<table><tbody><tr><td>Applying mandatory update...done


    Receiving incoming call: Carl</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <Hi Ellowyn.> A slightly high pitched male voice rang within her head.


    <Carl?>


    <Yeah. I need you to get a hold of yourself.>


    <I''m trying.>


    <I know you are. You don''t have to talk out loud, just think of what to say and I''ll hear it.>


    <I need to save Alice.>


    <I know, but I need you to calm down before I can help.>


    <I thought you aren''t allowed to help me. Never mind that, tell me what to do.> She took a deep breath and recomposed herself.


    <First I''ll need you to confirm your hero system with Rexis, since she might interrupt you later out of confusion.>


    Ellowyn turned to Rexis. "I need you to listen to me carefully."


    "Yes, Miss Ellowyn."


    "I have the hero system. But an incomplete one, I''ve been keeping it a secret out of fear that Tom will reject me."


    Rexis widened her eyes. "Why are you telling me now?"


    "I couldn''t use the system earlier because something was jamming it. But I can use it now and I need to save Alice. The things I''m about to do are... strange but I need to pay full attention or else she might die. Therefore, please don''t interrupt me."


    "Understood."


    Ellowyn switched back to the call.


    <First I need you to gather Alice''s poisoned blood sample.>


    Without thinking, Ellowyn lifted Alice''s shirt to show the exposed purple skin of Alice''s abdomen, swollen blood vessels interweaved like spiderwebs. She used her fingers to pinch the stung area, making purple blood flowed out from the wound. Here goes nothing. She bent down and used her wet lips to lick and suck the poisoned blood into her mouth, ignoring the gasps in her surroundings.


    The blood tasted a strange sweet metallic with a hint of bitterness from the poison.


    <Is that enough?>


    <Yes, although you could have used a syringe in a medical pouch on Alice''s belt.>


    Ellowyn blushed and cursed at herself. <Couldn''t you have told me earlier?>


    <You acted too fast, sorry.>


    She could feel the smirk in his tone.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Analyzing blood sample...done


    Analyzing poison....done


    Initializing antibodies production</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <I''m going to start your other body processes to get you ready for battle.>


    <I''m going to fight?>


    <You need to go out there and stall the invading army.>


    <This isn''t a joke, Carl.> She clenched her teeth.


    <table><tbody><tr><td> Initializing adrenaline production(storage)


    Starting retrieval of energy from fat cells


    Warming up muscle tissues</td></tr></tbody></table>


    She felt a burning sensation throughout her body. Its like I''m jogging at full throttle.


    <Who said I''m joking? I''ll explain when you''re on your way.>


    <Why not now?>


    <No time. There is not enough energy from your fat cells because you''re too taut. Go find some food, preferably protein bars.> Carl urged.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Initializing subspace storage retrieval</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <You''re summoning my gear now?>


    <I''m trying to save time, now go load yourself with some food.>


    "Rexis."


    "Y-Yes?" Rexis came out of her shocked daze.


    "Do you have any food, protein bars or snacks, anything?"


    "Not on me, but I think Bob has some in his pack."


    "What''s going on?" Bob returned just in time.


    "Bob, I need any food that you have."


    "Here." He passed her a bundle of energy bars from his pocket.


    <Shove them down, you don''t need to chew.>


    <I''ll choke!>


    <Just hurry up.>


    She gobbled the bars down like no tomorrow. Taste like rubber.


    "Is she alright?" Bob asked Rexis.


    "She told me that she needed to use the system." She reported truthfully.


    Bob simply nodded.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Processing food at hyperactive rate</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The burning sensation became hotter, spreading from her stomach area.


    "Ellowyn, you''re glowing!" Rexis exclaimed.


    Ellowyn looked down to see her stomach glowing brightly along with the blood vessels on her arms and leg. Am I a damn lightbulb?


    <Some of the energy absorbed is wasted through light emission. You need water to cool down.>


    She drank a nearby water bottle laying on the ground and the glowing subsided.


    More gasps ensued as a glowing box materialized on the ground next to her.


