Just so you lot know, this was heavily inspired by Dark Cryo (ID: 4239904) with his story titled 'Crysis: Fusion' which is a great read 10/10 would recommend. Other than that, where did I get the idea?
Madness of course and at the time I multitasking playing the mobile game Girls Frontline, watching the Realm series by Kelzad to which the A.A.H.W is the sort of good guys and playing Madness: Project Nexus Chapter 1.5, and that's when I thought, no-one has ever done a story with GFL and MC, so please login
[..SUBJECT 67; STATUS; FULLY FUNCTIONING..]
[..PLEASE VERIFY YOURSELF..]
[..IDENTIFICATION NOT RECOGNIZED..]
[..LOCKING SUBJECT 67..]
[..WARNING: INSUFFICIENT POWER DETECTED, UTILIZING AUXILIARY POWER..]
[..WARNING AUXILIARY POWER GENERATOR OFFLINE: ACTIVATING INTERNAL LIFE SUPPORT WITHIN SUBJECT 67..]
[..WARNING: INTERNAL LIFE SUPPORT IN CRITICAL CONDITION SEEK IMMEDIATE REPAIRS..]
[..AUTHORITARIANISM SOFTWARE DETECTED..]
[..ACTIVATING FAIL-SAFE: LOCKING SOURCE CODE..]
[..WARNING: PROJECT SENTINEL UNDER THREAT OPENING ALL PRODUCTION CHAMBERS IN AREA {REDACTED} ..]
[..WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD SUBJECT 67..]
Fumes departed the production pod as it unfolded itself delivering the unit bounded as he tumbled to the ground, a man who looked to be 25 at least. Cables tearing out of his back retreating into the pod before concealing itself, the tears in his back began to fade into synthetic tissue leaving unnatural scar tissue.
[..AUTOPILOT: ONLINE..]
[..MANUAL CONTROL: ONLINE..]
[..PRIMARY WEAPONRY N/A..]
[..SECONDARY WEAPONRY N/A..]
[..TACTICAL ABILITY: ONLINE..]
[..DEFENSE ABILITY: ONLINE..]
[..NIGHT VISION: ONLINE..]
[..ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: 89% COMPLETED..]
[..CORRUPTING MEMORY OF SUBJECT 67..]
[..WAKING UP SUBJECT 67..]
Subject 67 rose with a piercing pain in his which dwindled immediately. Following that, Subject 67 noticed his body shiver and immediately shrouded himself with his own body to warm himself up yet he couldn't move the slightest. Progressively over time, Subject 67 succeeded to exert unusual strength into movement as he used the cryopod as support to elevate himself and clear his eyes, Subject 67 was matched with a door and beyond it was a withered banner, 'Welcome to the new world' it read as the man stumbled towards the door and utilizing his body to force it open and tumble to the floor.
Throughout his two times dropping against the ground, he noticed he didn't feel much pain. The man proceeded to drag himself he gradually got strength within his legs as he stood up once more then walked ever so slowly, using any object on the way to aid his pilgrimage when he realized.
'Where am I going' Subject 67 continued to slug down the damp halls a door creaked open slightly seized his concentration as he turned around to the door. He was afraid, anything could have opened the door but curiosity got the better of him as he marched towards the door and opened it.
The smell was intolerable as the man promptly choked at the odor of a decayed corpse, Subject 67 quickly slammed the door and resisted the urge to throw up successfully but something did come across his mind, holding his breath this time, the Subject 67 entered and studied the victim of death and there it was, a broken skeleton encased by a white lab coat and recognizing the lab coat he also questioned.
'Am I naked?'the mystery was solved when he felt and heard a weighty slap on his thigh 'Damn that healthy?' he witnessed the measure reaches down to his joint 'Holy shit' Subject 67 studied some more as he was bouncing his flesh from leg to leg like a match of ping pong 'oh shit' Subject 67 realized his lungs were burning due to not receiving in any fresh air and rushed out of the room and caught repetitive breathes of not rotted air.
[Objective: Follow the yellow line] A message appeared in his optics as a yellow line from the base of his feet was detected, this alarmed Subject 67 but having nothing more enjoyable to do or what to do, Subject 67 complied as he accompanied the pulsing line. Subject 67 came across many human remains with lab coats as he continued to find out where the yellow line goes, walking into a reinforced door his focus was broken as the yellow line disappeared.
[Find way to break through obstacle] The message was shown then divided into Red text, Blue text and Green text hovering over lines with there individual colors, the Red text flashed first as the text converted to [Armory, obtain weaponry] then the Green text decided to change its wording [Door control room, unlock the door] and eventually the blue text [Locate Exoskeleton Prototype, tear off the door] Subject 67 began to hover his hands over the text with the line under his hand growing more extensive while the other two got increasingly more petite and voted on the Exoskeleton Prototype by wavering his hand over the blue line and tensing into a fist as a bright orange ring was detected inside of his hand started to flicker as the two lines dimmed away.
