7 Genetic Archiving

In life, there would come a time when one would be forced to take risks.

Risks were necessary for the growth and evolution of one's individuality.

And I, Soobin, took a risk that was ultimately going to change my life forever.

I consumed a canister full of genetically engineered pathogens and the full extent of its effects was pretty much unknown.

Well, the Rampage movie didn't provide much contextual information; it was only vague in its approach.

The information I had was all courtesy of my interest when it came to gene-related concepts and the geek community out there on the net.

Currently, I feel as if I am suspended in a temporal stasis bubble with my consciousness being the only thing active. It seems I have yet to return to the world of the living.

Then all of a sudden, I felt a despair-inducing pain wreck havoc all over every inch of my body and that abruptly awakened me.

My body felt abnormally heavy, and my vision was as blurry as that of a newborn baby. My muscles were also sore. It took a while for my senses to return from that state of disorientation.

I noticed that my vision had become insanely good like an extremely high resolution camera. The colours around me were no longer individualized like they had previously been. My vision was currently the same as a superhuman and I could cover vast distances within seconds. For a moment, I thought I had become Heimdall, which, honestly, felt like a bad joke.

The excruciating pain aching all over my body began lessening and I finally turned my attention to my current situation.

But what I saw left me motionless and unresponsive.

'It can't be?!' I denied the reality laid out in front of my eyes.

'Impossible!'

'This… This isn't… Me!'

What I feared would happen… Happened!

The devoured bloody bodies of my comrades lay strewn below my feet like a buffet.

The unmistakable stench of blood and death heavily loomed in the air, making the atmosphere gloomy like a scene from hell.

The cawing of Crows and grunting noises of vultures was like a piece of music on an endless loop as they wantonly scavenged what remained of the cold rigid corpses.

The afternoon sun angrily burned down on the readily available corpse meat, making the banquet more memorable with a little bit of amateurish barbeque.

'Bob saved himself, right?' The idiotic friend I had surprisingly gained immediately came to mind.

I knew the fact that I was currently momentarily trapped in delusions. It felt better that way as I hastily looked around for a wolf that always had a dumb canine grin showing on its mouth.

'Bob!'

We weren't that close but why…

'Bob!'

Why did I feel sad when I saw his familiar eyeball being incessantly pecked by a hunger-driven vulture?

And to make matters more hurtful… The idiot still had that signature grin on his half-eaten face.

It was then that strange maddening voices started resounding in my muddled mind.

"I told you so. You are a monster now."

"You will always be a monster!"

"Look at what you have done. Such a level of gore can only be done by a psychopathic killer!"

"You are a killer."

"Killer!"

"Murderer!"

"You are no human!"

"Aren't you satisfied now?!"

"Look at what you have done!"

"You killed your only friend. What a cold ruthless bastard!"

"Why did you kill us?!"

"Hey buddy, you killed me!"

I lost it. The voices made me lose my rationality as I howled to the sky in deep anguish, regret, and overwhelming madness. Both the crows and vultures were startled by my painful howl and immediately flew away before returning like the boomerangs they were.

I wanted the voices to stop. They were torturing me deep inside; effectively affecting my mind and soul.

I didn't know what was happening. It felt like hell. Could those be the voices of those I have killed?

But… it was impossible!

Wolves didn't have human-like consciousness unlike myself who could be considered a special existence.

"Repent!"

"Accept your sins!"

Bang!

I smashed my head against the ground to drive away the voices from my head.

'Stop!'

'I didn't kill anyone!'

'I am not that type of person.'

"You killed those wolves. You ate them wildly while enjoying their bloody whimpers for mercy and screams of pain!"

'Stop!'

'I don't remember anything!'

'I am not in the wrong!'

I tried to justify my own words to eradicate the guilt slowly accumulating inside of me.

Then all of a sudden, the voices ceased to exist in my mind and I couldn't be more thankful.

"How did it feel to hear those voices?" An ancient voice full of pure malevolence suddenly echoed inside my head.

That voice made me stiff for a moment and within seconds, I began feeling a deep rage bubbling inside of me like never before.

'Motherfucker!'

A string of profanities began being spewed out like I had become a rap god and only when I had exhausted my whole repertoire did I finally stop.

"Why can't you continue, little human?" The voice asked in the most humorous tone it could muster up.

'Shut. The. Fuck. Up!'

'I know you did something to me!'

"Sigh, this is why I can't understand inferior existences like you. You killed the pack by yourself, why are you playing the blame game with me?"

I didn't refute it and chose to remain silent. After all, he wasn't entirely wrong.

I had to accept the reality presented before me. Otherwise, the guilt would continue to eat me alive.

"I know I created the illusion of those voices but, uh, I am not sorry."

I gnashed my teeth against each other in displeasure.

"Guilt will get you nowhere. Honestly speaking, what has happened are the dark consequences of your own decisions, no?"

"You weren't forced by anyone, little human."

"Your greed for power and self-absorption led you to commit such severe atrocious acts."

"Stop victimizing yourself, ant!"

"You are no good, Keke."

"Accept who you are. Deep down you know you are capable of merciless killing."

"Remember you are not a human anymore but a walking abomination."

I listened silently to the insane rant of the Evil Douche.

I had to admit he was right and I reflected on my own transgressions but my reasoning also didn't sideline Pathogen-R as one of the culprits.

'I killed them.' I concluded the issue.

"Now that's what I call manning up. From here henceforth, the path of killing will be your singular path if you don't want to die."

'What do you mean by that?' I asked in confusion.

"I am leaving you with a gift. Figure it out yourself."

The Evil Douche ghosted me once again.

At that moment, blue futuristic texts started forming in front of my vision.

****

[Identity: Mutated Wolf]

[Race: Unknown]

[Objective: Survive and Evolve]

[Penalty: Death due to predation]

[Innate Trait: Genetic Archiving]

[Skills: Enhanced Speed, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Vision, Enhanced Sense of Smell, Accelerated Healing, Enhanced Growth, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Durability]

***

While looking at the familiar digitized blue status window, I couldn't help but focus on my innate trait.

'So this is what he meant by saying he would leave me with a gift.'

With a thought, I specifically clicked on the expand option to expose detailed information about [Genetic Archiving]

***

[Genetic Archiving: This trait allows the user to selectively choose the skills of those he has eaten after archiving their genetic codes inside the genetic bank. This is necessary for evolution so eat more.

The probability of getting a skill is 50/50 and it isn't absolute. Some specific races are exempted from this unique ability. Take for example the Omnitrix which can't store or replicate the DNA of species like the Anodites.]

***

[Big Stomach: A trait that will enable you to eat as much as you want without consequences. There won't be unnecessary stomachaches and even when you eat poison you won't be affected. Satiate your inner greed without worries!]

***

'Nice.' I wore a wolfish grin as I minimized the detailed information.

*Stomach grumbling*

'I feel so hungry all of a sudden.'

I gave the almost skeletal forms (courtesy of the damned scavengers) of my deceased wolf acquaintances one last drawn-out gaze, before speeding away from the genocidal scene.

It was better not to think about it anymore.

After all, I didn't have the power to resurrect the dead or reverse time.

***

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