Death and Rebirth [Part - 1]

23rd of October, Year 2040

Today is the day when I'll get my own ENAMAL! I wonder if GHOST will be compatible with ENAMAL? I hope it is! As these thoughts ran through my head, I reached the company laboratory for implantation.

In the last week, all I did was frantically work on my game AI. Now all that was left was to do some debugging and I will be all set.

"Mr Wilson, Please sign this consent form before continuing." The doctor said with a stoic face, as he extended a paperboard with a bunch of documents clipped on it.

"Sure, doctor." I said and took the consent form from the man decked in a white coat, with his eyes and hair covered with glasses and a tight cap.

In half an hour, all the paperwork was complete and the doctor, decked out in full white dress with a matching cap, approached me.

After this, I was made to change into advanced clothing that could monitor the vitals of the patients. Soon enough, I was in a white room, laying on a rectangular stretcher, which slid into a cylindrical tube. After this, I lost consciousness.

After who knew how long, I woke up in the same place with a mild headache, prompting me to hold my head with one hand and support my body with the other.

Not long after, the Doctor approached and explained the possible symptoms and any mishaps that could occur. I took it seriously, as the chip was to be implanted in my brain, after all.

He also said that there would be a training program after a week of implantation for the users to get used to all its functions.

When I reached my apartment, I frantically started working on my game operating system GHOST. I had an idea of combining it with ENAMAL I wanted to find out the result of my experiment quickly.

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Instead of resting as the Doctor prescribed, the first thing I did after reaching my apartment was to give some finishing touches to GHOST and run it a few times to check for errors. Not finding any errors or bugs, A smile bloomed on my tired face.

"Finally, now all that's left is for installation of GHOST into ENAMAL's core chip!" I sighed, exhausted, and checked the time.

[4:13 P.M]

Since I was one of the lead programmers of ENAMAL, I had the authority to make a few adjustments. I could see the source code or make a few changes if I wished.

[Installing GHOST template into ENAMAL core, 2%… 3%…]

I felt my stomach rumble. "Guess I need to grab a quick bite while I wait for the installation." I mumbled under my breath as I stood up from my gaming chair.

I stretched and flexed my stiff muscles for a few moments and then entered the kitchen to make myself sandwiches.

[Installing GHOST template into ENAMAL core, 56%… 58%…]

While drinking juice, I heard a message which caused my lips to curl up.

[Installing GHOST template into ENAMAL core, 99%… 100%]

[Installation successful, updating core system of ENAMAL]

[Updating successful, Reorganising data. Data organised]

[Rebooting ENAMAL… Successful]

[Energy low… Using energy backup… Backup empty… (!ERROR!)…]

[Taking energy from host body for (!ERROR!)

The last message caused me to take a step back. Everything happened so fast that I didn't even get a chance to understand what was happening. My head started throbbing, my vision turned blurry, and my legs lost their strength.

I tried to support myself with the shelf but fell. The glass of juice slipped from my hand and shattered.

My chest area heated up as the bronze necklace melted and seeped into my chest. An odd sensation filled my body as I felt something move inside my chest. I felt it moving about in my body, but I didn't feel any pain, as if it didn't hurt any of my organs.

I could feel it as it flowed through my chest to my spinal cord and slithered like a snake up to my jaw. It finally entered my skull where it seemed to dissolve in my brain. It began melting the core chip in my brain. 

Suddenly, my body started heating up and trembling subconsciously.

I was having a seizure.

The nanoparticles that were in the form of the wrist-top also mysteriously came alive and slithered up my body and made their way to my ears before entering and getting mixed with the molten necklace and chip, before suddenly vanishing.

In that room, all that lay was hundreds of shards of glass, and the body of a young boy in his mid-20s seemingly… dead.

It might go unnoticed by most, but there was another existence present at the scene. Proved by a patch of dark shade in the shadow at the corner of the kitchen.

After a moment, a sigh was heard as the shadows moved before returning to normal…

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In a lush forest, a boy, who seemed to be a 15-year-old, was limping, dressed in rags, which fit him loosely on his slim body. The boy had silver-white hair that complemented his pale skin.

He was covered in dirt and some parts of his body were covered in bruises, but his ocean blue eyes shined brilliantly and fearlessly in daylight that barely passed through the thick foliage around. 

If someone saw him now, they would unhesitantly say: "He is courting Death". This forest was famous for its ferociousness. But seeing his eyes, even they would stop and question their own judgement. 

There was unyielding determination in his eyes, with an unquenchable resolve that no matter the cost, he would complete his task. His eyes were the eyes of a loyal son, willing to lay down his life for his mother.

Suddenly, a black shadow flashed down from the branch directly above him, startling him, but he soon regained his composure and jumped sideways, barely removing his head from the black shadow's trajectory.

Upon closer inspection, the black shadow was a huge snake, with glittery jet-black scales decorating its body.

But unfortunately for him, before he could completely exit the snake's trajectory, it took a piece out of his shoulder as it landed on the ground opposite of him.

The momentum caused the kid to roll forward onto the ground clutching his bloody shoulder, wincing in pain. Fear clouded his eyes before again being replaced with determination.

The boy stood up clutching his shoulder. The snake munched on a piece of meat — his meat — as it eyed the boy with greed evident in its eyes. 

As soon as the boy regained his footing on the ground, he let go of his shoulder and untied the knife from the side of his waist and held it tightly in his hand.

As the kid took a fighting stance with one hand holding a knife, and the other hand dangling, the snake finished its snack and coiled around itself like a coil.

—Swoosh!

The snake flew like a spring let loose and so fast that it made a sound of air splitting, even leaves around rustled just from the gust produced.

At the first sign of the snake moving towards him, the kid sidestepped out of the snake's trajectory and held the knife diagonally. 

—Khrr —Splatt!

At first, the knife only made a straight line of shallow scratches but due to the immense speed and momentum of the snake, the knife dug deep into the scales of the snake and finally penetrated its skin, drawing out crimson blood that splattered all over him, due to him being in its direct path.

To keep his hand holding the knife steady under the force, the kid took a step back and bent his knees a little.

After the snake crossed the kid and landed on the other side, it hissed in anger at being hurt by a puny creature such as it. By now, half of its front body was decorated with a long line of shallow scratches which later turned into a deep gash that ran from the mid-section to the end and almost bisected a portion of its tail.

As it turned around to glare at the creature who dared to hurt it, the kid also turned around and got ready for another round, even though blood was clearly dripping from the tip of his fingers of one hand, dampening the fertile soil below. And his legs were shaking after bearing the full brunt of the snake's force.

Infuriated at the action the snake found as a taunt, it gathered its bearings and opened its jaw wide, revealing its two huge white fangs and pink mouth, which were a stark contrast to its shiny black body.

In its open jaw, black mist started accumulating out of thin air, and soon it formed into a fist sized ball of what seemed like black cotton candy, but this ball of darkness was wriggling all over. Seeing this happening before his eyes, the kid's face paled visibly. 

He knew it was over for him because the beast in front of him could use magic, which he only dreamed of using one day.

I guess I wasn't a good son. Sorry, Mom. He muttered under his breath with a wry smile and dropped the knife on the ground, for his hand wouldn't listen to him even if he wanted to resist. Finally, the blood loss had caught up to him as the adrenaline rush receded.