Chapter 10: The undead system
'Where am I?' Jack wondered floating in a vast endless dark space, void of any life whatsoever. The last thing he remembered was going in for the kill on Bryce, when he was caught by the robot. Then everything went dark for him, as he was then transported to this space.
'How long have I been here?' He thought, having lost track of time and cut off from reality. Floating in this endless space, for god knows how long.
"Shit! I shoupd've listened to Kelly and bought a wristwatch." He cursed out loud, blaming himself for not listening to Kelly.
Sighing, jack clenched his fists tightly. He didn't want to admit the bitter truth, but he also couldn't keep lying to himself.
"Am dead." There was no other plausible option, except he'd died by the hands of the robot. Usually according to rumors he heard, when people were about to die their whole life flashes before their eyes that moment. And the images of the one's they hold dear, keep replaying in their head.
But that wasn't the case for jack. His whole shitty life didn't flash before his eyes instead, the image of one person kept replaying in his head.
'I wonder how she's doing?' Jack never meant to leave Kelly, but faith had other plans. He knew she would be devastated about his disappearance, as j and j would surely hid his body and cover any traces. 'Maybe she might have a better life without me.' He smiled, imagining Kelly with a much better person than him that would provide for her. He'd gotten in a lot of trouble back in Agathe, with Kelly always being there to bail him out. He never meant to cause her worry or suffering.
'I have no regrets.' Jack sighed accepting his faith. "Weird.. I thought I'd be transported to heaven or hell, and not here. Where is here?" He'd thought the souls of dead people where either sent to heaven or hell, based on their records. But never before, had he heard of a vast empty dark space.
'It's kinda quite peaceful.' He thought, already used to the silence and the dark. "Maybe staying here isn't so bad. I could get used to it."
Literally having nothing else to do, jack was getting attuned with his new habitat until a loud voice resounded in the space.
"Rise!" The deep otherworldly voice commanded, causing the space to shake greatly shifting jack off balance.
"What the fuck?" Jack cursed regaining balance, he then looked round for any traces of anyone but nothing.
'This is the first time this has happened.' Jack thought, he tried talking to the voice but received no response. Shrugging, he dismissed it as just his delusions.
"Maybe am going a bit crazy."
.....
"Rise!" The voice spoke again, echoing everywhere. The space trembled, shaking violently with a black hole appearing beneath jack. Sucking everything into it.
'W-what the hell is happening?' Jack panicked unable to resist, as he was sucked into the black hole.
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In zephyr continent specifically it's capital city nerve city, crowds of people were gathered before a high podium. Armed guards with guns were stationed at every corner, to protect and uphold the law.
Alex could be seen gently sitting on a seat on the podium, with his trusted driver Bruce besides him.
"What the hell is he thinking addressing the crowd like this." Alex thought, having a bad feeling about this. There were several armed guards on the podium, along with several spies disbursed everywhere to monitor from the shadows.
"Maybe you're just paranoid master Alex." Bruce said in a neutral tone not sensing any danger.
"Am always paranoid Bruce.."
Soon, Alex could see Marcus approaching with a flock of armed guards surrounding him, as he made his way to the podium. Glancing at each other they didn't utter a word, instead conversing through the eyes.
"Greetings.. great people of zephyr." Marcus smiled, speaking in to the small microphone which spread his voice throughout the continent.
There were also camera's recording him live, and broadcasting the feed to cove and Agathe continent respectively.
"Am sure we're all aware of the operation sentinel program, announced some years back." He asked to which they all nodded fully aware.
"And I also announced it's launch officially a year back. The purpose of this program is to create long lasting, reliable and efficient sentinels to make life easier."
"Even though we don't admit it, we can't hide the fact humans aren't long lasting and efficient. Hell! We aren't even reliable." He joked, to which they all laughed.