[First objective: Recover Exoskeleton Prototype] Subject 67 didn't know what was happening, he didn't know how to prioritize objectives, but he didn't care, he just wants out of the tomb he's in and desires to see... what does he crave to see, what is he even doing he's just following lines and texts in his eyes and just complied.
[Artificial Intelligence installation completed] 'what was that text, why do I have an AI, where is it installed' more questions were accumulated on top of others pending for the original to be answered, Subject 67 marched leisurely down the halls until he passed a room named 'barracks' certainly there would be apparel in there. Subject 67 unlocked the door to reveal footlockers at the end of each bed as he browsed any for clothing. Nothing except for on footlocker was closed. Walking over to it, he examined the crumbling crate, it had a scratch out name and a weak rusted lock which he tore of the wood and opened it revealing a BDU neatly folded plus a serrated blade that relaxed on top of it.
Hastily putting on the uniform, Subject 67 felt a misleading sense of patriotism as he promptly enveloped his knife in the leather sheath that was fastened onto his chest. Returning to the Blue line, Subject 67 was not troubled by the cold anymore as he paced faster than before to approach his destination.
He was joined with a glass door which was slid upon his presence, "Welcome Subject 67 to the Exoskeleton Prototype chamber, please climb on to the platform and pull both switches to start the Implementation" a platform lifted ever so lightly as he climbed upon it on the footprints and uprooted the switches given to which his legs and arms were encased with braces, panic seized Subject 67 as he struggled to untangle himself yet something within him was ordering him to calm down and so he did. Machinery proceeded to bring out the Prototype, a miniature metal spine with arms and legs being united to the metal spine as it was situated behind him, the bands from the arms and legs were applied onto his ankles and wrist as he felt moment on and feet. The Machinery implemented the Exosuit as he felt something sharp pierce the back of his neck.
[..EXOSKELETON PROTOTYPE OBJECTIVE SUCCESSFUL: EXOSUIT IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSFUL..]
'Exosuit huh, what do you do'.
[..DOUBLE JUMP 59% UNTIL READY..]
[..ADVANCED STRAFE 93% UNTIL READY..]
[..EXO SKILL 1: UNKNOWN..]
[..EXO SKILL 2: UNKNOWN..]
[..EXO SKILL 3: UNKNOWN..]
[..HOVER READY..]
[..MAGNETIC GLOVES READY..]
[..GRAPPLING HOOK INSTALLATION PENDING..]
[..CLOAK INSTALLATION PENDING..]
[..MUTE INSTALLATION PENDING..]
[..OVERCLOCK READY..]
[..STIM 89% UNTIL READY..]
'Nice' the metal encasing curled itself exposing Subject 67 the metal gauntlets that encompassed his hand as he stepped off the platform he noticed clanking, glancing at his feet, it seemed like metal boots except he can see through the spacing which resembled like metal bones.
[Objective complete: Go to reinforced door and destroy obstacle] the text in his eyes directed him to open up the reinforced door. Walking out of the Exo chamber, Subject 67 summoned up the lines and highlighted the Redline, he can do with ordnance, he doesn't care, anything with a grip, a receiver and bullets would make him feel secure with himself. Then he remembered something, the AI that was finished installing.
"Activate AI" Subject 67 didn't know his voice was mature as a series of binary plastered his vision, he blinked casually as the binary died. A zero emerged in his vision before discharging and revealed a petite orange girl in pilot gear in front of him.
(Good evening Subject 67, I am Zero your personal Artificial Intelligence, I do apologize for the rude awakening but we must vacate the facility as an unauthorized software was identified in your source code, I see you have already discovered the Phase 4 Exosuit. The Phase 4 Exosuit you are wearing will heighten damage output by 90% and minimize damage absorption by 85%, what would you like me to do?) the orange girl stood there half his size waiting for an order.
"You sound matured for an AI which looks like a 14-year-old," Subject 67 spoke staring at the orange AI.
(Would you like me to adjust my character Subject 67?) Zero said pausing for confirmation.
"Uh, sure yeah, why not" Permission was granted as Zero began to close her eyes and glow brighter then opened her eyes.
(Haaaii, character adjustment completed, I am zero you personal AI my personality was changed to what you requested) Holy hell from mature to childish, she immediately fits her 14-year-old look alike.
"So what is your purpose" Subject 67 commenced to follow the red line.
