The Service of Six Years

You jolt awake, screaming a name you don't recognize – "400-Ana." Your body aches, drenched in sweat, restrained to a bed. A nurse with a needle and a disappointed look stands over you. You fight for control of your own limbs, the fog in your mind slowly clearing, revealing a shocking truth: your four years of Service have somehow become six. Your body feels alien, powerfully built but covered in scars you don't remember getting.

The nurse welcomes you back, calling you by your Service number, 828-Kal. The relief of being back in your own skin is short-lived as you notice the blue lights on the nurse's neck, a sign she's a bio-worker, and wonder who you were really talking to. You retrieve your old clothes, which now fit skin-tight over your new muscles, and receive a debrief pack containing medals, injury pay, and a horrifying leaflet on caring for prosthetics.

Outside the facility, your old friend Gary is waiting in his familiar, beat-up car. He's older, stockier, and carries his own secrets. As you navigate the chaotic streets of Section Two, Gary confirms the impossible: you were gone for six years. The shock hits you hard, making you physically ill. In the dingy bar where you take refuge, the full extent of Mother's deception is revealed in your debrief pack: severe injuries, a pittance for compensation, and expensive leases for prosthetics you didn't know you had – a mechanical arm and foot seamlessly integrated with your body. The rage builds, but a coded warning from Gary reminds you that even here, Mother is watching. Your return is not an end, but the beginning of a new, terrifying struggle for survival and truth.