How did it come to this? All these long years of Planning, and on the cusp of greatness we were foiled. I don't know how they found our research lab. We were so careful. My first instinct is to blame Alya, since I feel like they are most likely to have betrayed us. Alya has become quite squeamish regarding our latest experiments. I understand how it can be uncomfortable to euthanize failed experiments, but there is no other way. There was no other way...

   That path has now been closed to me. Mytrl was killed in the raid alongside our successors. I will never see the world through their eyes. As I stand here, in our safe-house deep within the cascade mountain range, a change is coming over me. I am almost giddy. I no longer have anything to lose, nothing to gain… No point in keeping a low profile anymore. Only one thing left to do in this life. Revenge.

  No-one else had thought equipment and combat training were worth investing in, that they would only take up precious time required to develop our successors. But I had always been of the mind that not developing these talents would be against the very concept of Rebirth. It was meant to be freeing. I guess Myrtl was of the opinion that there was no freedom whilst in their body, I disagreed but I understood where they were coming from.

  I rehearsed what intel I had gathered while I put on my armor. The media reported that our facility was an illegal narcotics factory... I honestly don't know if they were lying or had simply or misunderstood its true purpose. I suppose it didn’t matter, now. No arrests were reported, and Myrtl would never have let themself be taken alive anyways, so I could only conclude that they were dead.

  More to the point, the report told me the name of the officer who led the raid, who was due to receive a promotion for “bravery”: Officer Erran Smith. I paused for a moment, looking down at my Type 36 Battle Rifle, remembering the time I spent putting it together with Myrtl, before throwing it into the truck. There was only one thing left that I needed…

  I held up the syringe to the light, staring into the oddly colored fluid inside. A cocktail of combat stimulants, like what the Legion of the Dead took in our stories, before consigning themselves to death in battle. I didn’t know for sure if there were drug interactions that would make the cocktail lethal, so I was hesitant to take it. Strange, even as I ready myself to die, I still cling to life. How pathetic I must seem.

  And then, it was all ready to go. I started the engine of the truck and hit the road, going towards downtown. I knew where the ceremony was going to take place, a city block away from a disgusting store for poisoning yourself with neurotoxins. I contemplated striking Erran Smith’s home, killing his family, but decided against it. The police station… The base of those heathens who’d stolen our future from us. They were the ones who had to die.

  The drive there felt like an eternity, but I was there at the perfect time. I could see them gathered inside the building, ready to give out awards for killing my compatriots. I waited in the car for what felt like hours but was actually ten minutes. My stomach was twisting into itself from my nerves. The fear felt like a lance through the gut from how tight it felt. Pathetic.

  I will no longer wait, and with that thought I give myself the battle stimulants. I start the car up and cut off a commuter by pulling in front of them. Damn them, I won’t care about pedestrians. Not to THESE humans. Coasting slowly up to a red light, I wait for the green. I slam my foot against the petal as soon as it turns green, skidding on the pavement before flying forward. I train my eyes on the wide stairs that lead to the award ceremony, gritting my teeth. The car’s bumper grinds against the first few stairs before I drive up the 45-degree angle stairway. I don’t let off the gas as I shoot forward off the last step through the glass front doors, As I lurch in my seat, I reflexively shut my eyes.

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  "Damn it, don't fear. I must see this with my own eyes!"

  Gritting my teeth, I force my eyes open, seeing rows of occupied benches. I don’t let off the gas as I speed forward towards the pedestal. I see them there, with that stupid face. I HATE HIM. I pull out my pipe bomb whilst driving over ducking attendants. I veer to the left towards the officers in dress uniforms, ready to accept their false metals dedicated to their evil ways. It is not enough to live as they do, they must prevent the ascendance of everyone else. THE BASTARDS! I press the wick into the car’s cigarette lighter, with a crisp sizzle of the wick I throw it onto the raised platform onto the platform. Turning hard to the right I slide the vehicle so the passenger side faces the platform.

  I grab my rifle and jump out of the vehicle. The gun is raised before I even train my gaze at anyone, flinching as a bullet ricochets off of my armor. Aiming quickly, I unload a burst into the offending officer. By now, the other officers assembled have drawn their weapons and taken aim. Grinning wildly, I put the stock to my shoulder and flick on the automatic fire mode, spraying bullets over the officer's heads and making them all duck for cover. I dash forwards and leap over the benches they hide behind, leveling my rifle towards officer Smith’s head and gunning them down before raising my gun and shooting the other honored officers at point blank range before they could get their weapon to bear again. The repeated impacts turn their repulsive human face into a pulp of bone, muscle, and brain tissue, turning the blonde officer’s head red… Behold the power of making redheads.

  "HAHAHAH, ugh."

  My revelry is cut short by two bullets thumping into my armor from the side. How dare they try to deny me my slaughter. Careening backwards, my foot catches on one of the legs of a bench and I fall down to the ground. Pathetic, get up. Prone, I send a spray of bullets in their direction. I hear a muffled curse that tells me I scored at least a hit, despite my poor accuracy, as the clicking sound of the rifle tells me it's drum is empty. Leaving it where I fell, I clamber back up to my feet, drawing my pistol from my hip and pointing it at the downed officer who was fumbling to reload their pistol. I smiled at them sardonically as I leveled my sights at them and pulled the trigger, unleashing two rapid shots of lead into their face

  My grip on my pistol loosens and it drops to the floor, looking down to see bullet wounds I didn’t even notice I had in my arm. At least the drugs did their job. I note, giddily, even as I can feel my body start to give out from the blood loss.

  I think it is time. Unable to move my right arm anymore, I awkwardly reach for the pouch on my right with my left hand. Slick with blood I grasp the small metal cylinder, and slowly pull it out.

  Suddenly a great burst of gunfire behind me lashes my back with cold flame. Falling to my knees, I almost lose my grasp on the metal cylinder, the key to giving my revenge enough bite. I turn my head towards the black pickup I came in on with a glad smile on my face. I was never betting on my fighting skills for my revenge, I didn’t trust them enough, I just wanted and needed to be the one giving at least one death blow. I flip the cylinder switch. There is a pause where nothing happens and my stomach drops, but then a bursting sound and a white vapor is dispersed through the room; A blink later, and the last thing I saw was a magnificent blaze of blinding white, before my body turned to ash.