What started with two friends working for the A.A.H.W., Zy, a A.T.P. engineer and Vain Hawk, a A.T.P. soldat. But something went wrong one day. Someone goes missing just to be found at a familiar dock Zy goes to with Vain.. A few years later, Zy now...
It was a few days after I had found Vain's corpse, and Sire hasn't spoken to me after all that. I haven't seen him since either. Whenever I saw one of those missing posters of Vain, I kept my head hung low, never wanting to be reminded of the horrible sight I had to endure. It was unlikely for K.A.R.M.A. to return, right? I never trusted him, especially with that.. THING, CHAINSTROKE I think he calls it as his friend. What even is he supposed to be? A demonic shredded and put back together corpse? I didn't even wanna think about it, they both looked like something nobody would wanna see.
From all this dead Vain Hawk missing shit I dealt with, it seemed like the A.A.H.W. didn't even give a fuck about him, I couldn't blame them. With the endless men fighting for their lives here and probably dying each day, who would care about a ATP Soldat that was mostly just like any other go missing? I most likely wouldn't, if I hadn't known him for years and ever since we both were promoted to ATPs. Guess it just feels dead and empty with Vain no longer here. Now that I think about it, should I even return to the A.A.H.W.? What if they think I murdered Vain? I decided to just risk it all, and started making my way back to one of the near A.A.H.W. facilities, making sure I had my ID.
Out of nowhere, after about 5 minutes of walking alone past the forest trail near the dock, I felt that annoying as hell headache, my ears rung slightly but I could make out the familiar distorted and dead voice. "There's no point in trying. You'll either die, or die later, Droski." The voice made me flinch, as I quickly turned to the voice. Karma. "Next time, please don't appear out of nowhere and nearly give me a heart attack. Or use my last name when addressing me." I rubbed my sore eyes from staring at K.A.R.M.A. K.A.R.M.A. just stared at me for a few moments, before snickering a bit. "I may have already done that." He swung some agency shades around in his hand. I didn't do anything to K.A.R.M.A.! So why would he be after Sire? Maybe he killed Vain too. But then if Vain probably died months ago, why is he choosing to stalk me after his death? What did I even do to provoke K.A.R.M.A.? "Before I must go to do some of my own things, here's a little thing you must know, if you want to keep your life out here, that is." I gave K.A.R.M.A. a look of annoyance and confusion. He looked over at the forest trail, which wasn't very far. "My friend, CHAINSTROKE, knows everything about you, and he doesn't like you or anyone in the A.A.H.W., MERC, NEXUS Core, basically anyone. So stay off the forest trail. He will make sure the next time you see him, you'll never be able to see again." After K.A.R.M.A. said that, he disappeared with a slight purple and white haze to signal that he really left. Why is he keeping me off the forest trail? I can fight for myself, I'm an A.T.P. Engineer! But I'll take his word for now. Maybe he's hiding something about that forest he doesn't want anyone to know about, and CHAINSTROKE is protecting it. But if K.A.R.M.A. is saying people haven't entered that forest for years cause of CHAINSTROKE, I will be the one to find out what him and his unhinged demonic friend is truly hiding.
When I finally got back in the A.A.H.W. and got the nostalgic feel of what this all used to be like, before Vain's death. This facility was more lively than the one I originally stayed in, farther from the dock. I noticed they took down the missing posters already, assuming they think I killed Vain. Just stay low. Don't give yourself attention. I couldn't get what K.A.R.M.A. said out of my head, pondering whether I should let the A.A.H.W. know about K.A.R.M.A. But then again, they might not believe me, thinking I'm just going crazy since K.A.R.M.A. and CHAINSTROKE were definitely not things the A.A.H.W. would want to deal with, unlike Hank and his friends. The more I thought about this all, the more questions I had, the more without an answer. I decided not to tell anyone about K.A.R.M.A. or CHAINSTROKE.
I was basically on my own now, with Sire and Vain being dead. A higher chance of me getting killed with CHAINSTROKE hunting me down. Well, if he was. He probably is though. But not really since I have the A.A.H.W. as well, but from when I first saw CHAINSTROKE, it's like they don't stand a chance. But I just had to bear with what I had, and hope I don't get torn to pieces like those other poor souls who died to that monstrosity of a thing. Now that I know Vain Hawk is officially dead though, what can I even do now if I back down from entering that forest?
I was about to go do whatever the hell I do each day at the A.A.H.W., until a cold, dark voice called out to me.
