Early Preadolescence

Shortly before 11 p.m., Ais and Isaac were preparing to retreat to one of the partitions of the tent so they could rest. Before they could do so, however, Lefiya stopped them by arguing that Riveria had told her to keep an eye on them. If they were to close off the partition, wouldn't she be unable to see them? What if she then failed her duty?

Thanks to this reasoning, they collectively decided to leave all of the partitions of the tent open. Of course, Isaac was aware that Lefiya had just talked them into this on the off chance that they really ended up doing something naughty. This way, she could be a voyeur without any problems, she didn't even need to hide her gaze. After all, she was just doing what she was asked to.

A sigh escaped Isaac's lips when thinking about it, but very quickly, the small frown on his face was replaced by a loving and gentle smile. Looking at the gorgeous beauty in his arms, he just didn't want to think about such slight frustrations any longer. He planted a quick kiss on Ais' lips before whispering into her ear.

"No need to worry, I'll be right here. Just relax and see you soon."

Smiling satisfiedly, Ais nodded, snuggled closer to Isaac and closed her eyes. But even in the subsequent darkness, she could still clearly make out the system message hovering in her field of view.

[ Cooldown until 'Isaac's Past - Episode 3' can be experienced has finished.

You can now experience 'Isaac's Past - Episode 3'. ]

-----

With almost lifeless eyes, the nine year old Isaac stood in the middle of a graveyard, silently staring at a gravestone. There was a little bit of a drizzle, but as he hadn't even thought of bringing an umbrella, he simply ignored all the water droplets constantly battering him. There was no one else visiting the graveyard at the moment.

He was all alone.

About half a year after Isaac's solo travelling 'adventures' had begun, Mrs. Hopkins had brought him a disheartening message. His parents, while on a regular grocery shopping trip, had gotten into a tragic car accident.

The other driver had been on the phone and speeding far faster than he should have within the city. He was distracted and reckless, which led him to overlook the car of Isaac's parents and crash into it with a speed of more than 80 km/h. From the tire tracks and eye witness accounts, it was plain to see that Isaac's parents tried to avoid the incoming car, but their evasive measures simply weren't sufficient. Just like that, the car was smashed sideways into a traffic light, getting pincered between it and the incoming vehicle. The airbags triggered without a problem but they were of no use. The other car mangled Isaac's mother's body almost beyond recognition, while Isaac's father was a little bit more lucky, as he was seated on the driver's side of the car. Due to that, at least his body was kept more or less intact. Still, the devastating force of the sideways impact was beyond what he could handle so long before any medical professionals arrived, both parents had passed away. As for the other driver? Although their car was totaled, their airbag had saved their life. Their only legal punishments were barely more than the equivalent of a slap on the wrist - losing their drivers' license and having to pay for the damages.

All in all, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Accidents like this happened every day and unfortunately, anybody could get involved in them at any time. There was no underlying motive to his parents' death, it was simply an accident. A stroke of bad luck that ended two lives on a whim.

When Isaac got Mrs. Hopkins' message, he first felt a sense of disbelief. He temporarily couldn't bring himself to acknowledge that such a mundane and everyday occurrence would befall his parents. And so early, at that. For a long time, he had already started to mentally prepare himself for an eventual forced and permanent separation in a couple of decades. But his parents had only been in their thirties right now! If it had been a violent crime that had taken them from him, it would have been easier to accept. But a thing just like this… it was a way more bitter pill to swallow. In the former case, there would at least be a true reason for their deaths, besides a coin flip gone wrong.

After that, what set in was a sense of panic… and then sadness. Tears streaked down Isaac's cheeks during the entire time it took him to travel back home, to the graveyard his parents were already laid to rest in. During the past half a year, he had oftentimes not gotten into contact with his parents for a week or two, as he simply wasn't in a position to do so due to the various circumstances he found himself in. Because of this, he hadn't even had a chance to see their bodies before they were buried as he hadn't sensed anything amiss. Due to not having much contact with his other relatives, who were present at the burial which went off without a hitch, he had only gotten wind of what had happened by the time it was all already over. He had been negligent and hadn't thought he would need to have some of his subordinates keep a look out for news regarding his parents, as he talked to them all the time himself. What naiveté.

