Modern Day Earth
Waking up, I grasp for the button to open my capsule.
“Good morning,” replied my roommate Dee, working away on his computer. “Coffee is on the stove.”
Rubbing my eyes, I groggily ask “I-Bot, what… time is it?”
“11:34 AM,” a robotic voice replied. “You’re running late for class, should I let them know that you are sick?”
“No need,” I said, taking a sip of coffee. “Tell them I'll be running late.”
“Command received.”
Eating my meager breakfast of crappy ultra processed protein bars, I open the door to reveal a chute. In the 31st century, every household had a chute for fast transportation and to save space; currently, Earth is suffering from overpopulation and scientists are struggling to find a solution.
“R, you are late again. You must stay back from remedial classes,” chastised his teacher. “What am I going to do with you?”
She frowned.
“Yeah yeah whatever,” I said, waving my hand in a shooing motion.
Sighing in defeat, she walked away.
I don’t have a name. R is just the name I go by, given by the other children of the orphanage. In the lab, we all go by the numbers under our barcode.
Normally, I just tune out all the lessons. As a child born out of a government surrogate experiment to produce super soldiers, my parents are naturally nowhere to be found. Thus, I learned everything myself.
I heard my mother was a magic genius and my father was an intellectual. In exchange for their freedom, they hastily agreed to the experiment.
He thought back to his days in a glass tube.
The scientists tapped on the incubation tubes filled with a green liquid, inspecting and scribbling down notes on his clipboard.
“A failure. This one consumes too much mana to sustain himself. We need a specimen with lower consumption."
“How should we dispose of this specimen?” asked the other scientist.
“Release him. He’ll die in a few years anyway. This will be valuable data we can use.”
A few centuries ago, an alien spacecraft crashed into Earth, bringing a magical revolution. However, it cannot solve all of humanity’s issues. No matter how much water or energy we have, they still cannot solve Earth’s issue of overpopulation. Recently, scientists have been experimenting with super soldiers to send to other planets, candidates for colonization.
Tuning out my remedial classes, I took a nap. Unlike others, I may take solace in sleep, not suffering from dream ads.
When I woke up, everyone had already left. The room is dark and the light outside is dimming. I glanced outside the window.
2nd year students taking extra after school practice. I snicker. They appear to be trying to improve their magic control, learning how to levitate while casting a spell, any spell. Unfortunately, they would just crash into each other, failing repeatedly.
‘Let’s show those idiots how it’s done,’ I thought, climbing on the windowsill.
Calming myself, I concentrate, to create small puffs of wind slowing my descent, as if walking on air. Closing my eyes, I create a sphere of water, while levitating a few feet.
I snuck a glance. ‘Ah, this is so sad.’ They looked on in envy.
Suddenly, someone put a hand on my shoulder.
“Student, what is your name?” he said. I can feel him glaring at me through his sunglasses.
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I froze, looking back. I was met with the dean.
“Let’s have a chat in my office, shall we?”
“...”
“Okay.”
As we walked to his office, someone was speaking to him on his earpiece.
“Hmm. 4th year student. No identifiable achievements. Below average student. You are practically a ghost,” he said, inspecting my face curiously. “If you were a year or two younger, you could possibly be the head of the magic club.”
His phone started to ring. He shut the door from behind him.
“You possess incredible magic control and mana pool even among our specialty students. How do you feel about volunteering for the new government experiment? Wormholes. I heard it has achieved great success, albeit not tested on humans yet.”
“...”
‘Fuck, those were specialty students?! What have I gotten myself into?? I thought those were just run of the mill idiots.’
Most of the world’s water and wind mana are diverted into renewable energy sources or water treatment facilities to meet the world’s energy and water demands, making it exceptionally difficult to properly cast wind and water magic.
“So? How about it?” he asked.
He knew he couldn't refuse. The government will get their subjects, one way or the other. The school instructors are always searching for exceptional students for testing.
‘I messed up. His bald ass is probably going to get a bigger bonus from this.’
He frowned, snapping his fingers, bringing him back into reality.
“I- okay, I agree.”
He nodded with a knowing look. “Good choice, I don’t want to scrape another student off the walls again.”
‘Asshole.’
He slid a form over the desk to me. Reluctantly, I picked up the pen, knowing I am practically signing my life away.
Soon, an armored vehicle came with 4 very heavily armed guards to escort me to the facility.
