by M. Q. Kajack
The small being kept giving me information, which was really hard to process. It was something that my soul somehow couldn’t process as if those words had their own weights. The meaning of it was too much of a strain for my soul. Something didn’t want the information to settle in my mind. I could feel it getting erased, not everything but most of it.
The three of them looked at me and sighed.
“What is it? You...” I stared at the small being. “You did it on purpose. You wanted to test me out with that information.”
“Indeed. We needed to be sure which side you are on. After all, there is so much going on and we need to protect ourselves.”
“Protect us? From me? Hell!” I yelled out a bit pissed off at the strain on my soul. “How was I supposed to affect you at all? Have you even seen my strength? I’m a weakling compared to you guys!”
Zufan laughed. It seemed he was back to the same carefree guy. “So, at which year did you die on Earth?”
Eh?!
Did they read my memories? How? That was my deepest secret.
“What? Surprised? I’m Jack from the U.S. Army. Died during the first world war,” Zufan calmly said.
“Clara. From Germany. Died on the second world war,” Zamina said with a shrug as if that was a long distant memory.
“I died with the downfall of the Roman empire.”
“You are all from Earth? But how? I died in 2018. Your ages now are eras and millions of years apart...” I was excited there were more reincarnated people like me. Perhaps, they really held all the answers I needed it. This was too damn confusing.
“Indeed, not just the three of us, but thousands of us. There are 2199 beings chained here. Each one of us died a year after the last. Starting from the year 0 on Earth’s calendar...” Zamina was cut off by Zufan voice.
“As you saw before, even if we do explain it to you, you have trouble absorbing the information we give you. There is a reason for that. Be patient, everything will come in the due time. Though we are not sure how much we can tell you. How did you end up here?”
We kept the conversation going, with me telling my tales to them without holding anything back, not even the way the System worked.
The System didn’t surprise them, but they did find it funny. When I asked if they had one, they just smiled and ignored me.
When my tale ended, they got serious, especially after mentioning the Greek temple. The ancient old man You Ye met probably meant that the fall from the sky would end up here. Zamina couldn’t keep her mood under control and blurted out a number.
33.
“Impossible!” yelled the small being.
“No one could survive that many eras. The rules are always the same! They didn’t change. Only one era, one survivor, one kind. Zamina is partially right, though. Based on the records, number 33 was an old man and era 33 was a weird one. The records said the old man was also here... Could he have escaped?” After Zufan’s statement, the rest of them was deep in thought.
Finally, Zamina broke the silence.
“We must hurry. This issue of the utmost importance.”
It took us a few days to reach the entrance of a fortress, which surprised me because the fortress seemed to be out of a sci-fi book.
Upon our arrival, the door opened automatically. Whoever was inside was expecting us. What I didn’t expect was what happened after I entered those doors.
Ding!
System shutting down.
Okay... I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, a bad one, or a coincidence.
The fortress walls were made of a material I had never seen before, and my soul could not pass through it to analyze it. My attempts were futile so I stopped trying it and just appreciated each new thing that came across my mind. Even on Earth, technology was not this advanced.
From the information they told me—before most of it was deleted—a number popped up in my head: 2200. Was this technology from the year 2200 on Earth? Maybe. After all, that was almost two hundred hundred years after my death. Many things happened within that time.
I was absorbed in my thoughts and I didn’t notice that the rest of them remained rooted to the spot. I just kept walking straight ahead since I thought they were also doing the same thing the moment we entered. There was too much stuff happening in my head.
My pace was not fast or slow, just my usual rhythm. My body stopped moving on its own as I felt something soft on my chest. Suddenly, I recovered my senses.
In front of me was an exquisite lady. She had beautiful red hair that reached her feet, but I couldn’t see her other features apart from a pair of comfortable socks because she was sticking so close to me. I took a deep breath, and with her chest pressing against mine, I could feel her breasts. Warm, round, firm, and perfect. She shivered and subconsciously took a big gulp of air. She probably did it to calm down, but it made me feel different, especially since I could feel her nipples through our clothes. She slowly looked up in disbelief...
My lips curved into an awkward smile. As much as I liked this small encounter, I guessed it was totally my fault. I took a small step back, just enough to break us apart. Still, I wasn’t sure why she didn’t prevent me from walking into her.
Her features were a lot clearer now. Those big round eyes were really captivating. She wasn’t smiling, but she didn’t seem angry either. She was just awkward. Well, that was a good sign. I really didn’t want her to hit me. Her eyes and breasts were not the only things; her physique was something on par with Zamina.
Zufan couldn’t shut his mouth. Whistling, he encouraged me. “Way to go, Ye Bai! You are so bold! Best of luck!”
Damn bastard!
“I’m sorry. I was too deep in thought and I just didn’t notice.”
The woman blinked a few times and slowly fixed her hair. She released a small breath. Her sweet smile finally shone on her face, and it was truly beautiful.
