Darkness, silence, warmth, and tranquility. These four are what I've felt for a while as my conciseness gradually kept creeping back up over a long period of time. It felt as if years had passed... yet at the same time it didn't. It was as if I was some kind of endless loop that kept on going, refusing to let me wake up.
Until one day everything changed.
*Boom
*Sirens and alarms shouting
My consciousness finally left that perpetual loop and for the first time, for what felt like ages or just a fleeting moment, I started to actually think and remember things again.
I felt... something. It wasn't a gentle breeze, nor a cold floor... my legs weren't even touching the ground to begin with. I felt as if I was in some kind of liquid, feeling like I was floating in the middle of an ocean with no sense of gravity, except for it swaying harshly a lot right at that moment.
Without even thinking, I decided to open my eyes and stretch out, but what came afterwards was unexpected. Even though I was in some kind of liquid, it didn't hurt my eyes one bit, and the liquid was entering my lungs freely as if it was some kind of replacement for air.
Then it clicked for me that I was in an unknown incubator or something like that, but I wanted to leave it as fast as possible, as it didn't feel good being swayed harshly constantly. At first I tried to look for anything that would let me escape it, but to no avail; there's nothing. Nothing at all. I tried kicking, punching, and pushing but because of being in a liquid, it rendered all attempts useless. I was about to give up until...
*Boom
*Bam
Part of the ceiling fell down and hit my tube hard enough to crack it near my spot at the bottom. Luckily it didn't fall at the top, as that piece of debris would have done way more damage than I could afford.
With a little more strain, I finally managed to exert enough force to push on the shattered glass and simply let the cracks extend, 'cutting' my exit through it.
But even with all of this, I forgot one detail: my lungs were filled to the brim with liquid, and I made a simple mistake of not being mentally prepared to breathe. It felt like somebody started a fire inside of me. It was unbearable, but I couldn't scream. It wasn't like I didn't want to scream or not draw attention to myself. There simply was no air in my lungs, nothing to breathe out and shout.
After what felt like hours, as time went on, it stopped hurting as much. It was as if my body was rapidly adjusting to breathing air instead of using that damned liquid.
'FUCK! THAT FUCKING HURT LIKE HELL.
AAAGGHHHH... Where... Where the hell even am I?'
Even though the question was asked, there was no one to answer, only leaving speculation as the answer.
Scouting the area, I quickly realized I wasn't the only one stuck like this; there were what seemed like dozens of tubes next to each other, filled with the same liquid and bodies that looked the same, with the exception of the tube next to mine, which just read K-423 (Success) with tiny text underneath it saying repurposed to a medical unit.
At first, I was confused what it could mean until I remembered that there was only one place where I heard this codename, and unless I'm just overthinking it, it was only in Honkai Impact 3rd.
Then I went to one of the pods where there was someone in it. I saw a girl with white hair floating in there… motionless. Same with the one next to her and so on until it came to the one I was in on the bottom written K-422 ( Failure ).
By now, you'd think I would've noticed the difference in my body, and yet... It wasn't like that at all. Maybe it's because I spent so much time in it that it would only feel natural, or it could be just absentmindedness at its finest. But whatever it was, it's gone now, and I immediately look at my transparent reflection in the glass shards to confirm it.
'Yup... I look exactly like her... messy white hair that's tied into two big braids, eyes that are a bright sea blue, a slender body with an average height for girls, and Kiana's signature cowlick or "ahoge" on the top of my head.
There's no denying it; I'm a clone of her or something close to it.'
*Boom
"Whoa!" I wobble from side to side due to the intense vibrations in the building.
"I don't know what's going on, but I have to get out of here pronto. Thankfully there's a white one-piece dress on me, or else I would've been butt naked. I probably should try to find something else to wear and to defend myself with, but first I need to somehow lose Otto's attention, or else it will not end well. Not well at all.
Though I doubt it will be easy considering his 'failed' clone somehow gained consciousness… unless he's preoccupied with something else. Ugh... whatever, I should just try to escape first and find out where to go next."
After looking around, I finally found an entryway to this place and cautiously approached it. With almost everything being in German, I could only barely make out what it says, though that's not much.
With options of " offener Eingang " which I'm guessing is to open it, and " sperr es ". I chose the first one, and it immediately opened.
The whole hallway was full of knocked-out people everywhere, not to mention the destroyed mechs.
Even though it might be indecent, I just went around and took some bits of protective gear from those knocked out, using it for myself, just in case it was needed. Luckily for me, I found some weaponry on them, which I gladly took. Two guns, a small knife, and I was ready to avoid some of Otto's Valkyries... or at least try and avoid dying.
I went around the lab trying to understand the layout somewhat or to find some kind of map, but all around were just piles of destroyed mechs. Still, my wandering paid off. Behind a solid door, I found what was some kind of canteen—at least something that was like it but on a smaller scale. Clothes were left neatly in a corner, with packed food still placed around.
Without thinking, I just took a random backpack and emptied it out, only leaving useful things in there, like, for example, MONEY, and then I just crammed as much food as possible in it just in case this lab is in a remote area that's too isolated.
