At the camp, she was met with tired, distrustful glances. Newcomers were rare here. Those who came from the outside world without memories were called empty.
The Ashes camp lived by three rules: Fight, survive, pay. Everyone was required to hunt or serve hunters. Mutant trophies, such as bio-metal fragments, luminescent glands, and memory crystals, were exchanged. They served as both money, fuel, and purpose.
She was led to the command node building, the former server room. There, under the whirring fans and the glow of the old screens, Charon was waiting for her.
—Is that her? — He asked, crossing his arms. Tall, in heavy armor made of old plates, with a face streaked with scars.
— Yes. —Lyra confirmed: — White wax. Protective uniform. The system is active from the moment you wake up. Memory loss is classic.
—Test it?
— It has already happened. She deflected the blow of the "foggy" and struck back.
Charon looked at Annalise intently.
—You're not the first one to show up with no memory. But most of them die in a day. Or going crazy. If you want to stay, survive. You will be tested in the Shadow Belt. In the evening. If you can come back, you'll get access to the camp.
—And if I can't?
—Then you're just another mistake.
He turned and left. The room seemed to shrink.
Lyra put her hand on Annalise's shoulder.
—Don't be afraid. I'll go with you. And I'll give you one piece of advice.
—What's that?
—Don't use the power of wax without a purpose. It's like a living weapon. The more you use it, the deeper it penetrates.
Annalise didn't understand at first, but she felt cold.
*Half an Hour Before the Test*
Annalise sat on a narrow bunk in the barracks where the new recruits were temporarily housed. The room was cold and damp, smelling of metal, smoke, and tired bodies. The dim light of fluorescent lamps powered by an old generator filtered through the rusted cracks in the walls.
[You have entered a low-risk area. Automatic parameter adaptation.]
[Body Condition: Fatigue - 43%. Regeneration - slowed down.]
[Recommendation: Recovery before combat.]
—So you can already hear your system?— Lyra entered, leaning against the doorframe.
There was no surprise in her voice. Only a slight shadow of sadness.
—She doesn't say much, but she's direct. It's like I'm... not alone. — Annalise said, looking down at her hands.
That strange white coating appeared on the skin again, like wax. He disappeared if she didn't think about him, but now it seemed to her that he was living his life.
—You're not alone. Lyra replied softly, walking inside. —Wax is... a strange gift. He's like blood: he flows in you, but he has his own laws. You can't just order him around. You have to understand him first.
—What do you know about him?
Lyra thought about it, sitting next to him.
— I've heard the legend. Once upon a time, before the Fall, there were design substances - weapons of a new type. They were called "living tools." They merged with the man, changed him. White wax... he's one of them. Or a fragment of it.
Annalise felt her stomach tighten.
—So I'm... not human?
—You're bigger. — Lyra said seriously: —Or you'll get bigger. In this world, people who don't remember anything often carry remnants of old technologies. Someone is afraid of them. Somebody… He wants to use it.
—And Charon?
—He just wants to survive. And for that, we need strong people. Even if they are monsters.
***
The evening fell quickly. Smoke from burning torches rose over the camp, and groups of hunters began to gather near the southern gate. This was the beginning of the Shadow Belts, an area near the camp filled with mutant decayers, scum, and stray individuals. This was where the Initiations took place.
Annalise stood in the center of the circle, with a primitive blade in her hand—more like a piece of pipe with a sharpened edge. The wax trembled softly in her palms, as if waiting for an order.
"If you fail— we won't bring you back," Charon said, standing by the aisle. — If you run away, the system will automatically put you on the "abandoned" list. No one wants to mess with the fallen.
Lyra came over, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Just breathe." Don't panic. Use the shield. He will deflect the first blow. Then hit the joints. They're weaker than they look.
The gate opened. A mutant creature emerged from the shadows, covered with transparent translucent skin, under which blue veins pulsed. Metal needles protruded from his back, and his eyes glowed a poisonous green.
[Opponent identified: Small Chimeroid Class.]
[Recommended tactics: Defensive Stance. The use of the substance is allowed.]
Annalise took a deep breath.
—The shield. — She whispered.
The white wax instantly flared up, flowing out of her left arm, forming a rounded shield with a smooth surface, as if molded from bones. It crackled, pulsing in time with her heart.
The monster rushed forward.
Annalise put up her shield.
Hit. A crackle. Pain in the shoulder, but the shield held out.
She screamed, not out of fear, but out of anger. The wax on his right arm stretched out into a short spear, crooked, as if sculpted by a blind man. And in the next moment, a blow.
The spear plunged into the creature's side.
She screamed. She twitched. The light in her eyes flickered.
Annalise felt a strange tremor under her skin, as if her body was absorbing the residual glow from the monster. And the system whispered:
[Aura fragment absorbed.]
[Experience gained: +8.]
[Unlocked: Passive effect — "Droplet Crystallization".]
The monster collapsed. Silence.
A lone whistle sounded in the distance—one of the hunters.
Annalise was breathing heavily, clutching her shoulder.
Charon stepped forward and nodded.
— Welcome to the camp.
She nodded. But there was a completely different feeling inside her.
It wasn't just survival. That was the beginning.