At least... I don't remember it being painful.
I remember my old name. Riku.
I remembered living on a world called Earth.
I remembered reading novels, playing games, and spending far too much time imagining impossible worlds.
And the shit life i had lived, but isnt that true for everyone, shackled down by rules and Illusionary jail bars that is obligation and political drama.
If I was to be reborn then I would live freely, i just didnt expect it to come so soon, i didnt even reacll how I died, though that would be natural wouldn't it?
Why would they brain remember something so traumatic as one's own death if its goal is to prolong the mental state and life of said person as a self defence mechanism.
But as I am now...there simply was...
Nothing.
No light.
No darkness.
No Gods or Random Omnipotent Beings asking me questions.
No mysterious voice granting wishes.
Just... silence.
...
The next thing I became aware of was warmth.
Not the warmth of a blanket.
The warmth of being surrounded by something alive.
Pressure wrapped around my entire body while distant, muffled sounds echoed around me.
I couldn't move properly.
Couldn't open my eyes.
Couldn't even think clearly.
Instinct took over before my thoughts did.
Then...
I was born.
Everything hurt.
Cold air rushed across my skin as I instinctively cried.
Voices surrounded me.
I couldn't understand any of them.
Not because they spoke another language...
But because my newborn brain simply wasn't capable of processing them.
It was all noise.
Shapes.
Pressure.
Warmth.
Then exhaustion.
I fell asleep.
Time became meaningless.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Cry.
Eat.
Sleep again.
The routine repeated endlessly.
Somewhere beneath those simple instincts, my old memories slowly resurfaced.
I wasn't dreaming.
I wasn't imagining things.
I really had died.
And I had really been reborn.
'...Seriously?'
If I could have sighed, I would have.
Every reincarnation story I had ever read made newborns seem absurdly ridiculously capable.
The protagonist would open their eyes the instant they were born, perfectly see the room, recognize everyone's faces, hear every conversation, and start planning world domination before they were even a day old.
Reality was considerably less glamorous.
My eyes barely worked.
My hearing was muffled.
My senses were still adjusting to the world i was born into.
My memories...
It was honestly impressive that newborns managed to function at all.
Who in reality can remember their past life, it was a miracle as it is that i could remember my own name.
As my senses slowly adapted over the following weeks, the world became clearer.
Blurred shapes became recognizable.
Voices became distinct.
Light stopped hurting my eyes.
Faces slowly came into focus.
The first face I clearly saw belonged to the woman holding me.
Long silver-blonde hair.
Gentle blue eyes.
A warm smile.
She looked exhausted.
But every time she looked at me...
She smiled.
"Raime."
She repeated the word often.
Raime.
That was my new name.
Raime Virex.
I suppose Riku had died with Earth.
My father was the opposite.
Tall.
Sharp features.
Always carrying himself with quiet confidence.
He didn't smile nearly as often.
Instead, he simply observed everything around him.
Even me.
Especially me.
There was something analytical about the way he looked at the world.
As for where I was...
I was no longer on Earth.
That much became obvious before I even understood the language.
The architecture wasn't anything I'd ever seen.
Clean white alloys.
Glass-like materials stronger than steel.
Floating holographic displays embedded into walls.
Domestic robots moving naturally throughout the house.
Even the windows displayed layered augmented reality information.
This wasn't merely futuristic.
It was Borderlands.
How do I know that, well I didn't not at first.
It was a few months in my new life that I started hearing familiar names, at first the names of planets didn't mean much, but when I heard my father saying that the company needed to hasten production for the Dahl corporations recebt orders and ship them to Pandora.
I realised that Dahl had only just began their mining operations on Pandora or were preparing for it, which meant I was born before the events of Borderlands 1.
The only reason I could recall the game was because it was one I loved deeply, so much so I devoted alot of time to it to dig myself out of my own despair I had lived through in my last life.
As for where I was...
At least i wasn't on Pandora.
I was reborn on a planet called Aurix-9.
If Pandora represented chaos, lawlessness and survival...
Aurix-9 represented progress.
Entire cities stretched across breathtaking landscapes of towering arcologies, suspended transit networks, and vast research districts. Green parks and artificial forests intertwined with gleaming skyscrapers, creating a balance between nature and technology that felt almost impossible.
The atmosphere was peaceful.
Orderly.
Efficient.
Unlike Pandora's lawless wastelands, Aurix-9 had become one of the galaxy's foremost centers for scientific innovation.
Its greatest achievements lay in three fields.
Biological sciences.
Artificial intelligence.
Cybernetics.
The world's universities and research institutes attracted brilliant minds from across known space. Genetic engineering laboratories worked alongside neural technology facilities, while AI development centers continuously pushed the limits of machine intelligence.
The planet's discoveries found their way into nearly every major corporation; As for Dahl's recent order, it was for lots of healing supplies and such, I wasn't too sure on the specifics yet.
And that was exactly why Aurix-9 still existed.
It had no standing military capable of threatening the galactic powers.
That wasn't an accident.
The great corporations kept a careful eye on Aurix-9.
Not because they feared what it was...
But because they feared what it could become.
A world capable of creating revolutionary biotechnology and advanced cybernetics could become dangerously powerful if it ever decided to militarize.
So an unspoken agreement had formed over decades.
Aurix-9 remained politically neutral.
In return, corporations such as Hyperion, Atlas, Dahl, Maliwan, Tediore, Jakobs, Vladof, and others funded research projects, exchanged technologies, and purchased Aurix-9's discoveries before they reached public markets.
Everyone benefited.
Aurix-9 gained resources and protection.
The corporations gained innovations that kept them ahead of one another.
It was a delicate balance.
One that had somehow survived.
********************
The year was 2847.
And eighteen years from now...
The events of Borderlands would begin.
If my memories were even remotely accurate.
Assuming I remembered enough.
After all...
Dying and being reborn wasn't exactly conducive to perfect memory.
Some details remained crystal clear.
Others had become frustratingly hazy.
Names.
Major events.
Important people.
Those remained.
The countless smaller details I'd once known had faded like an old dream.
Maybe that was for the best.
It meant I'd have to rely on my own abilities instead of simply following a script written by fate.
And if I was truly in the Borderlands universe...
That might be the only way to survive.
But I knew one thing for certain...
I am going to become a Vault Hunter.
********************************
Hello I am back, I have had rough times but ive finally accustomed myself in my new job and life is good for me now. So ive decided to rework this and remive the whole ROB scenes and aspect and have this more natural reincarnation story that and Overpowered one right off the gate.
Updates will be daily at this time and I will continue to stockpile a good number of chapters so that I dont delay any content any longer and genuinely finish the story.
Please provide your support and criticism so I can improve!