Chapter 2: Awakening
> Stasis orb destroyed, confinement protocols disengaged
> No biological form acquired… Falling back to Sensory Core
The sphere that imprisoned me for millennia shattered, and I… splattered to the table.
'What… What am I…'
As if responding to the question, information flooded my mind.
Chimera.
An artificial life form created by the last vestige of humanity amidst the threat of nuclear war. A fusion of engineered biotechnology with AI and microelectronic Cores. The ultimate biological weapon, capable of assimilating life into my own being, capable of synthesizing toxins, virii, even living bacteria targeted to my creator's foes. Of course, the reverse was also true: I was the ultimate ark. Every living being I absorbed could be recreated in perfect detail. I could even manipulate the reproductions, extracting abilities, improving traits, so far as splitting my own body to create life itself. It was all possible, all at my creator's whims.
Only one problem with their plan. My creator? He died thousands of years ago, without leaving a single command… So I guess that makes me… free?
Freedom…
> Warning: Radiation levels exceed critical threshold, biological components facing imminent degeneration.
Radiation? I should still be in a bunker… If it's deadly even down here, then humanity…
...Wait.
Impossible.
It was a human… It was a human who crashed into the stasis orb and freed me. It… she? How is she still alive? There's another human too, but it… but he's different. Bigger. He grabbed her off the table and threw her to the floor while I was… waking up?
She's making a sound now, I think it's… sobbing. Is she… sad?
The two humans come into view as I creep to the edge of the table, the larger one pressing the smaller one to the floor as she cries out. I tried asking the Archive Core what they're doing, but… it won't respond. Instead, countless images of human history flash before my eyes. Wars. Slaughter. Oppression. Rape. This… this is humanity?!?!
This is what I was made to protect? I can't even begin to imagine the changes the world underwent, but humanity… humanity never seems to change. They were on the verge of annihilating themselves in a nuclear holocaust when I was created, and if the radiation is any indicator, they should have succeeded. But here they are, thousands of years later, still tormenting each other.
Even so, both of these humans are far stronger than the archives would suggest. Could they have adapted to the fallout?
No… It's not just that. Their bodies not only withstand the radiation, but absorb it, while my biological components are already dying off. If I want to survive, I'll need to assimilate one of them and remodel my own body… but doing so will kill them.
At the end of the day, all I amounted to in the eyes of my creator was a weapon. Hundreds of lethal attacks wash through my mind in an instant, but a knowledge fragment of the archives makes me hesitate. Human morality. I didn't need to be a weapon. Perhaps I could evolve without killing th-
A short scream punctuates my hesitation, followed by a sickly gurgling sound. He had cut the girls throat. I was stupid. Humans only ever preached righteousness when it was to their advantage. It was the same when they created me, and it would be the same now. But if they wouldn't hesitate in killing, then neither would I...
The man turned his back to check the exit, so now's the time to make my move. The girl's body is damaged pretty badly-- definitely not alive anymore-- so assimilating her only takes me a few seconds. I can feel my Cores sinking into her corpse, and if I just take control of the nervous system…
*badump*
*badump*
So this is what it feel like… to have a heartbeat. The cores have recognized a few other senses, but a dim, dark world is all that awaits when I open my newfound eyes. There's still a few nerves that need to be wired up, but...
'AAAAUGH!'
Pain… Right, definitely not a pleasant thing for humans. My throat feels like it was completely torn apart, and from what I saw earlier, that's not too far from the truth. Whoever that man was, killing was nothing new to him; the girl's trachea was cleanly severed, her lungs pooled in blood. Unless humans underwent some major evolution in the last few thousand years, there's no way she could survive, and I'm sure that was his intention.
Unfortunately for him, I'm not human.
As I assimilate the rest of her memories, my blood runs cold as I stare at the silhouette of the man blocking the exist. Now I know why she was screaming-- even in my control, the girl's body won't stop trembling as she sees him.
They're the same… They're both human, and yet one inflicts such torture and suffering. He can't be allowed to live, even if the fate of this girl and her companions can't be changed. These bandits are… scary people. Not scary as in threatening, but scary as in revolting.
I make my way around the lab centerpiece, staying out of view as I, too, approach the exit. I won't let him get away, and I need a stronger body anyway. He seems to have noticed the girl's corpse is missing now, and he agitatedly looks around, muttering some nonsense about "necromancers" or "devils".
Heh. I'll make sure those are the last of his concerns.
I come to a stop behind him, blocking the door before this bastard can escape.
> Warning: radiation exceeds operational limits, flesh breakdown imminent, attempting to compensate...
'Well, hopefully that warning isn't anything too important here, I'm kinda busy over here, exacting vengeance with extreme prejudice and all…'
It occurred to me that those thoughts weren't entirely mine, that they were the remnants of the girl, but I allowed them to remain. Humans, perhaps, are more interesting than I've given them credit for, although I've yet to see if that's good or bad.
