In the depths of dark space, Zed's mind within his consciousness suddenly awakened. His soul trembled.
"Uh, where am I?"
Amid his disorientation, something deep inside him stirred. It was a feeling he had never known before—unfamiliar, yet oddly comforting. He felt more 'alive'.
This drifting feeling lingered for a second until it finally was gone and his awareness sharpened as if something was calling him.
"I… I can feel something… something is… different inside me."
He didn't know what had happened, but something quivered in his memory: it was his name.
"I am Zed Kevar."
He was a man, or so he remembered. But about other things, he could not truly remember anything yet.
In this dark empty space, he could do nothing. He was alone and entirely helpless.
Then something within him stirred, and his awareness began to move.
"Wait… I can actually move?"
Soon he moved even faster, but Zed couldn't measure the distance, he could only feel the motion surrounding him as he moved. Moreover, he realized that his movement speed was not constant and gradually accelerating.
"Uh, I can't think properly like this…"
While moving, he continued to ponder what had happened to him, but his mind was dizzy and slow, like he could not process anything at all.
"Uhh…"
Then a suddenly realization struck him. Why he was here? What was his purpose? Was he even alive right now?
"Damn it…"
It was a really strange feeling. And without him knowing, his speed continued to grow.
CRASH!!
"Ugh!!"
Then he crashed into something. Despite that, his momentum didn't stop, and he continued moving. That sudden impact reverberated through his whole being in a way he didn't understand. One thing that he knew was he felt strangely incomplete afterwards.
After some time, he gained some memories again: that he was actually a human, he had been alive, in the past that is. But right now, he didn't know.
"I am a human?"
Had he been like this all this time? He even thought he was flying randomly through the boundless darkness, like some meteoroid. But then he got confused again. What was even a meteoroid? Yet, his awareness continued to accelerate.
And then, after what felt like an eternity, he could no longer tell whether his momentum was increasing at all. All he knew was he now could perceive some sight around him. Surrounding him was boundless, empty darkness. Everything around him was black—or perhaps nothing at all. Then, suddenly, a memory came to him.
"Did I see a light?"
It was indeed a light. Whether it moved past him, or he past through it, he could not tell. It's just too fast.
He also remember that light. His past life was not like this. He remembered other colors other than dark. And one color that first came to his mind was the color of light. And then he suddenly thought again: what was he doing here, where there was nothing but darkness?
"Uhh… I was just a lab rat, wasn't I?"
He thought about whether he was still considered alive now. If the answer was yes, then why was there no light? Where was the light? He perceived his surroundings but saw none. He began to ponder again, but the more he thought, the more dizzy his head became. And then he decided to stop thinking at all.
"Yeah, nevermind…"
Zed didn't know where he actually went. It was like something had called upon him—or something like that. He felt that it was not just his consciousness that was moving but perhaps his surroundings too, if anything. How could he move if he didn't even know how to? Or was it some other force that made him continue moving like this? He still didn't know. All he knew was that he kept moving toward his destination.
Honestly, the fact that he didn't know how much time had passed made him quite terrified, in a way. He was confused, uneasy, and utterly helpless. It was an unsettlingly familiar feeling, like déjà vu.
"Uhh… it was because of my stupid mutation."
It was a strange feeling, like he didn't move at all, but rather, something had sucked onto him that made him move instead. He was afraid and powerless. But suddenly, he remembered something.
"Uhh..?"
He… was dead, wasn't he?! His mind suddenly shook. He wondered what had happened to him in the past. He tried to remember it, but he couldn't piece anything together right now.
Without him realizing, a long time had passed. His soul, which still remained in the vast darkness, continued moving. It began to move even faster and his mind began to wander once more.
How could his soul possibly be trapped in this endless mess of darkness? He didn't know. Or maybe he didn't want to know, because the deeper he thought about it, the more he felt he shouldn't. All he needed to know was that he was dead—that was all. As for why he had died, he still couldn't remember.
After what felt like a long time had passed, his awareness now moved at an unimaginable speed—so fast yet Zed still did no aware of it. At this point he even already forget to even entertain the idea that he might crash again into something in his path. Rather, Zed's consciousness began reminiscing about his past.
He was just a guy who received an offer from a random biotech company. They said he would get paid handsomely for a small favor, and he would even have a chance to gain a minor improvement in his health on top of that. Why would he reject such easy money?
That was the start of all the disasters in his life.
After the experiment was done, his fellow 'lab rats' all received beneficial mutations from those weird viruses that had been injected into their bodies. Some gained better sight, sharper critical thinking, or faster reaction speed.
Zed, however, received a very stupid mutation—a heightened anxiety. Since then, he was always worried over nothing, often overthinking things, and had trouble sleeping every day. That was the worst thing that had ever happened to him, something he deeply regretted.
But what could he do? It is what it is. It's not like he became crippled after that, no? And the company also gave him extra money to keep him quiet so he wouldn't sue them.
"Well… yeah. It is what it is."
Slowly, after some time had passed, Zed remembered something else. Killed. Yes, he had been killed, by someone—or probably by something.
One thing he knew: it was not a pleasant feeling at all. It was like torture. He could still vividly remember it.
"Uhh.."
He had not died an instant death. He was quite sure of it. It had been a long, painful torture until he finally met his end.
"Damn it…"
He didn't know who, but that person—or creature—he hated it with all his being. His soul shuddered.
His mind began to wander again. Why had that thing killed him—or rather, tortured him before making him succumb? He could not know the reason. What was its motive? Perhaps his memories would resurface later.
Zed had always been a peaceful person. He believed people should be kind to one another. That made sense, right? The world would be better if people did not harm each other and instead lived in harmony.
But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he could not simply accept it. He was the one who had been tortured and killed—how could that not be personal?
As he moved through the expanse of darkness, Zed passed by a speck of light in the far distance. He was oblivious to it, as he was still blinded by rage.
"Damn it..!! Damn!"
He was mad. That creature had basically took his life, and now he was dead. What a despicable thing. He wanted to tear apart anything around him if he could, but there was nothing. So he could only be mad—in utter silence.
Time passed as though it took an eternity, yet Zed was still enveloped in his fury. His soul now moved beyond the horizon of light, as if reaching into the nothingness.
"…."
Zed was still lost in his thoughts—ransacking through his memories for more clues about the very thing that had ended his life. His mind was crowded with killing intent.
He wasn't aware that more and more specks of light were emerging around him, deep within the vast expanse of endless darkness.
Those specks of light steadily grew in number escaping the edges of his perception. After a while, it seemed as though they were moving—but also seemed as if they were not.
The moment he was about to notice them, it was already too late. He could only catch a glimpse of them before his awareness collided with something bigger.
CRASH!!
With a loud bang, his consciousness shattered, and his mind vanished.