"But with the implementation of OSP, We can bridge that gap. Think of it like this.. longer lasting sentinels that don't get tired to carry out our tasks, reducing work load. Not only do they last, but they're also fast and efficient. And not having feelings or emotions, makes them also the perfect choice to put your trust in." He paused, to which they clapped with looks of excitement and astonishment.
"But.." he continued. "It's come to my understanding, that these sentinels aren't exactly fully 'operational'." He said in a low tone, earning some muttering and gasps from the crowd.
"Bullshit! those sentinels are dangerous. They explode anywhere without caution, and kills innocent lives." A citizen from the crowd yelled, further stirring more trouble. But before things got out of hand, some guards swoop in escorting the man away.
Now there were angry stares and audible chatting, debunking the idea of incorporating these so called sentinels, besides humans.
'I knew this wouldn't work.' Alex thought blankly staring at Marcus. Before the OSP was initiated, the leaders in the three continents took a vote. Some voted it and some didn't, Alex was among those that didn't.
But of course only his vote didn't count, as the one's that did carried majority.
"Let's go." Alex calmly said getting up, with Bruce following his lead. About to leave he stopped, hearing Marcus voice once again speaking.
"I know the OSP initiative isn't full proof, but I promise you we're getting there. And that is why am handing full control over to Bryce Harper, the head in command of enders power source." He dropped the bombshell, leaving many shocked expressions.
"What the hell is he doing?" Alex for the first time was clearly shocked, hearing what Marcus just said. When the OSP initiative launched, each head of continents held a share of power in it. Which meant a unanimous decision would be taken, to decide any course of action.
But now that Marcus had allegedly handed over to Bryce, he had full control and could take whatever decision he wanted without anyone's consent.
"I know we are in hard times, but we've gotten through much worse. Our world is advancing from watches, to phones, to steam energy powered vehicles. We don't know what the future holds for us, but it's better we embrace it and be prepared." Marcus boldly said, leaving the crowd in yet another dilemma.
On one hand what he said made sense, and on the other it was manslaughter in disguise. But either way enders was evolving, with new inventions and discoveries being made. It was either they moved on with the evolution, or got stuck in the past.
'Clap! Clap! Clap!'
One by one they started clapping, with the whole crowd applauding Marcus.
"How did I do?" Marcus smiled coming off the podium.
"You're making a big mistake." Alex frowned, not liking Marcus idea one bit. "The council will never approve this."
"Well we've all made mistakes." Marcus shrugged. "And the council already approved, you're just not aware." Marcus uttered walking away, leaving Alex standing there with complicated expression.
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Back in the swampy area, the strange old man stood there with the small black furry cat on his shoulders. In front, the body floating in the swamp was no longer there. Instead it lifted a bit in the air, enveloped by bright red light.
"This one is different Casper I can feel it." He smiled, staring at the red crystal which was now dull losing it's color. It had been a few minutes since the body floated in the air, red lights swirling around it.
'Rumble!'
The ground rumbled with the air getting more violent, as huge gusts of winds were being released. The bright red light got more brighter, causing the old man and his cat to stare away.
'Boom!'
With an explosion sound, the red light released a burst of energy, disappearing into thin air. The body then slowly dropped to the ground unmoving.
"Did it work?" The man muttered, slowly making his way to the body.
"Meow~" Casper purred in dissatisfaction.
"Oh come on Casper, give the young lad a second chance." Staring down, he gazed at the half decomposed body with traces of rotten flesh, and bad blood.
"Weird.. he should be awake by now." The old man sighed, poking the man's face with his wooden staff
"Mhm." The figure grunted moving it's head a bit, with the eyes fluttering open.
"S-shit." Jack stuttered, his vision still blurry. After some seconds, he slowly regained his vision.
'Where am I?' He did not recognize where he was, looking round. He tried moving his body, but he couldn't feel a thing as he was numb all over.
"Argh!" He suddenly screamed holding his head in pain, as a barrage of words assaulted his head.
[Successfully integrated the undead system with host]
[Congratulations on becoming an undead!]