Getting Olivia situated was easy this time due to her eavesdropping on the earlier lecture, all he had to do was give her a quick refresher on her goals for the night. Once she stepped through the gate of sensing Qi, she began her study on cells and DNA and will eventually begin crossing the first hurdle of cultivation.
Meanwhile, Mark was in the midst of devising a plan to purify the blood. Despite my marrow producing Qi enriched blood cells, it'll take far too long to let them naturally all my blood. At the fastest, I'll have to wait a month for my blood cells to fully change, and that's with the normal human biology, not my enhanced physique that I have no reference for.
Drawing from his previous experience, Mark sought to use physics to his advantage once again. However, resonating the frequency of Qi with his blood had little to no effect. What about energy? Since energy has a direct relationship with frequency, what if I increase the frequency of the Qi and see if that can excite my blood cells enough to sublimate their state?
And so, the oscillations of the Qi waves increased and increased. Mark pushed and used all his possible influence on Qi to continue to drive the frequency higher. One megahertz, gigahertz, terahertz, higher and higher; past the threshold of the frequency of the visible spectrum, past UV, and into x-rays. At this point, it was getting difficult to push any more.
It feels like I'm gonna have a hernia or a brain aneurysm…The mental tax of increasing the Qi's frequency increased exponentially. Just increasing by even a factor of ten was like climbing a mountain.
By the time he stepped into the frequency range of gamma rays, he could hardly think about anything beyond the word "More." And this was with his enhanced brain and a soul that had been baptized by several instances of inhuman torture.
Blood started to leak out of his nose, but he could feel his blood begin to boil. The Qi was exciting the entire bloodstream, the already Qi enriched blood cells just continued swimming like nothing was happening, but the old cells began to sublimate and find a way to acclimate. With an example nearby, they began to replicate the properties of the Qi enriched cells.
As the frequency continued to climb higher, a feeling of being at a spa began to permeate through Mark's body. His brain cooled while his blood boiled, and relaxation swept through him. His cells adapted and copied the already existing information on how to become Qi enriched in his DNA. It was like an infectious virus, engulfing every cell one by one until they all decided to conform to the new standard he had forcibly set.
Doctors hate this one simple trick! Influence your biology with these easy steps!
Another round of metamorphosis occurred, but on a much smaller scale than before. The cells began to deliver Qi to every part of his body en masse. Priming the entire body for a new round of baptism in the future.
This time, the benefits weren't in a direct increase in strength, and Mark could feel it. I feel… energized. Every breath is like I came up for air after being underwater.
Mark's blood could now deliver much more energy, oxygen, and nutrients per cell. His brain activity increased even more, his veins and arteries began to strengthen themselves, and now there was a harmony between his blood and marrow, increasing production and the cycle of blood cell life and death.
His body was slowly moving away from dependency on mundane particles and more towards pure energy efficiency. His telomeres began to extend, ever so slightly, gaining several years of life in one fell swoop. If one were to drain his blood into a vat, they'd see a mist of Qi energy rise from it and a gold tint reflect off it.
As I continue to refine every cell in my body, I'll eventually become almost entirely dependent on Qi. I wonder when the day I no longer need oxygen or food will come…
…
Opening his eyes to a bloodstained shirt was not how he wanted to start his day. God damn it, this is Lululemon! Why can't it be like in cultivation stories where I flick my wrist and use Qi to cleanse myself in an instant?
Shaking his head to ignore his woes, Mark sees Olivia passed out next to him, surely tired from a night of interfering and changing her DNA. His eyes soften as he reaches out and brushes her cheek, "I love you, beautiful girl."
A few minutes of admiration of how lucky he was later, and he looked forward to the day's event. Today's the big day! We can finally get this show on the road and devote all our time to cultivation.
Mark felt a mix of anxiety and excitement. The people he trusted most would all gather to change their lives forever and in turn change the universe for eternity.
After changing, he began to wake the sleeping beauty next to him. When she opened her eyes, though, her anxiety shot up through the roof.
"How the hell am I going to convince them to do this? How are YOU going to do it? Maybe we should reschedule… wait, but then they'd just freak out when I go home… okay, what if I just never go back home? No, then they'd think I died. What do we do?"
Mark took her hand and held it tight. "It'll be okay, my love. We'll take this one step at a time. My main plan, though, is to guilt trip them." His face had a sincere smile, like he was making a benevolent sacrifice.
