New Years Day Morning Tertius Year 369

[ Royal Palace of the Astral Empire - Aion City ]

[ Prince Chronos's Bedroom ]

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<< IN CHRONO'S MIND >>

I stood in a line of people amidst an eerie scrapyard. The line stretched out for miles. An ominous silence brooded as raindrops fell with increasing consistency. My white hair was drenched.

'Hang on... Why do I have long white hair?'

I thought to myself as I scanned my arms. They were wrinkled and pale, the protruding bones held up perceptibly malnutritioned tents of aged, scarred skin. I was but a ragged bag of bones. Putting my fingers on my lips, they felt so parched it was like I was running my fingers across the bark of a tree. An unfathomable sense of hunger struck and my throat was so dry it ached to breathe.

'What the hell is going on ?!'

'No... don't tell me... that translucent bitch really cursed me?!'

"ARGHHH!" A bellow reverberated from a distance, cut short by the sound of laser fire, distracted me from the pain.

"Another runaway, toss it straight into the generator…" an echoing robotic voice devoid of emotion echoed.

I looked up at the sky with my mouth open, letting the rain pellet down into my shriveled esophagus. The agony of prolonged thirst and starvation stuck to me like a layer of scalding wax had ravaged the insides of my beat up body.

'Sooo thirsty... Fucks sake, should I just jump outta line and end this?'

Strangely, my attempt to rush out of the line failed, I had control of this body, but it seems like it had to be within certain rules and constrains.

Mindlessly, stepping forward with the crowd, it was only a matter of minutes when an emotionless android nudged me to hurry up. I was at the edge of a cliff, below me were giant grinding gears drench in red fluid, the occasional limb or head bouncing about trying to escape the jaws of the menacing mechanical beast.

In shock, I leaned forward to throw up and caught a glimpse of a sign 'Biomass Generator'.

'Waahhht. Thaaa. Fuccck....'

Just then, I felt a metallic kick from the back pushing me into the monster grinding machine. The instantaneous pain I felt - indescribable.

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<< THE OUTSIDE WORLD >>

[Bedroom of Prince Chronos Astral]

"HUUHHHH!"

Chronos sat up gasping for air, the torment he felt still lingering in the corners of his consciousness. The physical pain though, slowly subsiding.

*Sniff* *Sniff* *Sniff*

A scent of fresh grass mixed with sanitizer fluid wafted into his nostrils as he slowly regained his bearings. Chronos felt what could only be described as soft, fluffy, smooth and cozy clouds pressing against his skin.

'Am I in heaven?'

Chronos thought to himself, before shaking his head and realizing that he was in an expansive room. The bedroom was a masterpiece of futuristic design, boasting sleek, angular lines and shimmering surfaces. The walls were made of an iridescent material that seemed to change colors with the light, shifting from warm shades of marblesque beige and tints of bronze.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Chronos was sat on the centerpiece of the room. A massive circular bed lined by a neon white light that seemed to float in mid air. It was covered by sumptuous comfortable white linens that seemed to shimmer and flow with every movement.

"HAHAHA ! ROYAL FLUSH BITCHES!!!"

Chronos stood up and raised both his arms in triumph by a holographic display that was floating along the circumference of the bed. It featured a range of functions from temperature controls to mood lighting. All it took was a flick of a finger to adjust almost any imaginable setting to suit the user's preference.

'Look at this... It's like I'm in some sort of science fiction film!'

Chronos marveled at his surroundings, as an image of his decrepit apartment unit tried creeping into his mind.

Right in front of him was a large floor-to-ceiling screen that stretched across the entire surface of the wall. It had a hyper realistic background of a peerless sunlit bed of clouds, as if Chronos were one of the Gods on Mount Olympus.

He took in every detail of the room, from the large sliding doors to the multitude of high-tech sci-fi looking machines. Out of habit, Chronos quickly formed a detailed simulated grid of every detail in the room within his mind.

Following which, he started analyzing his countdown situation and recollected the events that transpired the day before. His guess was half right, he did end up dying after the countdown, but he seemed to have been reborn in a futuristic world with super powers.

The curse was a real bummer, but Chronos was no stranger to set backs, in fact, that was all he knew.

' My body! '

Chronos quickly looked down and saw the body of a 5 year-old dressed in an intricately designed suit of white with purple and silver embroidery.

'Phew… at least I'm not a starving old man… That nightmare was too realistic for comfort,' Chronos comforted himself.

Just then,

"Urghhh..."

A piercing pain bore deep into his skull. Chronos could feel the remnants of the destructive crimson energy crackling across the surface of his brain as a holy white light swept it away, healing him as it motioned to encase my mind.

