Chapter 3: System Override
1309 Words
System Prompt:
[1 Year Before the Coming of the Players]
[Warning: You are in the Pre-Player Worldline. Prepare or be erased.]
This world was the beta version of the game he had played times without numbers but for him right now it was terrifyingly real. If he didn’t grow stronger before the players arrived then he’d be nothing more than XP in their path.
---
Jace’s vision faded to darkness and the last thing he could remembered was feeling pain then silence slowly took over.
He blinked awake on a cold metal table with his limbs pinned by heavy restraints, both arms and legs locked and a cold helmet on his head connecting him to a massive machine humming in the center of the lab.
Metal tubes pulsed with energy. Dozens of monitors surrounded the room, displaying fragmented data and brainwave patterns.
[Scan Active…]
[High-Power Brainwashing Machine Detected]
Purpose: Suppresses subject identity. Overwrites personality and memories to enforce loyalty. Last used: 7 successful wipes, 22 deaths.
Jace’s heart froze as he saw those words. They were going to erase his memories again, brain wash him, add new memories and turn him into some obedient killing machine.
He thrashed in place, but his body barely twitched.
[Tranquilizer Still in Effect]
The next second he heard footsteps echoed. It was the old man from earlier with a lab coat and a black and white hair. He stepped into view calmly observing him.
“Oh? You’re awake.”
Jace glared through the haze. “Who are you? Why the hell are you trying to brainwash me?”
He wanted to tear the man apart with a single punch, but his body refused to obey.
The doctor chuckled, scanning the terminal. “Fascinating... Your mental resistance is far above protocol thresholds. You’re not like the others. I should’ve expected this from Subject No. 30.”
He tapped through a few more files, muttering to himself. “IQ rating... off the charts. Emotional retention still intact. Hmm… yes, it was the right decision to try and wipe you again.”
He smiled faintly. “Ah...pardon me. I’m Dr. Patrick. I built the system you’re currently resisting.”
“Let me go!” Jace roared, veins bulging as he slammed his fist barely against the desk.
Two armed guards stormed in, energy rifles charged but Patrick raised a hand. “No need. He’s not going anywhere.”
They left but stayed on standby outside the door.
Patrick leaned forward and whispered “You’re valuable but nevertheless dangerous. You’ve seen too much already once we reset your mind you’ll serve the cause again flawlessly and join the others "
He pressed a switch.
The brainwashing system roared to life. Tubes glowed. Needles lowered.
Jace gritted his teeth. He had to do something or he’d be turned into something cold, heartless, and inhuman.
[Emergency Override Detected]
[Mechanic Class – Internal Defense Protocol Engaged]
Would you like to launch a counter hack against the Brainwashing System?
Yes / No
'YES...'There was finally hope.
Jace clenched his teeth as the machine powered on, humming with a low, deadly frequency. He felt the pulses drilling into his mind stealing thoughts, replacing them with blind obedience.
[Brainwashing Initiated...]
[Mental Override: 8%... 17%... 26%...]
[Warning: Resistance Level Inadequate – WILLPOWER too low]
Jace screamed inwardly as his vision flickered and his mind splintering. He could feel the pain of resisting but he had to. What other choice did he have. He continued trying his best to endure, sweat were beginning to form on his head.
[Override Counter-Protocol Failed]
[Willpower Threshold Not Met]
[Initiating Mental Submission...]
His fingers twitched as he kept on folding and unfolding, he was slowly panicking. Then he remembered....
'Wait... I still have unassigned stat points!'
Desperation gave him clarity. He focused, eyes burning.
[Opening Stat Menu]
[Unassigned Points: 9]
[Assign All to WILLPOWER?]
[Yes / No]
“Yes!” he roared.
[Stats Assigned. WILLPOWER: 20]
[Override Counter-Protocol: Reattempting...]
The pulses slowed and the fog began to clear.
[Mental Override Halted – Resistance Successful]
[Memory Core Connection Established]
Suddenly images flooded his mind memories that didn’t belong to the Jace he thought he was.
He was someone else. Not a lab rat. Not a soldier. An agent.
An infiltrator who had discovered the facility a year before the player invasion an operative sent to erase the very system that now controlled him.
He remembered sneaking through the steel halls, entering the core chamber, hacking into the main terminal.
PROJECT: OVERCLOCK.
Goal: Extract energy cores from failed super soldiers. Use the harvested power to create a Biomech War Engine. Successful soldiers would become Commanders. The failed? Slaughtered and drained to power the machine.
He had tried to destroy it all. He nearly succeeded.
But they caught him. Wiped him. Rebuilt him. Turned him into Subject No. 30.
Jace’s eyes snapped open. The machine continued its work but it was glitching.
[ERROR]
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE DETECTED]
[MEMORY WIPE – FAILED]
In the control booth Dr. Patrick’s face look twisted as he was shocked by the unexpected event.
“Why is it still running? The brainwashing phase should be completed by now...”
The monitors screamed ERROR! ERROR! in red strobing letters.
“No, no, no… what did you do, No. 30?!” yet Jace wasn’t done. He was still mentally linked to the system and he noticed lines of code pouring into his HUD. With this his Mechanic Class activated a new function.
[New Skill Unlocked – Basic Hacking Protocol]
Allows interference with simple digital systems. Weak but expandable. Unlocks creative rewiring potential.
[Would you like to learn this skill?]
“Yes,” he whispered with the strength he had then his eyes started glowing brighter.
Instead of disabling the machine outright, Jace rewrote the command logs tricking the system into thinking the brainwashing succeeded.
He inserted false outputs: “Mental Wipe Complete.” “Subject compliant.”
On the surface, he was now a perfect soldier. But inside? He was more aware—and angrier—than ever.
Dr. Patrick nodded. “Good... finally. Let’s move him to the next phase.”
But as he turned his back, Jace kept his face blank. He had to act brainwashed. Who knew what else the doctor had prepared?
[System Alert: Class Evolution Path Discovered – “Mech Hacker”]
"You’ve seen their blueprints. Now you can build yours."
His eyes shone. Was this not a blessing in disguise? He almost lost his mind but instead gained an evolved class. Jace didn’t have time to fully check his stats as Patrick approached.
Dr. Patrick pressed a button beneath the table and Jace’s restraints unlocked. Jace stood and assumed the stance of a soldier, hands behind his back.
The memories they intended to give him were of a loyal soldier willing to follow any order the Organization gave. So he played along.
"From today henceforth, your name is X30."
"Noted, Sir," Jace replied, his tone flat, convincing.
"Guards... take him to join the others for testing."
Jace stood in silence as the brainwashing system shut down its monitors falsely reporting him as “Stable” and “Loyal.”
Suddenly a hidden file flashed across his interface one he didn’t access manually.
[System Archive Unlocked – Hidden Memory Log Detected]
[Viewing Log: Subject No. 27]
He watched, stunned, as the recording played:
A man who looked exactly like him, same voice, same expressions, strapped to the same table.
“You can’t stop the system,” the older version of Jace said in the log, blood running down his face. “I tried. I failed. But maybe... maybe the next one will finish it.”
The video ended with Subject 27’s eyes going blank.
Jace stared at the screen interface, reeling.
“I’m... not even the first ?”
Then who the hell am I?
- Writer
