"So this is how I fucking die?"
Zayn's voice was frail and dry, yet he managed to laugh at himself.
Cold.
Zayn Callahan had felt many things in his life—pain, fury, glory. But this? This was something else.
The kind of cold that bit through the skin and chewed into the marrow.
The kind that whispered, "You were never immortal."
The snow didn't stop falling, not even as the world forgot him.
Zayn Callahan lay in the gutter like a discarded relic of a forgotten war—no legs, one arm, the other too numb to feel the frostbitten street gnawing at his flesh.
The concrete beneath him was slick with oil, blood, and piss.
Around him, the city moved on, uncaring.
Cars hissed past on the freeway.
People in suits stepped over him like he was a stain.
Like the world had finally decided to pull the greatest prank on him
He clenched his one working fist, although he didn't have enough strength to lift it in the air.
"My comrades, my generals…"
"They all threw me into the streets the moment I couldn't kill anymore. And after all I did for them—my soul, my life, my wife, and now my legs—they threw me into the street like a used napkin."
Desperate and alone, with death in his front view mirror, he raised his head to the sky.
"God," he rasped. "Give me another chance…"
His voice cracked.
"Not to live," he growled. "Not to love. I want a second chance to burn it all down. Everything. The Rebels. The world. Every side that plays God with other people's lives…"
A tear would've rolled down his cheeks if his ducts weren't frozen shut.
"I'll kill every last one of them."
A stiffness overcame him as his body stopped freezing and started to feel more like needles poking against his skin.
His vision darkened, black at the edges, and a gentle breeze was all it took to pass him on.
In the dirty gutters of the city he gave everything for—cold, dirty, covered with blood and amputated.
****
[SYSTEM BOOTING…]
[CONSCIOUSNESS REINITIALIZED.]
[LOADING: LAZARUS SYSTEM.]
Haaa.
Zayn gasped as he sat up from the bed.
His eyes snapped open to a sterile white room with metal walls, humming softly. A digital clock blinked 06:06. A thin cable snaked from the back of his neck into the wall.
He wasn't paralyzed.
He wasn't cold.
And—his hand. His hand was back.
His entire body surged with power—sleek, smooth, enhanced.
He stared at his hands, continually flexing them. They had a peculiar scale tattoo all over them that stretched into his chest, and his new circular dog tags hung lazily from his neck.
He then patted his legs. They were back—and better than ever.
He finally stepped off, stumbling a couple of times before regaining fluidity in movement.
He tried walking farther, but the snake-like cable connected to his neck held him in place.
Feeling it out and assuming it was safe, he pulled it out.
"What the hell is this?" he said as he stretched his legs, and a faint smile curled onto his face.
A mirror in the corner.
He walked to it.
Younger. Stronger. Meaner.
A stranger's face… with his mind behind the eyes.
"Wow." Zayn couldn't help but exclaim as he stared at himself.
His now perfectly sleek black hair parted on either side, his crystal-like ocean blue eyes, a jawline that could crack walnuts, and cheekbones that could etch glass.
He stretched his features continually.
"Who the hell am I?"
Ding!
A faint chime echoed through the room as a translucent blue interface flickered to life in front of his eyes.
[WELCOME TO THE LAZARUS SYSTEM]
[NAME] Zayn Callahan
[RANK] Private
[STATS] <
[SKILLS] <
[OBJECTIVE] <
Initiating Sync with Past Memory Core…
Zayn jumped back as soon as the interface popped up, landing on his ass.
Then it came—
A wave of memories. Flashes in his retina smashed their way into his skull as he grabbed his hair and gritted his teeth.
It lasted for about ten seconds before the pain subsided.
Immediately after, Zayn's eyes popped open. He ran back to the mirror but turned his back—his spine—
A mechanical exoskeletal spine ran the length of his back, fused directly into the flesh. The implant was segmented, each section resembling an artificial vertebra—sleek, angular, and dark metallic.
It didn't stop or restrict his movements at all. It was just there.
As he stretched his hands, trying to feel it, another message popped up before his eyes.
