Upheaval

A normal and quiet life is how I lived my life. I was in that age where I needed to start thinking about my future.

I was thinking of attending a university, maybe the same place my elder siblings attend. At the very least I could have a decent guideline to how the campus worked.

At 15, all I do was sleep, eat, attend school to study and make good use of my leisure time. At 15, all I wanted was to play around, have fun and do as wished.

But society prevents that dream from ever becoming true, maybe if I lived in a time where those like me had more freedom. Like the medieval age or when Greek and Roman civilisations were still in their golden era.

But the thought of how low the life expectancy back then was something that let me appreciate just how much time had changed back then, I was grateful for the modern era. Although pollution and the hatred is a problem.

At least, the last three years a lot has changed. From 2019 to 2021. A trilogy of sadness, despair and global chaos.

All because of a pandemic. Funny how the fact that one, small event causes a big chain reaction. I haven't heard and seen this much chaos since the time I participated in a school wide food fight.

Chuckling at my own recollection of the disastrous event where every student and teacher had to skip classes just to clean up the school hallways and cafeteria made me miss those days.

Now everyone had to be wary of everyone else, keeping away from a safe distance. Luckily those days are almost over.

I stood up from my bed and pressed down on my alarm. I parted the curtains so I could see the sun rise in all its splendour. I witnessed the darkness fade as orange, yellow and purple light were splashed across the canvas we call a sky. I breathed in and exhaled it all out. Wondering what I should do today.

First, I need to get cleaned up. Unabashedly I hastily took off my clothes and slip on a newly washed bathrobe. After doing so I let a towel drape over my shoulders like a cape. "Oh, can't forget." As I was about to enter the bathroom, I immediately recalled that I had to restock on toothpaste.

After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I went back in my room to select comfortable clothes. In all honesty I don't think I have a good taste in fashion, but I found out that wearing matching clothes always did the trick.

So for today, I wore a short sleeved dark blue t-shirt to go with my navy blue shorts. Since I it was a Saturday, I felt no need to comb my hair. But since it was a little unkempt after drying it, I lightly combed it over and made sure it didn't look puffy by slightly flattening it.

After taking time to inspect myself in the mirror, I left my room in satisfaction. Since my parents were at work and my older siblings were either living in dorms or working, I was left to tend to myself most of the time. Which allowed me to develop skills in the home.

Such as cleaning, gardening, how to better laze around and of course cooking. For my breakfast, I merely had the standard meal to start the day.

Fried egg, I did it in butter since I had no other choice on hand. Then in the same pan I cooked up some bacon. Three should do the trick and I toasted some bread. Lightly paste some butter on the bread, stack on the bacon then the eggs and there you have it! My first meal of the day.

Thankfully, I went light with the seasonings on my eggs as the nicely crisped bacon was more than enough for that salty sodium I needed. The pepper was there to help cut that saltiness, and the slight sweetness from the bread made the meal all the more enjoyable.

The gooey, savoury yolk was my favourite part of the egg, which ended up with me having to make more eggs just for the yolk.

After that meal for one, I began ploughing through my chores. Starting with laundry. Regarding that actually, I had seen that we were running out of fabric softener and that the door was particularly terrible.

So I prepared a distilled white vinegar solution into the machine that would help with my problems a lot.

After leaving that alone for a while, I set off to clean the dishes manually as the dishwasher was already full.

"Let's see, what else do I have to do?" I pondered to myself. Just as I was about to prepare food for my pets, I felt the ground rattle beneath me. It was as if someone was shaking the Earth like maracas.

"Earthquake!" I shouted, feeling the tremors becoming even stronger. I hastily ran towards my terrarium and picked up my turtle and placed him gently into a small bowl. Obedient as he was, my dog Max went directly underneath the table, my cat Ruby directly followed him.

Gulping, I looked up at the ceiling and wondered how my other pets such as my fish were doing. But I had no time to waste. After returning underneath the table I huddled together with my pets and reassured Max as much as I could. Ruby was definitely anxious, and my little Diego was hiding inside of his own shell.

