I let myself be dragged through the gate and concentrate with all my might on what I want, as Mr. Factory taught me. What is needed are not particularly detailed thoughts, but rather emotions strong enough to be imprinted within my soul so that I emerge whole on the other side. The risk is that my wishes will be granted and yet my personality will be erased.
Yet I feel no fear, only an unshakeable faith in Mr. Factory. A part of me has regrets about leaving him behind, as well as missing my chance to get my life back. Although these are not positive emotions, I decide to keep these emotions preciously within me, as strongly as my desire to live an exciting second life. I want to have many stories to tell him so that maybe he will decide to join me one day.
I feel my soul getting stronger from my feelings and thoughts. It is like walking through a waterfall of sparkling water. I am both crushed by the pressure and carried to the surface by soft bubbles. I push towards the surface with all my might, wrestling with the pressure. Finally, it's like taking a breath of fresh air after long minutes underwater. I see a bright light, then the effort I just made drains my last bit of energy and I lose consciousness.
************
When I regain consciousness, I don't understand at first what I am supposed to do. Regaining my senses and sensations after being incorporeal for so long feels as strange as when I woke up without a body. Finally, I remember how to open my eyes and breathe. The light is almost as unsettling as this new body. I didn't realize I was so used to the Factory.
Now that I remember what it's like to have a body, I feel grass under my back, and the fabric of my clothes on my body. The air carry a scent of storms and dirt. I can hear the wind and the splash of water in the distance. It's warm, more than what I was used to on Earth, yet I'm not suffering from the heat, it's more like the perfect temperature.
It takes me several minutes to get used to the light. I stand up and look around. I am in a clearing with green grass and some trees around. I don't see any dwellings or any trace of civilization.
I look at my hands, and I am surprised. The color is darker, my skin is almost golden, naturally tanned. A big difference with the old me who spent all his time inside, either in class or at work. And yet these are my hands, there is even the scar I made with a knife when I was seven years old.
It's hard to gauge, yet I feel like I'm the same height I was before. My curly hair falls to the side of my face, with those curls that I couldn't straighten well. But the color is not right, instead of my brown hair, it is now bright red.
Could it be that my regrets about my old life have given me back my old self?
Following the sound of the water, I head in its direction. About 500 meters away, I come across a small waterfall with a pool of water that seems to be quite deep. I look at my reflection in the clear water and get a shock.
It's my old face, I recognize each of my traits. But it's a new me, without a doubt. My hair is red and my eyes are golden, like an eagle. I have two black lines under each eye, like a tattoo. I also notice feather tattoos on my neck, and certainly on the rest of my body. The feathers are black with silver filaments and look so real that I'm surprised I can only feel the skin when I touch them. The nails of my hands are black and sharp. And what I feel on my back... Are those wings? They unfold when I realize their presence, and they are the same color as my tattoos. Their wingspan is bigger than my spread arms, and the feathers are soft and fluffy under my fingers.
I realize that I have certainly succeeded in reincarnating as a thunderbird, as I had desired. I look like me, but more animal. It is certainly my demi-human form that Mr. Factory told me about. In that case, I must also have a human appearance and... thunderbird?
I try to focus on the human form. My wings flap and retract behind my back. It's strange but not painful. When I reopen my eyes to my reflection, my hair is still fiery red but my eyes are less bright. The marks are gone too. My nails are normal and not black and sharp anymore. I can't believe it! My face is also softer.
If the human form is a success then... It's time to try the thunderbird form! I close my eyes again and concentrate on my desire to see my true form. Again, I feel my body change but it is not painful, more like taking a nice warm bubbly bath. It reminds me of the reincarnation gate.
And when I open my eyes again, it is as if my vision has increased. I can see every detail of the waterfall in front of me incredibly well. I also hear better.
My body is really that of a bird, it's really very strange. I think I can get used to it because I didn't have a body for a long time. The one I was when I died would not have known what to do with this body.
And yet, the me of today was born in this body and it looks as natural as the other two forms. Even if I feel a little ridiculous, this feeling fades away quickly and I look again at my reflection in the water.
First of all, I am not a little bird. The wingspan is as big as in the demi-human form. The feathers are a deep black with silver accents. What remains of my red hair are a few red feathers on my face. I feel that my talons are formidable weapons, although I have no idea how to fight. Unlike the other two forms, the blood flow in my veins is not at all the same. It is furious and tingling like... Electricity. The sensation is so strange that I concentrate on it. The flow goes violently up to my heart and... Boom! A great flash of light comes to explode my reflection in the water. It was so violent and unexpected that I am speechless.
I have a strange feeling here... As if I had almost killed myself with my own lightning 2,5 minutes after reincarnating... Let's never mention that again, and practice later... Somewhere no one can witness this kind of pathetic sight. Yeah, let's go with that.
I decide to go back to my demi-human form for now. And it is only at this moment that I understand that the clothes I miraculously had on my back when I woke up... Are in pieces at my feet.