Decide now or I will kill you.

Unlike the searing headache I got with {Renew}, the download for {Code} was manageable. The {fate} was straightforward. It allowed you to quantify and assess the things you saw in numbers and stats, similar to a game.

I checked my attributes in their quantified form for the first time.

___

 {Rewind} 4:56

 {Save} 0:00

 {Auto} 23:45:01

 Souls Available: 562

 {Fate} Level 1

 Souls needed for evolution: 1,000

 {Fates} Active

 1. {Code} 23:55

 {Kindred}

 N/A

___

Hmm… This was interesting. So {Rewind}, {Save}, and {Auto} had different cooldowns. On the other hand, what were Souls? I hoped it was not literal, but it seemed like it was treated as a currency for {fates}.

{Code}, unlike {Rewind}, was a passive ability. You paid the initial cost and it went on till the duration expired.

 Souls were probably the cost I kept hearing in the {Rewinds} explanation. But how much would that be exactly? Where could I find that out? Was there a manual I could read somewhere?

The more questions I had the more valuable Isabella became. I intended to give her a smooch each day just to have {Code}.

While I was thinking, I suddenly heard {Isabella} screaming while clutching her head in pain.

"AHH!!!!!!!!!" Her screams sounded pained and her body twitched and twisted like she had poison coursing through her veins.

Unsure what to do, I let go of my gun and grabbed her by her shoulders. I shook her.

"Isabella, what is wrong? Are you alright?" Why was she screaming like that? Was it because of {Rewind}?

Before I could hear her reply, she got a dangerous look in her eyes and her entire demeanor turned sharp as a knife. Without the gun on her stomach, Isabella grabbed my neck and banged her head to my nose. The headbutt took me by surprise. I felt my nose break as blood spurted out.

Befitting her small size, Isabella was nimble like a snake. While I tried to stand up, she picked up my gun and sent a full-powered stomp into my gut.

Unable to mount any type of resistance, despite being several sizes larger than her, Isabella overpowered and mounted me while she pressed the 1911 to my temple.

"WHO ARE YOU? TELL ME WHO YOU REALLY ARE BEFORE I KILL YOU!" she shouted. Rabid like a beast, the woman who I shared a steamy kiss with was nowhere to be found.

You really couldn't underestimate the ones who survived in this place. Note to self, close combat was a massive weakness. 'I need to find a remedy if I survive today,' I thought.

I calmly held my hands up and answered.

"I already told you. My name is John Smith, I died and suddenly wound up here. Aside from my own fate and Lilly's introduction, I don't know anything else."

Isabella gritted her teeth in anger and nudged me with my gun. "Then tell me how you know Roland Winchester! When was the last time you saw him?! Are you a sleeper agent for IRIS or something?!"

This woman… Why was it so hard to believe my real name was John Smith? People always thought I was joking or used an alias when I introduced myself.

I didn't have an ID on me, unfortunately, that usually shut people up. Fed up with her shit, I grabbed the muzzle of the gun and spoke in the coldest voice I could muster.

"I am giving you ten seconds, Isabella. Decide in those ten seconds. I trusted you despite knowing nothing. I could have left you to die, yet here we are. "

Probably sensing the bloodlust I let out, the woman gulped audibly despite having the upper hand. I could care less what she thought. I came here because she was useful, nothing more, nothing less. With that in mind, I continued.

"I have not lied to you, not once. If you believe I am your ally, lower the gun and get off me. Otherwise shoot me, because after ten seconds I will {Rewind} and I will kill you. You probably already know how my {fate} works just as I know yours." I made sure to make my last words as menacing as possible.

This was, of course, a bluff. {Rewind} still had two minutes before it could be used again. So, the longer this standoff got, the better it was for me.

As she didn't kill me outright, I had to have something of value to her. Of course, if she just shot me dead right now, well… That would have been it.

 "Decide now or I will kill you," I reiterated.

