What's happening to me…?

The euphoria dissolved like ash in water. That manic ecstasy that had devoured my nerves was gone.Even the pain… gone.Replaced by a numbing stillness.A void so quiet, it felt inhuman.

My body floated, weightless… or maybe dead. I wasn't sure. My thoughts pulsed in slow motion, like echoes underwater.

And then I heard it.

A laugh.

Low. Wet. Twisted.

"Kekeke."

It didn't come from outside—it crawled into my mind like a parasite.

"How do you feel?""Do you like your new enhancement?"

I opened my eyes, sluggishly. And everything around me was wrong.

I wasn't lying down anymore—I was suspended inside a containment tube, submerged in a viscous, translucent fluid that clung to my skin like a second layer of flesh. A respirator mask wrapped tightly around my face, forcing oxygen and nutrients down my throat. I could feel the cables inside me, slithering beneath my ribs.

There was warmth… unnatural warmth. Almost comforting. Almost fetal.

I turned my head slowly.

And there he was.

The Overseer. The wretch behind every incision carved into my body. His face was a grotesque smile stretched too wide, eyes like dead bulbs flickering behind the glass.

"Looks like you're enjoying your new blessing," he whispered, tapping the tube. "Your skin's denser now. Almost ceramic. I could fire a standard handgun at your chest and you'd barely feel it."His tone was gleeful, like he was talking about a new toy.

I stared at him. No words. Just quiet contempt.

He leaned closer.

"Sadly, this will be your final enhancement.""Central Command made the call.""You're being transferred.""You'll train the first generation of Immortal Knights."

His voice was cold now—clinical.

"They say you're a prototype of victory. A living doctrine. A cursed standard for the next war."

He tilted his head, watching me like a collector admiring a relic.

"Tomorrow, you'll meet your companions.""For now… sleep well, T34."

His voice lingered like static.

And darkness returned.

—29 Days Until the War of Soldam—

"I came back for you."

The cell door hissed open. I recognized the voice before I saw him.

"This might be our last encounter, T34. Bittersweet, isn't it? But don't worry… the next batch of test subjects is already in gestation."

I didn't answer. My eyes just followed his movements.

"Put this on."

He threw a sealed uniform bag on the ground near my feet.

"It's what Central designed for your role as instructor. Functional. Sterile. Like you."

I stood up. The rags I wore clung to my skin like mold. I tore them off without hesitation.

The light revealed my full reflection—something between man and weapon.

My body was lean but taut, more machine than flesh in places. Alloy structures traced my bones like armor beneath the skin. Scars riddled every inch—some surgical, some carved by war. My ribs slightly visible, reinforced with thin plates. My spine visibly altered—unnatural ridges where the implants were fused.

I didn't look human. I looked… engineered.

He admired me like a father watches his creation breathe.

"You're my masterpiece, T34.""Don't fuck this up."

Moments later, six soldiers entered. Full armor. Pulse rifles aimed at me as a protocol, not fear. Their helmets had no visors—just black surfaces and biometric sensors.

They shackled my wrists. Placed a blackout mask over my face.

Familiar procedure. Routine dehumanization.

At least this time, they didn't break my ribs doing it.

"We're moving you to Military Camp D5."

The transport ship was sterile. The mask came off once we were airborne.

"Central Command, report: Immortal Knight in transit to Training Zone."

No one spoke during the flight. The silence wasn't respect—it was protocol. I wasn't a soldier to them. I was a weapon in storage.

Hours passed.

"We've arrived. Move."

The ship landed in a fortified zone surrounded by metallic walls that stretched like tombstones into the sky. Turrets rotated silently above, inscribed with runes I couldn't decipher—symbols designed to channel energy into the defensive systems.

The base wasn't military.It was a containment labyrinth.

A handler approached, scanned my ID tag.

"T34. Confirmed.""Welcome, Immortal Knight. From this point on, I'll be your guide."

I didn't answer.

He led me through the complex—sterile hallways, reinforced corridors, surveillance everywhere.

"This is the general dormitory—where the first generation of Immortal Knights will rest."

The word "rest" sounded obscene in this place.

"That sector's for guards and technical personnel. You'll have isolated quarters."

We passed a private gym—lined with reinforced servomachines calibrated to handle augmented physiology. Then the armory, sealed tight. Then the showers—automated decontamination chambers disguised as hygiene units.

But then I saw it.

The Dome.

A towering structure at the center of the facility. The walls shimmered faintly—not just glass or metal, but something alive, pulsing with integrated conduits and magnetic seals.

He stopped walking.

"They're inside.""The first generation."

I stared at the dome. I could hear voices from inside.Laughter. Movement.

Children.

None of them sounded older than seventeen.

I felt something twist in my chest.

Not emotion. Not empathy.

Something worse—recognition.

I had been there. I had laughed like that once. Before the screaming started. Before the needles. Before the surgeons turned my body into a blueprint for suffering.

I closed my eyes briefly. Took a breath.

And opened the door.