In between the mewling, the soft whimpering and the shaking of the house; all I ever wanted at that very moment was for the quaking to stop.

I closed my eyes and wished for nothing to fall on me. Hoping that this was not the way I died, if it was. I hope that at least it would spare me the pain.

[Confirmed. {Pain Tolerance} acquired].

What's this? I must be hearing things now. I wonder if it has anything to do with my tinnitus that I'm experiencing.

[Confirmed. {Enhanced Hearing} acquired].

Ah! I think I know what this is! Maybe it's that AI assistant on my phone. I must've accidentally activated it.

[Confirmed. {Assistant} skill acquired]

As my tinnitus got even worse and the shaking grew stronger, my body started to feel tired. As lethargy surged through my veins, I pulled Max in closer. I noticed his body growing increasingly hotter, sensing this, I took Diego out of the bowl filled with water. I then cut off my own clothes apart to use as a clothes and soaked it in water. I then placed the cloth on his forehead and hopes for the best. 'His body temperature's too high... If only I had something to cool it down even more!'

[Confirmed. {Heat Resistance} and {Cold Inducement} acquired. Confirmed. Due to the acquisition of two skills with a similarity of 85% fusion is possible..... Fusion successful. {Heat Resistance} and {Cold Inducement} has fused and evolved into {Thermal Change Immunity}....]

Why am I still hearing all this?! Can't you feel me something more useful, like how to get out of here or survive this mess?!

[Confirmed. {Assistant} skill has evolved into EX skill {Archive}.]

Ugh, I wish magic was real... Then I could just make it as if all this never happened. I clenched my fists, trying to hold on to my fading reality...

All of a sudden, the shaking stopped. It seems as if my prayers were answered. As soon as my tinnitus started to fade however, I suddenly heard something crackle.

Instinctively I tried to jump away from underneath the table and bring the others with me, but I was too late. What I believe to be a large piece of rubble crashed down upon me and my pets, and I knew I would not even survive this.

Then, it hit me. A sharp, hot pain the pervaded my entire body. Or what was left of it at least. As I could not tell from seconds and minutes anymore I knew that my consciousness was starting to fade.

The pain, the heat. It's too much!

[Confirmed. {Pain Tolerance} acquired. Confirmed {Thermal Change Immunity} has evolved into the EX skill {Thermal Transmuter}.]

Ahh! I don't want to tolerate the pain, I don't want it at all!

[Processing data. Confirmed. {Pain Tolerance} has evolved into {Pain Nullification}. Processing data. Due to acquisition of {Pain Nullification} subsequent skills shall be obtained as a consequence. {Physical Damage Invalidation}.]

How annoying! To think that this is the last thing I hear before dying... I haven't even lived till the end of my lifespan. And now look at me, bleeding my literal heart out as I state my final wishes in tears.

[Processing. Creating a body with no need for bodily fluids].

Speaking of bodies. At the very least I wish I could have eaten more stuff and indulged myself in good food.

[Confirmed.... Fusion successful! Skills {Indulgence} and {Gluttony} have fused into one. {Devouring} Skill has been obtained].

That's nice. I have more regrets too, such as not having had experienced the pleasures of the flesh... If reincarnation exists I at least want to do this with my girlfriend or boyfriend. Whichever comes first, I'm not picky.

[Confirmed. Creating a body capable of accessing emotions and reproductive functions].

What's that even suppose to mean?! Are you saying I'm not capable of feeling emotions AND that I'm impotent?!

That's rude! You can't just say that to someone! You may be an Artificial Intelligence, but you're neither smart or wise enough to know not to say and imply such a rude statement to someone!

I had no idea why, but I felt awfully energetic for this brief moment. It was as if I was being injected with some sort of short lived steroid.

[Confirmed. EX Skill {Archive} has evolved to better itself for its Wielder.... Evolution complete. EX Skill {Archive} has evolved into Unique Skill {Wiseman}.]

That's cool... I've always wanted to be unique.

Good for you...

Seeing that the AI didn't respond I slowly embraced the lull of the void.

Guess I'll sleep now....