Chapter 2: The Last Subject
1532 Words
Jace slowly opened his eyes becoming conscious of where hie was.
He looked like he was under water but wasn't water it was something thicker.
He could feel the thick cold liquid stick to his skin as he floated in silence surrounded by glass.
He made a slight attempt to move but something was wrapped around his chest and limbs they were wires which connected to the huge tube.
His head ached as his spoke in his mind 'Where… am I?'
He shifted slightly, then winced as bubbles rose around him. The tube wasn’t just for healing it felt like a containment chamber, some kind of test subject tank.
His vision began to sharpen. Outside the tube, dim white lights buzzed above a long hallway.
Broken glass and shattered steel surrounded him. The other tubes were cracked open, their contents long gone.
'Was I the only one left?' Jace thought.
Before he could think further footsteps echoed in the distance.
Two figures entered the room. One, a stern-looking man in a white lab coat, held a tablet and walked with authority.
The other, a younger assistant, followed behind with nervous glances.
“The last test subject still hasn’t woken up?” the older man asked, eyes scanning the room coldly.
“Unfortunately, no sir” the assistant replied. “It’s been weeks already and no signs of brain activity.”
Jace’s heart pounded. He shut his eyes quickly, pretending to still be unconscious.
“Record it as a failure,” the scientist ordered. “Shut it down and make sure the body is disposed of properly.”
“Yes, sir.”
The younger man stepped toward the control panel, his hand reaching for the shutdown switch.
'Dispose whose body? Mine?!' Jace’s pulse spiked he could no longer wait anymore.
With a sharp growl, he released his arm free from the restraint and threw his fist forward.
The thick glass cracked then shattered with a burst of pressure and sound.
Liquid exploded outward as he fell to the ground on one knee gasping for air, his limbs were heavy but moving.
The two scientists staggered back in shock shouting for security.
Before they could run a blue light shimmered in front of Jace’s eyes.
---
SYSTEM INTERFACE INITIALIZING…
User Detected: Subject 038
Synchronizing Player Soul… Complete.
Name: Jace
Race: Enhanced Human / ???
Model: NPC
Level: 1
Experience: 0 / 10
HP: 20 / 20
Main Class: N/A
Sub Class: N/A
Attributes:
Strength: 15
Speed: 12
Endurance: 8
Intelligence: 20
Mana: 5
Luck: 1
Will power: 11
Unassigned Stat Points: 0
Energy: 50
Grade: F (Mortal)
Abilities:
Assimilation / Creation – Rapidly learn and adapt technology, combat, and magic.
Energy Absorption – Absorb incoming energy-based attacks or sources.
Skills: None
Equipment: None
---
Jace stared at the screen, his chest rising and falling.
'The System… it followed me here'
Relief hit him for just a second before something darker sank in.
'Wait what I'm an NPC… oh God an NPC?'
He remembered the last thing before waking up. It was the game he was playing, X-Generation Fall II he was testing out the new upgrade then there was a green flash… and now this.
This isn’t just a VR game anymore. I’ve been reincarnated inside the world. But not as a player.
'A damn NPC'
His hands folded tightly as he thought about it.
'I won't be able to respawns or revive... If I die… I would be dead for real'
The older scientist recovered from the shock and shouted
“Security, now! Subject 038 has breached containment!”
Sirens blared overhead and the next second Jace’s instincts kicked in.
His body moved faster than he expected stronger.
He leapt forward and slammed his elbow into the console frying it with a burst of sparks.
The assistant tried to grab him but Jace kneed him in the gut and sent him groaning in the ground.
Red lights bathed the hallway signalling there was either an emergency or breaking in.
[SYSTEM PROMPT: Skill Acquisition Opportunity – “Combat Evasion I” Detected. ]
Do you wish to learn the skill
Yes/No
“Yes!” Jace barked, more to the system than anyone.
The moment he accepted a pulse of information rushed into his brain.
His feet moved before he even finished thinking to duck, pivot, shoulder roll.
