The newborn twins lay wrapped in a blanket, each nestled side by side in their own hospital crib. They were so small and helpless, unable to move or speak. Their soft skin was a pale pink, their heads covered in fine, silky, blonde hair.
As they lay there, their mother, a woman named Nicole stood above them, lovingly running her hands through their hair as she whispered softly to them. Her blond locks cascaded down her shoulders and her golden eyes sparkled in the from the glow of the florescent lights.
"You're both strong and healthy babies. You are going to do great things someday." She smiled as she leaned down to kiss their foreheads.
Just then, the nursery door opened and the doctor entered, clipboard in hand. He paused in surprise at seeing Nicole already out of bed especially after such a major surgery.
"They will probably develop amazing psionic abilities, just like their mother," the doctor assured the new mother, noting the unique identifier bracelet on her wrist.
The emergence of Psionic abilities had was a recent phenomenon. It started thirty years ago, when the asteroid titled "53 Icarus" by astronomers impacted Earth. The impact caused an endless winter that wiped out all the crops and resulted in widespread famine. After six devastating years, the sun finally returned, thawing the soil and allowing life to recover.
The survivors thought it would be a simple return to normalcy but the truth was much more complicated. As the world recovered, they discovered that the asteroid's radiation had infused into the atmosphere and water, mutating many humans and animals and awakening extraordinary new abilities within them.
At first, these abilities were rare, but soon they were popping up everywhere. The people awakening these powers dubbed themselves “Psions” and the name stuck.
Of course, it wasn't just humans who were manifesting these powers. Animals were also beginning to awaken similar abilities, and they were given the label of "Psi Beasts". It was a term that was inspired by the word "Psions."
And so, the terms "Psions" and "Psi Beasts" were born, and normalcy was never to return.
In response to this new phenomenon, the newly reformed government established after the devastating impact winter, knew they had to take action to manage the growing population of Psions.
To keep track of these Psions, a global registry was established and each Psion was required to register themselves and wear unique identifiers, such as a bracelet so that others could easily identify them as Psions.
Of course, these Psions were not shunned by society at all. While some feared their abilities, others praised Psions for their extraordinary powers. Many of them were treated as celebrities.
Influential Psions and their gifted children had obtained a high status in this new world. Their bloodlines carried immense prestige, as the offspring of Psions were far more likely to develop psionic abilities themselves.
One such Psion was Nicole, the mother of these two twins infants. She possessed the ability to control her hair as a weapon or tool.
As she gently stroked her infants' soft cheeks, she said, "I don't care about all that. All I want is for them to grow up to be kind." She was unconcerned with their potential abilities, and cared only about their character.
"Of course," the doctor agreed. "But for now, it's important that you rest and allow your body to recover from the surgery.”
She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight. "Goodnight, my precious babies," she whispered. "Mommy loves you."
**
It was midnight at the hospital, and the dimly lit halls were eerily quiet. The man, now a newly reborn infant boy, peered through the bars of his crib at his twin sister.
The infant girl was staring back at him. Her golden eyes met his with a glare unlike any he'd ever seen. She also had a deep frown on her face.
He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with his new sibling. She seem to have possessed a wisdom and understanding beyond her age.
"She doesn’t seem to like me very much," he thought quietly to himself. Her expression was unreadable, and the man found himself growing increasingly uncomfortable under her gaze.
He looked away, frowning as he watched the ceiling above him. Trapped and alone in the hospital crib, he felt a sense of frustration wash over him. He tried to move his tiny arms, but they barely budged. He tried to kick his legs, but they were also held still.
He quickly gave up and lay still, gazing at the sheet of paper attached to the crib, which contained his new name: Christopher Williams.
"Not a bad name, but it was too long for his taste. Guess I can call myself Chris for short," the man thought to himself as he continued reading the words on the piece of paper. He was particularly interested in the field indicating his date of birth.
“I was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 8, 2060?” Christopher was relieved that he was still in his home state but the year listed on the form was a shock.
Christopher quickly sat up in the crib and looked around the room. It was a typical hospital room, filled with machines and windows that looked out onto the city outside. He noticed that the cars driving on the nearby road seemed to be from the present day, rather than the futuristic world he had been expecting.
"2060? My surroundings don't seem that futuristic to me. No computers or holograms. Maybe it's an Earth with an alternate history?" Christopher wondered to himself.
