B.U.I.S.

Sebastian

“Let's break up.”

Ria's expression twisted into one of confusion as she looked at me in confusion. The apartment went silent after my words but I remained calm.

“What?” Ria finally spoke, nudging my arm gently. “Are you playing a prank on me now? It's not funny, Sebastian.” She chuckled as she tried to grab my arm but I stepped away.

“You heard me the first time. I'm done.” I replied, shoving my hand into my pockets and John pushed his way to me, grabbing my shoulder.

“What the hell man? Why are you doing this? Ria loves you!” He whispered harshly as Ria started to sob and I let out a sigh, looking at him in disappointment.

“If this…” I gestured at the cake and the different boxes on the table. “...is what love is like, then I'm not sure I want it anymore.”

I turned to leave but John stopped me, a hostile expression on his face as he made me turn to Ria.

“You have to apologize for making her cry. She's your girlfriend!”

“Not anymore.” I replied calmly and he looked taken aback by how calm I was. “You know what you both are. You're free to be whatever you want to be now that I'm out of the picture.”

“You—” He fumed as he pushed me aside, crouching a bit to comfort Ria. “Are you saying we're together? Why will Ria cheat on you with me?”

“Hm?” I couldn't help but tilt my head in amusement. “I never said anything about anyone cheating. Unless you've both been doing just that.”

“Why are you doing this?” Ria suddenly asked as she wiped her tears. “You know I love you! I've been with you when you had no one. You're not just breaking up with me out of nowhere, you're also accusing me falsely… How could you be so cruel?”

Her voice broke as she spoke and if I didn't know better, I would have believed her. 

I couldn't be bothered with explaining my decisions to them, so I simply turned and walked towards the door. The moment my hand touched the doorknob, John's voice stopped me.

“If you leave now, we're no longer friends.” He hissed and I scoffed, tilting my head to look at him.

He had Ria in his arms as he comforted her and my lips curled slightly.

“You both should enjoy while you still can.” I replied and with that, walked out of the apartment, letting out a sigh of relief.

It was okay if I was misunderstood. None of that mattered anymore. Leaving was the most important thing.

I made my way out of the building and with my hands in my pockets, I glanced up at the cloudy sky. Even with the gloominess that this had cast over the city, it was still undeniably beautiful. Unfortunately, it would turn into a wasteland soon.

I continued my way back home but suddenly froze when I glanced at the billboard to see that the news reporter was talking about a case of two teenage boys going missing right after the explosion happened. 

It made my frown deepen because that didn't happen before. Were things changing?

Distracted, I continued walking but ended up bumping into a solid figure that almost knocked me off my feet. Arms wrapped around my waist, stopping me from falling and when I glanced up at him, I froze.

His grey eyes pierced mine with an amused look on his face and for a second, I was almost mesmerized. Almost.

The moment I came to my senses, I pushed him away. 

He looked so handsome that something stirred inside my chest. I hated to admit that it was jealousy, because if I were that handsome, Ria wouldn't choose someone else over me.

“You should watch where you're going, princess.” His smooth voice reverberated in my ears and anger swirled inside of me as I stared at him, hating him at once.

“Princess? Do I look fragile to you?” I asked as I straightened up, feeling frustrated. “You bumped into me, asshole. You want a taste of my fist instead? Let's see who's the fragile one here.”

He was obviously more muscular than me and I knew I could get in trouble with my words. But he simply scoffed, shoved his hands into his pockets and kept walking, making me confused.

What the hell was his problem? Who calls a man "princess" at first sight and then walks away like he said nothing?

When I turned and saw that he was gone, I finally returned to my apartment, grumbling under my breath.

As soon as I got home, I grabbed my suitcase, ready to leave when my vision suddenly blurred.

I paused, blinking for a while and when it became normal again, a screen suddenly appeared in front of my face, making me flinch.

I waved my hand over my face, trying to get rid of it, but it was like a hologram; my hand only passed through it.

“I am B.U.I.S. Your new Build Up Intentional System. I've been assigned to assist you in building up yourself for the future.” A robotic voice filled my ears and I froze, staring at it in confusion.

It followed me no matter the direction I walked to, and at that point, I was beginning to believe that maybe I had died and this was a dream instead. 

