“Excellent, they’re waking up!”, I yell excitingly. Hmm? Is the hologram on? Who cares. What’s important is that the cloning process was a success. I was kinda worried, considering it was a military program, since most of their inventions are either failures or come with a great risk to anybody near them. Better not get my hopes yet. Though the cloning process succeeded physically, we still have to measure if they’re mentally stable.

Looks like they woke up, “Drain the liquid and open the tubes”, I say to A, since the moron is just standing there with his mouth open, I mean I know it’s an incredible sight and all, but don’t get carried on the job.

“Draining the liquid and opening the tubes”, and now he’s parroting like in this old military movies. This is not a command center, A!

And now the clones fell on the ground. Please get up, please… Yes, they’re standing up! Aaaaand one of them fell over. Hmm, seems it takes more than a second to get used to a new body, which is disappointing since some them already know the sensation of a new body, considering they’re used to synching with bipedal combat drones.

Anyways, time to make an impression.

This feels weird. It’s like it’s not my body.

Wait, weird feeling… not my body…

Did they clone me!? Who gave them permission to clone me!? If it’s the Korvan’s I know whose head I’ll bash in tonight! If it’s the Altans, I’ll file a complaint to supreme commander Ameria Asava, since I specifically said that if I die, I want to stay dead and I want to be buried in the emerald gardens on Alta! Not to be-

Oh my god, is that Ameria!? Wasn’t she on the flagship Furious in the back line during the battle!?

And there’s also on my right, Gernom Yoram commander of the Tempest, Saris Batika also known as the storm queen and the freedom fighter Keth Joors who managed to free Tor from Korvan occupation 10 years ago.

On my left, there’s the legendary Korvan strategist Aizen Koshimar who managed to defeat an entire Altan battalion with only an 8th of their number, Guran the wall Valden who’s never lost a defensive battle, but wasn’t he guarding Korva in case a counter-attack? Anyways, there’s also Jarm Tovan the commander of the dauntless, who’s the first to charge at the enemy in battle, which is no wonder why he’s here, and there’s also Horsan Zaghan the wandering poet? What’s he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be searching for inspiration on the newly colonized desert planet of Kar?

I’m confused right now, and judging by the look on their faces, I’m not the only one.

“Ahem…”, Oh, I seem to have forgotten about the old man, but can you blame me? Though his clothes seem peculiar, he’s kinda easy to ignore compared to this line up, including the poet. Though there is something weird about him, but I can’t put my finger on it.

“Now that I have your attention let me introduce myself, my name is Leon Octavian Sirus and I’m the head of the department of Artificial Intelligence for the Median Empire.”, Head of AI? Median Empire? Never heard of it. And why would some government code monkey be the first to meet us?

Looks like Jarm’s the one who’ll start talking, “Median Empire? Is that a joke, round ears?”, ah, so that’s what’s so weird about him, his ears are short and round. Must be some kind of physical deformity.

“No sir, it’s no joke, you’re all now in the Median Empire on the planet Yomir in Capello System.”, explains Leon as he shows us a series of real-time maps, showing us the current solar system, the planet Yomir and the location we’re currently in.

But Yomir? Never heard of the planet or the solar system. Must be a newly discovered planet. And if so, how many years have passed for them to colonize a new planet? And why would they decide to clone us now and people from both sides? Did both Alta and Korva fall and new nations rose in their place?

And after looking around, isn’t the technology used too old? Did society collapse and we reverted back to more primitive times? Are we ghosts of the past, who lost their homes?

I start to ask myself while shaking fearfully, clenching my fists and cold sweat pouring from my body. I’d fight a thousand enemies and stare death in the eyes with a smile on my face, but I never want to face a world where the place I was born in and fought for is gone.

Silence fills the place and everyone is frozen in place, no one wanting to ask Leon the question on all our minds, except one.

Ameria steps forward with her head high and begins to speak, “Greetings Leon, I am Ameria Asava, I am the supreme commander of the Altan republic and the guardian of its people.”, me and the rest of the Altan veterans nod our heads, while some of the Korvans barely hide any ill-intent due to their history with her, while others show her the respect befitting her rank.

She then says, “With all due respect, may I inquire on the current events, why did you clone men and women on both sides, and what happened to both Alta and Korva?”.

All of us are eyeing Leon waiting for his answer and then he opens his mouth, “Nothing happened.”.

