"Ladies and gentlemen, please ensure your seatbelts are securely fastened and your seatbacks are in their full upright position. Our estimated flight time is six hours. We kindly ask you to turn off all electronic devices in preparation for takeoff. We wish you a pleasant and comfortable flight."
Michael was deeply reclined in his comfortable seat by the airplane window, his AirPods plugged in, completely isolated from the cabin's hum by the rhythmic beats of his music. His eyes, however, weren't closed; they were fixed on his phone screen. He hadn't turned it off. Instead, he was intensely reviewing recorded footage of his most legendary matches in the PUBG world championships. His fingers twitched instinctively over the screen, analyzing firing angles and enemy rotations with the cold precision of a pro.
Michael ignored the instructions with practiced indifference. He only pulled out his earphones, keeping his phone glowing in the palm of his hand as he continued watching the final circle of a high-stakes match. As the hours passed and the plane cut through dense clouds, the passengers surrendered to sleep. The faint glow from Michael's screen remained the only light in his row.
Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the aircraft, jolting everyone awake. The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom, sounding strained for the first time:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. We are experiencing some unexpected severe turbulence. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts immediately. There is no need for pan—"
He never finished the sentence.
A massive bolt of lightning—not mere electricity, but a concentrated mass of glowing black energy—struck the heart of the plane. In a fraction of a second, the world exploded in a deafening roar. Metal tore like wet paper, and passengers were hurled into the dark void.
Michael felt no pain. Instead, he felt a massive, invisible force pulling at his very essence, as if his entire being was being peeled away. The phone in his hand began to liquify, turning into shimmering light particles that merged with his own cells, converting his memories and pro-level skills into streams of digital data and binary code.
The last thing he saw before everything went black was a transparent screen flickering in the void, displaying a cold, digital message:
[Loading Data...]
[Identifying Entity: Michael]
[Assigning Functional Role: BOT_ID_001]
Then, total darkness took over... a silence broken only by the distant whistle of wind and the unmistakable scent of the grass of Erangel.