    <Wear your gear, the antibodies are almost done.>


    She hadn''t the time to go look for a changing room in such a chaotic place. For Alice''s sake.  Closing her eyes, she stripped into her underwear in front of everyone.


    Because her baggy jeans and shirt would restrict her movement when she wore the tight combat suit that consisted mostly of thruster straps, she had to include a very thin body-hugging shirt and short shorts to at least look half decent while fighting.


    It was why she couldn''t bring any piece of wearable armor that was desperately needed. She finished the combat attire with a small black cap. Because her hair was too long to be squeezed entirely under the cap, she let a short pony tail tucked under the back of her shirt. She was glad the pair of rabbit ears were soft and flexible, though squeezing them inside the cap did make her rather uncomfortable. I’ll cut two holes in the cap, if I live through this that is.


    Colored illustration:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    I cut out a screenshot from the game Love Beat (its like Audition)


    I can''t care any less right now. We all could die.


    It appeared that aside from Alex who was with the absent Sophie, there were no other heroes aside from herself. And even if there were, they would have been affected by the system jam she experienced earlier.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Antibodies production completed</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <Now take the syringe and extract carefully the antibodies stored in your lymph nodes.>


    She opened Alice''s medical pouch, took the syringe, and placed it at the dozens of spots the system indicated on her body.


    "I''m going to give Alice the antibodies. She should be stable after a few hours." She injected the syringe into Alice''s major blood vessels.


    "Aren''t you being a little too confident? You''re facing potentially hundreds of hostile in a short and shirt." Bob''s voice was laced with worry.


    <Tell him that you have my support.>


    "I have the support of a system admin." Ellowyn showed him her most serene gaze. She wanted to express her true thoughts, that a single hit from the things out there could take her life, that whatever she was attempting to do was bat shit crazy even to herself.


    "I know how tight lipped they are so I''ll refrain from asking. Just tell me, Ellowyn." He stared into her eyes, "That you''ll live."


    She could do nothing but return him a soft smile, a single tear rolled down her cheek.


    "Ellowyn..." A groan escaped Alice''s lips.


    Ellowyn sat down and brought her face close to Alice''s.


    "Where ...are... going?" She whimpered.


    "I''m going to be a hero." Ellowyn kissed her forehead.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Initializing Teleport, distance: 10 meters, est: 20 seconds</td></tr></tbody></table>


    She was surrounded by for blue transparent walls, glowing brighter by the second.


    <Really? Those were your last words and you had to be so cheesy?> Carl laughed.


    <Shut up> She wanted to bury her head.


    <We have some time, tell me what''s going on> She inquired.


    <I''m listening.>


    <30 minutes ago, I received your log and examined it. The invaders are using a certain soul stream jamming technique that renders any hero system useless in the vicinity. This is against the Terms of Service within this world. So as compensation, I have been assigned by my sector manager to assist you in stopping the jamming.>


    <Can''t you just have an angel descend to give judgement with a flaming sword or something?>


    <We are no angels, Ellowyn, just contractors. And the violation wasn''t severe enough to call for direct attention. Only world level ones do.>


    <Why me? Why do I have to stop this army of doom and not the other dozens of professional heroes out there?>


    <Because I only have the backdoor to your system. The others kept their system private and it''d take too long to contact them. You''re the only one immune to the jamming, I need you to disable the  jammers before the other heroes arrive.>


    <How?>


    <The jamming stations are set up just outside the perimeter of the school, just go there and touch them.>


    <You want me to rush through the entire enemy lines and touch some sort of jamming station?>


    <Yes.>


    <What happens if I fail?>


    <There would be nothing we can do about the school and everyone in it. If that is what you''re wondering, I can''t disclose anything else.>


    <So I''m just the janitor that has to clean the mess you guys made.>


    <Ellowyn, I''m trying to give you a hand here. Sigh. Why am I doing this.>


    <Sorry. I know its been hard on you too.>


    <Its not your fault. Now focus on following my guidance and maybe you''ll make it out of here alive.>


    She closed her eyes and thought back of all the training she did in the past two weeks.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Teleport complete</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <Take cover>


    She appeared on the other side of the gates instantly, dashed forward, and hid herself behind a large turret wreck to survey the situation. The enemy forces had reached almost 100 meters from the gate, with the last few standing turrets near her heavily damaged.


