September 10, 3035
Kepler Kingdom
Planet Kepler Terminus
Red Crosses Hospital - Maternity floor
The room was quiet except for the rhythmic hum of machines and the occasional shuffle of footsteps, but inside her, a storm was gathering. Each contraction rolled through her body like a wave, fierce and unrelenting, pulling her deeper into the moment she had waited months to meet. She gripped the bedrail, her breath measured, every exhale laced with determination and a flicker of fear. Time seemed to blur—minutes stretching into hours—yet the anticipation in her chest kept her steady, reminding her of the life pressing closer with every surge.
Sweat dampened her forehead, and her muscles burned with a force she never imagined possible, but beneath the pain was a rhythm, a primal call to surrender and push forward. Nurses moved swiftly around her, offering words of reassurance, but their voices felt distant compared to the pounding of her own heartbeat. She bore down, eyes clenched shut, and for a moment the world shrank to the sound of her breath and the immense power of her body working toward a single purpose. The raw intensity of it was overwhelming, almost impossible to contain, yet it carried her forward, wave after wave.
And then, suddenly, the crescendo broke. A final, guttural cry tore from her as she gave one last push, and the room filled with a different sound—the thin, startling wail of a newborn's first breath. Relief and awe washed over her in equal measure, her body collapsing back against the pillows, trembling with exhaustion and triumph. The baby was placed on her chest, impossibly small and warm, their heartbeat fluttering against hers. In that instant, the pain dissolved into something greater, something that eclipsed every moment before: the undeniable, life-altering beginning of love.
As she stares down at her new baby girl. She with birth just a few words, but yet the go through the room.
"Olivia Corvinus"
As the baby opened her eyes, she sees an unfamiliar face not one of her husband that she fell asleep with just a few hours ago, but one of a woman. Who's hair fell around her face and clung to it from the sweat she had beautiful sky, blue eyes, and the purple hair.
And then she reaches out to the world with her mind. and in the right bottom of her vision a little system window appears.
[Potential Abilities Activated]
And then they go home, but I will leave the hospital. I live here the voice of a baby boy and when she looked at him she feel the same intelligence in her eyes, blood and heart as well.
Olivia didn't even notice the dialog at the edge of her vision or the voice in her mind, she was too preoccupied with what she found.
This infant's mind contained incredible memories. Memories of war, of robotic suits fighting on far-off planets, knowledge of languages and martial arts. Who was this child whose mind she had invaded?
There was no sense of self like they were forgetting who they were, but somehow they were managing to retain some memories of their past life. The exact opposite was true of Olivia, who still remembered her own name, along with her personal sense of righteousness but nothing else.
Was it possible she wasn't the only one who had been reincarnated? Olivia knew for certain that she was, but as hard as she tried, all she could clearly recall of her former life was that it had happened.
Olivia was determined she would not forget these memories that called out to an instinct deep within her. She would carry on that love of robots from this child's fading past life. It was a love that she felt deep in her bones, the lingering longing for the passion that had shaped every moment of her forgotten past life.
Olivia, as she preferred to call herself, ignoring the horrid name her mother gave her, soon realized she had a very useful gift. With effort, she could borrow the memories of those around her. With repeated use, she could take on a mimicry of their personality and use skills they knew, to some extent.
Currently, her small body limited much of her ability to duplicate the actions that she learned, but it was progressing rapidly with her concerted efforts.
An industrial accident millennia prior had released nanobots into the atmosphere of Kepler Terminus, where they multiplied and created an artificial intelligence net that infected every citizen of the planet, affecting each person in a different way beginning at birth.
Some were born with extra strength or long lives, and some with abilities that bordered on the supernatural.
Olivia had gained one of those types of benefits, the microscopic machines in her body were capable of deciphering the brain patterns of those around her, granting a glimpse into their thoughts and recent memories. Such an ability was highly prized in this world, not for science or justice, but for war and espionage.
Olivia was unaware of that fact, so when the police came with a doctor to give her her overdue 6-month checkup, she didn't try to hide anything and they discovered she had an Alpha level Innate Talent, which caused them to automatically enroll her in the military academy, as they did for every other talented youth in this Kepler Kingdom.
The Kepler Kingdom, which spanned over two thousand populated worlds, was a relatively young Kingdom embroiled in constant conflict and needed all of its best and brightest from every planet for the war effort.
Her mother was overjoyed, as parents of future academy students got an extra government stipend to help raise the talented children of the empire until age twelve when they would go to the academy for military training.
A monthly credit transfer she was free to spend on drugs, as it turned out, much to Olivia's detriment.
Olivia really didn't care, she just wanted to get away from this crazy woman and her drunkard of a boyfriend, who may or may not be her father. That was the thought that dominated her childhood. That and giant robots.