Two guards stormed through the door with shock batons, but Jace was already on them.
He caught the first baton mid swing pulled it free and used it to hit the guard’s side watching him convulse and drop.
The second swung wide but Jace ducked and delivered a brutal punch to the man’s chest, then kicked his legs out from under him.
Both guards hit the floor hard.
[Skill Acquired: Combat Evasion I]
[Energy: +10 from successful combat]
[Level Up: Level 2]
[Stat Points Earned: +3]
Breathing hard Jace looted one of their utility belts and clipped it around his waist.
A low tier energy dagger sat inside the pouch. Atleast it was better than nothing and being without a weapon.
He glanced at the broken glass tube behind him and saw that all the other huge tube just like his own were empty and he wondered if they were either dead or gone.
'W..why am I the only one left?' another thought flashed in his head but there was no time to think about it.
He heard more footsteps echoing from above and Jace could tell the reinforcements were coming.
He sprinted out of the lab weaving through long hallways and maintenance shafts following the faint blue blip his system highlighted for escape.
After what felt like hours of crawling, dodging and climbing he saw it. A c***k in the outer wall he was sure behind it was his freedom.
He kicked the weak metal and burst into the open and froze.
The city that stretched before him wasn’t Earth.
It was the starting World of X-Generation Fall II just like in the game. It was just like he remembered it but it was looking very much real and feeling the same as he felt the atmosphere.
Just as Jace was about to climb out his heartbeat slowed thudding sluggishly and painfully.
It felt like a heart attack. Jace held his chest staring in horror as the soft blue light in his chest began to flicker and dim then he fell back to the ground and landed in a bang.
“and where do you think you’re going to No. 30?” a deep voice echoed around the surroundings.
It was from tall man who was moving forward with white and black strands of hair which framed his stern face and his lab coat swayed as he walked to him.
He had two robots trailed behind him which went to Jace and grabbed his arms lifting him effortlessly from the floor.
“You are the last super soldier” the man continued. “You can’t escape from here.”
He smirked and turned away slipping a metallic switch into his coat pocket, it was a kill switcht the very device that had just shut down Jace’s core energy system and it was also the one that gave him superhuman abilities also it kept him alive.
Jace felt his strength slipping. He couldn’t even lift a finger to resist.
Whatever the man had done, it had completely severed his connection to his enhancements.
All he could do was watch as the robots dragged him away.
But then it happened a flicker in his eye showing screen to him.
[Made contact with a Mechanic-class creation]
[Mechanic Class Detected]
Do you wish to acquire it?
Yes / No
Jace’s eyes snapped open as his heart raced not from fear but from hope.
This was a rare class, one he could never obtain in his previous life, not even as a top-tier player, and now he was getting it as an NPC? No, not just an NPC with a system.
It was the Legendary Mechanic Class and Jace knew its strengths and its flaws but that didn’t matter.
He had knowledge about it he had mastered everything about it because one of his greatest threats when he played was a Mechanic Class Villain and with this he would make it work.
‘Yes,’ he screamed inwardly with every ounce of willpower left.
New Class Acquired!
[Main Class: Mechanic – Level 1]
Class Description: You would become an Engineer of war and innovation.
Mechanics blend science and combat mastery, they craft, hack, enhance and control mechanical creations from autonomous drones to armor upgrades and battlefield turrets.
The higher the level..the more complex and devastating their inventions.
[Perks Unlocked]:
Auto-Analyze (Passive): Instantly scans nearby machines and tech-based enemies.
Nanowire Override (Active): Temporarily h****k one mechanical unit.
Workbench Protocol (Locked until Level 3)
Warning: Class progression requires materials, energy cores, and schematics. Maintenance failure can lead to class debuffs.
The glow in Jace’s chest steadied weak but alive. He had to make them realise he wasn’t just a test subject anymore rather would he be their tool.
He would show them they made the greatest mistake and soon it would become their nightmares.
- Writer