Not even blinking, I stared into Isabella's clear blue eyes as she trembled. Whatever she intended to choose, any goodwill I might have had for her had disappeared.

Suddenly the woman uncocked the hammer of the 1911, engaged the safety, and quickly got off me.

Perhaps as a peace offering, she held out the gun to me as she spoke meekly. "Sorry, please forgive me."

I didn't bother answering as I retrieved the weapon. I then turned around to walk away. I got beaten up a lot before I left home, so a broken nose was nothing to me.

On a separate note, this woman was a fucking lunatic. She might have a rack but crazy for pussy had never been a good deal.

Surprised I left her without so much as I word, Isabella ran after me as she yelled.

"Hey! Don't leave me! Aren't we allies? Come on! I said I am sorry!"

With our deal out of my mind, I began jogging towards the platform. Curious… How no undead came for us while we talked.

Looking towards the battle on the platform, both sides increased in number. The ape seemed to be injured, so the reapers were being pushed back.

Trying my best to think of a battle plan, I picked up the pace.

I heard a female voice as I dashed towards my destination. "Hey! Stop running so fast! I have short legs and I am injured! I'm sorry, okay! Please wait!"

I felt a bit better when I saw her struggling to keep up. I stopped abruptly, leaving her no room to kill her momentum. Isabella ended up bumping into my body and falling towards the ground.

She fell on her behind and gingerly checked her nose that she had slammed against my back.

"Ouch! Now you are just being an ass! Forgive me already!"

Not giving a rat's ass what she thought, I looked her in the eye and asked emotionlessly, "What do you want?"

"Look, I work in law enforcement. I deal with a ton of shady crap on a daily basis. To put it bluntly, your {fate} is extremely suspicious. Additionally, given your connection to Roland Winchester, meeting anyone while being that ill-informed will be suicide," she explained fervently.

My indifference caused her to make a wry smile as she stood up on her own. Isabella brushed the dust off her pants and continued.

"Okay. The things you need to know first. Roland Winchester is a living legend among the reapers. Long story short, the old man has been recorded to be alive since the Roman Empire, like before the time of Jesus!"

"What?" I blurted out.

I couldn't believe my ears. How was the old man still alive, then? And why did it concern me? However, my curiosity still got the better of me as I waited for more.

"Anyway, we can discuss him another time, the important thing is that many are hunting him. If it gets out that you know him and that he is your handler, you will be the one those people would come for. Understand?

"Aside from me, never tell anyone else that you were turned into a wraith by him. Naturally, I won't, either."

Hmm. Who knew the old bastard was that ancient? Alright, that was definitely good info. What else did she have?

"The other thing is the fact that you use a gun. In Hellsgate, a gun is considered trash, so your continuing use of one will have many look down on you," Isabella advised.

So, this place was called Hellsgate. How apt. But using a gun was stupid? Said who? Perhaps she understood the meaning of my gaze. The woman nodded and continued.

"You should already know the basics of a {fate} from {Rewinds}. {Fates} as a rule are manifestations of desire, thus they are tangible. Meaning if I desire to be fast for example, I don't suddenly just run faster. Instead, my will physically manifests as a dagger for example."

If awakening a fate granted you a weapon, then it made sense why I saw a lot of abandoned weapons along the way here. The basic ones were just simple steel. So, the glowing weapons were manifestations, then?

"The dagger would be the desire given form. So, as long as this dagger exists, the {fate} will never disappear. When you hold it, you run faster. Some {fates} manifest as avatars such as the ape and wolves over there. Those are the norm. Such weapons are the mark of a reaper. Consequently, not having either a soulweapon or soulform is extremely suspicious."

Okay, so when you awakened, you got either a weapon or a transformation. As I only used a gun, it indeed looked suspicious. However, Isabella then answered the main point.

"Guns, in particular, only work on the common undead. Without a manifested {fate}, it is impossible to survive in Hellsgate," she said.