Vzzzzzzzzzt.
The remains of the door crackle as the iron-clad cyborg enters the last hideout of the resistance. His sword glows with orange cyber energy, overflowing with power. A visor covers his face, hiding the remnants of the man's original form. White hair flows out from the back of his helmet, a relic of the man's forgotten mortality.
A woman, ravaged by old age, stands in his path. She is dressed in an elegant gown, and her skin is decorated with traditional markings. The blue jewel on her forehead pulses with a soft, magical light.
The cyborg's visor opens, revealing an emotionless face underneath. His hollow eyes lock onto the face of his quarry - the rebel leader.
Target acquired: Karma.
He brandishes his sword. The woman does not move. As the cyborg approaches, her elderly features twist into a sad smile.
"We knew of your innocence, Yasuo."
The cyborg freezes.
Yasuo?
"A divided nation would never be able to stand against our foes. For the security of Ionia, something had to be done."
Ionia…
His sword clatters on the ground. The cyborg's arm hangs limp by his side as a thousand images flash through his mind.
warriorhonorBLOODfightingWARtragedy
"That time is over. We are in a different era, where balance has ceased to exist and tradition has been ground into dust. Our culture has been demolished."
invasionprotectorDEATHtreacherychaosFAILURE
He drops to his knees, clutching his head in pain.
Unforgiven.
The cyborg slowly rises. Emotions he had not felt for decades flicker in his mind: anger, confusion, grief, regret.
"Though Ionia is gone, its spirit is not. We need you, Yasuo."
He lifts his head, eyes burning with fury.
"You used me. What makes you think I will ever join you? After years of wandering alone, after an eternity of darkness…and now, after giving up even my own *humanity*…There is nothing left in this world for me. There is nowhere that I belong."
The old woman looks back into his wrathful eyes, unfazed.
"But you remember. They took your identity, your body, your soul – but you still remember."
That was when she said the name. It was almost like a whisper, the two syllables which came out of her mouth. A soft, gentle word that hit him like a sledgehammer.
No. It couldn't be.
A shadow steps out from the darkness, shaped by the same technology that had destroyed Yasuo's humanity.
It's impossib-
The metal figure takes off its helmet, revealing the face of a man who he thought he would never see again.
The face of a man who he had been forced to kill.
The face of a man who had died in his arms.
The face that had haunted him throughout the years.
The face which now smiles and says the words that he had never dreamed of hearing again.
"Welcome back, brother."