Darkness.

There was nothing.

...

Wait.

No, there is something.

Its...

A person?

A child.

But why?

Why would someone be here, where there is nothing?

The child turns.

An effeminate voice speaks.

“Why?”

Tears run down her face.

The sorrow is physically pressing.

Thick enough to suffocate.

“Why did you hurt my boy?”

A little girl isn’t speaking anymore.

Her face begins to melt.

Limbs sprout from her muddy head.

Tentacles, clawed hands, hooves, tails, wings, and more.

Torsos follow, connected to random creatures.

Earth fauna familiar.

Alien abominations were never before seen.

Eldritch abomination that refused to be looked upon.

Heads are the last to appear.

They are all the little girls' faces.

The creature finishes its transformation.

A facsimile of a dragon made from random pieces fused without rhyme or reason.

The once little girl dwarfed the darkness as she screams down.

Her words knives as they rip into reality.

“Why would you hurt my baby boy!?”

The darkness broke.

Horrors were revealed through the cracks.

They looked hungry.

Alex woke up.

He was in a world of pain. His left arm was on fire. His chest ached with every breath. Everything else was numb from bruises. Once again Alex was reminded how irrationally organic his body was. Fucking pain sensors.

Looking around, a struggle in and of itself. He found himself in another random room. Zanthras was off to the side, sleeping under a blanket. She had some scrapes and bruises but overall, she looked fine.

Alex tried to sigh with relief. It turned into a grunt as his pseudo lungs pushed on his bruised ribs. God Alex wished he had natural healing as an Android. If his first injury was anything to go off of, all these wounds would stay until he repaired them.

His body was wrapped in bandages of some sort, its shiny appearance clearly not made from cloth. Most of them were on his torso and a single arm. It did little to alleviate that pain. Much less since he was on some table that did not do any justice to his back. Seeing as he wasn’t in a state to move, or didn’t want to even try honestly, Alex had time to think.

Overall, it was easy to say he had not been smart about his actions so far. Getting into a fight before he had any skills, stats, or levels? Suicidal. Exploring an unknown and clearly hostile environment without foreknowledge? Braindead. Putting up a fight with what might be a mini-boss at best? Man, Alex really liked pain!

He’d be slamming his head if he didn’t think that’d break something. Clearly, Zanthras knew more than him, so it was in his best interest to pump her for information. He took some hits from her already. Twice even. It was the least she could do.

Speaking of information, this would be a good time to look up the rewards he’d gotten from his last fight. If the blinking exclamation point at the corner of his vision, he’d gotten more than just a broken body out of it. Alex was rather thankful the mechanics were thought-based rather than manual. Hand-eye coordination wasn’t his strong suit at the moment.

Skill Upgrade:

-Eye for Analytical Biology Lv2

-Android Durability Lv2 Skills upgrade has been negated due to the Backstory Scenario. Skill progression will be maintained but withheld until the Scenario is complete. Attribute Unlocked: Survivor

Sometimes it takes more than grit and luck to survive impossible odds.

-You will have an increased chance of surviving a fatal attack.

-You will maintain greater functionality in poor physical conditions than most. Attribute Unlocked: Giantslayer

David and Goliath's fights are far harder to replicate in practice than most people think.

-Increased physical and mental capability when facing superior enemies.

-Gain greater rewards when facing superior enemies. Attribute Unlocked: Instability

Defy expectations and perform outside your capabilities

-REMOVE THIS ATTRIBUTE OR FACE DIRE CONSEQUENCES

-FATE IS MONITORING YOU.

Well, it was safe to say this was all a mixed bag of information. Skills won't level until after he finished this prologue. His build was making him out to be a tank which he did not like. Realistic paint and tanking were not a good pair. And apparently surviving his last fight wasn’t in the cards!? He picked destiny outlaw sure, but what the hell?

Ah god, damn it. Now cosmological constant riding his ass. Ugh. Alex really wished Death Galaxy weren’t such a pain in the ass. He’d quit if he had anything better to do, much less waste what money his parents decided to spoil him with.

Hopefully, Zanthras could clear this up on top of everything else they’d be talking about. He’d yet to check if the game mechanics were available to NPC’s. It would be a help, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t. Walking that fine line between realism and game mechanics.

He just hoped she woke up soon. Since the moment he regained consciousness, he had been ignoring an important fact. It now became too much of discomfort to ignore. Alex came to a rather uncomfortable conclusion. He needed to eat. And he needed to pee.

Ok. Whoever designed this body? Fuck you.