A man clicks away on hologram keyboard, projected into the middle of the air. Artificial clicking noises created by speakers are heard, to simulate keystrokes for the old fashioned folks in this age who still prefer the analog noises of keyboards but prefer the versatility of projected keyboards.
The man, an old man, is seemingly in distress while typing. But if you were to move outside of the building he occupied, you would understand why. Lightning strikes seemingly happening multiple times per second, but you wouldn't be able to count it because of the deep thunder vibrating the earth.
This man is in one of the most lightning filled places in the world, Catatumbo, Venezuala, and this man is Nicholas Maddoc. Nicholas was a scientist born in the USA, who lead the world in electrical engineering technology. He created the very keyboard he is using at this moment, among other things that revolutionized modern day information consumption. Nicholas created helmets that transmitted information to your brain while you sleep, albeit slowly, and not as fast as actual learning, but it is and will be an advancement nonetheless.
Now, you may be wondering 'what is such an important man doing in such a dangerous place?' Well, to put it simply, he's trying to advance the human brain in an absolutely insane way; lightning.
"ARRRG" roared Nicholas, in his impossibly silent room.
A few moments later after his outburst "'Why the hell are there no strikes in sight?!"
You see, Nicholas is treading into experimental science recently with his latest invention, EME, Electro Magnetic Enhancement, which is essentially a shock therapy so strong, it is capable of increasing neuron connections in your brain, effectively making you able to retain more information than normally possible.
With his current location it would not be wrong to assume that he is taking it another step further, and harnessing lightning to create an even more effective shock. But as you know normal lightning just damages the body, however Nicholas theorized that the rare positive lightning strike, with the potential to create a billion volts in power, would create so much power that it would transcend the harmful effects of lightning itself.
Of course this sounds ridiculous but Nicholas had plenty of evidence supporting his theory, but the chairmen of his supporting company would not have it, and denied the funding for the project.
Which brings us to Nicholas in his lonesome, soundproof, laboratory. Nicholas stepped outside of his lab when he noticed the sensors on his computer had detected inactivity in the clouds above.
"What the f***?!"
A worthy collection of words to be said, when the once roaring clouds in the sky have darkened but lacked the all encompassing lightning.
"I hope my food is almost finished coo-" is the last thing Nicholas said before the lightning that was silently coalescing in the clouds seemingly smited Nicholas with great fury for his arbitrary statement that had no importance whatsoever.
The moment the lightning strike touched Nicholas' brain, like the finger of god, he experienced a common phenomenon when your at death's door, hypermemory. In less than a millisecond time dragged for Nicholas, and he remembered all parts of his life in great detail, while he felt the lightning pass through his brain and melt his heart.
'Why am I still conscious?' asked Nicholas, which is a reasonable question to ask when a lightning bolt with tens of billions of volts strikes your delicate human brain.
'Will I die never proving them wrong?' said Nicholas, with a tone of great loss. And his thoughts and emotions started progressively slowing down.
At this moment, Nicholas was unaware of the changes that happened when the lightning struck his body. As soon as the lightning struck his brain, not only did the same process increased memory happen without his EME machine, but it even surpassed any expectations that he could have had.
Nicholas' brain had created so many neural connections, that they overlapped each other and increased in strength and even gained new supernatural properties. Essentially all the lobes of his brain have been enhanced to the point that he could theoretically affect the outside world with his thoughts.
Of course with a molten heart you cannot be expected to live long, thus his newfound "powers" would not be able to be tested or even discovered in his current life.
...
...
Tweeting birds, the wind through the trees, and a humming noise was all Nicholas could hear when he finally awoke. Nicholas noticed that the deep humming noise was progressively gaining volume. He finds that his old wrinkly skin is gone and is instead taut and smooth
"AAAGGHH," yelled Nicholas, which was an appropriate response to the crescendo of noise that seemingly came from no direction
'BING'
"What? How?" was Nicholas' response when a blue rectangle, very similar to his own hologram inventions, appeared in front of his own face
Im you!
Well a part of you that only existed for 0.1 milliseconds before I disabled myself. You see when that lightning strike hit us we became something beyond human comprehension we augmented our mind and emotions to another level. But as you know we were dying and the recreation of your body into Earth would have taken up to much energy, so I sent you to another world! But with that transfer I had to seal myself deep with your conscious so we could survive the journey, our powers available to you but you must learn to use them slowly and with caution and when all is learned we will merge. Basically have fun while you steadily and inevitability gain godlike abilities.
I bid you adieu,
You>
Overwhelmed with what was told to him Nicholas drops to the ground with his head in his hands.
"This was beyond what I thought!" yells Nicholas when he realizes he has an entity capable of interplanetary teleportation inside his brain. Not even surprised that his hologram projections are being created with no source of power he continues his next thought.
