"Infants spend the majority of their time, upwards of seventeen hours a day, asleep. As an infant, you will need to keep as close to a normal infant's schedule as possible. Deviating too far may result in health complications, and cause your parents undue stress. Starting when you first wake up in the morning, your routine should consist of eating, playing, sleeping, and repeat. This should not be too difficult as your body's natural limits should encourage you to keep this schedule."

-Stephanie Patel, Instructor of Online Reincarnation Refresher Course

After one week of being an infant, I can honestly say that it is better and worse than I thought it would be. Mom and I spent two days at the hospital where we were both given a clean bill of health. It was a bit jarring to wake up one day after my first nap of the day to realize I was in a completely different location. No longer being in the hospital with white walls and a sterile smell, was almost panic-inducing when I first woke up. I was lying in a wooden crib staring at a solid white ceiling, not the standard tiled white ceiling found in hospitals and high schools. The smell was impossible to describe being that of a lived-in home that had hints of whatever food the Kents must eat combined with the outdoors and some sort of cleaning agent. Looking through the slats of the crib it was easy to tell that I was in my parents' room. There was a large bed with a wooden end table flanking each side. There seemed to be a closed closet or bathroom door on the other end of the room directly next to a half-ajar door that lead into the hallway. I inspected the room for a few more moments, noticing a dresser and mirror at the foot of the bed before my usual hunger made itself known.

It was easy to get used to my new schedule at my new home. I would wake up after a couple of hours of sleep, perform some stretches while laying down, cry to get my parents to feed me, watch a little bit of Smallville in my Memory Library, then go back to sleep. Most of the time after Mom fed me, she insisted on playing for a bit. The play consisted of making funny faces, baby talk, and playing with my hands and feet. This was, of course, extremely embarrassing... I would almost call it mortifying. I don't call it mortifying because I reserve that designation for soiling myself and spitting up after eating. The first time I soiled myself it took me a moment to get over my incredulity. I know in the reincarnation classes they stated that infants could not control their bowels for the first couple of years, but I had assumed the infants would be able to recognize the feeling of controlling their bowels. That is not the case at all. I felt the pressure in my bladder, but no way to control it. The resulting dirty diaper was taken care of shortly after I began crying.

Lucky for me spitting up was much easier to get under control. The primary reason for babies spitting up is not recognizing when they are full in combination with having an underdeveloped digestive system. Up till my first spit-up, I always completely distracted myself from feeding time by looking up potential abilities in the exchange. It seems that infant instincts do not include stopping before you feel sick. From then on I kept track of how long it took me to feel full and made sure to stop before going beyond that point. It only took a few feeding sessions to get that down. That's right, my first great accomplishment as a reincarnator is stopping myself from vomiting after eating. Fear me, world! For your fate has been thrown into chaos! On a more serious note, being an infant really gives you time to think about your priorities. With all of my free mental bandwidth, I figured out my most immediate goals.

1. Gain control of my body.

2. Rewatch Smallville in my Memory Library so I can protect my new family.

3. Research possible abilities and augments that I can purchase to grow stronger.

4. Hide my reincarnated status from my parents.

5. Stop my parents from baby-talking to me.

That last one was just a preference, but my mental age was over seventy for System's sake. I could put up with being manhandled and playing with toys, but the baby talk was just too demeaning. The rest of the goals were doable. As slow as it was continued minor exercises would eventually have me gain control of my body. The mantra spoken in reincarnation class was always slow and steady when beginning a new life. There is just too much that can go wrong when trying to speed through the infant stage of development; stunted growth, long-term muscle damage, growth-plate damage, and revealing that there is more intelligence behind my activities than an infant should have. Re-watching Smallville should have been something I could do freely, but the mental fatigue brought on by spending any more than five minutes watching a memory was extreme. Hopefully, once I receive psionic energy I will be able to utilize Memory Library more freely. On top of passing out once the time limit is reached, I have no idea what it looks like I am doing to anyone watching me. I assume it must look like I am sleeping, but for all I know I could be staring off into space like a creepy doll. Best to keep Memory Library's use to the minutes before I should fall asleep.

My third goal of seeing how I can enhance myself with the exchange was an adventure in itself. While there was no browse function, there seemed to be no other limit on the exchange. I looked up mind-based abilities such as Telepathy, Telekinesis, Mind Palace, Mind Reading, Psionic Manifestation, Mind Control, Emotion Manipulation, Astral Projection, and more. All had their strengths and possible uses as a sibling of Superman. The only problem is the cost to purchase the abilities. The more encompassing and powerful the ability the more expensive it became.

