Dan walked through the halls of the training facility on his way to the armory again. He wanted a second look to see if there was anything else worth buying. He still had more than sixty-thousand credit to spend thanks to his recent payout from the heist. The hallway stretched until he saw nothing but an infinitely extending corrdior. He looked behind and saw the same effect.

  Color seemingly drained out of Dan’s surroundings. The already drab and textured walls had the greys flush out of them and eventually dissolved into an all too familiar desolate realm and a demonic voice filled his ears.

  Return. Again, the voice said.

  Dan sighed. “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

  He looked down and saw the infinite blackness beneath his feet and the entire landscape changed to a black and grey desert that stretched as far as his eyes could see. The air was stale and dry to breathe compared to the air-conditioned interiors of the Alpha Corp’s facilities.

  You should be more grateful for my presence, Dan. Your superiors within the Alpha Corp are ill-equipped to explain to you the intricacies of the gifts you possess. If I was not around, who would explain to you the new rank beside your supernatural category?

  Unfortunately, Dan felt that neither Jane, Michael or Allen would have the answers. None of them had any experience with these powers and he got the sense that Michael wasn’t fully aware of the Arctic serum’s full capabilities. As much as he was grateful to be an agent, having the latest serum with all these unknowns made him feel like a beta tester.

  “Point taken,” Dan said. “But I don’t want you in my head any longer than its necessary.”

  The voice chuckled. Of course my disciple. We will get started then.

  Floating white text materialized in front of Dan. He saw five strange titles lined up from top to bottom.

  Acolyte

  Practitioner

  Cult Master

  Zenith

  Transcendent

  “Some fancy titles there,” Dan said. “My supernatural stat says I’m an acolyte. So what do they all mean?”

  These titles are ranks that determine your potency in your magic capabilities. The Church of Nanotology uses a similar naming scheme for their ranks. Except, these titles are integrated into their tier rank while for you, your supernatural rank is in its own category.

  Dan had never fought a Church agent before. “Is there a difference?”

  You will know in time, the voice said. Dan could picture that whoever or whatever was beyond was fighting back laughter from drip feeding him this info.

  But for now, you have allocated the sufficient number of stat points into your superantural stat. Upon satisfying this criteria, the method of progression for your gifts has changed. You must now kill to further rank up your status from acolyte to beyond.

  “Kill? As in other enemy agents?”

  Yes. Other agents are the ideal prey you need to hunt to grow your power.

  Dan knew that killing was part of the job. While he would kill when necessary whether it was part of the mission or to defend himself, he never actively sought out death and destruction. Except towards Kate and Adam. Those two he wouldn’t mind seeing face down on the ground in their own blood.

  “Is there an exact number of assholes I need to send six feet under to progress through each rank?” Dan said.

  I thought you would never ask, the voice said. The numbers will be spelled out in front of you.

  Path to Practitioner: 20 kills

  Path to Cult Master: 100 kills

  Path to Zenith: 500 kills or sufficient artefact collection

  Path to Transcendent: 2000 kills or direct exposure to the meteorite

  Unsurprising to Dan, the later ranks had much higher requirements. But he wondered what did the text mean by artefect.

  The voice chimed in. An artefact refers to pieces from the meteorite that struck Antarctica. Otherwise known as the Dead Zone. The meteorite is the source of all your gifts, including the powers wielded by the Church.

  Dan looked around the grey scale landscape and began pacing around. No matter where he walked, it seemed like he wasn’t getting anywhere. The infinite dark ground along with the grey skies that stretched forever remained a constant. “Well, since we’re here, what about that meteorite makes it give people magic powers? I don’t think just any rock from outer space could have such special properties.”

  You humans barely have a handle of the affairs on this planet, let alone an understanding of any extraterrestrial matters. Even I am not fully privy to the properties of the meteorite. But the results are undeniable. That space rock as you call it was what helped me ascend to the entity I am now.

  Dan got his answer. Not a detailed answer but one nonetheless.

  There is one limitation that constricts you and the other Alpha agents who will take the Arctic serum. You only have four slots available for an individual supernatural ability. One of them is already taken by Kodak’s berserk ability, and another by the glare. Which leaves you two additional slots left.

  “So… I’m limited to how many of these bizarre powers I can have at once?”