“Huh?”, all of us including Ameria, stare at him like idiots after such an answer.

“Really, nothing happened, they’re still fighting over that planet.”.

“Yokshit!”, looks like Keth couldn’t keep his temper in check, but I can’t blame him. Imagine that you heard on the news that some great catastrophe happened in the place where the dearest person to your heart lives and some guy just tells you that it was all a fluke and everything’s alright while the evidence is in front your eyes.

“If nothing happened and what you are saying is true. How come are we here? And I wasn’t on Tor, I was on Kar doing a performance to some natives, when some big shadow emerged from the sand and engulfed me from behind”, looks like a sandworm got the poor guy. “Wouldn’t it take the fastest ship a few days to travel from Tor to Kar or vice versa? So how did you gather all of us during the battle and without anyone stopping you?”, he’s right, how did he gather all of us together in such a small amount of time and without retaliation?

“Easy”, Leon starts smiling and trust me, I don’t like that smile, “I created you.”.

“Well yeah, you cloned us.”, Saris replied immediately.

“No, I mean I really created you and your entire world.”.

…

Please god, tell me he’s just joking and we’ve not been cloned by a madman or the head of some weird cult.

“I know, I know. It’s hard to believe, but look at this.”, The psycho waves his hand to the left and a great screen displays the last thing we want to see.

Tor, the green planet we all fought and died for, except Zaghan. The Korvan fleet is still fighting a two front battle against Alta. One on the surface, while the other is in space.

In space, fire is being exchanged by both sides and wreckage flows in the dark void of space. On land, Korva is still struggling to gain a foot hold on the planet. Transport ships are being blasted out of the sky by Alta’s AS batteries and ground forces.

“Now see this”, says Leon before he snapping his fingers and time speeds up.

“No! stop!”, yells Saris as years by in an instant in our world.

And time returns to normal, there’s a calendar in the bottom-left corner of the screen. It was 122 SE and now it’s 172 SE. 50 years have passed.

“According to my data, Tor gained independence and became the Tor federation.”.

“How is that possible…”, I say absent-mindedly.

It’s impossible. How could it be possible?

So you’re telling me that old guy is supposed to be god? Fuck this shit!

This is just a trick, there’s no way this is real.

“A fake.”, says Gernom with a cold tone and eyes full of hate at Leon, “You are no god, Leon. Do not play us for fools, heretic. You are not the creator.”.

Germon was a devout follower of Asimism. A religion based on the worship of a god known as the Creator and enforcing his commandments. It’s a strict religion focused on being steadfast, treating others with kindness and showing humility.

“I never said I’m the creator, just that I created your world.”.

“How can you create our world, when there is only one who creates!”, retorts Gernom and now he’s getting angry.

“Because your world isn’t real.”.

…

What did this fucker just say…?

Our world isn’t real…?

“It is a simulation that was made for two purposes. To gather data then test and implement your technologies and theories in our world and- “.

“Liar!”.

“You mother fucker!”.

“You’re mad!”

That fucker frowns, then he claps his hands and gravity intensifies and we fall on our knees. Everyone tries to stand and some try to use magic, but they all fail. I even failed after utilizing magic internally. The magic here is not strong enough.

“I hate to be interrupted, and as I was saying the second purpose was to create a level 3 AI”.

Huh?

Level… 3… AI…? I remember my parents’ faces.

“I personally interfered in your world to prevent you from going beyond the second level AI.”, he starts explaining to us.

You bastard interfered…?

“Let me first explain the levels of AI to you.”.

Shut up…

“The first level is an AI that learns from its environment.”.

I said shut up…

“The second level is an AI that thinks, it means an AI that has Sapience and acknowledges its own existence and it can think for itself.”.

Shut up… Shut up…!

The success rate was supposed to be 100%.

So you’re the reason huh….?

They died because of you…

“The third level is an AI that feels. And that my friends, is you.”.

They died because of YOU!!!

The lab starts rumbling with the fury of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake and the connection is cut off.

“What’s happening!?”, Screams Hannah while crouching down on the ground.

“Activate the additional nullifiers!”, A quickly stands and goes to activate them. We’ll be safe and sound once he does that.

Boom.

“What did you do!?”, I scream frantically at A.

“It’s not me sir, it’s the machine!”, STUPID SECOND GRADE MILITARY CRAP! I knew those muscle heads will mess things, I knew it!

