Chapter 1: Last Hope

He was pulled into the game.

A blink. That was all it took. In a single blink, his room had disappeared, and he was lying in this… strange place.

Clang-clang went the cold metal floors as he paced around the small, dark room. He wasn’t wearing his shoes and was still in his jammies.

His mind was spinning at first. He had tried panicking and screaming for help, but nothing worked. And the dim red light blinking from the sides and the beeps of the sirens were little help.

“Alright, alright… no use running around.”

He took a deep, long breath and stood up straight. He had seen on some show that if you paced your breathing, even the most tense situations would become easy.

“Let’s list facts.” One after another, he counted his memory out on his fingers.

“I was about to go to sleep. An ad popped up and took over my whole screen. I closed the ad, blinked, and… damn it, damn it, damn it!”

Clang clang clang, his feet slammed against the metal floor again.

This time, he didn’t get the chance to panic for long.

The beeps hammering his head hastened up, accompanied by the screeches of steel against steel.

He turned his gaze around and noticed a small duct at the top of the room.

The grilled gate of the ducts clattered against the walls, and with a crash, it fell straight to the ground.

He jumped back in surprise.

Streaming out of the duct, a small object of pure white entered the room.

Its sleek body floated in the air, small and compact like a drone, without wings or rotors to hold it up. Two claws extended from both sides while a single camera ran amok at its front.

The ‘robot’ ignored him and rushed toward the edge of the room as if it hadn’t noticed his existence.

As if the walls had sprung to life, they split open from the center.

“Doors…?”

He watched in utter surprise as the robot flew out, and the doors whirred to close again.

“No, wait!” He pulled his jammies up and rushed behind the floating robot. If he knew this was going to happen, he would have gone to sleep in jeans and a coat, oh, and shoes.

As soon as he stepped out of the door, his eyes widened again. The robot was well on its way for him to stop and admire the sight around him.

In a hurry, he followed on the steel bridge, past the giant, hollow passageway where his every breath and every step echoed at once.

They went past another door, red lights flashing all around them.

An enormous space stretched in front of him. Monitors, dozens and dozens of monitors, and television screens filled the very center of the room. Dimmed machinery accompanied it, half of them only able to flash.

None of them caught his eyes, though. His gaze was stuck on one screen in front of him, the screen where the outline of a palm flashed.

The robot that floated around all this time stopped near the screen and constantly turned between him and the machine.

Like a moth to a flame, he inched closer to the monitor.

Hesitation crawled up his back, but curiosity was an emotional heavyweight that broke all reservations apart.

He placed his hand over the monitor, squeezing it closer to fit the outline perfectly.

The blue flash of the screen turned red.

A piercing pain shot through his finger as he pulled his hand back.

“Ouch!” He yelped, his hand bleeding. ”Stray electronics!”

[Testing collected sample. Blood sample identified]

Words. Words not his own snapped his confused mind back into its senses. Anything familiar was reassuring, and for him, in a position he had never expected, even English seemed as endearing as his mother’s nagging.

[Visual Confirmation received. DNA testing completed. Confirmed, the Individual is from the genus Homo, species Homo Sapiens.]

[No traces of the Magenta Virus detected in the blood sample.]

[Confirmed, the Individual has undergone genome editing]

Genome what?

The rapid words flew past his mind one after another as confusion returned once more. Maybe it wasn’t correct to compare English to his mother.

[Matching records. Scanning. All Fifty-Seven records in the database have been scanned. No matches were found. Increasing scan range.]

[No matches found. Increasing scan range.]

[No matches found. Blood sample does not match any known records]

The more the mechanical voice spoke, the more confused he found himself.

[Time since the death of the last human: 37 years.]

[Verifying protocols. Calculating the odds of success. Success rate determined at 0.3%]

His mind spun, his heart pumped.

Last human. Success rate. With every word, he was losing grasp of his breath.

[We will follow the last command of the humans]

[Booting autonomous artificial intelligence Hope]

[Initializing… Operation Last Hope]

The mechanical voice that continued all this while suddenly changed. A tinge of emotion now filled the words.

[With the authority bestowed upon me as the autonomous unit managing this site…]

The lights in the room flashed on.

[I appoint you, the final living human, the warden of the Last Hope Penitentiary]

[The world is about to face its end. Please save it, Warden]

***—***

{Last Hope Penitentiary Information Files #0001: Magenta Virus}

{An alien virus that arrived on Earth with a meteorite that struck El Raval, Barcelona, Spain, on December 31, 2024. The infected undergo mutations throughout their bodies, seemingly evolving into a different lifeform with mystical abilities.

Further information is currently classified.}

***—***

“I want to go back home. I don’t want to be some Warden! That’s a bad career path!”

[The salary is guaranteed survival. People would be dying to take this position, Warden.]

“I am not…”

[You have already become the Warden.]

The warden, or so he was supposed to be now, held his head as he sat on the floor. He tried his best to process the information he had just received as the robot from before extended its claws and gently patted his head.

“How do I get out of here?”

[Warden, I am afraid there is no more getting out. You are more than likely the last human alive.]

