Soldier
“A weapon of incredible power,” they said. “A technical marvel. It will crush the enemy, and in so doing, bring peace.”
I was young and idealistic and I believed them.
“Help us,” they said. “Your country needs you.”
And so I packed my bags, and when the sun set and the dark of night set in, I left everything behind and followed after them.
“Let us change you,” they said. “We’ll make you stronger, faster, more agile. With your enhanced abilities, you can wield this new weapon of ours and help us usher in an age of peace.”
Once more I believed them and, without hesitation, offered myself in service to my country.
They gave me injections to change the way I see, cast spells to alter the appearance of my skin, summoned deities to transform the way I think. One by one, they deconstructed every aspect of my being until I was no longer human, no longer a person of free will at all but a slave, and when it was done, they cast me back into a world that could no longer accept me.
I see things differently now.
Among all the people in the world, there are only strangers and enemies. The former I shun as reminders of my former life, and the latter I stalk from the shadowy underworld that’s become my new home with a terrifying clarity of purpose that haunts me whenever I close my eyes and dream of what it was like to be human.
My enemies never see me coming, not until my eyes have filled with their terrible blue light, and by then it’s already too late. I see their fear before the power inside of me is unleashed, and in those dark and desperate moments, I am forced to come to terms with what I’ve become.
I was never meant to wield their weapon.
I am their weapon.
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