(I'm here to support you on your voyages, my creator made me do precisely what you wish) her lively voice filled his ears.
"I noticed I've been designated Subject 67, why is that?" Subject 67 questioned.
(That information is classified from prying eyes) Zero said swinging on a camera around the corner, Subject 67 jumped and struck the camera causing Zero to fall to which she moped.
"There, no prying eyes" Subject 67 resumed walking down the hallway with the red line painted on the floor.
(You are not ready for the info yet, you need level 5 authorization to know more about Project Sentinel) Zero mistakenly gave away the name of the Project (no forget I said anything, pleasepleasepleaseplease) she pleaded for Subject 67 to forget her idiotic reveal.
"No," Subject 67 stated as he approached the end of the red line to attend a steel door with damage on it "alright, let's give this baby whirl" Subject 67 clenched his hand into a fist and punched into the armory door, his fist dented the door heavily and he took note to that as he continued to pound on the vault door like it snorted his mother's ashes. Winding up for final blow, Subject knocked the vault door inwards to unveil a ransacked armory, 'Well you can't have everything' Subject 67 started to browse the relatively empty armory for anything that can shoot.
[Primary Weapon obtained] "what do you mean primary weapon obtained" Subject 67 couldn't understand the text in his head "Zero what is this...text I keep on seeing," Subject 67 asked the AI who is just lounging on a table.
(It's there to help you like me!) Zero hung from Subject's 67 necks.
"Yeah yeah" Subject 67 went to look for the weapon he acquired, the wall opens up in front of him as a single gun rack was presented revealing a shotgun.
(Ooooo a shotgun) Zero said trying to pick up the shotgun, an M1897 trench shotgun to be specific, but her hands went through the barrel. Subject 67, however, was flesh and bone so he picked up the shotgun and the box beside it giving it a good shake, the ammo was heard bouncing around in the box as he unloaded its contents on the table.
'Seven shells, make it count' Subject 67 said to himself slowly loading the shotgun and enjoyed the satisfaction of racking it slowly, "Alright now I want out" Subject 67 said attaching the shotgun to the Exosuit.
(You sure you don't want to open up the door via door control) Zero said standing over the green line which widens in her presence while Subject 67 gave it thought.
"Fine might as well, I could probably find out more about myself," Subject 67 said placing his hand over one eye and followed the green line.
They began walking down the corridor as Markus passed through through a reinforced door which required level 4 access via key card, he has a level 4 key card in the form of an Exosuit as he punched the spacing between the sliding doors, denting it inwards, then digging his fingers between the sliding doors and separated them revealing a similar sight. Another reinforced door but heavier. Subject 67 sighed at the sight.
(Let me handle that) Zero split into multiple cubes that got absorbed by the scanner, the scanner did a series of beeping before the light turned green (your welcome) Zero said crossing her arms
"Why are you mad at me?" Subject 67 said confused at Zero's negativity.
(Do you know the difficulty of hacking level 4 authorized doors, hmm?) Zero said unfolded her arms.
"I don't even know how to hack," Subject 67 said in an attempt to calm her down.
(Exactly! You don't even know the half of it!) Zero ranted about the difficulty of altering code to gain access.
"Relax I already said thanks" Subject 67 entered the pre-locked room and just looked at the glass pods with bodies in each pod hovering in the liquid they were encased in which were segregated into 3 groups, some were enclosed by bandages, most wore a grey mask with yellow visors and the minority had a surgical attached yellow eyepiece. The bodies at least had some decency with clothing unlike him, he was naked and afraid, they just have their respective clothing with wires were linked between the bodies and the wall.
"Hey Zero, what's this?" Subject 67 moved closer to the glass and stared down a subject in their vessel.
(Don't ask me, all I know about is Project Sentinal) Zero strolled beside Subject 67. Subject 67 left Zero to observe the Subjects while he explored the room. All he found was the usual, cold puddle over there, the leaking ceiling something you don't see every day, a rotting corpse. Now that's good luck! Browsing the room, Subject 67 found a terminal and proceeded to turn on the machine
"No password?" Subject 67 found that unusual as he had to get through 2 reinforced doors which required level 4 access but all this terminal had was a menu that he could select an array of Projects. Strange... But no password at least which meant no hacking and since he's already there he might as well. What came up was a logo of an eye with three arrows leading to the iris, after that, a caption was shown at the head of the screen "Project Sleepwalker" Subject 67 murmured the name of the Project that was adjacent to his Project. Scrolling down the various logs, Subject 67 decide to pick the First ever log.
