"You know, you could have become the most powerful and richest man to ever walk this earth. For a century and beyond, our family would have been the most powerful. But no, you had to be the most honest, the most honorable, the most selfless and the most stubborn."
She threw at me, her eyes tinted with barely concealed hatred.
The half-light that covered her face as she spoke. Coupled with the regular and morbid beeps of the machines, the room seemed like a death trap.
"Life, war and entertainment are industries in which we have invested a lot. You know what the cost of health care represents, for an average household throughout a lifetime. I know you know; a quarter of the expenses, this multiplied by millions, no billions of people. So tell me, Frank. Even if the pharmaceutical companies left you alone, I don't know!" Out of pure solidarity perhaps.
You thought that insurance companies and some dark forces in the government would leave you alone. You are completely crazy, my dear. Imagine the amount of power you would make the two lose. Insurance companies would have closed their doors.
And the government would be deprived of a step forward that would strengthen its position as a great power. Imagine how much money the medical tourism sector would lose because of you. I am sorry Franck, between your pride and the survival of our family, I had to make a choice."
These words spoken in one go were like the fire of hell. They flowed through my veins, with such fury, that I could not help but sniff loudly. Only a little dignity and a cruel lack of energy kept me from bursting into tears.
"Why?" I asked, in a whisper, my voice broken. "After everything we have lived and endured together. Everything we have built."
To my great disappointment, the question and my plaintive tone seemed to fall on deaf ears. The indifference and calm she showed towards my situation proved to me without a shadow of a doubt that this was a plot hatched for a very long time.
I was just too blinded by my success to realize it.
"Because!" she told me, carefully measuring her words "I am not you, you never understood that. I do not stand on a throne of virtue, wanting to be the one who will save a dying world. You were ready to give for a pittance, a treatment that we spent 20 years developing. We were humiliated, ridiculed, persecuted at times. I cannot accept that all I reap in the end is the glory of having done it. The glory of having succeeded in creating the miracle drug by assisting the brilliant and humble Franck. No! I want the power that goes with it, that I crush under my boot, those who have taunted me in the past, that I will be received like a queen wherever I go, I want to be one of the most powerful in this world, because I deserve it. Your humanism has killed your humanity, not me! "
This last sentence was said, with so much power, so much resentment, and emotion. That I jumped at the end. But as quickly as her mask broke, as quickly she fell back into her coldness.
"I see" I replied. At that moment arguing had become superfluous. Everything I believed in had just been thrown in my face, while I was dying before my eyes. The cruelest thing about all this is that it was the one who had been with me for almost 15 years who betrayed me in the vilest of ways.
In hindsight, her demands make a lot of sense. But coming from the mouth of the one who had advised me, sulked, loved me. They were just death sentences that I had a hard time accepting.
Ironically, she was the one who was watching my last moments.
"One last thing," I asked, "with what substance did you poison me, no toxicology test ever detected anything. We both know I wasn't sick."
"We created something revolutionary. If it can save from many things. If we modify the formula in such a way, that it attacks the DNA of a specific person, it will be very effective."
It was so obvious that it was ridiculous in all honesty.
"Don't worry my dear Franck, even a millennium later. You will be a hero. I will see to it," she told me, kissing my forehead, bathing it with a few lonely tears, full of love, sorrow, hate, and regret.
Then without a backward glance, she stormed out the door, never to return, and without warning, all the rage I had been accumulating inside me burst forth in a cascade of silent tears, running down my hollow cheeks, as I pounded the bed with rage.
Around 11 pm, tired from crying and ruminating so much, I fell asleep despite myself, to the sound of machines going crazy and loud footsteps rushing down the empty corridors.
*******
I felt strange. One moment, I felt like I was passing away, the next, I woke up, my mind foggy, my body numb in strange and new sensations. I don't know what kind of medication, or sedative I was given, but it was strong and damn effective.
Not wanting to rush myself, I take my time, to evacuate the rest of the torpor inhabiting me.
"That's strange, I have the feeling that I'm much better," I said to myself.
It seems that I went too fast with this statement. Indeed, with my full recovery of consciousness. I was able to see that something was wrong.
"How the hell, do I have fucking infrared vision" I shouted, in shock and panic.
I wanted to put my hands to my head, to tear off the thermal camera that I thought I had on my head. But I didn't feel my arms, only my body, which was wiggling in a completely natural movement.
