Edited by: Kuro and Lille. Welcome back Lille :D
Adam 1 was sitting in the room with the one-way window. It was the control room that regulated the tank and allowed the researchers to monitor Adam 1's vitals.
There were many screens and multiple keyboards on the wall to the left of the one-way window. There were four chairs in front of the desk of computers. There was a mini-fridge and a water tank, but the two had nothing in it.
Adam 1 turned on all the equipment and waited for the computers to load. It didn't take long for him to get to the encrypted lock screen.
'System, hack into it and change the password to something I can remember.'
[Understood... Hacking... Hacking complete. Password changed to GodSystem.]
It was definitely something the two could easily remember.
After changing the password, Adam 1 quickly brought up all the information on his body. To create Adam 1, the researchers made a lot of sacrifices, aka the zombies. Many people died in the process and it was this creation that made the world as it was.
This didn't mean Adam 1 was at fault, but he knew that Adam 1 wanted to help humanity for all the suffering the researchers made people go through. There were so many innocent people, people who weren't the cause of Adam 1's suffering. They wanted to save those people and destroy everyone who had previously wrong them.
Adam 1 looked through the body's data. There was a lot on the DNA, the body's abilities, his intelligence, etc. The body was in perfect health and even had a super human-like regeneration. The body didn't need to eat or drink water, and the body couldn't die from disease or old age.
Adam 1 was the perfect weapon. The perfect machine. The researchers were probably ecstatic that they finally created the perfect artificial human.
But where did the researchers go?
He pulled up the security cameras on one monitor and then brought up the map of the research facility and the city with another. He couldn't rely too much on the city map as it was the one before the apocalypse, but the research facility map was still fine. The building was actually underground near the capitol building where the President stayed. According to the documents and letters he hacked into, the Vice President was the one who ordered the researchers to experiment on making the perfect weapon. The actual President of the country was left in the dark.
He also ordered the researchers to escape with him and they all ran to MI Base. The Vice President wanted to take back the capital while the researchers wanted to get back here to their product they had to leave behind.
The slimy liquid he was in was actually a substance that helped his body to get to where it was. It helped build cells and accelerate their growth. He wasn't ready to leave it a couple of years ago, but now his body was complete.
Adam 1 looked at the data with dark eyes. The ones who created him were also the ones who harmed him, how fantastic.
To bite the hand that feeds him, was a common saying for those who betrayed their benefactors, but this situation was a bit different. It was cutting off tumors before they could spread even more!
He then pulled up all the past experiments and looked at each process. He looked at the very first experiment and then how they created Adam 1. It was gruesome. Each failure leading up to Adam 1 was worse than the one before it. The last failure before Adam 1 was the one that created the "zombies.'' At first, the thing seemed normal so they had sent it out to the surface to see how they would react. The zombie was on the surface for a month, before it started to rot under the sun's rays. A greyish gas started to spew from the zombie's mouth as it grabbed at an unfortunate soul next to him.
Within that month, they finished creating Adam 1.
After that, zombies spewed out a toxic gas filled with a virus that turned other people into zombies. It polluted the air, the soil, everything around them. Those who could withstand the airborne virus were able to unlock their abilities, or they were just slightly stronger than a normal human. If these people had gotten bitten, that was a different story. Once bitten, within 24 hours, they would also turn into a zombie.
If he could make a vaccine, it would change everything. No one would have to fear turning into a zombie. They could still die, but it was better than being a zombie.
He needed to get some zombie samples and use his own blood. His blood was what the researchers used to find the cure before. Apparently, as the perfect artificial human, he was completely immune to the zombie virus. His cells were capable of destroying it on its own. If he could control them, he could, of course, destroy them.
There weren't a lot of people left in this world. Many people were struggling to survive. That was why he needed to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible.
****
Adam 1 left the research facility and started to explore the city. He wanted to see what areas were blocked, had the most zombies, etc. He could've had System 225 do a scan of the city, but seeing was believing. Also, he wanted to break into the President's building and steal- uh, find some information on the zombies. He knew it was located in the Vice President's office.
He also had plans to bring a few zombies back to do some research on the virus. If possible, he wanted to find the original zombie, but he didn't know if it had gone somewhere else or not.
Even though he was the "Zombie King" he had some limitations. As of now, his zombie mind control had a radius of 10 meters. As he "leveled up," that radius would increase. The previous Adam 1 was able to control zombies throughout the whole country. One could only imagine how powerful he was.
Ironically, Adam 1 was able to level up by consuming cores within zombies. He could also take the cores from Ability Users to increase his power. It was like the whole world was his energy source.
It was no wonder the System missions were so hell-bent on making sure Adam 1 walked down the right path. One wrong move and the whole world could be destroyed. At first, he wondered why God System wasn’t Adam 1, but it was probably because God System was not conscious enough to ensure that Adam 1 would continue down the right path. If the Host could not make him go on the right track, it would be detrimental, so they just made him Adam 1 instead.
He felt like a ticking time bomb.
Adam 1 followed System 225's map of the city and found himself in the center where the Presidential building was. There were different sections to the government area, but the building where the President lived was smack dab in the middle. It was easy to find as the architecture was from a different era. It had the look of an ancient building from Greece but it was adapted on the inside to look more modern.
