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Introduction to Zofia Vik, in her words:
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My name is Zofia Vik.
I am a mercenary team captain, a decorated hero, and a wanted criminal. I am a cyborg, a monster- barely human. But it wasn't always so.
I had a family, friends- a husband. My life was peaceful and beautiful... until They came- the unit of men in skeletal uniforms. They changed everything.
In the early morning of the 18th of January, the year 81 PA, I was born to a humble farmer and his homemaker wife. Sheltered from the outside world, in the valley called "Freedom", I spent most of my childhood exploring the outdoors. I was a friendly and outgoing child, and got along well with all of my peers as well as the adults. I never earned a scolding save for my wanderlust, which would occasionally frighten my parents.
I was just five when "The Outsiders" came to our village. Some were tall and beautiful, others were short and stout, but all were alien to our human populace. They were called Elves and Dwarves. They had somehow traveled through a dimensional portal and couldn't find their way home. The townspeople were quick to accept them, and soon they became valued members of the community.
I took a special liking to an Elven sculptor by the name of Xavier and I would often bring him flowers from my wanderings. Eventually he became my friend and mentor, teaching me to speak, read, and write in his melodic language. I guess I always did love him, but then with the innocent respect and wonder of a child. As I grew so did my love, and shortly before my sixteenth birthday I became his bride, much to the dismay of a childhood friend and would-be suitor.
The following Spring, on a cheerful day in May, I wandered out again up onto the hill overlooking the village. New flowers dotted the landscape, and I went to pick some for Xavier. The winter had been very cruel, and his studio cold and drab.
But a strange scent caught my attention- smoke. My village was being invaded by large metal machines, and buildings were burning and collapsing. Panicked and confused, I ran to the scene. Soldiers in black and white skeletal armor were everywhere, and shooting everyone who moved.
I managed to make it to the studio, but what I found there turned my blood cold. In that moment, the world stopped. There, in a pool of blood lie my husband, and so stunned was I that I didn't see the shots coming....
I should be dead, but by some cruel twist of fate the suitor, who had gone away to become a Cyber Doctor, had returned to the village to find me barely alive. My limbs had been crushed and a quarter of my skull had been blown away.
I awoke in a sterile room, alone & screaming. I had been plagued with nightmares for, what I would later discover to be, months. My arms and legs were made of metal, as well as part of my face and one of my eyes.
The Doctor, Dwight, had saved me. He'd taken me in and cared for me, but according to him everyone else in my village had been slain, including my beloved Xavier. He insisted I would get better and return to my old self, but I did not. How could I ever?
My waking was followed by nearly a year of sadness, lost in a depressive trance of grieving. My days were full of tears, and my nights- nightmares. Months passed that I wished I had died with my village. Many times Dwight offered to cover my metal with flesh, but I refused. To me that would be like trying to cover up the past in an attempt to put it behind, but I didn't want leave it behind. Every time I looked in the mirror I wanted to remember.
When the sadness passed, the year of anger came. It was then that I realized that I was the only one left to bring those responsible to justice, but what justice can there be when those responsible are the most powerful nation on Earth? The Coalition was known for human supremacy, destroying other races and all those who embraced them. Their army was undefeated and they moved upward in the Americas claiming mine, as well as other lands for their own.
Strangely enough, I would finally find my purpose in the form of a television advertisement. Tolkeen, the city where I had been taken, was looking for soldiers. Being a partial cyborg, I could be helpful to them... and they to me. At the dinner table I announced my induction into the military, to Dwight's dismay.
Regardless, there I went and there I remained for four long years.
At the age of 24, I emerged from the military- a Corporal, a soldier, equipped with military grade bionic limbs and heavy weaponry. And at the age of 24 I set out to meet my destiny.
Since then, I have made myself a hero to Tolkeen and a public enemy of my enemy. I am wanted by The Coalition, which is how I desire it. I want them to know I'm coming for them. I want them to know my name.
I am Zofia Vik.
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