The afternoon sun was warm on her face, a welcome change from the pale glow of her monitor. Her stomach rumbled, a reminder of her sole mission: find a convenience store. She spotted a small shop on the corner, and a chime above the door announced her arrival.
"Welcome," the cashier greeted her.
She offered a brief nod in reply. "Afternoon."
She headed straight for the ready-made food section, scanning the shelves. "Hmm, I'll take this one and that," she murmured, picking up a bento box and a drink before heading to the counter. The transaction was swift, if a bit pricey.
"That'll be thirty-four dollars and fifty cents."
"Dang, that's expensive," she muttered, pulling out her wallet.
The plastic bag with her lunch rustled gently as she stepped back onto the sidewalk. The plan was simple: get home, eat, and spend the rest of the day playing with the boys.
Ding.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out, a little confused, and her eyes widened at the message from an unknown account. "What? Who's this?"
Lost in thought, her attention was completely on the glowing screen. The world around her faded to a blur of sound and color, so she didn't notice the screech of tires or the rumbling sound of a large engine. A semi-truck, its driver frantically trying to regain control, veered suddenly, its massive side slamming into her.
As she fell, the world seemed to slow down. The plastic bag with her lunch flew from her grasp, the bento box inside tumbling across the asphalt. The truck's logo, the message on her phone, and the blue sky above—all of it merged into a single, chaotic flash.
[thank for accepting transporting user now...] the message said. She didn't read it. Her final thought was a quiet, ironic farewell.
"Well... I guess... the game was rigged from the start, huh?"
Everything faded to a crushing, absolute black.
"Wait, why can't I move, and why is it so dark?" she said, her voice echoing in a small, cramped space. She couldn't see anything, a deep, pervasive darkness that felt like a tomb.
[System Online]
"What? System?"
[Zudah System Activated...]
[Password *****]
[Sieg Zeon]
[Launching System Parameters]
"Wait a minute, what's happening?" The system ignored her, a series of clicks and whirs sounding from all around. Then, a new window, glowing a stark red, appeared before her.
[Name: Varline
Race: MS Girl
Sub-Race: Zudah
HP: 95,000
Sub HP:
Head: 1,000
Leg: 1,000
Thrusters: 5,000
Power: 99%
Fuel: 100%
Ammo: 100%
Equipment:
Zaku Machine Gun
Zaku Bazooka
Heat Hawk
Sturmfaust (2x)
Shield
Foldable Spike]
Her mind reeled. "MS Girl? Zudah? What does any of that mean? And what are these stats? It was like a character sheet from some obscure game she'd never played." The list of skills that appeared next only deepened the mystery.
Skills:
Assault Booster: This skill further enhances the Zudah's mobility by increasing its boost speed and duration.
Emergency Evasion Controller: This skill allows for a quick dodge maneuver, helping the Zudah evade enemy attacks and reposition itself. Can be switched to automatic or manual.
High Performance Balancer: This skill enables the Zudah to boost its close combat skill, allowing for more fluid and effective combat maneuvers.
Forced Injector: This skill allows the Zudah to quickly accelerate and decelerate, making it a formidable close-quarters combatant.
Maneuver Armor: This skill reduces the stun duration caused by enemy attacks, allowing the Zudah to better withstand damage.
Sieg Zeon: When activated, the unit gains a boost to all stats at the cost of overheating. This can only be removed by resting or restarting the systems, which will make you go to sleep depending on the damage when overheated. It can also be removed by drinking coolant.
[Happy Hunting!]
A whirring noise was heard as a single, red mono-eye activated, illuminating the dark space. With a start, she realized the light was coming from her own body.
"Wow, I can move now, and I can see better!" she exclaimed, a strange, metallic voice echoing her words. She stood up, her movements unnaturally smooth and precise. Looking down, she saw that she was in a cockpit, and she wasn't alone. She was the pilot, and the machine was her body.
"It seems I'm in a bunker." She moved around, her single eye taking in the dusty, abandoned surroundings. In the center of the room, she noticed a single elevator. "Mhm, that looks like an elevator."
She headed towards it, the sound of her heavy metallic footsteps echoing in the quiet space. As she stepped on, a new system window appeared.
[Activate elevator?]
[Y/N]
She clicked [Y]. The elevator started to move, a faint light beginning to seep through the seams of the ceiling. With a low groan, the ceiling split open, letting light flood the space. She saw the full glory of her mobile suit as she ascended, only to find herself surrounded by a city in ruins. Everything looked abandoned and broken.
"What happened here?" she said, her voice full of confusion as her Zudah walked towards the abandoned city.
"Weird, I don't remember what happened before I was put inside this thing, but the name and the ability to pilot this thing are weird."
Suddenly, a series of shrieks echoed through the desolate streets. A hoard of grotesque, monstrous creatures appeared, their bodies twisted and horrifying. They began to charge at her.
"What the hell are those!?" she yelled, her panic-filled voice amplified by the suit's speakers. She reached for the Zaku Machine Gun, an instinctive movement, and aimed. She fired, the bullets a rapid-fire stream of lead that tore through several of the smaller monsters.
But then, she saw it: a monstrous, colossal creature, a towering sixty-six meters tall.
"Holy crap!" she said, her heart hammering against the armor. Her mind, now linked to the suit, flashed with a solution. "The bazooka!" She reached for it, but multiple lasers, a barrage of red beams, shot toward her. A sharp pain lanced through her head, but at the same time, her body moved on its own, a quick, precise dodge that evaded the attacks.
"Wow," she breathed. "That must have been the Emergency Evasion Controller at work." She aimed the bazooka at the big monster and fired, but her shot was intercepted by another volley of laser fire.
"Damn, I need to get out of here!" she thought before activating her thrusters. The roar of the engines filled the air as she launched into the sky, boosting out of the immediate area.
"Hold up, how can I fly!? I know this mobile suit can't fly!" she yelled.
[You can fly with the need to be in zero gravity, but when you fly it feels like you're in zero gravity.]
A new voice, calm and disembodied, answered her.
"An AI?" she said.
[Yes, I am your AI companion.]
"That's good, but get me out of here!" she yelled, dodging more lasers as she fled.
[Understood. Activating map display for route.]
A heads-up display appeared in her vision, showing a minimap and a marker indicating where to go.
"Thanks," she said, her voice now a little more composed as she followed the marker, leaving the monsters the Beta, as her AI companion told her