Her eyes snapped open.
Confusion hit first. Blue sky above, trees swaying. Where...?
Then the memory came flooding back. The pain, that enormous, unbearable pain.
She screamed.
The sound ripped from her throat, raw and desperate. Her hands clutched at her chest, stomach, face. The pain wasn't there anymore. Not physically. But the memory burned in her mind like a hot iron pressed against her brain.
What the hell was that.
She didn't remember many things. Didn't remember her name. Where she'd come from. Who she'd been. But she knew, with absolute certainty, that was the worst pain she'd ever felt. Had to be. Nothing could be worse.
Then the smell hit her.
Putrid, rotten death. She gagged. Turned her head and dry-heaved. Nothing came up. Where was that coming from?
Oh god. Me. That's me.
Black liquid covered her skin. Thick like tar, it clung to her arms, legs, and torso. She started wiping it off. Fast. Frantic. Her hands came away coated in the stuff.
The stench got worse. She gagged again.
But there was something else. Something worse than the smell.
She turned her head and looked at the ground beside her.
Organs.
Her organs.
Lying there in the moss. Dissolving slowly into black sludge. She recognized them, liver dark red turning black, kidneys, parts of her intestines still pink in places.
All of them decomposing right in front of her.
How... how am I alive? Those came out of me. I vomited those. How...
Her mind couldn't process it. She'd watched pieces of herself, vital pieces, come out of her mouth. And she was still breathing. Still alive.
The pain lingered. Not the acute agony from before. But a phantom sensation. Like her organs were still rebuilding themselves inside her. Like her body remembered being torn apart.
Stop. Stop thinking about it. You need to... you need to...
She couldn't finish the thought. Everything was chaos, terror, and confusion.
She took a breath. Forced herself. Breathe. Just breathe. Organize your thoughts or you're dead.
Since she'd woken up and seen that spider, that cybernetic thing, her mind hadn't been able to process anything. Everything was just hitting her all at once.
Three things. Focus on three things.
First: the people with guns.
She looked up and counted. One, two, three... fourteen.
Fourteen armed soldiers standing in front of her. Not counting the woman lying dead a few feet away. Not counting the other corpse.
They weren't talking, just standing there, maintaining distance, watching her.
Why aren't they shooting? They had guns pointed at me before. What's stopping them?
She looked up at the sky.
Massive white letters floated there.
[EVOLUTIONARY SELECTION: INITIATED]
[VIOLENCE PROHIBITED DURING SYNCHRONIZATION]
[NON-COMPLIANCE IS FATAL]
That. That's what's stopping them. Violence prohibited. Whatever that means, it's the only thing keeping me alive right now.
She looked at the soldiers again. Their eyes focused on empty air, reading something.
Blue screens. Like hers.
She looked at her own screen, still floating in front of her face. Could she see theirs? No. Which meant...
They can't see mine either. Private. Individual.
And there was something else keeping them away. She looked down at herself. The black liquid. The smell. The vomited organs dissolving on the ground.
I'm a horror show. They don't want to get close to this or touch me.
She was a variable they didn't know how to handle.
Second thing to analyze: the blue screen.
She'd look at it in detail later. The people with guns were more important right now.
Around her, the clearing spread out. Green moss, the Giant's corpse behind her, massive, white, and headless, with forest circling everything. And through the trees, she could see structures. Old. Clearly advanced technology but abandoned. Overgrown with vines and moss.
Third: her body.
But her mind was scattered. Everywhere at once. She didn't know how to organize her thoughts. Everything was happening too fast.
Come on. Breathe. Deep breath.
She inhaled.
And something unexpected happened.
Her body relaxed completely. Like someone had flipped a switch. The tension in her muscles released. The panic eased.
She took another breath. Deeper.
Wait.
More air. Much more air than her lungs should hold. More than would be possible on Earth.
She held it. Counted. Thirty seconds. Forty. Fifty. Sixty.
No burning. No strain. She could hold it longer. Much longer.
My lungs are different. Bigger? More efficient? I can breathe this atmosphere better than...
Better than what? She didn't know. But something had changed.
The soldiers were talking now. Low voices, professional.
"Ninety-two percent."
"Almost there. Ninety-five."
