The sharp beeping sound of the emergency alarm woke him up. Feeling a sharp pain in his forehead, the man slowly sat up. Red and white colors flashed and caught his eye. Focusing his blurry vision on the large screen in front of him, the message came into view. "Warning! Event horizon imminent, change course."
A stream of red liquid slides on the left side of his face. With a swift motion, the man uses his hand to wipe away the blood. With his eyes, now unhindered, the man looked around. He was in the command center of his starship, The Green Gale. By the looks of it, they drew the short end of the stick in a battle.
"Dammit!" Exclaims the man in frustration. Around him, there were broken consoles and dead bodies littering the floor. "Computer, display the status of the vessel! Screamed the man, trying to get his bearings.
"Catastrophic Errors detected." Reported the intercom in an emotionless tone. "279 Errors in current report, propulsion systems are offline, life support systems are failing, communications array is unresponsive, lost all communication with engineering, weapon systems are 34% effective.
As the report was being given, the man slowly tried to get up. His left knee buckles, and he loses his balance. But before plummeting back to the floor, his hands find support on the back part of a seat. The wound on his head started bleeding once more.
Pondering his options, the man thinks to himself. "There is no other way, I must use the Techno-Lord System and reset time." In a low voice, the man called out. "System, are you online?"
A pale blue screen projects onto his view. With yellow bold letters, a message was displayed. "System ready for your command." Without losing a beat, the man gave his orders. "System begins Reset protocol."
The screen in front of him changes to display a new message. "Reset protocol started. Remaining Point balance is 286,522 Techno Points.[1]
"Dammit, I lost almost 2 billion points; these resets are getting to be very expensive. Exclaimed the man in a sour face.
The screen, once again, changes to display a new message. "User, please remember that the cost of the reset function is doubled after every use."
"Also, keep in mind that unused points will be lost during resets. To prevent this loss, the user may take advantage of the bank's function. This function has a cost of 10% of the remaining points. User, would you like to use the bank function?" The system Screen informed the man.
"Yes, I would like to use the bank function." Said the man in an exasperated tone.
The screen displayed the changes to the man's Techno Points account. "Your balance is 0 TP. Your bank balance is 257,869 TP."
Sounds of metal twisting and bending started to be heard all around the command center. A red screen was projected this time. "Warning, due to the proximity to a singularity, the Techno Lord system is experiencing difficulties. The user's consciousness and memory data will take priority. Some functions and data may be lost."
"What do you mean, what functions?" His inquiry was interrupted by the sudden movements of the failing vessel. The gravitational pull of the singularity was too great. With a loud thud, the man falls back to the floor and passes out.
Regaining consciousness, he found that he was no longer in the command center of his starship. The broken consoles and dead bodies were replaced by a messy floor littered with clothes and books. The cold metallic finish of the spaceship walls was replaced by walls covered in crumbling wallpaper with depictions of crescent moons and rockets in flight. The cold and hard surface on which he was lying was replaced by the soft, warm feeling of bed sheets.
The man stood up from the bed and looked around. After a moment, he was able to piece together his location. "This is my old room back in my mother's apartment."
The man moved back to the bed and started to move the bed sheets around. With ease, he found what he was looking for, his old comm-pad. With a swipe of his finger on the device's screen, he opened the interface and took note of the date. 3942.60. The time read 1:17 am.
"I'm back 22 years in the past." Trying to confirm he was in the right place, he went to the window by his bed. It was nighttime, and he was indeed at the housing complex where he grew up, a place called Miller Hills housing complex on the outskirts of Berant city. "I went back even before the war." A tone of resentment was present in his voice."System, are you online?"
The pale blue screen projects onto his view, the customary yellow letters. "System reboot complete."
"Why are we 22 years in the past?" He quickly submitted his inquiry.
The screen takes a few moments to appear this time. "Due to unforeseen events, the user's previous regression points have been lost. To protect the user's consciousness, it was projected into the past. Reaching the earliest time possible."
He still had doubts. "What is so special about my eighteenth birthday?
The screen changes with a new message. "The Techno Lord system requires a certain chemical composition in the brain to function. This is only present after physical maturity on most level 4 species."
The man finished the system's explanation. "So that's why it was set up on my eighteenth birthday."
The screen changes once again. "User, since your consciousness and memory took priority, your skills and feats have been lost. The data got corrupted. However, physical data was successfully recovered. Gene treatments and augmentations will be reapplied in 100 seconds. System suggestion: Lie down."
He reacted with surprise. "What do you mean by physical data?" He moved to the small mirror by the window and looked at himself. The man was frozen in shock. His face was that of a teenager, full of acne and blackheads. His hair was a blond mess. It took him a while to react.
"What is this mess!" Lifting his skinny arms, he looked horrified at his current state. His body had almost no fat; it was mostly skin and bone.
"I did not miss this." The pale blue screen projected again. This time in a more intrusive way.