    <Looks like the front line is made of low grade units, you should have no problems passing through.> Carl said.


    <And how would I do that, charge into their front?>


    <Yes>


    <I was joking!>


    Boom. she could feel the heat when a stray explosive round hit the ground near her.


    <There is no problem if you come at them head on. The problem with having so many units packed inside an enclosed space is that their reaction time can''t catch up to your charging speed. By the time you managed to squeeze through the first row, the second row won''t have enough time to respond to you and so on.>


    <But they''re scattered all over the place.>


    <What I said still applies. Take a deep breath and go.>


    <Okay.> She did just that.


    <Hold it, did you forget something?>


    <The surveillance drones!>  Sigh, pull yourself together Ellowyn.


    <Don''t worry, I''ve already deployed and scattered them around the tunnel. You did a good job on them.>


    It took her three day and nights to assemble nearly seventy cam drones, most of the components she bought with her Sentria account. And with Tommy''s help, she had made upgrades so that they could withstand light damage and be extremely agile in flight.


    <Let me link them to you>


    Virtual video feeds of the drone and the 3D map of the tunnel appeared in her vision.


    <Alright, I think you''re good to go. The energy from the protein bars you ate should be able to sustain you for the run towards the other side of this tunnel. Now go!>


    The battle inside the tunnel could only be described as chaotic, with the school''s defense bots mingled with bots, wolves and bears of the invaders, numerous explosions took place every second from turret fire support of both sides.


    No one noticed the small dashing figure of Ellowyn heading towards the fight.


    A moment later, one wolf saw her heading towards them and signaled the other four to charge.


    You can do this. With her blood pumped full of adrenaline, she followed the system''s split second instructions and  slipped between the small gap of two wolves.


    She could feel their thick fur rubbing against her chest and back as they passed her sides.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    By the time the four wolves turned around, they had already lost sight of her behind all the other alarmed and chasing hostiles.


    A large imposing bear stood in her way, its sharp claws slashed towards her face.


    She leaned her body to the side and slipped under its arm and by its side. A horrifying stench assaulted her nostrils as she slipped by its arm pit.


    Two wolves spotted and lunged towards her, but they were a second too late. She rolled forward and passed them effortlessly.


    She almost slammed herself into the force field of an attacking bot, but managed to thrust her rifle in her right hand forward and blasted its chest.


    <Their surveillance drones spotted you, take them down.>


    Ellowyn swapped the rifle with two handguns, pointed at her blind spot, and hit the flying winged drone. Her other hand shot down a second one at her left blind spot.


    Then she jumped and climbed on a bear that was fighting a defense bot, and jumped off, leaving two bots chasing her stuck behind it.


    It didn''t take long for her to reach the halfway point. However the drones there were bigger, some equipped with shields lining up to stop her. The gap between the row of units were getting smaller.


    She lost her focus for a second and a stray bullet grazed her thigh. Come on!


    A stray bee attacked from her blind spot but she bashed it away with her shield. Another bee split itself into half when it slammed into her wire blade.


    <You see the flying bot too right?>


    A white flying humanoid bot with metallic wings hovered above her, watching her every move. She tried shooting it but her bullets did nothing to its force field.


    Then an attack warning came, a yellow spark and bullet hole appeared at the ground she sidestepped from. The flying bot was firing at her.


    <It may have a human controller.> Carl said.


    More bullets followed, forcing her to use the surrounding hostile bodies as covers.


    Oh give me a break! A second flying bot appeared on her left and started peppering her. Occasionally a few bullets would graze her skin, making red shallow cuts.


    One of the bot changed its target to her surveillance bots and fired clusters of small homing missiles. However, Carl maneuvered the agile spheres to evade with ease.


    <Nice one> She said.


    She approached a giant drill bot that headed towards the gate.


    <Should I do something about that?>


    <No, keep going.>


    More attack warnings came, she made a high leap before a loud explosion blew away everything behind her. The enemy support turrets near the entrance were targeting her, disregarding any friendly fire.


