“Serial 29153118121519832S, Codename ROBERION, starting memory imprint in 120 seconds”, said the robotic voice, the speaker thunderous announcement in the middle of the assembly line. Acting like a sentence rather than disseminating any information, as nobody could be in the mix of cacophonies, all account for the system status of their newborn slaves.
The giant factory is situated on the planet Xerxes, at the frontier of known space. Unlike typical factories in this planetary system, this one specialized in producing a product known as Null.
Null was the creation of rigorous and unorthodox research, born from a simple and complex need—the need for cheap and disposable labor—fueling various areas of society and its undesirable roles.
Roberion was a male variant, being the standard, although other variants were created by a sickly few of the more extravagant tycoons. From the sickly depraved luxury to the bloodlust of arenas and their gambling dens.
He has a male aesthetic: looking like a mannequin in a patient gown, bald, lacking any body hair, sickeningly white skin, purple eyes, lacking any private parts, only having small orifices for their fundamental use. Not that it would be of much use; their body was made to consume the lowest possible amount of resources with little loss.
“Releasing adrenaline, activating invasive magnetic resonance” In the end, the only reply was the harrowing cry of Roberion and the other hundreds of Nulls, who finished their physical evaluation. This time only 5 nulls were deemed unsatisfactory in the body print and 10 on the invasive magnetic resonance process; their bodies were disposed of to be recycled on the system in new nulls.
Their first feeling was pain, and their owners mastered it artfully. There wasn’t anything better than fear and restriction to control the millions of Null-produced dailies on the frontier of the sector, ready to supply their war oriented society.
“42 seconds for proto-line engram”, this time the voice speaker was heard by a conscious mind, and although he couldn’t understand its meaning, he felt the ceasing of the pain. At last for a few seconds.
A robotic arm drops upside down, carrying a microchip. The object has a beautiful, luminous green-yellowish color. Roberion is lifted by additional arms as the engram is successfully implanted in his lobe.
Roberion is assaulted by an alien feeling, not painful but uncomfortable. In his left eye, a green icon is displayed.
Before he can take any action, his muscular memory and mental processing go into overdrive, screens open, and the choices and selections are made without any input. The macro installed preemptive in the engram is activated.
A genderless voice speaks directly to his brain. “Select your class”, Multiple choices are displayed on the screen, but again, any choice is forsaken. “Pathfinder Class selected, would you want to distribute your base stats?”, Yes, “Current materials are insufficient, please make available the following materials...”, before the list of materials finishes displaying, the arms descend again, carrying numerous substances: a recipient with a transparent viscous liquid, a black mineral with an earthly aroma, and a strange and big slab of meat.
“Materials detected. Would you like to proceed with the distribution process?“, Yes, again, Roberion feels pain, but this time the pain was the push before the wave of betterment. A curious thing happens. Mysterious, multicolored lines show around him, not respecting any physical laws.
The lines pass through objects, not producing any shadow or luminosity aside from their own existence; the sensation while looking at them is completely alien. His muscles are enhanced, and his bone structure is reinforced and expanded. Even his blood feels different. Before he could notice any new changes, the macro stopped, and he was sedated.
His body is transferred between blocks of the factory, reaching the region used in the training of fresh nulls that finished the first step of the integration into the system. Another step of slaughter, where only the fit could survive.
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The place looks like a giant honeycomb, where each room is reserved for a null until the training is finished. Roberion's body finally stops at the center of the blank room, and a needle with a stimulant is injected into his neck.
Opening his eyes, Roberion’s eyes get unfocused by the bright white light of the room. The macro starts again before he tries to take any action. “Attribute location is finished; for more information, please select the information displayed. Your following stats are”:
Level
1
Strength
10
Dexterity
14
Intelligence
13
Endurance
12
Knowledge
15
Social
8
Before he could take a better look at the information, the macro started again. Roberion, although he only had memories of functioning like a mimic of a human, knew that the sensation he felt each time a choice was denied for him was irritation.
Before he could incorporate the feeling and try to respond to it, his bio-engineered body vanished with the sensation. He assumed that his body released some substances to fight any change in his humor, like a cage made of meat and bones.
Again, the system said in a genderless voice, breaking any type of true consciousness manifesting, “Pathfinder class is known for users braving new worlds, full of discovery and experimentation, their power is adapted for versatility in most scenarios" after finishing the short description, the system opens a new screen, this time showing various options under the title Perks, the macro starts again, but before it selects the basic perks displayed, the screen flickers, the resolution is somewhat lowered, giving a pixelated look.
A new macro seems to take hold, and different choices are selected this time, including the following:
Trashed and Scattered: Endurance perk: when the user is on the brink of collapse, his health is regenerated slowly until it is ready again for efficient combat. Incarnation change is possible.
Natural Born Killer: Strength/Endurance Perk: After killing an entity, the user receives a rush of adrenaline, increasing its strength and endurance for a short while. Incarnation change is possible.
“For perk activation, please meet the following criteria“:
Trashed and Scattered: Keep fighting until your breaking point, the times required for you are....9...times.
Natural Born Killer: Kill or destroy ....6....entities.
Before Roberion could make sense of the information, a whirring sound is heard, a blocky robotic metal spider shows up, a jungle simulation is displayed in the room, the blocky body of the spider that looked like blocks vanishes, and an illusion of a spider is displayed on its surface. For the first time, Roberion feels free to control his body, his muscles ache and his joints feel uncomfortable, but the need to rise takes precedence.
His brain goes into overdrive, and his consciousness manifests. Trying to see any possibilities of getting out of this situation.
His first perk seems doable; in a crazy way, he could be beaten nine times, but the second perk seems impossible to achieve. He indeed felt an upgrade compared to his body pre-engram, but if it wasn’t enough to beat the robotic spider, he felt it in his bones.
His fabricated memories of combat were lackluster, but weirdly enough, they showed a good way to defeat the spider, like an instinct. The method was to take care of some of its legs.
It seems that although his communication with the system was one sided, the room was projected to be a way to achieve the perks it demanded accordingly.
Thinking of a good plan of attack, Roberion runs at the spider. When nearing it, he prepares himself for a kick at the metallic beast, but before his shin could contact the spider's leg, the beast easily sidesteps and does a swipe on Roberion’s torso. He felt his abdomen ache as the metal hit his ribs.
If that wasn’t enough, before he could do anything to evade, he got hit to the head, blacking out instantly. The darkness welcomes him again. His only wish is that he will see light again, preferably in another reality. But who would give such a wish to a rejected product? As he drifts into unconsciousness, Roberion's last thought is of the cruel fate that brought him to this moment, as many must have and will have in this factory. The darkness envelops him completely, leaving him to ponder his short existence in the void.