Waking up with a thumping headache is a sign that the day is going to be bad (or that you need to drink more water), but waking up naked with a headache laying in a freezing metal box is on a whole other level of bad morning. My first thought was that Blitzkrieg had kidnapped me, but that was unlikely as he only cared about fighting. He had repeatedly shown up at another villain's crime scene to fight the Hero and villain. The next thought was that this was some experimental medical tech, but that was just as unlikely as I had no medical insurance, so any Medcorp is more likely to leave me on the side of the street than to use experimental tech on me. Feeling around the box, I noted that the walls were solid except for the lid behind my head. Pushing on the lid, I realised that while I couldn't leverage enough force with just my arm, a few kicks could pop the lid open. It took some desperate shifting, a torrent of swearing, and a painful bump on my head, but I was finally in a position to deliver the crucial kicks.

I had expected it to take quite a few kicks to open the lid, but with one swift, I bent the metal, letting out a thunk. My first view of outside the box was a corpse laying on an autopsy table, in a pool of blood, chest open. 'Fuck I'm in some sick freak's murder basement' The metal base to the evident chiller I was in slid out, letting me see the rest of the room. The room was tiled from floor to ceiling with a layer of grunge that seemed to stick to the corners; the walls were stacked two high with more of the freezers, and two more autopsy tables were situated in the middle of the room, empty. A desk sat at the far wall with a computer. "Shit", was all I said 'this wasn't some murder room. It was a morgue, probably,' I was jolted out of my internal swearing when the door started opening; thinking fast, I dived behind the autopsy table. "How many died in the latest incident?" a young man's voice said

"Only three this time", another older male voice replied. The voices approached the table I was hiding behind 'shit just had to pick the one in use' "Huh, was that door always bent" I used the distraction to skirt around the table, crossing the short distance between tables and hid behind the other table closer to the door

"Yeah, this place has been around since before the Second War. Now get over here and help me finish up this autopsy." Peaking around the table, both morticians looked down at the corpse. I crept towards the door, keeping low to use the table as a cover, making sure once I slipped out, the door closed as quietly as possible. Following along the corridor, the other side of the door led me to three doors. The first seemed to be a storage room, and the second led to what looked like a break room. The final door was locked with a keycard swiper. 'Gonna need some clothes can't be walking about with everything hanging loose that's a quick way to draw attention'. The first room I checked was the storage room, finding boxes of chemicals and other cleaning supplies until I came across a large hamper filled with clothes. Rifling through, I found a pair of jeans that was a size too big and a simple black top.

Clothed but shoeless, I made my way into the breakroom, finding it a mix of an office as well. As quickly and quietly as possible, I began to rummage around the office area of the room looking for a keycard until I spotted a lanyard hanging on the coat rack, "Bingo". Taking the lanyard, I made my way to the door, sliding the card and hearing the oh-so-lovely sound of the door clicking open; the door led straight outside into a small alley, following the alley and stepping around the broken glass that littered it, I came out onto a busy street people, and cars whizzed pass not even giving a glance to the shoeless man,' now I just need to find out where I am I didn't recognise where I was, but that wasn't too uncommon District Twelve was large. 'I'll just use the map feature on my augs' That was when I noticed that the usual HUD that had become part of everyday life was gone. Panicked, I tried to bring up the map, but nothing, call list, internet, bank account, nothing. Reaching around my neck, I felt for the ports that allowed downloads but found none. My cyberware was gone. I had saved up months of wages to get chipped, and it was now gone. What was strange was that there were no stitches, no scaring anything. Those morgue technicians must be ripjacks stealing and selling the cyberware from the corpses that are sent to them; it must have been pure chance that they didn't kill me when removing my augs.

I was still fuming in the street when my stomach growled. I finally noticed I was starving, like I hadn't eaten in a week. With no access to my credits, I couldn't buy food. "Last time I did a favour for Pete," I muttered as I started following the flow of people. I walked for about fifteen minutes when I finally noticed Mega-Complex Fifteen in the distance. With the Complex as a marker, I could finally figure out where I was. It took another hour and a half to walk my way to Pete's bar; it had to be early afternoon as the sun hung high in the sky, and Pete's bar was quiet. Daryl wasn't outside, so I just stepped inside. Callie's voice rang out as the door slid open, "We're closed. I don't care how desperate you are" She was looking down at the bar, cleaning a mug, "Where's Pete?" at my response, Callie snapped up to look at me and went as pale. "Pete, get in here now", panic in her voice.

"What is it, girl"? Pete emerged from the back, and he stopped moving as soon as he saw me.

"Sorry for missing work. Pete had a hell of a morning", I smirked.

