FOUR YEARS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK...

"Again," Bennington ordered as he stood above the training center.

Beneath him, Ares was bent over in exhaustion, holding onto his knees as he gasped for air. His forehead and back were drenched in sweat, and blood trickled down the side of his head. He stood above the motionless combat droid, which lay on the floor with its limbs splayed out. A dent was buried in its metal cranium as a result of the last three fights it had with Ares.

Yet Bennington wasn't impressed. He only wanted to watch Ares's determination crumble.

"Hades, he's been fighting this robotic wanker for the last hour!" Atlas called out. "Could we just move on already?"

"Don't worry, lad," Bennington replied. "Once he's finally impressed me with his fighting skills, you'll be next to take on the droid."

Hermes placed his hand on Atlas's shoulder. "At this rate, I'll die before the time you get to fight. So enjoy it while you can."

Atlas raised an eyebrow, glancing up and down Hermes's body to study his wizened features. "That'll be a peaceful couple of minutes then."

The droid limply rose from the floor like a puppet being lifted by its strings. It then assumed a fighting stance, aiming its metal fists toward Ares.

"Would you like a rematch?" it asked in a metallic, monotone voice.

"No, I do not," Ares replied, wiping sweat off his brow. "But my boss is gonna kill me if I don't, so fuck it. Let's go."

The droid threw the first punch. Ares ducked underneath and made his move, bashing against the bot's head with an uppercut. All around him the test subjects and scientists watched and cheered. He felt more like an MMA fighter, yet he was only a prisoner forced to fight in the name of science.

Ares threw another punch, colliding against the side of the bot's head. The bot stumbled for a moment before launching a series of punches toward Ares. Two of them impacted with his chest, but he managed to dodge the rest.

He wiped some blood off his head and felt a small cut disappear into his skin thanks to the Ambrosia. He charged back into the fight, grabbing hold of the bot's arms. The two of them were now head to head, both trying to force each other back into the crowd.

"Keep 'er going, Ares!" Atlas shouted.

"Especially because Atlas doesn't want to fight!" Hermes added.

Atlas's excitement transitioned to annoyance at Hermes's comment, and he demonstrated his lack of appreciation by punching him in the shoulder.

Ares continued fighting the bot, knocking its head from side to side with every punch. The bot made impact with Ares's face several times, leaving behind bruises and scratches that healed within seconds, but Ares kept on fighting.

For Sarah, he thought with every punch.

"I know how to get him to succeed," Bennington whispered to Hera, who stood beside him above the training center. "Mr. Ares, I've got a question for you."

"Kinda hard to focus when this metal piece of shit is out to get me!" Ares replied, dodging another punch.

"I feel like you're holding back. You're aware this automaton is only programmed to fight back without killing its opponent."

"Wait," Atlas chimed in. "I thought you said five people were killed by—"

"Shut it, Atlas! You have no role in this conversation! This is only between me and Ares." Bennington returned his view to Ares. "So as I was saying..."

Ares's focus was broken, along with his jaw, by a direct hit to the face by the bot's powerful fist. Blood splashed out of his new wound and sprayed all over the floor. An explosion of pain took over his face, and Ares realized he lost some teeth.

"Fucking hell, man!" Atlas winced. "Half of his face just exploded!"

"Thank goodness," Bennington said nonchalantly. "Now you won't be able to talk back."

Ares tried to speak, but he could tell that his tongue and the bones in his face weren't working like they should've. A painful crack would occur every time he attempted to say a word, and a mix of blood and saliva dripped down his chin.

"If you really want a motivation," Bennington continued, ignoring Ares's injury, "don't focus on the fact this droid is attacking you. Pretend it's attacking the person you care about more than yourself."

The first thought that popped into his head was Sarah. Alone and injured. Defenseless as the bot pummeled her mercilessly. It was the worst thing he could ever imagine happening to her.

Ares's jaw began clicking and shifting back into his face, signaled by discomforting cracking noises as the fracture began to heal. He could feel the cuts in his face suddenly disappear, like if time was reversing itself to before he received the injury. He spat the rest of the blood in his mouth out to the side and wiped a small speckle of it off his mouth.

"Or better yet..." Bennington replied. "Imagine me coming after them. Or Schaefer. What would you do if we got our hands on that one thing you cared most about?"

With that thought, the Ambrosia coursing through Ares's body sped up its job. The bruises had vanished and all of the cracks in his bones were gone. He charged at the droid with all of his might and grabbed a hold of one of its arms. As the droid continued to punch him in his ribs, Ares rained down on its arm with an array of punches, deepening the dents within its metal armor.

"Looks like the Ambrosia's healing qualities have increased with his aggression," Hera said, writing results down on her clipboard. "Smart move giving Ares a motivation."

"That wasn't a motivation," Bennington replied. "That was a threat."

Hera raised her eyebrow. "In this case, what's the difference?"

The two of them looked back to see Ares ripping the droid's arm out of its socket, sparks flying out of the mangled wires in its body. A shrill metallic scream emanated from the droid, and everyone except Ares covered their ears in discomfort.