“What… are you?” I asked in confusion, trying to touch it once again but my fingers simply passed through.

“B.U.I.S. Your new Build Up Intentional System—”

“I'm sure I heard that the first time. What are you, Buis? An invisible robot? A new AI model? I thought all models had shut down.” I muttered in curiosity glancing at the blue blank screen with nothing but its name on it.

“I am a system bound to you and I am here to assist you in surviving the apocalypse again. You have been given a second chance after your death and all you need to do is follow the system's rules and protocols.” It replied and my brows raised.

Second chance? Surviving the apocalypse again? 

Was this a hallucination?

“There is no hallucination.” The robotic voice replied and I froze. “You fell to your death after your best friend and girlfriend left you to the zombies. You asked for a second chance and you got it. Your first mission of the day is—”

“Hold on, you can read my mind?” I asked in horror but got no response. That was definitely a yes. “That is quite creepy. And what do you mean mission of the day? I'm leaving Sloradath.”

“You can't leave. I am bound to you and if you try to leave, you will be terminated.” It replied and my blood ran cold. 

“Terminated?”

“Terminated. Which means you will die.” It said plainly, making me terrified. “Your first mission of the day is…”

It went silent as the mission flashed on the screen and I leaned closer to read it.

“Mission 001. Survive for the next one hour. Failure to survive would result in termination of specimen. Time left: 01:00:00. You cannot reject the mission, acceptance is involuntary.”

“And what if I don't want to do it? What if I wanna leave like I planned to? I'm not planning to die here again.” I muttered in exasperation, my heart thudding in my chest when the timer started.

“00:59:59.”

"You have to stay and survive the apocalypse." The system said and I scoffed, having enough of this bullshit.

“As a sensible human who has been given a second chance, I definitely won't waste it surviving an apocalypse. I'm leaving.” I said in annoyance, dragging my suitcase with me as I walked out of the apartment. The screen didn't disappear, and I could hear the system warning me not to breach the borders, but I ignored it.

Just as I made my way to the next corner, a car swerved out of nowhere, nearly hitting me. The timer was still counting loudly in my head, and I could barely breathe as I realized I had almost died.

I became more vigilant as I kept going, when suddenly, something whooshed past me. I had only managed to dodge before it got to me and my eyes widened when I saw a knife clatter to the ground. The one that would have stabbed my head if I didn't move on time.

“What the hell?” I asked shakily, looking back at the screen to see the ‘Survive For The Next One Hour’ flashing in red. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Complete the mission and you will live. Breach the border and you will be terminated.”

Horror filled my bones as I started to walk faster, looking around in panic for what might attack me. With the borders only a few kilometres from me, my heart suddenly soared as I kept going.

Suddenly, I heard a creaking sound that had me freezing. My head snapped up before I realized it and I saw that a huge boulder had snapped, ready to fall. 

With a yell, I jumped out of the way just in time for it to crash into my suitcase. My heart was pounding so hard now as I stood up and started to run. 

I didn't make it more than a few steps before my legs sank into the ground and I fell right into a puddle that probably wanted to swallow me whole.

“Help!” I called out but the streets were empty. I struggled even as it felt like I was sinking and managed to grab hold of a branch sticking out of a tree. With all the strength I could gather, I yelled as I dragged myself out of the puddle, coughing from the impact.

This was the 4th attempt to try to kill me!

Just then, a branch from on top of the tree shook and I rolled away just as it fell, piercing the ground. Yep, the 5th attempt now.

“Why won't you make it stop? Why are you trying to kill me?” I asked the system in horror as I dragged myself off the ground, and when I got no response, I kept going.

I just knew that if I could make it out, I would be free. 

As I neared the gates, a strange blaring sound filled my ears and I winced. Looking around, others walked by normally, which meant I was the only one who could hear it.

“Warning, heart level dropping. Bordermark breached.” Buis’ voice echoed loudly, a large warning sign on the screen but I kept going, thinking it was trying to stop me. 

But then my heart started to slow down, making it hard to breathe. I could barely take a step forward as I felt my heart slow to a stop and I dropped to my knees. 

“Warning, heart will stop beating in ten seconds. Ten, nine…”