Eyes opened in a flash.

A world of purple, a sight that panicked him. He gasped for air, gasped for something that could not take the place of the purple liquid already inside of him.

Gravity took its hold and made him meet his eternal enemy, the ground. Impacting, he immediately started coughing, retching, and puking. As he finished puking, down on all fours while staring blankly onto the metal ground, he noted his hand. Or rather, noticed that it wasn’t his hand.

It looked real; it felt real, and it was too all accounts, an actual hand. But he felt it, realized it, the hand was impregnated with wires and sensors, stronger now than when it was only a mere mortal hand.

And now, he knew, he had thus become more metal and wires than blood and bone.

/Dropping in three minutes: Mission [Infiltrate Mansion, Kill Target]: Top Priority, stay undetected: Enemy guards, unknown: Weaponry, small arms likely: Heavy armament, unlikely: Defenses, Nill: Calculating recommended loadout.

As the comms module finished, a picture flashed atop his vision. A picture of an enormous lake with a burning wooden ship in the distance, and a large amount of people standing on its shore. Most people were blurred out artificially, all except for one small person. The small person, a child, was looking up just when the picture was taken, giving him a clear view of their face, red hair and green eyes.

He blinked, and the picture faded from his sights, seeing as dim red light illuminated a few weapons in the armoury, and the doorway leading into the other armoury also lit up. But he did not immediately move to grab the weapons, nor stand. Instead, he remained on the ground, staring at his new hand.

He did not stay for long, not even a second had passed. If one would have looked at him, they would not even have noticed. It would have looked as if he’d simply taken an extra breath before standing.

Standing up, he moved towards the weapons. Three being illuminated. A knife, a sword, and a darkened container. The two melee weapons simple in design, slick and easily hidden, made of the strongest alloy known to him, practically indestructible to anything but the most powerful of energies.

The darkened container was filled with a vile substance, capable of eating through anything in the matter of seconds. Not much was inside, but enough to completely ruin any door. Or fleshy substance.

Before he moved to the other armoury, he glanced at the assortments of weapons and pondered for but a moment. Pressing the button on an unlit weapon, a grenade, and then quickly moved towards the other armoury.

Within the long corridor, he spotted the dim red light on the furthermost door leading into a small room to the left. He moved with determined steps and ventured inside.

The room was the exact same as every other room within this armoury, spartan and lacked anything but the two raised footholds on the ground. He stood upon them, and waited patiently as mechanized arms shot out, hitting his body with pieces of a new armour.

This time, an armour that was small and slick, black and slimy, practically impossible to look at. He would not have to.

He waited patiently, only reacting as the helmet was pressed down on his head, eliciting a reaction as whiteness overcame his view, followed by a sharp pain in his neck, followed yet again by his other mind speaking.

/All systems nominal

Breathing out, he blinked and felt his sight restored. Moving out of the room, he ventured down the corridor and into his dropship, awaiting the rest of the timer to tick down with the pounding of sharp pain at the nape of his neck.

It wouldn’t be long, even if it felt like it, before his comms module spoke.

/One minute until drop.

And he stood, and he waited.

Waiting, as pain thumped in his head. Waiting, as his body stood still. Waiting, as his world was nothing but a dark screen in front of him.

Grandfather clock, tick-tocking.

/Dropping in ten, enter pod for extraction

The comms module said, ending the wait as his dropship illuminated into life. Mechanical snakes whirring to existence as they moved towards openings in his armour, administering all that he needed for effective use.

Pain dulled, mind cleared, and muscles tensed. He stared forward as all around him things moved and whirred, hummed and stirred. Machines groaning and squirming, moaning and churning. A plethora of machine life turning on just for him to shoot down onto a planet he might, or might not, have been on before.

Yet, he did nothing, as he simply waited.

Waited in a time that was limitless, endless.

But nothing was endless as his other mind spoke.

/Bracing for drop

And his dropship shot out like a cannonball, immediately assaulting him with unsustainable g-forces. The screen in-front flashed into life, giving him the sight of a green-blue planet facing its night side. A dark sphere with a halo of light caressing its rounded borders.