-Exchange

- Search: Psionic Creation

- Psionic Manifestation (Psionic Ability): Create any object imagined out of psionic energy. Depending on the object's durability, complexity, and familiarity, the psionic energy cost may vary drastically. Cost: 1,000 Experience

- Psionic Blade (Psionic Ability): Create a blade out of psionic energy. Depending on the blade's durability and size, the psionic energy cost may vary drastically. Cost: 100 Experience.

-Psionic Tool (Psionic Ability): Create an object intending to be used as a tool out of psionic energy. Depending on the object's durability, complexity, and familiarity, the psionic energy cost may vary drastically. Warning: Any combat-oriented intent will cause the psionic energy in the tool to become unstable with varying results depending on the psionic energy used. Cost: 200 Experience

- Psionic Summoning (Psionic Ability): Create a psionic echo of a living or once-living being. Creation's mannerisms, knowledge, abilities, and equipment are based on the original being. Depending on the summon's durability, complexity, familiarity, level of sapience, and level of sentience the psionic energy cost may vary drastically. Cost: 100,000 Experience

...

After a lot of research, it seems that the more powerful abilities can be limited or focused in order to cut back on their costs. Also, it seems that some abilities will come with warnings. I wonder what threshold an abilities restriction or downside needs to reach to have a warning appear. Nevertheless, such a range in experience costs; especially when you compare the experience with the experience I have gained so far.

Unspent Experience: 112

One experience a day... that is how much my survival quest has given me each day. Apparently, the System does not think surviving is worth much when I do not have to struggle.

it makes sense, but I was kinda hoping for enough points to be able to protect myself during the meteor shower. At the current rate, assuming no more quests are completed, I will be able to afford a base pool of 100 psionic energy shortly after I turn one. I have no idea if that is a large amount, but, even if it is, I will only be able to use it to fuel Memory Library unless I purchase another ability. There is so much to think about when it comes to the exchange in the short term that planning for the long term seems ridiculous. For the hell of it, I searched what it would take for me to become a Kryptonian... and I have to say Clark is one lucky son of a bitch.

-Exchange

- Search: Kryptonian Biology

- Kryptonian Biology (Biological Augment): Alter the user's cellular makeup to mirror that of a natural-born Kryptonian (humanoid). While exposed to a yellow dwarf star the user will experience enhanced metabolism, immune system, cell durability, reflexes, audio receptors, visual receptors, lung capacity, muscle control, muscle power output, mental speed, and mental bandwidth. Cost: 1,000,000 Experience

Looks like I won't be becoming Clark's blood brother any time soon. What is interesting is that the ability does not list any of the weaknesses of being a Kryptonian. I can understand not listing things like magic since I am already susceptible to magic just by being human, but it should at least list Kryptonite. Unless... Kryptonite does not exist yet. Kryptonite is the irradiated fragments of Clark's home world after the Kryptonian people blew up their planet. Without Krypton being destroyed by some method that causes massive amounts of radiation Kryptonite would just be a bunch of rocks from far off in the galaxy. This means that Krypton has not been destroyed yet and Clark has not even begun his journey! That is if the description would even include Kryptonite as a weakness when it does exist. Regardless, the point is I will not be becoming a Kryptonian in this lifetime and I have plenty of time till Clark arrives. I will be spending an extremely large amount of my time continuing to explore the exchange before I pick up my first ability, and I will check in on Kryptonian Biology from time to time to see if a warning is added.

Considering how the week has gone, hiding my reincarnator status from my parents will not be particularly difficult in the short term. I took a small break from watching Smallville in my Memory Library and reviewed my reincarnation classes from high school. Bowel control and potty training will be completed as soon as physically possible. In this matter, I do not care if I look like a genius or abnormal. When I can control my bowels, I will hold them till Mom or Dad is around to change me, and, when I can walk, the first thing I am establishing is I know how to use the toilet. For all my remaining controllable baby milestones I have a plan; I will be crawling at seven months, walking at ten months, talking simple words at twelve months, and talking in coherent sentences at two years old. It will be a drag, but I am sure I can keep up the charade. Speaking of the charade, hear comes Mom now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 Year 1 Month 22 Days later, October 1989

