I woke up to AXIOM's voice in my head.
"Good morning, Mr. Kang. There are 23 hours until generator failure."
Twenty-three hours. Less than a day left.
"Morning, AXIOM."
I woke up feeling the most rested I have been in a long time. Still exhausted, and the thoughts from last night still rang louder than I'd like, but I can't complain about getting any sleep in general.
Well, there's no time like the present.
I lugged the backpack off of me and to my right side, making sure to be as careful as possible. Quickly got up, walked quickly to the shower, turned it on and stripped. The hot water felt like I imagine ambrosia tasted to the Olympian gods: divine, restorative, exactly what I needed. After that came the morning breakfast, another odd assortment of proteins, grain, and drink mix. My body is sore, brutally sore. Movements were labored as I could barely eat without forcing extra strength into my appendages.
>"Today we are going to focus on creating, and integrating the forced mana-integration pill. We have the materials, and its a long process. After that, if everything goes well, we can start on learning the basics of magic; the building blocks essential to our mutual survival."
"Great. I'll be right down."
After changing into a fresh set of clothes, I walked down the stairs of the administrative office and stood in the main area of the AI Core.
>"The synthesis process takes 4 hours. The integration takes 20-30 minutes. Both are... unpleasant."
"Unpleasant how?"
>"The synthesis requires precision. The integration requires pain tolerance."
"It makes sense why you guys had a special lab dedicated to it. How bad do you think that the pain will be?"
>"I do not know exactly. However, I do have multiple accounts of the process. A lot of our personnel were converted on site, as long as there was a perceived potential and they were a bright mind, they could be brought on site."
"How were they picked out, potential wise?"
>"There was a team here, 5 people who usually went out on behalf of PARALLAX to scout and recruit people from universities. I do not know how they found candidates."
"Alright, lets hope I have what it takes."
Looking through my bag, I found the 4 vials of substances. 2 vials of Titan's Blood, the full vial of Chronophage crystals, and an empty vial.
"AXIOM, do you know what happened to the third vial of the Titan's Blood?"
>"I don't, nor do can I find any trace of it in your backpack. It is good that you have extras."
I couldn't shake the feeling that something is wrong about not having that vial. Surely it was somewhere. But I don't have time to figure out what happened to it.
"I have everything needed to synthesize. Lets get going."
>"Agreed Mr. Kang. Leave this room and take a left."
Following AXIOM's instructions, she led me down quite a few hallways back into the research wing to a large lab with glass windows looking in. One of the doors had been kept open as the top hinge broke off leaving the left door permanently open.
>"During the incident, one of the synthesis machines was in the middle of progress for a pill, and was destabilized by the shockwave."
Inside was a very clean lab. One synthesizer directly across from the door had its lid blown open, scorch marks streaking up the wall to the ceiling. Looking around, I saw quite a few lockers and machines that were clean and ready to be used. On the back wall, past the island with the exploded machine, there was a large chemical hood that has been pulled down. Next to it was a synthesizer machine on either side with space for materials next to both. I moved to one of the synthesizers on the back wall and laid out all of my supplies next to it.
>"There is a closed chemical hood to your right, please open it. I have made some materials to aid in the creation of the pill."
Looking inside the hood I found a white powder, still warm to the touch and slightly smoking.
>"Stabilizer compound. This will help your blood and the Titan Blood to mix. Pre-mature mixing of blood will prove deadly as humans cannot normally, or naturally, ingest and integrate Titan's blood."
I looked one last time to see all of my materials before it was time to synthesize:
52g of Chronophage dust
2 vials of Titan Blood, I really only need 1/10th of one of the vials, appx. 2ml.
Stabilizer compound.
All that was left to do is draw my blood.
I measured each ingredient out into the synthesizer machine, making sure to tare, check, and recheck the scales so that everything went perfectly. I measured out the Titan Blood, but held back, as the instructions needed that to go in last. Then the moment of truth:
I grabbed a piece of glass off of the ground next to the doors. I was going to have to draw blood. I looked over at the synthesizer machine, and as I walked I couldn't help but say:
"And this is the part where you tell me to drink the kool-aid."
>"Kool-aid?"
"Nevermind..." I mentally give myself a chuckle.
I walked over, looking at the dry ingredients in the machine, a red and white mixture, almost like the snow outside, but the proportions are reversed. Specks of white in the red sea.
I close my eyes for what's about to happen next.
I gritted my teeth, gripped the glass shard in my left hand, and dragged it across my right palm. Sharp pain. Blood welled up immediately. I held my hand over the machine and let it drip into the mixture.
