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Chapter 1 : Arise

Status : Online

Physical Evaluation : Normal

Mental Evaluation : Not updated

Alerts : None

Name : Zeus

ID : Zuesandroidprototypev2

Current Associates : Professor Confucius

Current Enemies : None

Current Missions : None

Mission Completion : -

@$&%#~ : 1

My eyes blink open. And my first thought is:

Where am I?

My visor suddenly clears and I find myself face to face with an old man. His face looks worn but has a hint of fierceness in it. He looks normal except for some odd tubes protruding out of his whole body, his arms, his shoulders, all carrying a strange green liquid. My train of thought derails as I recoil in shock, or at least I try to, but I'm inside a capsule, why am I inside a capsule?

The man speaks, but I can't hear what he's saying. I shake my head and he stops. Then at moment my hearing comes back to me, and I hear him saying : "Sorry Zeus, your sensory functions should clear up in a moment- Ah, there. You can hear now, can't you?"

I'm too confused

Ah, of course, how could I have forgotten?

"Yes, Professor Confucius. Thank you." I say, still trying to figure out what's going on.

"I'm okay too, you know"

I look for the source of the voice and find a humanoid being outside of a similar capsule that I was in.

He is a bit shorter than me, and has wide blue eyes, but I could tell he wasn't an actual human by the reflections of metal extensions throughout his body.

I stare at him blankly, trying to figure out by his attitude which one of the other four Gods that came with me is he.

"And who the hell are you?"

That does it.

"Certainly not someone who has done anything to warrant that language, Artemis."

"Ah, my apologies Zeus, I-

"You're always so careless with that tongue of yours, do you ever learn to shut up?"

Hades, for sure. He always did have a way with words, luckily for us he didn't visit often.
He stands outside his capsule, eyeing the place, then moving on to glare at the professor, sizing him up.

"My ears will never get accustomed to their endless bickering."

I turn and see Hera out of her capsule. Apparently she's the first goddess among us to wake. She looks like a human modal, with a body complete with a thin but beautiful frame and slender arms and legs. I'm stunned by her realistic humanoid appearance, or at least that's what I tell myself.

"Wipe that starstruck look off your face Zeus, it's unbecoming of you."

I turn and find Demeter, with a smirk on her face. She has a solid build and has always liked to throw small reprimands at me. Like that time in...

Like that time in...

Wait.

I'm suddenly struck with the thought, "why can't I remember anything?" Nothing of my past is coming to me, like it just disappeared.

It's unnatural and there's only one obvious culprit

I turn and smile at professor Confucius, he smiles back and is opening his mouth to speak when my hand lashes out and grabs him by the throat.

"Unghhhh!!!"

"Tell me what's happening! Why can't I remember anything?" Even what I know about myself seems fuzzy. All I know is that someone obviously tampered with me. Why am I even in a manufactured body? It's the first time I've even thought to question that, strange, and uncharacteristically careless of me, too. At least I remember what 'uncharacteristically' means.
I never did score very high on my English examinations.

Wait, what?

What's an 'examination'?

In my confusion, I drop the professor and he coughs and spatters.

I'm about to pin him against the wall when he says: "Wait! I can explain everything! Just-"

This time it's Hera who strikes, she dashes from beside her capsule and jabs the professor in the chest, all in one swift motion, sending him hurling towards the end of the small room.  All in under a second.

Except...

Hera was two whole meters away. That shouldn't have been possible, even for a Goddess.

What is going ON???

I suddenly hear a beeping sound and the previously empty screen on the top corner of the room lights up. It takes me a moment to process what has just happened. When we were all shocked and staring at Hera, the professor, it appears, managed to crawl his way to a computer terminal under the screen. His bloody and bruised face is looking back at us from the terminal, his finger on a single blue button.

"Is this thing on? Wait, oh, it is. Well that was embarrassing. Um..."

It's the professor's face on the screen. No one even pays attention to the real professor any more, like he just travelled to the screen and isn't hunched over the terminal, checking out his bruised chest where Hera jabbed him.

"Ok, I know u might all be a little confused-"

I hear Hades snort

"-but I assure you that everything is taken care off. First off, my name is Professor Confucius, and I was charged with ensuring that you got all the information you need before we continue. I'm assuming that the fact that this recording is running that I am for some reason unable to speak..."

I sneak a glance at the professor, who is simply rubbing his chest, paying no attention to us at all.

"...Now, as this is an interactive video, I need you to ask the questions, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability."

I look at the real professor, he doesn't acknowledge my stare or the stares of the rest.

"Hey!" Hades suddenly exclaims."What kinda sick joke is this?

The professor doesn't even so much as look at him. He just nods at the screen solemnly and leans back on the terminal, like he's trying to melt into it and out of Hades' glare.

"Why did you do this?" I blurt out. I feel like shattering the screen with my mind, which actually may be possible, considering the absurdity of everything that has taken place in the last few minutes. But I know I can't afford to destroy the only hope I have at finding out something, anything, that can provide a clue to what's going on.

"Why, that's simple." Says the video, right before it's hit with a wave of red-hot fire and melts like wax right before my eyes.

"NO!" I yell. Looking for the source of the searing flames. But before I can find it, I hear the professor's croaky reply.

"Because you asked me to."