"Mine's at ninety-eight."
Their leader stood at the front. Taller and broader, with scars across his face. Old scars. He was staring at her. Hadn't looked away once.
I don't have much time. Need to figure this out. Need to find a way out before they're allowed to kill me.
She looked at the organs on the ground. Forced herself to think logically.
Okay. How did I survive losing those?
The only explanation that made sense: this wasn't Earth. Different air. Different gravity. Different everything.
And whatever had done this, the system, the spider, it had scanned her body and concluded some of her organs wouldn't work here.
So it replaced them. Printed new ones. That's why the spider had those smaller spiders. They built new organs inside me while dissolving the old ones.
The black liquid covering her skin. Impurities, had to be. Toxins and cellular waste. Years of accumulated garbage from Earth's atmosphere and food and... god, that smell was inside me?
She wanted to vomit again but there was nothing left.
Conclusion: I have an improved body. Adapted to this planet. Which will die very soon if I don't get away from these people.
Now the screen.
She focused on it. The text was clear now. She could read it. Understand it.
[EVOLUTIONARY SELECTION: COMPLETE]
[ROLE ASSIGNED: ENGINEER]
[SPECIALIZATION: NON-COMBATANT]
[LEVEL: 0]
[NOTE: PLANETARY ADAPTATION SUCCESSFUL]
She stared at the word. Engineer.
Engineer? Okay, engineer, I can... wait.
ENGINEER?
What the hell am I supposed to do as an engineer? Engineer of what? Civil? Mechanical? Software? What kind of engineering? And how does that help me not die?
Another section caught her eye. NAME: blank space next to it.
Right. I don't know my name.
She tried to remember. Searched her memories. Nothing came. Just empty space where her identity should be.
I don't know who I am.
The system seemed to wait. Five seconds. Ten. Then made the decision for her.
The blank space filled in.
DEFAULT PARTICIPANT NAME: OPERATOR
Operator. She tested the word in her mind. Fine. Okay. Operator works. Until I remember who I actually am.
The soldiers were getting louder. More animated.
"One hundred percent!"
"It's done. I can feel it."
"Sir, the changes... they're incredible."
They were reporting to their leader. Excited. Almost eager.
A woman with short dark hair stepped forward. "Seven fighters, sir. Tested on trees. Strength increased at least thirty percent. Speed even more."
"Reflexes," another added. "Caught a rock mid-air. Didn't think, just moved."
A massive man, easily six and a half feet tall, rolled his shoulders. "Six tanks, sir. Hardened skin. Took a knife to my arm, didn't cut."
"Damage resistance confirmed," another tank said.
The leader nodded. Then looked at a thin man standing near the back. "Kinetics?"
"Two, sir. You and me." The thin man picked up a small stone. Stared at it. The stone lifted off his palm. Floated. "It's like... flexing a muscle I never knew existed."
The leader's turn. He found a rock on the ground. Fist-sized. Rough. He stared at it.
The rock lifted.
Hovered three feet in the air.
His eyes narrowed.
The rock shot forward like a bullet. Hit a tree fifty meters away. Bark exploded. The tree shook.
She watched. Her stomach dropped.
Damn it. I'm so screwed.
What are these roles? Why do all these armed people get combat abilities? Fighters. Tanks. Kinetics. They're all made for fighting. And me?
A damn engineer.
Is this a game? Some kind of RPG system? Role assignment and levels?
She wanted them to explain. Wanted someone to tell her what was happening. But she could see it in their faces. Feel it in the way they moved. These people weren't going to help her.
The leader gave an order. "Spread out. Not far. Test your abilities. I want exact measurements."
The soldiers moved. Some went left, others right, staying within sight but giving each other space.
The leader approached her.
She tensed.
He stopped five feet away and looked down at her. His expression was cold and empty.
"Your role." His voice was flat. "Tell me."
She didn't answer.
Should I? Should I tell him?
"I'm waiting."
No. Something's wrong. This feels wrong.
His jaw tightened. "Your. Role. Now."
The shout made her flinch. Anger flared in her chest.
Don't yell at me.
But this wasn't the time. Not with fourteen armed soldiers. Not when she didn't understand what was happening.
She stayed quiet.