  An unfortunate concession. The Church of Nanotology does not have this same weakness. Focus on the center of your HUD. You will find another new addition.

  A spinning blue hexagon popped up in front of Dan’s vision before it blinked away. In its place, a violet bar showed up just beneath the center of his view. This was the same bar that appeared during his training sessions when he used his berserk mode.

  This is a test, my disciple, the voice said. Use one of your gifts.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Dan followed along with the entity’s request and he curled his fists. He braced himself for the strain his body would endure for the berserk mode.

  Berserk mode activated.

  Strangely, while Dan felt the surge of energy and adrenaline coarse through his body, he didn’t feel any of the usual fatigue and strain. Instead, the violet bar in the middle gradually became shorter on both ends.

  That’s it, the voice said. Keep it up for a little longer.

  As the chaotic energies and sparks of red bioelectricity continued raging, the violet bar continued becoming shorter and shorter until the bar completely disappeared. Then the waves of pain hit him. This was a different sort of pain compared to the strain he experienced during the heist.

  The stress the berserk mode put on his body was like hundreds of tiny needles puncturing his muscles and napalm was poured onto his bones.

  The voice elaborated. You now have a meter that represents how much energy you have left for your gifts. The Church followers call it corrosia energy.

  Dan saw that it took around twenty seconds for the bar to completely drain while his berserk was active. “I guess I’ll sound like a bum if I keep calling it magic then?”

  The voice cackled obnoxiously. If there was a joke, Dan didn’t get it. But maybe it was best that he didn’t try to understand the sense of humor of this strange entity.

  But, if you drain your corrosia bar, your gifts will drawn upon your flesh. If you continue to use your gifts long after you have drained your corrosia bar, you will die.

  “Good to know,” Dan said.

  So now you know. You will kill if you want to increase your power, the voice said. Embrace the bloodlust and carnage and taste the blood of your enemies.

  The world around Dan began to dissolve around him. At first, the strange realm began to tilt. The grey skies cracked with tears of blinding white rays before the light engulfed all of his surroundings. In the next second, he woke up in his bed.

  Glass shattering was the first noise Dan heard that morning. It also served as his unexpected alarm clock. The internal alarm built into his HUD didn’t wake him up yet. Even so, Dan managed to get a solid seven hours of sleep. He was on high alert from hearing the glass break. His hearing picked up the sudden noise coming from the living room in his apartment. His hearing was precise enough that he knew which specific window had been busted and his mind was already drawing a mental picture of the extent of the damages.

  Dan rolled out of bed and grabbed the two Initiate pistols strapped beneath the side of his bed. The drawer within his night stand contained two mags. He quickly loaded both of his handguns and got ready to confront the intruder in his apartment. Whoever dared to invade the home of an Alpha agent would regret it.

  Without his armor, Dan didn’t have his footsteps silenced by the specialized boots of the Mk. II Stealth suit. He took each step in methodical fashion as he slowly opened his bedroom door and walked through the short hallway.

  Dan kept both his handguns pointed in the air. His hearing picked up footsteps walking around in his living room. He heard the door of his refrigerator open. Dan only heard one set of footsteps. Dan kept his back against the wall, knowing that whoever fired the first shot had the advantage. He wasn’t wearing his armor, meaning all it took was just one bullet to put him down if he wasn’t careful.

  He made it to the end of the hallway and leaned his body out slightly. Even without his armor, Dan was confident in his ability to kill this intruder. So far during his time as an agent, he had quelled a riot, aided Jane Sunheiser in crushing a rebel cell in Amethyst and helped Michael Cynosa in stealing back the container of arctic serums.

  Pointing his gun he was about to pull the trigger when he saw the figure of the intruder. He disengaged and didn’t fire. Shrinking back into the hallway, Dan was dumbfounded. The intruder in his kitchen appeared to be a young girl with fair skin. She wore a tank top that was cropped, exposing her lower back. What shocked him the most was the strawberry blond hair.

  Why had Angie Bloodliner broken into his apartment?

  The last time Dan had a pretty girl in his apartment, she turned out to be a traitor and almost killed him on numerous occasions. Dan still remained on high alert as he tiptoed his way to the edge of the hallway.

  “Hey Angie. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dan shouted.

  “Oh hey, are you finally up?”

  “You didn’t answer my question. You mind telling me why you broke my fucking window?”