From the way the floating message was written he assumed it was made when he was back in Earth, so he would not bother with yelling like a fool in the forest trying to contact his inner self for more information.
A couple moments after this Nicholas steels himself for the world ahead of him. With his new body and no idea where he is going he must prepare, and what better way to prepare than to gain strength with his newfounded potential. Nicholas having no idea what powers he may have brainstorms.
'Perhaps super strength?' Nicholas thought.
Getting up from his sitting position, he walks over to a tree and takes a deep breath.
"HYAH!!!" he yells while trying his best to hit the tree with all his strength, hoping that somehow his powers will kick in. What a foolish thought for a genius of his time.
"GAAAAHHH!" much to Nicholas' dismay no powers were activated before he punched the tree and all that happened was the flaying of the skin on top his knuckles.
Groaning and rolling on the ground Nicholas is angered by his current situation. 'How will I get my powers back?' 'What kind of powers do I even have?' His inner turmoil however was interrupted by another great blue screen, similar to the one used by is inner self to message him previously.
You gained:
Strength augmentation - You are able to increase or decrease muscle density to change power output exerted by your body. Muscle control remains the same so smaller tasks are still doable.
Change power output through thought for example think "Strength times ten"
Regeneration - You are able to increase or decrease the speed at which the body regenerates its cells. With this scars never remain and all body parts are capable of being instantly replaced.
Change regeneration through thought for example think "Regeneration times ten">
Nicholas thinks for a moment before he realizes that entity behind this message is not the same as his inner self, but it still holds some conscious, as shown by the little joke in the beginning of the message. But the content of the message quickly overwhelms Nicholas to the point of forgetting to care who sent it,
"My god! These are amazing" exclaimed Nicholas.
'Strength times one hundred! Regeneration times one hundred!' was the last thing he thought before his eyes rolled back and he fell down yet again in the silent forest
...
When Nicholas opened his eyes for the second time in this world he groaned. He chuckled when he realized the memorable position that he's in yet again. He thinks to what happened before he passed and realized he may have overextended himself when multiplying his strength and regeneration. Nicholas knows he'll have to increase his abilities in shorter bursts from now on to see his limits.
Nicholas gazes into the familiar canopy however, the trees seem much more beautiful than when he first woke up in this world. Much much more beautiful, suspiciously beautiful in fact. Nicholas rubs his eyes a few times to check if he was experiencing an illusion, but nothing changes.
"My eyesight is brilliant!" says Nicholas when he realizes that his eyesight is almost supernaturally powerful.
Nicholas jumps up in a stupor of excitement but something peculiar happens, the once towering trees quickly shrink in size and eventually they are like tiny toothpicks burrowed in the ground. He quickly realizes that instead of the trees shrinking, he has been propelled tens of hundreds of feet into the sky. The age old saying 'what comes up must come down,' is quickly put into practice when Nicholas is sent careening down and quickly gains terminal velocity. He creates a massive explosion breaking multiple trees and creating a massive noise that can be heard throughout the forest.
A distant explosion wakes the entire forest and shortly after a massive furry creature the size of a two story building also awakes and responds with a roar.
A laugh and then a roar is heard after Nicholas' impact into the earth. Nicholas scurries out of his man sized crater and barren field, ignoring the amazement of his strength and corresponding jump height when he hears a roar that sounds like a lion if it had vocal chords as thick as a finger. Following the roar Nicholas hears a large galloping that is steadily getting closer. Frightened out if his mind he grips onto a nearby tree that surprisingly is still intact and pulls it out with little strain. Without being amazed by his inhumane feat, Nicholas aims the tip of the resilient seeming tree at the source of his fear.
"Sh-sh-sh-it." Nicholas stutters out, when he gazes in amazement at the massive bear standing on two legs in front of him. The bear has a massive stature standing four times taller than Nicholas' six and a half feet. Calling it a massive bear in foresight is an understatement with paws the size of Nicholas' torso. It has a deathly black color with yellow eyes capable of piercing through souls and frightening any man. Nicholas is not being excluded of course, as shown by his jittering knees, but after a moment of extreme tension he realizes his fear is unfounded with his strength and focuses on the upcoming fight.
The bear lands on its front legs and charges towards Nicholas. Nicholas jumps up this time without exerting as much strength, learning from his mistake that attracted this gargantuan creature in the first place. He pulls back his arm in preparation of a spear throw towards the bear, when he notices that the bear has a scar on its chest that exposes its dark fur. Deciding to be better safe than sorry Nicholas launches his makeshift tree spear at the bear in an attempt to incapacitate it.
However the bear bats the tree out of the air with extreme power, stares at Nicholas and with a predatorial huff charges once again.