The elevator dinged, slightly waking Sintra as she raised her head to look at the door.

She felt her arms being lifted, her head bobbing up and down as she faded in and out of consciousness.

Suddenly, she was laying on a semi-hard surface, above her, bright lights blinded her temporarily as she turned her head to the side to avoid them.

She caught a glimpse of yellow clothing and her frown deepened as she fought to stay awake.

Was that a hazmat suit?

Sintra wasn't sure as her eyes keeled over, giving into the temptation of darkness.

She awoke to the sound of her name being called over the beeping of machines.

Her eyes fluttered open to reveal more bright lights shining above her and she covered her eyes for protection against them.

"Thank God! You're awake," A man's voice said, Sintra's head immediately turning to the side at the sound of his voice.

"Mr. Kim?!" She asked hopefully.

"Ugh, no sorry. Not that Vante," the man said.

When Sintra's eyes had finally adjusted, she got a proper look at the voice's owner, almost falling of the bed as she stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm Commissioner Stone," He introduced himself.

The man was the splitting image of Vante and his voice was just as similar.

From the charcoal colored slicked back hair and the gorgeously glowing skin, right to the towering frame and body type. There was no way it wasn't him.

"By your expression, I bet I look like someone you know," he laughed a little, the same small dimple sinking in his left cheek just like Vante.

"If you're feeling a bit better I'd like to take you somewhere. You know, explain what's happening. Do you want that?" He asked.

Sintra nodded absentmindedly, her brain going a mile a minute as it tried to fashion a logic to explain this phenomenon.

She was sure she had seen Vante fall to his death so how was he standing right here before her?

Was it all a dream? Had she fallen inside her bathroom that morning and was just now waking up?

It all felt so real to her.

Maybe she had gone insane? That seemed like the likely scenario.

She sat up from the bed, taking in her attire. A black long sleeved jumpsuit zipped up to her neck hugged her body tightly, a white stripe across its sleeve and a thick black belt around her waist with a shining silver buckle. Combat boots were strapped up to her knees and as she placed a hand in her hair she realized it was now in a straightened ponytail.

Her eyes caught the glimmer of the silver crest in the outline of a shield that was pinned across her left breast, the words "MH Sintra" engraved across its surface in italics.

The thought of someone undressing, bathing and then redressing her made Sintra uneasy but she swallowed her protest about indecency for now.

"Let's go then," Vante, or Commissioner Stone or whatever the hell his name was said and she followed him, noticing that he too was wearing the same attire only his stripe was red.

"You must be confused," he said, folding his hands behind him as they walked through the automatic door of a hospital room into a grand corridor.

A polished, beige marble floor shone below them and the pristinely painted walls the color of snow stretched into an arched ceiling above, making Sintra feel like she was in some sort of facility.

Probably a mental one.

"Don't worry. Commissioner Ice will explain it all," he assured, glancing at her with shining eyes.

Sintra's heartbeat sped up, the familiar look of his staggering side profile making her swoon. It was his mannerisms that were a bit different which managed to somewhat convince her that it really may not have been him.

This man walked with a calculated stride and his eyebrows remained slightly furrowed as if he were thinking or rather, plotting.

His posture was another thing. Vante always stood proud and confident. This man was slightly hunched, as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders but he didn't mind carrying it.

The doors they past by steered Sintra's attention away from the Vante look alike, their bizarre names filling her with wonder.

"Worship Facility."

"The Mission."

"Creation Room."

She held her questions as they turned a few more corners before entering a room labeled "Controls". Inside, a crowd of people, some dressed like them and some wearing lab coats over their jumpsuits all cheered as soon as Sintra made her entrance.

Even Commissioner Vante had joined the applause, making Sintra frown at the mysterious celebration.

By the look of the walls, Sintra could tell they were soundproof since the same material was used in her office but she had little time to properly assess the room as dozens of people came up to her to shake her hand.

"What is this?" Sintra turned to Commissioner Vante.

"I'll let Commissioner Ice explain," he told her and Sintra almost fainted once more when a lady that looked exactly like Lee parted the crowd to shake her hand.

