Wind scours the snow-colored plain as Weiss follows the small floating machine that claims it brought her back to life. She doesn't remember dying. She barely remembers living.
Gunfire, shouts, searing pain and a sudden flash of light? Nothing clear, just splinters of memory that vanish when she tries to focus on them.
She walks because walking feels right. Because she's awake and breathing and somehow supposed to be someone again.
Spark, drifting ahead of her, hums pleasantly.
"Do keep up, Weiss! We wouldn't want you dying again on your first outing. I prefer to space those events out."
Weiss squints against the sun. Dying… again? What am I? …Please help… But for now she has no better plan than to follow the little blue eye in the air.
They reach a massive wall of metal and concrete rising like a dead giant from the earth. Its towers lean at odd, broken angles. Air wheezes through open seams like the place is breathing.
Weiss stops and stares up. Did… humans build this? Was I one of them? Am I still human now?
Spark circles excitedly around Weiss, tracing circles in the air.
"Marvelous, isn't it? This was the Cosmodrome—once a thriving center of exploration! Now it is… well… mostly a hideout for dangerous alien scavengers."
Weiss looks around sharply. "Spark. Why revive me here?"
"Proximity to promising remains! Also, statistically speaking, most locations contain alien scavengers. So our choices were… limited."
Weiss rubs her temples. Everything feels too loud, too bright. She wants to rest and think, just for a moment… A faint clatter echoes between rusted shipping containers.
Weiss instantly freezes. Instinct spikes through her body—fight? run? hide? She doesn't know where the knowledge comes from, but she knows danger.
"Spark… something's out there."
"Yes, Weiss. Multiple somethings!" Spark commented as if pointing out birds in the trees.
Figures slip out of the shadows, thin, two-armed creatures with glowing blue eyes and snarling metal masks. Their motions are jerky, hungry.
Weiss's heart pounds. She takes a step back. What are those? Why do I know I should fear them? What should I do?
A bolt of blue energy slams into the ground near her feet, showering her with sparks. Reflex takes over and Weiss dives behind a crate keeping low to the ground.
"Spark, what are they?!" Weiss cried out to her companion.
"Fallen! Vicious scavengers. Opportunistic and aggressive. Oh, and they have excellent aim. Duck, please." Spark replied happily as he hovers behind Weiss.
Weiss steadies her breathing as more blasts of energy travel above her, accompanied by shouts she doesn't understand. Gripping her rifle she slowly moves along the crate she took cover behind.
Okay… okay, breathe. Aim. Squeeze the trigger, don't yank it.
Weiss pops up from cover and fires. The rifle kicks back into her shoulder but she doesn't find it unpleasant, just sharp but manageable. Three short bursts drop the first fallen, a two armed being wielding a dagger and pistol. A flash of satisfaction flickers in her chest, strange and comforting, almost like remembering a song.
Another fallen leaps at her from the side. Weiss spins and smashes the rifle butt into its jaw. The creature collapses in a burst of shimmering ether. Not wanting to take chances she shoots it in the head three times.
Spark chimes approvingly.
"Phenomenal! Your muscle memory is exquisite. You've only been alive for—oh, twelve minutes. You're performing far above standard!" Spark exclaims in fascination, wanting to discover what else his guardian can do.
Weiss's hands shake. "Spark, I don't know what I'm doing!" She whimpered in panic, she feels as if her body is moving on its own, not under her own control.
"And yet you are doing it! Isn't that fascinating?" A charged shot sears past her ear. Weiss ducks again, breath ragged. I just woke up. I don't know who I am. I don't know what's happening. Why am I fighting? Why do I know how to fight?
But even in the whirlwind of panic, her hands reload the rifle automatically. Her feet find better cover. Her eyes track movement with uncanny precision.
She doesn't know who she is or what she is. But her body remembers.