Cain was already cautious after witnessing it become more 'lively'; its speech changed and seemed more human, more alive. That begs the question: why did he do it? It was obvious it knew what he wanted, it was obvious he would get caught.

So why did he do something so stupid? For the thrill? For the challenge? Actually, he didn't know why.

Cain had walked up to the grotesque humanoid machine and acted as if he was going to heal it. From there, he attempted to snatch the core, only to find the android fully expected it.

Even if its flesh was weak, its parts were not. It easily punched Cain back and forced him into a stone wall.

From there, everything seemed to worsen; the tribals clustered towards him while their god held onto the orb and began speaking in a strange language.

At this point, Cain's stress rose without limit, and his sanity drained as he felt his life would soon come to an end.

Months ago, when he spoke to that old man, he made death seem nice or inconsequential.

He acted as if he accepted death, as if he was above it. But no one is above death, and those who say they don't care if they die are the ones you want to die the least; the ones you hold onto life with such a fierce grip that they destroy everything around them.

Cain had become like this: alone and lonely because of his fear of death. Like the old man, he wanted to live, explore, and learn more about the world. Yet in doing so, he threw everything else away. Everything he had was up in smoke and ruined his mind.

The situation now forced him to understand himself, to understand that he didn't want to die. He didn't want the fate he had forced upon so many; he was truly a hypocrite.

Staring behind the tribals he was killing one by one with his daggers, dodging and sinking his blades into their necks after each strike, he glared at the one sitting on their throne.

Their metallic mouth spewed incomprehensible words as the orb in its hand glowed brighter and brighter.

"ARGH!"

Cain burst into mist as he passed through the tribals before taking over the old man who stood next to the machine. His fog collected into tendrils as they forced themselves into every orifice and pore.

The old man grunted before his vision was lost and his soul was consumed by Cain in an instant, for he had no time to waste playing with food.

Reconstruction took only a few moments, but it was already too late.

The android stood up and blood and oil leaked from it. It held the yellow core in its hands as it gave Cain an indomitable feeling of danger. The robot cackled upon seeing Cain's face. It was a face he had never made before, one he knew very well: fear and panic.

"You've lost. I have been programmed to understand the human brain better than humans themselves.

You lost the second you had thoughts of taking what's mine, and now I will get someone helpful unlike you."

Sweat flowed, and Cain's fractured mind was on the verge of breaking; he was at the point of life or death. Unfortunately, before he could say a word, it tipped toward death.

A golden beam emanated from the core and blasted against Cain. It didn't affect his body, but instead, his mind. Cain held his head as he felt it split into countless bits of dust.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream as his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.

"Tie him up, then put him before me. I shall speak to him when he wakes."

...

Drifting. That's all he did for the longest time. The only thing he remembered was pain. It was that pain that made him give everything up. He decided enough was enough, and he let go.

With this decision, he dreamt a dreamless dream, flowing through the abyss without knowing who he was. He had forgotten life and didn't exist in death. For he was not dead yet, and now it was his time to wake.

...

Opening his eyes, his emerald irises reflected everything that came into view. They were clear and beautiful, seemingly seeing everything and nothing.

He found himself tied and surrounded by festering bodies. The stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed Cain as he opened his eyes. Fly-infested corpses surrounded him, ropes cutting into his skin.

His grogginess quickly dissipated, while confusion and panic finally set in.

'What's going on? Was I thrown into the prison's corpse pit? Why am I tied up then?'

Cain's heart pounded as he took in the nightmare scene. Rotting corpses surrounded him, flies buzzing hungrily around the putrid flesh. He choked down vomit rising in his throat. Where the hell was he?

A cold, robotic voice cut through the buzzing. "You must be the other one. Never thought I'd run into a case like yours..."

Cain's gaze shot upward. Bile burned his throat. A monster pieced together from metal and human parts loomed over him. Its glassy eyes blinked, focusing on Cain.

He wanted to scream, but his voice had vanished. This had to be a nightmare. What was this metal monster?

"Judging by your reaction, it seems you don't share memories..." the thing droned on.

Cain strained against the ropes, panic rising. He had to get out of here. Fight or flight kicked in, but both seemed impossible.

Given the conventional demeanor of this 'thing,' Cain quickly calmed himself and regained his senses. He began to try and think logically about just what the hell was going on.

'It talks the same language I do. It says memories aren't shared? Was I brainwashed by Victor? Where the hell am I?'

"Excuse me, but where am I?"

"Oh? You are in the wasteland of dead deities, a territory bordered by corrupt zones."

"Corrupt zones?"

"Affirmative. Could you perhaps be a younger version of him? Before he learned about gatherers and rulers?"

Cain gazed at the android as if it were crazy. "Gatherers? Rulers? What the hell are you talking about?"

The machine sighed and placed its palm on its face.

"This will be hard. How about you just focus on your mind? Try and remember. I have all the time in the world to wait."

Confused, Cain shrugged. In all honesty, he had no choice. He was bound and felt weakened. Even his mind was operating slower than usual.

'Should be the same as going through my memories like normal.'

Cain closed his eyes and imagined his most recent memory. He then found himself remembering Victor's torture.

Though he expected the memory to end, his mind refused to comply from that point forward. The memory continued, and Cain saw himself wake up. Everything from then wasn't him but something else.