After looking at the message displayed by the system. SURVIVE. It felt more like it was taunting him. It didn't help the situation at hand in anyway at all. He tried steadying himself but he couldn't. He was mentally drained. He felt the cold, metallic floor tremble under his feet, with his limbs flabby as if gravity itself had betrayed him. The Awakening was successful. He thought. He touched the left part of his chest, reminded of the memory— the shard that shot into it. Above him, the Mechanoid loomed—a towering, humanoid monstrosity of gleaming steel, its arm blade glinting with lethal intent. The blade slashed forward, a vicious arc aimed straight for Rex's chest. His body reacted before his mind could catch up, twisting to the side in a blur of instinct. The blade missed by inches, carving a jagged scar into the floor with a screech that echoed through the lab.
"Wake up, Rex!"Zoe's voice cut through the fog in his mind, sharp and urgent, like a blade of its own. I can't control your body now. It's still too early. So get up, or you're getting sliced in half!
His eyes snapped open, wide and frantic, as the world rushed back into focus. His head throbbed, a chaotic storm of memories that weren't his own flooding his senses—flashes of faces, voices, lives he'd never lived, all tied to the shard buried deep in his chest. The shard pulsed, a foreign heartbeat that made his legs tremble beneath him. He pressed his hands to his thighs, fighting to stay upright, his breaths shallow and ragged. The Mechanoid's cold, unblinking eyes locked onto him, its 6.5-foot frame radiating menace as it recalibrated for another strike.
Rex's gaze darted to the dent in the floor, the jagged edges gleaming under the lab's harsh lights. His heart pounded, each beat a reminder of how close he'd come to being torn apart. The memories—those fragmented, alien lives—swirled in his mind, disorienting him. He didn't know these people, yet their pain, their fears, their triumphs, felt as real as his own. And somehow, they were all connected to the shard, to the mysterious object that had fused itself to him. He could still see Zoe's face in his mind's eye, her sharp features from that first encounter in his dorm room—her piercing eyes, the way her presence seemed to hum with quiet power.
The Mechanoid advanced, its blade retracting with a mechanical whine, only to be replaced by a fist of polished steel. Rex's body moved on its own, propelled by desperation. He lunged forward, his weak frame no match for the towering machine, but he didn't care. He had to act, had to fight. His fist swung toward the Mechanoid's chest, a reckless punch fueled by fear and adrenaline. The machine didn't flinch. Its eyes glowed a malevolent red as it caught Rex's fist mid-strike, its grip tight and firm. Time seemed to slow as Rex's body froze, every nerve screaming danger.
'You can't dodge this!' Zoe's voice blared in his head, urgent and commanding. 'Use a skill, now!'
His vision flickered, a translucent skill panel appearing in his mind's eye. His eyes scanned the options, heart racing, until one stood out: [Soul Flicker [Lv.1] – Short-range blink, leaves echo clone]. Without hesitation, he activated it. His body blurred, a ghostly afterimage left in his place as the Mechanoid's fist smashed through the clone, the air crackling with the force of the blow. Rex reappeared behind the machine, his head spinning, dizziness clawing at him from the skill's toll. He stumbled, catching himself against a lab table, the cold metal grounding him for a fleeting moment.
He didn't have time to think. The Mechanoid's head swiveled 180 degrees with an unnatural snap, its body still facing forward, rigid and unyielding. Those glowing eyes locked onto him again, and Rex's stomach dropped. He swung again, aiming for the machine's head, but his fist met resistance like striking a boulder. Pain shot through his knuckles, and he staggered back, his vision swimming. 'What the—No offensive skills?', he thought, panic rising. The rest of the skills were just passive. He groaned inwardly.
In the control room high above, Nyx lounged in her chair, her sharp nails tapping idly on the console. The monitors flickered with feeds of the lab below, Rex's desperate struggle playing out like a bad action flick. She sighed, boredom etched into her angular features. This kid—this intruder—was more trouble than he was worth. He'd slipped into the facility unnoticed, and now he had the shard. Her lips curled into a smirk, but it didn't reach her eyes. He was a problem, and Nyx didn't like problems.
She stood, her movements fluid and deliberate, and strode toward the elevator. Her heels clicked against the polished floor, each step echoing with purpose. She pulled out her phone, dialing a number as the elevator doors slid open with a soft hiss. The voice on the other end was low, commanding. "Nyx."
"We've got an intruder," she said, her tone clipped. "A naive little kid. He's got the shard from Lab Z-5. It's in him now."
A pause. Then, "Interesting." The voice carried a weight that made Nyx's smirk falter. "Have you caught him?"
"Not yet, boss. But I'll take care of it."
"I have no doubt," the voice replied, a hint of amusement in its tone. Nyx waited some few seconds and said "But I think he's like you boss. The shard chose him". "Bring him to me… alive."
Nyx hesitated, her grip tightening on the phone. "Yes, boss." The call ended with a beep as the elevator descended with a soft ding. She stepped out, her eyes narrowing. This kid was about to regret ever stepping foot in this place.
Back in the lab, Rex's world was collapsing. The shard's influence was overwhelming, his mind a haze of foreign memories and searing pain. The Mechanoid's arm whirred, transforming into a sleek ray gun, its barrel glowing with a faint, ominous hum. Rex's legs buckled, his vision blurring at the edges. "Zoe," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Take over."
Affirmative, Zoe's voice echoed in his mind, calm and resolute. [Echomind] activated.
Energy surged through Rex's body, a torrent of power that felt like it could tear him apart. His veins glowed blue, pulsing with an otherworldly light. His body moved with a grace that wasn't his own, leaping into the air with a spin that felt like defying gravity itself. His foot connected with the Mechanoid's head in a thunderous kick, sending the machine crashing across the lab. Sparks erupted from its severed neck, wires dangling like severed lifelines. Rex landed in a crouch, his chest heaving, a triumphant fire in his eyes—Zoe's fire.
Alarms blared, their piercing wail cutting through the air like a knife. You've got seconds before you pass out, Zoe warned. We need to get to the back alley. Now.
Rex's body moved before he could process Zoe's words, Her control absolute. He sprinted through the lab's corridors, the red emergency lights bathing everything in a bloody glow. The wind whipped past his face, his speed unnatural, like he was a passenger in his own body. He couldn't feel his legs, couldn't feel anything—just the relentless pull of Zoe's will driving him forward. The Soul Flicker skill was spent, its cooldown leaving him cursing under his breath. It had felt so alive when he'd used it, that brief moment of power against the Mechanoid, but now he was at Zoe's mercy.
The service door loomed ahead, and he burst through it into. The familiar scents of burnt circuit in the air hit his nostrils. The black Car's headlights flashed in the distance, a signal in the dark were it hid. It blended smoothly with the environment. Like it camouflaged. 'I brought it here to make the journey faster', Zoe said, her voice steady despite the chaos. Rex wasn't surprised, she was more than capable of such.
The car door clicked open, and Rex stumbled inside, collapsing onto the passengers seat. The Echomind skill faded, its energy draining from him like water from a cracked glass. His body slumped back, his vision darkening. The last thing he heard was Zoe's voice, tinged with exasperation. "Too weak."
And then darkness swallowed him whole.