Being a reincarnated toddler in the 1980s is horrible. There is no internet, television is limited to what my parents think is age-appropriate, and I am not large enough to do anything meaningful around the farm. the only reason I even know it is 1989 is because I was able to get ahold of a newspaper from Dad one morning during breakfast. I am the first to admit I was relatively lazy during my previous life, but doing nothing for an entire year is just maddening. If it was not for the Exchange and Memory Library, I would have revealed myself to my parents as soon as I could talk. Instead, I have managed to maintain my cover by disguising my exercises as playing and perusing the Exchange whenever I am forced to watch television. The day-to-day of being a toddler, after my sleep schedule normalized and I potty trained myself as soon as I could walk, was even more closely watched than when I was an infant. Despite not putting anything in my mouth that does not belong, there is always someone, usually Mom, watching me to make sure I do not get into trouble. While this means they're good parents, it makes pretending to be a normal toddler worse than a full time job. The creativity of children is truly a unique thing. Playing with blocks, marble sliders, or puzzles is easy. The trouble appears when they give me stuffed animals or toy dinosaurs. These are just figures and adults would either put these on a shelf or use them to play games like dungeons and dragons. a child has to create an entire narrative in their head with nothing but a a few toy figures and a few minutes. Sometimes I can get away with just holding toys or arranging them in certain patterns, but, more often than not, my parents ask me what I am doing or try to join in. Coming up with new stories every time was ridiculous, especially since I could not talk in full sentences. A few halting words may seem like it would be easier to fake, but not only do I have to create the story; I also need to only use words that a one year old should understand, and still make it seem like I am trying to explain something important. I have started using the plot from films in my original universe. It may be lazy but it works for the most part. Despite the difficulty, my more mature behavior and intelligence has not been taken as anything other than being a particularly smart toddler.

Putting aside the difficulty of being stuck the way I am, I have managed to spend a lot of time in my Memory Library. After over a year of using the Memory Library, I can definitively say that a source of psi energy is going to be required to use any psi abilities if I do not want to spend decades training my mental fortitude. Despite all the time spent watching Smallville or experiencing old memories to decompress, the amount of time I can spend in my Memory Library has only grown from four minutes to six. At my current rate, it would take around twenty years to be able to watch a full episode of Smallville in one session. I do not even want to think how much mental fatigue using any of the other psi abilities I have researched would cost. I do not have the time to sit around training my mind when Clark could arrive any day now. It is with just a bit of disappointment and a large amount of excitement that I purchase Psi Pool as my first augment. It takes me only a split second to realize I made a mistake. I was so caught up in making my first purchase that I failed to question how my body would be upgraded to accommodate the augment. Sitting in front of the TV with my parents right behind me was not the time or place to do this.

Unlike how I enter my Memory Library, there is no transition from reality. One second I am awake and the next there is nothing but darkness. I only experience the darkness for a second before my thoughts just stop. My mind is completely blank. There is no sense of anything around me or a sense of self. For all intents and purposes at that moment I did not exist. Then I was kicked back into reality. My entire body jolts into a sitting position as my eyes open and I take a large gasp. I am quickly enveloped in a hug from my mother as I get my bearings. I am in a hospital bed with wires hooked up to my head and chest.

"Jason! It's ok, you're ok, everything is going to be ok." Mom says as she rocks me gently back and forth crying. Dad is sitting at the foot of the bed just watching us with a tear in his eye. I let this go on for a few moments before I start to squirm.

"I'm fine, Mom" I say as I reach up to disconnect the wires attached to my head.

"Don't touch those" Mom says as she grabs my hands and puts them in my lap.

"Son, how are you feeling?" Dad asks.

"I'm fine. Why are we in the hospital?" It is at this moment that I knew I screwed up. I must not have recovered completely from that nonexistence because I was talking in full sentences, and my parents noticed. They were looking at me in surprise. It only took them a moment to recover and continue to baby me, but I knew they knew I could talk in sentences now.

"You passed out while watching cartoons, Jason. You have been asleep for over three hours." Dad responded. It was at this moment that the doctor walked in.

"Jason, good to see you awake! How are you feeling? Any tiredness? Dizziness? Pain?" the doctor asks while he approaches the bed.

"I'm fine" I answer and shake my head at each additional question. Just because my parents know something is up does not mean I'm going to change my quiet personality.

"That's great! I am going to check you over with my stethoscope, for fun then." The doctor checked the machine hooked up to my head for a moment before checking me over with his stethoscope. "Breath in. And out. And in. And out. Wow, your right. You are in perfect health." When the doctor said this both my parents sighed in relief. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to talk to your parents over there for a moment." he continues pointing to the other side of the room. "But for being such a brave boy here's a sticker." He hands me a sticker of a dinosaur that had been attached to his clipboard. I, being the normal and excitable child that I am, take the sticker and begin trying to peel it off to put it on my mini hospital gown. The doctor goes off to the other side of the room to talk, Mom and Dad following him. In a quiet voice, most likely meant to keep me from hearing, the doctor says "Like I said to Jason, everything seems to be fine. None of his tests have come up as anything other than normal. There is no reason for him to have passed out. Are you sure he wasn't just tired?"

"He could have been, it was only an hour before his bedtime... but he never showed any signs of being tired. He was his normal quiet self watching cartoons. He took his normal nap around one, and did not do anything particularly tiring after." Mom responded scared she might have missed some sign. Dad had an arm around her holding her close.