The leader's face darkened. He took a step forward. His hand shot out and reached for her throat.
She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
His hand stopped.
Six inches from her neck. Just... froze there. His eyes widened slightly. He was reading something. Something she couldn't see.
His hand trembled. With effort or rage, she couldn't tell.
Then he pulled back. Stood up. Turned away.
The violence prohibition. It stopped him. The system stopped him.
But for how long?
The leader walked ten feet away. He stood with his back to her, fists clenched. She could see his shoulders rising and falling. Breathing hard.
Suddenly, text appeared in the sky. New message in massive white letters.
[324 PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED ROLE ASSIGNMENT]
A voice started speaking. Female, robotic, completely emotionless. It echoed across the entire forest. Everyone inside the dome could hear it.
"Evolutionary process initiated. Role evolution depends on individual performance and capability. Initial role assignments follow standard classification: Fighter, Tank, Kinetic, and ERROR."
She listened. Everyone listened.
"These classifications are not fixed. They are adaptive evolutionary frameworks. Your role will change based on your choices and actions."
The voice paused.
"This evolution is a gift. A gift granted to the chosen. You will evolve not just as individuals, but as a species."
A gift? This is a gift?
"Participants are advised: operational area covers sixteen miles in all directions"
New text appeared on the sky screen.
[324 CHOSEN]
[232 FIGHTERS - START LEVEL 1]
[68 TANKS - START LEVEL 1]
[23 KINETICS - START LEVEL 1]
[1 ERROR - START LEVEL 0]
Error. That's me. I'm the error.
The leader turned. He looked at her. His eyes were different now, suspicious.
He's seen who came into this place. Probably all soldiers. Warriors. Trained people. And I look... weak. Untrained. Because I am.
The robotic voice spoke again.
"Error classification detected. Analysis complete. Correction applied."
The word ERROR on the display flickered. Glitched. Then erased itself.
Replaced with: ENGINEER
Every soldier in the clearing turned to stare at her.
The leader's face transformed. Suspicion became pure hatred.
He took three steps toward her. The violence warning must have appeared again because he stopped. But he didn't seem to care about staying calm anymore.
"ENGINEER?!"
The word exploded out of him. Spit flew from his mouth.
He took three steps toward her. Fast. The warning flashed and he stopped, fists clenched.
"An engineer." His voice dropped, dangerous. "In here. With us."
She opened her mouth. Closed it. What...?
"Who sent you?" Each word came out clipped. Sharp. "What house?"
"I don't... I don't know what you're..."
"You don't know." He laughed. No humor in it. "Centuries. Centuries we've waited for this barrier to fall. Generations of warriors trained and died waiting for this moment."
He pointed at the bodies in white armor.
"They bled for this. Sacrificed everything for the chance to enter." His hand shook. "And you... you just appear? A builder? A civilian?"
His jaw clenched hard. She heard teeth grinding.
"This is sacred ground. The proving ground of warriors. Not for..." He stopped. Breathed hard through his nose. "Not for you."
His eyes locked on hers.
"When the barrier drops, I'm going to find out who you are. Who dared to send an engineer into a warrior's trial."
Silence except for his breathing.
"And then you'll die. Slowly. You'll understand what you've desecrated."
She understood. Every word. Every promise.
I need to leave. Now. If I stay here I'm dead.
She looked at her screen. Searched desperately. There had to be something. An ability. A weapon. Anything.
But it showed almost nothing.
NAME: OPERATOR ROLE: ENGINEER LEVEL: 0
That was it.
The soldiers were watching her. They could see her panic. Her desperate searching.
One of them, a young fighter, maybe twenty-five, laughed. "Look. She finally gets it."
"Engineer," another soldier said.
"You shouldn't have come here."
A woman with a tank build stared at her for a moment, then looked away. Like she'd already made a decision and moved on.
She scanned her HUD again. Frantic.
There has to be something. Anything. Come on. COME ON.
"Look at her," someone said. "She thinks the system will save her."
"Run," one of the tanks said. He didn't look at her when he said it.
Damn it.
What do I do? I don't have anything. Why am I even here? Why did I survive all that if I'm just going to die now?
Should I... should I do what they said? Run? End it some other way?