    She ran past slow turning turrets, jumped over a few more wolves and ran up the slopped hill made by the drill bot.


    The outside view gave her no hope, as an army of hostiles lay just outside of the hole. Each unit stood too close for her to slip her way through.There is no way I''m getting through this.


    <The system assist will guide you on top of the hostiles.>


    Blood drained from her face when she only realized what Carl meant by guiding on top.


    She leapt high into the air and landed on the back of a wolf. Then she continued the dangerous game of leapfrog on the backs of wolves and bears.


    She found it easier to hop on the force fields of unsuspecting bots since they made sturdier foot holds.


    A large hover airship towered over her and released its barrage of missiles.


    Bang. Bang. Bang. She managed to leap in a pattern so precise that every missiles missed, hitting somewhere within her close surroundings.


    She could feel parts of her skin being burned from the heat.


    <Get behind the airship>


    She followed the directions and slipped under and behind the ship.


    The airship turned around and fired its second barrage, but Carl directed one of her drones in front of the missile rack. The fired missile detonated upon hitting the drone, blowing up the entire rack.


    The large explosion sent the airship tumbling backward, crashing it landed right in front of the jamming station next to the school wall, blowing away the surrounding guard bots.


    <Activate your shield bracelet and rush there.>


    <But it only has enough energy for one minute>


    <Then you better hurry.>


    She knew all the attention was on her, even the system assist couldn''t help her dodge as her force field tanked the shots.


    In the corner of her vision, one of the flying bot flew towards her, gunblade ready.


    She jumped, raised her own rifle to block it, and used her airborne momentum to do a backward flip.


    The bot landed and charged towards her.


    <Run, you can''t fight it!>


    She turned around and dashed towards the jammer turret.


    The bot slashed down, penetrating her shield and towards her head but she already side stepped and shot at its foot to make it loose balance.


    She jumped and leapt on top of the few surviving guard bots fields and finally landed on the jamming turret. She put her hand on it, palm down.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Operator override


    Executing script: N/A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <One second...done, now get back to the tunnel.>


    <That was it?> Did he really disable the thing in one second?


    <I have bad news and good news.>


    <First help me get back in.> There was a chance she could die. Her force field only had a dozen seconds left and the fatigue effect from running the mile long tunnel was seeping in.


    <Can''t you hide me or teleport me away?> She asked.


    <No, I need you to get their attention.>


    <Why, isn''t my job over?>


    <Not yet.>


    The two flying bots stopped pursuing her and went towards the jammer to inspect it.


    She ditched the scolding bracelet that ran out of power and had to put her full focus on dodging incoming fire.


    Numerous shallow wounds scattered around her skin and two of her thrusters were nearly out of commision.


    She managed to make it back in the tunnel but one of the stray bullets lodged itself in her abdomen.


    She padded the scolding force blade of her handgun on the bleeding wound, searing it shut.


    <Here is the thing, I accessed their communication and discovered the flying bots are carrying class 2 nukes. Not enough to wipe the city, just the school sector. I think they''re keeping that as a last resort.>


    <But the bomb shelter will protect Alice right?>


    <The ensuing radiation will stop any rescue attempt until the cleaning finished, which could take weeks or months. And I doubt the shelter have the supply to last that long. I have put a timed code in the jammer''s matrix, it''ll activate in three minutes and changing all ground bot targets to those nuke carriers. The nuke canisters shouldn''t detonate when destroyed by force.>


    <What should I do for now?>


    <Keep them busy.>


    The flying bots came back inside the tunnel to look for her. She told them of her location by peppering them with the rifle.


    One of them headed straight for her while the other hovered above.


    Knowing that she can''t block the incoming slash, she side stepped and returned her slash. Its armor was so sturdy that her bladed didn''t leave a dent.


    <1 minute left> Carl said.


    She grimaced, dodged to the side, and slashed at its neck to no effect.


    "Arggg!" Because of their close proximity, the bot lunged forward. She had no time to dodge and its blade gouged a deep cut in her upper chest area, severing the thruster strap on her arm.


