Chapter 3 - EVA

'I mean, see... Who doesn't overprepare for an Apocalypse?'

Levi murmured as he rushed towards his lab, recalling a popular line from the hit webnovel he was reading a few months ago… He didn't actually follow the advice. It was illogical and highly unlikely… 

And never had he thought that he would swallow his own words back then…

Until it was revealed that he was being drafted for war for the very first time.

And over-prepare he did.

What is being conscripted if not the end of the world for a Biomechanic?

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… …

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From minor Genetic enhancements to elevating his already rigorous training regime, Levi kept breaking his own records, competing well above human standards… Expanding his already relevant skills to far greater detail. Revisiting free running, melee combat mastery, tactical deployment, stealth and target shooting in a more 'wartime' standpoint.

Continuing to improve himself. Making use of the 2 Years Advanced Notice he had been given due to the 'Merits' he had earned from his country. His efforts and contributions only amounted to such, an issue he was forced to accept after seeing modern warfare for the very first time.

Tactical weaponry that can blast cities, swarms of drones carrying ranged weaponry and even explosives... Soldiers were simply cannon fodder in the modern age. And while the papers he had published were significant in itself in pushing human physiology, and improving soldier capabilities… 

They are nothing, if not minor when explosives and drones start raining down from the sky…

Or at least that was what he thought until his superiors published a modified version of his research not even a year after Levi migrated to another country. Earning him the magnitude of contribution Levi should have had.

Nevertheless the issue was, unless he could advance his study to allow fleshly bodies to have the capability to rebuild at a molecular level, there wasn't even any point in improving soldier capabilities at least when it comes to open combat.

So he switched his focus on another project. A technology he used to sweep up victories and thrive earning him several promotions in the short amount of time he was active on the battlefield during the second war.

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[EVA] "Booting up Core functionalities..."

[EVA] "Requesting Access to Sensory and Core Memory Functions..."

'Granted.'

[EVA] "Connection Established."

'Initiate emergency protocols.'

[EVA] "Analyzing the current situation… Unable to detect the presence of the public network…"

[EVA] "Creating assessment based on recent observations stored in memory."

[EVA] "Creating a list of essential supplies, and equipment…"

…

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[EVA] "All Crucial Supplies and Equipment confirmed to have been equipped."

[EVA] "Creating a navigation plan towards the nearest safe zone..."

[EVA] "Calculating…"

[EVA] "..."

[EVA] "..."

[EVA] "..."

[EVA] "---- Overridden."

Levi's eyes opened, gradually allowing his state of mind to stabilize, once again familiarizing himself to the foreign consciousness giving himself some time to stabilize, immediately turning off the Core Automated Mapping Functionalities having read the information prompted within his inner mind.

EVA is an AI directly embedded in Levi's Brain. Unlike traditional tech, EVA take's energy directly from the Body's energy conversion system, allowing the AI to function perpetually as long as the user sustains it. A Biotech created by Levi, that even for him was ahead of time. 

The earlier versions of [EVA] was battery powered and was something he attach as part of his glasses. That severely limited it's capabilities but Levi had to make do with what he can to prepare as he got drafted for the second war of his life.

Levi knowing that there would eventually come a third… continued working on [EVA]. His position allowing him to leverage access towards life-sentenced filth. Levi being cold enough to ignore ethics after having fought countless battlefields.

The chance of his brain shutting down, the only thing preventing him from directly embedding the AI at the back of his skull, settling for having the surgeons installing all the necessary components. The Core, the only thing missing, should there come a time for Levi to need it.

And such time eventually came.

.

Removing all unnecessary functionalities, Levi slowly walked towards the ledge. Chills running down through his spine urgency, dread and excitement filling him as he walked towards the edge of the now divided unit, 

With a deep breath, Levi took his final step over the ledge, exhaled, and allowed himself to fall.

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[EVA] Turning on Gliding Suit as Instructed.

Whoshum!

The gliders integrated into his military suit activated, causing his fall to halt and then slightly lift up in the air. Swinging and circling to maneuver, Levi easily evaded the huge chunks of debris seemingly aimed at him.

[EVA] easily predicting the motions, feeding information in Levi's brain, feeding assistive routes directly to Levi's brain. Helping him adapt to the chaotic situation. 

Aside from gaining the ability to temporarily enhance his vision up to adjustable telescopic levels, EVA is able to detect presences in a short 360 field. This includes Heat Vision, Night vision, and a limited X Ray field. 

This, along with the ability to directly send information and project images into Levi's brain at real time speeds was the core functionalities Levi worked hard to integrate during the production stage of the project. An after thought of awe and fulfillment filling Levi despite the circumstances after confirming that the project he worked so hard for is now confirmed to be a full success.

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[EVA] Unknown Presence Approaching. Would you like me to enable Core Aiming functionalities?

'Denied.'

Levi rejected, as he examined the three screens that appeared on the side of his vision. The visual showed a more focused and zoomed in version of Levi's point of view, the screen showing what looks to be human sized birds... [EVA] as Levi designed, automatically showing the measurements and suggesting size comparisons, as well as speed projections as the AI detected Levi's subconscious thoughts.

'Besides their size, these... Ravens seem to be emanating black fog...'

Levi noted, commanding EVA to disable the glider on his left arm, Levi switching his route to gain a better line of fire towards the direction of the nearest monster instantly shooting at the human sized raven before it could even react.

It took two bullets but he finally managed to hit the raven's shoulder, or at least he thought so. Strangely his bullet simply passed through the raven. The Raven didn't even flinch, continuing to circle around before accelerating towards him. 

Even faster this time.

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[EVA] Estimating that the nearest raven would be able to catch up to Levi within 10 to 15 seconds.

Levi's mind turned cold, as he focused on gliding away from the three ravens. Commanding EVA to project a slowed down recap of what happened just now…

'Odd.' Levi murmured, noticing something peculiar with the behavior of the raven just now.

From there on Levi started testing the bird's capabilities. Controlling his stance to glide nearby the other buildings, randomly firing gunshots while intentionally leading the birds to blindspots. The utter lack of caution of the birds, obvious at first while a second take told him otherwise…

'They seem to be driven by instinct… If not violence. Another thing is that...'

Landing on the railing after a sharp turn, Levi waited for the Raven to pass by him doing a quick double tap directly aiming at the Raven leading the flock.

The raven seemingly confident at first, didn't even try to dodge and continued charging at Levi. It's body slightly shifting to the side knowing that Levi would follow up with another shot. What happened however was clearly different than the bird expected.

Similar to before, smoke emanated from the human sized raven causing one of the bullets to pass through, it was soon revealed however that the bird only had the ability to phase through a very short amount of time. The intentionally delayed second bullet slamming against the head of the Raven, smoke gushing out of it as the impact stunned the creature causing it to fall rapidly towards the ground. 

Crashing into the ground, blood, flesh and smoke soon spread out from the raven planted to the ground. The first of the Winged terrors chasing Levi now finally dead.

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Without delay, Levi was already falling once again by the time the two other Ravens closed in. One of the two Ravens crashed into the glass wall in an attempt to rush at Levi, while the other one simply phased through. Causing screams and echoes from other people that were hiding inside the building. 

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Turning his head slightly, he breathed out a sigh of relief as the two ravens opted to follow their 'prey' rather than looking for easy targets.

Carrying on with his plan, Levi deployed his parachute and navigated towards a relatively open field that was just outside the edge of the city.

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To be continued.