"Argh! Fuck, fuck. What's going on " I shouted enraged.
Instead of my voice, all that reaches me are none other than vibrations, that by some kind of hoax, my voice is.
When I think, I observe and feel my surroundings. It is more and more obvious, that I am no longer in this damned hospital room.
Trying to move slowly, I hear or rather (I am not sure) the rustling of what I assume to be dead leaves under me.
I can move, I have sensations, but no clue where I am, and what happened to me.
Given the jumble of similar shapes and the movement of small animals, I feel perfect. I feel like I am in a forest.
Preparing myself for another cry of frustration. Suddenly I freeze, and I hear a kind of crackling in my head. Like when you turn on a television. It is very strange and scary.
Activating the system in progress…
Checking body parameters…
Searching for a class corresponding to the skills of the summoned….
Installing Updates and Patches… …
I had yet to experience a bullet to the head at point-blank range. But this was pretty close. I mean, it hurt like hell! Information was burning into my memory, at an astonishing speed, and there was nothing I could do about it.
As abruptly as the pain had come, it faded just as abruptly, followed by a ping, then a pop-up screen appearing in my field of vision.
Here is a template for your level 1 intelligent mutated snake's first character sheet, tailored to its current stats and skills. This model includes basic statistics, its passive skills, as well as its overall profile:
---
Name: [To choose]
Race: Intelligent Mutated Snake
Size: 5 meters
Weight: 70 kg
Level: 1
Class: Adaptive Healer (evolution to fighter possible)
---
Basic Statistics:
Strength (STR): 15 – The snake's physical abilityrepresentsng its muscular power to coil, bite, or crush its enemies.
Endurance (END): 18 – Reflects the snake's resilience, endurance for prolonged combat, and ability to resist damage.
Agility (AGI): 20 – The snake's speed and flexibility, allow it to strike quickly and dodge.
Intelligence (INT): 12 – The snake's newly acquired cognitive ability to think, learn, and adapt to situations.
Perception (PER): 14 – Ability to detect threats or opportunities in the environment.
Vitality (VIT): 17 – A measure of overall health and hit points, influenced by passive regeneration.
Charisma (CHA): 6 – Given its reptilian form, Charisma is low, but can be compensated for by other strengths in Intelligence and Manipulation.
---
Passive Skills:
Minor Regeneration: Recovers a small percentage of health points every minute, promoting the natural healing of minor injuries over time. (Example: 0.5% of max HP/minute)
Natural Poison: Each bite injects a paralyzing venom that inflicts damage over time and slows down the target's hit. Toxicity increases with levels.
Player Spirit: Protects the snake from the madness caused by its awakening to consciousness. Strengthens its mental resilience in the face of psychological challenges or prolonged isolation.
Enhanced Senses:
Thermoreception (Heat Sensation): Ability to detect changes in heat in the environment, allowing to locate prey or enemies even in the dark.
Vibration (Motion Detection): Sensitivity to vibrations in the ground or air, allowing one to anticipate the movements of nearby living beings.
Olfaction (Smell): Ability to sense pheromones and scents from a great distance.
Night Vision: Sensitivity to low light, allowing it to move in the dark.
Snake Anatomy: All the natural characteristics of a snake, including the ability to slither silently, coil prey, and move through difficult environments.
---
Combat Stats:
Hit Points (HP): 200/200
Mana Points (MP): 0 (N/A)
Residual Poison: 10/10 (Poison available for attacks)
Movement Speed: Average (for its size and weight)
---
Equipment:
None (being a snake, it doesn't need equipment).
Even though I wasn't a big fan of video games, it was obvious that this was my character sheet. Dying, waking up as a snake, apparently being a character in an RPG. It was completely crazy, and I was already fed up. The karmic lottery was a bitch, no other way.
As I was ruminating in my thoughts, the air around me suddenly began to vibrate. Given the intensity of the vibration, what was approaching was big, and it was fast. Being new, in this I had no intention of rubbing shoulders with a predator I knew nothing about, and which was potentially a magical being. If it attacked me despite my build, it was a monster.
Taking to my heels (it hurts to say) I slipped away as fast as I could. I hadn't even crawled 10 meters, when I let out a high-pitched hiss of pain.
Ten razor-sharp claws had just pierced the skin, as they took me into the air.
-Critical Hit: HP(170/200) -30