Out of Shadow
Copyright© 2008 by K'van Cald Imperia
Prologue
Awakening
Walking up to the dilapidated house as instructed by the letter left with his families lawyer, the youth feels a tingling sensation at the base of his skull, and suddenly, the house no longer looks the ruin it appeared to be from the bottom of the driveway. Adding to his confusion was the fact that the door appeared to now have no means of opening, i.e. there was no handle or keyhole, yet it was definitely a door in front of him, and it was most definitely locked.
As soon as he pressed his hand against the door though, a voice broke the silence saying: "Please stand for identity verification."
The youth jumped back startled and shouted, "Hello, is anyone there? I was told to come here this morning by my lawyer."
Again the disembodied voice stated "Please stand for identity verification." this time followed by, "Voice pattern approved, biometric scan verified, DNA sampling matched, identity verified as Kevin Calder, biological son of John and Alicia Calder, adopted son of Charles and Irene Calder. Awakening protocol initiated, Please follow the lights and everything will be explained."
At this, the door silently opened and a string of lights along the top of the moulding on either side of an elegant entry hall came on. Kevin warily entered the house and looked around, trying to ascertain the location of the cameras which must have seen him outside. Not seeing anything, he approached one of the doors on the left hand side of the entry hall only to find it locked. He tried the same with various other doors to find them all locked.
Once again the voice broke the silence "Please sir, household services will not revert to manual control until Awakening protocol has been satisfied. Please follow the lights to the atrium and approach the lift."
Deciding that he didn't like how things were turning out, he turned around to leave, only to find out that the door was once again closed and even from the inside, had no visible means to open it. Now getting extremely annoyed, he took out his new cell phone and called his lawyer, who had tried to explain to him earlier this morning, that if anything about the house needed clarification, he was to call him first. Pressing the relevant speed dial option, Kevin was surprised when he heard his lawyers voice straight away, rather than the call being routed through his receptionist. Before he could utter a word though, Kevin heard, "Just do it son, you need to listen to the voice and do as it says, all will be made clear if you just do what it says. Call me as soon as you know."