ALTER-EARTH (English version)

Part Two

"Number 44." I heard someone call me; it's Number 75.

I hurriedly jumped from the rooftop of the building where I always hung up and looked for him on the ground.

Maybe you're just wondering how I did that; I just can't believe what happened. I remember when I woke up one day, I was not the same person as I was before. I just discovered from that day that I am not a human anymore, that I have already become a cyborg; my only difference from my co-cyborg is that I am half human because they did not extract my brain and heart when they created a body frame for me.

Did you know I almost fell asleep over a hundred years ago? How did it happen? I just don't know; the last thing that I remember is when all volcanoes erupted-the active and the dormant ones-which caused the land to crack. I remember how fast I ran into the forest to look for the only thing that would save me and the human race. But everything was late; my family was all gone, and I'm the only one who survives.

One day, when I woke up, I found myself in an unfamiliar place. I know, it's kind'a exaggerated, but that place can only be seen in movies that are created by technology, and it's just an illusion. But all of these things that surround me now are not just illusions, because I am now in a new world they call Alter-Earth-the world after the final judgment-and I'm just wondering how those things happened. Are these things real, or are they just an illusion or part of my dream? Though it's impossible, because 200 years have passed since I became part of this world, and it is also the exact year that I became a cyborg. But I do hope that aside from the physical changes that occur in me, everything about me has changed. Because aside from being a cyborg, I am also a human, with a heart and brain, emotions, and my own decisions. Even though I change a lot, it can't erase the fact that I still remember everything that happened 300 years ago.

I know it is impossible, but how are you going to explain my situation? I am a human with a cyborg frame; I am a cyborg with a human heart and mind.

"Number 44, Commander X had an order that you would be deployed on a mission," said Number 75 when I landed in front of him.

"Me...as in me? But it's not a long time ago since my last mission in Babylonia, and that one is really dangerous," I complain. How I wish I was one hundred percent cyborg so that they could control me without any hesitation.

"But 44, Commander X mentioned that you must be the one to face the Chaldean," he exclaimed.

Seriously, am I really in the future or am I in the past? These Babylonia and Chaldean do really sound familiar, because they were part of our history lesson before.

"So, if the mission is dangerous, am I really the one who needs to be deployed? Oh, I forgot, do I have the right to complain?" I said in a sarcastic voice and left him. Before it took me some time, I hurriedly flew in the sky, going to Britannia, because it was too far from Las Islas Filipinas.

When I arrived at our camp, I went straight to Commander X to appeal.

"I am really expecting you to come," he said upon seeing you. I do really hope that the one who discovered my body before was France; maybe my situation is far different from this.

"So you are also expecting that I am going to refuse your order-that I will not accept the mission?"

"It's up to you if you really want to. But before that, let me just remind you that it will be very easy for me to shut down your system and even replace it with a new one." And he smiled maliciously.

He's really a control freak-a good blackmailer indeed. I don't have any choice but to accept his will.

After that talk, I left our camp and went home to prepare the equipment and operating system that I would need. I know that what's waiting for me in Babylonia will be a tough one. If only my comrade Number 12 is still alive, everything will be different-I have someone who will share the mission with me. But unfortunately, during our last mission, he won't be able to return-only if we're able to retrieve his body or even part of it. But his whole system turns into dust because of the impact of the operating system that our opponents have used against us.

I am just lucky that I am still okay now, and I don't know if it is because I am a high-breed cyborg or if maybe the composition of my operating system is far different from the other cyborgs here in Alter-Earth.