Woke Up Different Part Two

A softly humming holo-projector descended from the ceiling with a shimmer. With a flick of his wrist, the doctor conjured a translucent 3D model of Riven's body, though it didn't quite look human.

Riven's eyes narrowed. "What the hell am I looking at?"

"Your new self, Mr. Cael," Kel said, positively gleaming with pride. "Fascinating, isn't it? At first glance, you seem fully human. But on a cellular level…"

He zoomed in. The tissue shifted, pulsed, and shimmered with a faint, golden bioluminescence.

"You've been rewritten. Your anatomy, your cell structure, your core mana lattice, all fundamentally different. Your nervous system alone has extra synaptic folds, and your muscles show regeneration rates that frankly make trolls look like geriatrics with arthritis."

Riven raised an eyebrow. "And that's… good?"

"Well, no!" Kel said brightly. "It's impossible." He swiped again. The model split open, revealing mana flow diagrams laced with monster-style veins and insectoid echo-trails. "Ordinarily, when someone is infected, especially by a Category Blue predator-type like the one that bit you, they die. Even if they mutate, their body collapses under the pressure. Monster mana is chaotic. Rebellious. It fights the host."

He leaned in, practically vibrating.

"But you? You didn't just survive. You stabilized. Integrated. Your body merged with the invasive mana without disintegrating, and more curiously, without distorting your physical form. You should be a human-sized praying mantis with a hunger for spinal fluid. Instead…"

Riven looked down at his own hands, flexing them slowly. They still looked like his. Pale, lean. Human.

"…I'm still me."

"On the outside," Kel agreed. "Inside, you're something else entirely."

Then he sighed, wistful. "Such a shame you've woken up, really."

Riven blinked. "Excuse me?"

The doctor gave a regretful smile, eyes glinting behind his glasses. "I was just about to begin the next stage of my research. You know, cutting you open to see how deep the changes go."

There was a silence.

Then Riven deadpanned, "Well damn, I guess I ruined your evening."

Riven slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed, the monitor cables pulling taut against his skin. He gave the doctor a flat look. "Well, since I'm apparently the miracle of the month and still have all my parts, I guess I'll be on my way now."

He started to stand.

A voice like polished steel cut through the room.

"I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere, Mr. Cael."

The woman in the suit stepped forward, producing a sleek black ID card. She held it up just long enough for its glowing insignia, a silver ouroboros curled around a judicial scale, to flash across the room.

"Agent Virell," she said. "Union Compliance Division. Level Seven Oversight."

Riven squinted. "That supposed to mean something to me?"

"It should," she replied, calm but sharp. "Because under Article Forty-Two of the Central Union Charter, any individual who exhibits monster-class biological traits post-mutation must be evaluated under non-civilian classification. Which means…"

She stepped closer. "You are, by technical definition, no longer human."

Riven stared. "What?"

Kel let out a soft, intrigued whistle behind her.

Virell's gaze remained cold and focused. "As such, you no longer qualify for standard human rights. You cannot vote. You cannot own property. You cannot walk the streets unsupervised. And most importantly…"

She tilted her head, voice dropping like a hammer.

"…you cannot leave this facility."

Riven's fists clenched on the bed frame. "You're saying I'm a prisoner?"

"I'm saying," she continued smoothly, "you are currently classified as an unidentified Class Delta biological anomaly. A potential threat. And therefore, by law, your rights have been revoked pending review."

He laughed once, low and disbelieving. "That's insane. I'm me. I talk. I think. I don't eat people."

Virell didn't blink. "Yet."

She slipped the ID card back into her jacket, eyes never leaving his.

"Furthermore," she added, "the Guild that recovered your body filed a Claim of Custodial Salvage. Technically, you're their property. But due to the extraordinary nature of your… survival, the Union has exercised eminent domain. For your safety. And ours."

Riven's expression turned blank. Too blank.

"So," he said slowly, "I'm not a person. I'm Union property. Like a lost sword. Or a haunted rock."

The silence that followed was heavy.

"Correct," Virell said.

Virell folded her arms. "All that remains now is confirmation. As a representative of the Central Union, I order you to display your status."

Riven blinked. Slowly. "You're kidding."

She didn't answer. Just waited.

He glanced at the doctor. "You're telling me that with all your fancy toys, mana-threaded monitors, and real-time genetic scanners… you still haven't checked my status?"

Dr. Kel looked more sheepish than ashamed. "Ah. Yes, about that. We've… tried. Repeatedly. But strangely enough, none of the Union-issue analyzers could get a read on you. We even calibrated a Class-S mana probe, but," he shrugged helplessly, "nothing. The system treats you like a blank."

"Like I don't exist?" Riven asked.

"More like you exist outside the system's current understanding," Kel replied, eyes sparkling with fascination. "Which, frankly, is even more exciting."

Virell stepped forward again, voice cutting through the space like a blade. "And that's precisely why you must comply. Until you display your status manually, your classification remains unconfirmed. So show us. Now."

Riven's eyes narrowed.

Just as he was about to answer, a strange pressure pulsed at the back of his head.

And then, he heard a collection of female voices.

"We don't like her. She's painfully annoying. Let us eat her eyes."

For a split second, Riven's vision shifted, like it glitched.

Suddenly,

The sterile hospital room flickered and in that moment, Virell was sprawled across the tile floor in a pool of her own blood, her head twisted back in horror, her mouth agape mid-scream.

And then,

She was back. Perfectly composed. Perfectly alive.

Still staring at him like he was a threat.

He blinked, stunned.

"What the hell was that?"

Virell took a step forward, misunderstanding his hesitation. "If you do not comply, you will be treated as hostile. There are four heavily armed officers stationed outside this room. I can call them in with a single word."

Riven sighed, shoulders rising and falling with exaggerated calm.

"Fine," he muttered. "Let's play your little game."

He raised a hand, the air humming faintly with mana.

"…Open Status Window."