His tears had already dried up when he finally arrived at his parents' grave. He couldn't cry anymore even if he wanted to. He just felt… empty. Just like always, humans only realized how much they treasured something when they lost it.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, Isaac fell on his knees in front of the gravestone, his body shaking ever so slightly. Many questions that he had always wanted to ask his parents continually poured out of his mouth as he despairingly whispered.

"Why couldn't I be like everyone else? So naive and stupid, unable to see the bigger picture. Happy with the delusions they build for themselves, delusions of a world worth living in. Why can't I close my eyes and ignore what I see, what I deduce, what I know? Why can't I just simple-mindedly live a normal life? I want to be interested in all these inconsequential things as well! I want to find love, start my own family, have people I can trust. Why can't I do any of that? Why did I have to be born like this?! Why did you leave me all alone?!!"

No matter how desperate young Isaac's whispers became, he never got an answer. Even the somewhat translucent, golden-haired beauty observing him could only silently shed tears, unable to comfort this miserable memory.

This was by far the moment Isaac was at his weakest. By the end, he simply lay on the ground next to his parents' gravestone, hugging his knees. All the complaints and worries he had had during his life had finally been voiced by him, whispered in a somewhat sobbing, progressively more hoarse voice.

Finally, after a couple of coughing fits and some lonesome silence, he got up from the ground again, his eyes filled with a resolute light. He had long since known that one day, he would most likely have to kill someone. So now that there was a target for 'revenge', why not use that person to overcome this hurdle? It was best to sharpen ones' weapons before a fight, after all.

Sure, the driver hadn't done any of this on purpose and was most likely filled with some temporary guilt over having ended the lives of an innocent, young couple. He also presumably had some family and friends that cared about him and would be hurt if he died. But so what? Even though it wouldn't bring his parents back and most definitely wouldn't even make him feel better in the slightest, that wasn't the point. Isaac was simply using the man as an experimental subject. To see how he would react to killing someone.

Additionally, he felt justified in punishing the man for his blunder. Only he, Isaac, had the necessary qualifications to judge right from wrong. The law and others' opinions didn't matter. Because he was himself and no one else could ever fully satisfy or understand his wishes. It was a twisted logic, from anybody else's perspective, at least. But Isaac didn't care. What was important was that he could do what he wanted to do. With all the mental strength he could muster, Isaac had already forcibly repressed most of his sadness. The seed of loneliness within his heart sprouted into a small sapling.

A month later, all of Isaac's meticulous preparations finally bore fruit. Far removed from any kind of surveillance, without giving others the opportunity to track him via his weapon, ammunition or his DNA, Isaac used a silent, self-made sniper rifle to flawlessly remove the stain that was his parents' killer. He would have preferred a much more up close and personal waste disposal method but there were scarcely any others that could truly be untraceable if planned to the pinnacle of perfection. Thankfully, he had had enough time during his travels to easily master most firearms and older weaponry.

When he saw the partially headless corpse powerlessly collapse through the scope, he hastily put away the rifle and kneeled on the ground, breathing heavily. He felt an almost irrepressible urge to throw up, right there and then. But he wasn't nauseous at all, no. Rather, the cause for this was his subconscious which, due to the way he had been raised, tried to make him feel remorseful... guilty. Only by concentrating as hard as he could, Isaac slowly managed to repress the urge to vomit. Then finally, he relaxed completely.

"That wasn't as bad as I expected."

With a calm smile on his lips and crystal clear eyes, Isaac packed up his equipment and set off again. Killing someone, while it had taken some effort and did indeed have a mental impact, was just that - nothing too big. Now that he had done it once, should he be forced to do so again in a dangerous situation, he wouldn't be ambushed by this feeling and would therefore be a lot safer. No matter what came his way, he would be able to deal with it.