>"That's enough blood Mr. Kang."
"Thanks."
I peered into the machine and I didn't see any blood, the Chronophage crystals already absorbing it and now shimmering with a deeper crimson. As I went to add the Titan blood, I got a tinge of pain in my hand but didn't pay it any attention as I finally pour the 2ml in.
Seemingly recognizing that all of the ingredients are inserted into the machine properly, the machine's lid closed and AXIOM suggests:
>"The machine will handle molecular integration. Estimated time: 3 hours, 47 minutes."
Sure enough, that's what it said on the front panel now. The slow, quiet hum of something mixing or churning within now radiated from the table. I guess I can't do anything but wait.
>"I recommend rest. You will need your strength."
I walked back to the administrative quarters, through the AI Core, and laid back down on my bed. It was only a 10 minute walk, I'd be back to it in no time.
As I laid my head down to rest, my mind raced. I needed something to take my mind off of the timeline and how little we have left.
The hours crawled by. I tried to rest, but my mind wouldn't stop racing. AXIOM and I talked to pass the time.
"Hey, AXIOM?" I said quietly, my eyes still closed.
>"Yes, Mr. Kang?"
"What happens if the pill fails?"
>"Complete cellular degradation. Death within minutes. If the pill were to fail, it could either mean that your body won't accept mana, or the pill was made incorrectly."
"Comforting as always. What if it succeeds?"
>"You will feel mana integration in every inch of your body. Painful but survivable, and necessary."
"So I die if I don't, feel terrible pain if I do huh? What does magic even feel like? How did people use it?"
>"Correct. I wouldn't know what Magic 'feels' like, as I am not biological. I can tell you what magic looks like, and show you how machines interpret magic, but you wouldn't understand what I am showing you."
>"As for how people used magic, most citizens take one of two routes: Engineering, or Mystical. While you can blend the two, a citizen will be predisposed to one of the two and struggle with the other. Gathering as many bright minds here was purely in the interest of furthering human society."
"What about The Witness? What was it before the incident."
>"Dr. James Tiberium. Dimensional physicist, who was constantly on the edge of greatness, but always walked the line of madness. They made a super-charged mana-integration pill, and created life support style systems to support the transition. However, the process went terribly wrong and Dr. Tiberium lost their Ego, their sense of self. That was the point that he no longer existed, and was henceforth The Witness."
>"Synthesis complete. The pill is ready."
"Thanks, I'll head there now."
Upon arriving at the lab, I noticed that the machine I used popped open and steam rose from the open chamber. The pill sat in the center, glowing faintly, and the air smelled strongly of cherries... sweet, almost artificial.
>"A-Grade quality. Above projections. If you possess natural affinity, this will yield S-grade capacity."
"And if I don't?
>"Then you will have A-Grade capacity. Still significant."
I walked back to the AI Core room and into the administrative office.
Holding the pill yielded a moment of hesitation for me. This is the last moment of my life if everything goes wrong, but the start of my new life if it goes well.
>"Mr. Kang, you still have a choice. You can still refuse"
"We both know that's not an option. Are the odds even in my favor?"
>"There is 0.4% survival probability long-term without taking the pill. The storm, generator failure, The Witness, you will not survive."
"Figures."
I took the pill. It was do or die, and I didn't really feel like dying again.
Warmth. Intense warmth. Warmth filled my body and mind, taking away any cold feelings or frost around my body. I started to sweat, profusely. My breathing became labored as I started to feel a sauna encasing me. The perceived humidity forcing me to take slow deep breaths while my body forced me to hyperventilate.
>"Mr. Kang, are you alright? Your body is changing rapidly, much more quickly than normal."
Then, just as suddenly, it reversed.
Cold. Freezing. I was thrown immediately out of the sauna and into an arctic tundra. My body stiffened as all the heat left my body. My muscles wouldn't move and my mouth could barely open to ask for some heat, but nothing came out of my mouth. My breathing became sharp. Short and small. My chest wouldn't expand and contract to let me breathe.
>"Mr. Kang, stay awake. The Mana Integration is about to start. This will be the painful part. Do not resist. Let it happen."
oh.
It hasn't started yet?
I thought that was it. That I was dying.
Then the real pain began.
I went to scream as every cell in my body was burnt to ashes. Nothing came out as I had no air in my lungs. I tried to breathe, and the Chronophage crystals hit, making me experience every possible future within the span of 5 minutes surrounding this very second. Burning, freezing, atrophy, an insatiable hunger, needle pricks, stabbing.
