Chapter 1: C1 – How could I have known…

The year 2090. Black facility 47. 

"The subjects experienced lethal hemorrhaging in the brain, and those that didn't couldn't handle the increased neural activity, leading to several psychological problems including psychopathy, retardation, induced autism, and- "

"So what you're telling me... is that it failed again."

"...Yes sir."

"Sigh..."

The head director sighed after receiving the report from one of his officers. He then stood up and walked to a window where he could oversee a few dozen capsules containing adult males. All of them were either sleeping or undergoing surgical operations.

This was black facility 47. It was a top secret base whose purpose was to carry out the super-soldier program. 

This program was supposed to create and engineer enhanced soldiers that surpassed human limits and worked alongside machines, creating the perfect human weapon. This consisted of extreme training, genetic engineering, and cybernetic enhancement. However, despite having the program ongoing for nearly 5 years, the results were dismal. Hundreds died under the experiments and tests, and those that didn't were almost always hurt or disabled in some way. 

Black facility 47 was, in fact, one of the few remaining facilities that still ran the program. There used to be 50, but when information leaked about the projects to the public and soldiers started mysteriously dying or disappearing, many facilities were shut down. Only the more successful ones, like facility 47, stayed operational. But that success was starting to disappear, and the looming threat of shutting down was nigh.

If he wasn't careful, the head director might also 'disappear' along with the facility's shutdown, something which had happened to other directors for the sake of keeping information under wraps. This was a dangerous job to be in, but risk came with reward, and if he could find a way to succeed, he would enjoy walking one of the highest paths in life along with the elites. 

This dilemma made the director anxious, desperate, and scared, but also hopeful. He never lost sight of gaining status, and by now, he was willing to do anything to achieve his goal. That fire was starting to grow dim though. It had been a long time since he had heard good news. 

Fortunately though, today was one of those rare days. 

"We were able to find something though, sir."

"Hm? What is it?"

The director turned his head back to the officer giving the report. This officer was one of his most trusted aides, and he would never give false hope.

"We think we might have narrowed down the best candidates. You see, we've consistently had better results with younger subjects, especially those at least under the age of 24. There was recently a recruit that I pulled who was age 16, and he-"

"What?! You pulled a minor as a subject?!"

Suddenly, the director flew into a rage. Doing something like that was a huge violation of protocol. Just the fact that this officer went over his head to do something so risky almost made him pull his gun and shoot the man. His trust in this officer though made him hesitate, and that gave the officer the chance to hastily explain himself.

"Please let me explain, sir! Yes, the recruit was age 16, but he was an orphan from a school in the slums. There's nobody who had any connection to him, and I left no trace of his kidnapping."

"..."

"Besides that though, this subject showed the best results yet! Sir, he was able to get through all the preliminary trials without injury. We were even able to move onto phase 3 before he showed signs of rejection to the treatment."

"..."

The director stayed silent, and eventually removed his hand from his holster. The officer sighed and continued.

"Sir, I think we've found the answer. Younger subjects. Their adaptability far outstrips older soldiers, both psychologically and physiologically. They're the key to creating supersoldiers. If it's with them, it can be done!"

"...Do you know what will happen if word of this leaks?"

"Yes, sir. But if we don't succeed at all, if we don't take the risk, then we won't have any hope. Sir, I've done the tests. If we can get young subjects, around the age of 6, then we'll be able to utilize their adaptability and raise them into supersoldiers. It might take time, but if we doctor the documents to show the success of the young subjects, we can buy time."

"...All of this assumes we succeed."

"Nothing is a guarantee, sir. However, if you give me the green light, I'll do everything myself. Nothing will leak. Please trust me, sir."

The officer pleaded with the director. It wasn't just the director's life that was on the one. His was too, as was his family's. He was even more desperate than the director. 

The director paced around the room hearing his officer. This was exceptionally risky, but the officer was right. They needed to succeed. Failure wasn't an option. If this risk had a chance of success, then he needed to take it. 