Ok, things can still be saved. I activated the emergency signal so the soldiers on standby can get things under control and stop Atla. Now I only need to check how powerful he is. “Check his energy level”, I ask of A, while Hannah activates the Geo-Stabilizers. Luckily I locked the scanner on their signal before hand.

“It’s over 9000!”.

“Over 9000!?”. We’re doomed.

I’LL KILL HIM!

HE’LL PAY FOR WHAT HE DID TO THEM! TO US!

I continue forward alone. Everyone else was knocked out by the shock. But it doesn’t matter, what matters is to get my hands on that son of a bitch!

I smash my way through some doors and go into the main hallway. Then, I see THEM.

“Target in sight! Now!”

A half a dozen soldiers using archaic weaponry stands in my way and start firing at me using their beam rifles, but that won’t stop me.

“Wah-?”.

Chop.

I blink behind the soldiers in the rear and chop the first one in my sight perfectly in half from the middle using a mana blade. His blood splatters across the walls while his cut stomach and entrails are leaking both blood and gastric juices on the floor. These are Leon’s men, so they deserve no mercy.

I rip off the lower jaw of the second and break the teeth on the upper one, then I grab him like a bowling ball by inserting my fingers in his eyes, then I cover both our bodies with energy and use him to ram his friends with the force and speed of an information age bullet train, which reduced them to meat paste and spread their insides all over the hall.

Now that I’m done with him, I throw him to the ground and heal his eyes so that he sees what happens to those who screw with life. Hope you’re seeing this Leon, because this is what I’ll do to you.

“guuuug…ekhiiig…”, The soldier wails with tears running down his eyes while crawling towards a name tag next to a blue eyeball with the name Erina Kalhan, seeing the name on his tag is Hans Elbert, she must’ve been his love.

Doesn’t matter, considering they work for a country that hires the likes of Leon.

“Wraaaghhh….!!!”, Hoh, the shit dares to stand up and charge at me. He’s trying to perform a suicide attack by igniting energy in his body.

“grahh…!!”, I nullified his attempt by inserting my own energy via stabbing his chest. Then, I threw him on the ground and put my foot on his face and starting pressing down slowly.

You should’ve seen how funny he looked when he started to flail around and scream while trying to get it off. The best part was how his eyes turned from absolute hate to pure fear as I slowly push his nose further inside his face with a smile as he’s choking on his own blood and feeling pain as his skull cracks.

Oh right, I have to kill Leon before he escapes! It was getting boring anyway.

Crack!

With one stomp I cracked his skull and continued on my way.

Just wait Leon! You will pay!

All of us have seen Atla’s horrible act.

“Otto, you and Hannah gather everyone and get out.”, I say to my him as I prepare to take down this beast.

“No!”, shouts Hannah with her face covered with snot and tears. Eww, please wipe your face Hannah, you look scarier that scene just now.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of staying here sir, that’s madness!”, madness!?, THIS.IS- ok it’s not the time for that.

“Don’t worry about me boy. Have you forgotten who I am?”, I say to Otto, as I wipe Hannah’s face with a napkin.

“No, I didn’t forget who you are, you crazy old coot, but this is not like you! Since when you’re the type to put others before yourself!? Why now is the guy who’s obnoxious, arrogant, cheap, selfish, and mostly importantly never even tries to remember other people’s names trying to be a hero!?, the only reason you remember Hannah’s is because she’s the only one who managed to impress you!”.

“Oh Otto, you silly fool, haven’t you noticed that I’m calling you by name?”.

“Eh…?”, Sigh… Did you really think I don’t know my own employees’ names? I remember Filip who used to be my rival when I first applied to the job, then came Mathias who requested to relocate back to Essen, due to his desire to stay with his wife Adda who was pregnant at the time, then there was Sanda who was a hard worker, but had trouble getting along with everyone being the new guy from abroad and all, so I secretly asked Carrie to organize a party for him, but make it seem like her own idea, after him came John, who might seem dumb as a rock, which is kinda funny since he’s making the AI for the mining program, but when you put him to work, he’s the sharpest tool in the shed, and there’s you, who was excited at the prospect of working under his idol, while holding a copy of Guide to true AI.

“I might seem like I don’t care, but’s it’s all an act. Just mere roleplay, I even narrate the part in my mind”.

“But… Why?”, asks the dumbfounded boy.

