Arn

Arn turned his head left and right, trying to shake the weariness from his mind. Judging by the agony coursing through his midsection, he'd survived the blaze. Groaning from deeper in the room announced the presence of Carbon.

That makes three survivors. He thought as the comforting psyche of Lou fluttered around his brain.

You look like a piece of charcoal. I can't tell where flesh ends and your armor begins. The owl said with some fear and sympathy.

Why the hell hasn't integration started yet? I'd appreciate some superpowers right about now. Arn’s question fell on deaf ears as it occurred to him that the system was probably waiting for a safe place to begin doing its job. With the murderous mother nearby, he'd probably just get his throat slit.

Rather than get up, he used his right leg to push his battered body through the hallway he was in. The hall loomed similar to his old armory, minus the weapons. That means that there's a bedroom at the other end.

Progress was slow, his left leg was burned badly, and he was guessing that the nerve damage had paralyzed it, as it refused to react to his commands. Both of his vambraces had fused with the cloth and rivets of his chest piece and so his arms were also vestigial.

Still, with Lou keeping track of the injured kobold, Arn slowly and agonizingly pushed his way to the end of the hall. Whether through sheer luck, or the system had finally given him some mercy, the door was already opened.

After showing himself through the portal, he wiggled his leg around until he managed to catch the edge of the door and swing it shut. Before it completely closed, Lou flew in and perched atop his companion's head.

Then, everything went black.

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With dizzying force, Arn found himself back on Earth. Before him sat the totaled wreck of his car, flashing lights from police cruising illuminated the area, although no officers were around. The sound you’d expect from a police siren was also markedly absent. A few moments passed in silence as a warm summer night’s breeze swept through the wreckage.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Stepping over a crushed car door, he made his way to the passenger side of Anna’s sedan. Thankfully, the seat was empty of any indication that someone had been there. The only thing left behind of their existence were faded stains and yellowed paper. The driver’s side was completely unrecognizable. It had flattened into a pancake and the filling of the seat had exploded outwards under pressure.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and faced the figure sitting on the bent hood. What revealed itself was not an exact copy of Arn as it had been for Anna. This avatar seemed decrepit, as if it had the blood drained from its body, and what was left was a sagging, rotting mass of meat.

The avatar looked at the front and back of its hands and spoke, “You have a rather low opinion of yourself young man.” It turned towards the open space between the cruisers and the wreckage and a chair was pulled out of the ground. Summoned from the hot pavement of the road.

“Are you saying I look like you? I know I didn’t have a mirror for a few years, but I don’t think I ever got this ugly.” Replied Arn, as he took the offered seat.

“No, not truly. I guess you could say I am reflecting back that which you fear you truly are: a fetid monster that hides its grotesqueness behind a façade of heroism. As if your good deeds would wash away your sin.”

“Big accusation,” Arn replied dryly, “And what sin do you believe I’m trying to wash away.”

“Don’t act like you don’t know, child. We’re here because you killed your wife. Your guilt manifested this reality, it was no creation of mine. You were driving, and your temper distracted you. Now you think you're going to get her killed again because you're too weak to reach her. Damn you’re pathetic.”

“Is this the part where you make me fall to my knees is despair, and give me a spiritual epiphany. Save it. I don’t need your fucking therapy session, I need to get back to the task at hand. Are you going to give me what you owe me, or not?”

The avatar responded by waving a finger side-to-side, and the scenery around them changed. The cruisers disappeared, the light they gave off now originating from two large blue and red moons blotting out the sky. Their car was also replaced by a large day bed that the avatar now lounged on.

As it rubbed its belly, it said, “I’m not the system, that’ll come later. I was just curious about what poor sod was caught in the schemes of my siblings.”

“Is that supposed to be an introduction? I still don’t know who the fuck your are.”

“Child, you clearly aren’t the intelligent one in the relationship. Your quest, the one given by the system, stated that you are my recruit.”

“That was years ago, how the hell would I remember what the title of the quest -”

“DEATH YOU FOOL, I AM DEATH!”