I was bound and blindfolded, pushed out into a sterile room where a doctor prodded and poked at me, bringing back some unpleasant memories. He pulled down my sleeve, revealing a barcode, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “Former experiment 4023,” he murmured. “So you’ve survived.”
A chill went down my spine. While we were allowed to coexist with the general population, failed super soldiers are practically dead men walking, second class citizens. We are placed under strict supervision by a government employee.
“Healthy. Demonstrate your magical abilities,” the doctor ordered.
I complied, conjuring intricate spells with ease, demonstrating my magic control and mana pool.
The room filled with murmurs of enthusiasm and excitement, a few began scribbling down notes hastily. “Cease your demonstration, let’s proceed to the main experiment.”
‘Freaks treating me like an animal.’ I thought, resisting the urge to murder all of them on the spot.
Suddenly, fragmented memories flashed into my mind. A nameless and faceless girl holding my hand, dragging me along. “You won’t forget me, right?”
“I… Won’t forget you,” I said.
The scene suddenly shifted.
Covered in blood, with fires blazing and the rubble of collapsed buildings all around, she pleaded. “Run away with me. This world is not… Right.”
I stayed silent.
She slowly let go of my hand, appearing to wipe a stray tear.
“Stay safe,” she said.
A throbbing and a sense of longing filled my chest. I resisted the urge to cry.
“Okay.”
She handed me a shimmering blue necklace. Clasping my hands, she said, “Promise me.”
“I promise.”
The scene distorted and shifted again. I am looking down on her still figure, lifeless and bloody. I stare in silence. A tear ran down my right cheek. My chest feels heavy. “I- you pro.. mised,” my voice croaked out, sniffling. “You promised!”
Shaking my head, I snapped back into reality, groaning. The government wipes the memories of the released experiments, but sometimes I get assaulted with fragments of my past memories.
This has been happening more and more recently. Most of my childhood comes back in fragmented memories, causing me to feel unsure of what's real and what's not. I start rubbing the necklace, a habit I picked up, wondering who that girl is.
The middle aged scientist in the front gave me a concerned look, then cleared me for testing.
With a toothy smile, he made a phone call. “This specimen is absolutely perfect.”
The guards escorted me into a separate room. The scientists are separated with a thick glass panel. “You may enter the wormhole,” a voice crackled over the intercom. “I repeat, you may enter the wormhole.”
Taking a deep breath, I stepped through. I feel dizzy and a little queasy, hunching over my floor, vomiting all over the floors.
I was met with cheers and excited shouts of success.
Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I looked up. I was met with people dressed in ceremonial robes and hats surrounding me, with faint candles casting an eerie glow.
‘Is this a sick joke? Where the hell am I?’
“Hero, you have been summoned to the continent of Baygth,” a woman declared, stepping forward. Either she had a weird cosplay fetish or I was actually summoned to another world. “You will henceforth be contracted to me. You must obey my every command.”
Frowning, I felt a burning sensation on the back of my right hand.
A crest appeared to be magically etched. Confused, I look around. ‘I may actually have been summoned to another world, I felt like I went back in time….’
The necklace started to shimmer ever so slightly.
“...”
I flexed my hands. My body feels unusually light, like I could float. Testing out my magic, the atmosphere seemed to be more mana dense. ‘Maybe the gravity here is lower than compared to Earth’
Testing it out, I punched the wall, causing the stone to crack. A few of the priests visibly shrink back as the guards tensed up.
“Now my first order is-”
Before she could complete her sentence, I conjured a condensed ball of water, sending it huling in between her eyebrows, killing her instantly.
“Kill him!” shouted a priest.
Stepping backwards, I deflect the arrows flying towards me with a wall of wind. Creating a spear made of earth, I skewered a fleeing priest, then broke a guard’s nose with my elbow.
Soon, the room is a river of blood. Bodies lay strewn all over the room. I stepped over the bodies, feeling invigorated by the mana rich atmosphere. In this world, I can be supplied with all the mana I want. Living forever doesn’t seem like a far fetched dream anymore, anything feels possible.
I checked my status.
[hero?]
Increased experience gain
Slight increase in damage and experience to all living organisms
People are naturally attracted to you
“To protect and defend” - Unknown
I blasted a hole into the wall, leaping down. I started wandering aimlessly, hoping to meet her soon. I tightly gripped my necklace. “I promise,” I whispered to myself. “Promise.”