My eyes pop open to me gasping for air, drenched in sweat and disoriented, feeling I was still in that hell of nothingness.
I calmed my breathing as I lay in my bed looking at various band posters and video game figurines. I had slept for only a few hours, so it was almost noon. I began thinking about what was inside my body and what happened to me.
As much as I want to go help Derek and talk to him, I'm unsure of what I would even do about it. ‘I need to figure this out first.’
I get up from my bed, put on some fresh clothes, walk downstairs and see Ma sitting on the couch watching tv. “Hey Ma, where is Dad?”
“He said he had to handle some things and went into town for some errands. He should be back by dinner time. Are you ok? My mom says with obvious concern in her voice.
“Yeah, I'm ok Ma, but I want to go out to the creek for a bit. I kinda just wanna be alone.”
Mom looks at me and sighs, “Sure honey. I can understand that.”
“Thanks Ma.”
The creek is a good 15-minute walk out back. It's a whole 300-acre property, which is pretty small for a ranch, but we raise goats mostly. We have a small flock of chickens, but that's for eggs, and they keep the bugs down around the pins.
I sit down on one of the boulders up under some shade overlooking the babbling creek. I take a deep breath to brace myself for what I'm about to do.
‘...status’
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MAIN MENU
>STATUS< MISSION SETTINGS
{NAME} Alex Reynolds
{SPECIES} Homo Sapiens - Augmented (76%)
{OCCUPATION} Student
HP: 100 (REGULATED)
STR: 100 (REGULATED)
VIT: 100 (REGULATED)
DEX: 100 (REGULATED)
AGI: 100 (REGULATED)
INT: 15
UE: 65!
{SYNTHETIC COMPONENT STATE}
HEAD: 38% (OPERATIONAL)
ARMS: 100% (OPERATIONAL)
TORSO: 62% (OPERATIONAL)
LEGS: 100% (OPERATIONAL)
WARNING: LOW ENERGY!
----------------------------------------
Having a chance to get a better look at the menu, I begin to scan my eyes erratically over the new information. Reading it over and over, my world starts to spin. I had seen things I wished I didn't see, nor could I understand. All the novels, action movies, and video games could not prepare me for my new reality.
“S..synthetic component?” Peering down at my arms and legs, I look at them in fear, gulping. I raise my arm and pinch the skin, ‘It feels real.’
In a temporary fit to prove to myself that I am still human, I stand up, walk to a tree…and punch it.
*BOOOOM*
The earth trembles under my feet; pebbles jump and scatter down the slope into the creek bed. Birds caw and fly away in droves all around me. The power felt natural, but to my eyes, it was like that moment seeing a major car wreck in front of me…
*CRAAaack*......*Boom*
The tree falls to the ground and rolls slightly. 'Is this real life right now?'
I look at where the tree once stood, now reduced to a stump. Overwhelmed, I stumble toward the creek side and kneel to see my reflection in the water. I had just done the impossible of felling a tree barehanded.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
‘Well, I’m definitely not human anymore.’ I stare at the completely unblemished skin on my knuckles.
I could feel the bark. I even felt the different stages of growth within the tree. It felt like punching through a loaf of bread. How is this possible? Why is this happening to me?
I try to calm down and give myself a pep talk that I'm pretty sure no one has ever had to do before.
“It's ok. You're still sorta human according to the system, haha. People have prosthetics, right? Ya!...it’s just like really strong prosthetics…Ma and Dad can’t tell the difference, so why should I care?”
‘I don't even believe myself when I say it out loud. I need to fully understand this whole situation; otherwise, I could get myself captured by the government or some other crazy shit.’ I shudder at the thought.
Sitting back down. I pull up the menu again and I select Mission.
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MAIN MENU
STATUS >MISSION< SETTINGS
CURRENT: Energy Source
OBJECTIVE: Search for a suitable energy source to refill
maintenance reserves
REWARD: Survival/Unregulated state
----------------------------------------
“Well that's just weird, but what the hell...Survival? Survival from what?”
‘Wait wait wait,’ I click back to STATUS, and at the bottom, in big, bold letters, it clearly says LOW ENERGY.
‘Do I run on batteries…what the fuck?!’
“OK, so I'll figure that out in a bit. What about SETTINGS?”
----------------------------------------
MAIN MENU
STATUS MISSION >SETTINGS<
A.I. REGULATION: [ON]/OFF (LOCKED-LOW ENERGY)
A.I. ASSIST: ON/[OFF]
----------------------------------------
‘Ok, I'm not sure what A.I. REGULATION is exactly but what is the assistant part? Click…ON?’
^HELLO USER! I am your Artificial Neural Network Amalgamation system or ANNA for short. How may I assist you today?^
“U..Umm hello..” Shocked, I think fast and ask the one question that has been weighing on my mind since the beginning. “ANNA, How did I become like this?”
^Unclear query. Please specify^
“How did I become augmented.”
^Unknown, however, if I am authorized to analyze personal memories, I may be able to extrapolate a suitable answer. Do you wish to give permission?^
Hesitating a bit about a machine poking around my brain, ‘I mean, it's already in my brain, I think,’ I cave to the pressure of wanting to know the unknown. “Please go ahead”
^STAND BY^
^ANALYSIS SUCCESSFUL, Display results?^
“YES!”
^Based on memories of your primary species' current technological level, I can conclude that this resulted from what you would consider an outside force, also known as Aliens.^
“Holy fuck, you’re lying. There's no way that's possible.”
^I am incapable of lying to my user.^
“But how?”
^Unknown, however, a remaining fragmented memory may be related to your situation. Do you wish to replay the Memory?”
“Um…Yes?”
My vision goes black, and a scene plays through my own eyes and ears.
*step*...*Step*...*STEP*
“.....”
“What the FUCK…is this nasty ass….0.0…aaah shit.”
“Commander Leon, Sir! “
“Yes, Soldier A!”
“I crushed that one annoying specimen with the damn Grav elevator.”
“...Who?”
“That human, your daughter, is close with. I guess he came back to look for her or something.”
“AH shit, you damn idiot, Clare is going to be furious. Why didn't you check the area scanner before you opened the door! Gather what remains of the human and put it into the Reconst Unit. We’ll see if we can fix it somehow.”
My vision returns to normal, and several revelations hit me all at once, so far outside of my wheelhouse I don't even know what to think at this point.
I clearly heard Clare's father speaking to someone, and he mentioned Clare would be furious about something.
I remember being in serious pain but quickly blacked out, but I had thought it was firefighters that had found me.
‘Someone said they had crushed me under a…Grav Elevator? There's no way Leon and Clare are…aliens. Someone said Commander Leon, but why do they speak English if they are aliens?’
I tried to deny the suspicion about Clare's family but the probability ratios that ANNA provided based on my memories, kept reaching the same conclusion. That Clare’s family were aliens not of this planet, and they had caused an accident resulting in my current form.
While further questioning ANNA about my situation. I was floored by the information. Essentially my current strength is roughly 30 times the capacity of an average human.
^Alex, please conduct rudimentary testing so I may better calculate your combat abilities. There is limited information about your augmentations in my data stores.^
“You don't know?”
^There is no information regarding the capacities of your body. The limited information I have obtained is too little to assist you in combat.^
“Why would I be in combat though?”
^My primary function is exploration and combat. It is considered a priority to know the full scope of my user's capacity.^
‘Exploration and combat! What the hell did they put inside me?!’
“Um..ok, ANNA, what do you want me to do?”
^Please run as fast as possible^