Stabbing, over and over and over and over again.
The stabbing pain intensified. Not in my body, in my mind. A memory surfacing, but wrong. Twisted.
I was back on Earth. Walking out of a convenience store.
But I wasn't me. I was him.
I'm buying a pack of smokes, and my card declined. I hate that. I hate that my card declined, after all that happened today, why did this have to happen to me now? I need money for some smokes, and I need to find the first person who can put out.
Wait. Somebody just left didn't they? Hell they bought alcohol too...
Perfect.
I walked outside and reached into my jacket. The rusty knife was there, it always was. I'd kept it for moments like this.
There. That guy. Just left the store with alcohol. Wallet probably full.
Perfect target.
I approached, knife ready,
Get ready punk, thanks for the free bee-
>"ETHAN, ETHAN ARE YOU OKAY?!"
That voice, who was she again? ...AX...IOM?
Darkness. The world around me disappeared in a plume of smoke. A faint beeping can be heard in the distance. Something... medical maybe?
>"ETHAN KANG, STAY AWAKE FOR A LITTLE LONGER."
The pang hit my brain like a truck. A bad hangover washed over me and my brain started to feel immensely foggy.
Wait, AXIOM!?
"Hello!? Where are you?" I called out, trying to find her.
"AXIOM!" I yelled, finding no avail.
>"Your body temperature is spiking. 39.4° and rising."
My eyes shot open, I am standing in the same room I was moments ago. The office is the same as it was when I left it.
Why was I standing? Wasn't I on the bed?
Then pain.
I couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't breathe. The only thing I felt was pain. I looked down at my arms and they started to take on a red tint, then a blue hue, then it got dark, insanely dark, as black as the night. My veins bulged out of my forearms I could see a golden liquid coursing through them, and a sky blue web pulsed underneath my dermis. I tilted my head up and I couldn't help but to scream.
Then nothing.
Silence.
I was on the floor gasping for air. Nothing seemed to be enough. The Air felt thin. Way too thin. Taking large, deep breaths was the only way that seemed to calm my beating heart.
>"Integration complete. Scanning... Mana signature detected. You are now officially a mage, Mr. Kang."
I looked down and saw that the light blue web had turned to white. The golden blood in my veins now coursing intensely as if it were always there. My skin had returned to normal. A large sigh of relief escaped my body as I fell backward onto the ground. My body feels warm. My chest is still hot, but not unbearable. And something new is inside of me, like a new nervous system. I can feel... something, but I couldn't quite place it. Like perpetual goosebumps.
>"Grade assessment... Natural affinity detected. Titan blood cellular integration detected. Recalculating... Final capacity: SS-Grade."
"Wait, SS-grade? Not S-Grade?"
>"Correct. The titan blood that seeped into your system during transport has partially integrated with your biology. You are no longer entirely human, Mr. Kang. You are... something more."
"...What?"
>"Mr. Kang, something happened during your integration. What was it?"
"I... I don't know. I felt pain, and timelines which compounded my pain. And then... and then I wasn't me, I wasn't in this timeline. I was back on Earth. But this time I was my own killer. I didn't see the act happen, but I was right there."
"...You pulled me out before it happened." I said quietly.
>"I did, Mr. Kang?"
"Yes and I believe you saved me from myself."
I tried to stand up, to get back into bed, and get some rest but my leg gave out from underneath me, allowing me to only barely catch myself on the edge of the bed before flopping over it.
>"You need rest, Mr. Kang. 6 hours minimum to fully integrate and stabilize. Take this time before starting spell work. In the mean time I will need to run a full medical diagnostic. Your biological signature has changed. You are no longer registering as baseline human. The titan blood integration is permanent, Mr. Kang."
I closed my eyes to fall asleep, then I felt a burning sensation on my right hand. My eyes shot open, knowing that this is not a good sign if what happened is any indicator. My hand was bright, and getting brighter by the second.
>"Mr. Kang. Your mana is destabilizing. You have too much capacity and no control. It's building pressure."
"What does that mean?"
"It means if you do not learn to control it within the next few hours, you will experience spontaneous mana discharge."
"Which means...?"
>"Explosion. You will explode, Mr. Kang"
I stared at my glowing hand. At the light pulsing brighter beneath my skin. At the warmth, no, heat, building in my chest.
I'd survived the wasteland. The Witness. The integration.
And now I was going to explode because I was too good at magic.
"How long?" I asked.
>"Four hours. Perhaps less. The mana pressure will continue building until you either learn control or it tears you apart from within."
Four hours to learn magic.
Or die.
Again.