The dark planet wasn’t totally dark though, as it contained many specks of light scattered around like veins in a human. Some dots were larger than others, sprawling out like a living fungus, spreading their roots. Others smaller, like ants on an anthill.

His eyes stared wide.

Then the thrusters set in, and the g-forces grew harsher as the planet quickly grew in size. Losing sight of the halo surrounding the planet, being swallowed up by darkness. Darkness being swallowed up by the light within the planet, the light slowly transforming into a lit-up cityscape.

Suddenly, gravity changed direction, and he felt his inside doing their best to push themselves up his throat. Caused by his dropship changing the direction of its thrusters, pushing down and quickly, ever so quickly, stopping their descent far, far above the cityscape. Hoovering in place.

Next, he felt rather than heard something click open. Soon after, the two blast doors protecting him from the vastness of space, opened up, revealing darkness as far as the eye could see.

Then he stepped forward, not out of his own volition, and started falling. Body spread out like a cross. His sights drew down, and he spotted the city-scape in all its glory, so much more detailed than what he could discerne through the screen in his dropship.

Wind slowly coalesced, rushing past faster and faster as he fell further and further, his armour translating the sensation into his other mind, that, in turn, translated what it felt to him. He knew what he felt wasn’t real.

He still could not tear his eyes away.

Falling faster and faster, not even close to as fast as when he was shot down inside his dropship.

Time given to him to stare down on a planet he might, or might not have been on before.

Time that did not last long enough.

He blinked, and his sight zoomed in, giving him the view of a mansion. Blinking again, the mansion turned translucent, giving him an impossibly detailed view of the inside. Even side doors, hidden doors, tunnels and all. Schematics presumably given to him for just this mission.

The mansion was the size of a medieval castle, with woods surrounding it on all sides. Only one road led up to it, with several smaller houses part of the mansion, yet far enough away that they did not disturb the rest of the mansion’s aesthetics. Other than that, the closest remnants of civilisation were several miles away.

/Target scheduled location in the main bedroom, located at the top of the building.

His zoomed in vision faded, replaced by his normal sight as his body redirected and moved a little away from the mansion, aiming for the woods surrounding it. A lush forest, densely populated, grown rather than natural.

Coming closer, his vision switched from wired, to heat and then back to zoomed. Confirming his immediate landing area cleared of all potential obstacles to his mission.

Quickly, his back straightened, and he sped up marginally. The ground now being far too close. Only but a hundred meters.

His other mind took control as his armour suddenly locked, then shot something out of their feet with explosive force, deceptively quiet.

The force of the explosion made him stall momentarily mid air, as the objects from his feet collided with the ground. A small plume of dirt flew up. Not as much as there should have been.

Then he continued falling, locked as if a statue. Colliding hard with the ground, but feeling little of the impact, mild bruising at most.

Fast as lightning, he was up on his feet and scanned his surroundings, using all his senses and different eye-sights. Waiting for two minutes in complete silence, simply staring, waiting.

/No guards in sight, continue towards target

He stood up and moved, jogging with feet so light that the ground would be louder if a feather dropped on it. His body suddenly shivered, shimmered until he disappeared from all sights. He glanced down, seeing through himself and down onto the ground.

The jog turned into a sprint as he moved fast towards his target, being a mile away. A distance easily crossed. Crossed at high alert, cameras on all sides alerting him to any movements. Insects, small animals and big. All unfamiliar to him. Unimportant.

He stared at them for as long as he could.

The target mission came closer, his attention turned forward as a vast and tall fence stretched outwards. He stopped by it, scanned the surrounding, coming up empty before focusing on the fence.

His vision switched, and he was immediately alerted by the electricity flowing through it. Beyond it, he spotted mines, several dozen.

Plans formed in his mind, calculated by his other mind as it gave him positives and negatives with each. He could easily destroy the fence, blow it up, climb it or vault over it and survive the ensuing mine’s explosions. All possibilities easily attainable.

That was not his mission.

