Undead Proxs

For the past few days, the lab has basically been my home base. I help out with lab operations, like optimizing the data network, stabilizing the servers, and calibrating equipment sensors, under Rin's guidance. It's a pretty monotonous routine.

I'm feeling pretty bored, but I notice Rin and Taro working in the corner of the lab. They're doing final checks on a big metal chair with thick cables all around it and hooked up to a bunch of monitors. The PsycDive Virtual Rig.

Taro looks tense, and Rin looks very serious. I walk over to them.

"It looks like you're going to try it now, huh..."

"Absolutely, Eisen. After all the work we put into syncing it, This is our moment!" Rin replied before sitting down.

They put on a heavy helmet with a bunch of electrodes and optical fiber cables and locked it onto her head.

"Alright, Taro. I'm linked in. Let's do this.!"

Taro was at the main console, typing on the keyboard. After a final check, he was all set to get started with the program.

"Vitals stable. Pulse normal. Cortical integrity green. Get ready, Rin!"

Taro took a deep breath before pressing the execution button. The PsycDive Virtual Rig turned on and was fully up and running.

on main screen is just a sea of raw data waves. Numbers, graphs, and lines of code move so fast they're impossible to read. This is how Rin's consciousness gets transferred into Hiro's memory. Slowly, the chaos of data starts to form a pattern, showing an avatar representing Rin in the middle of a sea of code. On the screen, the encrypted virtual world landscape begins to take shape.

Beep...! Beep...! Beep...!

"Rin, Are you in?" Taro's voice sounded urgent on the intercom.

A moment later, a message popped up on the main screen, typed straight from inside the dive.

Rin got the call from outside the monitor. She quickly replied to the message from the operators. On the screen, Rin's voice waves were turned into a text message:

[ Dive successful... I'm in his neural system. ]

On the main screen, we saw Rin's character moving through a digital landscape made up of abstract data. Her destination was the core of the visual recording system in Hiro's brain. We all kept a close eye on her progress.

Then Nagi suddenly came into the lab. He looked a bit disheveled, walking casually as if he had just woken up, carrying a stainless steel coffee cup.

"Hey, the process has started, right?" She asked one of the operators.

"Yeah, Nagi-san. The diver is already inside the system."

On the screen, Rin's avatar stops in front of a sturdy data gate. It seems to be her destination, but there's a problem. Rin tries to break through, but the neural protection won't budge. Soon, a message popped up on Taro's screen.

[ I'm having trouble getting into the main gate of the memory recording network. ]

Nagi took a sip of her coffee, her sleepy eyes now focused on the screen. She helped Taro figure out the issue and explained the commands needed to breach the network.

"Hold on, Rin!, I'll try to help you access it…!"

Taro's fingers moved quickly as he typed a new line of code. On the screen, a red program shot towards the virtual gate to open a gap. Finally, the gate cracked and Rin managed to get in.

But once Rin made it through, the network wasn't what they were looking for. And just as she was about to leave, the gate closed behind her. It felt like the system was pulling Rin in deep. The screen went haywire, and Rin's character was thrown into a brief void.

When the image stabilizes, Rin is in the wrong place. It's not a sea of data anymore, but a narrow path from a nightmare. On the screen, we see her avatar running around like crazy as the environment around her starts to shake and change randomly—walls stretch, floors disappear, and then reappear in different places. She seems to be stuck in a maze that's always changing.

Her telemetry data became unstable.

"Damn it! What's happening?!" Taro shouted, sounding alarmed.

"Rin, can you hear us?!"

On the screen, Rin's avatar kept struggling in the chaotic data landscape. The virtual environment around her was always changing. Then, a message from her popped up on the console.

[I'm Stuck. This Isn't Your Typical. System The Visuals Keep Colliding.]

A few moments later, Rin sent another message. I was watching Rin's erratic messages like a hawk.

"What the hell's wrong with her, Taro?!"

"Argh… she's stuck in a corrupted memory segment. I'll have to tell her to get out of there right now!"

Nagi had a feeling something was off. She went straight for the console, looking serious.

"Stop the process now, she's stuck at a leaky network system or a psychic scar network. This occurs when actual memories collide with a subject's subconscious. If she stays there too long, she could be stuck there forever."

