1 Guilty.

Kratos had always been odd compared to the other kids in Ark. Most of them and he included had grown up in Ark never seeing the surface. Many of them dreamed big to retake the surface, he really did not care if they took it back or not. His parents were not yet born when the Raptures first invaded and his grandparents instead had told him what they remembered of the Surface.

When hearing about how the world was before the Ark and the Raptures, he honestly did not feel it was all that much better. Sure, life in the Ark could be dull at times, but the world pre-Raptures sounded the exact same.

You either went to school or went to work which was the same as it was in Ark. However, now with Raptures, there was one more choice which was to become a Commander. The heroes that would retake the surface. A steaming pile of horse shit in his opinion.

Most of them were simply sent out to the Meat Grinder of the surface with barely any training. 70% died during their first mission, but he did not plan to be the same. When he reached age he signed up and became a Commander as life in the Ark was dreadful for a man like him.

After going through a year of what he could only call attempted brainwashing, he was assigned to a random squad. Some Mass Produced Nikkes which meant that his higher-ups expected him to be one of the 70% casualties.

Unlike what they expected, Kratos returned with all 5 Nikkes in toe with their mission successful. They were mass-produced, but since he was a child, Kratos had studied all he could on battle strategy. Countless sleepless nights did not go to waste as he came back.

Following this, he and his rag-tag squad were sent into the meat grinder of War over and over again. Each time, they returned banged up, but alive. Of course, things did not go well for long as an encounter with a Lord Class Rapture caused 4 of the 5 NIkkes to be destroyed.

It also cost him his right arm, left eye, left leg, and several organs which had to be replaced with those of a Nikke. When normal people received Nikke parts, they normally used 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation, but not him.

As an experiment, he was given the experimental 10th generation, parts which are used in most modern Nikkes that are not mass produced. At first, he was not expected to survive, but contrary to the doctors who performed the transplant he took to the implants with little issue at all.

He was supervised for a time before he was released with his new body parts. As for his last squad member, she had dragged him back to the Ark on the brink of death before she too had to be mind-wiped because of corruption.

She had been assigned to a different Commander, while he had no squad left. He needed another Squad, but he did not want Mass Produced Nikkes. As such he put in a request to try to recruit three particular Nikkes that were considered dangerous.

This event led Kratos to be seated across a Guilty in the Rehabilitation Center. Guilty was the first of the three Nikkes he had in mind for his experimental squad. Guilty was a Nikke that had such monstrous strength that she had caused severe damage to 40 Nikkes with just her brute strength.

Kratos read the report as Guilty silently watched her new Counselor as he too looked back at her. That was until Kratos closed the report and tossed it on the table.

"Introductions are in order, I am Commander Kratos. Your new Counselor. I am here to try and get you out of this place. Any questions?"

Guilty slowly blinked before she answered.

"Yes. Why do you even want to try to get me out of here?"

Kratos looked into her violet eyes which caused her to avert hers.

"I will be honest, I have not been a commander for very long. Just 6 months, before that I was assigned to a squad made up of 5 Mass Produced Nikkes. Everything was going well before we encountered a Lord Class Rapture I call Fenrir.

If it is not too obvious, it was wolf shaped, and it tore my squad apart. As for me, he hurt me pretty badly that one of my eyes, arms, legs, and even a few organs had to be replaced with Nikke parts.

As a result, I am now without a squad. My higher-ups wanted me to choose more 5 Mass Produced Nikkes and get back to work as soon as I am cleared for Combat.

Instead, I choose to try to recruit you Guilty. One of three Nikkes I plan to recruit for your unique skill set. I have nothing against Mass Produced Nikkes, but they do not match up to Nikkes like you. Special ones. And you have a skill that I would like in my squad."

Guilty looked into Kratos' eyes and saw he was honest before she looked away.

"What skill is that?"

Kratos pointed at her bound arms with his right arm. It looked human, but it was all machine.

"You strength. I see it as not something to be reigned in, but something for you to use. I think you would be a good front liner of a squad if you were given the proper gear for it."

Guilty did not expect someone would think her strength was a good thing. She sat up and pulled on her restraints. Of course, they did not budge, but she expected Kratos to flinch or even react differently.