"Hello, Sintra," she said, hugging her tightly as Sintra's body froze up.

"Lee? What the- what is going on here?" Sintra looked between them.

"Ofcourse you're confused. Come along, I'll explain."Lee instructed, locking arms with her. Something she use to do while they walked when they were in college.

Sintra finally got a chance to appraise the room.

Inside was relatively dark except for the strip lights lining the edges and corners. It had 3 large monitors at its front, the screens all sleeping while a white "MH" shield drifted across it like a windows symbol.

There was a large table in the centre but the closer Sintra got to it, the more she realized a few odd additions like buttons and touch screens on the edges, something like a digital board turned furniture.

Commissioner Vante lead the way, hitting a button on the digital board table and immediately showering the room in light as a large holographic replica of New York City glimmered into existence.

The Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown Manhattan. You name it, it was there. But what was even more unnerving was that people could be seen walking and driving all over the hologram.

Sintra's eyes shot to Lee who beamed proudly.

"Before you ask, yes it is." She answered. "Let me start by introducing myself to you."

"My name is Commissioner Leona Ice and I am the lead director in project Elevate. This is Vante Stone, assistant director." She said introducing them both.

"What is going on here, Lee?" Sintra demanded.

She was beyond disturbed at the things saw and it all looked a little too real.

"Well, this right here is a simulation of what you know as New York City on Earth. These are live scenes from the city. Earth is our creation," She said, referring to everyone around her.

"Your creation?" Sintra asked.

"Correct," she nodded.

Sintra inhaled deeply, rubbing a hand against her forehead.

"If I am insane, please just tell me. This nonsense really isn't necessary."

Vante looked over to Lee, frowning as he turned his attention back to Sintra.

"It's not nonsense," Lee said. "Look."

Sintra watched as she hit a button next to her, one she couldn't see since she was on the other side of the table and the holographic replica of New York City changed to that of Egypt.

The pyramids could be seen in clear view while tourists took pictures near them, the sun in the sky of the hologram shining brilliantly.

Sintra ogled at it before it changed to a place filled with snow. There were penguins sliding on their bellies, diving into the cold as whales snorted water from their blow holes.

"What you know as Antarctica," Commissioner Vante informed before it changed again to Sintra's house.

Sintra reached out, wanting to touch it but a warning from Lee stopped her.

"Unless you want to destroy your earthly home, I wouldn't recommend that," She warned and Sintra quickly pulled her hand back.

"Earth is a simulation?" Sintra asked them.

"Indeed," Lee confirmed. "And what you went through was our annual games to recruit new members of our elite race. This hologram is how we usually input the events, objects, animals and people."

"So hold on a minute. You were the aliens all along?" Sintra asked.

"Not aliens," Commissioner Vante chuckled. "We are Mega Humans. The first men."

That explained what the 'MH' stood for.

"Mega Humans? First men?" Sintra repeated.

"Yes. Think about the story you were told of creation. God makes Adam and then makes Eve from the soil of the earth. Did you ever stop to think that a man directly made from the breath of God eons ago may be different from the average human being today?" Lee asked.

"I- I don't understand," Sintra admits.

"The first men were made from the breath of God. Over time, the pure, raw power of man began to diminish, continuously being watered down after eons of procreation until you get, well.. you," Lee said.

Sintra's once praised genius brain felt like it was about to collapse on itself like a dying star. Mega Humans? First men? Simulations? One out of the 3 of them had to be mad.

"Uhm, can everyone clear out for me. I think she's overloading." Lee announced and soon only her and Commisoner Vante were left.

"Now that we got rid of the cluster I can continue. So Mega Humans were first created. We had power, and strength and long life until sin was introduced and we were diminished to mortality but we had gained wit after sinning. Our eyes were finally open," Lee continued, walking around the simulation table as she stared at a replica of Seoul, South Korea.

"The power we had left was light years away from God's but it was enough to create something like a heavenly body. We created the earth in similar design to our planet. Oceans, forests, animals, moons, the sun. We control it all," Commisioner Vante pitched in.

