Chapter 104 Memory

After Lucas had been put to sleep by Elam all he could experience were faint emotions. He felt like he was sleeping, but his awareness of that fact showed him it had to be a lucid dream or hallucination. He could feel that he had eyes, but couldn't actually move or open them.

Slowly he felt a comforting warmth like nothing experienced before, it was so pleasant he wanted to utter his bliss. Yet he couldn't, just like he was vaguely aware of his dreamlike state, he couldn't actually form any coherent thoughts or words. All that he could do was embrace this strange intimacy.

He was drowning in it, which made him feel at ease. He would normally panic if he couldn't think clearly, but due to his habilitated cognitive state, he could only enjoy it. His dream felt like going under in a heated bath. It was hot but not to the point it felt painful, no just before that point. If he could think, he would contemplate that this had to be what taking a luxurious hot bath would've been like.

Suddenly it felt like he was actually slowly starting to drown, he could feel that his life was in danger, but could do nothing to stop it. External forces started to push on him and forced him to move. His thoughts were still reduced, so any kind of action was impossible. The drowning feeling started to get stronger and stronger until it suddenly fully vanished.

Light started to reach his eyes, allowing him to see. His ears started to get unclogged and he could finally hear. His senses started to come back to him. Last of all, his he woke up from the strange dreamlike state he had been in, his thoughts could be constructed again.

'Wait, have we?'

'I believe so.'

The only thing he could pick up was the crying and screaming from a baby, coupled with the fact that his eyes hurt from receiving light for the first time.

'Did we get born..again?'

'That's impossible, magic isn't complex enough to revert someone to a child. Let alone being placed inside someone else's womb.'

'Do you know every single type of magic?'

'No, but still, this is too ridiculous.'

Lucas started to talk to himself, normally he would start to secure his position and scout the environment. But he quickly caught on the fact that he had absolutely no control over his body. He could feel that he blinked several times, but none of them were done manually.

'For how long are we going to be stuck in this form?'

'What the hell did Elam do? Is this just all a big illusion?'

'Shut it for a second, Elam said that our growth depends on how much we can learn from this. So let's try to pay attention.'

'Whatever you say, smartypants.'

'Don't ever call me that again.'

'What, we have to keep ourselves entertained until something happens, no?'

The baby kept on crying, but nothing really changed, the blood was still covering his eyes. He was lying on the cold floor, but Lucas couldn't see anything else, the child's eyes hadn't developed enough. He could only be left to his thoughts to keep him entertained.

'Is someone going to pick us up or what?'

'I believe since we are lying on a stone-cold floor without someone cleaning and taking care of us, we are alone with our presumed mother.'

'Great deduction, what do we do now?'

'...I don't know exactly, I guess we can only wait and see.'

Lucas was a complete spectator, he couldn't interact with anything he saw and didn't have an ounce of control over his future. At first, he mused that he would be stuck like this until the baby grew up to the point it could use its own muscles. Sadly, he was there for years, counting down every single day, waiting for something to happen.

Days went by, those days eventually turned into weeks that turned into months. Time flew by at an insanely fast pace, Lucas only had himself to keep him company. The child eventually perceived his surroundings, and what Lucas could find was a situation worse than his own.

He grew up in an orphanage in a small outskirt village, so everyone was close-knit, which had its positives and negatives. But Lucas figured that he was perceiving a child that was practically abandoned in a big city. Not that he could go outside and check how large it was, but by the discussions the parents had he could gain a glimpse of the outside world. It was clear the boy had been neglected, and the parents didn't hate the child, but they also didn't love him. They didn't bother to give it a name, and couldn't help but forget to feed him occasionally.

During one of their conversations they said it was like having a plant at home, sometimes you gave it water, other times you're too busy to bother. Lucas knew he had a rough time growing up, but this was even worse. It just showed him that people, no matter where, have the capacity to be just as evil as they are righteous.

'Can't believe we've been with this kid for 4 years, I'm starting to regret Elam's proposal already.'

'See it as further training, let's summarize again before they come back home.'

'Again? We've been doing this every day, aren't you tired of it yet?'

'This is so that we don't lose track of time and know our surroundings.'

'Fine... This is the 1619th day of spectating this child, we don't have a name, nor have we ever gone outside. The father is still a drunk that visits brothels and the gambling den, and the mother is a whore. Anything you'd like to add?'

'The mother is presumably a street worker, we don't know that for sure. Besides that, we have lived on the remaining milk and breadcrumbs from their daily breakfast.'

'Don't forget the rat thing.'

'That was a mouse... Anyway, Elam wanted us to grow and let us experience this simulation. What have we learned today?'

'Fucking nothing, like every other day.'

'Can you at least try? We're both going to be here for an unspecified time, so there's no way of -'

'-Water-'

'Huh? What do you mean water?'

'I didn't say shit, it's the boy's thoughts.'

'I see, but does this mean there's a way to communicate with him?'

'Nah, I don't think so, when I went off on him or anyone around him, he didn't have any kind of reaction. I think we just heard his thoughts for a moment, purely because his desire got so great.'

'That's a good theory, see that when you put in the effort you can be useful.'

'Shut up.'

'So the boy is thirsty, I guess it has been quite some time. Still, there's nothing really here.'

'There's the alcohol on the table.'

'You would give alcohol to a four-year-old?'

'What? Anything to lessen the thirst, right?'

'Wouldn't that just make him more thirsty?'

Lucas continued his discussion with himself to keep his mind entertained. The boy they were spectating through couldn't hear a thing, his mind was occupied with a very basic thing. The house he was living in was decrepit and mostly abandoned. His parents were almost never home and when they did, nothing good would come from it.

When it rained, small leaks would start to form, and it rained quite often. Lucky or not, the boy had a mostly periodic source of water. He had gotten sick multiple times from trying to find sources of food or water, but despite that, he was strong…for a child. Sicknesses disappeared as fast as they appeared.

The boy had no way of hearing Lucas, but his eyes were focussed on the bottle that was on top of a crooked table not far away, if only he could climb on it. He was never fed in a decent way, so his muscles weren't the most developed. The boy slowly stood up.

'Aren't his parents coming home soon?'