"The SF base is a smokin' crater, as planned," the unmistakable Australian voice of the younger Kano reported over the comms. "Sektor's dead. I guess that makes you the boss now, luv."

"Indeed," the woman on the other end replied coldly. While such a tone was natural for her, especially in light of the seemingly condescending term he had referred to her with, Frost was secretly ecstatic, eager to end their conversation quickly, before she exploded. "You did well, Kano."

"Just remember our deal, little lady," the smooth Texan drawl of Erron Black responded.

"Yes, yes, Lin Kuei cybernetics for the Black Dragon. You'll have them."

"Good," the deeper tone of the older Kano responded. "We'll leave you to get your changeover sorted. BD-1 out."

The transmission cut to static before Frost shut the radio off. "Fools." Of course, Frost had every intention of fulfilling her end of the bargain, should Kano and the others pull through, but she had serious doubts that such a thing would come to pass. In the process of destroying the SF base, Kano and his crew had abducted the past incarnations of Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. Given that the current leaders of the Special Forces were the present Johnny Cage and his and Sonya's daughter, Cassandra, Frost had no doubt that they would rush to free their captured family, eradicating the Black Dragon once and for all in the process.

While she would have liked to have been there to give Cassandra a firm beating for their underground cage match seven years prior, Frost had more important matters to attend to, as Kano had suggested. The Cyber Lin Kuei, previously run by Sektor, had now lost both of its original leaders, as Cyrax had been released from his reprogramming during Sub-Zero and Scorpion's raid on the main cyber factory. As such, Frost was now the highest-ranking member of the clan, making her the new Grandmaster.

"Computer. Pull up a list of all registered Cyber Lin Kuei initiates."

"Acknowledged, Grandmaster," the cool computerised female voice responded. "Compiling now."

"Finally, the Lin Kuei is mine!" Frost declared to no one in particular, her voice echoing throughout the chamber. "Just you wait. I'll show you, Sub-Zero."

"Acknowledged. Showing Sub-Zero."

"What? No, you stupid machine! I said, 'I'll show you,' not..." Frost trailed off as the monitor before her whizzed down the list of all Cyber Lin Kuei, past and present, before coming to a stop in the 'S' section and highlighting the words 'Sub-Zero LK-52O' in a bright yellow bar. "S-Sub-Zero was automated?"

"Correct. Unit LK-52O, codename Sub-Zero, was brought online twenty-nine years ago and was active for seventy-three days and seventeen hours before being captured by Black Dragon member Kabal and reprogrammed. However, due to the current temporal merger granting access to more advanced technology, Unit LK-52O's automation was completed well ahead of schedule."

Frost stood in frozen awe at the information she was receiving. Despite having served him for multiple years, and having become a part of the time-displaced Cyber Lin Kuei under Tournament-Era Sektor, Frost had never known that Sub-Zero had been automated. As far as she had known, he had escaped the Lin Kuei and gone into hiding, until he returned to kill Sektor and reform the clan a little over two decades later.

"Bring him to me," she commanded, determined to confirm these claims for herself.

"Acknowledged. Summoning Unit LK-52O."

It took a few minutes for the currently inactive blue cyborg alleged to belong to Frost's former master to be brought along the assembly line. This factory was slow and inefficient, compared to the one she had been operating in until the previous day. Frost supposed she was lucky Sub-Zero hadn't been transferred to that other factory before his future self had destroyed it.

Then again, such an act would probably have wiped him from reality, leaving Frost to ponder how different her life would have turned out, had she never joined Sub-Zero's 'reformed' Lin Kuei. Her contemplation came to an end as the blue cyborg's assembly frame came to a stop before her. It tilted him forward to a forty-five degree angle, his head resting a few inches above her own.

"Awaiting activation command," the computer informed.

"Activate him."

"Acknowledged. Activating."

The icy blue LED lights in the eyes of the cyborg lit up after a few moments. Internal fans whirred and a few sparks flew from the lightly twitching neckline. The head slowly rose to meet her gaze. Even moreso than Sektor, Cyrax and the rest, Sub-Zero's cybernetic frame reminded Frost of the movie Predator. Particularly with that helmet

"Unit LK-52O online," the cyborg said in a voice that was undeniably Sub-Zero's, albeit in an unnaturally robotic monotone.

"Are you really Sub-Zero?" Frost asked, finding herself almost hoping the answer was 'no.'

"Grandmaster Sektor: Deceased. New Grandmaster: Identified. Unit LK-4ST. Codename: Frost. Acknowledged, Grandmaster. 'LK-52O' is the Cyber Lin Kuei designation for Kuai Liang. Codename: Sub-Zero."

"You acknowledged me as Grandmaster. Then... you must obey me."

"Acknowledged. All Cyber Lin Kuei are programmed to serve the Grandmaster. As of 19:43 Mountain Standard Time today, that title belongs to Eira Turk. Codename: Frost."

Again, Frost stood in awe of what she was being told. She had to test this to prove it was all true. "Kneel," she said.

Sub-Zero dismounted his assembly frame with a heavy thud and lowered himself to one knee with his head bowed and one clenched fist held to his chest on the opposite side - the traditional Lin Kuei style.

It was true. It was all true. She had achieved what she had long sought: she had proven her superiority over Sub-Zero. He was now her subordinate. He would do whatever she told him because he now acknowledged her as his superior.

But, something was amiss. Something about this situation just did not sit right with her. Did he really, truly acknowledge her as his superior? Or was he just programmed to? Had she really earned such acknowledgement? Or had it been gifted to her? Did it really matter if he actually felt this way or not, if he lacked a soul to be able to truly express it?

For so long, she had thought of little besides reaching this point, never once doubting that she would be left awash with elation and ecstasy. But reality, it turned out, was far removed from fantasy.

Despite what she had 'achieved', she felt unworthy.

She felt... alone...


Earlier today, I had an idea about what could have been done with Frost, had MK11 bothered to include a past version of Sub-Zero, specifically his cyberised form. After expressing the idea on Twitter, I decided to actually write it.

I have some changes planned for the trajectory of the MK Khronicles story, which will come into play in an upcoming chapter, but needless to say, if MK11 is included in the series, it will take a much different form than the official one. As such, this chapter occupies a superposition between canon and non-canon until I decide definitively.