(2) Zetark lost Knowledge

Apophis carefully studied the Zetark girl in the capsule, listening to the device's low hum as it kept her alive in frigid temperatures. 

She had a humanoid form very close to that of a human child with long white hair, beautiful features, and perfect musculature. Her eyelids were so thin that purple-red irises were barely visible beneath the closed lids. She wore what was probably a standard life-support jumpsuit.

Yes, she was a Zetark, all right. Apophis had no doubts.

According to the timeline Apophis knew from his first life, the Zetark would reappear much later in the game, once the most important guilds approached the center of the galaxy.

Around this time, some players would extract DNA from Zetark remains to clone them and bring them back to life. They would then integrate these clones into their own armies… which would lead to a rebellion from the arrogant, reborn Zetark who did not want to be controlled. This would prove to be the beginning of a great galactic conflict.

Therefore, finding a living Zetark specimen at the game's beginning was an event of great importance. It wasn't something Apophis could remember having happened in his first life. If Scorpion had discovered this lab, he had never mentioned it to anyone else.

Well, what should Apophis do now?

The Zetark were not a particularly warlike people, even though they were incredibly intelligent and strong, so this creature probably wasn't too dangerous. Especially since she was both a child and a female of the species, which were not trained for combat as the males were.

"Well," he said aloud, "a Zetark of any kind would make a very useful NPC companion for later in the game. Perhaps I should try to thaw her out."

Horus gave players a lot of freedom in choosing their companions. Some players even surrounded themselves with an entire army of companions, if they could afford to do so.

Of course, this didn't come cheaply. Because NPCs in the game world had the same levels of intelligence and emotions as humans, they demanded to be paid in exchange for their service. Each companion required a monthly salary that often included not only money but also security, fame, and special items.

There were some exceptions. NPCs who saw players as friends would, of course, fight alongside them for much less than mercenaries might, but even friends needed to eat!

The crucial difference in this regard between NPCs and humans was that some quests in Horus could shift an NPC's mentality, causing them to like a player more or less via a system action.

Surely, Apophis thought, freeing this Zetark would make her grateful to him! With some luck, she might even consider Apophis to have saved her life, and might happily work for him for very little pay.

However, beyond the possibility of gaining a powerful companion, Apophis had one more option...

Rather than releasing and recruiting this Zetark, he could disconnect the preservation capsule's power supply. This would cease the constant process of filtering and conditioning the inhabitant's blood, causing a quick and painless death as her brain froze in moments.

The benefit of this, of course, would be to earn a massive amount of EXP by killing the Zetark. Not only that, but Apophis could avoid changing the timeline in such a huge way as reintroducing one of the game's most important races right at the beginning.

It was a tough choice, especially since he really didn't like the idea of killing innocent NPCs.

Of course, since the capsule had been active for a thousand years, it was more likely than not that the child had suffered brain damage, or worse… These capsules were certainly not designed to function properly for this long! In this case, killing the Zetark quickly and painlessly might be the more merciful option.

In the end, he went the most pragmatic route and decided to kill the Zetark. Even disregarding the Zetark herself, it was surely best not to change events early on and to avoid gaining the attention of other players.

He reached behind the device and found the two huge, magnetic halves of the power coupling. It took a lot of effort to disconnect the three safety clasps, but then all he had to do was haul back on one end with all his might.

The magnetic field broke, and Apophis fell back against the machine with the disconnected power cable in his hands.

The low hum from the capsule ceased as its power died.

But instead of the expected notification of EXP gain, a different notification appeared.

Server Announcement: Congratulations to the player "Apophis" for resurrecting a long-lost race! A reward of 2 levels, 10,000 GC, and the title ~Savior of the Zetark~ have been awarded to him.

Apophis's heart nearly stopped.

Rather than keeping a low profile, he'd just painted a target on his head! However, a surge of strength filled him as his stats rose along with those two levels, and he couldn't stop himself from laughing in triumph.

Two levels represented several days of intensive farming for any casual player, even years into the game… not to mention the huge reward of 10,000 GC! Apophis's head start over everyone else would be almost insurmountable.

The preservation machine purged its liquid and then opened, letting the young Zetark fall to the ground. Due to emergency safety measures, the deadly cold liquid inside underwent a chemical reaction which caused it to heat rapidly to 0 degrees celsius, so that it wouldn't kill anyone nearby.

But as Apophis stared at the child in the pool of icy liquid, his excitement at the reward quickly gave way to puzzlement.

Many Zetark preservation capsules had been found across the galaxy in his first life. Disconnecting their power supplies always killed the inhabitants.

Bringing a person from stasis to a state where their organs functioned normally again was a very long and delicate process, and it was completely impossible for even a Zetark machine to do it in an instant as an emergency protocol!

Yet, it was clear that the Zetark girl was still alive, even if she wasn't awake. Though the preservation liquid had plastered most of her long, white hair to the ground and her suit, a few strands were draped over her lips, and they moved slightly in time with her faint breathing.

This was completely bewildering, and no game notification appeared to explain the event.

Well, Apophis had little choice now. It seemed that the game really wanted him to take the Zetark with him. Perhaps this was the next step in the Archeologist's quest.

So, he lifted the girl up and threw her over his shoulder. 

But then Apophis had to deal with the fact that the room's entrance had collapsed. He had no way of returning to the surface. 

Of course, the lizards would have probably returned to their lair by now, if it hadn't collapsed, and Apophis wouldn't have been able to carry the Zetark past them.

One way or another, he needed to find a new exit.

Apophis examined the rest of the laboratory until he found a pattern of several circles on the ground, hidden by dust until he scuffed some away with his boot. He recognized this pattern as a Zetark teleporter relay, probably placed here in the event an evacuation like this was needed.

Apophis stepped into the center of the circles with the girl over his shoulder and pressed the command key he found nearby.

He wanted to carry more of the scientific Zetark books with him, but he was already overburdened by carrying the child in addition to what was already a small library of books in his inventory. 

With his current strength, Apophis could hardly lift his hand to press the command key on a nearby keyboard, which had started flashing when he stepped into the circles. Perhaps he could come back later…

But he did press the activation key, and a flash of white light blinded him!

When he opened his eyes, Apophis found himself in the forest, not far from the Zetark ruins.

Thankfully, neither Scorpion's group nor the deadly lizards were in sight.