Rin kept getting orders to get out right away, because if she didn't, she'd be wasting her time there.

As Rin tried to leave, something strange appeared not far from her. It looked like a spinning light portal. She figured it was the way to her destination.

"Hmmm... I've got to dig a little deeper..." Rin muttered on the screen.

After a while, Rin decided to move closer to the portal.

Rin looked around, and sure enough, this was the place they were looking for. This is the heart of the visual recording system.

She jumped from one memory to another, but when Rin got to the memory that caught her eye, she stopped for a second. Here's a visual of a playground.

"Where is this...?"

Rin kept walking and looking around. There were a few people walking around her. Even though the visuals were a bit chaotic and distorted, Rin could still sense the sounds and some of the visuals. There was a transparent figure walking with Hiro, and Rin seemed to be eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Hey Hiro-kun, have you ever seen what the outside world looks like?" the girl asked.

"I'm not sure...it seems like there's just destruction and ruin left."

"You're not wrong, but you know, there's this one place... I just can't stop thinking about visiting if I ever, ever get the chance to see the outside world… for real…!"

They kept on walking and ended up at one of the playgrounds in the park. The girl spoke to Hiro again.

"Oh, it's just… I'm so desperate to actually experience new places in the outside world, not just blurry VR versions! I'd love to see beautiful beaches, big playgrounds, and skyscrapers that are so tall. Seriously, though, if the chance ever came up, you know I'd be there in a flash. And… I'd really, really hope you'd be right there with me."

Rin, who'd been listening in on their chat, kept thinking about it, but it looked like she was running out of time, so she decided to get out of there right away.

A few moments later, Rin shifted to another memory, arriving at what seemed to be her main destination: a laboratory corridor. She heard Hiro's distorted screams, sounds of resistance, and the voices of people in the place.

As another deep, hoarse voice began to sound clearly, the system experienced another major glitch. The memory jumped back to another irrelevant event, starting with memories of Hiro's childhood, places he often passed by, and other places that were still imprinted in Hiro's memory. Finally, at a certain point, everything shattered.

Rin finally grew exhausted, feeling like she had reached her limit. She decided to leave, but then she started to feel some pretty weird sensations. She tried to contact the operators for help, but it was like she couldn't get through.

But then a warning message popped up on the console screen.

"WARNING: COGNITIVE DISSONANCE CRITICAL!"

Rin, inside, started to shake like crazy. Her body felt strange as if her nerves were being distorted.

"Rin, get out of there right away! You're at the brink…!" Nagi was shouting and sending emergency messages to Rin over and over.

I could see the other operators around me looking pretty panicky. They started talking quickly because they realized that if this process continued, it would be fatal, damaging both Hiro's brain and Rin's.

"Nagi-san, we're running out of time!" Taro said, sounding a bit panicky.

Nagi clicked her tongue, her face hardening with frustration.

"Ugh, Rin, you're so stupid..."

Then, her voice boomed throughout the room.

"Now. just get her out…!"

I saw that Nagi was hesitant, so I asked.

"Nagi-san, will she be okay if we pull him out forcefully?!"

She was totally focused on me, her gaze piercing.

"If her mind's ready, she'll be golden. But if not? she'll be totally torn. Memory loss. And the worst-case scenario? die…!"

"Ha, that sounds like suicide..."

But Rin couldn't do anything. Her body kept glitching, even though she kept getting messages to leave right away. Taro, looking pale, finally decided to press the emergency pull button.

Zzzzzp...!

Rin's body immediately started shaking uncontrollably in the seat. A hoarse, stifled scream came from behind her helmet. A moment later, fresh blood started flowing from both of her nostrils. I hurried over to the PsycDive Rig.

"Hang in there, Rin!"

Zzzpp... Crack...!

Once the forced disconnection process stopped, her body just collapsed limply in the seat. I quickly helped her take off the heavy helmet. When the helmet was lifted, I saw her eyes. It was wide open, and the vision of hell seemed to still linger there. She breathed in and out quickly, like someone who just got saved from drowning.

I helped her down from the chair. Her body was totally limp and he was about to fall apart if I hadn't held him.

"I-I heard it," she whispered, her voice shaking, and he looked completely drained.

"I-I almost got it... but then it all faded away. All that was left were some blurry visuals and strange glitches."

