Curled into a fetal position, Zane was floating in darkness. Nothing could be seen nor could anything be heard. It was an oddly peaceful silence. Zane was unconscious, but a deep beckoning voice awoke his psyche.
"Hhhuuuuummaaaannn. Hhuumaan. Human. HUMAN!" The voice shook Zane to the soul as he jolted awake in surprise.
Zane was confused, as he awoken in darkness. Light glowed from his semi-transparent skinny figure. Zane tried to move but he couldn't. Panic and alarm surged through his body as his eyes stretched wide from shock.
"Am I dead!?" Zane shouted loudly in alarm. He looked like a ghost floating in the abyss.
A deep annoyed growl shook Zane to his essence.
"YOU STUPID HUMAN! THE HELL YOU YELLING LIKE A DONKEY FOR?!!!"
Zane was taken aback.
"Donkey?" Zayn thought annoyed to himself.
The deep bellowing voice paralyzed him. He was angry but also in fear as he dared not to make a sound. An angry gruff was heard echoing into the distance.
"What are your intentions, human?! Why am I a part of you?! I will crush and eat your soul if you lie!"
Zane was speechless. His mouth dropped opened, but he had nothing to say. He was more confused than the voice. Zane thought he was dreaming because the situation was so random and impossible.
"…What? You can't speak human?! Tell me what are you trying to do with me! Now!"
Zane lost his cool. He was already spiraling in a flood of emotions. "You! Shut up! Look at who's the screaming donkey now! I need to think!"
It was now the voice's turn to be taken aback. "…You dare call me a donkey!… Me!? The almighty Teerin!?! The most handsome, the most powerful, the greatest being your lowly existence has ever seen!… I'd kill you over a thousand times if not for my predicament!"
Zane was annoyed but he didn't let the information slip past him. A glint flashed through Zane's eyes as he saw an opportunity.
"Ha! The greatest, most handsome and powerful being??? Where?? All I see is darkness! Some all powerful being you turned out to be." Zane poked the voice's buttons to gather more information.
"You dare!!! I'll crush you right now!" A surge of colorful light tore through the darkness and enveloped the small space Zane was in.
He could now see his surroundings, but there was not much to see. A glittering silver ocean laid below him, and a small glowing chipped metallic cube hovered high above him. A sudden pressure squeezed him from all around. The forceful grip was becoming stronger. Zane attempted to move, but he stopped as he was flabbergasted at the cute squishy pink blob of slime floating towards him.
"What is that? Pink bubblegum?" Zane dumbly stated.
The voice did not know what bubblegum was, but it felt belittled. In anger it stretched and struck Zane square on the head.
"You're pink bubblegum!"
Zane was knocked awake. His eyes weakly opened. Zane was still in the dark with heaviness all around but the light of a blue screen drew his attention.
Something was wrong with the blue screen. It looked like it malfunctioned. Gibberish littered the screen, however, there were some lines Zane could read.
"Rebooting. Scanning. System imitation detected. Overwriting. Hiding functions. Awaiting host." Zane pondered about what the meaning of the blue screen meant.
"What is a system imitation?" Zane thought to himself. As if hearing his question, another blue screen popped up.
***
Responding to the host: the "system imitation" was created and implemented by the Embst Sovereignty from a fragment of the original system that is part of me.
***
Zane had been given too many surprises today. He seemed to glitch as he tried to understand the information he heard.
"You? An original system? What does this mean?" Another blue screen popped up to answer Zane's question.
***
Host is partially correct. I am not the system but an overseer of the system with the designation 2404.466.22094, or as the creator called me 24. I am like a program that runs the cube component now integrated into your being.
***
Memories came flooding back as Zane recalled the sharp pain in his chest and right hand.
"That damn dragonfly man, thing, whatever it was. What did it do to me?!"
***
24 is uncertain of events in time before the integration of the cube with the host. However, host was knocked unconscious and carried out by a member of the Zelios species and hidden here under this pile of dead insecticoids.
***
Zane now understood the heaviness weighing on his body. He realized he was under a pile of dead bodies. The knowledge left him uncomfortable, but he was still somewhat level-headed and decided to not venture out just yet. He could still hear the clashes of battle on going outside the brittle safety of his spot.
Speaking in his mind he continued to gather more information. "24, can you speak to me without displaying it through a pop up window?"
"Acknowledged. Until requested, communication will be done through telepathy." A robotic voice of a woman replied in Zane's head.
"Cool! Alright… Let's start with this first. What is the original system, and why were you below ground in that room?" Zane questioned.
"Responding. The original system was the masterpiece of the creator. There are many parts and pieces that formed the greatest existence to have been ever created. The damaged cube you possess is one of the parts of the greatest existence. Due to lack of correct components and damages, 24 is unable to pull and assess further data. However, there are semi-complete logs detailing the attack on the greatest existence before the creator could complete it resulting in it being broken and stolen by numerous unreadable factions. 24 suspects the Embst Sovereignty is one of those factions or acquired the cube through one of them."
"…" Zane did not know what to do with the bomb of new information. It was beyond anything he was expecting and much more complicated than he imagined. His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar deep voice.
"The greatest existence!!?? Ha! What kind of bulkshit is that?! I'm the greatest, most handsome and powerful existence to have been created!" A pink blob pushed up from the back of Zane's right hand, scaring him silly.