The Dawn of the New World

At the same time Hao Xuan died that world ceased to exist since its only purpose was to torment him by forcing him to live through the lives of some of the most unfortunate souls to have ever walked the mortal planes.

The darkness momentarily recedded to the sidelines as Hao Xuan opened his eyes to a familiar scene.

He was sitting in a small poorly put-together tent that was constantly shaking under the billowing wind.

The smell of motor oil and grease wafted into his nose waking him up.

"Ngh!"

He groaned while trying to shift positions since even such a small task proved to be a challenge in his current state.

Peering downwards he began to inspect himself in the usual manner starting from the mechanical right hand to the legs. Only his left hand was still his own while all other limbs were replaced by oversized mechinations.

Reaching over his shoulder Hao Xuan lazily tapped on a small metal box before picking up a multitool from behind it.

A hologram flickered into existence and solidified a moment later in the form of a female that had her eyes covered with a blindfold.

Her appearance was neat and clean although not much could be made out since she wore a loose baggy hood that covered everything else.

"You made it," she spoke with a gentle smile. Her voice was pleasant to the ears, so much so that it could even make Hao Xuan momentarily forget his own precarious situation.

He chuckled, "Barely. The cultists had more numbers than the bounty mentioned," he finished by raising his mechanical hand that had several large holes along the forearm.

The girl nodded, "I will let the employer know. Are...you okay?"

Rather than answer with a simple yes or no Hao Xuan tried to make the V sign with his right hand but the forearm sparked and only the middle finger came up.

"Uhh, that was supposed to be a yes. Pretend you didn't see that," he absentmindedly muttered out loud before realizing what he had said.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean 'see' see but just as a saying you know. Not that there is anything wrong with not seeing, I would think the world looks much better in one's own head but that's just me and you know how I am-"

The girl held back for as long as she could before breaking out in a fit of laughter. Her melodious voice silenced Hao Xuan who was only going to dig himself deeper.

"Alright, I'll 'pretend' I didn't see anything," she replied with a cheeky grin making him smile.

"Thank you so much, your highness."

"Your highness? Where did that come from? Am I a princess now?"

"Haha, I just had another dream and a weird one at that. I was part of the royal guard of some place called Luna."

The girl went silent for a brief moment.

"Was it...the same as the others?"

"Mhm," he nodded while tinkering away on his arm, "I remember everything as if I lived through it myself. From the moment when I took my first steps till I drew my last breath, everything is burned into my brain."

The girl was looking down at whatever she was holding in her hands although it wasn't visible in the hologram.

"I'm sorry. Was it painful?"

Hao Xuan paused and looked up as hundreds of memories came up one by one, "A six out of ten I would say. It wasn't as bad as some of the others but like all the rest it wasn't anything good either."

"I had a family in this one though, a mother and father that cared about me. We lived in some small village that was raided and burned to the ground because some nobleman wanted the land we were on."

"I was the only one that survived and managed to run to a nearby settlement. Some mercenaries took me in and treated me, letting me live with them for a while. When I could walk they started training me when I wasn't running errands."

"A few years later they also died during a big battle and I was taken prisoner. That's where I met this guy, on my tenth birthday. We were about the same age but he was...everything I ever wanted to be. Good looking, charismatic, a great fighter and an even better leader."

"We went from one battlefield to another trying to get enough points to buy our freedom and that we did. Together there was not much that could stop us. People started noticing us, powerful people."

He went quiet for a brief moment before mumbling, "I really thought we were good friends but I guess you can never truly know someone, huh?"

"I'm...sorry," the girl replied.

"Haha, why are you sorry? It's not like you made me have those dreams. Anyways, enough talk. Let's get down to business. What's the next bounty?"

The girl waved her hand as several names and numbers popped up in front of her.

"This one is directly from the Empire. They have detected some strange movements within the elite circles of the nobility of one of the largest Hive cities on the planet. You are to infiltrate them and find out what's going on."

"What do they THINK is going on? They must have some idea."

"They detected a momentary spike in the energy readings."