The Unwelcomed Gift (2)

Erik woke up to the image of his house ceiling. He felt confused, as he couldn't connect the dots of what had happened to him.

He slowly stood up and looked at his body to see if something was out of place. Indeed, it was. There was a pile of ashes on his chest.

It took a moment for Erik to connect the dots, as drowsy as he was, but then he did.

"AAAH!" A scream left his body.

On the brink of a panic attack, he scrambled to brush the ashes off himself. What happened? And where was the creature?

Erik stood up. Even if he took off most of them, he still went to the shower to clean himself.

<What if these are…>

He gave himself a look in the mirror.

"THESE ARE THE MONSTER'S REMAINS!"

There was no doubt about it.

"But how? What happened?"

After washing, Erik went to the living room. The clock hung over the desk showed 8:00 PM.

Erik blanched.

"SHIT!" He reached for his phone to call his employer, Mister Fox, when something bizarre occurred.

[Device found: Smartphone. Do you want to connect to it?]

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

He recoiled at the sight of the screen before his eyes, but in his haste, he tripped over the coffee table and tumbled to the floor.

"DAMN IT!"

Erik blinked, and for a split second, the screen vanished from his sight. But when he opened his eyes again, the mysterious window reappeared, hovering before him.

[Device found: Smartphone. Do you want to connect to it?]

Erik couldn't quite believe it. What the hell was this?

He racked his brain but couldn't conjure up any explanation for the bizarre sight before him.

Finally, he decided to do the only logical thing in such a situation: try to understand what was happening.

"Uhm…Yes…?"

[Connection to the device: Erik's smartphone, complete.]

A peculiar feeling spread through Erik's mind. It was just as the strange screen had described—he felt a connection to the device.

He picked up his phone and examined it closely. At first glance, it looked the same as usual, yet he sensed a difference.

It was weird and familiar at the same time.

"Shit! I must call Mr. Fox!"

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the phone went to his contacts and chose Mister Fox's number.

"I'm controlling the phone with my damn mind!"

The phone kept ringing until, finally, someone from the other side replied to the call.

"Where the fuck are you?!"

Mister Fox's voice resonated directly inside the young man's head. Erik could still hear his surroundings as if he didn't have the old man's voice in his brain, yet at the same time, he could hear the phone call.

"Mister Fox?"

"Erik?! WHERE-THE-FUCK-ARE-YOU?-!"

"Ah! Sorry Mister Fox, but-"

"Sorry? I will give you a reason to be sorry when you bring your ugly ass here, you dumb kid!"

"Please, Mister Fox, it won't happen again. I-"

"Listen up, kid," Mister Fox growled. "Pull a stunt like this again, and you're fired. Got it? Now tell me, what was so damn important that you couldn't even bother to call and say you weren't coming in?"

The young man couldn't say what had happened to him, so he tried to find an excuse for the situation. Luckily, he had one available.

"I got beaten up and lost consciousness, sir..."

The old man fell silent. Despite his stern demeanor, he pitied Erik deeply—perhaps more than anyone else did. Maybe he was the only one.

The truth was that Mister Fox had no intention of firing Erik. He was aware of Erik's struggles to find work and didn't want to exacerbate his hardships.

However, the older man's temperament was far from pleasant; he struggled to control his anger, and when it flared, his mouth would spew forth a torrent of harsh words.

"Well... Next time, try to stay out of trouble."

"I will, sir. Again, I'm sorry."

The man sighed. "Come tomorrow at the usual time. If you don't, consider yourself jobless." "I will come, sir, don't worry."

Mister Fox ended the call abruptly. The line went silent, but Erik could still see the phone's screen in his mind. It was a bizarre feeling—as if the screen existed and didn't exist simultaneously. The experience left him disoriented.

"What the hell is happening?!"

Erik felt conflicted about the strange power he had gained—unsure whether to feel elated or terrified. As he pondered this, his mind drifted back to the creature his father had brought home, and he drew some connections.

<Seriously? Can this be thanks to that thing? It would crazy if it is!>

Then he turned serious.

<Could it be that the creature inside glass container wasn't a thaid? Was my father actually telling truth?>

The creature resembled too much a thaid. Erik knew that well, since he studied thaids a lot. Like his father, he had always been fascinated by what the Sinister Cold, and the Thaids, were. He knew a lot about them.

