Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: Breathe

Nothing was the same. The world I remembered was no more.The implant, which later introduced itself as INFRA-F1RT20, or as I've begun to call it, Infra, presented every bit of information without missing a single thing. Can't say I wasn't utterly baffled by how much a chip in my head could know, but what it told me made my heart sink.Everything I knew, or at least the shreds of information I seemed to remember, were relics of the past. On paper, or on those stupid screens everyone has, I've been in a coma for three years. But my memories were of things from so long ago, Infra was shocked I knew about it all. To be exact, the term 'doctor' hasn't been a popularly used term for the last four hundred and fifty years.My immediate thought when I heard that was that I definitely owed that woman an apology. But there was too much for me to take in to even begin to formulate the words to say to her.But other than the small feeling of melancholy that'd been suffocating me for the last few days, a new sensation began to arise inside me. Fascination.English, which is the language I thought myself to be speaking, was actually a language called Oculat, which simply meant 'The New Language'. As Infra put it, I barely recognized the difference in speaking and hearing, but only in writing, because I was already adjusted to the language. Or at least my body was.And the reason why words like Arimus felt foreign, were because they were words that didn't exist in English. The language that my brain seemed to automatically translate everything into.Furthermore, apparently my body wasn't adjusted to seeing it? Which was something that still does not make sense to me. How could I know a language, but not recognize it in other forms?I mean sure there was an explanation of illiteracy, but that simply was not an answer I was willing to accept.When Infra told me that Oculat came to be one of the New Tongues, as people called them, it was the result of a combination and evolution of multiple languages in a singular land mass.Meant to breed deeper connections and relations between the people. To form a sense of unity.It clearly didn't work, as there's been roughly three hundred and thirty six wars since the idea of Oculat and other new tongues had been thought of. But the language stuck and is now one of the most widely used languages in the world.Then you got to politics, economics, philosophy, it had all become so advanced that I no longer understood any of it. Governments, sports, media and that whole lot had developed into more sophisticated… things? It was hard to explain, but to me it felt like humor, easygoingness, and overall a basic sense of human passion had been left in the past.Infra had explained to me all that it could, several times over but I still wasn't able to process it all fully. The information was so different, my brain couldn't find room to take it all in and retain it.Infra said it was normal as humans take time for these kinds of things, but I still felt disappointed. There was so much more for me to learn about, but I had to understand history before I could understand the future. And my current future was not the brightest.On the bright side however, was the biggest change. One I had no difficulties remembering.Magic.Or in the annoying robotic words of the chip in my head, Heartiles and Nemis. Which both have some kind of significant meanings, but those I couldn't be bothered to remember.Apparently, Heartiles were cores of a magical substance formed in the chests of all living beings, and Nemis were companions that anything with a Heartile could form bonds with.For some reason Infra refused to explain any further, saying "It's better to experience it firsthand", which I heavily protested. But just the knowledge that at one point I'll probably be able to control fire and go to battle on a ginormous lion or something, made me almost forget about everything else.Naturally, I tried to find more information on myself and what happened to me, but the only information Infra could tell me was that my name is Cyrus Carod, and that I am eighteen years of age . The name didn't bring back any memories, but I'm just glad it isn't a terrible name.My outward appearance also isn't something I found familiar. But, staring in the mirror of the bathroom had become my new favorite pastime. My hair is black but currently buzzed, my eyes dirt brown, my features hard and serious making me look constantly agitated.My body is frail and skinny, which is unfortunate but not unexpected. The best part of it all is my height. Standing at a nice one hundred and eighty-five centimeters, I feel like the king of the world. I am definitely not the tallest person in the room, nor do I think I was before my coma, but it still felt good to not be small. Couldn't quite put my finger on why though.Knock! Knock!I sat up straight in bed."Come in!" I yelled, which was followed by the door sliding open and two very bald heads entering."You seem to be improving every day, lad."The doctor, or Arimus as they were called now, smiled as he took a seat next to me. His tone indicated he was still mad about the puke incident, and his smile still creeped me out, but from our recent interactions I could tell he wasn't a terrible person.He had always been there when new tests and methods were being tried out in an effort to get me to remember anything, and I could tell the failure of each one genuinely irked him. Which was always a good sign, I think.The guard, the Dimuru, had been coming in every day with the same round of questioning. Do I remember who I am, where I am, where I come from, if I remembered anything at all.And every day he'd get the same responses. But for some reason he couldn't seem to process what he was hearing. As if I was hiding something from him."Hopefully I'm out of here soon." I forced a smile back."You and I both." He chuckled.After the usual round of checkups, then questioning, I'd finally heard some good news."Well, Cyrus," The Arimus started, closing the screen on his forearm, "your condition seems to have greatly improved. You can get out of here in three to four days. And once again, I do apologize for being unable to help with your memory. So certainly come again in the future if you're still having any problems. "A lot of firsts happened today, as when they left I gave my first genuine thanks. The lack of ability to bring back my memory was a tad bit saddening, but with Infra