2 Jungles of Boston

September, 12 , 3168. A.H. Old Boston, Massachusetts..

Cough!

Heavy ragged dry coughs peeled off into the darkness. Surrounded by overgrown vegetation a pale impoverished teen body jerked under unnatural red glow that sparsely illuminated the room.

The room, which seemed to have once been a bedroom which gave off a decadent vibe. The Red moss, which caused the eerie glow populated the walls in abundance. The gaps in the walls and ceiling allowed the moonlight to pierce through.

Just outside the wild untamed land flourished. Trees unrecognizable sprouted up, towering megalith, their limbs penetrating old metal structures, and roots zigzagging through concreted road ways.

A street sign, standing sturdy; unmolested by the passage time, cementing the only tale that this was once a city. Charleston St.

Cough!

Horse and ragged the dryness of his throat audible to all who could hear, it was as if he was expelling dust from his throat.

His chest was aflame. He immediately stiffened. Had the contagion worsened overnight? He could vaguely remembered his primary care physician specificities directing him to rest and drink a make sure to drink lot of fluids.

With that Hale obediently laid down for the night. Being a medic himself he knew there was some wisdom in rest and staying hydrated. Before he slept, he remembered to call and cancel the Uber. If he continued to watch news he would have leaned traffic was so backed up many had left vehicles abandoned on highways.

His involuntary wretched coughing insisted no matter how much he tried to repress them.Hale immediately feared he would hack up his lungs, especially by the sound and searing pain that followed. He couldn't even wonder why his gnarly coughs followed searing bodily aches.

Hale couldn't endure and fell unconscious. He awoke again some time later, sweating profusely. He was burning up. He hoped he didn't have a fever. As if death was near a cold chilling sensation rummage throughout his extremities, coupled with his perspiration he shiver frigidly.

Chattering teeth he mumbled audibly. "Did I leave the window up, again." His voice startled him more than his supposed ailments. He clamped his mouth shut and opened his eyes in alarm. Immediately he closed them as. He laid still for some time before he collected his thoughts. He slowly worked his way forward, shivering not of cold but of the unknown, as he felt around for his glasses.

Unable to feel where he left them he slowly opened his eyes. His room was really illuminated in a reddish sickly hue, all around him was red pulsating clusters of moss, and some freakishly disturbing looking mushroom, the scene that met him was straight out of a Jules Verne's novel. Branches from trees, seemly looking like old wrinkly hand snakes throughout the wrecked room of his.

He stood up mouth agape as he couldn't fathom what he laid before his eyes, he was on the forty-fifth floor of the Memorial towers. This was supposed to be his condo. A breeze sauntered inside, brushing passed his stationary his place.

"How is this still Boston, Massachusetts." He mumbled.

"What in the world!" He said breathlessly. And how correct were his words. What way of world did he awake to? He meekly raised his arms, he now knew something was definitely wrong; especially since he was staring at thin pale arms.

His mental faculties churned for an explanation, only one plausible. "Those NASA bastards!" He hissed audibly.

"They really did break the damn world! Like kids playing with Lego, they dismantled everything. Now look at what has happened." He begrudgingly acknowledged some things in those moments. He definitely wasn't the same anymore. Years of first responder conditioning, training came to the forefront.

He internally scrutinized everything. 'This has to be the work of the contagion! Did the viral epidemic terraformed the environment in a day? Was that even possible?'

He slipped from the damp mossy bed, His bare feet landing on the sticky wet floorboards, which creeks under his weight. The liquid was thick and malleable, almost like paddy, it contoured around his soles, before his skin began to crawl, a thousand ants marched up and down his back. He gulped audibly as he imagined what the liquid was. To afraid to look down, he slowly began to take tentative steps, wading directly through it.

Soon his mind forgot about the thick liquid between his toes. He made it to an open window, or what used to be one. He stared gaped at the outside. "Boston! My home. What happened?" He mumbled audibly as made his way to the edge of what was left of his bedroom, and continued to stare outside. Far as his eyes could see was vacated to the wilderness. It was like a wild untamed jungle sprouted up overnight..

His mind seemly picking and choosing what it accepted, his nose crinkled. This smell? He knew this smell. He was a medic after all. What first responder wouldn't?

