The Test Subjects

Before the outbreak, before the compound doors were painted with blood and claw marks, there were twelve original subjects handpicked for the ZC-X trials. Veterans, prisoners, terminal patients, volunteers, and a few... taken without consent. Each one was fitted with a neural halo — a device to monitor brain activity, memory spikes, and synthetic cortex adaptation. They were stripped of names, given numbers: Z-001 to Z-012.They were promised redemption. Healing. A second chance.
What they got was hell in a syringe.Each subject was put through brutal neurological stress testing after the injection — to “force cortical adaptation.” This wasn’t rehab. It was weaponization.

  1. Locked in sensory deprivation chambers for 72 hours at a time.

  2. Exposed to continuous memory-loop stimulation — often showing the worst moments of their lives.

  3. Subjected to limb severance simulations to gauge regenerative response.

  4. Made to fight one another in “reflex gauntlets” to track learning speed and aggression patterns.

“Z-004 survived a full spinal shatter. Walked upright the next day. Asked for more.”
— Internal memo, Theta Division

But they didn’t break. Not like they were supposed to.The Cortexa-Z strain did more than reanimate or enhance. It reconstructed the subjects from the inside out — giving them terrifying new capabilities:

Neurological Augmentation

  1. Enhanced reflexes: reaction times recorded at sub-0.2 seconds.

  2. Photographic recall: remembered every face, voice, scent.

  3. Multitiered cognition: able to perceive and process several trains of thought at once.

  4. Could adapt combat tactics mid-fight, analyze weaknesses, even simulate opponent movement.

Physical Mutation

  1. Extreme agility: tendon elasticity exceeded Olympic human performance.

  2. Regenerative tissues: skin reknit after second-degree burns in 43 seconds.

  3. Bone density shift: heavier, harder to break — even bullets fractured on ribcages.

  4. Some displayed bioluminescent veins under emotional stress (suspected neurological flare).

Behavioral Evolution

  1. They weren’t mindless. They were hyper-aware.

  2. No longer reacted to threats — they anticipated them.

  3. In test chambers, they stopped attacking unless provoked… or tested psychologically first.

  4. Subjects began to speak cryptically, as if aware of things beyond what they were shown.

“Z-006 asked about the blueprints for the west wing.”
“No one told her where that was.”
— Dr. Carrick, breach report

The final trial was simple. Each subject was placed in front of a mirror and asked:

“Who are you?”

Eleven out of twelve said nothing.

One said:

“I’m still me. But now I can see the cracks in you.”

Within minutes of the mirror test:

  1. Subject Z-009 disabled his containment unit.

  2. Released the others using memorized console patterns.

  3. Spoke a single word into the intercom:

"Awake."

The Subjects

Pictures Coming Soon....

  1. Z-001

  2. Z-002

  3. Z-003

  4. Z-004

  5. Z-005

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