“That doesn’t make sense. I am just a normal person running a small business. No last human! Heck, there are so many that you would get tired of them.”

[Delusions. It is quite the common side-effect of exposure to Magenta radiation. But your health is a-ok, warden.]

The warden shot to his feet and glared at the computer screen.

“I want to go out of here. I am going to go back home.”

[You cannot, Warden.]

“Why—”

A familiar screeching interrupted his words. The warden turned to the side and saw the enormous walls of the room opening up again. This time, they split horizontally from the center and opened to a thick, wide glass pane.

[A hundred and twenty-six years ago, the world saw the first mutated being formed by the Magenta Virus. These monstrous beings with mystical abilities. Some could conjure fire, others could break buildings with a single whip of their tentacles.]

The warden gulped and stepped closer to the glass pane.

He wondered if this was how it would feel if an industrial jackhammer cracked his head open.

A wasteland…

White snow raged all over the land as the remnants of a once glorious civilization now only stood with the tatters of grace it had left.

Buildings, debris on the ground, vines growing all over them. Cars and vehicles all squashed, roads crushed, and bridges toppled. And all of them, covered by a blanket of snow, announcing the end of their times and sending them away in peace.

[Last Hope Penitentiary is the final facility created by the humans. The culmination of their achievements, and likely the last stronghold remaining. I do not have outside data, but from what I know from forty years in the past, I believe no other human lives any longer.

He could feel everything splitting apart. The warden’s troubled heart reached a strange sense of calm, and his heated mind cooled down as if the snow outside battered him in here.

“Penitentiary?” He asked, placing his hand on the glass pane. “Why?”

[To house the worst of all criminals from the remaining humans. They experimented on the criminals to make a counter against the Magenta Virus.]

The warden stepped closer yet to the glass. His family, friends, his life from before. The more he stared at the world outside, the more his past seemed like a dream.

[The criminals could accept the mutation the Magenta brought about while keeping their sanity. Beings with the abilities of monsters. To control them all, we need you, Warden.]

The warden snapped his head back.

“They are alive?”

[All the criminals are preserved in cryogenic sleep currently.]

“They are alive! Humans are alive!”

[They are not humans, Warden. They are weapons first, criminals next. I recommend that you treat them so.]

“Weapons?”

[Affirmative.]

“Hah…”

“Hope, was it?” The Warden asked.

[That is correct]

“What is this beeping sound that has continued from the beginning?”

[There is an external breach, and some Magenta Monsters are currently attacking our only last remaining power grid. I am afraid the facility will completely cease to function if that gets destroyed.]

The Warden’s jaw dropped open. This stupid AI was talking about saving the world with Last Hope, and Last Hope was busy having its last rites performed!

“Why didn’t you say so earlier!?”

[Would you have fought with your troubled mind?]

“God damn it! You’re right!” The Warden slammed his feet on the ground in frustration. Then he winced in pain after hitting the metal. “Where?”

[Follow the Tesla Unit that brought you here. There are two more functional Tesla Units remaining. I will dispatch them and communicate with you through this unit.

The floating robot waved its claws at the Warden and rushed away from the computers. Swallowing his complaints, the Warden followed behind.

The robot that Hope called a Tesla Unit floated through the penitentiary. Soon, two more joined them outside the Control Room.

They passed by multiple long, word-down passageways. Lights blinked, the doors screeched. The facilities remained only a fraction of what they once were.

The Warden’s eyes shot around.

“Those robots…”

[The Tesla Units are all out of commission currently. Do not worry. We can slowly bring back the entire penitentiary to its past glory.]

Down they went a flight of stairs and opened yet more doors leading further away from the control room.

A single, final door opened. The three robots swooped right in, and the Warden followed.

His feet came to a screeching halt as soon as he stepped inside. His gaze swept over the enormous room shaped into an atrium. He stood atop the platform around the perimeters while a large coil covered the floor below.

Seven sleek, narrow, and compact guns stuck to the railings of the platform.

But none of these made the Warden hesitate. It was the being that broke through the walls outside and inched closer to the coil that made him stop.

An instinctive fear ran up his back. The monster with the reddish-black hue on its tarry skin slithered its way toward the coil. Its eyes slithered around on its face, if it could even be called one, while tentacles fizzled out its body.

The being left a trail of rot on the metal flooring it scrapped through, waving its appendages around like a wild, raging bull.

It was distressing, disturbing, disgusting. Its very existence was vexing, its every movement baleful.

[Warden! Just follow my lead. The All-purpose Tesla Units will operate the weaponry.]

True to Hope’s words, the robots floating around rushed to the guns fitted around the room. One right behind the coil, next to where the Warden stood, and two more on both sides to face the assailant.

The monster closed into the room and stepped into the range of the robots.

A streak of sapphire tore through the air as the ones on the side began their defense. Sapphire bullets shot out of the rifle and lodged into the monster. Small explosions bombarded its goopy body, but nothing stopped its approach.

A crash resounded as the monster’s tentacles struck the platform above. One of the guns tumbled to the ground while the railings caved in word.

The Warden’s balance broke, but he held himself up.

At once, the Tesla Unit close to the monster switched to a different gun behind and continued its assault, but the enemy remained steadfast.