Instead, he closed the distance to the fence, slowly, carefully. Mind focused to the extreme, scanning from side to side. Checking for anything and everything.

Doing so until he was upon the fence, not touching it as he moved his hand close. Very close, hovering but a centimeter over it. A latch on his hand opened, and out a wired snake emerged. It tasted the air as it moved closer to the fence. Then it lashed out and grabbed onto the fence, and his mind flooded. Not truly his mind, but his other, the other mind that was him, but not.

From his other mind, it quickly deduced that the fence held a command, a simple command that would have ruined the mission.

If disturbed, it would have sent out a warning. Simple as that. His other mind would not allow it, forcing control and distributing a new command. A command that would replace the old and hopefully not awaken any background security checks.

The fence dealt with, he smoothly brought out his sword and cut a hole in the fence. All in one swift motion, grabbing the falling fence and silently putting it aside.

Moving inside, he easily sidestepped the clearly visible mines and continued on. Still moving kinda jerkily as his other mind moved in case any unseeable mines were still around.

Walk turning into jog, turning into sprint. He dashed the last few kilometers until he spotted the mansion in the distance. Spotting its backside, littered with statues and pools, hedges and verandas. A prim and proper place, with little too few guards.

He continued on until he was but a stone's throw away, then came even closer. He blinked several times as he scanned the mansion.

/Four guards spotted, carrying small arms: Two dozen cameras: Unable to penetrate building walls, unknown inside

The four guards were positioned so that they had a clear view of the entire backside of the mansion. No blind spots, wearing darkened visors and what appeared to be a helmet, giving them presumed night vision. The cameras had similar unknown capabilities, giving an even greater view of the backside of the mansion.

The guards looked bored. The cameras were black, voidless spheres that were dotted all around.

Making sure to be well hidden behind a tree, he aimed his hand for the closest camera and fired.

No gunshot, no sound. Only the woosh of wind, as what appeared to be a small dragonfly, flew straight at the camera, latched on and filled his mind with sight. Many, many sights, all around, even inside the mansion. With the sights came knowledge, knowledge of searching.

His other mind deciphered quickly, overtook and brought down the cameras. Telling him that, if he so choose, his armour’s stealth would have kept him out of sight. The cameras would not have seen him.

The guards might though. But his other mind told him the probabilities were slim.

He still kept close to the ground, moving as if possessed, pulled along on a string as he flew from tree to tree. Unnaturally spread out, with no bushes and no cover to speak off.

He crept closer, ever closer. The guards didn’t seem to see.

He moved, and one guards’ vision seemed pulled towards where he stood. He hid behind a tree; the guard continued staring at where he’d moved. A gun pointing up, aimed down towards his last position, close to the tree.

Creeping silence. The only noise that of the flowing trees, swaying gently by the breeze.

One guard turned to the one pointing a gun. Silence. The one pointing a gun reacted, but silence remained. He could see no mouths, head covered as they were, but he could easily guess to their intentions.

As one, the two guards moved towards him. Other guards seemed to come into view, and three peeked their heads from out of different side doors on the mansion. All alert, ready for whatever.

His other mind calculated, he did too. No hiding places, high visibility, mission is to not be seen. To be invincible.

Only one solution came to mind. Acted upon quickly.

The two guards neared, rather quickly, weapons pointed and at high alert. Ground covered in no time at all. They, as one, breached the tree’s cover. Finding it empty.

They looked around, visibly alert. Walking around to three nearby trees until they eventually seemed satisfied that whatever the guard had seen wasn’t of import.

Though the guard seemed unsure, hesitant. The guard looked up, up at the tall, tall trees. Finding them dark and foreboding. Branches going from hither to dither, lightly covered in leaves with a crown that made the forest dark even at day.

The guard looked back down, for the trees were far too tall for climbing and were to even to be able to get a proper foothold on.

Not for him.

At the crest of the tree, he swayed lightly as he looked down from small holes in the crown of leaves. Satisfied that the guard had stopped looking up, he judged the distance and jumped. Jumped to the next tree. Then the next, and next.

Muscles tensing impossibly, shooting out with in-human strength while landing with the grace of a cat and the silence of an owl.