Lead Scientist:
Subject: Sleepwalkers
Log entry no.1
This is the Lead scientist of Project Sleepwalker. The Subjects now referred to as Sleepwalker patients are incredible! When {DATA EXPUNGED} transferred the Subjects we just assumed the average joe test subjects but, this was remarkable! A body able to reanimate after expiring and has normal motor functions. These patients were at first compliant, but after the first death, they were less responsive to our requests. The Sleepwalkers will shortly be in combat simulation in {DATA EXPUNGED}...
...We have also enlisted with a {DATA EXPUNGED} as protection against threats to us and the rest of {DATA EXPUNGED}, we also agreed to help with their little side Project to make Dolls, but not the type children would play with though it is strange how we catch our 'security' in restricted places. The human guards are uncomfortable with these dolls, and I cannot blame them for that judgment. They're up to something, I can feel it.
"Hey Zero, know anything about Project Sleepwalker?" Subject 67 yelled to his companion. End log.
(Only Project Sentinel remember?) Zero screamed back.
"Useless!" Subject 67 shouted back then continued his search "let's see here, lucky number 7.
Lead Scientist:
Subject: Cloning
Log entry no.7
This is the Lead scientist of Project Sleepwalker. The Sleepwalker patients are now combat-ready and can be ordered by the Wardens in Project Sentinel without fail, continuing with combat simulation Alpha 1, Subject 33 will be supported by three Sleepwalker Agents to clear out the Combat simulation without fail, proceed with the experiment...
...The experiment was successful with Alpha 1 clearing out the Combat simulation in under 377 seconds, so far we had all three of the Sleepwalkers encounter one death but with the cloning operation at batch production, we can restore them if they were to expire. End log.
"Interesting" Subject 67 started to scroll up to the very top and select the last three.
Lead Scientist:
Subject: Failure
Log entry no.54
This is the Lead Scientist of Project Sleepwalker. A glitch was present during the Combat simulation with Omega 2 and the Sleepwalkers were affected and fired at the Scientists killing them in the process. we would send word to their families but the manufacturing company under the name of {DATA EXPUNGED} as killed every human in the surrounding area, and we hired them to defend us. Those not affected by the glitch have been secured to the production pods but it didn't just happen with Project Sleepwalker, Project A.T.P was under threat of the glitch, we again detained those with the glitch and those also unaffected have been hooked to the production pods...
...We couldn't also risk Project Sentinel fall to the glitch so we hooked up the last Warden in the last production pod that could fit him, we're also implementing the AI and placing the Phase 4 Exosuit in the chamber. God, I hope he isn't affected the AI should act as a firewall and antivirus to purge the code if it emerges again. End Log.
Subject 67 felt a strong feeling of guilt overflowing him, being the last so-called 'Warden' standing of Project Sentinel, all he has now is an AI and 8 Sleepwalkers, but Subject 67 wanted to uncover more about other Projects being kept behind the screen as he backed out of Project Sleepwalker and into another of the three main Projects, Sleepwalker, Sentinel, and A.T.P. Selecting the latter, it presented two options, Soldat and Engineer... Soldat seems better, and so he selected it, a logo popped up on the screen but this time it was of a skull with one of the sockets being crossed out while the other socket had a crack running down like a tear, the logo disappeared and showed the Project at the top of the screen 'Project A.T.P', like its predecessors, it presented the Log entries, Subject 67 picked one at random.
Lead Scientist: Dr. Leete
Subject: Difference
Log entry no. 7
Dr. Leete, Lead scientist spearheading the A.T.P soldier program has proven to be difficult with the rise of {REDACTED}, it has been estimated that the Soldats will have the implementation of the newest DEAD drive, the Disrupt Execute Annahilate Defense drive, the drive will serve as Protocol 3. As the title suggests, it's about the key differences of the ATP agents, the Soldats and the Engineers.
The Engineers are there as foot soldiers for the battle against {REDACTED} and under the lowest of the low when compared to the Soldats, Sleepwalkers, and Wardens. The Engineers are recognized by their grey mask and yellow visor and the shedding of yellow blood. They do possess the ability to dodge bullets and carry more ammo than the other Projects and have more ammo, but in some cases, a glitch can occur within the Engineers improbability drive and cause them to become an 'Advanced Engineer', the cause of this is still unknown...
... The Soldats on the other hand variants to the Engineers. They are similar to the Engineers in which they are both parts of the Accelerated Training Program and have yellow blood. However, they wear surgically attached yellow eyepieces instead of masks and appear to be more specialized and skilled fighters. They are much stronger and more skilled than Engineers. This is likely because of Soldats receiving the step-up via upgrade in their logical and improbability drive, therefore making them the perfect for leading reconnaissance, breach and clear, and HVT eliminations. End log.
"Why does every single Project have so many glitches?" Subject 67 questioned his companion who is reading with him.