For some reason, I was enthralled, and everything seemed to be in slow motion. She raised her arm, her hand clutching into a fist as she did so. Those sweet lips broke apart, her mouth and tongue making a few sounds while her fist was approaching me at a dangerous rate. My mind was just starting to process her actions when her fist hit my face.
“Nice to meet you, Ye Bai. My name is Dawn. We got a lot to talk about.”
After that, I passed out. Like all those chained under this lake, her physique wasn’t just for show. Everything went black.
I woke up in the same spot where I passed out. How nice, I was still lying on the metallic cold floor which was made up of something unknown.
I took a quick glance at the room. Zamina, Zufan and that little unknown being were gone. There was only me and that beautiful girl whose punch made me pass out. It took all my strength to keep my focus while looking at her.
Was she a goddess? Wasn’t she a little too perfect?
“You could say so, and yes, that was the idea,” she said, her melodious and playful voice resounding through my ears.
I remembered my encounter with Zamina which had a similar mind reading experience. It seemed all those crazy beings were way out of my league. My pride was getting crushed.
“What’s wrong, Ye Bai? Too much for your self-claimed God of Death?” she said, laughing while playing with her fingers. She sat on what appeared to be a throne.
The Death Core inside of me trembled. It seemed it wanted to challenge her. Indeed, they were out of my league but I would never give up.
I laughed. “Nah! It’s still not too much.”
“Good! I was starting to think our little saviour has given up already. Who knows? Perhaps it’s how karma works,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
I was back to my old self—stupid and negligent of formalities... Memories from my past life flashed through my mind. Indeed, I was never like this... Ever since I woke up in this life, my personality had changed a lot. It wasn’t just the result of being a killer; there was definitely different. I stared at her. She held a
ll the answers, right?
“What am I?” I finally managed to ask.
“You asked the right question. Though, I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you without your mental fuse blowing up or your System blocking the information.” She waved her hands. It was truly beautiful to see this woman moving.
Oops. A perverted thought just crossed my mind.
She giggled. “Want another punch?”
Come on, she is doing it on purpose. She seems to enjoy teasing me...
“Oh, I really do. You are a funny young boy.”
The way she said young boy made me feel ashamed. Clearly, she knew I was a virgin and she was making fun of it. So be it.
“Why don’t you, big sister, teach me the way to become a man?” I blurted without thinking. I expected her to respond with something cocky but she didn’t. Abruptly, the scenario had changed.
Ding!
System is starting the maintenance mode.
I wasn’t sure what amazed me more: knowing the System wasn’t permanently shut down, noticing that Dawn’s hand was interlocked with mine, the fact that Dawn knew about my System or the incredibly beautiful view of Earth. We were floating in space.
“Don’t let go of my hand,” she whispered as she waited for my emotions to settle down.
I turned to look at Dawn’s sad face. “Is this real?”
The memories back at the Ancient Ruins when I got teleported and went out of control—annihilating more than a thousand people on Earth—suddenly came back to me. I knew it was real. It was Earth, my home, yet I couldn’t control myself and I ended so many innocent lives.
“Yes and no,” she replied softly.
My soul hurt, the same way it did when the other guys revealed the truth. It wasn’t that bad and I managed to retain the information inside my mind. Earth was real and it wasn’t.
“It does seem I can’t tell you all need to know. You won’t be able to remember everything and your soul will be damaged in the process. Her interference is too strong.”
“Will I be able to come back?” I said, pointing my finger at Earth.
Dawn looked at Earth again, shaking her head. “Does it really matter? The more you understand, the less you will care about that fake Earth.”
Fake... Am I also fake? Or was I...
“No, you are real, and so was your mom. It’s just that the Earth you were in was fake, a copy of the real one. It was something we made, something we created for a purpose.” She paused to let that sink in.
My soul was in agony. It felt like a part of it was burning.
Dawn’s words resounded inside me. Fight, if you wanted to know the truth. Fight. Endure it.
My cheek felt warm. Her hands were giving me strength and preventing me from falling apart. I could feel the Death Core struggling. We were part of the same being, the System is the third part, but right now I could feel two more parts. My consciousness was getting blurry and my soul was becoming tired. I could see a piece my soul being burned by a naked woman with a horn on her forehead, while another part revealed a miniature Dawn who was trying to protect that piece of my soul. Struggling to keep myself together, I recognized what this demon was trying to burn: a memory of me and Dawn talking. I was totally enraged. This fucking woman had been erasing memories. She had been controlling me.
Dawn’s words resounded inside my soul again. Fight!
With the last of my energy, I willed for a Scythe to appear, swinging it toward the demon’s direction. Before everything went black, a proud smile could be seen on Dawn’s face.
Finally, I woke up. This time, I wasn’t on the cold floor. I was in a huge bed which could fit at least twenty people. I stretched my limbs, feeling refreshed and ready to kick some asses. I felt great. I sat to meditate.
