Pyrus Heart

'What the fuck's happening?! Did I reincarnate as a head?! Is this even real?!'

Neglecting the continous words of the subtly familiar voice echoing within him, Grey assessed his current situation.

With only grayish-black in his vision, while feeling submerged into some kind of confined place, he thought to himself, 'Where am I? It's strange! I'm feeling drowned yet I am not choking to death!'

Blub!

[Notice!]

[Would you like to deactivate the passive skill, Water Resistance?]

Grey sensed that his entire thoughts were being read in real time by this mysterious yet uncannily familiar voice.

But then, seemingly knowing what would happen if he deactivated such a passive skill, Grey rejected the idea.

'No. Uh, can you explain to me what's happening, Kesha?'

[Notice!]

[This voice has been copied based on your memories, would you like to change it?]

'Uh–' Grey's emotion, if it even existed after becoming what he was now, darkened upon hearing these words contained several indications that were difficult to swallow.

Sensing his thoughts, the voice continued, [Notice!]

[I am just joking, Trainee Grey! It's me, Kesha!]

'H–huh?' Wondering within himself if he heard it wrong, Grey asked.

[Notice!]

[I will explain everything after we escape the Deicand pod!]

'D–deicand pod? Where the hell are we?! Also, Kesha, if it's really you, would you please stop with the [Notice] prompt? I feel like you're not the same!'

[Notice!]

[It's a prompt that exists to alert you, and shall always be utilized according to the Pyrusverse Cosmic Rules.]

Before Grey could utter a word through his mind, it then happened...

Boom!

Unable to see anything, Grey's existence trembled and swayed to wherever he was. He then heard Kesha's voice, [Notice!]

[Would you like to learn about your current status?]

[Remember those mangas, webtoons, and webnovels that traverse thousand generations? If you do, then you know what to do!]

If there was one thing that the advanced Artificial Intelligence had not been able to learn, it was the true passion of an author when writing a piece of literature.

Even though these fragments of the distant past were now collections or displays in several museums, it was the irrefutable truth that the human emotion could never be replicated due to one's own uniqueness, no matter how advanced the civilization's technology was.

Knowing what Kesha was referring to, Grey then said inwardly, 'Kesha, show me my current status and every feature of the system.'

[Notice!]

[Generating Grey's Pyrus Window!]

[Generation of Grey's Pyrus Window has been completed!]

[Every feature currently available will be shown!]

Grey paused for a moment before letting out an inward sigh, 'Do I even have eyes?'

[Notice!]

[Current development of the Floater's biology in progress! Please wait...]

[You have developed the Floater's Eye.]

[You have developed the Floater's Jelly Legs.]

[You have developed the Floater's Impartial Consciousness.]

After hearing these in his head, Grey muttered, 'Uh, Kesha? Is that all?'

[Notice!]

[I am afraid so, Grey.]

Boom!

The bombardment from somewhere continued coming from unknown entities, who seemed adamant to destroy this very spacecraft.

Being sobered up from this second impact from an unknown composition of arsenals, Grey eventually able to see what's in his surroundings.

He was in a laboratory tank filled with grayish unknown liquid. Beside him, though he could not shift his lone eye as a mere head, were similar containers containing the same existence called Floaters.

However, he finally recognized what's in front of him – a spacious laboratory with opened heavy metal door, where some alien species unrecognizable as far as he knew were frantically touching some sort of projected simulated system via screens.

These alien species had human-like physique. The only difference from a normal human was that each of them seemed fluid as though they were teetering between the boundaries of two different dimensions in real time.

Grey could not hear them, which prompted him to think on how to escape first considering the current situation.

'Kesha, show me again the so-called Pyrus Window.'

[Notice!]

[Pyrus Window]

Name: Grey Pyrusborn

Age: 21 (+0) Cosmic Years

Civilization: Type-1 [Planetary]

Race: Floater

Cosmic Energy: 10

Cosmic Essence: 0

Cosmic Store: [Close]

Status Evaluation [via. Cosmic Feather]: A disposable product of Type-3 Civilization meant to serve a Deicand. However, through the clutches of cosmic fate, an opportunity was granted to this puny existence to be freed from the chains of servitude.

'Kesha, where's the list of my skills? I remember about having Water Resistance or something!' Grey frantically said, witnessing the panicking species outside these laboratory tanks.

[Notice!]

[Your skills have been stored at Pyrus Heart. Would you like to inspect it?]

'Yes, please!' Grey was not certain if the unknown inhabitants aboard this so-called Deicand pod were winning against the invaders, causing his voice to sound very urgent.

[Opening the Pyrus Heart.]

[Assessing the current abilities of its possessor.]

[Pyrus Heart Abilities]: [Jelly Hop], [Floater's Float], [Water Resistance], [Fire Resistance], [Locked].

'Jelly Hop?'

[Notice!]

[Jelly Hop will allow the Floater to release its Jelly Legs to jump from one place to another.]

[Think of it as being an Octod with four tentacles which can jump around. Wait, here's the information, Grey.]

[Jelly Hop]: A Floater's innate ability upon being created by a Type-3 Civilization, which allows this species to jump from one place to another.

[Jelly Hop Cost]: 2 Cosmic Energy

[Jelly Hop Cooldown:] None

'Sigh, it's roughly the same base on what you've said first.'

[Notice!]

[Sorry Grey, I am used to being your talk buddy during your free time.]

'I am not mad, okay? I have many questions, but first we have to get out of here. Any suggestions?' Grey asked, tensely observing what's in front of him, which was now nothing apart from an opened heavy metal door.

It meant that the alien species previously ran away, which indicated only one thing – this Deicand pod was being overrun by the invaders.

[Notice!]

[Scanning the Deicand pod's internal system...]

