It was frustration at how true they felt.
"Oi,"
I snapped back, finally turning on her, voice sharp and raw.
"It's not my fucking fault I'm in a weak-ass body with zero physical conditioning and no combat training. I'm doing my best here, alright?"
I jabbed a finger at my own chest.
"So how about you shut the fuck up for once and let me do my thing instead of constantly reminding me I'm fucking pathetic without you constantly nagging about It."
For half a second, Genesis just stared at me. Then her expression hardened.
"Oh?"
She said coldly.
"Oh, now you want sympathy?"
She drifted closer, eyes glowing faintly, every inch of her posture radiating irritation.
"You think I enjoy watching you almost die to vermin?"
Her voice rose.
"You think I like being welded into your nervous system while you flail around like an untrained idiot with a firearm you should know how to use like it's your own dick?"
I scoffed.
"Oh, here we go."
"No,"
She snapped.
"You don't get to 'here we go' me."
She pointed at my leg.
"That wound? Preventable. That fire control? Amateur hour. You don't breathe, you don't pace yourself, you don't listen."
I laughed, sharp and humourless.
"Yeah? And you don't shut the fuck up."
Her eyes flashed.
"I am literally the only reason you are still alive."
"And you never let me forget it!"
I shouted back.
"You think I don't know I'm behind? That I'm weak? That every step feels like my body's gonna fold in half?"
My voice cracked despite myself.
"I used to be a fucking war machine born and bred for war, for fucks sake, now I'm this, whatever It Is ."
That one landed. Genesis went quiet. Not smug. Not sarcastic. Just… still.
"I remember,"
She said, finally, quieter now.
"I remember what you were capable of. And watching you like this..."
She clenched her fists.
"...it fucking pisses me off."
I dragged a hand down my face, exhausted.
"Yeah. Well. Welcome to the club."
Silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable. Then I sighed, reached into the pack, and pulled out another cigarette. Genesis groaned immediately.
"Oh don't you fucking dare..."
Too late. I lit it, inhaled slowly and shallowly this time. My lungs burned, but I welcomed it. The smoke steadied me. Gave my hands something to do besides shaking.
"Look,"
I said through the exhale, staring at the far wall.
"I know I suck right now. I know I'm fucking up. But screaming at me every time I miss doesn't magically fix it, and whether we like it or not, where In this shit together"
She hovered there, arms crossed, jaw tight.
"…Fine,"
She said at last.
"But if you die, I'm saying 'I told you so' for the rest of eternity."
I smirked faintly.
"Deal."
I crushed the cigarette out against the wall, flicked it aside, and pushed myself forward again. The next corridor was narrower, darker.
The walls were torn and warped like something had forced its way through rather than walked. Bent steel. Scrape marks gouged deep into reinforced concrete. I slowed, pistol up, breathing controlled.
One step. Another. Movement. A cockroach skittered out from the shadows ahead.
"Twelve o'clock fifteen meters"
Genesis said automatically as she did, my pistol automatically went up, iron sights locking onto the fucker as I steadied myself. Inhale. Exhale. The first shot went wide.
My grip and sight made me miss again.
"Adjust and put more pressure Into youre right grip"
She snapped. I corrected and fired again. This time, the round punched through the cockroach's carapace. It screeched once and collapsed, legs curling inward.
"Good,"
Genesis said. Then.
"Left!"
I turned, faster this time, and fired twice in quick succession. BANG. BANG. The second roach burst apart mid-charge, ichor splattering the wall behind it.
Silence apart from the system's kill confirmation notifications. I stood there for a moment, chest rising and falling, then let out a breath.
"…See?"
I muttered.
"Its coming back to me."
"Barely,"
Genesis replied, but there was less bite to it. The corridor opened into a larger chamber.
Skeletons littered the floor, piled against the walls like discarded mannequins. Whatever had happened here hadn't been quick, or kind.
And in the center of it all stood an industrial elevator. Massive. Scarred. Ancient. The kind designed to haul vehicles, not people.
"Well,"
I said quietly.
"That looks like an exit If you ask me."
