1 Prologue

Cold winds swept through the empty streets of Gavallon. It was accompanied by the white, heavy, pouring snow piling up the through every edges of the intersections. Streetlights continued to flutter, unbothered by the oozing cold; one moment they weren't working and the next thing, they would light up. Stars appeared impossible to navigate through those dark, midnight skies. But it was a bit reassuring knowing the moon was up high in full circle tonight.

Despite how still the surroundings were, the distant sound of explosions and ginfires vibrated through the air causing too much heat to accumulate over the surroundings that it almost didn't matter how cold the night was.

Silent thumps of footsteps were heard skipping through the alley, they were slow but steady, enough for the girl to run away without being noticed. With that in mind, she tightened her grip on her scarf that dangled over her neck as she turned to another alley.

This time, she doubled her pace hearing the familiar noise of blaster guns causing destruction through the close quarters of the alleyway nearby. She knew then her captor was getting closer now and in panic, she ended up stumbling over a rolling bottle that caused more scrapes on her bare arms. Despite the pain and the tears streaking almost endlessly from her eyes, she preserved and stood up.

Only for her to take another step back when a huge android blocked her only path forward. It was basically a black dog with three heads solely made out of machines. Their eyes were red, their long canines showing through their large mouths as they snarled at her. She flinched, turning around in an attempt to make another hasty escape when her captor finally caught up.

The said captor was a tall looking woman with a long white hair, pure blood-coloured eyes as well as different parts of her bodies made out of the machines. She wore a mask surrounding her nose and mouth, bur even despite that hindrance, the girl could clearly notice the smirk coming from the woman because of her slanted eyes as though everything seemed so amusing. The woman lifted her arm, her hand immediately turning into a gun that was directed right at the girl.

"Surrender." It was only one word, but the girl found herself shivering again at the thought of being back to that facility.

No words formed out of her mouth, and she doubted she would be able to say anything anyway in the first place with the way her lips and body were trembling. Still, she shook her head, gripping her blood-stained black scarf as though it was the only stronghold she had at the moment.

"Subject X-47," the woman once again spoke, her voice still playful. "...this would have been so much easier if you had just given up from the very start. What made you even think you could escape?"

The little girl shook her head again, backing herself against the wall as the older woman towered above her. She refused to meet the white-haired woman though, closing her eyes in fear that caused a eerie laughter coming from her captor. A second later, the woman slammed her fully against the wall.

Her eyes suddenly opened in pain when she felt something sharp buried deep into the side of her stomach coming from the enemy's left hand now turned into a sharp blade. The girl screamed being lifted up, the blood tainting her white lab cloth more than the wounds she already got trying to escspe for hours now.

"Hoping somebody would save you?" The woman questioned with an obvious mockery in her tone. "Humans slay monsters, dear. They do not save one." She threw the girl on the cold ground, watching as her small figure roll around, gasping as she clutched her bleeding side.

"The sooner you learn that, the better." With a smirk, the taller female crouched beside the child, grasping her hair up. "Why don't you look in my eyes and see what I meant?"

There was no need to, the girl knew what she was referring more than anyone else. Still, she was forced to watch her reflection along those red eyes, seeing her short white hair with mixtures of balck highlights, mismatched painted eyes where the other left was red and the other right as white as a pearl—there was nothing in it but pure whiteness that she had to look away.

However, she was yanked by her captor, forcing her to look into the woman's mirror-like eyes once again. There, she saw two small protruding black horns just over her forehead, the other right cut off where it was nothing now but a trace of a once sharp metal-like bone. The woman, seeing the fading determination in the younger girl's eyes, smirked.

"Now, why don't we stop this little game of chase? I might just let you off with twenty whips if you stop fighting against me." The woman said while the girl could only nod still clutching her wound, only for her chin to be lifted up forcefully. "Words, dear. I didn't stab you in your tongue, did I?"

"Y-yes, Commandant." The girl resigned to her fate.

She was just about to reach for the woman's hand when her captor suddenly jumped three times backwards, traces of laser bullets leaving tiny dents on the ground. The girl turned around, seeing a group of people with masks and uniforms arriving as they defeated the android dog in just a few minutes.

"Stay away from the child, Cerberus!" One woman warned.

"Tsk. Pesky humans." She frowned, but then eventually smirked. It was something the girl had familiarized with now, it means the white-haired was definitely planning something.

"Help the child to the evacuation site first!" Ordered the woman. A man then came crouching beside her, but his eyes immediately widening as he backed away.

"Wha—what? She's not even human!" The guy yelled out in warning, taking out his blaster gun.

"Calm down, sentinel. She's just a child." Said another man.

However, the girl didn't care anymore, her mind was plagued with the thoughts of those she thought would save her ended up being the first one to call her—

"She's a monster!" Insisted the man, still pointing his gun.

"Listen to me, sentinel—" the woman stopped, their group of three backing away when they were almost hit by bullets.

The white-haired woman laughed, extending her arms on both side as they turned into long blades made out of coiling wires and metals. She glanced at the girl with a fond look, walking forward with an intention.

"You heard that yourself, dear. Humans," small daggers formed from the long blade from both of her arms, flying towards the group. "—are selfish creatures that must perish!"

"Shut up, you radical!" The other man provoked, putting an energy shield around them, a force field that deflected the blades.

"Now, why don't we test that Link Drive?" The woman's eyes began glowing in deep shade of red, circling rings of the same colour suddenly appearing around her.

"That's... is that what I think it is? Captain, this is impossible!"

"Alters like her shouldn't be able to do a Nexus!"

"Team Captain, orders!"

"This is looking bad, should we retreat?"

"No, we'll save the girl. Sentinels, ready for battle."

"But your Commandant isn't here—"

"No time for that, dodge!"

The three people dispersed, laswer bullets randomly destroying everything around them. The girl began screaming, clutching her chest tightly as her body slowly underwent the process of genetic reconstruction. She was losing consciousness now, her eyes blackening while her body seemingly being under an intense heat that ravaged her insides.

Her heart was racing so fast they could explode, her blood boiling hot, and her body was aching all over. The woman, earlier was named Cerberus, smiled as she hastened the process of linking, no longer caring about the possible termination of the system drive.

"Sytem union: Drive X-47." Cerberus then sighed with pleasure, feeling the power of the Flare Virus intensifying and with a final word, it was as though everything stopped. "Nexus."