"And Elevate?" Sintra asked.

"A game we created to find the gifted humans. Since we needed megahumans to populate earth at the dawn of time, they eventually reproduced and each generation became so diluted than the people were born ordinary. But some of you were born exhibiting incredible genius and even superhuman powers similar to megahumans. For instance, your taste," she beamed at Sintra.

Sintra's head was spinning. She really did feel like her brain was overloading. These bastards were responsible for everything that had happened to her and her friends.

The two headed panther, the death worm, the Amazon women. They had made them and dropped them in the places they had placed Sintra and her team. It's no wonder lasers were shot from the sky and Sintra could rest in lavish resorts where workers didn't have names. They made it so.

"Our kind is dying," Commissioner Vante interrupted.

"Commissioner Stone.." Lee said, her voice grave.

"No sense to hide it from her. She is the future," he responded, turning to Sintra.

"See, we could never get God to replenish our immortality despite showing him our creation and emulating his gift of free will. Even with our other abilities we still age, get ill and die. We just tend to live longer than the average human. Which is where Elevate comes in. We get the world's geniuses and we have them participate for a chance to join us and become a megahuman to continue our work," He finished.

"I apologize for his abruptness but it is true. Our last elder has finally passed and we are in need of more megahumans to join our ranks. You are 1 of 15 from the hundreds of thousands we placed inside the game that made it," Lee continued.

"We the Commission of Mega Earth are needed in order for our planet to survive. We create the medicines, the food, the architecture, the technology, the rules. Without us, Mega Earth will perish," Vante finished.

"You knew all along?" Sintra asked, her voice low. "You told me it was aliens!"

"I'm terribly sorry about that. I don't normally appear in the simulation and when I do I don't interfere but I had to meet you. Someone blessed with the tongue of the divine. I did try to warn you for what it's worth," Lee said a little sadly.

"Warn me? But you had planned to take me anyways? And you? Y-you look like him," Sintra said.

"The Vante you knew was a descendant of Commissioner Stone's family. I never imagined he would've also grown to be a genius but then again, Commissioner Stone is brilliant."

Sintra wanted to punch Lee. This was definitely not the time to be handing out compliments when she had just uprooted her whole world.

"Just in case you were wondering, all your friends were indeed real. We didn't speak for them or have any control over their actions. God never took away our free will so we did the same. Whatever your friends did or said, however they felt. It was all them," Lee added.

"So Vante.." Sintra started.

"Really did love you, yes." Lee confirmed, casting a nervous glance at Commissioner Vante who wore an uncomfortable expression.

This was more than a culture shock. This was a humanity shock.

"How am I here?"

"We plucked you from the simulation using our advanced technology. Your heartbeat was so weak we thought we'd lose you so we went ahead with the procedure to save you and your palate," Lee told her.

"You could be a great asset to our people, Sintra." Commissioner Vante told her. "The medical team would be happy to have you. You're able to tell the ingredients of anything you ingest. We could find so many new medicines and save so many lives."

Sintra was quiet as she looked at them then turned her attention to the simulation. She knew she shouldn't feel surprised based on everything that had happened but she couldn't help it. Finding out the world she knew was barely real had shocked her into a different dimension.

Vante and Lee glanced at each other, their faces uneasy.

"I know that this is alot to process but—"

"You think?" Sintra uttered.

"We can show you around. Show you your new home and where you're going to work. It's light years ahead of the simulation. Money is non-existent, war is a myth. Only power, knowledge and life are important. A true paradise," Vante nodded.

"A true paradise, you say?" Sintra said, walking around the simulation table.

"And what of my friends that have died? Was that real? What about all the people I helped on earth? What about the suffering?"

"Unfortunately your friends did die. I'm sorry about that. As for the people you helped, we'd like to commend you on that. You were a stellar human being! We unfortunately can't do anything about the suffering as that is something unavoidable. Humans are the reason for their own suffering, you see. If we tried to change anything about that absolute rule of free will, I'm afraid God might actually intervene," Lee apologized.

A defeated breath left Sintra's mouth as she listened to them.