    It kicked her and she slammed her back to a turret wreck.


    Seeing that the bot can handle her, the other one turned and left.


    Damn it! She rolled to the side to dodge a downward slash before jumping back up. She hopped on the back of a wolf and used it as leverage to jump higher, onto the force field of the flying drone.


    She quickly slid from the field''s slippery surface but managed to stab her rifle''s blade onto the bot''s back. The blade found its way between a small crevice in its wings.


    The bot spun in mid air, trying to shake her off but crashed into the ground afterward. She was flung into the wall.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Warning


    3 ribs cracked


    1 rib broken


    internal bleeding


    ...</td></tr></tbody></table>


    She sat leaning to the wall, looked at the enraged bot that was flying towards her, and smiled.


    <Its show time.>


    Every other bots aside from the two flying ones opened fire, lighting the two force fields a blaze.


    The two bots panicked, flew high and towards the exit. But she had lured them deep within the tunnel.


    Within seconds, their force fields were down and the sound of metal being scraped by bullets rang out. Their casing were tough, but not tough enough to withstand the assault of hundreds of rifles and support turrets.


    More than half way through the tunnel, the two broke down and crashed.


    With the primary targets disabled, the other bots executed the rest of Carl''s command to attack every other units that were not robots.


    The ensuing battle was more chaotic than the first, with the confused wolves and bears attacking their own allies.


    <I don''t think I can disable the nukes from here.> Her body was a mess, internal organs bleeding, broken ribs and bleeding open wounds, with half of the thrusters broken from the fall.


    <Its fine. I don''t think their trigger mechanism would work anymore after that beating>


    She stood up, looked over the battlefield again, and limped back towards the gate. The system chose the least exposure route, where the enemies around her were so busy fighting each other that they hadn''t notice the small figure limping pass their backs.


    The journey back was agonizing and slow, she could feel her body slowly shutting down as a river of blood streamed behind her path..


    <I won''t make it, will I ?> She gave a bitter smile.


    Carl didn''t answer.


    Stepping in front of the giant metallic gates, she exhaled, sat down, and leaned her back to it.


    <Can you at least teleport me back in?>


    <Sorry Ellowyn, I don''t think the system has enough energy left for that.>


    <So it seems I have fulfilled my destiny huh.> She saw in her mind the images of Alice banging on that very gate, calling out her name in desperation. Live for me, Alice.


    She welcomed flashback of her life with Tom and Alice and of the life she had on Earth.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Warning, energy low: 2%


    Estimated emergency life support failure: 5 minute(s)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    A series of explosions rocked the tunnel. Six or seven figures descended from the invader''s hole. Two of which had metallic wings and were flying.  They were too far away to see her at that point, but she could see them well.


    A very buffed man swung around a giant sledge hammer that crushed everything in its path, even force fields popped like bubbles on impact.


    A woman held a giant cannon that spitted out lightning bolts, frying anything they touched.


    It might be because of her fatigued mind and the excessive blood loss, but she was seeing Alex wielding two swordblades and whirling around the battlefield at a frightening speed, ripping his targets into shreds. Had she not had her surveillance drones, he would only be a blur.Wouldn''t it be cool if I get to fight by his side?


    Overtaken by exhaustion, Her eyelids closed one last time.


    <Ellowyn, wake up.>


    She opened her eyes to find herself in the soul room, her gaze met that of a short red haired boy of around twelve years old. <Carl?>


    <You probably think that I look older right? This is my original look when I became a sys admin.>


    <How old are you then?>


    <I can''t say> He smirked. <I''m going to try and convince my boss to give you a compensation for what happened.>


    The silence lasted one short moment.


    <Do you want to continue living?>


    Unknowingly to those who were fighting, various dark figures sneaked around the place. They dragged any human body they could find towards the nearest small tunnel.


    "I got one with ears. We might get some good pay out of this one." One of them said, staring at the bloodied body of a frail rabbit-eared girl.


    GDoc link</a> Please, please comment in any errors you see. Its not that I’m lazy, but I’m too busy to proofread my chappies. >.<