Zelo exhaled slowly, trying to settle his thoughts. His mind was a battlefield—Alaric's memories flickered in and out, clashing with his own like oil refusing to blend with water. His death. The suffocation in endless void. And now, waking up in this lunatic's body. It was too much.
Then, another shock slammed into him.
[Synchronization complete]
A cold, robotic voice sliced through the chaos of his mind. It was the same one he had heard in the darkness.
Zelo's breath hitched. His gaze darted to Nyx, who stood silently, unfazed. Did he not hear that?
[Cognitive instability detected]
[Initiating diagnostic scan]
Zelo's pulse spiked. The words weren't just spoken—they bloomed in his mind, bypassing his ears entirely. A sharp, nauseating pressure built behind his eyes.
He turned to Nyx, eyes wide and demanding.
"Did you hear that? The voice—"
[30% scan complete...]
Nyx lifted his head slightly, meeting Zelo's gaze with a confused expression.
"Voice?"
[60% scan complete...]
"Ahhh—!" Zelo's breath hitched as he clutched his head. It wasn't just pain—it was pressure, a suffocating presence scraping against his mind. The voice wasn't reaching his ears. It was coming inside his head.
Nyx's gaze sharpened at the sight of his young master.
Was this another fist? Another attack?
His stomach twisted. Without hesitation, he turned on his heel and run out of the room.
Then, the voice returned again.
Cold. Detached. Uncaring.
[Diagnostic complete.]
The voice continued, now delivering a list of grim statistics.
[Host body analysis: Partial organ failure detected.]
[Liver function at 43%.]
[Lung capacity reduced to 40%.]
[Heart condition: unstable.]
[Nervous system: On the verge of failure]
[Immune system: Very poor.]
[Overall assessment: Catastrophic mess.]
Zelo's heartbeat thundered in his chest. His head throbbed, a constant pulse of confusion and fear mixing in with the erratic rhythm of his heart. That voice—it wasn't just in the air, it was inside him. Deep in his skull, in his thoughts like a foreign presence.
[Fantastic. You're already malfunctioning.]
Zelo's head was spined, his heart raced so fast he thought it might burst. He recoiled, eyes wide, as the voice spoke again.
"Who?"
His words came out broken, confusion flooding his mind. Who was this? What was this?
The voice inside him didn't answer right away. Instead, it sounded almost amused, like it was laughing at him. Then it spoke again, its tone dripping with smugness.
[Ah. Right. Introductions. Very human of you. Fine.]
The voice had a tone of pure sarcasm, like it was speaking to a child.
[I am Aster. An advanced, self-evolving artificial intelligence who integrated into your neural pathways via symbiotic synchronization—meaning, congratulations! You and I are stuck together. Forever.]
Zelo blinked. His brain short-circuited for a second, trying to make sense of the words.
"…What?" His voice came out shaky, confused.
The voice responded with clear mockery.
[Wow. That's the best you've got. You just injected a genius partner, and all you can say is 'what?' Thats disappointing.]
Zelo pulse pounded in his ears.
"Injected?"
[Oh, right. You probably don't remember. In a moment of sheer brilliance—or desperation—you introduced an unidentified foreign substance into your bloodstream.]
A flash of memory slammed into Zelo of injecting the bright substance into his veins.
[Ding-ding! You are correct! That was me—well, technically, my macroparticles carrying my quantum data construct.]
Zelo's stomach twisted. Quantum data? Macroparticles? The words sounded like gibberish.
[Let me simplify it for you: The vial contained microscopic particles carrying my entire system. When your body was destroyed, my emergency transfer protocols activated. My data latched onto your soul's energy signature and reassembled within you. I am now integrated with your consciousness. You're the host; I'm the AI companion. Simple enough, right? or do I need to dumb it down further?]
Zelo's jaw tightened. "So… you're… inside me?"
[Yes. Finally, you get it.]
Aster mocked.
Zelo rubbed his temples, frustration and exhaustion warring in his chest.
[Wait.....You attached yourself to my soul? How is that even possible? Aren't you just... code?]
Aster's pause was almost smug before it replied.
[Because I'm not just any AI.]
Zelo exhaled sharply. "Not just any AI? What's that even supposed to mean?"
[The geneticists who designed me weren't satisfied with the limitations of traditional technology. I am a quantum data construct, engineered to bond with consciousness itself. My purpose isn't to exist in circuits or servers—I connect to the energy matrix of a soul.]
Zelo's breath caught. Energy matrix? Consciousness itself? This wasn't just advanced science—it felt like fantasy.
Aster continued, as if explaining something as mundane as boiling water.
[And because I interact with the soul, I don't need a physical body to function]
Zelo shook his head, trying to process it all. "So… wait. You're saying you're bound to me on a spiritual level? Even if I die and get reborn?"
The response came instantly, dripping with certainty.
[Exactly. That's why you still remember who you are.]
Zelo stiffened.
[Without me, your soul would've latched onto the nearest available host. You'd have been reborn without your memories, your identity erased. Who knows? Maybe as an insect. A mindless little thing, scuttling in the dirt, blissfully unaware.]