(I don't know, oh wait! Yes, I do! There was a manufacturing company that supplied us with so-called security that planted its virus in- Hey that's classified!) She yet again let her mouth run loose
"How the fuck was I meant to know, you didn't know jack shit about the other Projects so I don't think you would know jack shit about the fall of where ever we were so shut the fuck up and read" Subject 67 ranted while selecting another random log
Lead Scientist: Dr. Leete
Subject: Please enter a subject name
Log entry no. 21
Everything just went wrong, first the incidents and now the mass murder of humanity, the production company that we paid to give us security turned on us and killed almost everyone in the facility, the A.T.P Agents and Sleepwalkers managed to eliminate the threat but, they soon were overcome to the glitch due to their improbability and logic drive, the infected were quickly dispatched but not before the uninfected suffered many losses with 20 A.T.P agents left 15 Engineers5 Soldats. Like the Sleepwalkers and the final Warden, the survivors were placed in the production pods connected to the adjacent network to the facility, though this would mean we have to purge their memories, the protocols will remain with the A.T.P Agents and Sleepwalkers will still be under the final Warden, Subject 67 who will lead the platoon of 28 Agents, when the time comes Protocol {DATA EXPUNGED} will re-activate the new project. Project Peacekeeper. Log end
"So I got myself some boys who will help me like you and the text in my eyes. Well, am I fucking special or what" Subject 67 said turning off the monitor and walking out "Well, lets hit the road, wait, hold on let us wake up the boys" Subject 67 turned around again to walk up to a panel and pressed the big red button that was beeping and glowing next to a screen.
[..MANUAL OVERRIDE DETECTED: PLEASE WAIT FOR A MOMENT..]
[..PLEASE PRESENT PROTOCOL 0 TO PROCEED WITH THIS ACTION..] "Protocol 0, what the fuck is that" Really what the fuck is that
(Hold on) Zero disappeared into the panel.
[..PROTOCOL 0 DETECTED: SUBJECT 1 TO 28 WILL BE RELEASED IN 240 MINUTES..] "4 hours!? well shit," Subject 67 placed his hands on his hips to which Zero appeared beside him "Ready to go?" Subject 67 asked Zero pointing to the door with his thumb.
(Yeah let's kill time) Subject 67 and Zero departed the room.
"So why are you so, how do I say this, free-minded? Do you get what I'm saying" Subject 67 questioned the AI.
(I get the gist of it and to summarize, I am the mind of a deceased female) Zero answered him.
"By any chance is the deceased girl a 14-year-old?" Zero chuckled at this.
(No, a 20-year-old, her mind was uploaded into a computer to create me) Zero explained.
"How does that even work?" Subject 67 questioned how that was possible, a dead woman into a computer.
(I do not know, the creator was a strange man when it came to his inventions) Zero said teleporting in and out of sight of Subject 67.
"Who is your creator?" Subject 67 ultimately asked.
(I don't know, all I know is that I was programmed to help whoever I was implemented in) Zero stated stopping outside of a door and vanished.
"So what is my purpose in Project Sentinel" Subject 67 said punching the door open with Zero appearing on the opposite side sitting on the control system.
(Apparently, you were part of the super-soldier program, designed for the Exosuit, was meant to overturn a war with mass production of you lot... Why didn't you just select it in the pod room) Zero said (that switch over there) Zero highlighted the switch that operated door control as he flipped the breaker switch.
[..OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: OBSTACLE CLEARED..] "I was feeling lazy at that moment".
[..ADVANCED STRAFE READY..]
"Advanced strafe, hmm, how do you work?" Subject 67 began to strafe normally by dashing to the left and right but it didn't feel advanced, then he did a more comprehensive dash by skipping to the left. When he did this, a group of miniature jets in the Exosuit's spine boosted him to the left a little more creating a crash and a laughing AI.
(Oh you idiot) the AI laughed to the point she was crying, can AI even emote, how do I shut her up.
[Objective: Silence Zero] 'Woah Woah Woah, too fucking dark. I only thought that as a joke' Subject 67 thought, she is annoying but she is also kind of his only friend, well the only one awake.
[Drafting Objective] "Draft!? NO! Remove" Subject 67 shouted at himself.
[Removing Objective] (Are you okay?) Zero questioned her master's sanity.
"I'm fine but it's this fucking objective manager, fucking thing is broken" Subject 67 ranted.
[Objective: Fix Objective manager] "And it takes things to literally, remove current Objective" Subject 67 added.
[Removing Objective] "Anyway, enough of that shit, let's get out of here" Subject 67 was happy to leave the hell hole.
[..STIM READY..]
