a small space again, only this time, the space was her own memory. What was this place? Why was she here? Dear god, can't I remember anything at all?





She strained against the void for a moment, but her mind remained perfectly, impenetrably blank.





"Shit," she hissed, bursting into motion. She sat up and clambered out of... wherever she was... and into the ship, not sure what she wanted, not sure where she was going. Once she was upright, she stood swaying for a moment, staring at the sparks that flew from the ship’s various apparatuses, raking her fingers through her matted hair.





No, she did know what she wanted. She wanted out of here. Maybe if I could see my surroundings, figure out where I am...





There was a hatch above her head. She yanked the handle with trembling fingers and gasped as a deafening hiss filled the ship.





Cold, grey light pressed against her eyes. She fumbled over her head for something to grab... There. She gripped a small handle and used it to hoist herself out of the ship.





The air outside was tepid and heavy, and it smelled like burning rubber. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light, staring at the glass-and-steel buildings around her, waiting for something to jog her memory. She was in a park of some kind, but the trees were dead, and the concrete benches were empty. In fact, the whole area was empty. There were no cars, no pedestrians. The place looked like a metropolis, but metropolises usually had... people.





"Identification, please."





Her heart somersaulted painfully, and she spun around. A tiny metal cube hovered in the air. Its propellers made a sound like a wasp, and a red sensor burned in the center of its body.





"What?"





"Identification, please." The robot had the voice of a pleasant man.





She shook her head. "I don't... I don't—"





"Please remain stationary."





"Uh—" Before she could say anything, the robot's sensor emitted a fan of red light. The light passed over her face in a single, quick motion, then disappeared.





"Initiating intrusion protocol."





She froze. "Initiating wh—"





The ground began to shake.





(Author's note: to the bio for this character.)