"Well, given that there is nothing wrong with him, there is nothing we can really do. All I can suggest is keeping a close eye on him. Make sure he is getting enough to eat and drink. Maybe push back his nap a bit. Otherwise, just keep doing what you're doing. He seems to be very fit for his age." The doctor suggests. "And of course, do not be afraid to call or bring him in if any more fainting spells occur. We will keep him through the night just in case, but assuming nothing presents itself, we can send him home tomorrow morning."

Just what I needed. Even more supervision after my parents have gotten a small peak behind my childish facade. Not only that but Mom and Dad look really worried. If only I had thought before purchasing the augment. That was a stupid mistake and not one I am going to repeat. the doctor continued to talk to my parents, answering any questions they had about what I should be eating, and when I should be sleeping. Still continuing to pretend to be distracted by my sticker, I began to focus on a new feeling I had noticed since waking up. It was not obvious at first, but right between my eyes, it felt like there was an inflated lung. Not quite like I was holding my breath, it felt quite comfortable and natural, but more like I could exhale at any moment. I took a look at my status.

Name: Gregory Lewis

Current Alias: Jason Kent

Reincarnations: 1

Current Age: 1 Year 1 Month 29 Days

Unspent Experience: 79

+Abilities

+Skills

-Augments

1. Psi Pool (Psionic Augment): A pool of mental energy regenerated while the mind is at rest. Drawing on this energy is as natural as breathing although using too much too fast can result in mental exhaustion. The pool can be expanded through continued use. Base pool size is 100 psi. Current pool size is 100 psi.

-Quests

-Complete

1. Make your First Purchase: Spend at least 1 experience on the Exchange. Award: 50 Experience

...

-Incomplete

1. Stay the Course: Ensure Clark is adopted by the Kents. Award: 100 Experience

2. Survive (Repeatable): Live to see another day. Award: Variable

+Exchange

Another hidden quest complete. The free experience is nice, but I wonder why it was hidden in the first place. Nevertheless, the augment looks to be added to my status and the only change in description is the current pool size. That is probably referencing the fact that the pool can be expanded. No other real meaningful changes were made to the rest of my status. I was about to test controlling some psi when I realized I was about to repeat the same fucking mistake I had just sworn not to. My parents were right there on the other side of the room. There were literal sensors hooked up to my head and chest. I am not this impatient. I can wait till I get back home and I'm alone... And yet I am still tempted. I really want to play with... I mean test... my new energy. It seems constantly acting like a child, even a quiet one, has affected my mentality.

In an effort to prevent myself from giving in to temptation, I let out a large fake yawn. My parents notice immediately. "Are you tired, Jason?" Dad asks. I nod slowly with half-closed eyes. He looked to the doctor.

"It is completely normal for him to be tired if this is after his bedtime. In addition to it being after his bedtime, fainting can also cause exhaustion. Why don't we turn out the lights and continue our discussion in the hallway? Goodnight Jason." the doctor says. Mom and Dad walk over and kiss me goodnight. Mom walks over to the chair next to the bed and Dad follows the doctor outside the room. I close my eyes and turn on my side away from the door and toward Mom. Out of habit I enter my Memory Library and begin watching the first few minutes of Smallville again.

It is only after the first episode ends that I realized that I should have fallen asleep a long time ago, but I do not feel tired at all. I ponder the difference for all of three seconds before I realize I am slowly using psi as time passes in the Memory Library. I focus on the sensation of psi leaving its pool. It has been around forty-five minutes since I started watching and the Psi Pool seems to be a bit under half empty. I check my status again and there is no indicator anywhere for how much psi I have left. I have to assume that I am using about one psi per minute if forty-five minutes feels almost half empty. Doesn't this put me in an odd spot? I have not gone to sleep naturally since my last life. Every night since being reincarnated, I have used Memory Library till I felt exhausted. Now I am trying to go to sleep with my Mother watching and it might take over an hour. I crack an eye open and see Mom still getting settled into the chair. Not only is she still getting settled in the chare, but she is in the exact same position she was in before I closed my eyes. Either Mom has gotten very consistent in how she sits down or time does not pass while I am in my Memory Library. That is so abusable. School is going to be a breeze with all of my past knowledge, perfect recall, and as much time as I need to figure out the solution. The heat of the moment will not apply to me anymore! If ever there is a time crunch just a quick pop into the Memory Library to take a moment and really think about my situation before making a decision. Thank you, System for such an amazing default ability! I close my eye again, renter Memory Library, and watch Smallville till I run out of psi and begin to feel tired. Finally, I fall asleep.