Nagi was standing in front of us, her jaw clenched in anger.

"You absolute moron! Why did you override the protocols and force it?! You imbecile!"

"...Yeah... I know... Nagi-san... but when I was about to leave, something strange happened to my body," Rin replied in a weak voice.

"I couldn't do anything as those oddities kept popping up..."

"Ugh. Damn it." Nagi muttered.

"...Fine, looks like we need to resync this damned guy's memory. We'll check the fragments one by one. Now go get your body back, you look really tired."

I took Rin out of the lab right away. She leaned on me, and her body was still shaking.

…

When we got to the next building, I took her to Rin's room. She still felt really weak.

"You all right?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good. Just a little... disoriented. A side effect of the astral trip."

When I got to her room, I helped her get down on the bed.

"Thanks, Eisen... You can leave now. I just need to rest for a bit."

I nodded, but before turning away, I had a question.

"Rin, why'd you do that? I mean, why did you push yourself so far, taking such a huge risk?"

She stared at the ceiling, a sincere smile on her face.

"Hmm... I'm not sure, but it might be the only shot we've got at getting that done." She looked at me.

I heard her words, but I didn't really get what she meant. It sounded like something Kenjiro would say.

Then, out of the blue, she asked me something else.

"Eisen, you don't remember anyone from your past? Like someone you protected, or someone who tried to protect you?"

Her question was stuck in my head, and I couldn't remember a thing.

"I'm not sure... Even if there was, they're probably dead now. Or maybe they just forgot about me."

"I see. Still, it's not impossible. Perhaps some of them are still out there, holding out hope for your return."

The words hung in the air. I didn't know what to say, so I just stayed silent before finally turning to leave.

"Eisen, hold on a sec." She called.

"Could you do one more thing for me? please go grab some hot soup from the cafeteria. My energy's completely spent, so I need something to replenish it."

"Sure." I nodded and quickly took off.

...

In another part of the office, in a cold basement room...

Tetsu looked at the creature in the observation cell. The Shokujin they had captured was moving around a lot, banging his shackled body against the bars.

Its body looked terrible: its skin was blistered from radiation exposure, and several parts of its body had cybernetic implants attached, fused horribly with its flesh. Its eyes were wild, uncontrollable, and ferocious, radiating hatred.

Tetsu ventured into the cell.

The Shokujin went on the offensive right away, trying to attack Tetsu. But he couldn't move freely because of the handcuffs. Tetsu was already in front of him. He quickly took out a syringe filled with pale blue serum. He injected the serum into the Shokujin's neck, piercing his skin.

Ztapp..!

After a few seconds of intense trembling, the Shokujin slowly calmed down, his gaze now vacant and passive, like a doll that had run out of energy.

"Well, what the hell happened to you?! Why are you such a mess? Tell me quickly...!"

Shokujin muttered something indistinct.

"D-destruction... they're all... there..."

"What did you say, you bastard?" Tetsu shouted.

"P-please let me go... I beg you..."

He let out a scream, whimpering again and shaking all over. He seemed to be in a mental state that was shaking his mind, and combined with his current appearance, it seemed like he had truly lost hope for life.

"Huff... Looks like I'm the one who has to put an end to your suffering..." Tetsu let out a sigh, reaching for another serum syringe.

"H-ha ha! S-stop... get away from me... I... I surrender, please let me go!"

As Tetsu injected another serum, Shokujin suddenly stopped whimpering. His eyes widened, and his pupils dilated to fill his eyeballs. He started to growl, his voice rough and wild.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT...!

But for some weird reason, he went back to his wild self. He tried to jump on Tetsu, even though his hands and feet were tied up. The second Tetsu showed up, things went from bad to worse. A few of his colleagues started aiming their guns at the crazy Shokujin.

"Geez, you're really pathetic..." Tetsu let out a growl, grabbed his gun, and fired at Shokujin.

There was a sound of gunfire outside the room. Then came the screams of pain.

Drrt…! Drrt…! Drrt…!

…

I was in the cafeteria, which was packed with people and loud. The food smelled delicious, and I could hear hundreds of people talking, laughing, and arguing. The lunch line was pretty long, but it was normal for the place. I saw the tired faces of the workers, the tense faces of the soldiers, and the happy faces of the children.