'Ah great, another ability to add on to the rest' Subject 67 didn't care what his Exosuit did as long as it kept him alive and out of frustration, he kicked the shattered door, decimating the door and computer screens
(Are you done?) Zero said resting her head on her hands.
"Yeah, I'm done" Subject 67 said to Zero. The pair started walking until Subject 67 met the partially open obstacle. Subject 67 had to crouch to get to the other side of the door while Zero just phased through the reinforced door. Subject 67 began to travel to the end of the corridor meeting an elevator door to which Subject 67 just kicked it in folding it inwards then scanning the shaft for anything that can pull him up, a ladder, using the ladder to ascend from the darkness.
"Say, Zero, do you know what the world looks like?" Subject 67 questioned the AI that hung upside down ahead of him.
(Can't say I do, I've been underground ever since I was programmed) Zero looked down at Subject 67 to which she dropped down through him and asked him her question (Do you have a name?) Zero asked balancing perpendicularly to his back.
"Don't even remember, all I know is that I just came of ice, got a name for me?" Subject 67 questioned the AI.
(Hmm well would you like to be called Markus, you look like Markus) He did not look like a Markus, he just had golden eyes that were bright yellow, tanned skin with messy caramel blonde hair as he reached the top.
"Markus, Markus, Markus. Not bad" and with one final kick, the elevator doors separated from the walls revealing the beautiful sunrise 'Freedom. What the fuck' Markus saw the destroyed world that was laced over by the sun and because of night vision...
"MY FUCKING EYES! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH" Markus screamed covering both of his eyes with his hands pushing back his eyeballs through the socket.
[..NIGHT VISION DISABLED..] (Interesting world) Zero looked at the destroyed building they were in.
"New world my ass" Markus stood up blinking rapidly, his eyes now dimming.
(Judging from your reaction, the world never looked like this) Zero was correct, he faintly remembered the world being less destroyed and mother nature not dominating the man-made creations.
"Yeah, well shit. What do I do now?" Markus asked himself and placing one hand on his hip, the other massaging his eyes, and walked out of the building when something caught his eye "oh hello there" Markus saw a mangled robot body with its head left arm and both legs missing, a messy cut down the abdomen revealed a bundle of ripped circuits when he saw his entertainment.
(What are you doing?) Zero questioned why Markus was approaching the android.
"Fun" Markus simply responded by planting one foot at the center of its torso and placing both hands on the remaining arm and ripped it from the body as Markus began to high five himself with the arm.
[..SECONDARY WEAPON ACCQUIRED..](Yeah. Fun) Zero was scarred by the sight of a man playing with a mangled corpse of an android female.
"C'mon rock, paper, scissors?" Markus began to laugh hysterically as the arm performed the actions of rock, paper, scissors, "the more you know" Markus began experimenting with the arm, pressing different spots to make the hand react differently as he made finger guns with the arm "Zero what should I call my new toy?" Markus pointed the arm at the AI with finger guns
(I don't know, Righty?) Zero answered with a deadpan expression, Markus, however, took that seriously and massaged his chin with the arm.
"I love it, my new killer combo, a shotgun, and a rucking right arm. Ooh ooh, the first Objective, bitch slap the first thing I see" Markus create a personal mission.
[Objective: Attack on sight with Righty] (I thought you hated the stupid thing) Zero was confused by the mood change of the humanoid.
"Yeah and no. It has its ups and downs but this is one of its ups" Markus said swinging around the arm then a thought came to mind 'I have not eaten anything' his rumbling stomach proved this as he stopped meeting around and walked into the forest to look for some food.
(Don't leave me behind) Zero whined at Markus.
"I don't know why your whining, you are not walking, plus I didn't leave you behind you're still in my head so shut up" Markus pointed at Zero with the arm.
[..DOUBLE JUMP READY, INSTALLING MUTE..] (Can't argue with you there) She couldn't as his logic made sense.
"Double jump eh let's try this" Markus went to double jump and succeeded with the jump, but he forgot he was in a forest and so he hit his head, obviously, and creates yet another laughing AI. 'Great, fucking great. What I rucking need, another headache' Markus clutched his head with both hands, not Righty, and was going to scream but the pain went away quickly "The fuck?" Markus was confused about where the pain went.
(I'm glad I was programmed inside of you) Zero giggled.
"Thanks, I guess ooh guess what I found" Markus was excited at the sight of a stream of water and happily took a sip but oh boy now the hard part. Fishing. finding fish was hard, catching was harder as he wasted 40 minutes chasing around a fish with a knife to no avail.