on my side I knew that not all hope was lost.My memories were important, but not completely vital at the moment.And I couldn't just remain sulking and sad while a whole unexplored world stood in front of me.Currently all I knew about the outside world was its history, and though I could ask Infra at any moment about it all, I wanted to see it all for the first time with a fresh set of eyes."Infra, tell me what my plan of action should be once I get out of here?"I waited as the metallic whirring went on, a sign that it was processing the question. It's taken me a few hours of messing around, but I managed to get Infra to stop speaking so robotically.Now it was my turn to process. The options were a bit all over the place, and not at all what I was expecting, but they were damn interesting. However, as I contemplated the options ahead, another question popped up in my head."Scratch that for now Infra, have you found anything on my relatives?"I'd already asked the question daily since I awoke, but everyday I'd receive the same response. That was until yesterday when Infra said it felt that it was getting close to finding something, and that it only needed some more time.I'd almost forgotten, but when my mind drifted to what my future would be like, I couldn't help but think about my past. Even if it wasn't one I remembered, with people who would seem like complete strangers to me, a strong sense of loss pushed me to try and find out more.Plus, there was nothing wrong with making my main goal finding my family. It gave me a hopefully easy path to take while I considered other aspects of the future.An uncle? Not my father, mother, sister, brother but an uncle? There were a multitude of questions that I wanted to ask, but now clearly wasn't the time. The first key to open the door to both my future and past lay in front of me, of course I had to grab it."Yes. Tell me where he is."⥁Being outside of the hospital for the first time was a surreal experience. The city streets were clean enough to eat off of, the buildings soared past the skies and were wider than several cars lined up together. Billboards and advertisements hung from every possible nook and cranny. The vehicles zoomed past at hundreds of miles per hour, some didn't even have wheels.The craziest part of it all was the sky. More specifically what I saw in the sky. Ships. Not airplanes. Not helicopters. I saw real, genuine space ships leaving and re-entering the atmosphere. Some the size of your average cargo plane, others big enough to probably house cities.After leaving the hospital my first few chores were more than boring. I'd been provided some funds on a loan from the hospital to buy clothes and a place to stay for a few nights. Looking at the screen on my arm, which was recently added after I had been discharged.Apparently to purchase things I simply need to tap my screen to the screen of whomever I was purchasing the product from.After a very confusing bunch of hours, one black tracksuit, some beat up shoes and a very cheap motel had been secured. Infra told me it was better to go for the lower quality stuff to make my money last longer. But the pure smell of the bathroom in my room really had me doubting if I should be listening to the robot in my head.Plopping down on bed, I let a long sigh escape my mouth. It'd been a long day but longer ones laid ahead."You're sure he's at that… school?" My words were a bit shaky. The exact name for the place was way too complicated to remember. It paused, I'm assuming trying to show that it was capable of emotions too. Clearly it took its education very seriously. "Awesome, so I'll just roll in there tomorrow, ask around for my uncle, meet him, tell him what's happened and then he'll use some of that magic you've been talking about to help me with my memories. Maybe he'll even teach me how to fight and I can become one of those uh, Azenci"…"What's wrong with my plan!?" I snapped."Well when you put it that way." I paused. I hadn't actually thought about it for more than a second. It would be weird if they just let anyone in."So what's the plan then?"The metallic whirring in my head indicated that Infra didn't have one yet, which made me feel a tad bit better."The academy?" I questioned, my awe evident"The 'one of the largest and most prestigious academies' ? That academy?" It had to be joking. Did robots have a sense of humor?…"Are you fucking with me right now Infra!?!? I'm a coma patient who just woke up after three years, with no memories other than those about a very long dead society! How the hell am I going to get into that academy!"This had to have been the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The stupidest plan in history. And I've seen a lot of stupid history in the last couple of days.I wanted to snap back and say that it still sounded stupid, but in all honesty it made sense to me. Sure I couldn't fight, but magic did sound very tempting. Also, nevermind the fact that I'd finally be able to use magic, but if I do get into the academy, it would give me somewhere to live and something to do while I uncover my past. Maybe even secure me a future occupation."Fine. So how do we do this? Do I have to like meditate or something, maybe find my inner peace?" I questioned sarcastically.< Normally yes. But that way takes too long. So I'm going to force your body to awaken your Heartile.>"That sounds like it's going to hurt.""Then let's ta-""ARGHHH FUCK!"An invisible hand immediately began to pull at all of my organs, peeling my skin back, layer by layer, while pounding on every limb.My body spasmed and rolled around, my own hands clawing at my scalp. My vision began to grow blurry, until finally the light began to fade around me. It grew dark, but the pain only intensified. Eating me alive.<250 volts.>I was shocked awake, and the pain roared once more, only this time it had grown several times more intense.My body was no longer listening to me, it was as if it had been possessed by an external force."INFRA WHAT IS THIS!?" I cried, my throat lined with blood.Stress was not even in my scope of problems currently.The longest two hours of my life was my current hurdle, and as Infra repeated many times, it could keep me awake by shocking my heart back to beating, but it all depended on my will. Which was a very corny and fictional thing that didn't even seem real to me.Willpower? That was what was supposed to keep me alive.For some odd reason, this plan started to look even less smart than I'd originally thought.