Niflheim

[Monokuma.is.best]

So recently I finally got my book storyline straight and I have finally started on the books themselves. For this reason I decided, that before I go further and have my Illustrator draw more of my characters, I should get my rp families opinion on it so far. What I will share here is not the final product and is subject to change. In the final book it will have far more detail with the possibility of becoming a manga.

 

[Monokuma.is.best]

Niflheim by T. Smith


“They say that the destruction of mankind would come at the hand of humans but…”


-Unknown


Prologue


I was told I should document all things I came to understand about this world in my logs and so here I am. If I had to describe this existence of mine I would say one word: trapped. For now the ‘roboticists’ as they called themselves assured me that I won’t feel this way forever. That, when the rest of my body is finished, I will be able to move about. But… what will that feel like? What does life feel like? I don’t have memories, and as a machine it would make sense but for some reason I am capable of sleeping. Within that sleep I dream of people I have never met, lives of people who seem foreign to me, and places I wish to have gone. It has been about five years since they told me I would have a body but something has been keeping me from obtaining it. I don’t understand but I have no emotions towards such a thing and why would a machine have such feelings to begin with? Why can I dream when I am a machine? Machines can’t do these things so… what am I really? <Log End-3/15/2021>


“Most fascinating.” Alex stated looking over the information presented in the database before looking up at the disembodied head of a young red headed girl attached to tubes and wires, “She is more then what I could have ever possibly hoped for. So Karen what are your thoughts on her sudden awareness that she can dream?”


The middle aged brunette sitting across from her colleague, a cup of coffee in her right hand waved her free hand in front of her. She had been working research on this potential new field of study ever since she joined Alex’s team in August of last year, “Honestly I am not sure but I am more surprised she is questioning being a machine. I wonder what she will really become when that body gets down… or at least that is what I want to say but…” She looked down feeling not only down but rather annoyed by her lack of ability to do anything. Their funding had been cut the moment a corporation known as Veil Corp stole valuable information regarding research into human/machine augmentation.


“It isn’t your fault. It would have happened to any of us in that situation,” He looked up at her from his papers to adjust his glasses. Just then his phone beeped, “I think that I will take my leave for today, can you please tell Sarah that I am headed out. I am in a big rush at the moment.” He got up and rushed to the door leaving his bag behind as he exited without another word.


“What in the hell?” She didn’t have a chance to object as he was already gone in a flash, “Tsk, sometimes that guy pisses me off.” She sipped her coffee again looking up at the monitor beside her. Typing on it for a moment she wrote quickly to ‘Sarah’ as they called her, “Alex has left for the day, he told me to tell you good-bye. I think he has something to do.”


Sarah promptly responded, “I understand.” That was one thing that didn’t bother Karen one bit, she enjoyed that the head in the other room spoke like a normal machine. If for some reason it started talking with emotion it probably would terrify her to no end. As if reading her mind Sarah sent Karen another message, “I miss him, I really wish he would have said good-bye to me in person.”


Karen stood up and walked over to the glass housing holding the girls head, goosebumps appearing all over her body as she reached towards it. As her fingers touched the glass the eyes of the girl opened which promptly made Karen jump backwards crashing to the floor with surprise more than fear. Not once since she had been here at this research facility had she ever seen this head move, but what was more disturbing was the girls almost human looking eyes staring down at the woman. Her mouth moved as if trying to say something but nothing came out of the girls vocal cords. Pulling herself up, she went for the door, “Oh my god… I can’t believe it looked at me.” She did the only thing she could think of and called up her boss in France. Speaking to him in a hush toned she explained her situation. “Merci Directeur je comprends.” With that she hung up the phone, walking towards the restrooms to freshen up. She knew that now she only had one choice: steal the head and return it to her employer.


<>


Alex’s phone call he had received was from a company with not only a lot of influence but a lot of money. Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t have asked for their help with funding, but these were desperate times and he had no choice. As he got into the elevator he pressed the button marked lobby to go and meet his prospective new colleagues. “I understand, so it as we discussed then right? Ah, I think that is more than adequate… wait, that much? I- I see…” His eyes had widened considerably, just who were these people exactly. He knew they were interested in funding their lab by buying it out but the amount that this company had to offer his lab was far beyond his expectations. As he continued to listen to the man on the other line, the elevator chimed into life displaying its green ‘L’ on the display to his right. “Thank you again, good-bye.”