"Warning, gene treatments and augmentations will be reapplied in 30 seconds. Suggested actions: LIE DOWN!"
The now young man reluctantly complied. As he lay in bed, he counted backwards until he blacked out again.
The growling of his stomach woke him up. "System, are the changes done?" Asked the now young man sitting on the bed.
The familiar screen, only he can see, projects again. "Changes have been successfully applied. Some cosmetic changes will not be accessible for the time being. Suggested Actions: Status Verification."
The man nods in agreement. "Alright, system, display status."
Name: Mark Warren
Species: Human (Level 4 species).
Abilities:
Strength: 10. Intelligence: 10.
Dexterity: 12. Wisdom: 9.
Vitality: 11. Presence: 8.
Neuronal capacity[2]: A+.
Skills: none.
Feats: none.
Special Notes: Techno-Lord System user.
His face twisted as he read the skills and feats sections. "System, what happened to my skills and feats? Can they be recovered?"
The screen displaying his status vanishes, and a new screen takes its place. "Unclear, situation without precedent. Suggested Action: In the future, do not activate the reset protocol near a singularity."
Mark sighs in frustration. "System, since when are you capable of sarcasm?" The system answered in its usual screen. "System is experiencing difficulties; some settings might be out of sync."
Mark sought to help the system and maybe get more access. "Can I take a look at the setting? Maybe I can help."
The new message crushed his pretension. "Negative, user does not possess administrative privileges."
"Changing the subject system, what can I do in this situation? I have no points, no skills, and no prospects. Do you have any suggestions?" This time, the system did not answer.
A voice came from outside the room, derailing the young man's train of thought. "Mark, breakfast is ready. Come to the kitchen. I have something for you. "His face went pale. As if a ghost from the past came back to haunt him. In a state of astonishment, he got up from the bed and walked to the door of his room.
The automated door slides open, revealing a familiar corridor. The man rushed down the space adorned with pictures framed on the wall, and even the potted plant he used to kick when he was angry. Mark passed the door to the bathroom and arrived at the end of the corridor.
There he sees her, sitting at the kitchen table. Dressed in her usual gray jumpsuit, her work uniform. The only colors of her attire were the blue rubber band she used to hold her hair in a ponytail and her white sneakers. The room seemed to be lit with her soft blue eyes. Even without makeup or fancy clothes, the woman had a mature beauty. To him, she looked more like a photo than a real, live person. Her name tag read Rachel Warren.
His body moved on its own. Passing the living room, Mark closed the distance and arrived at her chair. Bending down, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. The woman, surprised by this, could only hug him back.
"Mark, are you OK? Not that I mind, but it's so rare to get one of your hugs." Rachel asked her son.
"I'm alright, Mom, I just had a bad dream." To him, calling the last 22 years of his life a bad dream was an understatement.
After a few minutes had passed and she started to feel a bit awkward. "OK, baby, I need you to let go. I have to go to work." She tapped twice on his shoulder.
"In a minute, Mom." He replied.
"If you don't let go, I will call you Mimi out loud. I know how much you love that." The woman turned to tender threats to force her son to let go.
Mark let go before she had a chance to make good on her threats. Rachel looked at him with surprise. His physical changes were difficult to ignore. His arms were no longer twigs; they were now covered with muscles. The sickly looking chest was now thick and full of vitality. Even his skin, which was covered in acne, was now flawless.
She puts her hand on his chest, as if trying to confirm he was real. "Mark, what happened to you? You look so ...healthy."
"I don't know, Mom, I woke up like this, I'm also hungry as hell." He lied convincingly.
The sound of an alarm from her comm-pad reminded them of the time and distracted them from their conversation. Rachel grabbed her purse, took out an envelope, and handed it to Mark.
"Happy Birthday, baby."She looked at him with a worried look.
Mark accepted her gift, already knowing the content inside. Inside, there was a gift card with 2,000 Lishean credits. The woman had been taking on extra work to afford this gift.
"Thank you, Mom. I love you." Mark said with a sincere tone.
"I love you too." The woman answered while walking to the door. Before closing the door to her apartment, she took another look at her son. A mix of happiness and worry could be seen in her blue eyes.
"You'd better use some of that money to buy new clothes. The ones you have are too small for you now." The woman said while closing the door behind her.
Mark sat on the chair she was using. His thoughts are racing in his head. "If the date is really 3942.60, that means I have 14 days before my mother's death. Can I save her?"
A pale blue screen projects in front of him. "Sometimes mistakes are opportunities in disguise."
[1] Techno Points are the currency of the Techno-Lord system. Usually it is referred to as TP.
[2] Neuronal Capacity refers to the compatibility of the brain to interact with technology that uses a neuronal interface. There are 14 levels of compatibility. These are: F, D-, D, D+, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, A, A+, and S. F being the lowest and S being the highest. Most people are in the C range. Brain Damage is known to cause your neuronal capacity to drop.