Each time he landed, he stopped impossibly still as he scanned the ground and the guards.

None seemed to see him. None seemed too worried. All except for that one guard. Alert, looking around more dedicatedly.

Having dropped onto the last tree, he stayed still and judged the distance to the mansion. A distance of twenty meters, and a drop of five. Possible, but not in complete silence.

Guards would not notice, maybe only the one. Pulling out his knife, he easily cut a substantial chunk out of the tree, like cutting through butter, before he readied himself. Dropping the piece of wood, his other mind calculated the time until the piece of wood hit the ground, and counted him down in the milliseconds.

Now, and he jumped. Pushing off hard, rustling the treetop. The one guard noticed, looked up and seemed to, tense. The guard hadn’t seen him, though.

He touched down at the same time as his dropped piece of wood did, thumping somewhere behind him as he quickly flattened his entire body close to the roof.

Glancing, he spotted the one guard with a raised weapon, moving towards the dropped piece of wood. Away from the mansion. Several more guards in hot pursuit.

Using the opportunity, he slinked down and towards a window. His other mind spoke of no alarm. He easily opened it and closed it behind him.

He was in.

With no time to spare, he checked his immediate surroundings. He was in a toilet, far too big for any normal person. He didn’t dawdle as his other mind brought up the mansion’s schematics, pointing out that the target should be in the room just left of the toilet.

Opening the toilet’s door in complete silence, he checked left to right, spotting the hallway empty.

Closing the toilet’s door behind, he moved fast as the wind and opened the target’s door.

Inside was a vast room, as vast as a normal persons living room.

The room was empty though, with nothing but one gigantic bed in its center and a nightstand next to it. The nightstand having a knife, a picture of an unknown man and a small pile of coins. Though, the walls were dotted with paintings and pictures that were epic in proportions.

He did not dawdle.

Immediately, he moved up towards the bed and stared down.

He could see what he presumed to be the target lying in the bed. But he could see no face, only blood-red hair and a delicate hand. The sheet was covering the target’s face.

Gentle as the breeze, he pulled down the sheet, just enough to get a view of the presumed target’s face. A face of young proportions, a girl, no older than ten. Freckles and pimples on their face. A big nose, with eyes narrow and sleek.

His other mind ran its check and took no longer than a second to confirm that this was, in fact, his target.

Pulling out his container, he quickly unbottled it and looked back at the target.

Seeing the target staring up at him.

Time still.

The target had green eyes.

The target spoke softly, not loudly, not forcing him to silence her quickly. His other mind checked its database. Immediately finding what language the target spoke, its origin, and translated for him.

“Are you here to kill me?”

The target said with little emotion, staring blankly at him as if simply waiting for a confirmation of the truth.

He didn’t respond. Simply staring, moving his hand holding the container over the target’s face.

“I can’t see you. But I know you’re there.”

His other mind grew alarmed, checking all its cameras and recordings for any evidence of failure. Checking for how the target could know. Checking for any witnesses that would have to be eliminated.

“Can you make it painless, please?”

The target said, and he froze. His other mind concluding that the target only knew of their presence due to them having moved the sheet. They had not been compromised in their mission.

He still didn’t move though. Even as time ticked to a second. And his other mind grew worried. Concerned.

Quickly, he corked the container and put it away. Instead, pulling out his knife.

Then he turned visible, even at the behest of his other mind’s shouting warning.

The target’s eyes grew visibly enlarged. Shocked, alarmed, frightened. And after a moment they grew, subdued. The target looked down and spotted the knife in his hand.

A tear slowly, ever so slowly, grew on the target’s eyes, on its green eyes.

And he plunged down onto the target’s throat.

Alarms suddenly blared in a warning that was well known to him. It screamed so loud that nothing else could be heard, seen, or noticed.

/Rogue AI detected, Rogue AI detected: Priority target, Priority target: All missions canceled: New priority target, eliminate Rogue AI element: Sending out distress signal. Calling for reinforcements.