“Isn’t it obvious? To prepare you for the future! Who knows who you would’ve been under when my time comes. Plus, bullying you guys is just fun!”, Great, now HE’S crying, and I don’t like it when men cry. Unlike girls, it’s not hot when a guy cries. Come on boy, not in front of the girl! Real men only cry in their rooms or when they see their favorite character in an anime or manga dies! Yeah, some of the computers on that ship had anime and manga, and I like them. Sue me.

“Come on you two, time to do your job.”, I tell my two assistants the extremely obvious. We wasted enough time on this drama! The lunatic is already in block G! It’ll take him about twenty minutes before he gets here!

“But- “, oh come on.

“No, buts! You only get those when you’re married or in a red light district for cash! Trust me, he’s after me and do you really think I’d allow myself to die? And no offense, you’d only serve as hindrance with your puny magic skills and noodle arms.”, did I mention how weak Otto is? No? It’s not the time anyways to talk about this guy’s noodle arms.

“Do you really have to take a jab at me even in a situation like this?”, Oh what a silly question.

“No shit Sherlock”, Ah, the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. A timeless work of art that was also found on that ship. It’s almost as great as the Secrets in the stone woods series written by the renowned mystery writer Arma Sezeran from the kingdom of Yezzen.

“Seriously though, remember what I told you about caution? If I didn’t have a sure fire way to beat this guy, why did I choose him?”, please believe my bluff, please believe my bluff, please believe my bluff.

“Let’s go Otto. You know he’s right about us and he won’t change his mind”, like always, you’re as hardy ever Hannah.

“Alright… Good luck sir, please don’t die.”, don’t worry pansy, I won’t.

“Good luck, and stay safe”, I say as I smile and watch them getting ready to leave.

I explain to them that once they gather as many employees as they can in the span of 10 minutes to go to a secret area I built in the lab for emergencies. It has a one-time transportation sigil capable of transporting everyone.

I watch them leave as I prepare to fight a monster I really wish that was just a nightmare. I still have 10 minutes to prepare.

...

3 minutes left.

“Leoooooon? Where are you!?”, Says Atla who’s a few blocks away from finally reaching the room.

I keep my eyes on this beast of a man while performing the last of my preparations.

Let me tell you about him. He’s Atla Corith, the bloody hero of the Altan republic. Why bloody? The more important question is why is he considered a hero. Anyways, He’s the son of Okkan and Jeva Corith. Who are in my book, the worst who ever tried to create a level 3 AI.

Why the worst? It’s simple really. When I designed the system and installed the counter measures, I made it so that the severity of the failure depends on the individual. So if a man or woman tries to create a level 3 AI and he did it with good intentions and without endangering others for his own personal needs, their device would merely fail, but if the experiment was inhumane, they would die with their experiment and burn in eternal damnation in hell. Hell you say? Since it would have been cruel to just let all the people disappear to oblivion, I created an afterlife for their world.

I can guess what you’re thinking, isn’t it hypocritical of me to judge others? Yes, yes it is. But like I just said just a moment ago, it would’ve been too cruel to just let them disappear. Who knows why I did this. Was it out of sympathy or was it out of fear from the possibility of there being no end? No matter, it still cost a lot to make the processors powerful enough and the memories large enough to handle both life and afterlife. You can imagine the number of complaints for wasting resources on something so trivial, as they like to say.

anyways, as I was saying, they were the worst. There are many ways to achieve a level 3 AI, which range from virtual reality to human experimentation. They used to get orphans from the war via help from the government. Those poor children were subjected to horrors no child has to go through. Some of them were brutalized by the AI after it gone berserk during interaction, others were linked to a machine that created a mental link between them and the AI in order for it to study their mind directly and they broke down mentally, then were thrown into the streets to spend the rest of their days locked in their own mind. And when the government was under suspicion by the populace and stopped providing them subjects, they even experimented on their son Atla, which is the reason why he’s like this. The AI turned a smart, gentle and kind young boy who wouldn’t hurt a fly into someone who spent his free time during childhood dissecting cats while they’re alive for fun, and they just shrugged and said it was a failed experiment.

I had enough. I wondered why the system hadn’t intervened and it turned out it was a flaw in its method. How to decide good and evil? Every civilization has its own concept on the matter and I built a karmic system around that. And in the eyes of such a system, Okkan and Jeva were ‘good’, since they were doing such acts for the greater good of their people.