Instead, he just sat there and looked her dead in the eyes. She averted her eyes quickly.

"You think my strength is a good thing?"

Kratos nodded.

"I have heard of a Pilgrim, a Nikke on the surface that fights with a sword. Not a gun or anything else, an honest to god sword. Why not use your strength again the Raptures? You could get out of the Rehabilitation Center as long as you join my new squad. Of course, I don't decide if you get out, but I can make it a whole lot faster."

"Are you really on my side?"

Guilty asked no one, but herself, but Kratos closed his eyes.

"You don't have to decide all of a sudden. I never intended for you to join my squad on day one. I still have to talk to Quency and Sin as well. But, I will be coming back every day until I get that yes. For now, tell me, what do you think of all this? Your isolation, you being locked up. All of it."

Guilty thought about how to answer before she began to complain.

"It's not my fault that I am here. It's the researchers at Missiles, they were the ones who made me this strong. Why am I locked up and they are running free?"

Kratos nodded.

"It is not fair, I know. But, the world is rarely fair for us on the lower levels. Despite the relative status my parents hold, we are all held under the Central Government. I have a question for you though. Were strong before you became a Nikke?"

Guilty looked up and nodded.

"Yes. They just increased it even more. By a lot."

He leaned forward.

"Tell me, do you like your newfound strength?"

She paused for a few moments before she answered.

"Most of the time, but it gets lonely. I can never touch anyone as they always break."

Kratos understood as she was so strong even a light tap could break bones.

"Must be sad to not be able to touch anyone. But you can't control your amazing strength so you break everyone you touch. Have you ever thought of controlling your strength? If you can reduce it to an acceptable level, you can also increase it.

Who knows, one day you might even punch a Lord Class Rapture out of the sky."

Kratos noticed how she seemed to be imagining that very thing. Her face seemed to light up as she thought of that before she snapped out of it.

"Do you really think my strength is a good thing?"

"I really do. You are blessed with something other Nikkes will never have, but the choice, in the end, is up to you. Just say no, and I will drop this idea. I will still be your counselor, but my dream squad will go up in flames before it even began. So, at least hear me out, please."

He stood up and left the report on the table. However, before he could leave she called out to him.

"Did you see the video?"

He turned around and nodded.

"Yes, I learned everything I could about you three before I came to this meeting. I saw how you easily dispatched the other Nikkes. 40 of them and with just your bare hands. Not to mention the guy you crushed with a single hug. I was impressed with you."

Kratos gave her a genuine grin before he left the room leaving Guilty dumb-struck. He actually thought her strength was a good thing. No one had ever said that to her before. Not any of the other counselors before him as they all just tried to get results as fast as possible.

"No. I can't trust him yet. It's too soon."

She was still distrustful of Kratos as she did not believe he would be back. However, unlike what she expected the next day at the exact same time Kratos walked into her cell. When she saw him she was honestly surprised.

"You actually came back?"

"I did say I would be, didn't. I am many things Guilty, but once I promise to a beautiful woman I always keep my promise."

She slowly blinked as he complimented her. No one had done that before as they were all just afraid to be broken. However, she did not respond to his compliment as he looked at her.

"Alright, so controlling your strength. We need something we can get a lot of and can endure some pressure. As such, I asked them to bring me this."

He pointed at the bag on the floor that he brought with him. Guilty looked at the bag with her still blank facial expression.

"What is in that?"

"Some dumbells. I want you to try to hold them in your hand without destroying them."

She just looked down.

"It's not going to work. My strength can't be controlled."

Kratos reached into the bag and pulled out a 100-pound one.

"Maybe not, but I promise if you can control your strength I will hold your hand. With my right arm of course. I lost it to that Fenrir and I currently have a Nikke arm. It is a modern version, so it can endure your strength somewhat.

You crave to feel someone, but I rather not risk my new hand just yet. Not that I don't trust you, but you don't trust yourself."

Her eyes went wide open for a quick moment before she averted her eyes.

"Fine, give me the weight."

He walked behind Guilty and placed the dumbbells in her right hand. She focused and thought out loud.

"Gently. Grab onto it gently."

However, she accidentally puts far too much strength and crushes the center of the dumbbell into powder. She looks up at Kratos and notices how he barely reacted.

