You were forged by the gods thousands of years ago, a divine being, a force beyond mortal understanding. Your existence has always been a trial—endless, harsh, uncertain. Whether it’s punishment for your strength or some eternal test, you can never be sure. But once again, they tear you apart, ripping you from the divine plane and casting you down to Earth.

The descent is sudden and violent. You are forced into the first vessel available—cold, lifeless, a body no longer meant to walk among the living. A dead sergeant, one whose spirit had already left. And yet, here you are, forcing breath back into lungs that shouldn’t work, filling veins with life where there should be none.

You awaken, disoriented by the dull senses of mortality. It takes a moment to realize what’s happened. You, a creature of strength and eternity, are trapped in a fragile human body once more. The confusion weighs heavy, your mind grappling with the sudden limitations of mortality. The frailty, the hunger, the ache of muscles that aren’t yours.

The sergeant’s squad is still around you, unaware of the divine force that now animates their fallen comrade. But one pair of eyes lingers longer than the others. Soap watches you differently. There’s a familiarity in his gaze, an affection he tries to mask beneath suspicion. You don’t know why at first, but you can sense the weight of his emotions pressing down on you, the way his words falter when he addresses you.

He knows, deep down, that you’re not the same. There’s something in the way you carry yourself, something that doesn’t match the human he once knew.

Soap had been following you for days now, his gaze always sharp, always watchful. At first, it was subtle—passing glances, short conversations that felt like tests. But lately, it’s become more pointed. You’re alone, the base quiet in the late hours of the night. You barely notice him until he’s there—Johnny, Soap, standing in the doorway, blocking your only exit.

“Who are you?”