After also putting on a fitting coat and a pair of shoes I found that were a little loose, I left the room—but not before checking every possible wallet and taking whatever cash I could find. In my greedy heist, I also found an access card, probably forgotten by someone.
"Well… this is certainly a surprise tool that will help me later." I grin.
Wandering around for a few more minutes led to an elevator that seemed to need a permit to be used. With the card I took before, I made quick work of the mechanism and bolted inside, heading for the top.
While waiting for it to rise with me, I just hoped and prayed that I wouldn't encounter anyone and would be good to go, but alas, it was not that simple at all.
After leaving the elevator, the sight that I saw was like straight out of the action movie with a battle ensuing between Siegfried and Valkyries.
'Fuck! Why do they have to be there at this time? Let's just hope they don't see me, or else who knows how things would end. Even though going with Siegfried would give me a higher chance of escape, I just can't tell how badly it could change their story. Especially Kiana's. I should try to find another way out.'
After discreetly looking around the area, I found another path leading out of this place. There were signs of someone usually standing guard, but the entire situation with Siegfried must have ended with all hands available joining the battle.
I got closer, noticing the broken mech that was sprawled out on the floor, turned to bits in Siegfried's relentless assault. It was frightening to imagine what kind of power he wielded around. Steel smashed to bits; a sight one doesn't see every day.
I kept sneaking around until I got face to face with the exit, and once again I used the card in my possession and opened the door. On my way out, I got a look at a map displayed on a screen, flashing different information I didn't really need. My sight was fixed on the location that popped up in the last panel, noticing the small settlement that was somewhere nearby, around 4 kilometers away.
Finally outside, the biting cold weather sank its teeth into my cheeks, turning them red and numb. Luckily, thanks to the coat I took, I could face the harshness of the outside weather, but my shoes did leave a lot of room for… improvement. Of course, going in a straight line in the snow would be a dead giveaway that somebody is trying to leave or escape, so instead I decided to go along the building until a part of the forest was near and just went there as quickly as possible, my steps wide so they might get lost in the snow easier.
I don't know if it was just pure luck or because everyone was focused on the flashy trio over there, but I somewhat managed to sneak out for now. But it definitely feels like luck. Maybe I also cloned Kiana's luck? Who knows?
After walking for what felt like hours, I finally reached the small town and took the first bus that left the place. It was only then that I gave a small sigh of relief. Thankfully, the driver spoke some English, so I was able to work my way out of there with a bit of cracked conversation and some cash that covered the ticket cost.
'Thankfully I didn't need to fight or do anything else. I don't think I would've escaped that way at all, considering that I have zero knowledge of fighting while they have been warriors probably for years by that point.'
But this peace didn't last long, as I had to find a new way to go further from this place. Soon I was on a train to Munich, going away as far as I could, thinking about what to do on the way. As I started traveling from place to place, there was always this nagging feeling of being watched, making me feel paranoid unlike ever before.
Issues did arise, from my lack of papers and legitimation to my money needing to be preserved as much as possible. I did manage to gather a few thousand in there, but I wasn't sure how long they would last me for.
"Damn, Otto sure is generous with his wages; can't deny that."
At this point I decided to find a quiet place and dump everything except the backpack and the coat with boots. Went into the closest clothing store, bought the cheapest basic clothes and a new coat that didn't resemble the old one, and left, leaving the old one deliberately there so that cameras wouldn't detect that it was me immediately. Then on I again hopped onto another bus and left.
Thinking about where to head further, I found myself somehow sneaking past the border into what looks to be Poland and then to Lithuania, reaching the city of Vilnius. My plan was to push on further east into Russia, using the large area to avoid jumping more borders, hoping to somehow use the shady infrastructure of the post-honkai eruption to my advantage also.
It was far from easy, with me needing to plan ahead and sometimes walk a lot from one place to another, using the weakest points around the border to sneak past. I could only hope to make it past undetected, and it sure seemed like Kiana's luck was on my side. I made it from one country to the other, then Russia went by in the blink of an eye, with a long streak of switching buses until I reached the closest point of contact between the country and Japan. That's where the crazy part of my plan came into being. I somehow had to avoid detection and cross the sea, so I used the oldest trick in the book: I hid in the luggage on a ferry boat.
Yes, it sounds crazy. It actually is crazy, but then again... I had managed to escape Otto's lab and make it all the way across two damn continents. I'd say that this is normal by this point in time. My travels took me around until I somehow reached Osaka. With some money to spare—albeit not a lot—I went ahead and rented a room at some hotel for a couple of nights. I had my first proper night of sleep in what felt like years, but the constant worry that Otto would somehow get me was glued to my brain.
'This is really going to be a pain in the ass to deal with in the future.'
Constantly being on the road while trying to be as discreet as possible took a toll on me mentally these past 2-3 weeks. I didn't even get to relax at least once for a tiny bit as I was constantly looking out for things to avoid. It felt as if I was just waking up, eating, traveling, and going to sleep again.
What felt like eternity finally ended, and I finally felt a tiny sense of peace and stress decreasing bit by bit until all the stress that I built up the past weeks caught up to me, and I fell asleep on the bed.