The images shattered without warning.
The mirror having the transparent water trembled, ripples tearing across its surfaces like cracks spreading through glass, Josh barely had time to react before a violent pull seized his chest, dragging him forward.
The darkness pressed in from every direction with suffocating force as if the space was rejecting him.
Wait!!!! He said hoarsely.
He felt his body stretched unnaturally, thinning into threads of pale lights even as he couldn't see clearly but he felt it.
Josh was slammed back to himself not physically but it felt so as being hit by a wooden desk.
He jolted upright with sharp gasps, lungs burning as if he had been pulled out of deep water, sweat clung to his skin making his clothes damp and heavy.
His vision snapped back into existence the rattling metal bunk bed, the sunlight pouring through the window, the curtain swaying lazily in the breeze.
He felt a strong throbbing pain faintly, a little sensitive like something remolding his inside.
Josh used his hands to rub his eyes trying helping his vision. Solid. Real.
He could feel his hands and the temperature around him his eyes twinkled with different emotion but his face remained calm but not internally as he was battling with himself inside trying to understand what was going on.
"what is this.... W...what is going on" said josh thoughtfully.
Memories not belonging to him but felt like it flooded his head.
"Hey--- are you okay up there?"
The voice startled him.
Josh looked down to see one of the strange youths standing near the foot of the bunk bed. Up close, the clothes looked even more bizarre, soft fabric, bright designs, no trace of his known clothing, well that was what he thought.
"You were shaking pretty badly", the guy said. "Thought you were having some kind of episode"
Josh hesitated.
For a split second, he felt two answers rising in his mind-one from himself, and the owner of the body, well his other self-body.....yet the second one won.
"I'm fine," josh said quietly.
It sounded smooth and natural as he replied.
The guy nodded, unconcerned, and turned away.
Josh's gaze drifted toward the desk near the window. One of the glowing rectangular objects lay there, its screen lighting up on its own symbols, images, strange moving words...
And yet, as the stared at it, understanding bloomed effortlessly in his mind.
It felt like remembering something he forgot and gaining an understanding of it even if it wasn't his memories but he was still confused but he decided to take it slowly and check out what exactly is going on slowly.
"So that's it....." he murmured. "We're overlapping," and existing together.
Josh leaned back against the cold walls eyes fixed on the ceiling above the bunk. Somewhere deep inside him, he could still feel the dark, silent, space-the place.
Josh sat cross-legged on the narrow top bunk, his back resting lightly against the cold wall. The room was quiet now, his roommates had stepped out, leaving behind only a faint hum of distant voices and the steady tick of something mechanical he couldn't see.
He closed his eyes.
Think, think, he told himself.
He slowed his breathing the way he used to during quiet nights back, based on the memories he had.
.....in through the nose, out through the mouth. At first nothing happened. Just darkness behind his eyelids and the lingering ache in his skull.
Then he felt something, a pressure pressed gently against his awareness, like someone knocking on the inside of his mind.
The darkness, thickened and faint lines of pale light began to form, weaving together symbols that refused to stay still.
Josh frowned.
"...that space again?"
Before he could focus further, a soft, neutral voice echoed inside his head.
"Synchronization detected."
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UPDATE ON CHAPTER 5
I will post the next chapter after Christmas 🎄
Happy Christmas eve everyone hope y'all enjoy ya day tomorrow is Christmas and I hope y'all enjoy ya self and also cool down with my next update on my next book WORLD TWISTED END
Hope y'all enjoy ya day and do comment and vote with your thoughts on the book thank you.
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Josh's eyes snapped open.
His breath caught. Who.....?
The voice sounded in his head. Slightly calm...incomplete
"Designation pending."
"....intializing cognitive support protocol."
"Guardian construct online."
A translucent interface flickered briefly at the edge of his vision.
Josh's pulse quickened. He didn't panic, strangely, it felt.... Somehow familiar; based on information in his head since this body had read, books, comics and manga of this world as he felt what they call the
"GOLDEN FINGER"
"... Are you a system?" he asked quietly.
There was a pause, not mechanically thoughtful.
"Affirmative."
"Provisional name: Aegis."
"Function: Guidance, stabilization, and continuity support following transgressive consciousness overlap."
Josh absorbed the words slowly, selecting his words and thoughts.
"So you're.... not something everyone has."
"Correct."
"You are classified as an anomaly."
Those words made his chest tighten, having thoughts and fears in which he can't fathoms.
"Am I in danger?"
Another pause.
"Constantly"
Josh let out a breath somewhere between a laugh or cry even without tears, he just wanted to rest before he continues his quest, but now he finds himself here.
"well... it figures." Josh exclaimed softly while sighing.
The interface sharpened slightly, still minimal no overwhelming screens just a quiet presence.
"Current host state: Baseline human."
"Compatibility influenced by alternate self-mutation"
"Potential suppressed"
Josh's brow furrowed. "Alternate self..... You mean the other me."
"Confirmed"
"Rank detected."
"Loading..."
"Rank: time affinity mutation-external timeline. {LOCKED}"
His heart skipped.
Why is my wind ability locked? Asked josh even as he is getting a little upset and angry at the moment.
I am complaining that my ability is low ranked and you are telling me I can't use it, what kind of f****d s**t are you telling me huh.....
"Based on the constitution of the user the base line of a mortal to use it
Is an Apprentice.
But the user body is weak"
Josh closed his eyes again, grumbling to himself "what can you do right now."
"Limited functionality..."
"Cognitive assistance uploading...."
"Memory stabilization uploading..."
"Basic directive issuance uploading..."
"Completed."
"----------Quest issued---------"
".....Quest?" josh thought confused.
A faint change passed through the voice.
"Guidance objective issued...."
A simple line of words displayed on a translucent panel hovering in his vision.
"What Objective?... He was so confused.
"Build user constitution"
Stabilize consciousness overlap
Understand current world parameters.
"Reward"
"Unlocking gene and upgrade of system"
Josh stared at it for a long moment; digesting the information in him, there wasn't a countdown or procedure on how to accomplish these but I will find out later.
"...You're growing too, aren't you?" he asked sarcastic.
Another brief silence.
" oh well never mind"
For the first time since waking up in this strange world josh felt something other than fear.
Confidence.
Whatever Aegis was or whatever he himself was becoming, this wasn't random anymore at the least.
It was the beginning of something that would grow.... Alongside him.
Or that was what he thought.