"Warning! Warning!" the machine said. "Missing vital parts! Please repair immediately!" And it continued to repeat that message for the rest of the fight.

"Shut up!" Ares replied, tossing the dismembered robot arm to the side.

Seconds into his carnage, dents had decorated the droid's entire body. The droid continued to put up a fight, weakly swinging at Ares with its remaining arm, but it lost its balance every time it missed the target. Then it would go through the repetitive cycle of attempting to hit Ares, missing, and stumbling about as it tried to stay on its feet.

"Missing vital parts!" the droid announced again. "Please repair immediately!"

"SHUT UP!" Ares screamed, his voice hoarse and crazed.

He concluded his statement with a final punch, this time digging through the droid's chest. He saw that his fist had come out the other end, impaling right through the droid's back. He could feel electricity burning through his veins as he realized the droid's damaged circuitry was harming him. He quickly yanked his arm back out of the new hole in the droid's chest, waiting as his nerves recovered from the shock. Cuts stretched across his arm as a result of the sharp edges of the machine's internal structure, but they all sealed up in the blink of an eye.

"Mi-mi-mi-missing vita-vital parts," the droid stuttered, its voice slowing down. "Please repairrrrrr..."

The droid collapsed to its knees and crashed to the floor. Sparks flickered out of the hole in its chest. Now that it was down for the count, the crowd was finally free to cheer.

"He actually did it!" Atlas exclaimed. "He took the metal bastard down!"

Ares ignored the praise and looked down at the droid's corpse. He knew he would be able to stop the bot, but he didn't think he'd actually be able to destroy it. He was just glad that if anyone would ever try to hurt Sarah, he was definitely capable of giving them a punishment they would never forget. Or even survive.

"Congratulations, Ares," Bennington said. "You're one of a few people in the world who actually managed to impress me."

"Why don't I feel like a winner?" Ares replied.

Hermes chuckled. "Probably because you're still alive."

A few chuckles were heard in the crowd, but Ares wasn't amused. Not only did he almost die, he was getting owned by a man who was slightly closer to death than he was.

"Thank you for your cooperation with our combat trial," Hera said. "You are now free to leave."

"The room or the facility?" Ares asked.

Hera grinned. "Just the room."

"Well shit."

* * *

An hour later, Ares was back in his sleeping quarters after a warm shower. He sat on his bed, pondering what would happen if Bennington—or anyone else—ever got their hands on Sarah. Would he still have the strength to rip them apart with his bare hands? Or even beat them half to death, only to keep them barely alive to make sure they learned their lesson? Or would they find away to control him and break him down? Render him weak and useless?

What if they prevented him from protecting her? Hurt her without him even knowing?

Then it hit him. He spent so much time worrying about Sarah, he didn't seem to spend any time actually talking to her. At least not until he finally got his hands on one of the Ambrosia Project's laptops.

After locking the doors, he slid the laptop out of its hiding place: the empty space between the bed frame and his mattress. He opened it up and inserted his account information, staring at the small blue circle endlessly rotating in the middle of the screen as the computer took its time to load.

Once the computer opened up, he searched for the videochat application, taking nervous glances back at the door to make sure no one was coming. He clicked on the app and opened it up, once again signing in with his account information. A new screen opened up, displaying Ares's face. Next to his reflection was a list of his contacts, mostly acquaintances he could hardly remember. The only memorable people in his list were his sister Emma, who he still rarely talked to, and his daughter Sarah.

He clicked on Sarah's, waiting a few more seconds for the screen to load.

His computer displayed the inside of Sarah's bedroom. He recognized it by the blue bedsheets and the posters of her favorite bands. Given how close the bed was to the camera, Ares could tell Sarah's laptop was placed on her bed, but there was no sign of her anywhere in the room.

"Hold on, Auntie Emma," she called through the hall. "I think I left my computer on."

Ares heard a door opening and closing offscreen, and a young girl with short brown hair appeared from the side, no older than twelve. She wore her school uniform and dropped her backpack beside her bed before comfortably plopping down on top of the mattress. Or at least she was comfortable until she got a glimpse of the man watching her from her computer.

But it wasn't because she felt she was in danger. In fact, it was the complete opposite.

"Daddy?" she asked, her hands cupping her mouth out of surprise.

Ares had a smile that stretched from ear to ear, something he hadn't done in a long time. "Hello, Sarah."

Sarah uncovered her face, revealing a joyful smile that rivaled that of Ares's in terms of cuteness. A small tear ran down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. Just like her father, it wasn't easy to get her to cry, so this moment was hilariously a first for both of them.

"Sarah, dear, what are you doing?" her aunt called out.

"Uh..." Sarah paused to look at her father for approval of an excuse to give. "Homework?"

Ares shrugged. "Works for me."

"Alrighty then," her aunt replied.

"So, Father," Sarah continued in a quieter tone. "How were you able to do this?"

"Do what?" Ares asked.

"What you're doing now! Video chat! I thought you said there wasn't gonna be wi-if where you were going."

"It's kind of a long story," Ares replied, a goofy smile still plastered on his face. "So get comfortable. And tell Auntie Emma you're gonna be here a while."