Olivia's face deadpans, "We are not guilting my family into becoming immortal."
"Ugh, you're no fun. Fine, we'll have to just show them the results and that we're not crazy. Maybe I can have God show up? See if he's down for that?"
Mark's head instantly snaps up, feeling a message being transmitted from the big man himself, "~No~".
Deflating, Mark sighs. "Well, that plans a bust. Why do I always have to do things the hard way…?"
"Did God just tell you no?" Olivia asked with a dumbfounded face.
Locking back in, Mark responds, "Yes. Yes he did. What if… before they walk in, they have to answer whether or not they'd want to live forever and be young again. Then when they say yes, we get 'em."
"…" She does not look amused. "Why don't we just stick with the original plan and just convince them? Even if it'll be incredibly awkward at first, I can't imagine any of them are going to say no. Obviously, Nate will say yes, so will John and Mo. I'll beg my family, so that's three more…"
"And my sister and her husband are definite yeses. Grant and Alex will be easy, Jack and Michael, too… I think. That should be everyone, we just need to convince them we're not crazy first."
"The bodies of Greek gods should do the trick, Mark. I think we're both overthinking it."
"You're right." With a final sigh, he goes to wake up his parents and prepare the house for twelve guests who are going to stay for several hours.
…
Noon comes around, and so does the first vic- uh, guest.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Coming!" Mark hurries to the door and opens it to see Nate. Roommate of four years and one of his best friends of all time.
The instant Nate sees him, though, his face goes through several emotions all at once. Mark, however, was prepared.
"Remember when we said that if some crazy shit like time travel, superpowers, regression, or reincarnation happened, we'd tell each other? Well, I'm telling you now. So, get inside and when everyone else gets here, you'll get the full explanation."
Nate's face bloomed into one of awe and excitement. "Dude. You're not a fat fuck anymore."
Truly, friendship works in mysterious ways. Calling your friend a fat fuck to their face right after they said they got superpowers is just natural.
A warm smile crosses Mark's face, "Kill yourself."
"Okay, so you've only changed physically, good to know."
"And your brain activity is just as low as last time I saw you."
Friendship at its finest was displayed between these two.
More people showed up and more people looked at Mark, Olivia, and his parents like they were aliens. When his sister and her husband showed up, Mark had to convince them to not draw their gun. Jesus, I know we look different, but it's not like we're skinwalkers...
With Olivia's family arriving last, everyone was present.
"Hello everyone. Welcome to Chez Knight, and also welcome to the beginning of your new lives! Before you start to get worried, let me clear some things up. One, no, we did not get plastic surgery and rapidly recover. Two, this is not a cult, nor is it any sort of religious gathering. And three, I am about to give you a ridiculous story, but considering what you see right in front of you, just listen."
"…" Some murmurs crossed the small crowd, but most stayed silent, probably still in shock.
…
"And now, we're here. If you would not like to live forever and look younger and become sexy, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Looking around at everyone's faces, Mark nodded with satisfaction. I knew this group would be full of heroes and legends in the making. Not an ounce of hesitation in sight. Who could possibly resi-.
His internal monologue was cut off by many hands raising and voices sounding off all at once. Nearly everyone clamored for more information, hesitation about the idea of immortality, and the thought of outliving their friends and family.
Ugh, this fucking sucks, convincing people is the absolute worst, I just wanna get to the part where they eventually say yes. We have so much to do!
Mark's eyes flick to the corner of the room, where he sees a nondescript, inconspicuous man with the universe in his eyes standing with amusement and mirth written all over his face.
He mouths the words "Need help?" And before Mark can even think about why God changed his mind, he rapidly nods his head, pleading with his eyes. Time once again slows to a crawl until it freezes entirely. All motion in the room halts, but everyone still retains their awareness and ability to see.
God strides across the room, his face and body a blur to their senses, with only Mark seeing his image with clarity. As he reaches the center, he taps the air and points at the crowd.
Time resumes while everyone's voice cuts out immediately. The room is quiet, with only shallow breaths being heard.
Mark looks around to see blank faces with half-closed eyes all around him. Everyone looks like dolls… it's weird.
Eyes begin to flutter open one by one, until everyone is slack jawed staring at Mark. Brad, his brother in law, slowly asks, "Was… that… God?"
That question sets off the rest of the room, everyone instantly starts to try and discuss what they all experienced.