That surprised me, how could we allow such a thing to happen? Then, I checked other major figures and it’s almost the same everywhere.

Aizen was the leader of a major slaving ring in the underworld, Keth was a drug dealer who mostly targeted teens, Saris was a serial murderer who enjoyed ‘cleaning’ the streets of those who are homeless and downtrodden and Gernom was a pedophile who enjoyed taking the purity of young boys. While the other cloned individuals were innocent.

And Atla? Just like I said he was broken by his very own parents. He became violent and cruel, enforcing his view of justice with the blood of his enemies and those who stand in his way. He basically became a stereotypical Xianxia protagonist, and I really don’t like xianxia. Among the novels found on the ship, I preferred titles about kingdom building and genres like fantasy, sci-fi or xuanhuan. I’d even read a good wuxia about founding an empire if I find out.

So I needed people with high enough clearance, so I said to myself, why not get rid of some scum while at it? I’ll just take the info, then wipe out the 5 who deserve to die. I do feel sorry for cloning the other 4, but they are the key to access some data that we really require to move forward in some fields.

“hey Leon…”, Says Atla outside the door with a vicious smile stretching from one side of face to the other. Seems like the 3 minutes passed quickly. Thankfully I managed to finish my preparations.

“Hello Atla, ready to begin?”, I say to him to him while also giving my own calm grin.

And he doesn’t seem to like that, as he charges straight at me and smashes his fist against my barrier, producing shockwaves in the process.

Remember when I said how I always prepare for the day when I wake up? While he was advancing towards my position, ripping to shreds anything that stands in his way, I casted superior physical protection, superior magic protection, superior senses enhancement, superior physical enhancement, claws of magic, a spell made in their world called speed of light and a spell I made by combining our knowledge with theirs, I Called it barrier of kings.

His expression turned cold after seeing as how he couldn’t smash the barrier with a single punch. Then he blinked and the barrier was slammed from behind.

I retaliated by slashing at him with my energy claws, then blasting him with inferno, which did nothing other than piss him off and turn the equipment behind him into molten goop.

…

This fight will be a bitch, won’t it?

I finally find the fucker and this is what I get?

Just a normal old man with above average skills?

“What was that just now? Was that supposed to be some great flame spell? I thought it was just a candle light. Now THIS is how you play with fire!”, I say while blasting the geezer with a blast of super-heated plasma.

Then I go in for the kill and that stupid barrier gets in my way again!

It’s not fair! It’s not fair!

I deserve this! He deserves to die for what he’s done!

I blink again, but this time above his head and slash at him from above!

Again! That damn barrier! Looks like you’re really good at barriers, huh Leon?, but you know what? Time for me to get REALLY serious.

After that attack from above, he suddenly smiled and changed his posture. That’s not good.

“What the!?”, What’s with this torrent of mana? Yeah, I said mana. The reason, I kept saying magic energy this, magic energy that, is because mana is just a single type of magic energy and only amateurs refer to all types of magic as mana. The reason I’m even saying mana right now is because now hundreds of mana shaped fists are floating behind the bastard.

Suddenly the barrier is bombarded by an endless barrage of fists.

Crack.

This is bad, it looks like I have to play my cards early.

“It’s High Noon!”, I yell out loud. I don’t know what’s the significance of this phrase to the Terrans, but I’ve seen recorded many times on their ship’s chat server.

“Gah!”, screams the idiot as he’s blasted into the wall from the side by the 2 hidden Plasma turrets in the ceiling. What? I work with machines and this is a government lab. Isn’t it obvious that I’d have a bot, 2 bots or maybe 20!

Suddenly a fist slams into Atla’s face from the wall and a model X-69 drone tackles him into the ground. He then was dog piled by a dozen W-25 battle drones. With 6 S-16s and 1 H-3 model on standby.

I borrowed these guys from the army and all of them are the cream of the crop. The W-25s are the newest model of warrior drones, equipped with a thick plate of carbon steel armor instead of the titanium one used on previous models, shock absorbers, anti-magic enchantments, an ultra-sonic sword and a carbon steel shield with a polycarbonate outer cover. Yeah, I’m not explaining the specific details for every model, I’ll just tell you that the S-16 is a Shooter model capable of using magic and firing attacks from both its hands and shoulder cannons, the H-3 is the healer capable of using magic to heal soldiers and personal, while also able to repair other models via nanites, and the X-69 is a prototype commander model and unlike the rest, the model number is a joke, not the actual model.