NO. Screw that. Screw them. I want to... I want to hurt them somehow. Make them regret this. But I don't know how. I don't have anything.
She scanned her vision again. Bottom right corner.
Wait. There.
A tiny point. Blinking. So small she'd almost missed it. The size of a needle tip but glowing faint blue.
She focused on it. Touched it mentally.
A message appeared.
[TERA REQUESTS CONTROL OF OPERATOR EVOLUTION PROTOCOL]
[WARNING: EXTERNAL SYSTEM INTEGRATION DETECTED]
[DO YOU APPROVE?]
[YES / NO]
TERA? What's TERA? I don't...
She had no other options. No abilities, no weapons, no way out.
Screw it.
She selected YES.
The reaction was immediate.
In the sky, the word ENGINEER started flickering. Glitching like a corrupted file.
The robotic voice spoke. Different tone now urgent, almost alarmed.
"WARNING. External system detected. Unauthorized access in progress. Core integrity compromised."
They looked up, confused and worried.
"Original trial commencement time: two hours from initialization."
Two hours? For what?
"Adjusted emergency protocol. Trial commencement accelerated. New start time: fifteen minutes."
She froze.
Wait. What does that mean?
Then it hit her. The trial, the competition. Whatever this was, it had rules. Violence prohibited during synchronization. But when the trial started...
In fifteen minutes, they can kill me. The restrictions lift. And they'll be allowed.
The soldiers understood too. She could see it in their faces, the realization, the anticipation.
The young fighter smiled. "Fifteen minutes. That's generous."
"More than she deserves," the tank woman said.
No no no. What did I do?
But when she looked at her screen, something had changed.
NAME: OPERATOR ROLE: ENGINEER LEVEL: 0
ABILITY: PRINT MODULE - STATUS: LOCKED [ACTIVATE ABILITY? YES / NO]
An ability. She had an ability.
What's Print Module? What does that even mean?
The soldiers noticed the change in her expression. The fear was still there, but something else too, hope and expectation.
No time to think. She selected YES.
Heat bloomed in her chest.
Not painful but intense. Right where the spider had placed that grain. That tiny fragment of blue light connected to her heart.
It pulsed. Warm, getting warmer, then hot.
New text appeared.
[PRINT MODULE: ACTIVATED]
[CORE FRAGMENT SYNCHRONIZATION: COMPLETE]
[SEARCHING FOR COMPATIBLE PRINTER UNIT...]
[MISSION OBJECTIVE: LOCATE PRINTER UNIT WITHIN OPERATIONAL RANGE]
[TIME UNTIL TRIAL COMMENCEMENT: 14:52]
Printer unit?
She thought about the spider. The one that had rebuilt her. Those smaller spiders that had crawled out and printed her new arm, her new legs, bone, muscle, skin, layer by layer.
Those were printers. They printed biological material. That's what this ability needs.
But the spider that had saved her was gone. Back underground. The structure had sunk into the earth.
Where are the other printers?
Then she remembered. The soldiers. When they were running out of the forest. Being chased by small white spiders. The spiders had jumped on them. Attached to their necks.
Those spiders. The ones that attacked them. White metal. Blue lights. Those are printers.
They're in the forest. Somewhere.
She looked at the timer.
[14:22]
Okay. Okay, Operator. Find a printer spider in the forest before the trial starts. Before they're allowed to kill you.
Simple.
She pushed herself up. Her legs worked. The numbness was completely gone. She could feel everything, her muscles, her balance, her new body responding perfectly.
The leader was watching. His hand went to his pistol, then stopped. The warning was still active.
"Where are you going?"
She didn't answer and started walking toward the treeline.
"I asked you a question."
She kept walking. Ten feet. Fifteen.
The leader raised his hand. Stopped the others. "Let her go."
The soldiers looked at him. Confused.
"Sir?"
"She has fourteen minutes before the trial starts. Before we can move freely. She won't get far."
He looked at her retreating form.
"Let her run. It'll be more interesting when we find her."
She reached the trees and looked back once.
Fourteen soldiers, all watching, all waiting.
The leader's eyes locked on hers. No anger now, just patience, like a predator watching prey.
She turned and ran into the forest.
The timer counted down.
[13:58] [13:57] [13:56]