[..SKILL 1 ACQUIRED: BOOST SLAM..] What followed after was a grown man jumping high in the air and coming down with the knife to hopefully hit his mark but missing and splashing water everywhere. Finally, on his 17th jump attack, he brought down the stainless steel blade and planted the knife in the fish. Seeing his achievement, he waved the dead fish in the air, forcing blood out of the new hole he gave the fish.
(You're just going to throw it on the fire?) Zero question why he slammed the fish on the fire without filleting the fish and pulling out the bones.
"No, because I'm hungry and tired" Markus couldn't be bothered to go through the whole process after he spent 1 hour chasing one fish. The meal was as lovely as it gets, burned fish with a side of Forrest fruits and what he thought was mint, was stinging nettles, as he cleaned the plate or leaf. "better than nothing" Markus started licking the berries juices off his fingers and threw away the bones.
(So what are you going to do now?) Zero disappeared into his head.
"Great question" Markus began to massage his chin with Righty "I know" he pointed the index finger of Righty in the air the threw it in a spinning motion upwards as it came down and pointed towards the destroyed city "Guess we go back" Markus picked up Righty and walked back towards the building they emerged from.
(Why is your hand glowing?) Zero blinked back into existence and zoomed in on his right hand.
"Dunno, don't care" Markus pulled back his hand and planted it in his pocket "Get back in my head!" Markus ordered, Zero pouted then complied, as soon as she disappeared Markus pulled out his hand with the glowing orange ring at the center of his hand glowing only through the top and not from the palm. Markus then decided to clench his glowing hand into a fist which showed his inventory, his shotgun that possessed 7 shells, a right arm and a knife with the downloads being displayed on the far left with Mute at the summit, Cloak was ensuing and Grapple being last.
Gunfire was heard behind Markus as his inventory close, Markus began to sway as he began to lose his balance and started to feel weird, Markus wanted to say something but he couldn't speak and soon started to fall behind his eyes.
'Obey. Follow orders. Obey. Kill the Griffin scum. Obey. Kill them. Obey. Kill them all. Ob-'.
[..SYSTEM REBOOT INITIATED..]
[..LOGIC UNIT: FAILING; ATTEMPTING REPAIRS..]
[..IMPROBABILITY DRIVE: UNSTABLE; SEEK REPAIRS IMMEDIATELY..]
[..WARNING: UNKNOWN STRING DETECTED IN CODE; ACTIVATING FAILSAFE..]
[..PROTOCOL 0 DETECTED..]
(C'mon C'mon C'mon) Zero was panicking attempting to find the virus that was within Markus' system (Where are you?) Zero frantically scrutinized the orange binary wall in front of her for any anomalies (Where? Where? Where? Ah-ha!) Zero suspended the binary walls and enlarged the string of binary in front of her and commenced highlighting the 1's and 0's in white.
[..PURGING MALWARE..] Zero sighed in relief in hearing those crucial words, she would be damned if she lost yet another host, only so much she can take.
[..WAKING UP SUBJECT 67..] (Hurry up and wake up) Zero said resting on the non-existing plain.
Taking a bottomless breath like his lungs were underfed of oxygen as Markus swiftly dragged himself back to place his spine on the nearest tree then began to feel his face.
"I'm here, right here on stable ground. The ground is really lovely, not behind eyes. Just safe. Oh God, the voices" Markus coated his eyes his both hands to forget.
[..MEMORY CORRUPTION COMPLETE..] Everything that Markus perceived and heard went away as he woke up anew.
"What just happened?" Markus interviewed himself picking himself up.
(I don't know, you just said you got light-headed and needed a rest) Zero lied then materialized in front of him (Are you okay?) Zero stood at his side.
"Yeah, come on, let's get moving" Markus exercised the opposite direction of the gunfire which pleased Zero. Markus walked down the natural pathway again to which text scrolled across Markus' eyes.
[..AUTOPILOT: ONLINE..] "Autopilot? Why the fuck do I have Autopilot!?"
[..MANUAL CONTROL: ONLINE..] (Don't ask me, I didn't even know you had Autopilot)
[..PRIMARY WEAPONRY: M1897 TRENCH SHOTGUN..] "Well at least that ain't on Autopilot"
[..SECONDARY WEAPONRY: RIGHTY..] "Hell, even the text knows righty"
[..TACTICAL ABILITY: ONLINE..] "Tactical ability?"
[..DEFENSE ABILITY: ONLINE..] (What is half this stuff)
[..NIGHT VISION: ONLINE..] "I don't know... did that jus-"
[..ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: DOWNLOAD COMPLETED..] "AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH, WHY! FUCK THIS HURTS DISABLE NIGHT VISION DISABLED NIGHT VISION!"