For a long time, nothing extraordinary happened. Just like before, Isaac visited countries all around the globe, spending quite a lot of time understanding their cultures, social structures and deep-rooted problems. Many historical sites and old ruins couldn't escape his scrutinizing eyes either. Still, after almost a year, something significant finally occurred.

The mercenaries he had hired to be the security detail of his private plane got attacked by remarkably well-trained but unknown special forces out of the blue. At least, that was what it seemed like to the rather simple-minded but loyal men. Isaac, however, knew the reason for this attack.

It wasn't the emotion of greed that had moved them but rather it was the fact that Isaac… had gotten too close. Too close to the ones behind everything on this planet. Due to the smallest clues he had picked up during all this time, it was all too obvious that behind the few elites that controlled the leadership of this world's countries, there were still multiple layers of leaders and rulers, each of them either ignorant of or terrified to death of the ones in whose grasp they were. The closer Isaac got to uncovering more of those layers, the more dangerous his overall situation became. Although he had been sure that he hadn't made his various deductions public in any way, simply by coming into contact with all of the tiny hints he had seen was enough for the one in power, the most influential person on this planet, to decide to get rid of him.

Arguably, Isaac was pretty lucky, seeing how everyone else who got one or two layers deeper than the commonly known powers and got past the abundant false conspiracy theories had disappeared without a trace. Even those weaker, less influential people already had no problems killing them silently, with no one the wiser. While the first few layers beyond common knowledge still consisted of people whose names and identities were known, the ones beyond that - as far as the world was concerned - didn't exist. There were no records of them, they didn't appear in public or had any apparent connections, et cetera. Isaac himself had already gotten far further than anyone else ever had. Amusingly enough, he didn't even try to. For him, it was just too easy to connect all these various dots, he hadn't been able to resist solving this puzzle.

In any case, the attack which should have wiped out him and his trusty mercenaries ended with only one of them getting a minor injury. The opposing special forces were completely annihilated, without any chance to resist.

A slight sneer played across Isaac's lips. Did that man, whose family had ruled over humanity for hundreds of years at the very least, really expect that Isaac wasn't able to see through such obvious troop movements? All of the man's actions were already within the palm of his hand. Once he had figured out his identity and whereabouts, he had started to keep a close eye on him and his forces. This miserable defeat was sure to rattle them and make them tread more carefully. Although he had had to participate in the defense personally, it wasn't much of a challenge. Rather, it felt like a comfortable warm-up.

One couldn't be the ultimate and undisputed ruler of mankind without quite a lot of wisdom. Otherwise, one would slip up and show openings for others to exploit. Now that the man would face an enemy that could read him easily, continuing this war would be foolish. Only when one was perfectly confident should one strike and take down their opponent with a single, almost surgical move. After all, there was too much to lose otherwise. In the future, after seeing how young Isaac wouldn't even attempt to interfere with the ruler's plans, they could coexist in a strained but peaceful manner. One day, at least. After Isaac had proven that no matter what, the man's forces could never rattle him.

A certain wise but unfortunate man was about to face a lot of hardship. Sadly, only a handful of people would know about his plight and be able to share his burden.

By the time of his eleventh birthday, Isaac had turned into a recluse, a hermit. For many months now, he hadn't left his secure and minimalistic room. His research on humanity and this planet had already been finished, there was nothing else that he desperately wanted to know. All of his conflicts were over too. He had seen everything there was to see.

On the whole, the negative aspects of humanity far outweighed the positive ones. It was infinitely easier to destroy something than to create it, after all. A few would be able to spoil something for the many. Still, this didn't even need to be taken into account here - the negative parts were just that numerous, enough for the positive ones to lose out in the end. But most people closed their eyes to this irrefutable truth, as they desperately didn't want to admit their own species' infuriating reality. They couldn't really be blamed for this, as it was part of the self-preservation instinct. As long as humans had something they wanted to live for, even if it only was a subconscious desire that they weren't aware of yet, they found it extremely hard to accept the negative aspects of humanity and how far-reaching and massive they were. To admit that ones' own species was a plague, a worthless and destructive entity, was far harder than to cling to the vain hope of the positive potential it possessed. Of course, Isaac would never not acknowledge all of the beautiful and amazing parts of humanity - he was well aware of all of them. Still, overall, Isaac was disgusted by humanity. Wholly appalled.