[Assessing the current location...]

[Configuring ideal possibilities to escape the Deicand pod...]

[Notice!]

[Grey, it seems we have no choice.]

Hearing this, a sense of apprehension bubbled up within him.

'Wh–what do you mean, Kesha?'

[Notice!]

[I have tried to assess the container where every Floater are stored. It can only be opened by a Deicand or if the Deicand pod crashes to the ground.]

'C–Crash?! Don't tell me, is there no alternative? I–I'm just a head and that's what's going to welcome my freedom...'

[Notice!]

[Do not be dejected, Grey! A Floater will not die from a pod crash as a Floater's biology consists mostly of Jellyner! In other words, you will just bounce upon impact without losing your life!]

'You sound strangely excited that it creeps me out!'

This interaction between him as a mere alien head called Floater and Kesha imprinted in his soul caused the former to realize a thing or two about his current predicament.

***

'Kesha... What's the role of a Floater?'

Based on his Pyrus Window, and the evaluation through [Cosmic Feather] whatever that implied, as a Type-1 Civilization, he was merely dubbed as [Slave Head].

[Notice!]

'Wait! You said that [Notice] prompts are for the sake of me not getting shock by your sudden interjection, right? Can you please drop it if we are casually communicating with each other?

'Of course, I do not know the specifics of this Pyrusverse Cosmic Rules, so if it's just possible, I'd like to talk without being constantly reminded of [Notice] like every five seconds.'

After a few moments, not minding whatever was happening outside this laboratory tank as he realized he was simply helpless, Kesha responded, [Based on the Pyrusverse Cosmic Rules, that's possible. Would you like to disable the prompt of alertness, Grey?]

Heaving an expressive sigh inwardly, Grey replied, 'That's good then. Disable prompt.'

[Disabling the (Notice) prompt.]

[Grey, a Floater's role simply lies on being a slave of a Deicand, a Type-4 Civilization according to the Pyrus Scale.]

Tremble!

Boom!

[Most of the time, a Floater's existence can be said to be negligible. That's why they are known to be puny, Grey.]

'Sigh, even in this life.' Grey muttered inwardly, feeling a bit of dejection as though his reality never changed.

[Do not be sad, Grey. You are different. You possess the Pyrus Heart; an object of covetousness for the other species under low-tiered civilization.]

Kesha then briefly explained the so-called Pyrus Heart, causing Grey to ask with incredulity in his voice, 'Cosmic Evolutionary Tree?'

[Yes, by having a Pyrus Heart, a lower-tiered civilization like a Floater can evolve. As you can see in your Pyrus Heart Skills, the (Locked) one specifically, will be your way to evolution.]

Hearing this, Grey inspected the list of his abilities as a head before asking, 'Why do I feel like there's a but or however?'

[Heh, that's Trainee Grey for you! Yes, there's a challenge to unlock the dormant ability...]

Kesha's sudden pause caught him off-guard, a sense of foreboding serenely seeping within.

'K–Kesha, uh, what do I need to do?'

[Grey... We have to hop to the end of the Pyrusverse. In layman's terms, jump to another universe with a stable Deicand ruler.]

Grey was left dumbfounded as he felt like the unknown liquid in the tank finally drowned him.

***

After some time of being stucked in his hellish tank filled with sticky unknown, the trembling of the Deicand pod became constant as Kesha's voice resounded in his mind, [Grey, we are crashing in a minute! Hold on and brace for impact!]

'Yeah, yeah. Stop making a joke, I don't have hands and have nothing to hold onto.' Grey's voice sounded dull upon learning a thing or two about his unprecedented circumstances.

'Jumping to another universe... How can a mere head... I don't even know where we are...' He talked to himself.

Being heard by Kesha, she just remained silent, knowing that this was a form of contemplation and existential crisis.

There were many questions in his mind like how Kesha was aware of these things, how could she come in this place by being attached to his soul, what happened after he lost consciousness and perished at the Kesha Sector beside the Quantum Resonance Scanner...

But then, the sole fact that someone or something like him needed to hop to another universe drained his mind.

He could not grasp the flood of information no matter how hard he processed it even if it sounded simple yet at the same time complicated. After all, the concept of the multiverse, even after thousands of years of humanity through thick and thin, had not been physically proven and remained a theory.

Tremble!

Boom!

Witnessing everything with his lone eye, the Deicand pod crashed to a lost world after the mysterious invaders successfully shot it down.

Crack.

At that moment, the Floaters, though with either developed biology or those seemingly dysfunctional, were freed from the laboratory tanks as the splash of unknown liquid painted the soil of this world.

Grey, who had escape his own confinement by experiencing a spacecraft crash for the first time in his life, bounced on the ground filled with darkness.

Sproink. Sproink.

[Notice!]

[Grey, are you alive?]

'Yes, Kesha. It's strange, the amount of energy that a crash has should have obliterate a person or so.'

[Grey, you are not a person, but a head!]

'R–Right, I–I should remember that from now on. Just how's this possible...'

[Grey, we need to find a shelter. But first, we should check the Deicand pod and hope for any useful gains.]

'...' Grey fell silent, seemingly pondering something else.

[Grey?]

'Kesha, I've clearly remembered that I developed the so-called Floater's Jelly Legs, but why am I floating senselessly? And where's my so-called legs?'

[Grey, try to deploy it.]

'But how?' He asked.

[Shout Jelly Legs Deployment!]

Grey heaved an exhausted sigh, 'Stop playing with me for now. Remember, we have to hurry, so how can I summon my legs?'

But then, Kesha's silence casually sent a signal of negative piece of news incoming.

[Grey, a Floater even with Jelly Legs cannot move on its own will, which means... you shall let the low gravity drag you...]