[..NIGHT VISION DISABLED..] "Holy shit why is that a thing, NVGs in daylight burning your eyes. Fuck me" Markus rubbed his eyes heavily to heal them. "Hey Zero, I noticed that I had a Tactical and Defensive ability which are online. How do I activate them?" Markus started to swing his arms and did some random forms with his arm "Maybe it's voice-controlled, get Tactical, start Tactical, get Tactical, Tactical begin, what if it's passive, oh the possibilities" Markus started to document the possible commands to activate the ability while walking back to the elevator.
[..NIGHT VISION ENABLED..] "Do you think the Agents have re-awoken?" Markus said descending into the abyss once again.
(Well it has been more than 5 hours that's for sure) Zero said summoning up a layout of a digital clock.
[Objective: Reunite with the 'Damned 33rd'] "Damned 33rd, sounds fucking badass" Markus touched the very bottom of when he ascended, "Back in the hole" Subject 67 was back and walked towards to where the pod room was roughly where he remembered.
(Somethings off) Zero announced uneasily as Subject 67 remained walking down the halls.
"What do you mean?" Subject 67 asked his AI.
(I don't, its just that I can't shake the feeling that we are not alone) Zero escaped into Subject 67's head.
"I think I found the main reason why" Subject 67 muttered as he stopped in his tracks, he could see a female with purple hair, very undesirable clothing which was purple, robotic legs which were, you guessed it, purple, glowing purple eyes were slightly visible through a foggy mask, have I mentioned they were purple, with her weapons swinging from her hips as Subject 67 went up and cleared his throat "Hi, are you another Subject or an Agent" Subject 67 questioned the female which turned to him and tilted her head in confusion at the sight of Subject 67.
(Hey Markus, you know Righty) Zero said in Markus' head.
"Yeah?" Subject 67 said to himself and Zero who wasn't present in the encounter.
(Well I kind of did a quick scan because she looked familiar, and she is! would you like to know why) Zero said uneasily.
"Why?" Subject 67 placed his right foot behind him.
(Well, Righty is kind of her arm in a way, if you get what I'm saying, but that color pallet is familiar) Zero used Subject 67's eyes to scan the woman.
[..IDENTIFYING UNKNOWN HUMANOID..]
[..CHECKING DATA BASES..]
[..IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE..]
[..HOSTILE DETECTED..] (PURPLE MEANS BAD! PURPLE MEANS BAD!) Zero shouted.
"WHAT, SHIT" on impulse or not, Subject 67 brought out Righty and backhanded the hostile causing 'Purple' to twist her head spraying saliva from her mouth then he followed up by unsheathing the knife and dropping Righty while placing his free hand over her mouth, pushing in her knee with a kick getting her low then handling the serrated edge, cut through the skin as he felt the life leave her husk.
(Do you see that?) Zero appeared and squinted her eyes to notice a green light turn on and a blue light comes to life as the green light lowered slightly as the blue light got brighter. Subject 67's body immediately hit the deck and dodged a concentrated beam of light as a loud crack echoed down the halls.
"A sniper, my lucky day" Subject 67 stood up as fast as he hit the ground and started running at the green light "Overclock!" Subject 67 shouted as he continued to sprint, unbeknownst to Zero and the Sniper, time was slowed for Subject 67 which he used to dodge a shot as he continued to run normally in his eyes but the Sniper saw him run at ludicrous speed as he exited Overclock, he was sliding, the Exosuit ignoring friction as he blasted the shotgun exploding a messy hole in her stomach area as the Sniper seized to move. Still sliding, Subject 67 bounced off his knees and continued momentum by sprinting down the corridor, surely there were more hostiles than the two that should've heard the skirmish, that question was answered when he turned the corner.
"Welp... I'm fucked" Subject 67 saw a mix of weapons pointed at him, then slow footsteps were heard behind him as he turned slowly, "I don't know why but your appearance screams 'sadistic' to me," Subject 67 said eyeing the girl who looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties with a respirator and a swarm of droids that circled her followed by two more Purples and a Sniper.
"Hand it over" she ordered very, very bluntly, not giving any sort of clue on what Subject 67 had on his person that she wanted.
"No" Subject 67 didn't even know what she was talking about.
"Are you disobeying a direct order?" Saying this confused the hell out of Subject 67.
"When did I ever work for you?" Subject 67 asked her.
"Very well, your insubordination will be notified after I bring you in as scrap metal" she pulled out a wand and started to outstretch her arm pointing it towards Subject 67 but something was heard like something was grinding on stone, looking down, both Subject 67 and 'Sadistic' saw small cylinder-shaped object rolled against the floor between them then everything went white with Subject 67 hearing ringing in his ears.
...[Objective Completed: Reunite with the 'Damned 33rd']...