A scorching pain from within roused me out of my slumber.

Where am I? Am I dead? Who am I?

The name Austin popped into my mind.

Yes, I remembered my name... Austin...I'm Austin Ainsworth.

I remembered I was betrayed. Betrayed and almost killed by my professor. A plethora of emotions filled me from within.

Grief, frustration, misery, and anguish towards my unfulfilled and lonely life. A life that has already come to an end. And there was resentment and anger... a boundless rage towards that Professor Grey. I want to tear him into tiny shreds, then rip his face apart and feed it to pigs.

And the overwhelming hatred I harbor towards myself. Towards my foolishness... How naive and foolish I was to blindly trust anyone and share my research with the professor.

If only I had been a little more vigilant towards others...

I—I want to vent my frustration and fury somewhere, anywhere.

And with the same thought, I tried to move my body. What's going on?

I tried to open my eyes, but I could not do so. I made a vain attempt to move my body, but failure quickly followed. Not only that, but I tried to focus on my surroundings, but no matter what I did, I couldn't see, move, hear, or smell anything.

I want to at least feel something, anything, but alas. Apart from excruciating pain, I can't feel anything.

Not a single thing!

And with time, it's getting harder and harder to maintain consciousness.

.

.

The time flies. It stretches endlessly, leaving everything behind.

It embraces the future while leaving the past behind, casting a dark shadow and creating a trail of history, everlastingly.

.

.

How long has it been? The only thing—pain that forces me to believe that I'm alive, also fated with time.

This time, I can't even feel my body. Neither hunger nor pain existed.

How long has it been since I felt something? Hours, days, months, or years? Why does it feel like an eternity? Was I shackled by an endless dream?

If you can't wake up from the nightmare, maybe you are not asleep.

Then why? Why can't I wake up from this nightmare? All I want... all I want is to end this nightmare...

Is this even a nightmare or something else?

Am I really alive? Do I even have any consciousness?

The sensation of loneliness crept up on me over time. I was all alone, lost in the deepest abyss, like floating in an endless void, or the subject of an endless dream. In the darkest abyss, I felt fear, a fear which was born from loneliness... my very own loneliness.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

How long is it? With no sense of time nor any feeling, it sure feels like an eternity. How long is this going to last? If I have died, then please let me pass on to the afterlife, where stars will brighten my path with sparkling light... or is this the so-called 'afterlife'?

In the midst of an interminable dream, I pondered my thoughts when a warm sensation passed through my body.

I feel warm.

'It must be my hallucinations. My body can't feel anything,' I persuaded myself.

However, as time went on, my senses—which I was supposed to have lost in time—reacted to my surroundings, and during that movement, all I felt inside my body was...

Warm and protected, like a mother's embrace!

My entire body was blanketed in vague warmth.

Am I still alive? After so much time, I had already given up on hope.

thumb! thumb! thumb!

What exactly is this?

It's a sound—a sound that sparked hope inside of me.

The sound of a heartbeat. I can feel a heartbeat... my very own heartbeat.

I am alive... Did I somehow manage to survive those hellish experiments?

Does this mean I'll evolve into a superhuman if these experiments are successful? The world's first artificially evolved human being?

But why do these experiments last everlastingly? Or did the experiment throw off my perception of time?

Nevertheless, it would be great if the experiments succeeded. Then I would finally get something good out of this disaster.

I hope I'll be able to escape from this experiment center to experience freedom again and be able to see sunlight.

Or I can simply get supernatural power from these experiments and kill every scientist experimenting with me. Then I can simply live as an overpowered character like in those Frictional movies.

Dreaming... sigh, it's not like I have anything better to do.

...

As time passed, my consciousness became clearer, and I felt warm and comfortable.

My awareness gradually grew clearer, and I experienced a warm, cozy feeling.

My body's senses returned, and I can vaguely sense my surroundings. I'm not here alone. I can sense someone is here with me. I can feel their touch slightly.

At the very least, I'm not all alone.

As the days passed, I could feel my body becoming more and more vigorous, like it was regenerating from the inside.

I eventually gained the ability to slightly move my body. And one day, after much difficulty, I eventually opened my eyes.

Pitch black darkness!

I can't see anything, or am I simply blind?

And after what seemed like an eternity of drifting into slumber, living endlessly in a lonely dream, after feeling eternal misery and despair, I eventually saw the light — a dot of light representing new hope.

It's here, my time. The time when I'll evolve into a supreme being. I am eager to see the results of my evolution. Let's hope they are successful and superior to my imagination. With the same thought, I waited for the completion of my evolution.

The dot grew bigger and bigger, and finally, it completely obscured my vision.

I had to close my eyes as everything around me blurred into a blinding light. I blinked a few times and tried to take in my surroundings.

My vision became sharper, and the scene of a room appeared.

Around me, a few robotic arms are moving and performing intricate and precise tasks. Heart rate and other graphs are displayed on screens that levitate in the air and are projected in 3D throughout the spaces. The graphs resemble those found in medical operating theaters. A few machines, some were moving, and some were floating. It looked like a scene carved from a science fiction film.

Kyyaa! Waah! Waau!

A vociferous sound reverberates in my ears, forcing my attention to look sideways.

As I glanced sideways, a robotic arm moved as the arm picked up a crying baby lightly and with delicate moves.

"Congratulations, Sir and Madam, you are both blessed with healthy and promising twins," a pleased voice projected inside the room.

Twins? Why am I here in the middle of the process of childbirth? And where is the other baby?

thumb! thumb!

I have an awful premonition about this...

I concentrated on myself... a robotic arm was holding my body.

My body — weak, fragile, like a newborn infant...

I tried to open my mouth and say something, but only the sound of a wail and whimper left my throat.

No! No!

How? Why?

This is not what should be happening. After going through those hellish experiments, I was supposed to evolve into an artificially created superhuman.

Then how did this happen? How was I born as an infant?

Did I die and get reincarnated?

Noooo! This is not a fantasy — in science, everything must have a reason.

Then how?

While I was thinking, the robotic arm placed me down beside my mother...

As my gaze moved towards my mother,

Okay, I gave up. Fuck Science! This could be some sort of fantasy world.