This wouldn’t do.

The Warden was sure that the three alone were nowhere enough.

His mind raced along to think of what they could do.

“Hope! What is that bullet?”

[Sapphire Bullets. They are the weakest and currently the only available ammunition against the Magenta Monsters.]

The Warden’s eyes scanned the monster. He had to stop it from reaching the coil, no matter what.

“The recoil on those things?” He asked.

[Minimal. But protocol demands we only fire from a set position—]

“Damn your protocol! I am the authority here.” The Warden looked at the robots. There were just three. He couldn’t afford to lose them, but not risking it was also out of the question.

Close-ups, firepower, critical points, rotation.

The Warden clasped his chin as his mind kicked into rapid gear.

Like pieces of a puzzle clicking together, clarity filled his mind again. With only three weapons, he was currently at the most primitive stage.

But even primitive weapons had seen a time of absolute, deadly weaponry.

“All three of you, pull out the weapons and go straight to the coil.”

The Tesla Units were the most efficient soldiers. They loosened the weapons with their claws and flew straight to the coil, their bodies ready to block the monster.

Even if they had to ignore the protocol, the words of the Warden were absolute.

[Warden, the Tesla units are not physically strong enough—]

“Spin around and shoot it! All of you aim for the same spot!”

The robots did not hesitate for a second and followed the Warden’s words. They formed a circle and revolved around rapidly. At the very top of their arcs, the robots shot a bullet straight into the monster.

As the first one would pass, the second would hit. As the second passed, the third would hit.

The small explosions piled on.

With a simple trick, they virtually eradicated the reload time.

The Warden leaned against the railings of the platform and stared ahead.

He had done it. It had worked. The unstoppable charge of the monster toward the coil had come to a stop.

But he couldn’t let them handle it all on their own. Where was the fun in that?

He rushed over to one of the remaining guns while holding his jammies up with one hand and aimed it at the head of the monster.

The endless hail of bullets pushed the monster back. The more it was damaged, the smaller it seemed.

“I’ll take the last shot. Goodbye, weird monster.”

He pulled the gun up and slammed the trigger—Not.

He wasn’t from the states or anywhere else where guns were legal or service an obligation. The Warden fumbled with the gun and looked for a safety lock. With it turned the other way, he aimed again.

“Goodbye, weird monster—”

A bang resounded as the Warden’s bullet shot straight ahead and wildly missed the monster.

[Warden, you’re terrible at this.]

The Warden swallowed his tears at Hope’s remark.

A small, desperate appendage tried to aim for him. In fear, the Warden reeled back and fell on the ground, but the formation of the Tesla bots was having none of it.

One blew off the tentacle, another its base, and the last aimed again at the old spot they had shaved down.

After a few more rounds of the bullets, the monster was left writhing on the ground.

And a final shot doused out the flames of its life.

“Is it… over?”

[Congratulations, Warden. You have successfully led your first defense battle.]

The Warden took a deep sigh and placed a hand on his chest. It had been calm all this while, but it trembled now.

[I will now begin the confirmation of losses and damage control with the other two units.]

“Go ahead,” he said, and the two other robots flew off into the distance.

He took the support of the walls and got back on his feet.

He trudged to the section caved in by the monster and crouched near it.

Smoke wafted up the steel bars. The cold metal had turned into mush from the attacks of the monster.

He shifted his gaze down, and the floors below were in a similar state.

“Hope…” He called. “Are the prisoners… as strong as that monster?”

[The weapons are exponentially more powerful.]

Though her voice was now akin to one of a human, the Warden knew from the lack of hesitation that Hope was just an AI.

“Hah…” The Warden sighed. It did not sit right with him to consider living people as weapons.

But a deeper worry still lingered. “Do you think these ’weapons’ would not just kill me and go their own way?”

[They will not. I assure you.]

”How can you be sure?”

[I am sure. You are their natural counter, Warden.]

“What does that mean?”

The Warden turned toward the unit Hope was using.

[I have detected mutations in your blood sample too. The only person who can be the Warden of Last Hope is the one who can hold these prisoners down.]

“Mutations? Like… the same ones as the prisoners…?”

[Affirmative.]

The Warden held his head and laughed.

He had seen a lot of things he couldn’t believe today, yet this had somehow become more outlandish than it all.

The AI had sampled his blood, the blood of a perfectly average person, and had deemed him multiple times stronger than the being just now.

[Warden, your mutation is very special. You can chain down the weapons and make them abide by your every command. By all means, the Warden of Last Hope is the strongest. More than any other weapon.]

Weapon…

The Warden stopped moving at her words.

[Warden, there is a chance to save the world… take it back. Last Hope was built precisely for that reason. You are the highest authority here. Only you can do it.]

The Warden looked at his hands again.

He was stuck here anyway.

If that was how it was, so be it.

It wasn’t as if there was any other choice.

“Fine…” he said. “Let’s take the world back.”

And right then, the beeps of the siren began once more.

[Uh, Warden. Big trouble]

“What now? Please don’t tell me the siren broke.”

[Worse. The damage caused by the monster… has led to a weapon’s escape.]