RBR Chapter 7 Awakening

YEAR 1

(You finally managed to awaken. The brain really is annoying. It is the one thing I can't fathom. Every time the first brain cell comes into existence, the mysterious substance known as consciousness appears. What is it?)

These were the first words he heard when he became aware. At that time he didn't understand their meaning, let alone what was saying them.

(Well, it seems like you are going to be trapped here for the foreseeable future, though it will be like dreaming...sixteen years is how long you will have to wait my dear new experiment.)

It spoke once again, an amalgam of voices. He opened his eyes and saw that he was laying on some sort of cold surface, blood red mist floating all around. It was shifting, like it was trying to take on a concrete form, yet failing. But he instinctively knew that whatever was talking, was the mist itself.

(Too bad, you are still very young...) 

He couldn't understand anything it was saying, only listening to the sound and laying there.

YEAR 5

He could now crawl, allowing him to explore this place, his mind was still pure, curious about this place.

(Why do all of you have to start with such low intelligence? That's why I despise you brain! I am stuck in this place, having to gaze at such...an unrefined consciousness?)

YEAR 10

"When will this end?" He asked. For some reason, the red mist had opted to teach him speech and some other knowledge. He was still clothless, pale brown skinned, black hair and dark blue eyes, according to what he had seen when the red mist had created a reflective surface. It was ironic how it could shift into a myriad of other things and creatures, yet couldn't settle on a form suiting itself.

(6 years. The collective only gave me the most ordinary of information, leaving out many of the details...I will need to find a database once you reach maturation. Too bad this is a city of humans-huh!?)

This was the first time the entity, whatever it was, was truly surprised. He was wondering why, when something new and different appeared within the white space. He knew it was different the moment he laid his eyes on it. It was a bundle of blue light, arcing in a way he knew was the signature of lightning or electricity...well, according to what the mist had taught him. After all, even it, couldn't truly simulate plasma and flame.

He instinctively too a step back, feeling a destructive will within the new entity.

"What are you?" He asked aloud, taking it to be a new life form, like the blood red mist, but no answer came.

"What is it?" This time, the question was directed at the blood red mist, which seemed to avoid the space occupied by the new existence as if it had encountered the plague.

(I expected this in the long run. Someone has just placed a collar upon you. That blue thing is his will, which he attached to his cells and bonded them somewhere on your body...)

"Like a slave?" He asked, having remembered his lessons.

(Yes)

"Can it be removed?" He asked, a feeling of revulsion engulfing him the longer he stared at the morphing ball of electricity, floating a few meters away.

(Unless you reach a level of willpower surpassing his, there is no other way.)

"Can't you do anything?" 

(Boy! You would do well to remember what you are, an experiment of the mythic class. Why would I not want to protect you? This, you will have to take care of, yourself in the future.) 

The cacophony of voices all altered their tones to a coldness that induced chills down his spine, even though he knew that this was a mindscape. He had been trapped here for over 9 years and the blood mist hadn't sugarcoated the truth one bit upon the reveal.

"Who did it?" He asked, rage overtaking him. He knew, this mist was simply a failsafe whoever created him had left behind, but now, he was doubting that upon the appearance of the blue electric sphere. What was the truth?

(I don't know. I wasn't left with any information about the outside world, only my task. But, he has the same facial features as you...bizarre. Wait? The bio-magnetic fields are almost equal? Some of your genetic material must have originated from him.)

"Wait, you can see the outside? How?" Excitement almost took over at the prospect, his woes forgotten for the moment. He longed for the outside. This place was a prison that he loathed, even though he hid that thought from the blood red mist.

(I am in control of everything.)

YEAR 16

(The time has come. I will only control this body initially to test out some things. After that, you can have your merry time with it.) 

The crimson mist spoke as he rested with his eyes closed. 16 whole years had passed and now, he was a teen, previously a boy. He had grown calmer, as even with that piece of good news, he didn't flinch, instead opening his eyes and watching as the crimson mist vanished for the first time in many years, leaving behind an expanse of white, himself and the blue electric sphere.

'So, the time has finally arrived.' He thought, his eyes lighting up.

"Hmmm!?" Shock overtook him as his vision darkened for a moment only to reappear with him staring at red. He almost thought the mist had come back, only for sensory sensations to assault his mind, this was a liquid.

'My real body. But where am I?' He asked himself even as his body moved without his control, sharp nails reaping a line through something.

'Claws? And black scales? What is this?' He wondered, his eyes not following his commands, but those of something else. It was bewildering...this foreign feeling.

As he wondered, an attractive force was born from within him, drawing the crimson sticky liquid into his body, filling it with energy. His cells, he could feel them cheer at the energy overdose, increasing the speed of their processes and producing plenty of heat which escaped as vapor.

'Is this why I am an experiment?' He wondered as he beheld the black scales.

As the liquid vanished into him, another claw widened the crack, causing the one lone eye that was peering through to see something unbelievable, a boy, possessing the same features as his mind self, except that the blue of his eyes was lighter.

'Who is this!? Another experiment!?' He wanted to shout out, but his entire body wasn't within his control, so all he could do was rage in his mind.

(We finally managed to succeed with another experiment.)

His mouth moved in its own as it spoke, his eyes which had been locked with the boy dressed in weird artificial textile breaking away as 'he' took in a deep breath. The man in front of the boy uttered something in response but he missed it since his thoughts had become chaotic.

(Human, don't worry, this is only temporary. I will let the boy take over in a moment.) 

His mouth once again moved, his control still nonexistent.

"We had a deal. I have fulfilled my end, so when will he be eligible? I want him to birth new ones, right away." 

He puzzled over the man's question. It seemed as if they had struck some sort of deal for him to be born. But what kind? He wondered. The boy hiding behind the man also appeared puzzled to his relief and bewilderment.

'Isn't he an experiment too? He should have access to more information. I should ask him when I get the chance.' He thought. The man would have been the obvious choice, but he was suspicious, not to mention that even without having any control over his body at the moment, he felt a faint sense of dread from him. It felt as if his life would be ended with a single thought if he wronged him in some way.

(His age equals your boy. You wouldn't want to start so early, right?) 

"I can wait. I still have plenty of time. I hope you don't do anything to jeopardize our deal." The man said, with him still not understanding what they were talking about.

(I can't wait to see what the final form of this experiment will look like...) 

The man's eyes flickered at the words of the ones controlling his body.

"What? I..." 

'I spoke! I have control of my body!' He felt everything entering his control, rendering him happy.

"Finally!" He fist pumped, more like clawed at the air above, causing a ripping sound.

"From now on, your name will be Eric, Eric Masanyalaze." The man named him. A seed of joy sprouted from his chest at the name. The crimson mist had used the term boy or experiment when conversing with him, but this man had given him a name.

"Withdraw that form so we can talk." The man spoke once again, though it sounded like an order.

"I don't know how. I thought I was going to be a boy, now it turns out I am a monster...how sad! I wanted to be human." Eric said, terrified of the thought. The crimson mist had said that he was human when he had gazed at his reflection for the first time, but it seemed it had been illusory. He was a monster.

"What are you yapping about? You are supposed to be human. That, is just a transformation." 

Relief washed over him at the man's words.