These people, these megahumans had tampered with the laws of their earth. Sure they had created it but this free will they spoke about was obviously subjective since they had taken that away from them, the geniuses, by casting them away to certain death via Elevate. Sintra could feel anger boiling inside her more than ever.

If they wanted her to join them then they should have wiped her memories because Sintra saw right through their lies.

If Sintra's God's tongue was so valuable to them, why put her in harms way at the risk of dying and losing it? Was the game rigged from the very beginning? Things were not adding up but she knew questions like that would raise eyebrows.

"What if something happens to the hologram here? Won't the Earth be destroyed?" Sintra pressed.

"This hologram is just an easier way to input various things, including ourselves in the game. Earth is still very much real in the galaxy of the milky way. It should be fine," Commissioner Vante answered.

"Can we use the bathroom?" Sintra asked.

"Ofcourse, why?" Lee frowned.

"I need to go," Sintra told them.

"Ugh, okay I'll show you the wa—"

"I saw one on the way here. I'll be back soon. I have more questions for you two." She told them, slipping out of the room towards the direction they had just came from.

As Sintra strolled down the halls she checked every room of the building, searching for something that may help her on the quest to learn more about this place. She had no idea what she was going to do but she was sure something would present itself.

She passed by the door labeled "The Mission: Commissioners Only", doubling back as she eyed it with wonder.

The door required a pass to open, making Sintra mentally roll her eyes at the irony of that.

Hearing footsteps coming down the hall, Sintra watched as Commissioner Vante broke the corner, eyeing her with worry.

"I knew you would get lost. I came to check on you," he said.

"What's in here?" Sintra asked.

"I can't say. Classified information. It's dangerous, you should get away from there," he said, steering her away from the door.

His touch was nothing like her Vante's but she knew he must've had a pass so she tried to steal it. After about 4 deadly tasks of attaining them, Sintra was pretty decent on acquiring passes.

"Vante— I mean Commissioner Stone. I saw the way you blushed when Lee referred to your human look alike in the games. I don't know, maybe at some point you imagined us being like that as well?" She said, bracing herself on him as she rubbed his shoulders. She dragged her hand down to his rear where she felt something solid, earning a startled reaction from the commissioner.

"Sintra Magnus, you are out of line!" He said, pushing her away and Sintra used the moment to grab the pass from his back pocket, skillfully hiding it in hers.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. The grief, the information. It really is alot," Sintra lied.

He looked at her strangely, his cheeks flushing as he looked down the hall.

Definitely not her Vante.

"The bathroom is down there to the left," he said, turning on his heels to leave.

Sintra pretended to walk down the hall but once he was out of sight she ran back towards the door, scanning the pass to earn a beep as the door slid open.

The door closed behind her as Sintra stepped inside the room. Swallowing her fear, she stared at the forest of cylinder tanks standing all over the room.

Lights were suspended from the ceiling but they did little to brighten the room as the fluorescent color of chemicals illumined the darkness in violent colors of green, red and yellow.

They seemed to glitter in their metal tanks, rectangles of glass displaying their eery beauty while names Sintra couldn't recognize were written in white across the gray metal.

One thing she did understand was the explosive signs meaning that one wrong move against the glass could be her last.

Even without the sign, no one needed to tell her how dangerous these chemicals were since the colors shouted warnings and cautions louder than any voice could.

She weaved nervously past the cylinders, making her way towards 3 large monitors similar to the ones in the control room.

Below were the controls, buttons, touchscreens and levers all labeled with various uses looked up at her before she ran a hand across a touch pad, watching the sleeping screen come to life.

Dismay, fear, shock, sadness, anger. Sintra could feel all of these emotions welling inside at the display on the screen.

It had split into over a hundred different small rectangles each seeming to show surveillance of carnage in every slot.

Burning cities, explosions, dead bodies, shootings, bombings, chaos, famine. It was all on screen before Sintra and a her eyes watered at the images as she watched it go on, over and over.

Sintra could tell that it wasn't earth by the broken down remnants of floating buildings, the flying devices that hurtled shots all over the cities, the broken pearls that lined the rivers and the laser machines red beams from the sky.

