BYTE-SIZED HUNGER

I was munching on a hamburger like a crazy person. This was my third hamburger but it didn't seem to fill me or satisfy the hunger I was currently feeling. When I was done with the plate, the nurse took the tray away and closed the door behind her. I was looking at a transparent green notification board with statistic information on it. It followed my eyes in whatever direction I looked. I'd seen it pop up as soon as I ate the first hamburger but I didn't panic. I was already hearing a voice in my head no one else could, of course I'd see a screen no one else could either. I guessed no one else could see it because the nurse who brought me my food walked past the screen to my bedside and walked through the screen like nothing was there. I burped as I began to study what was computed on the statistics table in front of me.

STRENGTH 5/100

SPEED 5/100

DURABILITY 5/100

STAMINA 3/100

BYTE-SIZED GENE POWER 1/100

It all read 0/100 when the nurse first walked in but it had gone up a bit after eating three large sized hamburgers.

Interesting. So I really do need to eat to level up. Fantastic. I thought I was going to have to work harder for it - like run, or do push ups or squats. Lucky me.

The distorted voice must have heard my thoughts because it answered me.

"YES. EAT EQUALS LEVEL UP. BUT THIS NO FOOD!", the voice said.

This no food? You have got to be kidding me. A year ago I couldn't get two of those into my stomach in quick succession and here I am eating three at a go!

"THIS FOOD NOT FOOD ENOUGH!", the voice retorted.

Well this is a hospital. We're not about to eat this hospital into the ground. So for now, make do. When we leave, we'll figure out what to do.

"UGH", the voice came, sounding even more disappointed than it did half a minute ago. Man, whatever this thing is, must be very aggressive and bratty. But it also sounds like if it was a real person, it'd be strong. Strong...strong...

I looked at the green stats screen and regarded the numbers. STRENGTH 5/100 .

Well, let's see how strong 5% is. I sauntered down from the hospital bed which had quite a bit of weight to it. It would have been really tough to move it from room to room if not for the wheels. I decided I'd test my strength by kicking one of the support bars that kept the bed standing in one spot. I was hoping a good kick would dent the steel looking bar at least a bit. I got in a ready position and I gave it a go.

Ow! Ow! Ow! Owwww!! I screamed inwardly so I wouldn't attract the attention of anyone outside in the hallway. I held my foot and hopped around the room in pain for almost a minute as I covered my mouth with my free hand. The pain was so bad I'd almost bit my tongue. I was afraid to look at the foot but I had to. It was red and bruised and there were black lines along the boundary of the bruise.

"Hey, hey, hey", I said, my voice strained with pain. "Why does this hurt so much? Isn't 5/100 supposed to mean something?", I asked the voice in my head.

There was silence for a few moments so I limped over to the bed and sat on it's edge. I was still nursing the injury when the voice came.

"A STUPID QUESTION", the voice said, apparently not happy with me. "YOU STILL HAVE 95 TO GO! WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?"

"To be a little stronger at least!", I said hoarsely.

"YOU ARE. CHECK AGAIN", the voice said. I stood up gently and looked carefully at the corner I had kicked. It had a little dent in it. There's a dent! I thought loudly.

"DOES FOOT STILL HURT?", the voice came again. I perked up and felt for my leg. I wasn't feeling any pain anymore. I looked down at my foot and the bruise wasn't as bad as before. It was healing, albeit slowly. Holy Shi-.

A male doctor walked in at that point with a clipboard in his hand and a female nurse trailing behind him. I guess he was here to discharge me. The nurse dropped a transparent bag with the clothes and personal effects the man in the suit from earlier said they'd give me.

"Mr Ace. How are you feeling? I trust you're much better now?", he said as he skimmed through the papers on the clipboard. "Your vitals check out, your tests came back good. Looks like you're good to go", he said with a huff as he handed the clipboard over to the nurse. She took it from him, blushing.

"Awesome", I said, genuinely happy. "I can get back to my former activities without any problems, right?

"Yeah. According to your files, you're one of those popular streamers. You guys do a lot of running and fighting, which takes a lot of energy, you know. You just have to watch out not to overdo it from time to time and you'll be fine", the doctor said monotonously.

"EAT MAN IN WHITE COAT", the voice in my head said with a growl. My eyes widened then I frowned. What the hell? Eat the doctor? Are you insane? I'm not a zombie! By the way, stop talking, Fury.

"WHO IS FURY?", the voice asked.

You. That's the name I'm giving you. So when I need to talk to you, I'll call your name. Until then, be quiet.

"FINE", Fury said and went silent. I looked up in time to see the doctor looking at me curiously.

"Are you okay?", the doctor asked.

"I'm alright", I replied. "Just spaced out for a second. It's been a while since I was out there. So, I guess I'm a little nervous".

"It's okay. It's normal to feel that way. But a day or two out there and you'll feel right as rain again, kid", the doctor said. "You're free to go now. Just sign some paperwork at the front desk and that'll be all. Take care, kid", he said as he walked out, the nurse trailing behind him and giggling. I raised my eyebrow and shook my head.

When the coast was clear, I came down from the bed and changed into the clothes they got me. It was a black hoodie, black joggers and white sneakers. Perfect size.

"Fury, when you say eat, do you mean I'm supposed to consume humans in order to get stronger?", I got right down to business.

"FOOD, ANIMALS, ZOMBIES, HUMANS - IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE", Fury replied. I heaved a sigh of relief. I didn't wanna have to eat humans like a zombie. That'd make me a zombie, straight up. At least now, I knew I could eat Zombies and still level up nicely. Felt like Karma was on my side. They ate me, now I'm gonna eat them too.

"So food doesn't give me much points, huh?", I asked.

"NO", Fury replied.

"Live animals...?", I asked. That didn't seem very likely though.

"NOT REALLY, BUT NOT TOO BAD", Fury said.

"Under no circumstance am I eating humans so we better tick that one off the list", I said. I remembered in a flash what Nolan had done to me and I felt a rush of anger. I calmed down and decided not to blame everyone for what one person did in trying to save himself and the people around him...mostly himself.

"UGH", Fury said in disappointment. I chose to ignore him. I'm not eating people.

"I can level up by consuming zombies, right?", I asked.

"YES", Fury said.

"Then I'm gonna eat hordes and hordes of them. You... you're going to learn how to communicate better and we...are...going...to...LEVEL UP", I said grinning.

"BYTE-SIZED LEVEL UP!", Fury said, sounding happy, unlike his usual grouchy self.

I pulled the hoodie over my head as I made my way down the hall to the front desk.

I'm a streamer. It's what I do. It's going to be a bit hard going back to it, because the memories of what happened still haunts me a bit. But that's not going to stop me. I'm stronger now. I'm better. I can't consume zombies while streaming, so what I'm going to do is, I'll keep streaming as usual but when I'm done I can go to the underground by myself, without company or cameras and hunt zombies for food so I can level up. I wonder what happens when I max out.