I found myself inside a vertical cylindrical glass contraption, with my limbs and body securely strapped inside. Naked.
Of course, the nether regions were covered.
‘Procedure’—that was one way to say that my body would be covered in cold, slimy liquid from my toes all the way up to my chest.
Strangely enough, this reminded me of frogs.
Not the ones that live in ponds and water bodies. No. But the ones that end up in laboratories for experimental purposes.
No... Grandpa Hope wouldn’t do that to me. I’m not a test subject. But the stupid thought still lingered at the back of my mind.
Hundreds, if not more, small needles, extending into pipes directly connected to the nanite glass containers, were injected all over my body—my neck, legs, arms, and head.
“Please close your eyes, the procedure is about to start,” Dr. Amodni said.
I closed my eyes.
Psshh! A sedative gas was released into the claustrophobic cylindrical machine, and I started feeling dizzy.
The next moment, I was out.
When I finally woke up, I found myself lying on a bed. But I felt ‘something’ beneath me.
“Noah, how are you feeling?” Someone placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Dr. Amodni, her black eyes peering into mine.
“Yeah… I think I’m okay. Sort of. What happened?” I asked.
Dr. Amodni handed me a bottle of water, advising me to hydrate.
“You passed out. Lost consciousness,” Hope replied, his attention fixed on typing something on a holographic monitor hovering above a box-like contraption. I looked down to find a thick cable, resembling a massive electric data cable, emerging from my lower back, specifically around my tailbone area. It was directly connected to the contraption Grandfather was typing into, while I still held onto the bottle of water.
Honestly, the sight of the wire plunging into my tailbone region felt… bizarre. It evoked a phobic sensation. But I didn’t react to it.
“Relax, Noah. This is simply part of the procedure,” Dr. Amodni reassured me, not shying away from my naked body.
“How long was I unconscious?”
“For four hours,” she replied.
I quickly gulped down the entire bottle of water.
It was then that Hope exclaimed, “It’s done!” TAP! He tapped a command on the holographic monitor, and—Psshh!
“Ouch!” I glanced down to see the tube that had been inserted into my back now being ejected.
That’s so strange, I thought, furrowing my brow.
[Serial number: Nm01-G10. Activating the Neural Adaptive Nanite Operation. Bio-synthesis reserves at 100%. Energy Core efficiency at 99.9%. Scanning the user...]
Suddenly, I began hearing a voice inside my head. And accompanying the voice was an eerie light emanating from my body.
“What is this?” I asked, still frowning, amused.
[Scanning complete. Biological homeostasis achieved. No anomalies detected. Condition: healing...]
“The nanobots run under an autonomic system. The system’s intelligence can talk to you inside your mind. Think of it as an assistant,” Grandfather replied.
“Is it an AI?” I asked.
“No. Not an AI. But you can think of it as such.”
Grandfather explained that nanotechnology was a concept he had been working on for almost forty years. The result: an unparalleled technology with supreme digital prowess.
The nanites were super advanced, way beyond anything of this era. They could even project augmented reality onto my eyes, which… definitely sounded cool.
“Try talking with it,” Hope encouraged.
I smiled.
“Quite the fascinating machine you're… er, what should I call you?” I asked the nanites inside my body.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
[Do you wish to name me, Master Noah?] it replied, its tone... its voice was something else.
Master. It calls me ‘Master’… How odd. I smiled faintly. It understands me, and it can ask questions too.
Well, of course, it can... stupid me.
“What was it that you said after activating? ‘Neural Adaptive Nanite Operation’? Is that your system?”
[Affirmative.]
I nodded thoughtfully. “Then… how about the name ‘Nano’? Short for Neural Adaptive Nanite Operation?”
[Command acknowledged. Name registered: Nano.]
Nano’s voice was peculiar—not robotic, not human—a delicate harmony between a male and female tone. Man and machine blended into something... more. It wasn’t just a tool. It felt alive, part of me now.
“So, Nano… what can you actually do?”
[Do you wish to access the complete operational manual?]
“Uh, no thanks,” I waved it off. Manuals weren’t my thing. “Just… give me the highlights. Start with something cool.”
[Define ‘cool,’ Master Noah. Parameters include functionality, efficiency, or—]
“Forget it,” I interrupted with a laugh. “Just show me something unexpected.”
There was a pause. Then, in an instant, something appeared in front of me. A translucent interface that overlaid the lab like a hologram. Streams of data poured through—vital stats, temperature readings, and even a faint, real-time map of my surroundings. It hovered in the air before me, like a hologram. I couldn't tell if there was an actual hologram in front of me or if Nano was directly feeding the data into my brain, making me see… this.
“Okay, that’s… definitely cool.”
[This is the baseline augmented reality display. Shall I demonstrate combat protocols next?]
