BYTE-SIZED SURVIVOR

I'm alive. I'm not dead? I'm alive. How am I alive?

As I regained consciousness, my fingers twitched. I was in a white room with white lights. I looked around and saw hospital tech around me. Something was reading my vitals. My heart rate seemed normal. I tried to move my arms and I felt a little tug. I looked down, noticing a drip attached to my arm.

'What...what is this place? Where am I?', I asked weakly.

A man with yellow hair, black suit and black eye glasses turned to face me. 'You're awake,' he said. His voice deep and monotonous.

'Who are you?', I asked. "I'm not dead, am I?"

'You're not in the afterlife, I'm afraid,' he replied, standing up. He seemed really tall and muscular, but maybe that was because I was lying down. 'You may have wanted to escape this hellhole world, but I'm afraid that's not happening anytime soon.'

I tried to process his words. 'How did I survive?' I asked, trying to sit up.

'Our medics found your body. You were torn apart, almost nothing left of you but somehow your vitals were still there. We brought you in as fast as we could. What's crazy is, your body started healing itself on the way here. By the time we got here, you were fine. But you didn't wake up until just now.'

I was stunned. 'How long have I been here?'.

He paused before answering, 'Six months.'

I tried to stand up, but my body wouldn't cooperate. I fell back on the bed and memories started to flash before my eyes.

'I can't go down there again,' I said, panic setting in.

The man stopped me from getting up. 'Listen, Ace. You're not going back to the lower floors anytime soon, but if you don't start streaming as soon as possible, you'll definitely lose your earnings. So, get online as soon as you can operate, or I won't be able to guarantee anything.'

He walked to the door, chuckled and without looking at me, said, 'Dreams come true, but nightmares do too.' Then he left, locking the door behind him.

As I lay back down, I wondered if Haley, Forge and the others were okay.

From nowhere I heard a distorted voice say, 'ZOMBIE GENE: BYTE-SIZED WEAK! NOT STRONG ENOUGH!'

I sat up, cold sweat on my forehead, startled.

That voice. That's the voice I heard...

'Hello?' I shouted. But there was no answer. "Is anyone there?"

The voice came again. 'MUST LEVEL UP! BYTE-SIZED WEAK!'

It sounded like a zombie was talking in my ear. "Level up?", I looked around the room. "What do you mean? Are you in my head? Who are you? What do you want?"

"FOR YOU TO...LEVEL UP, SURVIVOR", the voice came again. It was definitely coming from inside my head. What did my near death experience do to me? For the first time I looked myself over. I didn't seem infected. I know I was bitten, gashed and cut. If I was infected, the medics would have figured it out. The man in the suit would have told me. How was I not infected? What is going on?

I decided to indulge the voice. If there was anyone I could get answers from, it had to be whatever was talking to me from inside my mind.

"Leveling up means I get stronger, right?", I asked still looking around warily. It was quiet for a few seconds then I heard the voice.

"YES. STRONGER. FASTER. SMARTER. BYTE-SIZED BETTER.", the voice said.

"Wow", I smirked. The idea of everything the voice said was all I ever wanted. But was this for real? I pinched myself. I'm not dreaming. This is real. I spoke again. "Do you know who I am?"

"YES. ACE", the distorted voice said. It knows my name. Awesome.

"And you're here to help me get stronger, faster, smarter and better?", I asked again.

"YOU LEVEL UP, WE LEVEL UP, WE BECOME BYTE-SIZED STRONGEST IN THE WORLD!", the voice said.

I grinned. Okay. What's the worst that can happen that didn't already happen. I relaxed in my hospital bed and said to the voice.

"Alright then. How do I level up?"