After getting my fill of hot soup and a slice of hard bread, I took my leave of the cafeteria.

In front of the building, there was a faint sound of loud and enthusiastic voices. I looked over at where the voices were coming from.

When I got there, I saw a bunch of people and local kids in the big field in front of the building. They were lined up in rows, and they all had a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

I just couldn't help myself. I walked up closer, but not too close, and watched what they were doing.

There was a stage made of stacked containers, and an elderly man with short hair was giving a loud and passionate speech.

"Never forget why we're here!" he shouted, his voice echoing.

"We're the shield for this nest. We're the front line that'll make sure our kids and families can sleep soundly! Courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the strength to protect something greater than our own lives!"

The crowd cheered, their shouts ringing out. They were clearly passionate. I was about to turn away before the soup I was carrying got cold, but I didn't expect to meet Brenner here.

"Yo, you ever thought about joining the Crow Guardians, kid?"

"Nope... I'm just curious about what you guys are doing."

Brenner started by pointing to the field where the young people were hanging out.

"Check 'em out, energetic youth on the field. Way back, before I was on this trek, that's where I cut my teeth." 

"Huh..." I asked.

"They're young people or successors who are currently cadets. After a tough exam, they have to choose a division to join, and one of them is the expedition division."

"That's impressive..."

His smile faded a bit and he looked more serious.

"But don't get it twisted. Once they pick a division, these folks got heavy duty. Expedition crew, man? Fresh cadets? They drop like flies."

Brenner paused there for a second, looking out over the distant horizon, as if seeing shadows of the past.

"Too many good people... gone, out there."

"But their fight ain't over. Not for us. I ride with their spirit, their courage. That's the fuel. That's what keeps me locked on target."

I didn't say a word, completely impressed by his resolve.

Soon after, Kenjiro and Yumiki came over to us.

"Hey... Brenner!" Kenjiro's voice cracked at the moment.

Kenjiro and Yumiki were already geared up and ready to go.

"We've got to go. Recon picked up the tech signal we need, in the industrial sector."

"You got it, Cap! Firing up our ride right now!"

Before they left, Kenjiro turned to me.

"Hey, Eisen, how's the job going? Did you manage to extract Hiro's brain?"

"...Looks like we hit a snag. Rin's dive into Hiro's mind went sideways, apparently. Nagi's saying it'll take a few days to patch things up before we can even think about pulling it out again."

"This is gonna be a grind." Kenjiro let out a sigh.

I looked at the psycho woman who never smiled, and I suddenly felt like testing his patience with a sarcastic remark.

"Well, maybe the rough ride messed things up. His head probably got banged around too much on the way back. That psycho might've been too careless with Hiro's head."

After I said that, it felt like the air around me froze. Yumiki, who'd been quiet all this time, now looked at me with a cold, intense stare. Her hand moved a bit, getting closer to the blade at her waist.

"So you're saying... You're blaming me, you bastard…?" she hissed.

"Whoa... no, just kidding! I'm just... running a logical scenario in my head, but that could seriously mess with his neural stability!"

Then, out of nowhere, Brenner started laughing really loudly, and it broke the tension right away.

"Haha, chill, Luchsa. he just keepin' it 100. You ain't gonna want to burn that energy now. We gonna need that fire for when the actual suckers show up."

Yumiki didn't laugh. He gave me one last intense look before turning and walking away. I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn't realized I was holding it in.

"Look, I gotta go…!" I said to them, quickly taking the opportunity to escape the awkward situation.

Yo, easy there, kid! Don't go pissin' her off again, aight? 'Cause if she blows a fuse, we ain't gonna be able to save your ass, for real!"

...

When I got to Rin's room, I knocked on the door.

Knock…! knock…! knock…!

There was no answer. I was a little worried, so I pushed the door open slowly.

It turned out she was fast asleep, curled up under a thin blanket. Her face looked pale. I went in without saying anything and put a bowl of cold soup on the little table next to her bed.

I was about to head out, but I had to pause. I looked at her sleeping face.

"Geez... she looks like she's worked himself to the bone. I had this weird feeling in my chest, like she was carrying a heavy load."

This unfamiliar feeling made me uneasy. I quickly left the room, closing the door gently, and went back to the lab.