To reach that goal, she put everything she had into developing her physical and mental abilities, learning to walk and talk before age one. Much of this was due to the partially active System created by the nanotechnology enhancing and helping develop her mind and body.
She had started her second day in this world with a lifetime of someone else's memories, so she did not need to learn the basics, only to tone her body to accomplish them. A feat that is easier said than done for a toddler.
In the early years of her life, Olivia only ever saw the one System notification, the very first, when it partially activated to help her understand the world around her.
The system wouldn't fully come online until after a child had started at the military academy, where the AI network would recognize the need for the body to be upgraded. For now, it remained only the most basic of a shell, waiting for her body to mature.
At home, her mother still insisted she was her daughter, not a boy at all, at least when she was coherent enough to address her and acknowledge her existence.
She bought her only dresses and insisted her blonde hair be worn long and in a constantly refreshed perm. In her mind, that was the only style that properly complimented her baby blue eyes.
Were she a normal toddler she would most likely have perished of neglect before age three, but Olivia quickly learned to control her body well enough to manipulate small objects, like the fridge door and food containers, making herself reliant only on there being something edible in the house.
Fortunately, her drunkard of a father believed that only the finest of snacks were suitable for watching sports games.
So, chicken wings, prepackaged burgers, pretzels and orange juice for mixing in her mother's drinks were always in plentiful supply. If that failed, the girl would simply use her father's data tablet to order prepaid delivery, a happy surprise for everyone when it arrived.
The planet known as Kepler Terminus was a highly advanced one, with automation and technology involved in every aspect of their lives. Had her parents been responsible, the talented child stipend, as the government called it, would have been enough to buy her an android nanny, pay off a house in a good neighbourhood and buy the most advanced of educational virtual reality simulations.
Instead, Olivia learned from the minds of those around her and played pirated versions of the publicly available Mecha trainers with a disabled Veteran turned hacker who lived a few doors down.
The man found the overly mature girl amusing, and after the toddler gave him a timely warning about the approaching minds of the cyber security SWAT team, they became the best of friends.
He fed the girl's obsession with Mecha, and the girl kept him updated on police activities through regular trips to the convenience store past the local police station.
If anyone thought it strange the older man in his wheelchair was always with a child that didn't appear to be his own, nobody in their housing project was willing to say anything about it.
A few times Olivia's parents freaked out on her friend, thinking the man would demand money for babysitting or harm their government funding meal ticket, but by the time the girl was five they stopped caring as long as Olivia could be found for her mandatory checkups every six months.
Olivia passed her entire early childhood in that manner, learning the intricacies of Mecha handling, as well as the best ways to repair pirated technology and avoid police detection.
She also learned of the System, the artificial intelligence created within everyone in their world that was decently compatible with the technology. Alpha Rank compatibility like hers could activate a higher Quality upgrade than the Beta and Gamma Ranked children, as well as having a higher chance of activating an Innate Talent.
For Delta ranked children, the data she found on the information nets said it would barely matter to their lives, helping them heal a little faster, or maybe helping them learn trade skills, but with minimal ability to upgrade. F Ranked compatibility, like her parents, would never see the system at all, the technology had rejected them as a host.
F Rank citizens made up over half the planet, with the nanobots in their system serving only to assist doctors with testing them for injuries and illness. Alpha Rank Compatibility occurred in less than one percent of the population, making them the military elites, as that was their only available career path.
One late spring afternoon as Olivia and Dave, the friendly neighbourhood hacker, were returning to reality after playing Mecha combat games on hacked VR consoles, Dave's mood took a somber turn, causing Olivia to fear her only true friend was more seriously ill than he let on.
A poisonous attack had ruined his organs in battle, and he had lost the use of both legs, but so far the nanobots only had been capable of keeping his body stable in its crippled state, due to his low compatibility and inability to afford cybernetic surgery to repair the damage.
The veteran's benefits for infantry soldiers like Dave were barely above subsistence level, and an amputee with organ damage was in no position to take on full-time work.
"You'll be twelve years old soon, and off to the academy the first day of summer, so we need to get you ready. I got you a new uniform and some supplies." Dave finally told Olivia, handing her a package.
"The bus comes the day after my birthday, so this will be goodbye for a while at least. I'll return from school when I can." Olivia smiled at her friend who was searching for the cigarette pack sitting under his long numb leg.
"Aye, but first you must survive another Princess-themed birthday party. I swear that woman gets more delusional every year. Drugs are rotting her brain." Dave laughed, lighting a smoke from the pack he finally found and placing the pack back under his leg.
"Wanna spot me a bag of Flect? If she gets high enough she'll forget it's my birthday." Olivia teased her friend, knowing that Dave won't enable her mother's addiction.
"Tempting, but no. Now go, and be well until I see you again." Dave said, trying to hide his overflowing emotions as tears ran down his leathery cheeks and into his graying beard.
Author's note - I hope you all enjoy my book please remember to leave a review and comments.