  “Hey relax,” Angie said. Her voice sounded closer. “The Alpha Corp can pay for a repair. All of our living quarters are paid for.

  Dan leaned out from the hallway and saw Angie standing in front of him. Angie wore nothing but a white tank top and red shorts. Her footwear consisted of only flip-flops.

  “Okay, sorry about breaking in. I wanted to test out my infiltration skills,” she said. She was sucking on a popsicle she stole out of Dan’s freezer.

  “First of all, infiltrations are supposed to be quiet. You smashed through my window and that woke me up,” Dan said, lowering both his handguns. He walked over to a small round table and set his pistols on it. “Second, why didn’t you just entered the apartment and used the elevator?”

  “Oh where’s the fun in that? We’re agents! We’re supposed to do things the least boring way possible.”

  The obnoxious chewing combined with Angie’s unconvincing logic didn’t help calm Dan’s nerves.

  She raised her bruised fist at him. “By the way, do you have any bandages? I got some bruising on my knuckles from punching my way through your glass.”

  “How about no?” Dan said. “You broke my window like a dumbass so you can suffer the consequences.”

  “Wow you’re feisty this morning,” Angie said. “Fine, I won’t do that ever again.”

  “You do that again, you’ll suffer more than just bruised knuckles. I don’t take kindly if I think I’m going to get robbed,” Dan warned.

  “My bad,” Angie said casually. “Anyways, Li’s inviting the two of us to come and talk. Are you coming along?”

  “I need to eat first.”

  “Oh don’t worry, he said he’s paying.”

  “At least he has manners,” Dan said, grabbing his handguns and walking back into the hallway. “I bet he would have infiltrated my apartment better than you did. At least he would have been quiet.”

  “Oh fuck off,” Angie said. “Sometimes I wonder if you have a secret crush on Li.”

  Dan chuckled at Angie’s ridiculous accusation. “I know him well enough that he wouldn’t pull some bullshit like this on me.”

  “I guess you’re not letting this go,” Angie said rolling her eyes at him. “Just hurry up and get dressed. Your boyfriend is waiting for you.”

  Dan wished he could just knock Angie’s ass out and go meet up with Li alone. Oddly, a memory filled his mind of a conversation he had with Allen during their attack against the rebels. Allen warned him about hot chicks being crazy, especially if they were agents. After what he experienced with Kate and to a lesser extent, Angie, his more experienced senior proved correct.

  He entered his bedroom and took out the magazines of his handguns, carefully placing them back into the original drawer and then strapping his dual handguns back underneath his bed frame.

  Dan opened his walk-in closet and saw the box that contained his new armor, the Mk. II Stealth suit. He grabbed the handles on the sides of the box and carried it back into his bedroom. He lifted the lid off and took out the individual pieces out.

  For an advanced suit of armor, Dan was surprised at how modular each piece appeared to be, as if it parts of the armor was meant to be swapped and mixed with other custom parts. Dan laid out the padded torso, legs, gloves and other pieces along his bed. He threw both of the long coats onto his bed as well and began taking his clothes off.

  When he dropped his pants, Dan’s heart rate spiked when his bedroom door opened. “Woah you’ve definitely been working out the glutes,” Angie said.

  Dan jerked his head behind him and saw Angie poking her head through the opened door.

  “The fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  “Oh calm down, I see naked men all the time. Trust me, it’s no big deal,” she said with a dismissive wave.

  “I—wait what? What do you mean by that?” Dan asked.

  “I mean, well do I seriously have to tell you? I mean I’ll occasionally bring home guys for a little fun and go out to strip clubs. You should try it sometime. I mean, you’ve seen me just now, these shorts don’t even reach below my fingers.”

  Dan stared at Angie. Her casually sharing details about her sex life didn’t lighten the mood. “Ge the fuck out of my room and stay out until I get done putting on my clothes.”

  “Clothes? You're putting on your new armor. That’s not clothing. Come on, wear something casual.”

  Dan grabbed a throwing knife on his nightstand and winded his arm. “I said get out.”

  “Alright, alright,” Angie said.

  After she shut the door, Dan let out a sigh. While Angie did have a point about his choice in wardrobe, he also just spent sixteen thousand credits on his new armor. If he wanted to flaunt it, then he would do so without ridicule from his obnoxious teammate.

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