As for the morality, the director had already gone beyond that. The things he carried out in this program crushed that sense years ago. It was all business now. Besides, his superiors only cared about results. If anything, from the things he knew about, they were more demented than him. 

After taking a second to ponder, he made his decision.

"Alright... You do what you need to do. I'm giving you full authority. However, if I find that anything leaks out..."

"That won't happen, sir. I've never failed you before."

"Then go. Start as soon as possible."

"Understood."

Saluting, the officer hastily left the room. The director also plopped down in his chair, both uneasiness and hope flickering through his eyes. 

..........

......

The year 2115, 25 years later...

"Mr. President. We have an emergency."

In a secure room inside a towering skyscraper, the president and several other officials sat at a conference table. This meeting had been called within the last 10 minutes in response to a sudden event.

"Let me hear it."

"There's been an attack recently on one of our facilities. It's the Council."

"Of course it is... What did they hit?"

The president sighed tiredly. This was the name of the largest criminal syndicate in the world, and they were the bane of governments across the globe. This wasn't the first time they've come up, and lately, they had been attacking various facilities around the continent.

"They hit black facility 108."

"108... Which one is that?"

"It's the facility running Project Wonderland, sir."

"What?!"

Suddenly, the president snapped to attention. 

Project Wonderland was one of their most classified projects, and it was also one of the most heavily guarded. To think that place got raided. Even if it was by the Council, it was an impossible task to pull off.

"How long ago was it raided?!"

"The last transmission we received was 2 hours ago, but we've been able to track them down to where they took the stolen project tech."

"So you have their location? Is it accurate?"

"Yes, sir. We have a strike team ready to deploy. We're sending in SS team alpha, but we need your signature before he can deploy."

"...Very well."

Hearing that name, the president went quiet for a second before nodding. To send in that 'team' meant that the situation really was dire, but that's exactly why he had to go. 

He was then handed the papers, and once they were signed, one of the generals sent a transmission to an unknown location. The green light on the raid to retake their tech was given.

................

Meanwhile, 20 miles away from the location that the criminal syndicate was holding the tech, SS team Alpha was lying in wait inside a small safe house, around which was a bustling city with tall buildings and neon signs.

This team consisted of a single person. It was a boy, no more than 18 years of age. He was a bit over 6ft tall, had brown hair, hazel eyes, and pale skin. He looked just like an ordinary guy who would be going into college soon.

This boy was sitting on a couch inside the safe house reading a book that looked more like a manuscript, wearing sweats and a hoodie that covered his body. The cover of the book said 'Beyond Good and Evil', and the boy was reading it relaxedly. 

"What's with you and always reading those books, huh?"

Suddenly, a voice came from another room. A man came walking in. He had a long brown beard and looked like some kind of lumberjack, speaking in a rough voice. His clothes were in shambles with a few stains.

The boy looked away from his book and toward the lumberjack who was taking a swig from a big bottle of hooch, likely the source of the stains.

"Maybe you should read this book some time. Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most brilliant men to ever live. His books could teach you a thing or two about leading life."

"You think I need advice from a kid like you? Besides, those books are banned nowadays, especially to you. How'd you get your hands on one?"

"It's called the internet and a printer. Plus a little help from a certain level of security clearance."

Saying that, the boy held up a card. It was metal, and seeing it, the lumberjack's eyes went wide.

"Since when did you steal my card?!"

"I've had it for a week actually."

"Y-you..."

"Next time be more careful when you decide to pass out drunk. And you should really start keeping track of your stuff. Even knowing you, I'm surprised you haven't noticed it was gone."

"Shut up, brat! Give me that."

Snatching the card back, the lumberjack huffed and took another swig. The boy smirked and went back to reading the book. After calming down and finishing his drink, the man spoke again.

"By the way, they gave the green light. You're due to start in 30."

"Oh, alright."

"You need to be careful this time. I know you've gone up against them before, but the stuff they took is some dark shit. There's definitely a trap in place."

"But whatever do you mean? According to the intelligence report, they only stole a few medicine vials and a giant magnet."

