The wailing sirens tore through the night, their pierg cries iwining with Roselle’s hazy sciousness. She felt death ing for her. The voices, distant and distorted, whispered and faded, their words elusive, leaving her grappling with their meaning.

  Roselle found herself naked on the cold, rigid floor. Blood seeped from her wounds. The lingeriions of pleasure, tainted by the torment she had suffered, created an unbearable sensation within her body. Through gasping breaths, Roselle could hear her herself speak with an echo, a sound barely esg her trembling lips.

  "I... I don't uand," she murmured "How did I end up like this?. I'm in so much pain…a… “

  Her words hung in the air, a desperate search for uanding ing to her. The sirens persisted, making a loud hin her area.

  Her sciousness flickered. Roselle made a choice, embrag the darkness i, “I guess…I will never know...”

  She surreo her injuries, unsure of the truth shrouded within her fragmented Memories.

  Roselle’s sciousness began to stir. Her vision was blurry and the st remnants of her former life began to fade away. Just then, a spark of awakening stirred within her. She found herself fined within a green tube. Panic gripped her heart, and her eyes darted around. she spotted neighb tubes, oy and the other housing a young girl with hair blending shades of blue and pink. washed over her.

  Before Roselle could gather her thoughts or explore further, aed voice echoed through the boratory. "Excellent! All systems are still operating at maximum preat! Fantastic! Wonderful! Extravaga--" The voice abruptly halted. Dr. Kintovar stood tall in front of her, her pink headphones resting around her neck. Behiinted sungsses, her eyes widened in surprise. "Roselle! You're awake!"

  The emerald liquid within Roselle's fi decreased until it was gone pletely and with a ’hiss’ , the tube's door swung open. Stepping out into the boratory, Roselle’s eyes searched around for answers, nding upon Dr. Kintovar, who stood there with an air of both authority and fasation.

  Stepping out into the boratory, Roselle’s eyes searched around for answers, nding upon Dr. Kintovar, who stood there with an air of both authority and fasation. A smile came to her lips. She sloroached Roselle.

  "Roselle," Dr. Kintovar decred, "ame: Project Mage. That shall be your designation, a title bestowed upon you by your Brilliant Creator, me, Dr. Kintovar!”"

  The name, "Project Mage," echoed within Roselle’s mind. She repeated it quietly, the sylbles flowing from her lips.

  Dr. Kintovar tinued, "You are the sed of my living creations, Project Mage. Your powers, carefully crafted through my expertise, shall be the key to my success in this world!"

  Dr. Kintovar's eyes gleamed with satisfa. She gestured toward Roselle. "From this day forward, Project Mage, you will obey only me," she decred. Little did Roselle know It was a decree that would forever bind them together.

  Dr. Kintovar spun around in a dispy of excitement, her b coat flowing around her.

  "People told me all my life that magic was something one had to be born with, but here, within the fines of this boratory, I have created the perfect magical on. Twice with your creation, and with that of the young girl in your neighb tube, it will be a third time."

  Roselle listeo the Doctor and tried to uand her situation here.

  Dr. Kintovar leaned down "Roselle, your battle suit is still beiiculously crafted. Onplete, it will bee aension of your power, enhang your abilities and shielding you from harm."

  Roselle nodded, but this was the first time she even noticed ained a sense of nakedness in the absence of clothes; however, to her surprise, she found herself strangely ued by the exposure. It was as if the process of being Project Mage had stripped away the societal norms and judgments in the perception of her own body.

  Roselle was given a coat of fur that symbolizes a fresh beginning. She followed Dr. Kintovar. They made their way towards the door leading to the outside world.

  "This base extends a good distance before reag the main city," Dr. Kintovar expined.

  "To reach the city, we must build a bridge, but for now, Roselle, you are not ready to face that challenge. Instead, I want you to gain some practice."

  Roselle's gaze locked with Dr. Kintovar's, her curiosity piqued.

  Dr. Kintovar, sensing her desire, tinued, "There are some humans causirouble in the nearby forest. I want you to deal with them, to demonstrate your strength."

  Roselle hesitated, unsure of what to do. She was not used to her new body yet, but as if sensing her doubts, Dr. Kintovar uidance.

  "Simply utter the word 'on,' Roselle," she said with a knowing smile, "and watch the maion of your power !"

  Gathering her ce, Roselle took a deep breath. She spoke the word "on" with determination, and as if in respoo her and, a gigantinon materialized on her back, surprising her.

  "Roselle, my dear Project Mage," Dr. Kintaone filled with equal parts urgend cold calcution. "I have designed your body to be incredibly powerful, capable of handling ons and challehat would normally be impossible for someone of your size. That on on your back, it is but a taste of the immerength you possess."

  Roselle listened, her gaze fixed on Dr. Kintovar, her heart pounding with both anticipation and a growing sense of unease. Dr. Kintovar tinued,

  "But, my dear Roselle, you must uand the importance of time," Dr. Kintovar expined, her words carrying a chilling edge. "You will have only two minutes and thirty seds to plete your mission in the forest. In order to ensure your unwavering loyalty and itment to your tasks, I have designed your body to detonate if you exceed the time limit. This serves as a fail-safe meism in case you have any thoughts of betrayal."