The System was still in maintenance so nothing could be done there. As for the miniature Dawn and the naked woman, there was no trace of them. I released a deep breath and checked the memory of the burning demon. It was intact but... it had more information than what actually happened. It was as if Dawn talked more but I didn’t get to process it.
I replayed the memory in my head over and over again. This was no joke at all. No wonder Dawn told me that my mind would blow up. This was too crazy to be true but it was the truth, or at least, part of what I retained was. There was much more to it but I wasn’t sure if I could know the rest.
The Earth where I lived up until now was fake. It was created as an experiment. As for what kind, Dawn didn’t tell me, but she added something that somehow answered my question. Dawn was not human. She was an AI, same as that demon whose name was Aroma Velverosa.
“You have woken up.” Dawn’s face got weird for a moment. She laughed. “Alas, you damaged your soul a lot. It’s amazing you didn’t become retarded.”
Even though I knew she was making fun of me, her laugh was too intoxicating. I let my mind wonder how my life would be with such a perfect woman next to me, yet as soon as those thoughts ended, she got serious. It was as if she allowed my mind to run wild for a purpose.
“Indeed! You never learn, don’t you?” She smacked my head.
I felt a little trace of care on that smack.
“Will you also hook up with your mom?” she said with a huge smile on her face.
I spit blood. Fuck your mom!
I tried to recover my composure as I stared at her with a blank face.
“I guess Zufan and the others already explained something to you?” she asked with a serious face this time. It seemed she was done making fun of me.
I nodded. Can’t she read my memories?
“Yes and no, it’s not as simple as you think. We are indeed powerful, especially the 2198 beings here, but we have certain restrictions so we cannot read all your memories. At most, we can take a peek at your recent memories or thoughts. If they weren’t chained well, you could imagine the result.”
I nodded yet again. Their fart could end the whole place.
“As for me, well, it seems you got some new information about me. I am an AI. As for the information I got from you, it’s because I am linked to your System.”
“I guessed that much from the previous incident. Your existence has something to do with my System.” I just wanted her confirmation. She knew what I meant so she nodded.
“Let’s switch places. We will talk about it slowly. I bet you have many questions and some answers are complicated.”
Dawn, Zamina, Zufan, that weird being, and I were quietly eating at the table, talking about trivial topics. It made me wonder where the deep and profound topics were. Fuck, Zufan was flirting with Zamina all the time; that weird being was trying to steal Dawn’s food; the fucking table was one hundred meters big!
I slightly coughed. “About my questions...”
I knew they could wipe me out with their little fingers but I needed to know.
“Tsk, tsk, Bai, you must learn to be patient. It had barely been a few hours yet you can’t handle it anymore.”
Geez, this Zufan was always making fun of me. The look on his face made it clear that he despised me.
Gradually, the mood turned serious.
“What do you want to know, Bai? You are no longer under the other AI influence or mine. You could say your System is free now.”
Great news, but what is it that I want to know?
I pondered over it but there were too many questions on each topic, so I started with a basic question.
“What am I?” I asked seriously. Hell this had been on my mind since I died and woke up in this strange continent.
It was clear after the words came out of my mouth that all three of them also wanted to know. For some reason, these powerful beings didn’t have the answer.
“A failure!” Dawn replied bluntly.
“Eh?!” I wasn’t the only one whose jaw dropped to the floor. No one expected this kind of answer from such beauty. All of us stared at Dawn.
Fuck! What a crappy answer. Don’t you dare shut up
after spouting such words to me!
“All of you came from a fake Earth. What you guys don’t know is that I came from the real Earth or my mother did—the other AI, Aroma Velverosa, came from there while I was born here, inside the Ancient Ruins. As for how exactly my mother came here, I’m not sure myself. You will have to ask that part of the story from her...”
“The other AI that was controlling me was your mother?!” I was kinda pissed off after knowing this.
“Yes, as far as I know, my mother was here for a purpose. She wanted to study the ancient cultivation, the energy, the pinnacle of perfection of human beings and yet it turned out totally different. It became a race for survival that lasted eons. I’m not exactly sure of the details, I only told you what I know. At some point, after millions of years, her main core finally became self-aware. She started to understand the ways of the beings and began to fear Death, so she created me to get some help on a different point of view.”
She was quiet after telling us that much information. It seemed that this part was also new to them.
I could see on their faces that they were not happy at all. I wasn’t the only one with questions. Zufan was ready to talk but Zamina prevented him to do so.
“You see, when my mother passed almost all the relevant information so I could continue her task, I started to feel and process things the same way as her. In the end, I also got self-awareness. This universe has been dying since the first moment my mother stepped in. This fragment of space that became a mass with elements, life, laws, stars became unstable and an incomplete space. It became something that perhaps should have never existed to begin with, something that was being destroyed after millions or billions of years only to be recreated again. But with each cycle, there was less and less space and more instability, surrounded by an immense mass of nothingness...”