His body had frozen, hovering above the small human girl. He then turned, spotting the rogue AI through every wall, tree and distance, seeing as it moved towards him at blinding speeds.

Immediately, he was pumped full with everything his armour contained, making him more than he was but a mere millisecond before. Everything was clearer, breathing was easier, nothing was impossible.

Biomechanical muscles overheated, overclocked, and screamed as they made ready. His other mind calculated every possibility, every angle of attack, everything that could happen in but a fraction of a moment in time.

His heart started beating faster and faster. Enhancing him impossibly as it burned impossible amounts of energy to make him capable of feats that should be impossible. Inhuman feats that no mortal could ever hope to achieve.

Still knowing that it would not be enough.

His chances of survival, nil.

He knew he was soon to die.

Drawing his sword, he made ready and desperately looked around, searching for anything to help.

Nothing.

All taking no more than the time it took to breathe. But time moved slower for him and for the rogue AI.

He spotted as it jumped towards him; he threw his knife and the rogue AI twisted mid-air. His knife flew through the wall, missed the AI as it collided, and breached the same wall.

He swung down, the AI easily swatted the sword aside and sent it flying away, then punched him in the face.

Cracks sprung up and blood flew along with his entire body. Flying out of the opposite wall and landing on the ground with a thundering explosion of concrete and stone.

His helmet had cracked, his view obscured and practically non-existent. His right eye had caved in. According to his other mind, he’d also suffered a concussion, a severe concussion. But the drugs would keep him clear-headed.

With an explosion of wind, the helmet shot out from his head, exposing his bare skin to the surrounding air. At least giving him sights, albeit naked and only from one eye.

His other mind screamed in warning, and he looked up. The AI was flying down towards him.

He could not see the AI tough, not even with the three visions his eyes gave him. He could only see the AI from the intel his other mind gave. A vague outline.

A plan formed, and his other mind screamed impossible. He did not dwell as he grabbed the container and the only grenade he’d brought with him.

He threw the container, at the same time as he jumped upwards, gripping the grenade firmly. The AI reacted immediately, bringing out its arm as it stared down the container flying towards it.

It swatted the container as if it was nothing but a softball.

He flew closely behind the container and felt his world grow dark. His entire body shutting down as his other mind made it so. His heart, his body and, last, his brain. A world turning dark as his other mind seized to exist. His entire world grew to nothing.

Nothingness.

Suddenly alight, breathing in desperately, confused as he suddenly slammed into something.

In only a millisecond, he remembered, and he hugged as tightly as he could.

The AI seemed momentarily paralyzed, unsure of what had impacted it. Immediately realizing and wasting no time in slamming him away, a hit that connected with his stomach, pushing past and breaking his spine into two, with intestines exploding and a kidney rupturing. He flew, before slamming down into a tree.

His other mind awoke and screamed warnings about anything and everything.

He ignored it, ignored the dull pain and the sudden feeling of nothing down his legs.

Instead, he stared as best as his left eye allowed. Muddied and red as it was. Stared up at the now standing AI. An AI that desperately reached for the grenade strapped to its back.

It didn’t reach it in time.

Explosion so dense and powerful that he had to close his eyes. Eardrums ruptured, and his body quivered from the explosion.

Luckily, the punch had pushed him far enough away that he avoided most of the energy. Not all of it.

Flying even further away as his body rag dolled from tree to tree, before stopping with a wet thud on the ground.

/Critical condition. Administrating first-aid.

His armour, what remained of it, did its best as it pushed in needles, closed wounds and broke bones back into place.

He felt wet as a pool of blood quickly grew around him.

/Warning, life-signs wavering. Shutting down all non-essential bodily functions: Sending out emergency message: Sending out SOS.

Staring up, his eye caught the sight of the dark sky above. Spotting through the tight canopy, space, in all of its vastness.

He spotted stars upon stars.

It was a sight he hadn’t seen for a long time.

Then, in the far, far distance. He spotted a dropship.

He spotted several.

A sight that grew dark as his mind grew dark with it.

Dark. Overwhelming darkness.

Stuck inside his own mind until either rescue, or death.