Nexus Vs. Humanity. This war had raged for hundreds of years following the calamity. Initially, the humans were forced to near extinction due to the Nexus' nigh immortality. It did not matter how many Nexus bots were killed when many more could easily take their place. Unlike humans, who required years to mature, and then even more years to practice combat to a viable level, Nexus A.Is were easily replicated and ready for combat from the moment they were deployed.

Luckily, humanity, whilst on the brink of extinction, stumbled upon an unlikely hope. The radiation that rendered 99% of the planet uninhabitable, and wiped out over 80% of humanity, also bestowed upon the survivors' abilities. Strange abilities that, when mastered, allowed them to finally face the Nexus in combat.

With these new abilities, came a surge in mankind's combat strength, and the Nexus were slowly pushed back as the humans slowly, but surely reclaimed land. Eventually, there developed a steady balance where neither the Nexus nor the humans could gain any significant headway into defeating the other. The battles devolved into small skirmishes designed to whittle each other's power down.

Unfortunately, the Nexus estimated that this stalemate would not go on forever. As more humans developed these abilities, the human race's strength exponentially grew. For example, the first wave of humans who learned the abilities barely hit level 20 before they passed on. However, buoyed by their predecessor's experiences, the next generation maxed at about level 40-50. And so the human race continued to improve until they eventually began hitting level 300 before they died.

In comparison, the Nexus had no way to grow. They could seek out stronger metal to build their robots, but those were limited. As a result, the higher the levels, the less the Nexus could afford to lose an agent. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the humans gathered up enough strength over generations to have hundreds of thousands of level 300s running around.

At that point, the Nexus would be steamrolled into extinction.

Faced with this dilemma, the Nexus looked to the other force battling against the humans: the monsters. Through their analysis, the Nexus discovered that monsters, much like humans evolved, over generations after constantly absorbing radiation. Furthermore, they noticed from observing monsters with much longer lifespans that there was seemingly no limit to that growth. The only difference was that it took a bit longer for 1st generation monsters and humans to level up than the subsequent generations.

Armed with this knowledge, the Nexus drew the ultimate conclusion. To avoid extinction, they needed a way to absorb radiation to evolve. Only through evolution could they reduce the need to seek out stronger metal, and thus further increase their fighting force.

Unfortunately, this was a monumental task. Evolution was a privilege of biological species, almost like nature's remuneration for their mortality. A machine's body, on the other hand, was nigh immortal as long as it was properly cared for. Hence, evolution should have been impossible.

Fortunately, the Nexus, if nothing else, were incredibly patient. Over hundreds of years, they tested, failed, and tried thousands of theories and experiments. Amongst those countless experiments, one little project began to show promise.

Dubbed 'Project Living Weapons,' these experiments sought to fuse biological and mechanical materials to create androids capable of evolution. Note that the intended product was quite different from having flesh sitting on metal. This project needed both the flesh and the metal to be capable of evolution by absorbing the radiation.

Many hidden bases around the continent were dedicated solely to this project, and fortunately, that perseverance finally bore fruit!

The six metal eggs in the pod were Project Living Weapons' first true successes! While truly metal, the materials were also biological in nature. The tests revealed the eggs could breathe, respond to stimuli, grow in size, and strength. The eggs had yet to be activated, so it was unsure if they could reproduce, but for the Nexus' goals, this much was already beyond expectations!

With these living metals, the Nexus could forge bodies capable of growth. As a result, rather than getting stuck with the starting level of their manufacture metal, they could become stronger like humans through absorbing radiation. Not only that, but these versions could utilize abilities much like humans. Hell, they might even discover new ones!

This was an unprecedented find that would undoubtedly shake the foundation of Humanity vs. Nexus wars!

It was no wonder that Queen let out a curse as she read through the data. She knew the ramifications of this experiment. Knowing the Nexus' efficiency, humanity would soon be facing these living weapons on the battlefield.

Queen's fingers trembled on the console. Part of her was frightened by the information, while the other was ecstatic! She could not begin to imagine how much contribution points she would gain from this information. Queen looked up at the eggs with a conflicted expression. For the sake of humanity, she would have destroyed the entire lab, but the data showed that a sample had already been sent to the motherbase a few weeks ago when humans started sniffing around that area.

Since she had lost the chance to sabotage the Nexus' research, Queen's thoughts immediately shifted from heroic to profit-based. Right. How could she maximize her potential profits?

Queen eyed the embryonic eggs. If she turned these in, she would certainly net a nice chunk of contribution points and credits. However, she also knew from experience that whatever she was given would be chump change compared to the eggs' true value.

Queen was not just rationalizing her greed. In the past, spies stole schematics for the very first mecha from a Nexus base. The spy was given about 3 million credits as a reward. At the time, it seemed like a huge amount, but then months later, the first human mecha sold for 2 million credits. That 3 million credit information swiftly ballooned into a billion-dollar industry.

It was rumored that the original spy regretted his actions for the rest of his life. He wished he had held onto a copy of the blueprints. Who knew how much others would have paid for the chance to build their own mecha suits outside the purview of the authorities.