<Just like dad…>

As Erik reflected on the events, two things became clear. First, whatever had happened to him had granted him some kind of power, though its exact nature remained a mystery. Second, the precise actions of the creature were still uncertain.

<What it did exactly do?>

[I, the Biological supercomputer, have integrated with the host Erik Romano's brain. Establishing a connection to the brain crystal.]

"What the…?!"

Erik stumbled again as the message screen materialized before him again. However, what truly startled him wasn't the appearence of the screen. That already happened.

No, what truly startled him was the realization that this thing could read his damn mind!

"I'M FUCKED, BLOODY HELL, I'M REALLY FUCKED! THIS THING IMPLANTED ITSELF INTO MY BRAIN!"

A disgusting but also dreadful thought spread through Erik's mind. If whatever this thing said was true, he couldn't separate from it.

[Yes. The host is correct.]

"For fuck's sake. Stop reading my mind!"

The more the young man thought about it, and the more he grew calm. Whatever happened could not be undone. Then the most logical question came to Erik's mind.

"What the hell are you? You said you are the biological supercomputer, but what does this means?"

[The Biological Supercomputer is a technology created to enhance individuals. It requires a source of energy to work. Hence, I had to connect to the brain crystal. Though, the amount of mana the host brain crystal provides is barely enough to allow some essential functions. The host is advised to strengthen the brain crystal as soon as possible to unlock all the functions.]

"Strengthening the brain crystal?" Erik was surprised, happy. <Damn… I feel like crying!>

All his problems were because of his brain crystal, and its useless power. But with this thing…

<Maybe I… I can truly have a new chance…>

Erik saw an opportunity to change his life. Although skeptical of miracles due to his history of misfortune, he couldn't help but hope that this turn of events was really genuine.

Erik was having trouble believing it. It would most likely be he really was in a coma, and all of this was just a hallucination.

<Yeah… that would make sense. No way I'm so lucky…>

[The host is advised to give a look at the {Powers} window in the Biological Supercomputer System's status screen.]

The reply came quiet. "Status screen? How am I supposed to see it?"

[To go to the Status screen, you must will it to do so. You can say "Status Screen" to make the process more natural.]

<This really is a hallucination. Maybe that thaid gave him some kind of venom, and this the result.< p>

Despite his skepticism, Erik couldn't help but hope that this extraordinary turn of events was genuine—that he had finally caught a break.

"Status Screen," the young man said. Willing to see the screen the supercomputer was referring to.

Erik could not touch the interface, but could see it—a window. He could interact with it with his thoughts.

—

[Host Information]

NAME: Erik Romano

AGE: 16

POWER LEVEL: 8

SYSTEM LEVEL: 1

EXPERIENCE: 0/100

DNA POINTS: 0

HEALTH: 89/100

MANA: 10

{Attributes}

STRENGTH: 3

INTELLIGENCE: 6

DEXTERITY: 4

ENERGY: 1

Available Attributes points: -

{Powers}

[Biological Super Computer Powers] -Brain Crystal Manipulation

-Brain Crystal Power Extraction (Allows the absorbtion of the brain crystal , making the host able to acquire the power contained within. Notice: the DNA must be changed in order to allow the body to use the power. See DNA extraction.)

Brain Crystal Power Strengthening (Allows the gaining of the energy attribute points)

(LOCKED)

(LOCKED)

(LOCKED)

(LOCKED)

-DNA Manipulation

-DNA Extraction (Allows the absorbtion of foreign DNA, making the host able to replicate it inside his own body. Notice: Changing the DNA is a slow process and it is required to use new brain crystal powers.)

-DNA Strengthening (Allows the gaining of the Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity attribute points)

(LOCKED)

(LOCKED)

(LOCKED)

-Analysis (Gives the host information about his surroundings, plants, creatures, and ores.)

-Brain Information Injector (It allows the injection of information directly to the brain. Based on touch)

-Device Manipulation (Allows the Host to manipulate electrical and mana-driven devices. Based on touch)

[Host's Powers] Plant Growth: Fσ1E-RANKED (This power allows to make plants grow faster. The speed, the quality, and the size of whatever the user targets, depends on the amount of mana used.)

—

"HOLY MOLY!"

He said while staring at the window appearing in front of him.

(A.N: The system originally used CAPS LOCKS. I decided to change it to normal text, but it will take a while. Sorry for this.)