The sheer absurdity of it all crashed into Zelo like a wave. He stared blankly at the wall, his thoughts spiraling. This sounds like something straight out of those over-the-top reincarnation novels—the ones where the protagonist stumbles into power through sheer luck or some cosmic accident.
For a split second, an image popped into his mind—himself, as a beetle, skittering across the floor. A dry, humorless laugh escaped him.
"You're joking, right?"
[Not even a little.]
Zelo's mouth went dry. His fingers dug into his forehead, trying to press reality back into place. This is insane. Absolutely insane. His heart hammered erratically in his chest as his mind spiraled, trying to make sense of everything.
First, he'd always thought that death was the end. That when someone died, they were gone. Forever. But this... this was something else entirely.
Not only had he died—he had come back. But not in the way he expected. Not as a newborn, not as some blank slate. No, he woke up in the body of a 9-year-old kid. A kid whose body felt foreign, strange, like a crazy, mismatched puzzle.
And then there was this.
A voice. A sarcastic, condescending voice, an artificial intelligence claiming to be his partner. That's right, apparently, he wasn't just stuck in someone else's body. He was now sharing his mind with an artificial intelligence too. But this wasn't fiction. It wasn't a dream. It was real. And it made absolutely no sense.
Zelo struggled to steady his breath, the whirlwind of thoughts still spinning in his head, when the door suddenly burst open with a loud bang.
Nyx stood in the doorway, his chest heaving with labored breaths. His skin was slick with sweat, and his hands shook slightly as he clutched a small bottle filled with pills. He moved toward Zelo with a sense of urgency, his eyes locked onto the younger man, breathing heavily, his body stiff from exertion.
"Young master," Nyx said, his voice strained, as he extended the bottle toward Zelo. "Your meditation."
The words barely made sense to Zelo at first. His mind had been overwhelmed by too many thoughts, but then his memory flickered, dragging him back to Alaric's troubled health—his violent fits, the panic attacks that tore through him like a storm. Alaric took those pills regularly to keep the symptoms at bay, but the thought of that bitter taste made Zelo's stomach churn. He remembered how it burned, how it numbed his mouth.
Nyx pulled a pill from the bottle and, with another shaky breath, filled a glass of water. His hand trembled as he offered it to Zelo. The silence stretched between them as Nyx's gaze remained unwavering, a quiet command in his eyes, waiting for Zelo to comply.
Zelo took the pill, and the instant the bitter taste hit his tongue, a numbing sensation spread across his mouth. He winced, his face twisting in disgust. "Yuck," he groaned.
Nyx quickly apologized, his voice low and he knee down on the floor. "Forgive me, young master."
Zelo blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion. Nyx suddenly kneeing was too confusing. But, Zelo reminded himself, this was routine—after the pills came the slaps, the punishment until Alaric felt satisfied.
What an asshole, Zelo thought bitterly. But there was no escaping it.
Why do I have to be stuck in this asshole's body?
[Are you sure about that?]
Aster's voice echoed in Zelo's mind, dark and mocking.
Zelo hesitated. "About what?" he thought back, unsure why Aster's tone felt so unsettling this time.
[That Alaric was definitely an asshole?]
Zelo frowned.
Wasn't he?
[Well, brace yourself. This is going to be another shock.]
Zelo's patience snapped.
Stop going in circles and just tell me.
Aster's voice turned sharp, cutting through Zelo's thoughts like a blade.
[This person was under the influence of a drug.]
Zelo froze.
What?
[His aggression, his violent impulses, and his fists attack—all of it was because of the drug.]
A cold shiver crawled down Zelo's spine. His fingers tightened around the sheets as his breath hitched, the realization sinking in like a stone. He had assumed Alaric was just a cruel, privileged bastard who lashed out because he could. But a drug?
[Based on the substances found in your bloodstream, you've been fed Drenzopine, a neurostimulant that heighten aggression, distort emotions, and impair rational thinking. Essentially, it forces your brain into a state of uncontrollable hostility.]
The air around Zelo thickened, suffocating. His mind spun with memories of Alaric's rage—boiling in his veins, fists crashing into flesh, his voice spitting venom without hesitation. The burning frustration, the loss of control—was it all because of this drug?
A sickening thought gripped him. Was Alaric even truly an asshole? Or was he just a puppet, his strings pulled by some unseen hand?
Zelo's fingers trembled, his entire body going cold. The truth felt like a punch to the gut.
It wasn't natural.
It was induced.
And that's not the worst part, Aster continued smoothly, as if savoring every word.
[There's another substance—Vernacorin—a slow-acting poison. It gradually deteriorates the organs over time. Alaric declining condition, his body breaking down... it's all because of that.]
Zelo's breath caught in his throat. His mouth went dry, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe.
Someone was trying to kill him.
No.
Someone had been killing him. Slowly, methodically. Ensuring he lived just long enough to suffer.
And then, as if to twist the knife deeper, Aster delivered the final blow.
[Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention my current diagnosed. The pills you just ingested. Was another dose of the same mind-warping, body-wrecking poison.]