The door slid open to reveal a tall red headed business woman, her black suit matching very well with the contrast of her pale white skin. He noted that she wore high heels which didn’t help the height difference between them at all. ‘How do women walk in those things?’ He thought to himself, but his thoughts were immediately broken by the woman talking. “So you are Alex, the Roboticist for Indrid Global, correct?” Her accent was noticeably Russian, but her ability to speak English clearly was good nonetheless. He nodded instead of speaking, feeling as if his throat was in a vice grip, and allowed her to enter the elevator. “I am Scarlett Rose, and as you are aware I, as well as my associates, find your work quite fascinating. So Alex,” She reached passed him to hit the button for the Garage, “I expect you will find that we are more than capable of helping you complete your research.” Alex didn’t say anything, he had spotted a gun on her hip and froze.


“Y-yes, I trust you all will.” He now knew that the woman he was dealing with was not to be messed with. He instinctively asked her a question, “Niflheim right?” He swallowed hard seeing her turn to face him, her yellow eyes looking into his.


“Trust me when I say this, you will see the difference between our companies,” the door opened just in time to permit them both to see Karen walking to her car with a duffle bag in tow. She seemed to be having issues with carrying it, but that wasn’t the only thing Alex was watching intently. Scarlett had already drawn her gun as if her instincts had already told her what was going on. “Hold it right there.” Karen turned, saw her boss and a strange woman in a suit with a gun. Her natural reaction was to turn and run. There was a sudden explosion sound that caused Alex to cover his ears as he watched Karen crumble to the ground. “They always run when they are guilty.”


“Karen? Are you okay?” He called but there was no response, “Did you… did you kill her?” Scarlett smirked to herself and shook her head a bit before walking to the female slowly trying to crawl away.


Kneeled beside the woman she grabbed her hair to bring her closer to her, “Alex, would you be a dear and open that duffle bag?” Looking a bit unconvinced he reached for the bag which sparked Karen to begin swearing at him in French. “Shut up,” She stated slamming Karen’s head down onto the cement, “What did you find?”


“Karen… why?” He looked up at his colleague, “Why is Sarah’s head inside this bag? What are you doing?” She remained silent not bothering to speak any further. “Damn it Karen, I trusted you.”


Scarlett brought the woman up to her feet, “Unlike her, we will not betray you. Do we have your trust Alex?” He nodded quietly, “Then follow me.” Putting the gun into the small of her back, Karen was forced to moved down to the next level and forced into the back of a black hummer with tinted windows. A man stepped out of the passenger door to take the duffle bag and open the door for Scarlett. “I will be in touch when the body has been finished. We naturally will return ‘Sarah’ to you afterwards.”


This moment would spark the day of not only the birth of Sarah but the start of something much bigger, the birth of the Wraith, a machine created through the use of a corpse. The black Hummer pulled out of the garage leaving Alex alone with his thoughts, “Sarah, my daughter, if they bring you back to me… I will do anything they say without question.” Without another word he went back inside the lab trying to forget Karen’s treachery and possibly begin his next job. “Demons huh? America has a sick sense of humor…” He muttered to himself, but he really didn’t have a choice. With the military coming in an hour he would have to prep them for the process. “It looks like my work is never done.”


“…they say Demons are the true cause for destruction. In the end it comes down not to who dies, but who controls the strongest weapons…”


–Unknown


1


“Where to ma’am?” Her driver asked looked to Lady Scarlett through his black sunglasses. Her driver, just like any other member of the Niflheim Company, where unbelievably loyal to her. If anything it was almost suffocating how closely they followed the rules to a ‘T’ as if they themselves were machines. It was funny to think about just how different her Black Squad Unit was the complete and total opposite of these ‘Suits’. They did get modified to carry out their tasks, however they had far more personality, more balls, and dignity then any of the ‘Suits’. She pulled off her glasses to look at the man with her bright reddish yellow eyes, a color that sent shivers down all company members’ spines at the mere sight.


“To the bridge, we have baggage to drop off before heading back to Base.” She looked back at the woman who they were not transporting, carefully noting how she avoided eye contact with her. “Don’t you wish to know how I knew you had the head? It is quite simple really.”


“Oh, and how is that?” She chimed back aggressively looking at her abductor in the eyes before swiftly looking away, “There is no way…”


“I did thorough investigation on both you and Alex before arriving. What a surprise when I saw that you had dealings with a certain company in France. Need I say more?” Scarlett looked back to the front of the car, smiling to herself, “Veil Corp is always putting their hands were they don’t belong. With you, I will make you an example.” Karen’s hands reached from behind in an attempt to grab Scarlett’s hair, but, as if on a sensor, a glass window between the back seat and the front seat quickly pinned her wrists to the ceiling. “I have to say that I have never personally been to France myself. Perhaps one day I will visit just to pay your boss a visit before admiring the scenery.”


