Humanity fell.

Needless to say, there were still pockets of humans here and there. Humans were nothing if not resourceful. Some fought to the bitter end, some secluded themselves in hidden bases around the world, some escaped into the seas, some even tried their luck in space.

But it was only a matter of time.

On the battlefield of the failed defense of one the last major cities of humanity, fallen skyscrapers and millions of corpses lay. There were not only human bodies but bodies belonging to animals and aliens as well, some of them almost the size of the skyscrapers that used to occupy the region.

Loud explosions and aftershocks could still be felt in the area as the fighting continued on between walking weapons of mass destruction in the far distance.

After an unknown period of time, one severely injured man finally crawled his way through the dark and dusty air caused by the debris, to a dying woman.

"Sara! Can you hear me!?" He called out with trepidation.

"Will, I can hear you." The woman covered in blood coughed.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't think so..."

Will's heart sunk at her words.

"What happened here? How did our defenses fall?" Will asked, exhausted. He could already feel his starving symbiote adding to his exhaustion, it was beginning to feed on his fat reserves but he ignored it.

"It was the ZS Financial Group. They betrayed us. They were after the General and his team's Parasites. Charlie Patton personally led them."

Will felt his blood boil. "Their CEO? Even with humanity on its last legs and the Talons knocking on our front door they still only think about gaining more power no matter the costs. That slimy piece of s-"

"Will, we don't have much time left." Sara said weakly.

"Send yourself back." Will said immediately. "You told me before that it might be possible if you use-"

"I can't. I've done some tests, there's too much to send. But if its you..."

A feeling of helplessness overwhelmed Will as he glanced over to the corner of his optic display. His Neural-Chip responded to his intent and displayed how useless he was—and what Sara was alluding to.

[William Lee]

[Age: 33]

[Class: Category 2]

[Bloodline Abilities: Night Vision, Seismic Sensitivity]

[Strength: 46]

[Dexterity: 52]

[Constitution: 49]

[Vitality: 45 -> 26]

[Perception: 79 -> 65]

[Mental Power: 15] Newly added.

[Parasites: Parasitic Stomatopoda (Category 2): No vital signs detected—Abilities and perception boost removed

Hericium Erinaceus Fungus (Category 2): No vital signs detected—Abilities removed

Symbiotic Holothuroidea (Category 1): Heavily damaged, starving, vital signs unstable—Natural regeneration and vitality boost severely impaired]

[Status: Critical Condition [More Info]: Signal disrupted, unable to connect. No networks detected. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY!!!]

He stared at the newly added mental power line. Something that was recently kept confidential until humanity was finally backed into a corner, forcing the people at the top to reveal the secret they had been hoarding. Will was unable to participate in the battle involving category 5s and higher because of his low mental power.

But it didn't matter in the end. Even though he detected it, he had gotten himself caught by a remnant trap created by someone's ability. He couldn't avoid the trap and ended up in his current situation.

Tears fell from his eyes as he realized how weak he was to make any difference. But it was also his weakness that was their final hope.

"It's okay, I believe in you." Sara cheerily assured him from behind her own tears.

Will gathered himself and nodded in determination.

"The case is over there." Sara indicated with her eyes to a small silver briefcase that was sticking out from the rubble 5 meters away.

Footsteps sounded from nearby and Will turned to see insect-like Talons and the turned animals and humans they controlled beginning to snoop around their location, digging through the corpses. No doubt scavenging for high level Parasites. Will hurriedly crawled his way over and retrieved the case with a little bit of trouble before he made his way back.

The case was already cracked open, saving him the trouble of bypassing the lock on it. Inside he found a metal syringe labelled "Adephagia Virus"—an extremely rare and powerful Talon virus that scientists had learned to wield. A double edged sword that didn't discriminate between friend or foe.

Will took a deep breath and steeled himself. "Ready?"

"Do it." Sara said softly, her voice quivering caused Will to hesitate but the conviction in her eyes forced him to proceed.

Will injected the contents of the syringe into Sara and nervously waited as the creatures began to get a little too close for him to be comfortable. Nothing happened until half a minute later Sara began to scream in pain. The creatures reacted instantly and screeched out, attracting more into the area.

Sara's body began to morph and expand grotesquely as the creatures closed in. Tendrils of flesh reaching out and latching onto the nearby corpses, absorbing and morphing them into one giant mass.

The mass then began to produce it's own tendrils and the process repeated itself over again, but this time they also latched onto all the creatures that came a little too close. The more intelligent Talons backed away and screeched impotently at the growing, insatiable mass of flesh.

Unable to escape, Will was also sucked into the monstrosity causing his body to convulse in pain as the virus caused his body to morph. The numbers on his optic display began to change wildly causing it to beep like crazy.

Soon the giant mass of flesh ate up all the corpses in the area and spread out to take up an entire city block. Will's felt like he was slowly losing consciousness. His optic display finally slowed down and he caught the numbers on it.

[William Lee]

[Age: 33]

[Class: Category 2 -> 8]

[Bloodline Abilities: N/A]

[Strength: 46 -> 965]

[Dexterity: 52 -> 11]

[Constitution: 49 -> 984]

[Vitality: 26 -> 12]

[Perception: 65 -> 12]

[Mental Power: 15 -> 6] Newly added.

[Parasites: N/A]

[Status: Unknown Virus Detected [More Info]: Signal disrupted, unable to connect. No networks detected. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY!!!]

Will's Bloodline abilities and Parasites had been taken by Sara. His mental power was slowly ticking down while he was losing more and more of himself.

"William." Sara's strained voice suddenly woke him up from his stupor.

He turned to see her nearby. Sara's upper body barely sticking out from the mass of flesh, her long brown hair fanned out. She was sweating profusely, her face turning red from forcing her self to stay conscious and in control of the virus.

[Mental Power: 6 -> 5]

"I just want you to know that I've never regretted meeting you." She smiled, reaching her hand out for Will.

[Mental Power: 4]

Will stretched his hand out to reach for Sara's.

Just a little more. Will thought, his hand almost touching hers as his mental power decreased even more, his vision slowly blacking out.

[Mental Power: 3]

"You're the best thing to ever happen to me."

Almost there.

[Mental Power: 2]

"I know you'll do your best to change the future and help the other me." She said tearfully.

Will could almost touch her. Their fingers only a sliver apart.

[Mental Power: 1]

"...and try not to cheat on me." She joked, her voice echoed as if from far away while Will's vision faded to black.

One moment it was dark and the next his vision cleared up. Bright light shone on Will's face as his eyes adjusted to the light. His hand reached out and he could feel Sara's face. Once Will finally adjusted to the light he saw that long brown hair matted with blood had changed to silky black. Bleak smoked covered sky, devastated skyscrapers, and corpses had been exchanged for a bedroom with sunbeams shining through the curtains.

That's not Sarah. Who the...

Will pulled his hand back as he looked at the sleeping young woman in front of him. His movement seemed to have woken the young woman. She stirred from her sleep and opened her eyes, blinking at him.

"Mmm...good morning." She smiled at him seductively as she leaned towards Will for a kiss.

"Who the hell are you?!"