Prologue: Runa

"Log for Subject 153, Runa Vontair, Day 14" The medical staff and research teams had been working day and night tirelessly. Especially the head of the project, Doctor Keiran Vall; an old man in his mid-40s, though lack of sleep for the past few days and the stress of the project made him look 60. "Subject is as expected, she's still deceased, but we're almost done repairing the body, we may be ready to attempt revival very soon. This project, if successful, will be a grand step forward in medical technology. I'm honored to have the privilege to lead it." The captain turns the log recorder and goes to check on the project. The goal was to revive a young woman by the name of Runa Vontair, a victim of a recent terrorist bombing. When she had arrived, her wounds were too many to list. She was a mess of destroyed bones, unusable organs and missing limbs. It would have been easier to list what was salvageable. The girl was to be enrolled at Beacon Academy before her untimely demise, and the project was being fully funded by the Schnee Dust Corporation. What the Corporation wanted with the project was of little concern to Keiran, the excitement for him was the very fact that he would be creating life, or at least restoring it. As he finished his morning coffee a nurse walked up to him.

"Sir, the subject is ready; shall we begin to revive her?"

"Do it."

The nurse pulls a lever and the subject's mechanical heart starts pumping blood though her body. The subject's pulse starts up, and her eyes slowly and weakly begin to open. The nurse stays behind the glass as Professor Vall enters the room. "Awake already. Good."

Runa releases a raspy, mechanical cough. "Wh-where am I?"

"You're alive. Your brief stay in the world of the deceased has come to an end. Don't you remember?"

"I….remember an explosion, nothing else"

"That's to be expected, you died in that blast. We've brought you back to life."

"Why me?" Runa starts to stand. Stepping onto the floor, rather than hearing the gentle footsteps she expected, her feet made a louder clinking noise. "What…..happened to me?"

"You had to be rebuilt, we saved as much as possible, but most of your body was ruined. I'm sorry, you were a beautiful young girl, and you didn't deserve to have that happen to you. But you're alive, and you should be thankful"

"Is it….that bad?" She looks at her reflection in a mirror. Her white hair was still long, but singed on the ends. Her skin never returned to its original tone, keeping its corpse-pale color. Her eyes looked dead, and her face looked thin and malnourished. "You don't need to answer that."

"You are the first human being to be returned to life from death. That alone makes you the beginning of a new era of medicine and technology"

"I'm sure you don't want my face to be the one that shows the success of your project." She looks around. "Where is my weapon?"

"Relax; your blade is fine. It took the blast better than you did. You'll get it back when you leave. I think you'll find there have been some improvements made to your body and mind."

"I'm guessing the face isn't one of them."

"No, and we can't make it any better. Though, you'll find your mind can now compute advanced thoughts and plans in milliseconds, you can sense heat signatures from those around you, and you now have knowledge of hundreds of different fighting styles, allowing you to predict an enemy's attacks before they even strike."

"That...is helpful."

"I'll leave you alone for a while, and then we'll begin testing your physical readiness"

"Alright, thanks."

The doctor left the room. Runa sat there, alone, looking at the mirror, as her dead face stared back at her.