Aurora Over a Dead World

Chapter 16: Nêmesis

While the six students wait, I activate the simulator’s system. A keyboard and a holographic screen appear, displaying the data the machine extracted from my brain. I see an "encyclopedia" of every monster I have memories of.

Fortunately, this machine only pulls data on monsters and scenarios, so it doesn’t actually know my memories, my thoughts, or the things I’ve done. That’s because the machine uses "Fear" as an identifier.

Scenarios are shaped by humanity’s fear, and monsters are born from fear. The machine uses that "Fear" to analyze and replicate, and that’s precisely why it has limits on what it can copy from a person’s mind.

’Found it...’ I manage to locate Nemesis, the version of Nemesis from my memories. Seeing her "icon" on the screen makes my tail rise in agitation as I clasp my hands with a certain cold fear that makes my heart race. But like a trained soldier, the fear soon gives way to coldness and rationality.

"This here is Nemesis. I hope you find her as interesting as our lunatic scientists who called her the most beautiful blend of technology and humanity," I say with irony and disgust.

Disgust at the fact they called this aberration "beautiful." I get that they were referring to what she represents — after all, she kind of represents the pinnacle of what humanity has created — but calling her beautiful is like a slap in the face to every soldier she’s ever killed for fun.

"..." I look to the side where Nemesis’s projection begins to form. They all stare, their total focus stolen by her shape. Seeing her body again after so long is unsettling for me.

"Hahaha, you’re still ugly as fuck," I mock her while she’s ’sleeping,’ because the AI is still disabled. Nemesis’s body is perfect, just like in my memories. The AI really was able to recreate her.

Nemesis’s head and torso are like that of a normal human girl. She has long black hair that falls to the middle of her back, and her eyes are a deep purple, both colors representing fear and despair.

Her skin is relatively pale, leaning toward white, while her eyelashes are long, and her breasts are quite large. Looking at just that part, she would actually be a "beautiful" and seductive woman.

But she’s still a monster, and her body reflects that in her arms and legs, which have monstrous traits. Her hands, forearms, arms, and the part that reaches up to her shoulder are a kind of scaly black carapace, like armor.

Her nails are claws, like black blades. It’s similar to a dragon’s "armor." These claws shred human equipment like it’s trash. And her legs, up to the middle of her thighs, are also black.

With a kind of scale — different from the armor-like plates on her arms — the parts of her legs are like fish scales, capable of reflecting impacts and dispersing them rather than defending the body.

Followed by her legs, which are similar to those of prehistoric dinosaurs, meaning divided into three large, long toes with claws, and one toe at the back pointing downward. She uses these powerful legs and scales to run fast and deliver ridiculously strong kicks.

Some scientists even speculate that if she tried to kick Aurora Island, she could literally sink it into the ground with a single kick.

But the monstrous and human parts aren’t enough. She also represents our technology.

She has metallic parts spread across her body, conducting energy around her. The metallic parts are mostly located at her body’s joints, like her knees and elbows, as well as on her breasts, intimate parts, and a metal plate on her stomach and back that serves as armor. They’re located in obvious spots meant to defend "vital" areas.

There’s also a kind of drone that floats behind her head. This drone, as far as we know, is like an extra eye. It constantly records and transmits data to Nemesis, and even if it’s broken, it rebuilds itself.

She has a presence that seems at once elegant, wrong, and threatening, since she’s three meters tall — a grotesque mix of human, technology, and monster. Her body is a killing machine made to decimate humanity.

"Now, my students, you will face the greatest predator our race has. And we’ll see if you can defeat her. But as I already said, this Nemesis here isn’t even close to the power of the original Nemesis."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough chatter, bitch!! Turn her on already, we’ll show you why we’re the strongest of this current generation!" Tanya says with an arrogant smile, insulting me. I tinker with the simulation a bit, creating a floating platform.

"I’ll watch from up there. When you die, you’ll appear on this platform and watch your allies being killed. So don’t worry. By all means, go all out — not that it’ll make you win." I let out a scornful laugh as I ascend onto the platform that keeps me out of everything.

"The fight will begin in... 3... 2... 1... now." The moment I say that, Nemesis is activated. Her body starts to move, and she rises from the half-kneeling state she was in.

"...!" The first to attack is Rouge. She charges in with an extremely fast rush, using the wind to propel herself while the others get ready.

’Clever girl.’ She started the attack to give the others time to prepare. But that just makes me sigh, because clever plays alone aren’t enough.

"Minus one." The moment I say that, and Rouge gets close, she suddenly stops as Nemesis "disappears." They all look around, confused, until Rouge’s body is divided into three vertical slices. Organs, blood, and everything else inside her falls to the ground in a grotesque and violent scene.

The sound of organs and blood hitting the floor and painting the ground red is noticeable and utterly visceral — a common sight in war.

The sight is so disturbing it makes Eirwen take a step back, hand over her mouth. They’re all in complete shock that one of the supposed strongest of this generation died to a single strike.

Meanwhile, Nemesis already appears behind the five of them with a distorted smile on her face. Her sharp teeth, like a true monster’s, reveal themselves in an expression of pure ecstasy. Her claws aren’t even stained with blood, that’s how fast she cut Rouge.

"..." I look to the side, where Rouge reappears. She stares at me in shock, as if she doesn’t understand she’s already dead.

"Well, well, it seems she’s decided to play with you." I honestly feel a lot of disgust. Nemesis could have killed them all in that one strike, but she’s deliberately stalling.

’The AI even copied her personality that I saw...’ The five of them look at Nemesis, finally understanding they underestimated the wrong being.