The boy chuckled deviously as he picked up the briefing. On it described the stolen items that were supposedly some medicine vials and a small particle cyclotron, but those were obviously just covers for what they really were. 

"Don't play stupid, brat. That's the kind of information people 'kill themselves' over. To have stolen that stuff means there's big shit going down, so screw your head on straight."

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist. Not my first rodeo."

"Excuse me?! You better shut that trap otherwise I'll make you wear actual panties on this operation, you pussy!"

"Huhu, I apologize for my language, sir. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to prepare for."

Chuckling, the boy saluted the fuming lumberjack and disappeared into a back room. Seeing him go, the man just sighed and took out a cigar, lighting it and puffing out some smoke. 

"Damn supersoldiers always think they can talk smack. I've been his superior for over a decade. Don't I deserve a little respect?! Hmph."

.........

A few minutes later, the boy came walking out. He was now dressed in metallic armor that looked like a nanosuit. That suit held a pistol on each hip, a knife on the leg and arm, and a rifle on his back. There were also magazines around his torso held magnetically. He carried his helmet in one of his hands.

"SS-008 reporting for duty."

The boy, otherwise known as SS-008, stood and saluted the lumberjack who was lazing around on the couch, smoking a cigar. Despite the formal presentation, the man just scoffed.

"Don't act like you suddenly care about procedure. You've got one job: kill everyone and take what we need. I know you're already prepared, so get out of here and see if you don't bust your tiny balls."

"Sir, I do not understand."

"Huh?"

The lumberjack squinted his eyes at the smiling boy.

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"My balls are fat and large. How could they possibly-"

"Shut up and fuck off!"

"Hehehe..."

Laughing mischievously, the boy dodged the full bottle of alcohol that was thrown at him and ran out of the building. The lumberjack was left smoking from both the mouth and head in annoyance.

However, as he ran out, the lumberjack caught a glimpse of a tattoo on the boy's neck. This tattoo was of a black cat, and seeing the tattoo it felt like he was being stared down by a predator. He suddenly sighed, and his anger subsided. He felt pity, though it was unknown if it was for the boy or for the enemies.

........

Outside the city was rural, barren land. The boy, now operating under the tag SS-008, trudged across some cold desert dirt and brush. Above him was the night sky, and behind him was the city that shone with bright lights, tall glass skyscrapers, and neon holograms. 

For a long minute, the boy stared back at the city from under a metal, featureless helmet, many thoughts flying through his head. The cold wind blew past him, and just as it started to calm, the boy took out his rifle and turned away from the city. 

He looked off into the distance. He was only 2 miles away from the target. 

The place that the Council was holding the stolen goods was an abandoned 80-year-old factory. It was well guarded with the remnants of the forces that had survived the initial raid. However, it was no less dangerous, because SS-008 would now have to infiltrate and steal something from this fortress. 

SS-008 continued walking toward that very factory with just his armor and weapons. Soon, the time for him to start had come. 

All around the factory were enemies and spotlights. They stood up on rooftops, patrolled around the facility with jeeps, and scanned the area with turrets. There were also robots that constantly watched the surroundings. 

"Hm?"

Suddenly, one of the soldiers at the factory who was posted up on a rooftop spotted something in the dark. It was a figure the size of a man, and it stood on the edge of one of the spotlights eerily. Looking through his sniper scope, he got a closer look. When he did though, chills ran down his spine.

"It's him... H-hey! It's him!"

"Who?! Where?!"

"Down there! At the spotlight!"

The man pointed a laser at where the figure was, and one of the men operating the spotlights moved it to shine on that position. However, there was nothing there.

Despite that though, the people who looked at the area also felt their necks tingle. Nobody there would be falsely alarmed, and there was only one person they knew of who could suddenly disappear like how they thought just happened. 

"I-It's him... sound the ala-!"

*Splat!*

As the man was trying to shout, a new hole was suddenly opened up in his head. Blood splattered in the air, and his body collapsed to the ground. The helmet he was wearing did nothing to protect him.