I stood there as both stared briefly until Pete began moving behind the bar. I moved up to the bar, and Callie flinched, stepping back away from me. "It's alright, Nate, but I'm going to need you to tell me what happened to your parents." I was taken aback by Pete's question, especially since he knew what had happened.

"Okay, they were killed when Shrapnel detonated one of his drones in a fight with Hades and Ifrit, levelling a block of apartments", I managed to say through gritted teeth. Pete knew how I felt about what happened to my parents, knew how much just thinking about it made me seethe at the supposed Hero.

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"Okay, good," Pete said. "Good, that's all he said after telling me to talk about my parents'. That was when Pete placed the shotgun he kept under the bar on top of it, breathing out a sigh." Sorry about that, kid. I had to make sure."

"Make sure what Pete! I don't need this bullshit, Pete. My day has been fucked already!" my outburst made Callie yelp and pull herself further into the corner of the bar.

"I had to make sure you were Nate" Pete's response caused me to pause my outburst.

"What do you mean by if I was Nate?"

"You were dead, kid; You were crushed by rubble; I had to identify your corpse; your head was so caved in that I was called to identify."

I felt my legs go to jelly, collapsing onto a bar stool. I choked out, "I-I, how could that be?" and then it clicked, waking up in a morgue. My missing augs and Callie's reaction to me turning up. "Fuck” was all I could say.

"I'm sorry, Nate" Pete placed a hand on my shoulder

"How am I alive, Pete?"

"My best guess is that you Triggered just before you died and that you have some insane regeneration power that brought you back."

"Fuck” was all I could say. Who didn't want to find their Trigger and become a Super, or at least get a valuable power to work for a corporation? Most people's triggers are either a particular situation or something mundane. "So what now? How long have I been g-gone?"

"About three days, kid, long enough that you are legally dead; it is going to be a bitch getting that reversed, especially since the breakout", the last part muttered by Pete.

"Breakout?"

"Yeah, there was a breakout at Supermax 6 Villains escaped, including Mimic, which is why it's going to be a pain to get your death reversed, and they are going to be asking questions about how you are alive, questions you don't want to answer."

"Wait, why not? It's not like my Power is that unique."

"Nate, your Power brought you back from the dead; if that doesn't get the Mega-Corporations to come sniffing around, the Government will be and trust me, you don't want that because they won't take no for an answer. You'll be a lab rat for them until the day you die, experimented on until they

can find out how to replicate your Power, then discarded like yesterday's trash."

"So what do I do then? How am I going to work when I'm legally dead? I've got no money even to get a new one."

"I know some people who owe me a favour, especially since it got you killed. They can set you up with a new identity, test your powers, and advise you on what to do next."

"Wait, got me killed? Are you talking about Esmeralda?"

"Sorta, Nate; it's more who she works for that owes me a favour, but that doesn't matter right now; I'm going to need to make some calls. Callie helped get Nate set up in the back on the old sofa and something to eat. He looked like he was going to collapse; you need rest, boy, and this call will take a while" Pete finished talking and started walking into his office. I looked up at Callie. I had forgotten she was huddled in the corner doing her best impression of a statue; when our eyes met, she let out a yelp and quickly looked away. Sighing, I got up from the bar and made my way into the breakroom, which was just an old sofa, a small fridge and a rickety table and chair; grabbing some food from the fridge, I scarfed it down then collapsed onto the sofa, sleep soon taking me.

I awoke a few hours later feeling slightly less shit; someone, I assume Pete had gotten some clothes and placed them on the table. I changed out of my stolen clothes into something better fitting, and I left the breakroom, slipping past the bar where the few regulars were too deep in their drinks to notice me entering Pete's office.Pete looked up from his computer once he heard me enter. "Alright, kid. I spoke to the people who owe me a favour, and they can get you a new ID." Pete paused, looking me in the eyes. The person who owes me a favour was interested in your Power. They are going to offer you a job. You should at least hear out what the job offer is. They can help you with your Power and help you figure out what it is and how it works."

"Wait, isn't my Power regeneration?"

"Powers aren't as cut and dry as that, but that is something they will go over."

"Alright, where do I need to go to get my ID?"

"Mega-Complex Fifteen, you'll be meeting Esmeralda again. She's their recruiter; She'll be at Suki's again.

Sighing, I replied, "Fine, but she gives me the creeps; just being around her feels stifling."

"And remember, kid, hear out the job offer."

I snuck out the back of the bar and stood in the cool breeze of the early evening for a few seconds. 'Why was Pete so adamant I heard out the job offer? What's to bet it is some kind of clinical trial or perhaps a Superteam'. Deciding that I didn't want to walk the hour across the district, I made my way to the metro station; without an ID, I couldn't pay, but that mattered little when no one was around, and you could just jump the turnstile within twenty minutes I was standing outside Mega-Complex Fifteen.