  Roselle's eyes widened. She felt flig emotions. The notion of eliminating her own kind, the humans, stirred a sense of sorrow within her, but survival took priority in this twisted world.

  "The world is cruel, Roselle. Humans, with their misguided beliefs, seek to trol and domihe world with their so-called 'magic,'" Dr. Kintovar spat with disdain. "They have fostered a society where the endorsement of magic reigns supreme, while teology is shunned and those who dare to embrace it are publically humiliated, even hunted down and killed."

  A bination of anger and sadness welled up within Roselle. She struggled to uand the meaning of Dr. Kintovar's revetion.

  "They want me dead," Dr. Kintovar tinued “Especially those residing in the forest. They fear my 'power', my intellect, and all that I stand for. That's why I created you, Roselle. You are the on that will dismaheir pns."

  Roselle's gaze locked with Dr. Kintovar's, her mind with flig emotions. Questions swirled in her mind, but before she could ask them, Dr. Kintovar tinued, her tone resolute.

  "Roselle, our survival depends on your success," Dr. Kintovar decred, her eyes burning with iy. "The humans in the forest pose a threat not only to me but to the very existence of teology itself. You have been crafted to be a force to be reed with, and it is your duty to fulfill that purpose."

  A heavy siletled between them, and Roselle grappled with the weight of her role in this.

  Dr. Kintestured towards the door leading to the outside world. "Go, Roselle. Your timer begins as soon as you step through that door," she said, her eyes fixed on the tdown, now mere seds away from initiating.

  'This is madness. But what choice do I have?' Roselle thought to herself. 'I wish I had a bunny friend right now. At least one of us would know how to hahis.' Roselle thought but her look held her sorrow. She then shook off her thoughts and gred forward 'I have to survive. I have to figure out who I really am.'

  Roselle stepped through the threshold, and when she did, the timer began its tdown. The once familiar boratave way to a mystical forest which was an intriguing blend of nature and ruin. Arees stood tall, their branches reag towards the sky, while remnants of fotten structures y scattered amidst the undergrowth.

  However, this forest carried an uling aura, different from the calm serenity of nature. The air crackled with ariergy, and whispers of intations in the surroundings. The forest was alive with humans, dressed in rich attire that spoke of their affinity fic. Their mere preseed an air and entitlement.

  With eyes keenly sing their surroundings, the humans spoke with frustration ione.

  "She couldn't have gotten too far with that wound," one of them said with a sense ance. "We must kill her before she get back to her b , then we destroy the rest of Kintovar's projects!"

  Roselle crouched behind dense foliage andobserved the se unfolding. The ceaseless tig of the timer spurred her to a. She knew she had to elimihese humans who posed a threat to both herself and Dr. Kintovar's pns.

  Roselle cautiously approached one of the humans, her eyes locked on the man holding a bzing fireball. His gaze shifted from the forest's depths to settle upon her, and a perplexed look crossed his face.

  "Who are you?" the man sneered. "A little girl creation like you without any magical energy should know better than to ehese woods. Are you lost? Or do you have a death wish?"

  Roselle was then surrounded by the humans, their mog words filled the air. "Someohout magic? What are you even doing here? You must really want to die." they jeered, closing in on her.

  Roselle's grip tightened on her massive on. The humans took a step bad beheld the enormity of the on on her back. They had never seen a on that big before, and on a child?

  "I am Roselle, and I am here, to get rid of you filthy humans!”

  The words hung in the air, a defiant procmation that caught the humans off guard. The man who had first spoken to her, jured a fming fireball in his hand. He hurled it towards Roselle with a malevolent grin on his face.

  ' I don't want to do this, but if I don’t, I’ll die. And for what? I 't die...not without knowing anything!' Roselle thought. She gritted her teeth in her mind, but oside, Roselle's face showed distain for the man before her. The fireball was ing in close towards her. this is when a surge of yellowish energy appeared around her body in the form of a glow. She released a shot from her colossal on.

  The shot collided with the fireball, obliterating it in a blinding explosion of power. The impact went through the forest, shaking the trees and causing the ground to tremble.

  When the dust settled, a shocked silence desded upon the humans. The man who had attacked her now stood before her, a huge hole in his chest. His life force was taken by the immense power of Roselle's on shot. The azed at the se in disbelief, their arrogance repced by a creeping fear.

  Roselle's eyes widened. Holy cow! She did not io take a life with that shot, a, in that moment of self-defense, her power had exceeded her own expectations. flig emotions swirled within her, but the urgency of her missio her grounded.

  With a defiant gre, Roselle focused on the remaining humans. They were shaken, their arrogance shattered by the dispy of her immense power. One of them, a woman with a -like or on her head, stepped forward while trembling .

  "What... What are you?" she stammered, her fidence crumbling.

  Roselle hesitated for a moment, realizing that her true identity as Project Mage was a secret she couldn't reveal. Instead, she chose to assert herself.

  "I am Roselle," she decred once again, this time gring at them all. "And I will say it again.. I am The Humaioner, here to get rid of you filthy humans!!"