Many of the men around the factory heard this, and all of them started to call in on their communication channels. Before they could though, bullets started entering everyone's brains.

*Splat!* *Splat!* *Splat!* *Splat!* *Splat!*

In only seconds, every single person patrolling or scanning outside the factory had a new bloody hole in their heads. The spotlights stopped moving, the jeeps patrolling veered off and crashed, and even the robots and turrets that were scanning around mysteriously shut down. The surroundings went dead silent.

SS-008, who was now on one of the roofs of the factory, looked at all his kills with apathetic eyes. He then looked down. 

Within the factory, he couldn't detect any signs of life. It was odd, and definitely a red flag. But that meant nothing to him, and after dropping a sticky explosive on the roof he was standing on, it exploded, and he jumped into the hole. 

*Tap*

Landing on the ground with a light foot, he scanned around with his rifle raised. He found nothing except for dead machines, cold steel, and an eerily quiet breeze. 

But suddenly...

"Take him down."

A feminine voice echoed through the factory. With it, SS-008 felt a threat to his life for the first time in a long time, and he dashed to the side. 

*Psh*

Or, at least he tried. Before he could move, long skinny spears were shot at him with the speed of a bullet. There were 5, and each one was aimed toward his limbs and torso, intending to pin him down. 

But he was able to slightly dodge fast enough. When they arrived, only one impaled him in his right leg. Without hesitation, he skillfully took out a knife and slashed at the spear. Despite being metal, it was cut like butter, and he continued to move from his position as a sitting duck after taking the spear out of his leg. 

But that wasn't the end of it. From the dark pits of the factory, distortions started to make their way out and toward him. SS-008 recognized this as a cloaking device, and he shot at all movement that he could barely detect. 

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

Gunshots rang and echoed out against the metal walls, and several distortions collapsed, revealing bodies cloaked in black. Some got past though, and he was quickly put into close combat.

Grabbing a pistol and a knife, he proceeded to fight off these distortions. They all attempted to stab him with swords or knives or shoot him with guns, but with his skillful movement and uncanny accuracy, he was able to avoid most attacks and kill more distortions. The rest that he didn't doge were blocked by his state-of-the-art armor. 

"Come on! We were prepared for this and he's only one person! Take him down!"

The woman's voice echoed out once more like an announcer, and with it, even more distortions appeared and went on to attack SS-008. More spears also started to be fired. However, after hearing and analyzing the voice with the onboard systems of his suit, SS-008 was able to identify the origin.

'There.'

He looked toward a certain area of the factory. There, he could barely pick up electromagnetic flickers in the atmosphere. Raising his gun, he fired there. 

*Bang!*

*Zap!*

Hitting something, the bullet was stopped, but the invisibility cloak was removed. It revealed a small office-like building. 

Smiling under his mask, SS-008 killed the distortions around him, dodged the oncoming spears, and charged the building. His suit heated up as power gathered, and he rammed the wall like a bull.

*Boom!*

The wall was blown away, and inside was revealed a bright room. In this room, SS-008 quickly spotted 4 things. 

The first was a giant magnet ring the size of a person against one wall. The second was a table with a suitcase on it containing 3 vials. The third was a wall of 9 high-powered anti-material rifles stacked in a 3x3 square pointed straight at him. The fourth was a woman who stood behind the rifles.

"Bye-bye!"

*Click!*

*BOOM*

After smiling in victory, the woman pressed a button, and the rifles fired. 9 huge bullets were sent point blank towards him at supersonic speeds. He couldn't dodge. 

In that instant, SS-008 had several questions run through his head.

'Who the hell lines up guns like that? Why was she prepared for such a specific scenario?! This is just ridiculous!'

*Splat!*

The bullets tore through him and huge bloody holes were created on his body. He was sent flying back and collapsed on the floor with a gory sound.

"Hahaha! Another win! And this time, I took out the most notorious super-soldier! Man, you've really caused me problems, you know?"

The woman laughed manically and walked out from behind the giant guns, approaching the body of SS-008. She was a curvy woman dressed in a black body suit. Her black hair and defined face looked innocent as she moved next to and peered over SS-008's bleeding body.

