Zombie Survival System

Alexandre couldn't tell how much time passed in a swirl of information that seemed to appear spontaneously inside his brain. He kept blinking, feeling his eyelids and eyeballs moving but seeing nothing except the text in front of him. Finally, he opened his eyes and the real world appeared before him again.

Professor José asked, "So, what's heaven like, young man?"

As Alexandre looked at him, virtual text appeared in midair next to the professor.

╔════════Aurora Tactical System V0.23.1══════════╕

╟─╼ Character

║ ╰╼[Name]: José Del Bran

║ ╰╼[Role]: Scientist, Professor, [???]

║ ╰╼[Affiliation]: Hunter Association

║ ╰╼[Affiliation(2)]: [???]

║ ╰╼[LvL]: 0

║ ╰╼[Biology]: Human

╚══════════════════════════════════════╛

Alexandre said, "It's incredible! You'd think you were in an MMORPG."

The professor burst out laughing. "Yes, indeed! When I was a teenager, I loved two things—hentai and MMORPGs! Unfortunately, the government didn't see much tactical value in the first one... Anyway! Stay calm. This is only phase one of the transformation process. I must quickly inject you with an S.G.C. solution, otherwise the nanobots will run out of reserve power and you might as well throw away that $100,000 toy strapped to your wrist."

Professor José stepped into the room and moved to a heavy-duty panel on the wall guarded with another magnetic lock. This time, he tapped something on his tablet instead of swiping his card.

There was a thud, and the panel popped open. The professor reached inside and removed a shiny black plastic resin case emblazoned with two warning signs: first, the familiar three-lobed biohazard symbol. Second, a new symbol, one of the competing symbols that had appeared after the Great Wave to indicate the new threat to humanity. This symbol looked like a skull in profile with its jaws open, opposite a cartoon steak with a bite taken from it.

This was, of course, a warning that the contents of the case contained a Virus Z risk.

Professor José opened the box and removed a syringe filled with a sickly orange liquid. He cleaned Alexandre's bicep with an alcohol wipe, removed the plastic cap from the end of the syringe, and took Alexandre's arm. "This is going to be painful," said the professor, "much more so than the nanobot procedure. Grit your teeth and think of the Bahamas."

Alexandre nodded.

Professor José injected Alexandre with the solution, then disposed of the syringe, wipe, and case in a medical waste disposal chute embedded into the wall. He pulled an IV line from another receptacle on the wall and inserted that also into Alexandre's arm, then taped it into place.

Finally, the professor left the room, closed the door, and pressed a button on his tablet. A voice announced, "Control Unit 138 locked for duration of procedure."

The professor said "Voila! Now you'll remain there for at least 24 hours. If your vitals have stabilized by then, you'll be released tomorrow and officially become a Hunter Novice at Hunter Academy!"

He paused, thinking to himself, then added, "Oh, yes. As for food and water, unfortunately you'll have to make do with intravenous feeding. Your meals and hydration will be automatically regulated by the control unit's computer." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Obviously Alexandre, already a modified human, felt no pain, it was like injecting himself with the flu virus, even though he already had the flu, it did absolutely nothing.

Nonetheless, Alexandre replied in a strained, annoyed tone, "You never said I'd be completely quarantined the whole time!"

Professor José shrugged. "I forgot." Then he turned to address the other members of the group, "Let's keep going. There's a lot of you and we don't have time to waste!"

Ever since he'd been forced to participate in the Genesis Project, Alexandre had hated being locked up—especially in a "control unit" that reminded him far too much of the cell he'd been put in as a Genesis guinea pig.

Fortunately, Alexandre had something to occupy his mind and distract him from the pain. One of the main reasons he'd become a Hunter was to gain access to the Aurora System. Now that it had been initialized, he could begin the process of configuring his own body's evolutionary path in the Aurora Nexus.

Heureusement, Alexandre avait du pain sur la planche : l'une des raisons pour lesquelles il était devenu un Chasseur était le Système Aurora, il était donc temps pour lui de configurer le Nexus.