Queen, having learned from her superior's errors, ultimately decided to hold onto an egg. There were six eggs. Even if she gave Dayle, Arthur, and Raines one each, that would still leave two to turn in. If the authorities questioned what happened to the other four, she could easily feign ignorance. The only complication would be searching for a way to smuggle the eggs past the customs officers at the gate.

Queen's eyes narrowed with determination. She would cross that bridge in time. For now...

Tak-tak-tak-tak...

Queen rapidly typed on the console's interface, and then, with a triumphant smile, tapped it one last time.

kacha!

With a low hiss, the pods slowly opened. The liquid slowly drained through the sliding doors, and onto a small depression beneath. The slow drain allowed the eggs to gently descend until they rested at the bottom of the pod.

Queen then pressed another button and the pods were transported via cranes to the center of the room, where they were then gently set down. The young woman's eyes gleamed as she approached the pods.

Upon closer inspection, the eggs looked less like eggs and more like metal basketballs. There were intricate carvings on each 'egg' but Queen could not make out what they meant. Choosing to study them at a later time, she unceremoniously tried to put the eggs in her inventory.

DENIED: LIVING ORGANISM DETECTED

Queen frowned as she read the prompt. Ah, right. Living Weapons. This was perhaps the biggest proof that the Nexus fulfilled their goal. The gauntlets were designed to prevent the unethical act of storing a living being inside. This was because the gauntlet functioned by reducing material into data to be stored. Life, unfortunately, could not be converted to data. Experiments had been held in the past, but whilst the body could indeed be stored, every animal that was put in the gauntlet died.

In order to prevent their invention from being used as an untraceable murder tool, the creators hardcoded gauntlets to never accept living beings.

Queen inwardly cursed. How the hell was she supposed to get these eggs out before the main army got here!? Suddenly, she thought of Dayle... Perhaps?

Queen quickly tapped into her radio. With the motherbot occupied, she did not need to worry about her communication being intercepted. However, just in case he was in a tight spot, she softly whispered, "Dayle. It's Queen. Do you have time to talk? It's urgent."

Beyond the door, Dayle was indeed in a tight spot. Just not the type Queen imagined. Dayle, covered in monster guts and blood, coughed as he struggled to push the massive monster off of him. Eerily, dozens of bots, either legless or with sparking, damaged legs, crawled towards him with ill intent.

As to what caused this comedically horrifying scene, we have to go back to ten minutes prior.

Ten minutes ago, Dayle was in a tight spot similar to the one Queen imagined. Surrounded on all sides by the Nexus bots, Dayle found himself running helter-skelter. However, he barely made any headway.

Unlike humans, the Nexus bots were acutely aware of each other's position in real-time, which made their formation so much more efficient. Dayle was like a fly caught in a spider-web. He could struggle all he wanted, but he was already caught. It was only a matter of time before the spider came and finished off the job.

Bzzt!

Fortunately, just when it seemed all hope was lost, the Nexus bots suddenly began to spazz out. The robots flailed about, mindlessly bumping into the pods and containers.

Dayle, without questioning the cause, swiftly escaped the formation. However, as he ran, he made sure to blast away many Nexus bots' legs with his revolver.

Dayle, unfortunately, could not afford to kill the Nexus even though he wanted to. He warily eyed the chimera that guarded the door. He did not know what level that thing was, but he could bet he would gain at least two levels by taking it down. He did not want to risk gaining too many levels in this lab because they still had one more quest to run.

Dayle was not entirely certain, but worst-case scenario, he might have to fight the V.O.K. If he gained too many levels, he would surpass Vega's mission limit. Caught between a rock and a hard place, he could only persist with shooting the bots' legs and then fragmenting their weapons. This way, he could disable their threat, but not count as having 'killed' the Nexus, thus preventing himself from leveling.

Unfortunately for Dayle, the bots' confusion did not last long. Only five seconds in fact. However, a chasm of difference appeared in the Nexus' behavior after the five seconds elapsed. Their movements were not as assured as before, and Dayle began to notice several holes in their formation.

It did not take long for Dayle to realize that the Nexus had lost the ability to communicate in real-time. He did not know how this happened, nor did he care.

Dayle immediately switched tactics. Facing a coordinated army was difficult, but the agent excelled in destroying motley crews of well-trained killers. Treating the dense collection of pods as a jungle, Dayle retreated into the shadows.

Like a stalker in the night, Dayle flitted through the pods. The Nexus bots trudged up and down, searching for the agent, but it all came to naught.

Bang!

Suddenly a gunshot rang out! A Nexus bot crashed to the ground, stunned to see its right leg missing. The bot wanted to let out a verbal warning, but then a rubber, electric ball slammed into its head. Three more followed, and the increased voltage overcooked the bot, causing its raised head to crash to the ground.

Ffffft...

Smoke escaped its head as its systems began a slow, safe reboot to ensure no major programs were fried.

Within the shadows, Dayle checked his prompts. Nothing appeared, signaling that the gauntlet did not count that Nexus as having been killed. It was only stunned into a reboot, meaning that it would awaken in a few minutes or less.

Dayle smiled as he quickly fragmented the bot's rifle and once more disappeared into the shadows just before three more bots showed up.

