Rick was slowly regaining consciousness, he was still confused about where he was and what had happened. At that moment, he heard a female voice, followed by a delicate touch on his chest, the touch remained there for a moment and then moved down to his abdomen. He felt the hand touch all his muscles in that place, but then he felt a stab of pain when one of them was touched, but the touch ignored his pain and continued moving down... Slowly approaching the region of his groin...
When his eyes finally opened and Rick woke up, they met the black eyes of a familiar woman, she was wearing a white lab coat and had one of her hands about to go into his pants.
The woman didn't act like anything was wrong, nor was she nervous about almost being caught committing a crime, she slowly moved the fingertips that had already gone inside his pants away and picked up a clipboard next to the table, taking notes.
"You're finally awake, mutant humans are truly fascinating…"
Rick swallowed hard and decided not to comment on what Maya was about to do while he was unconscious…
"How long was I unconscious for?" Rick asked in a weak and hoarse voice.
Maya picked up a glass of water that was on the table next to him and brought it to his lips. After Rick took a few sips, she replied: "You were unconscious for seven days."
"My family and Joe?" he asked, his voice a little better this time.
"They're all fine, after what happened, Joe looted the entire hunting store, and took over the leadership of the group in your absence. He's also become a level 2 mutant human."
Rick then sat up in bed, but was then stopped from standing by Maya.
"I'm fine, I still have a bit of a headache and pain in my abdomen, but I'll be fine in another day or two."
"No, you're not, the first drone shot destroyed parts of your stomach, liver and even burned the side of your heart. You only didn't bleed to death because the high temperature of the projectile cauterized everything… Besides, the second shot caused such a deep burn on your back that it even burned your muscles and bones."
"But I already feel fine, seriously… I'm tougher than I look…"
"Yes, I don't know how you're alive, without my equipment all I found was traces of a diluted crystal in your main wound… After that I put 1 more crystal inside the wound and did my best to close it, hoping for the best… You forgot to tell me about this use for the crystals…"
Maya's last sentence was in a tone full of resentment. I apologized saying that I wasn't sure if the crystals would work that way. Besides, my prolonged coma had more to do with me using a power that I would only have when my body was at level 3…
But of course, I reminded her that it wasn't just the crystals that healed me. Mutants' regeneration would always occur faster as long as their brains and crystals were intact… I couldn't see my wounds on my back, but I could see white skin on my front, proving my point. It was possible that there wouldn't even be a scar after a few more days…
"The drone… Did you give it to Ethan?"
Maya made a serious expression, then said: "I'll call him here to explain it to you in person…"
"Call Joe too, I want to talk to him to update me on everything that happened in the last few days…"
After Maya left, two people hurried into my room, the younger one carrying clean clothes, and the older one carrying a plate of hot soup.
"Mom… Rhayra…"
My little sister left the clothes at the foot of the bed and then hugged me crying…
My mother continued holding the soup with kind eyes as she watched us.
"I'm sorry for worrying you… But remember that your older brother is a tough guy, okay…?" Rick said the second sentence smiling as he ran his hand over his younger sister's head. She just made a "hm" sound and continued with her face on his chest, still sobbing…
After talking to her family about the last 7 days and having a good family moment while eating the soup her mother had brought. Maya returned, this time accompanied by the giant Joe, who now seemed even bigger, and the bespectacled engineer Ethan.
After waiting for her family to leave, Rick asked about the origins of the mysterious drone…
"To be honest, that thing does not belong to any government agency. After removing its power source, which was still intact after the damage, I completely dismantled it and I can say with 99% accuracy that it was not made using Jyera technology..."
"The question is… Who sent this thing, and why were you a target?" Joe said looking at his friend.
"I thought it was because you were the only level 2 mutant among us. But that's not it, is it?" Maya said.
Rick took a deep breath, thinking that maybe it was time to trust the truth to others, he had to tell everything he knew and also his theories for this "apocalypse"…
If he had died seven days ago, not only would the items he had with him have been lost, but also all his knowledge of the future… This time, he only survived because they underestimated him, but they wouldn't do that again. Did whatever attacked him know something about the future? Wasn't he the only one with memories? Did they suspect he was responsible?
"Sit down, I need to tell you something…"
With a wave of his hand, some of the main items he had collected in his system missions appeared on the floor of the room, and Rick began to tell what he knew so far to these 3 survivors…
***
Far from Pineview Village, 7 days ago. In the capital of Jyera… There was a luxurious 40-story building. The building was a popular 5-star hotel in the capital, but now, just 1 day after the apocalypse began, the entire building was taken over and controlled by well-armed men.
On the roof of the hotel, the day had just dawned. There was a man 2.20 meters tall, wearing a cloak that covered his body from head to toe and holding a huge sniper rifle. The barrel of the rifle was still smoking, indicating that the man had just shot something.
Beside him, a tall young man, 1.90 meters tall, with dark skin and a dreadlocked haircut, asked curiously:
Boss, you shot so suddenly... Did some troublesome flying mutant invade your area?
It wasn't a mutant, I think it was a drone... Send some men to the corner of 33rd and 15th to collect it.
"Yes, I'll do it right away."
As soon as the subordinate walked away, the man looked at the void in front of him, observing carefully.
[Alert: An unidentified flying object has entered your hunting grounds from the southeast. Current coordinates: 36.5912, -14.3147]
[The object has been shot down!]
[New emergency mission…]
After reading the details of the target he had shot down and his new mission, the man then opened his system screen:
Jyera Apocalypse System
Type: Vanguard
…