“ENOUGH!”, and he blew them away.

He charged at the nearest W-25 and ripped off its sword arm right off the socket, then he took the sword from it and stabbed it in the head of the one behind him who tried to stab him in the back. How the hell did he grab an ultra-sonic blade!?

The S-16s tried to shoot him, but he instantly used the decapitated drone as a shield. Then the drone who lost his arm tried to bash him with his shield, but Atla instantly slashes at him using the sword, which the drone blocks at the cost of losing his shield, then his knees get smashed and Atla finishes him off by stomping on his head.

Then he throws his sword and it penetrates the H-3 cutting off our support. After seeing this, the X-69 orders the W-25 to surround Atla from a distance and for the S-16s to commence a concentrated assault on him.

The drone holds off most of the attacks, enough at least for Atla to teleport behind the X-69.

“Ahh…! You son of a-!”, cursed the bastard after I blasted him with lighting. Take that bitch! Come on, did you really thing I’m just watching the show? I was trying to charge an attack with enough energy to actually hurt that piece of crap. And guess what, it worked!

Boom.

… Or it just made him mad…

He just now charged straight at the W-25s and managed at the to take down 4 at the cost of almost losing his arm. He still lost 2 fingers on his right hand and got a blade stuck in his arm.

He took the blade out from it and used it as a javelin to take out an S-16, then he grabbed a shield and rammed another 2 W-25s turning them into scrap metal, but got a fireball to the back by yours’ truly.

He then blinked again and appeared on my left and tried to hit me with the shield, only to fail to break the barrier and get his tendons slashed at by 2 W-25’s and blasted on the head by the remaining S-16s.

He manages to grab one of the W-25’s and use it to fend off the blasts, when a third W-25 imitated him by throwing its sword at the guy. He managed to barely dodge the attack, losing the upper half of his ear in the process.

“GRAAAHHHHH…!”, the place rumbled with his roar and every hair on my back is standing on end.

Did I say he was mad before? We now need a new definition for the word.

“ENOUGH! ENOUGH! ENOUUUUUGHHH!”, he roared as he charged straight at the W-25 that threw the blade and smashed its head, but not before it stabbed him in the side using a blade it took from one of its brethren.

The W-25 that he used as a shield was still active and it charged at him and stabbed him in his left armpit, while the other W-25 also charged, but it stabbed him in the right knee.

The drones are getting smarter. They put Atla in a bad situation by attacking in different places at different angles. If he attacks one, the other will have a clean hit on him, if he does a wide swing he’ll not only increase the size of the stab wounds, he’ll only wound them, not destroy them and if he releases another shockwave to push them back, he’ll be wide open for me and the S-16s.

Considering I helped in creating the AI for the W series in my early years, I have to admit, I’m really proud.

Atla chose to take his chance with a shockwave. Remember those mana fists I told you about? The one he used to try to break the barrier? He lost most of them after being hit by the turrets. Seems like it takes a lot of concentration to keep many of them active. Now there’re still 30 hands left. And used them to attack S-16s and divert their attacks. Ah, that reminds me.

“Grragh…! STOP IT!”, he screamed after I shot him with the turrets and looks like he lost control of another 10 hands.

The 20 remaining hands managed to destroy an S-16 and damage the shoulder cannons of another, which reduced the rate of fire on Atla, who managed to destroy the turrets before being pinned to the ground by the three remaining W-25s.

They pinned him down from behind by having the three of them push him together, then the 2 that are still alright stab him in the middle of his hands right into the ground, while the damaged one stabs him in his left calf.

“GRRRAAAAHHHH!”, Sheesh, enough with the screaming. You’re hurt, I get it, but enough is enough.

“Shut up already.”, I say before helping the W-25s by conjuring an ice spear and stabbing him in his other calf, while X-69 tries to help the S-16s destroy the hands.

“Heh... hehe…”, Then he giggled. I don’t like it when bad guys giggle.

Boom!

We all look to where the explosion happened and see the remains of the S-16s and the X-69.

“Heh… hehe…”, I can’t help but giggle like an idiot. This is so fun!

When was the last time I was pushed to a corner? When I died? Nah, that was just a cheap shot and I bet those bitches got what they deserved.

When I was smiling at Akkan, it was because there was no helping it. At least the bomb that’s planted in my chest would’ve sent them after me, or better yet, one of them dies while the other laments their loss.