'This damned curse… I gotta to find a way to deal with this before I turn completely insane... again?'

Shaking his head, he started patting himself down.

'Phew… It's still there, I was born a guy...!'

With his hands stretched into his trousers, Chronos heaved a sigh of relief but just at that moment…

"Wow aren't you a little too young for that lil bro"

Chronos looked up, dazed from having just recovered from his headache. Looking back down to his crotch and the hand beneath his trousers he froze. Chronos looked back up once again and saw a voluptuous lady. Probably in her late twenties, an alluring aura of nobility exuded from her, one that held a veiled sense of power and danger.

She was wearing an exquisite dress much like that of ancient Chinese nobility Chronos had seen in C-dramas back on Earth. The lady's gown was a striking shade of crimson red, embellished with intricate golden patterns and delicate embroidery. It flowed gracefully over her curves and billowed behind her as she walked, trailing along the ground like a river of fire.

Her hair was a vibrant shade of purple, cascading down her back like a silky waterfall, and her eyes were an enchanting shade of purple, sparkling with an otherworldly allure. One of her pearlesque hands was covering her mouth, barely managing to hold in a laugh. A seductive, perfect body jiggling with every stifled giggle.

"A.. Are you a goddess?"

Just as Chronos asked that question, a familiar tickling headache struck him. He put his forehead into one of his hands, trying to massage both his temples but realized that his hand was too tiny.

"Hahahaha…Goddess??.. I love you so much lil Chronos, aren't you the cutest…" A sweet laughter followed immediately after my question.

"My name is Chronos?" I muttered under my breath.

'Hmmm strange... is this but a coincidence?'

"Yes! You are Prince Chronos Astral, baby brother of the gorgeous, intelligent, fearsome, brave, popular….. "

"Y.. You're Eldest Sister Athena…"

"How do I.. know this…?"

His head once again started to ache. This time though, Chronos lowered his head and had each of his tiny index fingers massage his temples, slyly ignoring the awkward embarrassing position he was previously in.

*FLASH*

Chronos felt a shift in the space ahead of him but before he could react, two palms were already rubbing both of his cheeks, squeezing his entire face toward his nose.

"Don't worry lil cutie… the side effects from your PBS and Basic Update will subside very soon" Athena smiled as she continued massaging Chronos's cheeks, chuckling at the many variations of silly faces she was forcing upon him.

"Bee… Pee..Sssh?"

Chronos tried to sound out, desperately trying not to look at the two mounds of perfection swaying in front of him with each movement of Athena's arms.

She paused her hands in a position that forced him to make a kissy face, smiled and said:

"PBS- Pre-Birth Simulation, it is a method Sophia and her army of nerds have been working on, it allows a growing fetus to experience a simulated lifetime, based on ancient anecdotes of how prehistoric societies used to be, before the end of the incubation period.."

"… The formation of higher life forms start with their cognitive functions so while the rest of the being grows, we have managed to create a simulation within the mental faculties of the fetus to accelerate mental growth and acuity…"

"This gives the child an unimaginable head start in areas of mental maturity, comprehension, emotional control bla bla bla…"

Chronos's eyes widened at the thought that the simulation theory I had heard of while experiencing Earth was actually true!

'The countdown! It was an indicator of when my PBS experience would end?'

'Hold the freaking phone... that means... my 15 years of torture... was... FAKE?!'

'No wonder I feel like a completely different person despite my memories...'

'This isn't some isekai, reincarnation, transmigration thingamajig ??? I just ... wasn't technically born yet??!!'

Chronos was having a fit in his mind, unsure if he should be celebrating or cursing. Chronos eventually snapped out of it, there was after all nothing he could do about it. In fact, a wide smile started to form as he felt the anticipation and longing for this new life.

Suddenly, he realized the awkwardness of his position and tried to push his new sister away.

His short tiny frame and arms pushed forward absentmindedly, only to feel a soft sensation on his palms. Chronos looked forward toward his hands and looked back up at the picturesque face right in front of him - frozen.

Athena smirked as Chronos could see her warm smile considering whether or not to turn dangerously into something else, however, she all but let loose a soft chuckle.

She let go of Chronos, covered her chest and in a mischievous tone whined:

"How could you take advantage of your own big sister! Do you know how many have died just looking at my babies for too long?" Athena let out an evil grin.

Chronos could feel his face flush and heat up as he frantically waved his arms in front of him. It did not help that a certain iconic intro-tune of a certain iconic website of a certain adult genre involuntarily popped into his mind.

"It.. It was an accident! I was just trying to…."