I limped over and slapped the UP button. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then the elevator groaned to life. The doors slid shut, sealing me in a metal coffin that began to rise. Slowly.
Very slowly. I leaned against the wall as it ascended, watching the faded floor numbers slide past. Most were scratched off. Others barely visible. My ears popped.
"…Jesus,"
I muttered.
"How deep is this place?"
Genesis didn't answer. At floor 100, or what I assumed was 100 going upwards from the bottom, the elevator shuddered and stopped. The doors creaked open.
Ahead of me, an EXIT sign hung crooked on the wall, its arrow pointing toward a blast door that had been torn open from the outside. Not blown. Not breached. Torn.
The metal edges were curled inward like paper. I raised my pistol and stepped out slowly. Daylight hit me like a slap. Grey sky. Smoke-stained clouds. Wind howling through broken concrete.
A city lay before me. Or what was left of one. Craters where buildings once stood. Towers snapped in half. Rubble piled like mountains. Burned-out vehicles fused to the streets.
Massive carcasses, things that were never meant to exist, rotting where they'd fallen. No people. No movement. Just ruin. Apocalypse, in every direction. I exhaled slowly.
"…Home sweet home,"
I muttered. The wind rolled through the ruins, carrying ash and something metallic that tasted wrong on my tongue.
Genesis floated forward until she was directly in front of me, arms crossed, head tilted slightly. She gave me the look.
The kind one doctors give mental patients right before they start, gently suggesting padded rooms.
"If your standard of home sweet home,"
She said slowly, carefully,
"Is a chemically, biologically, and radioactively compromised wasteland full of abominations that want to tear you limb from limb..."
She leaned in a little closer, purple eyes narrowing,
"...then you seriously have some problems, dude."
I shrugged, shifting my weight and immediately regretting it as my leg flared in protest.
"Still home,"
I said simply. There was a beat. Then Genesis facepalmed. Hard like she was about to commit mental suicide because of me.
"I swear to every god, demon, and deprecated subroutine..."
She cut off mid-rant. Pop-pop-pop. Faint. Distant. But unmistakable. Gunfire. We both froze. Another burst echoed through the ruins, sharper this time, bouncing between broken towers.
Before either of us could speak, my vision flickered. A translucent window slammed into existence in front of my face with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
SYSTEM EVENT DETECTED
Oh, brave player! A dire moment unfolds in the shattered world! The crack of gunfire rings out. Will you answer the call?
INVESTIGATE THE SOUNDS OF GUNSHOTS
A chibi version of me appeared in the corner of the window, wearing absurdly shiny knight full plate armor, holding a sword twice his size. He struck a heroic pose as sparkles exploded behind him.
IT IS TIME TO SHINE! HELP THOSE IN NEED!
REWARD: +XP
Or.
OPTIONAL
You can also be a fucking pussy and run away. Honestly, looking at your current stats and state, no one would judge you if you tucked your tail between your legs and properly fucked off.
The window lingered. Sparkles. Trumpet noises. The chibi knight me gave me a thumbs-up. I stared at it. Blankly.
"… Whoa,"
I said after a few seconds.
"Just… whoa."
Only to look suspiciously at Genesis, who slowly turned her head toward the floating UI, then back to me.
"…Do not look at me,"
She said immediately, raising both hands.
"I have nothing to do with the system being this cringe."
I squinted at her.
"You sure?"
She glared.
"This shit is beneath me."
I clicked my tongue and let the window fade, my mind already spiralling into calculation mode. Alright. Facts. Four magazines left. Current combat effectiveness, simply put shit. Leg injured.
Blood loss, minor, but not nothing, and Its only gonna get worse. Hands still fucking noodles. Aim barely passable even with Genesis riding shotgun in my nervous system.
And I had absolutely no idea who or what were firing those guns, or what they were firing at. The smart move? Ignore the mission. Find shelter. Patch myself up properly.
Figure out how to get back to my new timeline, where I wasn't fighting bugs with a limp and a prayer. I nodded to myself. That was the rational choice.
Then my eyes drifted back to the mission summary.
REWARD: +XP
I sighed.
"…Fuck me and my inner gamer"
If there was one thing years of gaming had burned into my soul, it was this.