Ghost in the System: an Alita Battle Angel story

by VoidHunter146

A military veteran suffering from mental illness is displaced several hundred years into a bleak, dystopian future where the remnants of humanity on Earth is collected into one city. One day, after suffering a violent, traumatic attack the veteran is taken in by a compassionate cyber-physician and his adopted cyborg daughter. They may be the veteran's only hope for survival.

1. A quick Introduction

A quick word:

This story is not in any way canon. I did not create, nor do I own Alita or any characters referenced that appeared in the movie or manga. I make no profit of any kind from this story. Alita was created and is owned by Yukito Kishiro, rights owned by 20th Century Fox.

This story deals with mental illness, suicide and contains strong language and violence. It is set in the Alita movie-verse, after the events of the movie, with a few elements from the manga. Much more of a 'what if' sort of thing. Alita features in it rather prominently, though she isn't the primary focus. This story is told from the perspective of the main character, an Air Force veteran who was born in 1970 and suffers from mental illness.

Additional word of warning: While this story does have some action in it, it is mostly introspective as the main character struggles to deal with his worsening mental illness, Particularly during the first several chapters. He may also struggle to reconcile the man he is, with the man he fears he may have to become if he is to survive in this new world.

I have tried to make this story an interesting journey for the main character as he adjusts to his radically altered life in, what is to him, an alien world. The main character, a man by the name of Jason Deshane, is not a particularly important person. He's not nearly as fast, nor as strong as many of the other characters in the Alita-verse. He is not someone who will change the course of history. He is, at least initially, someone history steps on as it goes about it's business. It is by sheer good fortune that he falls in with people who are willing to care about what happens to him after he suffers a violent, traumatic attack. I have made some assumptions with the movie-verse, as well as taken some liberties in order to tell a story that I hope will be entertaining.

This is also a story written with an eye towards providing a glimpse into what it can be like living with chronic depression and anxiety. It can hopefully underscore how important it is to have the support of friends and family in order to get through those darker times when the illness can be at it's worst. Under the circumstances, I can only really use my own experience with mental illness, so that figures heavily into how the main character's illness affects him.

I'd like to throw out a quick 'thank you' to the Youtuber Footless Jo, an amputee who's channel helped me gain a better understanding of what it can be like living with the loss of a limb. Her upbeat attitude and positivity is also rather uplifting. I would like to apologize profusely should I end up failing to accurately portray the subjects contained herein. I have done what I could with my very limited skills as a writer, hopefully I got it more right than wrong.

Feel free to leave constructive criticism. Anything that can help me improve the story is absolutely welcome.

Edit: As I get further in, I'm thinking I'll be changing the title once I've finished. The current title seemed appropriate, but I'm thinking it may need a change at some point.