Ares lay motionless, every nerve in his body alight with agony. The impact had shattered something—maybe multiple things. A dull, throbbing ache pulsed through his chest, jagged spikes of pain stabbing with every shallow breath.
His brain struggled to process. Concussion? Likely. Broken ribs? Almost certain. Internal bleeding? Possible. He needed to move, to check his injuries. But his limbs wouldn't respond.
Then—
System: [ALERT—CRITICAL CONDITION DETECTED.]
System: [Activating Emergency Revive Protocol…]
A distorted flicker of red filled his vision. His brain barely registered the text, the words dissolving into static before reassembling.
System: [Assessing damage…]
System: [Multiple fractures detected. Skeletal integrity compromised. Hemodynamic instability detected. Neurological function: Impaired.]
Ares groaned weakly. His mind clawed at the medical terms. Skeletal integrity compromised? That meant broken bones. Hemodynamic instability—unstable blood flow. Internal bleeding? Organ failure?
His pulse spiked, sending a fresh wave of pain through his skull. Panic was useless, but his body didn't care.
System: Initiating cellular repair sequence. Prioritizing life-sustaining functions.
A warmth spread through him—subtle, like a low electrical current humming through his veins. He knew what it was doing. His body was reallocating resources, diverting what little energy it had toward stabilizing critical functions.
But there was a problem.
Bones couldn't mend instantly. The body needed calcium, phosphorus, and collagen to reconstruct skeletal tissue. Platelets had to clot bleeding vessels. White blood cells had to prevent infection. Where was the system getting the raw materials?
His mind swam. Then—
System: [Analyzing resource distribution… Detected insufficient calcium and phosphorus stores. Diverting from non-essential bone structures.]
Ares gritted his teeth. Non-essential bone structures? It was breaking down less vital bones—maybe small ones, like those in his wrist or fingers—to repair critical fractures.
Smart. Horrifying, but smart.
System: Hemodynamic support activated. Promoting vasoconstriction to reduce blood loss.
Ares exhaled sharply. That made sense. Vasoconstriction—the narrowing of blood vessels—would slow internal bleeding, buying him time. His body was going into emergency triage mode.
But something else was happening.
A deep, pulsing sensation radiated from his chest. It was different from the blunt trauma. More like an internal charge building, tingling beneath his skin.
Then—
System: [Unknown biological organ detected. Attempting analysis…]
System: [ERROR—Unable to identify structure.]
Ares' thoughts wavered between pain and curiosity. Unknown organ? Inside me? The system wasn't detecting a known biological structure—it was detecting something foreign.
His heartbeat felt strange—erratic but controlled, as if his body was compensating for something.
Then—
System: [Energy reserves insufficient. Seeking alternative energy source…]
The pulsing sensation in his chest intensified.
System: [Unknown organ producing bioenergy. Attempting extraction…]
A deep ache spread from his ribs, something stirring beneath the pain. Not just repair—something else.