"Ugh" Tai grunted as he felt light burning through his eye lids.
"Where…Where am I?" Tai sat up as he covered his eyes with his hand.
"A hospital?" He looked around with a questioning gaze. To his right, connected to a wall, a healing pod was present. A translucent but thick liquid flowed through it. Four meters in front of him stood the front door; it was currently closed. Looking to his arm Tai could see an IV connected to his vein. In the corner of the room a chair for visitors could be seen. To his left stood a counter within hands reach, and to his close right stood all necessary machinery to sustain Tai's vitals. The white color of the room served to be quite depressing to Tai at the moment. And so, not wishing to stay in the room any longer, Tai pressed the staff assist button.
Almost immediately after he did so, a burly male nurse poured through the front door.
"Huhhhhh???!!!! How are you sitting up?!" The nurse quickly calmed down after he realized that he had been extremely loud.
"Umm...My apologies are you feeling ok? You've been in a coma for the past month."
"What?" Tai asked bewilderedly. 'I have been in a coma for the past month, what had even happ-' Just as Tai was wondering how he ended up in a bad enough state to be in a coma for that long, a flood of memories assaulted his brain.
"What?!" Tai couldn't help but scream out this time. Scaring the nurse. Tai had to reassure him that he was ok, and that it was just a delayed shock of his news.
"Hahh" Sighing of relief that the nurse had finally left, Tai began to inwardly become ecstatic.
'I've gained an ability! Though it's strange, I have to review this more when I get home." Tai decided as a female doctor entered the room.
She had long brown hair, similarly hazel eyes, a small nose, and a good figure with straight posture.
"Hello Tai, the nurse has given me a quick briefing on you, he's the one whos been taking care of you when you were in a coma."
"Oh, um.....tell him I appreciate it." Tai gave out a embarrassed chuckle as he itched his neck.
"Yes, will do. But anyway, onto the important stuff."
"Now, Tai I'm not exactly sure what happened to you, but what I do know is that you entered the hospital with beyond third degree burns. I mean your hands had somewhat become ash, while your chest, and arms had exposed bone. Frankly, I'm not even sure how you survived, even with the Rej."
"I'm not sure if you know this, but unfortunately for you, you've overused your free health care for the Rej Pod, meaning you have to pay out of pocket. As you know universal health care for the is covered, whilst the Rej Pod is only covered up to a certain point."
"How much is it?" Tai asked with a darkened face, getting straight to the point.
The doctor's face stiffened before he answered.
"1,320,760 daggons."
"How-How am I suppose to pay that off?" Tai questioned with despair spilling forth.
"Ah....ah, I'm not Really sure Tai. Though I can tell you that you were lucky enough to have most of the charge covered by universal health care, this is the remaining amount. After all, Chronicle fluid is an incredibly rare resource, and it can only be refined by Rank six Ascenders."
"Hahhh.....Ok doctor?"
"Doctor Siftny, Amelia Siftny."
"Doctor Siftny, I will pay what I owe. But right now I just want to go home and get some rest, is that ok?"
"Of course, ask and the person at the front desk will give you the number for one of the hospitals people. We will keep in touch with you"
"Ok thank you." Tai said as the doctor removed the IV.
---
"Finally, some fresh air." Tai muttered as he requested a pickup vehicle. The service wasn't cheap, but he was to tired to care.
Entering the AI driven car, Tai rested his head as he began to dose off. Though just as he did so, a robotic voice, similar but more unrefined in comparison to the pizza shop sounded out.
"We're here sir. I hope you enjoyed your journey." The Ai with no face to the voice said as Tai looked around.
'Damn, I didn't realize how tired I truly was. That felt like I just fucking fast traveled.' Tai couldn't help but think so inwardly, as he wiped the drool from his mouth and exited the car.
Entering his building, Tai quickly made his way up to his apartment. Finally getting to his couch, Tai threw himself onto it as he turned on the tv and began to doze off.
As Tai slept an history channel started playing.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm Davis and were here to present to you the annual history and remind of the ascenders rise." The man on the tv claimed, as he played a prerecorded video.
"After chronicle energy, an unknown and previously unheard-of energy, penetrated the Earth's atmosphere, tragedy struck. The mass amounts of energy that suddenly appeared out of nowhere started to cause mass destruction to the earth. First, due to all the energy, incredible amounts of turbulence and shockwaves were sent throughout the world. This almost immediately disrupted all active Nuclear Reactors throughout the world, causing the hundreds of reactor to blow up, amassing uncountable numbers of cities lost, and people dead. Though that was only the start. After the reactors, humanity started to perceive chronicle energy's existence. Though before any plans of defense and preparation could be set, all and every man made object and infrastructure on earth and even outside of it, started to collapse. Left with no hope, even world leaders and government officials who swear they knew it all, became fanatical.
Most swore of gods punishment, the Earths wrath on mankind, or aliens finally invading. But others, unique and determined, came to the realization that if not destroyed by Chronicle energy or human means, the caves, forests and other natural environments within the planet, were habitable. With this in mind, many ran to the embrace of mother nature.
After 150 years, the earth crushing phenomenon's came to an end. The forests, deserts, oceans, and lands no longer the same, not even the creatures that inhabited them remained the same. As humans finally left natures embrace, something new emerged. Ascenders. Humans who had been changed on a cellular level by the chronicle energy, gaining super human abilities.
As Ascenders, they blazed with purpose and determination. Beginning their rise and banding together, they quickly reached the top of the food chain once again. An achievement considered incredibly difficult, as all other creatures on Earth had evolved and changed as well. But even so, with the Ascenders scraps of knowledge left by their ancestor humans, and innovation in using their powers, as well as their hardened battle experience from surviving in harsh environments, they were able to quickly rise to the level of the Industrial Revolution. After reveling in the safety and development of their civilization, the ascenders continued forward. With their new abilities and absorption of Chronicle energy, Ascenders kept getting physically stronger. The most powerful Ascenders lifespans increased to 300 years. They were able to move at speeds faster then was calculable with their technology at the time, were able to get hit with cannon fire and walk it off as well as destroy rather large hills with enough punches. Their recovery and intellect was incomparably better than humans, but even so, Ascenders kept in mind the stories of humans.
The tales of their materialistic and destructive ways, how humanity was bound to fall even before Chronicle energy struck, and the mistakes taken in their civilizations development. The humans taught Ascender how to change their ways and incentivised them to use their new abilities in ways humanity never could. And with these fears enforced into the leading Ascenders minds, they did just that. Eventually accomplishing a type one civilization, in the now present Transcendent Era."
"Thankyou for listening historians!" The man on the video exclaimed, as the history ended and music signaling the end of the channel started to play.
(Info Dump)