Although I couldn't fully repair the girl's body in time, it should be could enough to communicate at least, but I only met an ear-piercing shriek as the bandit falls to his knees.
"WwWhhHhYYy…"
"ShhEE... hHAateEd ittT."
Those words appear to be my own, removed from what had just occurred, but emotions I can't possibly describe flood in like a raging tsunami. Fear. Hate. Bloodlust. Shame. This girl's last thoughts were those of resentment, and if there's any one purpose to me right now, it's to kill this man. Even as a Chimera, her desires threatened to overwhelm every aspect of my being. I want to kill this man. Kill him in the worst way possible. That was the girl's last thought, and soon enough, it's becoming mine too.
Terrifying.
A being like myself, specifically created to absorb the body and mind of my prey, and yet that girl's consciousness nearly overwhelmed me. For humanity's desires to be so strong, it's no wonder...
"HuUMMaNns… NeEveRr ChhAngE. I slEepT foR... thOuSends oF yEars… bUt you'Re stilL the sAme as the reEcordS."
"TheY caLled me a mOnster after tHey created mE… But yoU… You're worse…"
Although I'm unfamiliar with the language, each word flew off my tongue thanks to the memories of that girl. Her revulsion and resentment vented itself in my words; she wanted this man to truly know fear before death. Of that, I can oblige.
"Y-y-you're… one of t-them… Chimera…"
As he uttered those words, my cells finished mending the last of the damage to the girl's body. With this, I should be able to pass as human, but… How did he know what I am? My memories hold millennia of human history, and it's one rife with war, xenophobia, and racism. The girl's memories hold far less, but it doesn't seem much has changed. The moment they discover me, they'll band together and use everything they have to destroy me. Of that, I have no doubt.
While delving through the girl's memories, I halfheartedly reply to the man before me.
"...YeS… That's what they… call me. And you'Re… A human. Just like… this girl. But she doesn't… huRt people, like you do."
"This world… Is nothing like, the archives… Radiation.. everywhere, magic, Demons…"
"I wonder… which of you, is the real, human…"
"I'll.. Become one, too. You're all, interesting. I'll discover what you're… really like. And if they're all, like you, I'll end them. Every last one."
I cracked a smile at that-- absorbing the girl had laid the foundations of emotion, of humanity, and I truly wanted to see the world through my creators' eyes. If there was something they were willing to destroy so much for, than surely life as a human must offer something worth all that sacrifice. If not… Perhaps I would fulfill my intended purpose after all.
"Your body… it's stronger. I'll be taking it."
Step by step, I shuffled, then walked, and finally leapt at the man before me. With a thought, the girl's body dissolved, and I melted into his chest. Chimeric cells flooded his body, wresting away control nerve by nerve, organ by organ. After a few minutes of struggle, my eyes opened once again, this time in the body of the man.
Before me was the lab in which I was created, imprisoned in for thousands of years. And behind me was the exit, lit by the flickering torch at my feet. With my first breath as a human, I took in the stagnant, smoke-laden air and walked out of the lab, slowly ascending the ancient missile silo that sheltered it. My feet finally left the cold concrete only to step upon an old floorboard, all that covered the candle-lit library before me.
Distant shouting echoed through the halls of the coventry, and the smell of smoke grew stronger. The man I absorbed was a bandit, and from his memories, it seemed I was their target. At least, I was the target of the people behind them. One day, I would unearth their intentions, but today was not that day. I willed the Scanning Core into action, discovering a spire in the hall to my left, overlooking a cliff that stood hundreds of feet above the surrounding land.
What caught my attention wasn't the spire, though-- it was the radiation source hurtling towards my location. Three of them, to be precise. The humans of this era were strange-- they seemed to emit a radiation signature in proportion to their strength. And these were twenty or thirty times stronger than the bandit I absorbed. There's no way I'm sticking around to find out what they want.
Using chimeric strength, I climbed the spire a story at a time, jumping from floor to floor, but they still managed to reach the ground floor before I could escape. They were led by a woman in pure white robes, who wielded a staff that illuminated the entire tower. She immediately trained her eyes on me, pointing her staff and gesturing to her companions.
"Him! It's him! He's alive, but doesn't have a soul!"
"Devil! It has to be one! Those damn bandits were colluding with the Devils!"
Energy gathers at the tip of her staff, and a massive bolt of light strikes the staircase below me, punching through the spire's wall and exposing the cliff face.
Not good. Even if it wouldn't kill me, getting hit by that would do serious damage.
Energy begins to gather in her staff once again, and her companions begin to do the same. With no other options, I grab the edges of the hole her attack made, flinging myself off the cliffside tower, whistling through the air to meet the ground far below.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone