Bzzz...
Huff... Huff...
In the midst of darkness, in a vast chamber, dim colored lights intermittently flickered from various points. A disturbing, sinister buzzing filled the air, intermingled with a strong, rhythmic sound of breathing.
This endless cycle seemed to perpetuate without end...
Click!
Suddenly, a deafening sound flooded the place, coloring everything in dark red.
The machinery, once hidden in the shadows, now fully revealed itself, exposing the technological nightmare that sustained the life of an elderly man.
Intricate networks of twisted cables and bright tubes extended endlessly, connected to a body that more closely resembled a cadaver than a human being. They injected liquids of various colors into the frail figure resting in the center of the room.
His body, suspended by a myriad of connections, hung in the air, motionless and vulnerable.
Huff... Huff...
The elderly man's labored breathing echoed in the surroundings. His eyes, though closed, seemed like silent witnesses to his own battle against time.
His skin, marked by wrinkles and marred by relentless years, resembled the paper wrapping of fleshless bones. Clad in a tight black outfit that only accentuated his aging, he appeared more like a specter of the young man he once was, a long time ago.
Unexpectedly, a robotic voice sounded from all directions.
[Analysis complete. 100% synergy achieved, and no genetic conflicts detected.]
[All critical variables, from neural compatibility to metabolic regulation, fall within expected ranges and meet established parameters.]
[The B.R. (Biotecnological Rebirth) project has been completed after five hundred years of perfection.]
[Cognitron X-12 will initiate the forced awakening procedure of Master Kraynnor.]
[Disconnecting the neural link...]
[...Disconnect complete. Cognitron X-12's processing capacity has decreased by 90%.]
The tubes with colored liquids connected to the elderly man, Kraynnor, changed color in a blink, turning bright blue. Time passed slowly until, after five minutes, something began to change in this place that had been in darkness for a hundred years.
"!"
His body began to shake and convulse violently, as if in a fit.
Creak!
The devices connected to him started making all kinds of alert sounds. His eyes, covered by bags of wrinkles, began to move.
Huff! Huff! Huff...
Finally, Kraynnor slowly opened his eyes; they were gray with cataracts blocking most of his sight. His breathing grew stronger until, in a short time, it steadied with a calm look.
He tried to move his body, but it felt so weak that it was as if every inch of his being was laden with weights.
"...How much time has passed?" Kraynnor murmured with a muted voice.
[107 years have passed since the last awakening. The current date is October 17, 2803.]
Cognitron X-12 responded with its emotionless robotic voice.
"I understand, more than a century has passed; time is truly illusory, and we mortals are so ephemeral..." his voice seemed to carry boundless sadness.
Kraynnor looked at his old body; it was a monument to decay. Wrinkles traced his skin. His flesh, once taut and full of vitality, now clung desperately to his bones, reduced to a thin layer barely concealing his skeleton.
Joints, once agile, now creaked with every movement. Each breath seemed like a sigh of anguish...
"Tell me about the condition of my body," Kraynnor requested.
[Currently affected by a series of chronic and degenerative diseases. Advanced cellular deterioration, atrophy of multiple vital organs, neuromuscular degeneration, and metabolic dysfunction. Despite all efforts to keep you alive, time has taken its inevitable toll on your organism.]
"It's simply desolate and sad; this body is incurable..." he smiled helplessly and asked, "How much time do I have left?"
[Your life expectancy in your current state is approximately 5 years, even with the most advanced medical and technological interventions.]
[In a suspended state, we can extend this period to about 20 years, but unfortunately, there is no definitive solution to reverse the irreversible deterioration your body has undergone, especially concerning your brain, which has reached its limit of vitality.]
Kraynnor nodded and, with a voice that seemed to break with every word, said, "Fortunately, the B.R. project has been completed; otherwise, you wouldn't have awakened me."
[Reporting, the B.R. project was successfully completed at 3:15 a.m. on October 17.]
"Haha... Hahaha! Damn, yes!" Despite the intense pain that came with laughing maniacally, he didn't care in the slightest.
Tears filled with sadness, anger, and an insatiable desire for revenge flowed from his exhausted eyes. After five hundred years of relentless effort, he had done it!
He was even forced to connect his brain to an artificial superintelligence to advance in Project B.R., resulting in a significant improvement in the processing capacity of Cognitron X-12. These changes were necessary because his body had developed resistance to the fluids that originally kept him alive, forcing him into a state of suspended animation.
Why, by sharing the capabilities of his brain with an AI, did it cause it to improve so much? The answer was simple: because his brain had no rival in the world!
He was a fucking unmatched genius!
So many years of suffering, teetering on the brink of madness countless times, constantly thinking about that fateful day. It had all finally come to an end!
The time had come to start getting stronger, so that someday, he could slaughter those damned invaders!
"Commence the brain transfer process; I don't want to waste another second!" Kraynnor roared, with so much fury and bloodlust in his eyes that he looked like a deranged demon.
Zzzrroomm!
Suddenly, the room transformed into a whirlwind of deafening sounds!
In the blink of an eye, a straight passage materialized in the ceiling, leading him to a new chamber. The intricate cables and tubes connected to his body moved purposefully, dragging him forward.
In just a few minutes, Kraynnor entered a room flooded with bright white lights, revealing hundreds of crystal capsules. These were filled with liquids of various colors.
Inside the capsules were strange bodies, creating a disturbing sight...
Some were slender but small, while others were grotesquely tall and marked by deformities. Some lacked important parts, reduced to mere scattered limbs. However, all these bodies shared a characteristic: reddish skin and a third eye in the middle of their foreheads.
"What a masterpiece; all the effort has been worth it!" Kraynnor exclaimed with excitement.
He stopped upon finally reaching an immense capsule filled with a golden liquid. Inside rested an imposing figure standing at three meters tall, with skin as white as snow, long red hair cascading in lengthy strands, a third eye on the forehead, and features radiating beauty.
Not to mention the impressive organ of more than twenty centimeters at the bottom of its body.
[The brain transfer has begun. A sedative solution will be administered to induce sleep before surgery begins.]
The liquid in the tubes connected to Kraynnor changed to a light green, causing his eyes to slowly close until he fell into a deep sleep, from which he would not awaken, no matter how much pain he felt.
[Starting the brain transfer.]
Under the watchful supervision of Cognitron X-12, the operation began with impressive efficiency.
Quickly and precisely, a series of thin and highly specialized robotic arms appeared around Kraynnor. These arms were equipped with laser blades and state-of-the-art surgical tools. The AI controlled every movement with millimeter precision.
With expert movements, the arms carefully opened Kraynnor's skull, exposing his brain.
On the other hand, the capsule containing the new body underwent a similar operation, though only to open the skull since there was no brain inside.
This entire process unfolded in silence, with only the sound of the arms.
The brain extraction proceeded smoothly, without causing harm or injury. Once the brain was completely free, the arms transferred it carefully to the capsule.
Cognitron X-12 embedded Kraynnor's brain into the new body, establishing the necessary brain interfaces.
The operation concluded in a matter of minutes!
Kraynnor's old and ailing body was carefully placed inside one of the capsules, where it remained in a peaceful rest.
Inside the capsule of the new body, something amazing happened. The incision around the skull began to heal at breakneck speed; within seconds, there was not the slightest trace of the incision. Furthermore, inside, Kraynnor's brain underwent an astonishing transformation. Although it had far exceeded its vitality, it began to receive the blood from the new body, rejuvenating at an astonishing pace.
In less than an hour, his brain was in a state of health and vitality as enviable as if it belonged to someone in their twenties!
Over the course of a couple of hours, Kraynnor began to move his eyelids slowly until he finally opened them. As if Cognitron X-12 had detected this change, the golden liquid inside drained gently, causing Kraynnor to land softly. As he surveyed his surroundings with his gaze, he noticed that his vision had improved significantly; everything looked sharp and exquisite.
In his previous body, his vision had been blurry, with scattered dark spots. Kraynnor looked at his hands, this time with tears in his eyes.
"It feels like I'm in a dream... I really did it! If those old folks from Caelum saw this, they'd instantly go into a coma," Kraynnor said with a smile, then inquired enthusiastically, "Tell me, what's my life expectancy?"
[The alien DNA boasts an astonishing regenerative capacity thanks to a specialized gland that produces a mysterious life-sustaining fluid. This fluid keeps the body in a perpetually youthful state. However, over the years, the supply of this fluid gradually depletes, limiting its effectiveness to around two hundred years unless it can be restored.]
"I understand that immortality remains a long road... But it's a starting point, at least. This fluid should be further researched with a larger pool of test subjects..." gradually, his happy expression faded, leaving only hatred on his face.
"For now, tell me about the status of the underwater labora—" before he could finish speaking, he felt a terrible dizziness and an unusual sensation.
"W-what's happening to me...?"
[Zrek lumuin eksonik solthar naexadun inrokilat vurunthar!]
Kraynnor was left speechless upon seeing an astonishing panel that seemed to span the entire universe. The vision, full of complexity, hinted at a connection with cosmic vastness, as if the panel were a gateway to the immense cosmos.
Upon closer inspection, though, it was just a moving image, as if it were a video of the cosmos.
There were bright white words on the panel that he couldn't understand.
[Eksumira naithol thurilik xeniztho, replixolad... The Universal System has been switched to the most spoken human language, English.]
[Announcing the achievement anew.]
[You have accomplished an unprecedented achievement in the universe!]
[As a reward for such a feat, you have been chosen to use the Universal System due to your great accomplishment of creating a new medium-level species, something no mortal has ever done in the existence of the universe.]
[Please name the new race you have created!]
Kraynnor was surprised at first, but he quickly calmed down and thought things through. A strange system had suddenly appeared, announcing that he had achieved an unprecedented feat in the universe. Seeing that it didn't seem hostile in any way, he concluded that this was an opportunity he couldn't afford to waste!
Without hesitation, he spoke a name he had already thought of long ago, "This race shall be called High Humans."
[Registered, from now on, the High Humans race will be registered in the universe's information database!]
[As it's a medium-level achievement, but achieved by a mortal without any assistance, you will be awarded one hundred Stellar Coins and five universal points.]
Kraynnor listened in silence as the Universal System continued speaking incessantly.
[The class roulette will begin; depending on the user's innate talent, there is a high likelihood of landing a class that is highly compatible.]
A large silver roulette suddenly appeared in front of him, with many words written that he didn't have time to read as the roulette started spinning.
[Ding!]
[The Novice Mechanic class has landed!]
[You have two more attempts to use the basic class roulette; the user is advised that the other two attempts may not be as lucky in landing a class compatible with their innate talent.]
Kraynnor wrestled with a dilemma; should he spend his other two attempts in case he got a more favorable option?