He raised his arm and finally understood. It wasn't the alien red glow that was red against his skin, it was blood. He looked around the room, those moss, they somehow absorb blood, which cause them to glow. How did he know this? It all came to him. No time to dwell on his broadened mind, he happened to turn his head back toward his bed. He noted his nose unnaturally perceptive to a broad range of smells.

His eyes became saucers and his head began to thrash inside his rib cage. An unimaginable massive head of some alien bird like monstrosity was suspended by the remains of his ceiling and vegetation, right above his bed. His mind churned rapidly as he discerned it was deceased. The milky whites of its huge eyes compounded on his observation. On its neck was the most garish wound he had ever witness, something equally awe-inspiring could only inflict.

Hour later~

He had methodically checked himself over, the red light affording him its eerie help. To his amazement, he was young again, he was once again a teenager. His complexion which was afforded equally by his mother, who was Belizean and his father who Somalian was no longer sun-kissed hazel any-longer; originally he already observed his pale ghastly skin, the relaxation had just sunk in, though it was only a minor thing, it still caused him displeasure, he was just so different.

But, the most alarming discovery wasn't his regression or appearance. It was the translucent screen that suddenly appeared before him.

Name: Hale Son

BP: 1000

Race: Homo-Superior

Persona: Sanguine Progenitor

Interface, that's what his mind deduced from the flood of vague informative. No description for this Persona, which was more alarming. Sanguine Progenitor? He wasn't an idiot, he knew what an actual persona was. It was one innermost aspect; their inner-self, or soul if you perhaps were religious.

"Ok. Hale. Think. I went to bed last night?" He looked around the dilapidated room, Impossible. This cannot happen in a day, nor hundreds. If the trees are an indicator....

This is unbelievable. Something major must have happened to me once I laid down to rest. I wasn't a teenager, not in the last thirty years. How can I look like this?" His heart thumped in his chest heavily.

He began to breathe loudly. "Logic dictates that the source energy that caused the viral epidemic around the world was the culprit, somehow. But, how? Can one just regress?" Hale wasn't a fool, besides being an avid gamer and comic nerd in his youth. He was once a medical student, but fate dictated he would wound up elsewhere. The thing is, he had a freaking interface floating in his face.

"From what I understand about biology, I'm almost certain that my physical change didn't happen in one night rest. The fact my apartment building is in the middle of a jungle, and the tidbit of this being Boston most popular street, from restaurants, to the condos, how could so much concrete and metals, skyscrapers and hundreds of building suddenly be erased just about by a jungle? It's almost impossible to occur." All of this is be because of NASA." He talked to himself about his predicament.

He swallowed harshly as he ignored strange urges of his body. He was becoming increasingly famished. His eyes slowly would drift to the gaping would on the avian dinosaur neck. Each drop coinciding with the thump of his chest pummeling heart.

thump!

He continued to swallow saliva only infuriating his enraged heart. He slowly moved further away from the dead bird. His heart hammered in his chest. He shook as breeze passed through the massive hole in the wall. He cut his head back toward the dead bird, his eyes zeroing in on the wound, and the....

He jerked away. That's when he the floor buckled. He stalled his movements. Fuck!

Creak! He screamed as the floor shattered like bridge made of matchstick. He careened down in a death spiral, his lungs raw as he cried bloody murder.

Crash! He reached out instinctively, trying to find something to hold on to. Darkness swarmed around him as he descended down, he heard but couldn't see it, the reminder of his bedroom also came dropping, also the avian beast became dislodge from what remained of his tree house.

Bang! Air expelled from his lungs as he landed against something hard. He hissed loudly in pain and his squirmed as pain ran its course. Before he could even move, the impossibly large creäture came crashing though tree limbs

"Oh god! No!" He attempted to move but his body was pretty banged up. The dead beast slammed loudly against the earth. It's equally impressive wing landing on him. He winced again as pain assaulted him once more. He quickly slipped into darkness as he wasn't able to endure.

He woke up and unknown amount time later. He blinked sluggishly as he felt like a train was pressing against his chest, he couldn't budge and started to panic. His muffled screaming barely travelled from under the beast wing.

