Mark woke up to the sound of crackling and popping noise.

"Can you keep it down Marcus. I am trying to get some fucking sleep," said Mark. But he didn't receive a reply and the sound kept going with the same intensity. Finally, not being able to bear it Mark woke up grumbling and rubbing his eyes.

He tried to get up from the bed, but he couldn't feel the bed, he couldn't feel anything, he opened his eyes confused but all he could see was the darkness that confined him like a cradle and sound of popping and crackling. He could not smell nor see anything except the sound that persisted.

"Marcus if this is your idea I swear I will make you regret every being born," he yelled But still there was no reply to his question.

"OK, this is not funny anymore Marcus. Everyone you had your fun now remove whatever it is you are using to blindfold and block my senses with."

There was no answer this time as well, but Mark did not stop. He continued to yell and call out all of his friend's name for hours but there was still no answer. He started to think maybe he was kidnapped by a rival company but then his identity was still unknown to the world. That is when Mark started to realize then that he hasn't heard his voice, and all the yelling was in his mind.

He tried to make a sound, but the only sound was the crackling and popping. He tried to rise his hand but to his shock he had none. He couldn't even fell his body. All he felt was hot like he was standing on a flame.

He started to panicking and yelling trying to move anywhere or move even an inch. His mind was in disarray and chaotic trying to piece all the little information he had of his current situation. And all he could come up with was that this was a dream.

After trying different methods for hours to calm himself but not succeeding he found himself listening to the crackling sound. The rhythm of the sound was like a soft melody, a comforting lullaby in the darkness. He slowly drifted to sleep thinking he would wake up from his nightmare.

When Mark woke up again, he found himself in the same darkness with no body but with only the sound of crackling. He felt suffocated and breathless. He started yelling and cursing for hours on end. After exhausting his mental energy Mark begun to try to at least feel his surroundings.

As his concentration increase so did the sound of the crackling around him. He focused for hours without paying any attention to the increasing sound. But the result was disappointing. Mark felt exhausted after that and went to sleep.

After waking up Mark did same thing he did previously and ending with the same result as before. So, Mark repeated the cycle of sleeping and concentrating to see his surrounding again and again with no end.

After several repetition when Mark was starting to lose hope, he saw small lights of some green, some red, and some a mixture of red and green forming a long thin threads that wove themselves to form a picture or maybe an unfinished painting on a lighter blue canvas fabric but immediately it started to unweave itself as Mark lost concentration because of his surprise.

Mark couldn't calm himself for a long time because of what he felt when he saw it. He experienced something ethereal, elusive and heavy. It was a contradictory to his mind because it felt so close yet far away, light yet heavy, real yet imaginary. And he perceived something in him change, evolve and the sound of crackling increase.

Mark tried to feel it and bring back the painting, but it was getting harder since he was losing his concentration quicker and quicker because of his impatience. He tried to forget the feeling and calm himself first, but he was more exhausted than he thought so he fell asleep in the middle of his meditation.

After Mark woke up, he tried again, and it was easier than the previous times he tried. The picture that was woven this time looked more complete and more real. So, Mark continued to complete the picture by doing it again and again. He also felt that ethereal something more and more until he realized that was what was helping him weave the picture he was seeing. So, he focused on it drawing more of it and trying to complete the picture.

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Mark continued his routine of sleeping and trying to complete the painting and different colors of light appeared on the painting. As the lighter blue canvas fabric gained white lights that formed into different shapes of clouds but their detail still blurry. The green light form into the shape of leaves on a brown branches and stems form into a colossal trees that almost seemed to reach the blue sky. Theirs roots covered by mud and grass. The red light formed into an ember that was burning the grasses, turning the ground black and filled with ashes of grasses and spreading to the tress all around it as if seeking to burn all of things that it sees like it had a burning desire to burn all things in existence.

The painting was becoming more complete with details and Mark was drawing more of the unknown energy. More light flooded into the darkness Mark had found himself in, banishing it. The painting grew, drawing more detail and light until it filled all of the darkness. And mark for the first time saw his surroundings. He was in a dense forest with colossal trees that reach the blue sky that had a dense cloud of different shape.

Mark was filled with joy of seeing the sky that he didn't look at himself. And because of Mark losing concentration again the darkness returned with fervor and rage. And he didn't have time to see himself or look for the source of the sound that was unceasing persisted. So, Mark tried again but this time it formed quicker. He looked around him and saw an ember spreading to the trees and burning anything that stood on its way with him as a center. Mark yelled and tried to jump out of the fire but the fire jump with him. This continued for a few seconds spreading more of the fire to the trees.

Just as Mark was about to try something different, he heard a voice that was cold and distant in his head.

[You have gained ENERGY EYE].

That sound froze him on the spot. He panicked and started to look around him to see if he can find someone but to his dismay he found none. And there was no other sound after it, making him mistake it for an illusion because of his panic due to being in a center of a fire. That reminded him of his current condition. His panic had spread the fire more and there was a sudden flare of flame now and then whenever his emotions spiked. It would increase the spread of the fire catch on more of the trees and increase its temperature.

After several minutes of panic and despair Mark realized he was not burned in fact he did not feel any discomfort at all from the fire instead he felt comfortable and safe. He calmed down a bit after that and started to look at himself and that was when he found out he could not see himself, and there was nothing but fire and forest around him.

He moved all over the forest, walking through the forest trying to find anything but he neither couldn't feel his see his body nor anything else. He thought perhaps he was dead, and he was only a consciousness that was drifting around Earth because he had some unfinished business. But Earth never had this kind of tall trees, so this place must be in a different place and that further solidified his previous guess that he was dead. And if he was dead then where was he now. What was this place, this forest because it didn't feel like hell or heaven or any of the afterlife he heard and read back on earth. And also, there was that mysterious energy he felt and used and the mysterious voice he heard. He shouldn't be able to use that, and he must be able to see his soul if he was dead. So, he concluded he wasn't dead but if he wasn't dead then where was he and where was his body.

"Fuck!" cursed Mark out loud or at least he tried to but there was still no sound coming out of him.

"This was a very confusing even for me", thought Mark. "I had invented new technology and would have won a noble prize had I stayed on Earth. And yet I can't find the answer for this?"

It frustrated Mark to no end not knowing the answer. That was when he heard the voice from before again in his mind.

[Conditions for evolution are met].

[Enough SOURCE ENERGY detected for evolution].

[Congratulation you have evolved from an EMBER to WILDFIRE].