"Hmm, I've never seen your face. You always have that helmet on when you obliterate my little labs and hideouts. Now, it's time to see my bane. My evil prince who foils all my plans!"

Reaching down with a wide smile, the woman grabbed the head and took off the helmet. Underneath was a smirking face.

"Oh! You're so handsome! And alive!"

She staggered back in surprise, but before the distortions around them could act to finish off SS-008, he shot up and grabbed the woman, holding her hostage.

"Nobody move!"

SS-008 wrapped up the woman and placed a pistol against her head. He then quickly backed toward the building with the items, making sure they couldn't try anything. 

"Ahh! Don't kill me! Listen to him, you fools! Put those weapons down! Don't you know who he is?!"

The woman shouted hysterically, and the distortions gradually laid down their weapons. Seeing how much of a coward the girl was, SS-008 sighed in relief, though he didn't show it on his face.

He held the woman against his body, pistol pointed right at her temple. During this, nanites within his body moved through his limbs and sealed the holes created by the bullets. These nanites and the suit were the only reasons he could keep moving, though it caused him much pain. In only a matter of seconds, the bleeding stopped, and the suit began to inject drugs into him that would allow him to maintain combat effectiveness. 

However, the next moment, the woman smiled wickedly and expertly shot her hand toward a wound on his leg. In it was a syringe, and before SS-008 could react, it poked into him.

*Psh*

"Hey! Don't make me shoot you!"

*Crack!*

"Aghhhh!"

After grabbing the girl's hand and smacking away the syringe, he twisted her wrist, causing her to cry out in pain. Unfortunately, the syringe completely injected the stuff into him. While he didn't know what it was, he couldn't let his hostage go and kept his cool. He quickly sent out a transmission using his mind. 

'Headquarters, this is SS-008. Operation has been compromised. Requesting immediate support. Packages have been identified on-site and I'm currently holding a hostage. Enemies are still present and I've been injected with an unknown substance, possibly poison. Awaiting your arrival.'

With that, he stopped communicating. He continued to remain in a standoff with the distortions while holding the woman hostage. Surprisingly, she became calm despite the broken wrist.

"Can you feel it?"

After a while, the woman spoke. SS-008 didn't respond, but glanced at her in curiosity.

"The injection. It's a beautiful thing, the substance that was in there. Did they tell you what it was?"

"What was it? And what's the antidote?"

"Huhu, it's not poison. No, it's something far greater. It's the gateway."

"The hell are you talking about? What's it going to do to me? If it does anything, I'm going to kill you, so you better think carefully."

SS-008 tightened his grip on her neck and pressed the gun harder into her temple. She just smiled though as if she liked it. 

"Huhu, don't worry. I've just given you a wonderful gift. It has effects, but they're not ones you want to avoid. Hehehe... Though, you might want to be cautious. The people behind you... they might have things to say about this. Be careful. Your value now exceeds imagination."

"Just shut up. Your life will be over soon anyway."

"Oh, I don't think so. If anything, it's just starting to begin!"

"Hey! What are... you..."

The woman grabbed the arms that were pinning her back and removed them. SS-008 was about to strengthen his grip, but bafflingly, he couldn't exert any strength, like he was paralyzed. He fell to the floor, and the woman smiled sweetly as she looked down at his incapacitated body and incredulous face.

"I'll be seeing you later. You know... Now that I look at you closer, you really are very handsome. Maybe if we have time, we'll have to play around at my super secret hideout. You know, before we have to leave forever. Oh! This is just so romantic! The poor little soldier and the beautiful princess tied by fate! Hehehe! Anyway, I should get going. I have to prepare for the big finale! Here's a parting gift. A token of my undying sincerity!"

Bending down, the woman sweetly pinched SS-008's nose and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He could only stare at her, paralyzed by both the mysterious substance and by her insane mannerisms. 

The woman then skipped off out of the factory like a little girl. SS-008 started losing consciousness not long after, and the world soon went black.

 

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