Now that he had spent a long time thinking about this very conundrum and what to do about it, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"I guess the least I can do for this world is to wipe out the pests and give nature another chance to try again. This attempt at a sentient, intelligent species was a failure, that's for sure."

Yes, Isaad had decided to completely eradicate humanity. Not just that, though, his wishes for the future were a little bit more thorough. He had searched for an excuse to allow humanity to continue existing for a long time now. But there simply was none. Even if it wasn't for himself and his own wishes, if there were any other sentient beings out there that were not as flawed as humans were, he would be doing them a disservice if he didn't clean up the mess that was his own people.

A sharp and determined glint flashed across his eyes, before he sighed yet again and started to write down some notes on his computer. There were simply too many ways with which he could arrive at his goal. Humanity was far too fragile. Which one should he choose? And what about himself? What was he going to do from now on?

While young Isaac was thinking about all of these questions and more, an all-encompassing white light greeted the somewhat conflicted Ais.

-----

When she exited the memory, Ais was yet again assaulted by the all too familiar feeling of disorientation, making her eyelids flutter in a slight panic. This time, however, there was another impactful sensation as well: Warmth. A pair of strong arms was gently holding her while Isaac, who had realized she had just returned, stroked her back in a calming manner.

With a shy smile, Ais dove further into his embrace, lightly resting her head against his chest. Her heartbeat, which had quickened a lot due to the disorientation-induced panic, grew steady again after a couple of minutes.

At this time, she was in deep thought. She understood young Isaac's actions and his developing mindset. During her time in the memory, she didn't necessarily learn and comprehend all of the same things Isaac did at that point in time, only as much as she could. After all, she couldn't think nearly as fast and effective as him. Still, there were many things she took note of, especially his feelings, which were conveyed to her in full. If it had been up to her, after everything she had come to see and know about that godforsaken world, she would have razed it to the ground in a fit of rage and hatred a long, long time ago. She couldn't help but agree with him on most major points. Thinking about it like that, young Isaac seemed far more composed than she did - he had held himself back from unreasonably lashing out for so long, after all.

Ais couldn't help but worry, though. What sort of enormous burden would the kind of actions young Isaac was in the middle of planning place on a merely eleven year old boy? She couldn't even imagine it. In a way, she was somewhat afraid of finding out, but also excited. Would he really go through with his cleansing? She couldn't be sure. And to be honest, she didn't want to ask him directly. He would simply not tell her - it was a spoiler, after all. She only had to wait for a single week, that wasn't too bad.

In the end, she decided to not worry about it too much. No matter what had happened, it was all in the past anyway. There was nothing that could be done about it now. She would get to know about it in due time.

At the same time, she felt like this entire arrangement was a little bit lopsided. No matter what, Isaac couldn't know too much about her past while she was experiencing every second of his. This left a somewhat bitter taste in her mouth, before her eyes finally showed a determined glint.

'After I've experienced all of your past, I'll tell you all about mine.'

With a clear mind and a promise to herself, Ais looked up at Isaac with loving eyes, a happy smile on her lips. Taking care not to disturb Lefiya, she whispered.

"Thank you for being with me."

Then, for the first time, she took the initiative to give him a very long kiss. Well, just on the lips, though. The two of them had no experience with the 'deeper', more adult kind, after all.

Meanwhile, from within her sleeping bag, a naughty Elf was stealthily staring at the two bold lovebirds, blushing so madly that it felt like it wouldn't take long for steam to come out of her bright-red, long and delicate ears. While subconsciously biting her lip a bit seductively, Lefiya couldn't help but curse a little in her thoughts.

'Do you have to bully single people like this?!'

A few moments later, when their lips finally separated, she began to feel somewhat sullen and her thoughts took a drastic turn.

'I didn't really mean it! Please continue!!'