He managed to calm himself. He had somehow survived. He just needed to get from under the wing of the beast. He should be thankful the branches altered the bulk of the beast further to his left. He was aware that the fall should have ended him.

The Translucent screen appeared in the darkness, unfortunately, it halo glow didn't help the lack of light.

Name: Hale Son

BP: 1000

Race: Homo-Superior

Persona: Sanguine Progenitor

Battle Power, supposedly was his overall power. It governed a lot of what he could do and wasn't able to. . His race, which was human, Thankfully. But, the superior part had some to do with the source energy his body absorbed and exudes like oxygen. He was amazed at how the information flowed into his mind once he focused on the tab. It wasn't like the games described. It was vague and left more questions than answers.

Race. Oh wow! Source evolved creatures race could change or mutate. He didn't understand, the information wasn't helpful. Shouldn't their be a tutorial? This half answering, and half shrouding that's going on isn't helping but causing more concerns to arise.

He tapped on Persona. Sanguine Progenitor, vaguely he understood this was his inner self. This was where his innate abilities would draw from, it also would allow unique only to him abilities and general different things from the store. Wait. Store. This is so strange. He internalized.

He wiggles around under the wing, though he now understood why he wasn't dead and why he couldn't move the wing. His body was now empowered. Yet, the avian beast, also a source mutated or evolved species weight exceeded what he could maneuver.

Let's see what this is. He tapped the user interface with his mind and was shocked at what appeared in his conscious.

Body- Vampiric Physique (dormant)

Blood- 0/10

Slot-

Oh! He had a body of a Vampire. He would need blood. He gulped mentally and physically. He half expected this outcome after the briefly eluding information entered his mind. So this blood worked like stamina. He would gradually use up his total if he actively used any way of ability placed in one of his slots.

Mind- Vampiric Mind (dormant)

Spirit- 0/15

Slot-

He was almost sure he became paler, possibly invisible. What the hell is a vampiric mind? Would he turn into a killer. Can this possibly be the masquerade? He had all kinds of thoughts. Spirit was akin to MP. It would accumulate once his body was nourished. Strong body, powerful mind. I'm in a game, definitely. No. This was because of humanity inability to hold off their curiosity..

Smashed by the dead weight exceeding thousands of pounds he cursed those scientist. They turned me into a vampire. Those NASA bastards.'

thump!

He took deep breath, well as deep as possible, his chest was now strained as is. His panic attack thwarted. Cooler minds prevail. He repeatedly internally.

First, He was in a jungle, soon other things may show up. He would lament on his alteration later. He continued to play with the user interface. He managed to navigate through it and bring up the tabs. He had three. Interface, which showed his name, BP, persona; the other was general, that tab had myriad of things not related to the other two . The last was abilities, which could be purchase by using his Source Points.

He coldly wondered what he would have to do to increase his overall physical output and getting more of Battle points to buy abilities and key them into his empty slots.

'Ok. Alight. Let see.' He checked the store. So many. He would be here days going through all of this. He located his innate abilities that were unique to his persona. He quickly navigated through what he could choose. Searching through these freebies, and clicking on interesting abilities he learned BP also was prerequisite for certain abilities. He seen one he was interested in but it grayed out once he focused on it.

Afterwards, he found two, both for his Body slots, while one took up a slot in both equally.

Enhanced Strength [B] [E] User strength is augmented, but not to supernatural levels.

Type E: Able to lift cars, trucks, and small buses over your head.

Polymorph [B] [S] [E] User is able to shape shift into small nocturnal animals and change into mist.

Type E: Duration limit Sixty-Seconds

After applying abilities to his slot the avian body began to shake, something was walking across the deceased bird carcass, he soon heard shredding and smacking sounds started. He was out of time. He braced himself and opened his mouth and bit the carcass. Soon sweet thick licorice liquid flowed down his throat. His body burned, his mind became invigorated. He felt as if he chugged two sixteen-ounce Red Bull's.

Body- Vampiric Physique

Blood- 10/10

Slot- Enhanced Strength [B] [E]

Slot- Polymorph [B] [E]

Slot-

Mind- Vampiric Mind

Spirit- 5/15

Slot- Polymorph [S] [E]

Slot-

To be continued

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