Without warning, a floating window appeared in the air in front of him, displaying the message "Activating Devil System" in large, red letters.
Activating Devil System
Stolen story; please report.
Christopher's eyes widened in shock as he saw the window. "This is my system. My golden finger!" he thought, excited at the prospect of gaining the abilities of a protagonist in a system webnovel.
"Hopefully it's an easy-to-use cheat system like a daily sign-in," Christopher thought to himself, as the system was initializing. Christopher crossed his fingers for an effortless cheat like a daily log-in bonus. His mind flashed back to all the webnovels where the protagonists got showered with rewards and power-ups just for signing in each day.
Devil System
Devil System has chosen you, who was an internet troll as our candidate. You will use hatred points to obtain abilities and traits. You can gain hatred points by being hated by others. Do your best by insulting others, making fun of them, or even hurting them.
"Not bad." Christopher smiled as he saw the screen. "Oh, I get it. So I can be a real jerk and people will hate me and give me more points. Easy peasy, right?"
As the window changed to display the message "Synchronizing with the Devil System,” Christopher’s excitement grew. He couldn't wait to cause chaos and be rewarded for it.
But his excitement was short-lived when an error message popped up on the window.
Christopher grew more confused as he read the message that followed.
Devil System
The Devil System has encountered an error. Soul is incomplete and cannot be connected to the Devil System.
Searching for the other half...
"What the hell?" Christopher thought to himself, confused by the message. "Why did the system say it couldn't connect to my soul? What does that mean?"
**
As the girl laid in a hospital crib next to her new twin brother, The newborn girl scowled as she lay in the hospital crib, her tiny face scrunched up in distaste at the baby boy next to her. The newborn girl couldn't help but feel disgusted by the sight of him. "What an ugly baby," she thought, turning away in disdain. The girl knew this infant was her twin brother as she could feel a deep sense of familiarity. But, she didn't like him. Not one bit.
Perhaps it stemmed from her frustration over the fact that she had been reborn as a girl, especially after living as a man in her past life. She couldn’t help but miss her past life, recalling how she had lived before she sacrificed her life to save a child from being crushed to death.
"Maybe I was given a second life for my good deed," she thought, "but at least let me be the same gender!” She slammed her small palm against the bedding in anger.
As she looked at at the white paper on the crib, the girl saw her new name written in black and blue ink: Kristine Williams, born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 8, 2060.
"The name is too girly," she thought, deciding to go by the nickname Kris instead. "At least the nickname sounds unisex."
But as she glared at her twin brother again, Kris couldn't shake the feeling of injustice. "Why was I born a girl?" she thought, ignoring the rest of the details on the sheet of paper. "It's not fair!"
Suddenly, a glowing window appeared in front of her, announcing a message in bold, blue letters.
Activating Angel System
Kristine gasped in surprise as the system activated, revealing itself as a cheat system similar to the ones in those webnovels she read in her past life.
"Daily sign-in system, please!" She prayed silently, hoping for the easy-to-use system. Her thoughts mirrored her twin brother's.
As the text on the screen changed, Kristine began to read the new information displayed on this window.
Angel System
Angel System has chosen you, who gave your life to save another as our candidate. You will use love points to obtain abilities and traits. You gain love points by being loved by others.
Do your best by being kind and helping others.
Kristine was shocked at the absurdity of this system. "Love points? Why couldn't you give me a system that used hatred points?
This one makes no sense to me," she thought, recalling the joy she had experienced as an internet troll when she would insult and mock others online.
The thought of being forced to do the opposite of what she enjoyed was ridiculous. "I don't want to be nice to anyone. And I sure as hell didn't want to be reborn as a girl," Kris thought to herself.
But as the screen changed once more to display a new message. "Synchronizing with the Angel System," it suddenly flickered with a blinking message with an error message.
Kristine's eyes widened in confusion when she saw the next message appear.
Angel System
The Angel System has encountered an error. Soul is incomplete and cannot be connected to the Angel System. Searching for the other half.
“What did that mean? Was there something wrong with her soul?”
A few minutes passed before a flashing window popped up, displaying the message "The other half of your soul has been found. Merging now."
Kristine grew more confused when she read the following text.
Angel and Devil System
Soul has been restored. A link with Christopher Williams has been created. The Angel System and Devil System are currently merging. Merge was successful. The Angel and Devil System has been created.