Maximus was shocked to see his own reflection on the cryo pod. The glass, acting like a mirror, showed him what he wanted to see, but he quickly wished he hadn't.
Max was rather a frail guy, he remembered. He remembered his body size, and especially his facial features. And what he was seeing on the glass was a carbon copy of what he remembered. The only catch, was that he looked older. He looked way more muscular than he remembered. He knew he was still a sixteen year old boy, but the reflection proved otherwise. He looked like he was in his early twenties, and his usual short hair had become extremely long with a patch of it, being the colour white.
He stopped shaking and started walking to the pod and checking himself out to see if he could see what else was different. Even with no memories of himself, he knew instinctively what he should look like, as flashes of his younger version passed his mind. He was still in a blue T shirt, and black pants. Aside from his hair, the other difference he noticed were his eyes. They were of a different colour. His eyes were always black, just like most humans. But now his eyes were dual coloured. The eyes had a strange ring pattern, with his outer layer being bright blue , while the inner layer being black. Something that wasn't possible normally, which Max believed.
In Japanese media, which he was a fan of, there was something called an Isekai. It was a normal trope used, where a human ends up traveling to another world after his death. Max feared for it to be the case, as he didn't wanna die. Usually when he watched stuff like that he wanted to visit magical, fantastical places shown in the screen, but now that he felt he actually transmigrated, he didn't feel like staying here too long. He has to go back to his family.
Huh...? Family..?
He desperately wanted more information about his family, for which his brain wasn't ready to co operate. If this Isekai thing was the case, then there was no hope for him to find his family anyway. But there were several stuff that was weird here. Most of the stuff he had seen here were technological and advanced , rather than mystical. And the two strangers who he had met were mostly normal, something that an isekai wouldn't have. Ignoring the bright red hair, even the girl had normal black eyes, just like Lin, the guy beside her. And they both looked concerned looking at him. Only Lin looked scared as he was turning and checking the door on the opposite side of the room, repeatedly.
Max immediately removed his shirt and threw it on the ground. At this action, Lin appeared confused and annoyed, unable to comprehend Max's bizzare actions. Melissa immediately covered her eyes and started blushing, still peeking through her fingers, looking at Max's well built body, that even he was unaware of.
As Max had feared, the one with the most suspicious and strange look, would be himself. With the long hair with the white patch, well toned body, blue ringed eyes and the obvious left arm that looked like the night sky, he was the most bizzare looking guy among the three. Max slowly started walking backwards, his brain failing to catch up with him.
And that was when something caught his eye. The wooden table on the corner of the room was just a metre away from his reach. And on it, was a carefully placed letter with a ballpoint pen and a paper holder on the letter. Dust had settled in, making it unsure on how long it had been there. But it hadn't been here for too long, as the dust looked fairly recent.
Max slowly grabbed the letter, an action which almost terrified Lin,, who must've thought that Max was picking a weapon, as he had braced himself with his blade. After noticing that it was just a letter, he lowered it, and Max read the letter in his mind.
"Dear Max,
I hope you are doing okay when you are reading this. I have no idea if you will be up in the next twenty days, or a year, or a century. All I know is that you will wake up, no matter what. I'm sorry I can't stay here for a long time. I have to go out there and help a lot of people. I will come back for you soon. I'll bring back all of our family together, I promise. This is the future. I'm sorry I can't explain everything in this letter, but I'll tell you everything when we meet.
Love you
Your adorable sister, Alicia Janus Steefan.
Signed January 19th 2025"
Max read the letter in his mind, as flashes of a woman crossed his mind. A beautiful woman wearing glasses with black hair, and a small mole on her chin. She had a very kind smile, accentuating her black eyes. She was his sister. His older sister. That he loved and had forgotten until now. His family, which were absent in his memories were triggered by this letter. As an entire lives worth of memories flowed back to him.
Max screamed as he landed on his knees, crying as his mind broke and shattered to a million pieces, with the pain of his brain processing everything at the same time. This startled Lin and Melissa who were in the room.
Melissa: Hey are you okay..??
Lin: Melissa, tie his mouth and shut him up!!
Lin was terrified of something listening, as he kept glancing towards the door. Melissa started approaching him with slow steps, making sure not to make a noise, which didn't make sense as Max was already screaming on top of his lungs.
All bits and fragments of Max's memory rippled through his eyes. Tears flowing down his cheeks he remembered everyone important to him.
His kind loving dad, who helped him write his homework.
His caring, strict mom that cooked him delicious meals everyday.
His older sister, Alicia, who with a kind heart, always looked after him when he was hurt, as a kid.
His older brother, David, who taught him martial arts and always went biking with him to the mountains.
His younger sister, Denise, who was a brat, and kept gaming all day,and didn't listen to him.
His younger brother Lonnie, who was the bravest of them all, always watching horror films and scaring and pranking the other siblings.
His other younger sister, Katie, who was the cutest and the most adorable sister anyone could ever wish for.
All of them, gushing back in his mind, with every single moment of his life coming back. With every piece finally back in the puzzle, Max started breathing hard as he lowered himself and let out all his tears, and quieted down. He felt a pat on the back, by a soft hand. He turned back to see Melissa, with concern in her eyes, looking at him.
Melissa: Are you okay..??
Max got up, shrugged his shoulders and dusted himself off. He then wore his shirt back from the ground and turned to look at Melissa and Lin. Max smiled at them both.
Max: Yeah, I'm fine now. Everything's alright now.
Max smiled, content that he knew what he had to do now. He wasn't alone anymore. His family, as usual, was here to help him.