“Combat?” My stomach tightened. “Why would I ever need combat protocols?”
By the time I was done exploring its capabilities, the afternoon sun had begun its descent. The entire procedure was over far sooner than I’d anticipated. What I thought would take days was completed in hours.
* * *
I was on my way back to Myria, my home.
The train sped past several sights, with light streaming through the window before flickering.
A sigh of relief escaped me, and a sense of satisfaction settled within.
I could feel it.
I was… healthy? Yes, I was.
“Finally,” I let out. “Nanomachines, huh…” I clenched and unclenched my dominant hand, feeling a rush of excitement.
A smile tugged at my lips, and I shifted my gaze to the view outside the window. And... What was that?
My eyes narrowed.
The sky—its colour was wrong. A swirling mix of purple and yellow, unnatural, unsettling. Colours not normally seen, blending in a way that made my stomach turn.
"What's going on?"
Ring! Ring!
Jolted by the sudden sound, I pulled out my phone. My eyes fell on the caller ID—it was Mum. She usually texted, rarely called unless it was urgent. My heart skipped a beat, and a strange premonition crept into my mind.
I answered apprehensively, "Mum, what’s up? Is everything alright?"
["Noah! Are you okay? Where are you?!"]
!
There was a nervous tremor in her voice—the same tremor I had felt seven years ago.
“Calm down. What is it? I'm just on the way.”
["I don’t know what’s happening! The building—it’s shaking violently!"] She gasped, her frantic footsteps echoing through the phone. [“Noah, stay with Grandfather… I—oh my!"]
Brightness.
A sudden, blinding flash engulfed the world around me.
I closed my eyes; X-rays—the skeletal radiographs of passengers aboard the compartment—burned behind my eyelids. The world’s chiaroscuro melted into white; my consciousness began to fade.
My mouth opened; I tried to say something, but no words came out. It was all too fast; everything was too sudden.
And then—darkness.
* * *
Soft. Peaceful.
Hmm?
I blinked awake, greeted by the chirping of birds and the gentle embrace of sunlight.
Is it morning already? I wondered. “What time is it?” I muttered. My hand groped for the alarm clock.
It wasn’t there.
I shifted on the bed, and a faint smile played on my lips. The mattress felt unusually plush beneath me. I felt a freedom I had never experienced before—a complete surrender to the rest, as if the chains of society had vanished. Comfortable in my own... skin. As if the world were a white canvas, and I its Sleeping Endymion.
Slowly, the sleep drunkenness began to lift.
Right then, the air crackled, and an electric spark formed right above my face.
Crackle!
────────────────────
┌─────────────────┐
│ 𝐒 𝐭 𝐚 𝐭 𝐮 𝐬 𝐖 𝐢 𝐧 𝐝 𝐨 𝐰 ➙
└─────────────────┘
𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞: Noah Grey
𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐤: G
𝐀𝐠𝐞: 17
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬: Homosapien
𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬: None
■𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒 →
Health: 100/ 100
Mana: 100/ 100
Strength: 70
Intelligence: ??
Mana Capacity: 0
Stamina: G
Charm: E
Dexterity: A
𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒: None
𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐒: None
𝐀𝐑𝐓: None
Gift: Manuscript
───────────────────
A ghostly hologram floated above my face.
"What?"
I was confused.
The holographic window displayed my stats. Mana, status… What is this? I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
It was still there, hovering like a ghost in front of me.
Did I leave some VR game open?
"What happened to my... my room? It's changed," I muttered, my brows furrowing.
Questions swarmed my mind as I tried to make sense of it all, but my thoughts were interrupted by a sudden voice: [Good morning, Master.]
Nano’s mechanical tone echoed in my head.
Before I could reply, the memory of what had happened rushed back.
"That explosion!" I gasped, the realisation striking me like a thunderclap. My chest tightened as I bolted upright, but my legs gave way beneath me.
A dull thud followed as I hit the floor.
Rubbing the back of my head, I looked up and froze.
A naked figure stared at me from the ornate, wood-framed mirror in front of me, perched on the floor, knee drawn up, resting against the bed like something out of an ancient, forgotten painting.
It was my reflection. But not my own. The skin—ghostly pale—was stretched too tightly over a body that felt both mine and foreign. The face was that of my teenage self, but it felt as though it belonged to someone else entirely. My eyes—once the brown I remembered—had now become dark. Hollow. Consuming.
The cold touch of the glass against my fingertips jolted me back to the present. My reflection stayed still, expressionless, except for the tears that silently traced down that pale, unfamiliar face.
"What... happened to me?" I whispered. The voice didn’t even sound like mine anymore.
Suddenly, a sharp, nauseating pain gripped my head, dropping me to my knees as I clawed at my skull. A floodgate of memories crashed open, information was injected into my brain. Vivid images flooded in, memories… but they weren't mine.