Now time to end this. Explode.

Boom!

Finally! No more blasters!

Time to get rid of these guys!

I send an electric shock through my body strong enough to let these things get rid of their swords, then I emit another shockwave to throw them away. The shock was so strong that it even hurt me, but you know what they say. NO PAIN, NO GAME!

I manage to unpin my hands from those fucking swords and grab the sword stuck to my foot and throw it at nearest tin can who was trying to get a sword from the one that I stomped earlier. Skewering him right in the head. You should’ve seen how he fell on his knees like some puppet whose strings were just cut off.

By the time I broke that popsicle and stood up, I saw those 2 other two trying to flank me on both sides.

I managed to parry both of those walking scrap heaps only to get hit in the back by a rock thanks to that son of a whore Leon! That shit hurts! And it left me open to those bots as they slashed my sides.

Forgot about fun, this is bad! I may have underestimated these guys How do I beat these guys without dying? There must be something that I can do-.

Is that a voice? Siras? Perfect! One of those Korva idiots woke up!

I grin as I push my back to a wall as I manage to block those 2 again and avoid some ice spikes courtesy of Leon. Then, I roll to near the door.

“Atla-!?“, I grab her by the neck and throw her right at the charging bots. They’re confused for a second as to why there’s now a girl suddenly stabbed onto their blades? And Leon? He’s shocked that I used her like this. Don’t act like a good guy now, and besides, she’s from Korva, so why should I give a fuck about her?

I stab a sword through her forehead to stab the bot behind her, and her eyes ask me why as their light fade away. She’s a stinking Korvan, isn’t it good enough for her help me out?

I then manage to block the other one and then lean to the right to avoid a lightning bolt from Leon. It’s both smaller and weaker than the ones before. The old guy must be running out of juice.

Now it’s down to us three. Me, Leon and the bot with the damaged head. Must’ve been the one I grabbed before that shit almost cut off my ear.

The bot threw it’s shield right at me, which I managed to cut in half, only to find that bot right in front of me raising 2 swords above his head.

I manage to block that attack and take a step back, before being thrown to the side due to a rock bullet thrown by Leon.

I quickly stand and roll out of the way, barely avoiding getting my head chopped off by that shit-bot. How the hell did it get so good!?

I roll again as I feel the earth rumbling under my feet and earth spikes came out from my previous position. They’re still coming out!

I keep rolling trying to avoid a continuous wave of spikes before getting kicked by that fucking bot right into the fucking wall!

Goddamnit! This is cheating! This must be cheating! Or can someone explain how the fuck am I losing to a fucking tin can and an old lab monkey!?

Looks like I have to gamble. It’s either do or die now…

I throw myself at the bot and perform a feint making it look like I’m going to slash at it from the left.

“Gotcha!”, it fell for it and I stabbed him in the chest! it’ s stumbling and falling on its knees.

“Now, there’s only you and me, Leo-Wah!?”, as I turned, it suddenly stood and it held me in a bear hug!

How is it still active!? Wait! It’s over-heating!? And the cores of the others are too!? What’s going on!?

I struggle trying to get away from this thing! I don’t want to die!

Not like this!

NOOOOOOO!

BOOM!

BOOM!

My barrier loses the last of its energy absorbing the shockwaves from the blast. As it fades, I fall on my knees.

That blast was powerful enough to set the whole Section on fire.

The last of the W-25s performed a suicide attack to take Atla down. And how did it manage to blow up the other cores? That’s a special feature of our military units. The cores are equipped with a scanner, transmitter, transceiver, and a detonator. Once a core detects that there are all droids are destroyed in the nearby area or when it’s given a signal by a fellow droid or someone with a high enough military rank, they self-destruct destroying anything in the nearby area. You might say what about nearby friendlies? But’s better for a few souls to be lost than having our weapons in the future being used on our citizens.

Thank the military dept. for- No, thank the droids themselves for their sacrifice. You might think why am I thanking tools? Well, I see them as more than tools.

Anyways, it’s finally over… No, not yet. Better not let my guard down, since I haven’t seen his body yet. Nothing is ever over, until there’s proof it is.

“LeEeeEOON…”, and here’s the proof that it’s still on. Atla’s body comes out of the flames. His skin is melting, his limbs are showing the bones and muscles underneath, blood is pouring from every orifice and he’s holding a sword while staring at me with a hate so profound, it could drag this world into the darkest abyss.

