(Lucas POV)
It was the 1st of January 2026 and I was going along my merry way to buy myself some beer since I had just got done with a hard day's work at my father's dojo. Wannabe martial artists decided that they would still work out after getting absolutely sloshed the night before. Some of the younger members, who were still in college, kept bugging me to teach them the 'Drunken Fist' style so they could keep the party going. The last thing I remember was waiting in the checkout line of a 7-Eleven with my six-pack of beer before a car drove by firing shots out of what looked like a submachine gun at the store. For all my training and combat experience, how the fuck was I supposed to dodge or block a bullet. Fucking Triads. I just had to inherit a dojo in Chinatown of all places.
"Well, Fuck me I guess." Those were the last words going through my head before everything faded to black.
(General POV)
Three EMTs (Author's note: Emergency Medical Technicians) rushed to the emergency room of a hospital while pushing a patient on a bed as fast as possible toward the medical staff waiting for them.
One of them said to the doctor in charge, "Victim's got 3 GSWs (Author's note: Gunshot Wounds), two of them are through and through while the last is stuck in his left shoulder. His blood pressure is dropping fast. We wrapped up the open wounds the best we could but he's losing a lot of blood. Vic's name is Lucas Holden, blood type A+ve, shot during a drive-by in the 7-Eleven on Lafayette Street. The police should be on the way soon to talk to him."
The doctor said, "Come on people, we got to get a move on. I'm not losing a patient on the first day of the new year so let's get to work."
The doctors immediately took Lucas to the operating room where one of the doctors focused on removing the bullet, while two other doctors focused on cleaning his other wounds of any debris and stitching him up.
As the doctors stitched up the last wound, one of the nearby residents called out, "His pulse is dropping, we're losing him!"
The lead surgeon yelled out, "Start the chest compressions and someone get the damn defibrillators!!"
"Come on buddy. We're in the home stretch, you got this. You're gonna pull through this one. Don't stop fighting!", he yelled at his patient.
The nurse with the defibrillators said, "Defibrillators charged."
The lead surgeon took hold of them and put them on the patient's chest and called out, "CLEAR!".
Just as the machine shocked the patient's heart, the Earth shuddered. Literally. Not just the operating room, the floor, or the building. The entire Earth shuddered like the teeth of someone who jumped into a tub of ice-cold water, it seemed to invisibly clatter but this was felt by every living thing on the planet.
Just as everyone almost recovered, a voice sounded in the minds of every creature on Earth. [Planet-28194728209, designation Earth-1055, has been deemed to have developed enough to be integrated. Sub-system GAIA integrating with the planet. Determining dominant species. Dominant species found to be called Homo Sapiens. Integrating GAIA with dominant species.] The entire world froze for 5 whole minutes.
In an operating theatre in a New York City hospital, a group of doctors and nurses who had frozen over a patient with a pair of defibrillators against his chest were shocked and confused about what they had just heard but before they could say anything, the lead surgeon turned to a monitor and said with a relieved sigh, "I know everyone here is confused and is not sure if what we heard is true but for now we need to focus on the patient before us. Luckily he seemed to stabilize before we all froze completely so before doing anything else we must make sure to finish up here and take him to his room so we can all sit down properly and discuss what just happened.
Meanwhile during the surgery...
(Lucas POV)
All I could see was darkness. I don't know how long I've been here or even what I was doing before I got here. All I knew was that I was going nowhere anytime soon. Just as I was patiently chilling in the darkness in an almost meditative trance, a bright light showed up. Almost like a path to an exit from the darkness but as I took the first step towards the light, I felt myself get weaker. This normally wouldn't be noticeable by most people but to me, someone who started training when I was four years old and religiously trained almost every single day thanks to my good-for-nothing grandfather, I knew my body better than a whore knew how to please her customers. That is saying something.
I realised that whatever was at the end of this tunnel wasn't going to be pleasant for me so I fought to run in the opposite direction as hard as I could. But as time went on the pull from the light started to get stronger and stronger, and inversely, I got weaker and weaker. Despite mustering everything I had, all my training and pain, I couldn't bring myself further away from the light that kept pulling me closer and closer.
I thought about how people say that their life flashes before them when they are dying but the only thing I felt was regret. Regret over not being able to use my skills to fight real opponents and go on adventures to fight dragons and all kinds of weird creatures that the old man would tell me stories about. I regretted being born into an era where people were judged by their birth, wealth, and influence rather than the strength of their fists. I really wished I had been born during the times of the Roman Empire or something. All those wars and conquests must have had some insane battles.
"Damn, that old man! I'm going to beat him up in the afterlife for not letting me compete in any tournaments. I didn't even get to fight someone once with all of my strength and be fully satisfied."
Just as I faded into the light I heard a voice in my mind. [Planet-28194728209, designation Earth-1055.....]
(General POV)
[GAIA system has detected an individual to have died as a result of system integration. Attempting resurrection. Failed. Attempting resurrection. Failed. GAIA system has determined that authority is insufficient. Attempting to integrate the Main system. Integration is successful. Target's soul is dissipating. Attempting to condense soul. Failed. Emergency protocol 2018117284 activated. Integrating dying soul from an alternate timeline. Integration of souls was successful.]
(Lucas POV)
I woke up in a white hospital room, dazed and confused. Just as I started to get my bearing and tried to recollect what happened to me, I heard a voice in my mind and saw two words floating in front of me.
[Main system requesting to establish a link with individual Lucas Holden. Establish link?] [Yes/No]
Seeing the floating words that followed wherever my eyes moved, I muttered, "What the fuck is happening?!"
**************************
Author's note:
This is my first novel so I welcome any and all feedback and criticism but please don't just spam some dumb reviews like those I've seen on other books on this site. Please be respectful in the reviews and the comments not just to me but also to other reviewers and commenters.
Also, power stones or whatever... do what you want.