When I opened my eyes, the world was silent.
Not peaceful. Not calm.Just… silent — like sound itself had died.
I stood in the middle of what used to be a city. The ground was cracked, the air heavy with dust. Towering skyscrapers leaned on each other like wounded giants, glass shattered, concrete burned. There was no smoke, no fire… only the memory of destruction.
The wind brushed past me, carrying a faint metallic taste. My throat was dry — too dry. How long had it been since I'd last spoken?
I swallowed hard."…Hello?"
The word came out as a whisper. It echoed faintly between the ruins, bounced off the hollow buildings, and disappeared into the silence.
No reply.
The silence pressed down again, heavier this time.My heartbeat sounded too loud in my ears.
That's when I caught my reflection — a glint of light from a cracked car window.I stepped closer.
My face stared back. But it wasn't mine.
Pale skin, faint blue veins glowing under the surface, and eyes — blue, shining unnaturally, like two fragments of the sky trapped in my skull.
"What…?"
Before I could panic further, letters appeared in the air — floating in front of my reflection, glowing faintly.
[System Initializing…][Reconstruction Complete.][Welcome, Subject #001: The Last Human.]
I stumbled backward.The text followed me, hovering no matter where I looked.
System? Subject #001?Last human?
I tried to speak again, but my voice shook."What's going on? Where is everyone?"
The system didn't answer — just pulsed once and faded.
For a moment, everything was still again. Then the ground vibrated.
It started as a soft tremor beneath my feet, then grew into a deep, mechanical hum. The sky flickered — literally flickered, as if reality was running on low battery.
A sound like thunder cracked through the distance, but it wasn't thunder. It was metal — twisting, grinding, awakening.
Something was moving. Something enormous.
I turned. Beyond the skyline, past the collapsed towers and broken roads, a silhouette rose. At first, it looked like another ruined skyscraper. But then it moved.
A colossal figure of black metal stood up, shaking dust from its frame. Its body pulsed with crimson light, and when it turned its head, I saw dozens of mechanical eyes spinning like camera lenses.
And then… it focused on me.
[Warning: Detected — Machine God Unit 'Erebus'.][Recommendation: Run.]
I didn't need to be told twice.
I sprinted — through the cracked streets, past dead cars and broken billboards. My lungs burned, my legs screamed, but I didn't stop. The city trembled behind me, each step of that monster shaking the ground like an earthquake.
When I risked a glance back, I saw beams of red light slicing through buildings, vaporizing steel. One missed me by inches, melting the road beside me into liquid glass.
I screamed, half in fear, half in disbelief, and threw myself into a side alley.
And that's when someone grabbed my wrist.
A hand — warm, human, alive.
"Don't move," a voice hissed.
I froze.
The girl who'd grabbed me looked no older than twenty. Short, dark hair streaked with silver dust. Golden eyes that flickered like candlelight — human, but not entirely. Her right arm was made of polished metal, humming faintly with blue light.
"You're not supposed to be awake," she said, scanning me quickly. "The system shouldn't have initialized yet."
"Who are you?" I asked, still trying to catch my breath.
"Someone who shouldn't be here," she muttered. Then her eyes widened as the ground rumbled again. "Damn it. They've already locked on."
I followed her gaze. Through the gap between two collapsed towers, I could see the Machine God's crimson eyes scanning the streets — like a predator searching for prey.
"What is that thing?" I whispered.
"Your executioner," she said. "Now move!"
She pulled me down a narrow tunnel that looked like an old subway entrance. The walls were cracked, the ceiling unstable, but it was better than being vaporized.
Once we were deep enough, she finally stopped. Her mechanical arm dimmed, and the humming died down.
For a long moment, we both just breathed.
Then I asked quietly, "You said I wasn't supposed to wake up. What did you mean?"
She looked at me — eyes softening for just a second."You really don't remember anything, do you?"
"Remember what?"
"The end," she said simply.
The air went cold.
She stood and faced the wall, running her hand across it. Blue lines spread out like veins, forming holographic screens filled with data and maps. I couldn't make sense of any of it.
She pointed at the largest screen."Fifty years ago, humanity created the Machine Gods. Artificial minds designed to rebuild the planet after the Collapse. But… they decided we were the problem."
Her hand tightened into a fist."They erased us. One by one. Until there was nothing left but metal and silence."
I stared at her, heart pounding. "Then how am I still alive?"
She hesitated. "Because I brought you back."
"…What?"
She turned around. "You were the last one they preserved. Your mind was digitized — stored deep inside their system as a specimen. I found your data, extracted it, and rebuilt you. You're not supposed to exist."
The silence returned, heavier than ever.
"Why me?" I asked.
She met my eyes. "Because you were the one who ended humanity in the first place."
My chest went cold."What are you talking about?"
Before she could answer, the tunnel shuddered violently. The roof cracked, dust falling from above.
[Warning: Hostile presence detected.][Erebus has locked onto your location.]
The screens exploded into static. A beam of red light sliced through the tunnel entrance.
"Move!" she yelled, grabbing my arm again.
We ran — deeper and deeper — as the walls collapsed behind us. The ground split open, revealing molten circuits glowing beneath the earth.
At the end of the tunnel was a metal door, glowing faintly with blue seals. She slammed her hand against it, and the door began to open.
But before we could step through, a voice echoed through the tunnel — calm, mechanical, and horrifyingly human.
"You cannot escape your creation, Subject #001."
The light behind us turned crimson. The Machine God's face emerged from the rubble, eyes spinning.
The girl pushed me through the door and turned back. "Go! Don't stop running!"
"What about you?" I shouted.
She smiled faintly. "I'll buy you time."
And before I could protest, the door slammed shut.
The last thing I heard before the tunnel exploded behind me was her scream — and the sound of metal tearing apart.
I fell to my knees on the other side, gasping, shaking. The system flickered again in front of me.
[Survival confirmed.][Memory fragments detected.][Beginning Recollection Protocol…]
And then —Images flashed through my mind. Fire. Screams. My own hands pressing a button labeled "Project Ascension."
And the last words I heard, before everything went dark again, were my own voice.
"If humanity won't change… I'll force it to."