Mega Earth was a futuristic dystopia in ruins and it was still falling.

In her stupor, Sintra accidentally hit a button and the screen changed to a map of blinking yellow marks all over the planet.

"What in the world?" Sintra said, tapping the touch screen to zoom in on one of the targets.

A half-wrecked building came into view, a blinking yellow dot situated at the bottom beeped as she tapped the part of the touchscreen labeled "true view".

This revealed the real location of the yellow mark to be underground, a tank similar to the ones inside the room becoming visible.

Something worse than fear took over Sintra's body as she took her time checking more of the blinking dots on the map, some of the true views empty since their cylinders stood behind her.

"This isn't the bathroom," she heard Lee say, startling her.

She was with about 3 armed guards including a very angry Commissioner Vante who stared at Sintra in disappointment.

"Why are you killing everyone? I thought war was a myth. Is this the paradise you speak of?" Sintra asked her.

"You couldn't just leave it alone could you?" Lee asked. "Well since you'll be jailed for a while for this blatant breech in the code, I suppose the truth should help you sober up.

"Why is Mega Earth being eradicated?" Sintra pressed.

"Because they're worthless, okay?" Lee cursed, her blue eyes burning with anger. "We are suppose to be the superior beings yet we steal, kill, rape, ravage and torture like the subhumans on Earth— a microcosm in comparison to this once glorious world. It's disgusting!" Lee told her.

Sintra had never heard her talk like that before. Not even when she was angry.

"God gave us everything. Everything! And what did our elders do? They wasted it. Went against the one thing he said we shouldn't do and then it cursed us. It's our duty to right this wrong. Mega Earth needs a purge and unfortunately not many of us will be left after so we had to resort to our own creation but not just any of you could be chosen. We needed the smartest, the luckiest. We needed the blessed," She finished.

Sintra had finally come to the conclusion that they were the insane ones.

"But don't think that your role is useless," Commissioner Vante said. "We need you in the cleansing of this world. You're necessary in creating a new Mega Earth. A better one. One free of wrong doers and disgraces. One filled the worthy divine. We will bring this world to perfection again."

The dots were connecting. She knew that their explanation had been too full of shit to be true. They had plucked Sintra from the world she knew after torturing her mentally to make sure she was worthy of her place in their elite society and aid them their world renovation.

These megahumans, these bastards. They were nothing but selfish, arrogant pricks that overvalued themselves, putting their needs before everything else. Even their own kind.

"Take her away," Lee said lowly.

Feeling one of the guards grab her arm, he steered her through the chemicals, a tear falling from her eye as she thought of her friends.

They had died for what exactly? Sintra still didn't know. The Mega Human's constant reassurance of her being 'necessary' only told her that her and only her was fated to win the games regardless of that mountain lion coming along.

She couldn't let them do this. Megahumans or not, people were dying and more people like her from Earth would be taken as well to fill the roles in their new world order.

Disarming the unsuspecting guard, Sintra grabbed his laser gun before pointing at one of the chemical tanks in the room.

"Are you insane? If you fire that in here this facility along with everything in a 100 mile radius will be destroyed," Lee informed her.

"Mega Earth will be saved and no more people will be taken from their lives on earth to participate in your games. Mega Earth can rebuild. They can survive," Sintra told her.

"But you will die! We all will. Even the people of Mega Earth. They need us! Everything we've worked towards will be wasted," Commissioner Vante reasoned.

As Sintra looked at him, she couldn't help but see the resemblance in his pleading expression with her Vante on earth.

His words however, were not as compassionate as the real one. Megahumans needed them now but instead they were killing them. Vante could atleast see why that was wrong.

Sintra was no longer the innocent girl she was before the games. She had plenty of sins on her shoulder and she would carry them with her forever.

Her mind rallied back to what Vante had told her in the elevator. Something that had stuck with her throughout the entire game.

"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I've already done the latter," she told them.

Pulling the trigger of the laser gun, Sintra shot at a chemical tank, the world heating up in a final blast of light.