43 Zorvax's Bionic Rejection
The morning air was heavy with the scent of rust and decay as Zorvax stood amidst the barren landscape. The desolation of their surroundings mirrored the void that had once been his human emotions. Now, as a Bionic Zombie, there was an itch of curiosity beneath his skin—a yearning to understand the limits of his new abilities.
With a pragmatic tilt of his head, Zorvax's eyes locked onto the lifeless form of Alpha, the bionic human he had defeated. Alpha's body was a grim tableau against the desolate backdrop, and it bore the very thing Zorvax sought to test—bionic armour.
"Let's see if this stuff is as good as it looks," Zorvax muttered, his voice low and even.
Ophelia watched from a short distance, her black eyes reflecting concern and intrigue. She wrapped her arms around herself, a gesture not of cold—after all, the undead felt no chill—but of contemplative wariness.
Zorvax approached Alpha's corpse with a confident stride, kneeling beside it. His hands, strong and sure, grasped the armor. It was a symbol of strength, of a technology that promised so much power. With swift movements, he stripped the armor from Alpha and began to don it piece by piece.
The armor was a patchwork of high-tech metal and intricate circuits, a second skin designed to meld with flesh and machine. Yet, as Zorvax slid his arm into the sleeve, a hiss of dissonance emanated from the suit. It bristled against his skin, the interface rejecting his touch.
"Something wrong?" Ophelia's voice sliced through the silence, laced with a cautious curiosity.
"It's not... accepting me," Zorvax replied, a frown creasing his brow. The annoyance was clear in his voice, starkly contrasting his usual stoic demeanour. "This suit's loyalty lies with the living, not the living dead."
Ophelia stepped forward, her steps almost silent on the cracked earth. "But you're not just any undead now. You're more," she insisted, her tone gentle yet firm.
Zorvax sighed resignedly and withdrew his arm, the sound echoing hollowly in the space. "More or not, it makes no difference to cold bionics." The armor clattered to the ground as he stripped it off, piece by piece. "It seems I can't just take what I want. I have to earn it—through points."
As Zorvax stood up, the weight of his new reality seemed to settle on his broad shoulders. "This is going to be a longer journey than I thought," he said, almost to himself.
Ophelia nodded solemnly, her earlier smile now a distant memory. "Then we start collecting. You need that armor, and we'll get it the right way. Through the shop."
Zorvax's lips twitched into a half-smile, the gesture not quite reaching the cold blackness of his eyes. "I suppose we will."
The two stood side by side, looking out over the vast emptiness that stretched before them. The silence was no longer uncomfortable but filled with a mutual understanding. They had a purpose, a goal to strive towards.
With a newfound resolve, Zorvax turned on his heel, his cloak of darkness billowing behind him. "Let's go hunt," he declared, his voice now a powerful rumble that matched his resolute steps.
But suddenly, his confident stride halted abruptly, causing his dark cloak to flutter and settle once more against his back. His black eyes narrowed, and a thoughtful crease formed between his brows.
Ophelia, trailing behind, came to a graceful stop. Her head tilted, her long black hair cascading over one shoulder as she observed him. "What is it?" she inquired, her tone laced with confusion and concern.
Zorvax raised a hand, signalling for patience. "I want to check something," he said, his voice dropping to a contemplative murmur. The intense focus in his eyes suggested he was peering into something unseen by anyone else.
Ophelia stepped closer, trying to glimpse at whatever it was that had captured Zorvax's attention so fully. He seemed to be looking inward at a reality only he could perceive. With a few silent commands known only to him, Zorvax accessed his evolution list.
---
[Evolution List]
-
[1. ???]
[Requirement to unlock:]
[- 5000 Evolution Points]
[- 3 Level 3 Zombie Core]
[- 3 Black Core]
-
[2. ???]
[Requirement to unlock:]
[- 5000 Evolution Points]
[- 3 Level 3 Zombie Core]
[- 3 White Core]
-
[3. ???]
[Requirement to unlock:]
[- Unlock First and Second Evolution List]
[- 10000 Evolution Points]
[- 5 Level 3 Zombie Core]
[- 5 Black Core]
[- 5 White Core]
---
The requirements sprawled before his mind's eye like an impossible mountain range, each peak higher and more treacherous than the last. He couldn't help but let out a frustrated grunt. "I might as well be trying to eat the moon," he grumbled.
Ophelia's expression morphed into one of sympathy. "That bad, huh?" She stepped beside him, placing a comforting hand on his arm—a warm gesture despite their cold, undead nature.
"It's... ridiculous," Zorvax scoffed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Before, it was challenging, but now? I need triple the resources for the first steps alone, and the last one..." His voice trailed off as he shook his head in disbelief.
"And the last one?" Ophelia pressed, her eyes narrowing in a mix of curiosity and solidarity.
He looked at her, his face drawn with the shadow of the task ahead. "The last one requires 10,000 points, 5 of each core, after unlocking the first two evolutions. Altogether, it's a list that would give a calculator a migraine."
Ophelia leaned back slightly, her lips pursing as she processed the sheer scale of their undertaking. "Well," she began, trying to infuse some optimism into the bleak summary, "we are not ones to back down from a challenge, are we?"
Zorvax let out a dry chuckle. "No, we are not," he admitted, and there was a spark of something fierce and defiant in his gaze. "But this is more than a challenge—a full-on quest."
"Then we'll start this quest one step at a time," Ophelia declared with a determined nod. "You didn't become a level 2 zombie by accident, and you won't get to level 3 by moping about it."
Her words, simple yet full of conviction, acted as a balm to Zorvax's ruffled spirits. "You're right," he acknowledged, and there was a new energy to his posture, a readiness to move forward.
Ophelia smiled, the gesture fierce and proud. "So, what's our first move on this epic quest of ours?"
Zorvax's lips twisted into a half-grin, part of his old, human charm peeking through the grim facade. "We hunt," he said, the rumble in his voice returning. "We gather what we need, and we take it one corpse at a time if we have to."
With their path laid out before them, albeit daunting, they turned away from the remains of Alpha and toward the horizon. The sun, a mere disk of pale light in the overcast sky, watched over them as they set out to conquer the impossible.