When he entered the building, there were hundreds of zombies on the first floor. They were slowly walking around as if they were continuing on with their daily lives. It was odd to see a zombie, sitting at a desk, groaning in front of a computer screen. There wasn't electricity going through it, but the zombie still stared at the screen and had its hands at the keyboard. The individual fingers were stiff, so once in a while, they would use their hand to slam on the keyboard.
He wondered if the zombie knew it wasn't typing.
'System, is it possible for these zombies to evolve into more intelligent beings?'
He thought this way because he had been in a world where "zombies'' were actually intelligent. He was the Zombie King of that world as well and a big Villain that was destroyed by the protagonists of that world. He wondered if these zombies could evolve in that same capacity.
[*Chirp Chirp* Hidden Mission has been found.
[Hidden Mission: Create a serum for the Zombies.
[Some zombies have mutated enough to seem almost human, but their slow evolution has limitations. Though there are irreversible consequences, they can overcome that, adapt and evolve to something brand new. Of course, with your help.]
'Wow System, that's the first time this has happened.'
[Congratulations, Host, for finding the hidden mission. The reward for completing the Hidden Mission is 2x the energy from a side mission. There is no penalty if you don't complete this mission as it is not required nor would it hinder us in the future. Proceed as usual.]
Adam 1 stopped looking at the only zombie at a desk and continued through the hallways unhindered. With the help of System 225, he was able to locate the Vice President's office.
It was a spacious, hexagon-shaped office with little furniture. It had a desk with a chair, a couple of couches, and a rug in the center of the room that had the symbol of the country. There were no zombies in the room, but things were thrown on the ground in panic and dust had invaded the once maintained room.
There were no lights on in this building, but it was daytime so light streamed in from the broken and cracked windows.
He did everything he could to turn on the computer before giving a sigh. He would have to use one of his abilities to keep the computer running long enough to get the information he needed.
Using his Lightning ability, he was able to channel a very constant and stable amount of electricity into the computer to have it run. It was the only thing in the room he put power into.
He wished System 225 could do it, but System 225 didn't have the ability to manifest into the physical world unless he put up a barrier. But the barrier could only affect living beings, not inanimate objects, which meant he couldn't create his own electricity. Phones and computers were a part of the physical world, but they had a digital world within them, which was possible for the Systems to get access to. Systems could help make his life a little easier, but it couldn't do all the work for him.
'System, gather all the data within the hard drive.'
This included the country's secrets and the research data as the Vice President was the one who issued this order. There was bound to be something on the computer.
[Understood, Host. Compiling the data now...]
It only took a few seconds for System 225 to get everything. A flash drive-like object landed into Adam 1's hands and then disappeared. It was put into his Spatial ability.
Once he finished gathering the data, he destroyed the computer with its hard drive. Of course, he made sure to wipe off everything on it before destroying it. The researchers after seeing him probably won’t want to go back to the research facility or the capital. Why would they need to when he was what they were looking for? The Vice President, though, might be upset to know his computer was broken.
After getting everything he needed, he started to go back to the underground research facility. He grabbed random zombies, including the one sitting at the desk as he thought this one was kind of adorable. They obediently followed him back to the facility.
The ten zombies walked at a constant pace, which was an "average" walking speed. It wasn't too fast or too slow, but these were just tier 1 zombies. As they increased in tiers, they got faster and stronger.
The highest tier possible was tier 10. Since the original Adam 1 was deemed a Zombie King, they were tier 10 till the very end. Adam 1 was the only known Tier 10 in the world.
When he got back, he put the zombies in a special room with chairs and tables. He ordered them to sit down and wait for orders. They complied and sat next to each other in a row. They didn't make too many movements nor did they make lots of noises, just occasional grunts here and there.
Adam 1 couldn't help but find it cute. They were all so obedient...
[Host, they are just a pile of rotting flesh. I don't understand how you can think they are cute.] The System was utterly confused at their Host.
‘System 225, have you ever seen something that's so ugly that it becomes cute. That's how I feel.’
System 225, who hadn't been a "human" for a very, very long time, couldn't understand at all. He decided it was best to agree and go along with it.
Anyway, Adam 1 gathered all the equipment he needed, which were ten needles and lots of test tubes. The research facility had an almost endless amount so he didn't have to worry about it. They even had their own laboratory that processed blood samples and such. All the microscopes were there so he could have lots of fun.
He had to work quickly so he could leave before people tried to find him.
Mini theatre by kuro_kama:
Host: System, can you smell it? It smells <sniff, sniff> really nice.
System 225: Host, it’s shit! How can it smell nice?!
Host: You know nothing, System. This shit is so smelly it has become fragrant.
System 225: O_O‘
System 225 became so worried about his Host’s perception that he planned to give his Host some remedial lessons.
Lille: Aww, they do be really cute.
Grandpa Marky: Y’all never seen something so ugly that it’s cute? There are these ducks in Florida. It’s not your typical white-looking duck, but this duck has this weird red thing on its face. It’s pretty ugly but I find them kinda cute XD Also, bad smells can never smell good Kuro! That’s not how it works LOL
I want to thank AstridVinclair for buying 27 dollars worth of coffee! We need 9 more dollars before we will get extra chapters for the week!
Also, Rhiannon, thank you for choosing my prize (though I am not even sure if you read my story. Regardless, thank you). Your 3 bonus chapters will be after this one!