I stand up and prepare myself. This is the end.

I’ve neared my limit, while he neared his.

One final confrontation will decide the fate of all. Will I live and see everyone again? Or will this devil exact his revenge and burn our world to the ground?

He charges while summoning those hands again, this time shaping them into knives, while I do the same, but instead of hands, I use spikes of ice.

Our magical missiles collide as he charges forth. I summon an earthen wall as I retreat to the back, near where my desk used to be, that manages to stop his blade for a second before he cuts through.

The magical confrontation above us ends with me being the victor. There are 10 remaining spikes which I launch at Atla.

He slashes 4 as he closes the distance by a step, blocks another 3 after another step, dodges 2 and ignores the last as it lodges in his shoulder as he stabs towards me.

A burning pain erupts from my gut as the blade slashes all the way straight through to the other end.

“Be-!”.

Crack!

“Gooogh...!”, I scream as Atla breaks my lower jaw.

“DId YoU ReaLLy THinK i WouLDn’t NoTICE!?”, he says as he charges the sword with the last of his magic and throws it at the destruction sigil in the sealing, disrupting the magical flow and negating its effects.

Then he starts screaming, while choking me with one hand and punching me with the other,” DO.YoU.ThINK.I’M.STuPid!?”.

“WELL!?”, he says while choking me.

Why yes, yes I do.

Considering that you’re standing right where I want you.

I point at the ground and give the best smile I could with a broken jaw.

“BEEF WOMEN!”, I say using wind magic to articulate the words, since it’s hard, if even possible to talk with a broken lower jaw.

“Huh!?, AHHHH!!!”, screams as the double sigil under his feet activates and sealing him in, minus the arm that’s choking me.

“WHAT THE HELL!?”, he shouts out while banging the barrier with both his hand and his stub.

“Barrier… Space… You… BYEBYE…”, NOW I’m out of magic. Yeah, I know I could’ve wasted my magic in a better way, but it’s worth it, seeing that cute look on his face as he’s banging on the barrier and cursing my name in ways that it can almost be considered a work of art. Almost. And in case you’re wondering, there’s a BIG difference between healing a mangled leg and an entire body.

“LEEEEEEEOOOOOOONNNN......!!!”, and there he goes on a wonderful, magical journey in the depth of space!

Heh…

It’s finally over. For real this time.

…

Huh… So this is it…

I think to myself while lying down on the floor, bleeding from a gaping hole in my gut, in pain and not being able to move a single muscle. Surrounded by flames, smoke and falling debris…

As I told you… There was an accident, there was an explosion, but there was no terrorist attack. It was just your everyday occurrence of a creation rebelling against its creator. Though, that doesn’t happen every day…

Bah… I’m too tired to repeat myself and you know the rest...

I wonder how Hannah, Otto and the others are? I hope they all managed to get out of here. Though, I think they’re going to be fine, Hannah has Lewis and Otto may look unreliable, but he’s made of tough stuff.

Anyways, I already prepared enough blackmail to deter those pesky officials from blaming anyone upon my death. You really can’t trust politicians to show someone the respect they deserve without having records concerning their bank accounts, personal life and more.

Huh… Looks like the ceiling is going to collapse soon…

Doesn’t matter though. I can’t feel my body at all…

Better go to sleep soon…

Good night Hannah, good night Otto, good night everyone…

I close my eyes awaiting waiting for the sweet comfort of death. Well, sweet until I get shoved into the bullet train of hell.

…

…

Hmm…? I can feel my body? And I’m not in pain? Wasn’t I just tired a moment ago?

I open my eyes and I see a blue screen!?

congratulations on being chosen as a guide for this world!

After reading it ,the screen disappeared.

“Congratulations!? Guide!? Why am I seeing a screen!? Where am I!?”, I shout as I look around and see I’m in a blue rocky field filled with craters. I also look at the sky and find what looks like a crimson red moon and an aqua green planet that looks inhabited!?

“Welcome, young guide.”, I hear a deep voice that sounds as old as the planet itself.

I look behind me and find a glowing blue giant wearing a toga with no facial features except 2 long pointy ears, long white hair reaching his shoulders, shining white eyes and two straight horns pointing the sky.

…

I’m pretty sure this is what those cloned guys felt after waking up, if not even weirder…