Tales of Survival

Kai looked out of the pixelated window before taking in a deep sigh. The scenery he could see from the window screen was one of an enchanting forest with lush greenery, birds fluttering around a rainbow formed from an enormous waterfall, and an absolutely spectacularly blue sky with just a few bright white clouds spotted here and there. To Kai, such scenery would be nothing short of perfection, yet ironically it was also something that was impossible for him to achieve.

Today was his 6th birthday, yet no one was present. He had already sent e-invites to all the contacts he had through his bionic chip; his friends from the orphanage who managed to get adopted and successfully escaped, those like him who were not so lucky, and even the few people whose contact information he somehow had like the kind old man across the street who always gave him some nutrient supplements without anyone knowing.

Yet, it was almost the end of the day, and he was completely alone in the attic of the orphanage.

Being in an orphanage in this era was just as bad as a few hundred years ago. He was originally forced to live with almost 50 other children in the same room, and with time, many of them were adopted, which was good for them, but worse for Kai and the unlucky few who were not, and were too old by now and would not be adopted.

With time, Kai and the few others were forced to live on the top floor of the orphanage, the parts which were not seen by any of the prospective parents nor the government, and were then forced to help take care of the other children.

During this period of living on the top floors of the 23-floor orphanage, Kai was called into the dean's office one day.

…

"Congratulations Kai! You have been selected by the government to represent them in the future. If all goes well, you will be able to live on the lower floors once more!"

Hearing this, Kai perked up, however, there was still a smidgen of doubt in his mind which he immediately voiced out. Turns out, that was the biggest mistake he could have ever made.

"What happens if things don't go according to plan?"

"Hmm?"

The bald dean finally turned around, showing a smile which reminded Kai of some of the devils from the children's books, before the Dean waved his hand.

Two men in full black tactical gear came up behind Kai and knocked him out, taking him away.

…

When Kai woke up, he had already been implanted with the highly experimental bionic chip, however, due to the concussion he received from being knocked out, the experiment was a failure. Although he would be able to use the chip, he would also die within the next 6 months according to the doctors.

It had already been 2 years since that moment, and Kai had somehow survived until now. However, his body was growing weak, and his muscles were deteriorating. The current him did not have any hair left and looked like someone put skin on top of a skeleton.

Unfortunately for Kai, there was nothing he could do. He was not in a position to make things better, nor was he in a position to ask for justice. That was just how things were here. He was just an ordinary orphan within the Earth Alliance in the year 2845.

Kai closed his eyes and accessed the bionic chip and began reading up on the latest news.

[The Earth Alliance has successfully placed colonists on Mars. Within the next 2 years, we will confirm that colonising Mars is not just possible, but also a feasible relocation strategy for all of the Earth Alliances' citizens]

'Well, not this one…' Kai thought to himself as he continued to read the next headline.

[The pollution on earth has reached a point of no return. Despite the Earth Alliance's best efforts, it is simply impossible to restore the Earth's atmosphere to what it was without completely eliminating all humans and waiting a few thousand years]

[Minister Kraig has been ensnared into yet another scandal. Will he be able to hold onto his position this time, or will the Liberals finally gain victory?]

[In today's…

As Kai was reading, his body finally slumped to the ground, his pale white eyes losing their lustre.

…

"Argh! I won't die so easily!" Kai opened his eyes once more.

He immediately looked around for a solution. He knew he was dying, but he did not want to die. He had yet to meet his original parents, who despite having abandoned him, were still his parents. He had yet to find guardians to take care of him. He had yet to make new friends. He had yet to live his life! How could he die just like that?

Struggling to stand up, Kai used the window sill as support and pulled himself onto the window sill before huffing from the exhaustion his body faced in just that simple action. Tears welling up in bloodshot eyes, Kai leaned into the window of the paradise he could see as a form of comfort.

Yet, in an ironic twist of fate, the window on which he had his shoulder resting, began buzzing all of a sudden. The orphanage had naturally cut as many corners as possible in terms of spending money for anyone other than the Dean and his son. Therefore, all the windows places in the orphanage, especially after the first two floors were all incredibly old LED displays, where it was even possible to see the pixels with your naked eye!

Given the pollution and acidic rain, it was a likely possibility that one or more of the windows would soon give way and cause an electric fire or something similar. However, it seemed like Fate was only toying with Kai.

The electricity coursed through his body in an instant, killing him then and there. However, due to his body being there, no fire was created since the electricity passed through his body into the ground without coming into contact with too much flammable material before the fuse kicked in and stopped the electricity.

This meant that Kai was the only one affected by this, dying a miserable death at the hands of the Dean, the United Earth Alliance, and Fate.