Nilla glanced around, taking in the desolation of the decayed facility. The once-powerful machinery lay dormant, their purpose long forgotten in the darkened halls. The air was thick with a musty, damp staleness, mingling with the sharp metallic tang of decayed flesh and the fresher scent of blood—blood that now coated her hands, a grim reminder of the bandits she had slain.
Nilla raised her blood-stained hands to eye level, her gaze fixated on the crimson smears that adorned her skin. Slowly, she extended her long, forked tongue, running it over her fingers in a deliberate, languid motion. She savored the metallic taste, letting the moment linger until her hands were licked clean. Her attention shifted to a severed arm lying near the pod she had emerged from. Without hesitation, she bent down, picked it up, and sank her teeth into it with a powerful bite, tearing away a chunk of flesh. She chewed on it like a treat, the act disturbingly casual as if it were a delicacy plucked fresh from a market stall.
As she wandered through the facility, she moved with unsettling ease, stepping over carcasses, rusted machinery, and thick roots that had overtaken her tomb. Nature had claimed this place, spreading through the ruins like a parasite. Yet, even as she walked through the remnants of her prison, she felt no sign of Dr. Gero’s presence. The dilapidation and eerie stillness of the facility suggested something catastrophic had occurred. Whatever it was, it had freed her from her cage, and now she roamed its broken halls, unbound and hungry for answers—or perhaps something more.
Upon exiting the facility, Nilla had long since devoured the severed arm she had picked up, savoring every last bite as though it were a fine delicacy. Her gaze shifted to the vehicles the bandits had arrived in—odd contraptions compared to the decayed, rusted transports once used by the Red Ribbon Army. These vehicles, despite their dents, scratches, and bullet holes, appeared far more advanced and modern, a testament to how much the world had changed during her confinement.
“
Hmmm, let’s see how the world looks outside this forest,” she murmured to herself, a glint of curiosity and mischief sparking in her light pink eyes. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and released the pressure that had been building within her for years. A pulse of Ki radiated from her body, flickering like purple flames before dissipating into the air in a minor shockwave.
As the energy settled, she crouched slightly before launching herself into the sky with a sudden burst of speed. The dense forest beneath her became a blur as she soared higher, the sunlight bathing her light pink skin in a warm glow. The wind whipped through her dark hair as she ascended, and for the first time in decades, she was free—free to see what lay beyond the trees, beyond her prison. The world had moved on, and now it was her turn to explore it.
Nilla gazed down upon the vast expanse of the ocean and the lands stretching before her, her eyes filled with a mixture of awe and contemplation. The world below was peaceful in some places, yet scattered with the chaos that often came with human existence. Still, the beauty of the world struck her deeply—fields, cities, mountains, and rivers all brimming with life. It was a world she had never truly experienced, a world she had been shut out from.
As she soared higher, her thoughts turned inward. Nilla had never known what it was like to be a normal child. She had never known the warmth of family love, or the comfort of being cared for by people who saw her as more than a tool, a weapon, or an experiment. The emotional void she had lived with for so long was only made worse when she stumbled upon hidden recordings and notebooks left behind by her original creators, Dr. Renvi and Oswald Schweetz. These papers revealed fragments of her origins, of the people who had given her life, but not her humanity.
Were they alive? Or had time claimed them as well? The thought stirred something deep within her. She longed for answers, to understand why she was created, to understand what it meant to be truly loved and cared for. She didn’t know if she could ever experience that love or if it would even be possible, but the questions lingered. She had lived for so long with a sense of isolation, and now she sought something more—a connection, a purpose beyond the cruel experiment that had defined her existence.
With determination in her heart, Nilla resolved to find those answers, to seek the truth hidden within the secrets of her creation. She was no longer just an experiment. She was a being with her own will, her own desires, and a future to claim. And no matter where that journey led her, she would find her answers.
