Lance looked down and stared at the small tornado spinning in his hand. He can feel the gentle breeze that blew his face and skin.

[Now that you know the truth of this world, I will formally introduce myself.]

Lance listened quietly to the mechanical voice in his head. His heartbeat missed a beat. Knowing the truth took time to sink in, but now that he has calmed down. Now that he focused his mind on the goal of rescuing his teammates who are victims like him, he suddenly realized that it wasn't that hard to accept the truth.

Because whether he denies everything, the truth will stay the same.

So he's better off doing what he must do.

[I am system W-XH3441, in charge of assisting the fourty - fifth awakened Suit from the World C - 2305. My mission is to assist the awakened you to eradicate the infested alien species that indiscriminately killed all types of life forms in the recent years.]

[The main branch is on high alert due to the alarming increase of destroyed planets and has issued a mission to all us systems to find a suitable host that has high latent talent and are extremely capable to eradicate these alien species.]

Lance frowned. "So there are lots of you here?"

[Yes. There are a total of 45 awakened Suits in this world that are currently being assisted by other systems dispatched by the main branch.]

Lance's heart missed a beat. "So there are forty four others like me? Where are they now? How can I get in touch with them?"

[Lance, you Awakeners are not allowed to work together. Awakeners are what systems will call you. Because - ]

Lance aggrieved voice caused the volume to rise significantly. "Why? Is it because you guys restrict us from contacting each other? Is meeting and cooperating each other supposed to be a taboo or something?"

[I cannot answer nor am I programmed to divulge that information.]

[But I can only advised you Lance to work on your own. Other awakeners have been here for a while but none of them managed to complete the main mission of eradicating.]

Outside the room, a small thud echoed. Lance immediately fell silent, listening closely to the source of the sound. After a few seconds, someone passed by, accompanied by the scraping of wheels against the tile floors. As if the person behind is pushing a trolley.

The person quickly passed by Lance's room and the footsteps went farther until he could not hear them.
Lance made sure no one is outside before he spoke indignantly. "I don't want to work with anyone. I'm good working alone. I can fend off by myself. But let me find the other Awakeners. I need information -"

[Lance, when Awakeners meet, they will immediately fight against each other. Hence, as your system, I would advise you not to seek them out. You just awakened recently, you're current strength is nothing compared to the others.]

[Lance, like I told you earlier. I am not the enemy. You can trust me. My sole purpose is to help you complete the mission. Not just for your benefit but for me as well. Because if you succeed, I can return back to the main branch and receive rewards.]

"Oh,...."

Lance begin to ponder over things. He really doesn't trust this person behind the system. Or maybe its not a person but an AI. Whatever it is, he can't let his guard down. But…

Lance is not strong enough. Eradicating infested alien species, saving his teammates from the brainwash of mecha alien species. It was easier said than done.

In the front door, somebody knocked and a haggard looking man with a mask and transparent protective equipment suit walked forward towards Lance.

"Status, normal. No more symptoms of corruption." He was holding a paper board and the scratching of the pen echoed in the quiet room.

"Can you open your mouth please?"

Lance obediently followed as he was ask. The man stayed half a meter distance from Lance, and he has to bend down slightly to see the corners of Lance's teeth and gums.

"No visible damage in teeth gums and throat." He scribbled all those information down. "Remove your shirt and stand up there."

The man pointed to the equipment placed in the farthest corner of the room. It took Lance a few seconds to understand that equipment is actually for X-ray. He nodded and obediently stood on his back at the man.
There are two pillars on both side of Lance that connects to the monitor on the left. In the middle of the pillars, is a rectangular black screen that run from Lance's head down to his feet.

"Turn around. Face me."

Lance faced the man behind him. The man's eyes were looking at the negative live view of Lance's body recorded by the rectangular scanner.

"Hm, no signs of internal wounds or damages. Blood is okay. Heartbeat is okay. Vitals are okay. Yep. You are good to go. Come on, put your shirt back."

Lance picked up the white shirt he tossed and followed the man. When they came outside of the room, there are five more individuals who are wearing identical protective equipment as the man.

Lance stand and patiently waited for the five men to run their tests and thoroughly disinfect his body. He endured being submerged in a body of water full of chlorine. There's also that bathtub full of strong scent of chemicals.

After twenty minutes of submerging himself, he was then asked to put on his trainee uniform and join the crew. It seems the journey towards the 67th fortress can no longer be delayed.

Lance followed the men in white protective uniforms. He was asked to stay inside the cubicle for another ten minutes.

This cubicle has many sensors placed on different sides. It seems its main job is to check if there are any fluctuations in his vitals. So it seems he was still under strict monitoring until these people were sure that he didn't have any tendencies to transform into a monster or be corrupted and drag everyone in the building.

***

"Wake up." Someone's rough voice and a splash of freezing, ice cold water awaken Alice from her slumber. She lazily looked up and met five different pairs of eyes with different shades of color.

Green, brown, hazy gray, light translucent gray. But all these eyes have one common thing. There are no traces of humanity on them.

Alice had long abhorred such gazes.

Alice immediately covered her eyes with a blanket. Marshal Klein, who was a witness and stood at the side watching his favorite trainee being punished heavily, had a heavy heart. The words of comfort he sometimes gave her were stuck in his throat.

The organization's rules must be upheld at all times.

And she just broke one of them. So the punishment she deserved must be delivered without hesitation.

[The Marshal is heartbroken seeing your injuries. I'm heartbroken too. Boohoo!!!]

Alice groaned a little before getting back to sleep. "Wake me up when they finish chanting their mantras."

[What should we do? Should I steal these people's skills too? This other guy has some interesting ones. He can control animals! Very very useful!]

"The previous marshal skills were controlling monsters. We killed him and stole all his abilities. It's enough. No need to steal more garbage skills and expose ourselves."

Just as when Alice tried to get back to sleep, she was hauled onto her feet and dragged to an unknown place. Somebody from behind placed a black cloth on her face. Not letting her see where they are going.

[We are heading to the above ground. Right, a quick update. Lance's vitals are doing well. Considering the flare up of his vitals earlier, it's stable now]

"Is the fusion successful?"

[Yes. His body's high ability to adapt gives his cells the chance to absorb the black fluid from the infested alien species. The resilience! So commendable! Ah, if only all humans had this type of body composition ~ Oh? Where are we going?]

"To that chamber…" Alice can smell the strong scent of a chemical mixture used to preserve the bodies of 'Suits'. These people may have covered her eyes, but she can still see the silhouette of the hibernation pods that are densely packed together.

The design of these hibernation pods was inspired by the human technology of those institutes where humans study the bodies of strange organisms. The mecha alien species have dug deeper into the minds of 'human inventors' and modified the technology.

Now they are using technology against the original inventors. Nothing can be more ironic than this.

As Alice bypassed them, Marshal Klein removed her veil and exposed the hidden chamber underground.

He pointed to the packed room full of hibernation pods. "Some of them are the newly sent 'Suits'. There are also trainees that just arrived."