"You did well. You tried and actually held it for 5 seconds. How long do things break when you touch them usually?"

Guilty slowly answers.

"Instantly."

"Exactly This means that you can control your strength. You just never found the right reason. Want to try once more? We can stop whenever you don't feel comfortable with this."

She nodded.

"One more time."

This time he increased the weight to 120 pounds and handed it back to her.

"Gently, not a lot of strength."

Kratos noticed how the dumbbell was already starting to crack, but she was trying to restrain her strength as much as she could. In the end, she once again broke the dumbbell, but this time she held it for 6 seconds.

"You held it for a second longer. I have plenty more if you want to keep trying. Or we stop."

"Keep going."

For the rest of the session, Kratos continued to place dumbells of varying weights in her hands. She crushed them all, but she did manage to hold them for longer. At the end of the session, she managed to hold a dumbbell for 10 seconds.

Kratos stood up and was about to leave, but he looked behind at Guilty.

"I will be back tomorrow at the same time as before. I will bring more weights for you. For now, we want to control your strength. Once you can do that, we will focus on having you increase it more."

With that said he walked out leaving her alone. Guilty looked out the door that he just left with some confusion in her mind. She still did not fully trust Kratos, but he was willing to put his hand at risk. He said he would let her hold it if she proved that she tried to hold back.

She had not touched anyone since her cellmate, a fellow Nikke told her it was fine. Now, a human was saying the same thing.

'He will take back his promise. They all do.'

On the third day, Kratos once again returned to Guilty's cell. Once again he had another bag of Dumbbells.

"Hello, Guilty. It is a pleasure to see you again."

"Are we going to train again?"

He nodded.

"Yes, but before that, I just wanted to talk to you. How are you holding up in the Rehabilitation Center? Since your cellmate broke, you have been kept alone in solitary. Anyone in your shoes would be sad as we as humans need interaction."

His words left Guilty speechless.

"We humans?"

Kratos nodded.

"A Nikke like you is just an augmented human in my eyes. You have a human brain, which is what matters in the end anyway."

"You view me, a Nikke as human?"

Kratos nodded.

"I told you that my right arm is from a Nikke right? Well so is my left leg, left eye, and several of my organs. I am not so different from you. The only difference is that I am a man and most of my body is still human."

Guilty looked at his arm and leg with curiosity.

"I heard men can't become Nikkes."

"They tried when the Goddess squad was created, but men's bodies seemed to have a higher rejection rate. As such, they gave up trying to turn us into Nikkes. Instead, we are Commanders. Before Raptures, men were the soldiers and women stayed behind.

Now, we men hide behind women. How tables turn, but enough about that. How about we start with your practice?"

She nodded before he reached into the bag and pulled out a 100-pound dumbbell. He walked over and placed it in her hand.

"Try to hold it as long as possible. I believe in you."

She focused hard as she restrained her strength as long as she could. However, cracks began to appear on it as she began to struggle. Kratos counted and watched how she seemed more focused than before. However, the dumbbell broke apart in the end.

He noticed how she seemed disappointed before he let her in on her time.

"12 seconds. You did great Guilty. Promise me, you won't squeeze my hand."

She did not know what he meant before he walked up to her and placed his right palm against hers. When she felt his palm against hers she almost did as he told her not to. Squeeze down as she was contacted starved, but she didn't.

She just left her palm open. As for Kratos, he left his palm against hers for 5 seconds before he pulled away.

"See, you did not break me. Later, we can practice with you actually holding my hand."

He sat back down and saw how she was actually looking down.

"You risked your arm to make me feel better?"

"You earned it. I promised, didn't I?

"You did."

"And I kept my promise, soon, maybe we can undo your restraints, but you need more time. For your own safety. I want to get you out of here, but you got to keep helping me."

She looked into Kratos' eyes and saw how he really wanted to help her. For a few moments, she did not move before she nodded.

"Alright."

Kratos smiled.

"Good. Let's continue then."

---

For the next month, he had daily or sometimes multiple sessions with Guilty until it was her last test. If she failed, it meant he would have to start from scratch. But if she succeeded, she would be free to leave with him with some catches.

But he was sure she would do fine.