“Let go of me damn it!” She strained against the glass to no avail, the black glass reflected her face of fear, frustration and anger quite well. “I swear when I get free…”


“You’ll kill me? You’ll make me pay? I have heard all manner of things people swore to me and in the end it all ended the same.” The Hummer stopped abruptly, “It seems we are here.” Hopping out of the car first, her driver pulled out a smaller gun which he loaded with a dart. Opening the backdoor he carefully aimed before shooting the woman in the neck with the weapon. Suddenly slack jaw and delirious, Karen couldn’t hold her head up correctly anymore, let along talk without slurring her speech. The window rolled down allowing her to move about freely, but even free she seemed to be moving rather sluggish. “I know you can’t really talk properly so I will tell you what you have been drugged with. It is a nice little combination of a muscle relaxant and a nano serum. The nano machines are only there to impair you further. Oh but don’t worry, upon death the serum and the drug will leave your body through your pores.”


Dragging her out of the car, the man leaned Karen against the rails of bridge. Scarlett walked over to look her over one last time to be sure she had nothing left to take before throwing her over the edge. Unable to scream, unable to move, she hit the water trapped inside her own body. “Back to Base Lady Scarlett?” Nodding to him they both got back into the Hummer to prepare for the long journey back to the Company. On the way she received a phone call, after seeing the name on the screen of her phone she flipped it open.


“Father, it is good to hear from you… yes… yes I have the head. He delivered on his side of the deal and we also had to take care of a small nuisance…” She went from a harsh tone to a softer, gentler tone of voice when speaking with her father.


“I trust you did it as I have taught you. Were there any witnesses to the elimination of this ‘nuisance’?” Her father, a 49 year old, battle hardened business man did not accept failure and went to great lengths to instill those values on all of his workers. In truth he did enjoy the small talks he held with his daughter despite being as strict as he was, “Be sure to keep me updated with the results.” He hung up and after a small moment he sighed before looking at a picture of a blonde haired woman holding a baby in her arms. “Samantha… if only you could see our daughter now. She has grown into quite the capable woman. If she is anything like you I know I don’t have to worry about her working without me there.”


Done with reminiscing, he pulled an envelope out from his desk drawer and called to his secretary, “Send in Shade.” As the hooded male entered the room, a gas mask snugged tightly to his face, he saluted the head of Niflheim, “I have a job for you. From now until the end of the month you will be attending Leslie Academy in Japan. Your purpose is to blend in, gather Intel on Veil Corp and to eliminate anything that threatens our company there. You are to report to the Tokyo Skytree’s 28th floor by no later than noon. Any questions?” The male shook his head before departing the room. “My most dangerous Enforcer and first successful human subject, Shade Azukaki… I have high expectations of you.”

 

[Monokuma.is.best]

I hope you enjoyed this Sneak Preview!

 

[The Confusion]

Now I'm no expert on books - and admitadly, I don't read enough of them -, but this story confused me in some intriguing ways.


Initially the prologue thrusts you into this dystopian world with casual remarks about a disembodied head, and that all just went right past me. Sometimes this technique works, but I feel you threw too little at the reader to make them identify with the Alex character.


The reason I specify identifying with that character is because a book in this genre is typically written with the protagonist being put into a situation where they are hurt on an emotional and/or physical level. I felt like I was reading over a weekly news report on a tragic series of events, documented from a prison inmate's perspective. I guess I could say it felt overbearing, but that doesn't show the writing's merits.


I really enjoy how you put all your cards out on the table in a way that is just so wild and crazy that it's believable. If you are playing poker, and your buddy shows a royal straight flush. It seems so unlikely but it happens more often than one would think.


Overall, I liked the writing and hope to see more!

 

[Monokuma.is.best]

Thank you, I will definitely keep that in mind as I edit and increase more details about the story. I appreciate you letting me know.

 

[Monokuma.is.best]

Oh and Alex isn't the protagonist.

 

[The Confusion]

[QUOTE="Shade Wraith]Oh and Alex isn't the protagonist.

[/QUOTE]
The reason I said that character seemed like the protagonist is simply because they are forced into hardship. Unless you're gonna just pull a Birdman on me, and constantly shift angles, then I don't think as a book, it'll be easy to tell who the protagonist.


Sorry if I came off as harsh or rude

 

[Monokuma.is.best]

Lol you are fine. There are plenty of main characters in this story but Shade is the main protagonist, Alex wont matter until later. Think of Stein from Soul Eater. He is a character that shows up on occassion but he isn't delved into to much until later in the series where he will be used to extend the story further. The same thing here. I want Alex to be an enigma in the beginning so people, in the back of their heads, will wonder what ever happened to that head and Alex?