[WORLD STATE: EARTH - POST-COLLAPSE ERA]
[CURRENT YEAR: 2159]
[WAR LEVEL: ESCALATING TOWARD WWV (WORLD WAR V)]
The neon green, computer-like writing followed his eyes wherever he turned.
He finally squinted, trying to make out the system text as a light chuckle escaped his lips, making his shoulders rattle.
"World War Fucking Five."
"It doesn't ever fucking end."
He already knew this—having the memories of the body—but seeing it clear as day before his eyes made it all too real.
PAA. PAA.
He slapped himself twice as he stared into the mirror.
"This has to be a dream, right?... Systems don't exist... Do they?... Of course not."
He laughed at his new reflection, slowly raising a brow.
"But let's just say they do…"
Another message popped up.
[YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GIFT, ZAYN CALLAHAN.]
[TO DESTROY ALL THOSE WHO CONTINUALLY WAGE WAR. YOU'RE NOT THE HERO, YOU'RE THE END.]
[DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE 🙂.]
Zayn scratched the back of his head for a second.
"The smiley face was a bit much," he thought to himself.
"So from my memories, I know I was part of some experiment called Last Resort... and that's the reason for the metallic spine wedged into my back. It's supposed to give me extra speed—not extraordinary—but faster than humans. As of right now, I should be as fast as a cheetah."
But I cannot do everything with just speed.
---
[STATS]
[HEALTH] 100
[STRENGTH] 10
[SPEED] 25
[ENDURANCE] 10
[INTELLIGENCE] 10
[AGILITY] 10
[HUMANITY] 90
---
As the image came into view, the first thing that stood out for Zayn was Humanity.
'What the hell does humanity have to do with anything?'
---
[HUMANITY]
A measure of emotional, psychological, and ethical self. As it decreases, subject becomes colder, more brutal, less empathetic—and more machine-like. Certain choices, quests, or enhancements may reduce this stat.
---
"Great, another thing to worry about."
He spun around and felt his thighs again.
"This is actually happening," he muttered.
"Then let's do it right."
As he approached the door of the room, he took a deep breath and pushed it open.
Zayn raised his hand to cover the blinking lights from the sun as it was scorching. He was on Echo Bastion, one of the many bases of The Aurelian Ascendancy—his supposed side of the war.
He was just an upcoming Private who'd been selected to test the new bionic technology that was recently invented. It was supposed to be the tipping point for them against their enemies, yet it was still being kept secret—classified as a secret weapon.
Soldiers littered the base, jogging left and right as numerous Sergeants yelled at them for basically nothing. He smiled as a wave of nostalgia blew through him.
He continued walking, having no particular destination. Although he technically knew where everything was… in truth, he'd only known that for two minutes. So he was still confused.
Until someone tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned immediately—to see a familiar, far more muscular man towering above him. His name—
Zion Miller, his bald friend, who was also part of the bionic experiment. Zion now had inhuman strength, and combined with his natural muscle… it was a sight to behold.
Zion shot him a smile.
"You good, soldier?"
Zayn nervously smiled back, like a child trying to hide something.
"Yeah, man."
"Alright, well... they're calling all bionics for our first secret meeting in the..."
He looked around before continuing, his voice shrinking to a whisper.
"...in the sub-basement floor."
"Oh, alright."
"Let's go," his regular tone returned as he paved the way.
Zayn completely ignored him, taking in the sights that surrounded him—from the mech suits that looked like giant robots to the jets, like something ripped straight out of a sci-fi movie.
All while thinking:
"You'd think after all this, they could just get robots to fight wars."
They finally stopped at an elevator going downward, probably to some underground bunker. As they stepped in, Zion flipped up the regular control panel to reveal a hidden button that said "P", and pushed it.
As the elevator descended, an uncomfortable wave of silence passed through Zayn.
Yes, he knew Zion… but in truth, no—he didn't.
Luckily, it wasn't long before the doors sprung open with a mechanical whirl.
The floor was vast, with thousands of scientists at stations murmuring as they worked. Zion continued to lead the way until they stopped before a living-room-type area where four figures were already seated.
And that was when it finally happened.
---
Ding!
[NEW OBJECTIVE]
ELIMINATE ALL OTHER BIONICS
0/5 <
---
"Oh shit."