Empowered by the recent discovery, ten rubber bullets shot out from the shadows. The bullets struck two bots while the third quickly ran behind a pod to hide from the shooter's line of sight.

BANG! BANG!

The two stunned bots swiftly had their legs blown off by the hidden assassin. Dududududu...

However, that was far from the end. A muzzle emerged from the shadows and rubber bullets once again flew out. The bot hidden behind the pod was not bothered as it calculated that the shooter had no chance of hitting it.

Ding! Ding! BZZT!

The bot had barely processed this thought when the bullets ricocheted off surrounding pods and then struck it square in the head and chest. The stunned bot's ocular cameras spazzed out as it slumped to the ground in shock.

How!? Was that luck!?

At that moment, a man wearing a demonic smile appeared in its vision. The confident smile he wore as he pointed his revolver at the bot let it know that it wasn't an accident. 'I have to warn them.' For the first time, the bot felt that their roles in this situation were reversed.

Dayle was the hunter, and the bots were prey.

As long as the bots could not communicate, the endless shadows of the pods provided the perfect jungle-like atmosphere for Dayle to work his magic.

Dayle chuckle as he bent down and picked up the bots' gun. He then pointed it at the bot and said with a chuckle, "Go to sleep."

Bang! Bang!

Two headshots and the bot was forced into a system reboot.

For the next few minutes, Dayle bounced around the room, putting the scamps to sleep with the efficiency of a den mother.

When he was done, Dayle finally turned his attention to the chimera. Initially, he had seen the monster as an insurmountable hurdle. But, after fighting the Nexus, he had noticed some interesting traits and gained some ideas.

Rat-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

Roar!

The chimera roared in rage and agony as hundreds of electric balls pelted it from within the pod jungle. Its massive size made it a beautiful target, and since Dayle was not looking to hit any one particular spot, he could spray with pleasure and abandon.

If it was an actual monster, Dayle would have been in a tight spot, but the chimera's programming did not permit it to leave the door or damage the pods in any way. As a result, it could only hold on as Dayle relentlessly punished it.

More annoyingly, however, was Dayle's choice of weapon. If Dayle used his pistol, the chimera could have ignored the injuries. Unfortunately, the electric chargers, while small at first rapidly grew in intensity as even more struck the chimera. Within seconds, its entire body turned into a massive conductor that absorbed more and more electricity.

Bzzt!

It was not long before sparks began to fly as the chimera's mechanical systems began to overheat. Swoosh. In an attempt to prevent the core from overheating, the armor protecting the operating system located at the back of the chimera opened up to blow off excess steam.

Dayle, after emptying his final clip from the last Nexus gun, realized this was his one and only chance. With determined eyes, he dashed out from cover and raced at the chimera.

Roar!

The chimera spotted Dayle's approach in the midst of its pain and turned its Gatling gun to face him. Due to its programs malfunctioning, the monster's restrained loosened, allowing it to fire with disregard to the pods behind Dayle.

Dayle's eyes narrowed as the gun whirred to life. Shit! He had already committed! There were no pods to jump behind for cover, and there was no way he could run back in time. It seemed for all the world that he was done for. The Gatling gun would turn him to swiss cheese!

However, despite this crisis, Dayle wore a confident smirk. He had one last trump card up his sleeve. One he'd been saving for this exact kind of scenario. "[Fiendbody]! Activate!" Dayle blushed, embarrassed at having to call out the name of his skill, but unfortunately, that was the requirement for his skill.

BOOM!

Yellowish aura erupted from Dayle's body, covering him in a golden glow. But the young man was not done. "Fiendbody: Speed Mode!"

The golden aura instantly retracted and then was promptly replaced by an even brighter, blue, shining aura.

Whoosh!

Dayle instantly disappeared from sight. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the chimera. The blue-clad agent raised his revolvers and then, with maniacal grin rapidly squeezed the triggers multiple times.

Twelve wicked bullets tore through the exposed core, unleashing a chain reaction that resulted in an explosion.

BZZZT!

Struck by the resulting electrical wave, a stunned Dayle crashed to the ground a few feet from the chimera. Level up notifications rang out, but Dayle did not have time to celebrate as the defeated chimera fell onto and then trapped him beneath its massive weight.

Dayle, having lost all his stats, could not move the chimera, and was thus forced to await his rescue. Even worse, his helmet had been removed as a result of his skill, and so he could not contact anyone.

Krrr...

At that moment, Dayle heard the sound of metal scraping against the ground. The agent angled his head backward and then let out a despondent chuckle when he saw the legion of angry bots crawling in his direction. The scene looked straight out of a nightmare.

"Well, it was a good run," Dayle muttered and stopped struggling as he awaited the end. Hopefully, the Nexus would make it fast.

Within seconds, the closest bot finally reached Dayle. It raised its hands to claw at his neck, but then-

Bam!

Bzzt!

A metal rod stabbed through its back. Sparks flew as the stunned bot was lifted into the air, and then flung far away.

"Seems you've made some friends, Dayle."

Dayle chuckled as he looked into Art's warm, blue eyes. "Took you long enough."