Leland’s pupils rolled backwards as he fell to his knees.

The intensity of the pain was beyond understanding. It didn't resemble a piercing stab or a pulsating ache. It surpassed mere physical sensations, defying logic, blinding his senses and imprisoning him in a mental vortex of agony. Though frozen in place, Leland felt as if he was flying through a mysterious, black mist which engulfed him, choking and drowning him into an abyss.

He was dying— that much was clear— but how exactly? Not so much.

As seconds ticked away, he rapidly lost the building blocks of his identity. First, the peripheral information like hobbies, likes, and dislikes began to fade, then the core foundations such as his name, desire of speaking fluently, and the ones he loved dearly.

Replacing the building blocks was a tsunami of data— information about anything and everything. Theoretical physics and cooking recipes. Alien planets, stories, crimes and facts about topics Leland didn’t even know were topics to begin with.

Death and life. Despair and hope. Beauty and struggle.

In the enormous canvas that was the universe, Leland felt like nothing but a spec. Just another bundle of flesh destined to waste away and be forgotten.

Foreign thoughts took over his mind:

- ERROR 1: 0.00001% omniscience reached.

- Genetic code analysing…

- Leland Ogunjimi version 1301941 identified.

- DANGER: Unauthorised user detected. Execution initiating in…

3…. 2… 1…

Interference detected. Execution overridden. Recovery backup file selected…

***

Leland looked around a white, expansive space. Directly in front of him, with nothing else on the other side, was a closed door.

Instinctively, he knew the place wasn’t real. It was a dream of some kind. An illusion.

It took a few moments for him to remember his name again along with the other parts of his identity. Once he finally was himself again, an overwhelming, innate terror ran through his body. What he had experienced had transcended any form of human suffering, the kind that needed a new name to accurately define it. Pain didn’t do the experience justice. Everything he had ever been scared about dwarfed in comparison to the crown. He would do almost anything to never put the device on ever again.

Leland screwed up his face. Cadell and Staress had warned him. How could he face them again after what he had said and done?

“That was only a fragment, you know…”

A very familiar man appeared in front of him. Leland squinted his eyes for a few seconds until he suddenly recognised the person. It was him, but much older, with a lot more facial hair and wrinkles.

The older Leland studied him, an amused smile on his face. “You tasted a drop in the ocean. But imagine going all the way. 100% omniscience. Imagine the type of agony that would be.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Leland swallowed hard, shaking his head. “I c-can’t...”

“Exactly.”

“A-are you me from the future?”

“Possibly. I’m a copy of your consciousness from a potential timeline. I was created by Staress for when you would inevitably put on the crown.” The entity gestured with an arm to the door. “Follow me. The truth awaits.”

Leland followed the old man through the door into a living room he had seen thousands of times before. A smiling young boy played jenga with his dad while the mother spectated.

“They can’t hear us,” the old man said. “It’s only a memory.”

“I’m a ninja!” the young boy said. “Plus my hands are small. You will never beat me.”

“Oh really?” The father said with a chuckle. “We’ll see about that. Don’t underestimate experience.”

Almost without realising it, Leland wiped tears from his face. That was him and they were his parents. The forgotten memory flooded him with nostalgia and a feeling of sheer dread. “N-no… I d-don’t want to see.”

The old man gripped his shoulder tight. “Yes, you do.”

The young boy and father continued playing the game of jenga, teasing and laughing all the way until eventually the father punched the air triumphantly. “I’m the winner! Easy, easy, easy.”

“No!” The young boy wailed. “You cheated, obviously.”

“You cheated, obviously,” the father imitated childishly.

“Let’s play chess,” the boy said.

“You can’t play chess.”

“I can! Grandad taught me. He says I’m a natural and…”

The young boy stopped mid sentence, eyes bulging, before suddenly screaming. He grabbed his head and kicked and screamed in agony, accidentally biting his tongue causing blood to spray.

“Call the ambulance!” the father yelled. He firmly held the boy down while the mother rushed out of the room. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay. You’ll be okay.”

Leland watched with horror as the boy continued to writhe and spasm until he let out a wave of invisible energy.

His home. The city he lived in. Every country. Every continent. Every land and ocean.

All were gone within a blink of an eye. Surrounded by nothing but ash and a dying planet, the boy continued to scream and lash about, periodically letting out the waves of energy.

“This was the onset of your powers,” the entity said. “At such a young age and with no guidance, there was nothing you could have done.”

Leland walked up to the boy and crouched. Moments later, a portal opened and a younger Staress and Cadell emerged.

Both of them must have been at the peak of their careers. Cadell wore his iconic black super suit along with the chilling smiling mask, and Staress looked about his age, wearing a discrete jumper and trousers. Most strikingly, her eyes glowed a bright orange and the glimmering crown rested on her head.

The young Staress knelt down and injected the boy with what seemed to be a sedative of some kind and embraced him in a hug. “Everything is okay now. It was all a bad dream. I promise you a happy, normal life, where you can live peacefully.”

“Hurry up,” Cadell said. “And are you sure you can promise that? Didn’t you say we need him for our timeline to continue?”

Staress stood up, picking up the boy. “That is true. But I despise fate. Even if it’s impossible, I’ll do everything in my power for him to live the life he wants. No human should have to hold such a heavy burden.”

Cadell slightly tilted his head. “And we should?”

Staress sighed. “For as long as we can. We only need to hold out until the Super Era.”

***

Leland reappeared in the white space, wiping away tears. He thought about the memory for quite a while before the old man stated the conclusion he had already come to.

“Staress restricted your powers significantly in order to protect you and those around you, with the stutter being a symptom of this. Cadell transported you back to their reality, one where you and your parents died in a car crash.”

“W-what’s the heavy burden?” Leland asked.

“Being the first line of defence. They’ve saved Earth hundreds of times without anyone knowing, but now…”

“The b-burden is too heavy,” Leland completed.

The old man nodded. “Mentally, physically, psychologically and emotionally, they’ve almost reached their limits. Trauma runs deep in their bones.”

Leland exhaled heavily. His whole perception of Staress and Cadell dramatically shifted.

“C-can you help m-me release the restrictions?”

The old man gave him the answer and it was so simple that Leland felt incredibly stupid.

“Goodbye, young lad. Good luck.”

“W-wait! Do you have any advice?”

The old Leland smiled warmly. “Play chess more. It’s fun.”