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Attention!

As most of you know I have been focused on publishing the first 3 Volumes of the story into one book, it is a big step to self publish myself and it takes a lot of work to rewrite, edit and check 110 thousand words while keeping to the original storyline but improving it at certain parts.

I have personally undersestimated how much time and effort it takes and I can't support the current schedule of uploading one Chapter A day so I have decided to change it FOR NOW!

There will be 1 Chapter every 2 days while I work and finish my book, after I am finished with it the schedule changes back to 1 Chapter per day so no worries, it is not gone forever. :)

I hope you can understand my reasoning!

Chapter 49: Origin

It was dark.

A cold chill crawled over him and out of reflex he went into a fetus position to preserve the warmth in his tiny body.

Voices were all around him, the sound of machinery and footsteps that came closer.

His eyes had trouble focusing, all he was able to see was blurry shapes that moved around, faceless people in white.

His hearing steadily improved until words that made no sense to him started to be filtered out.

"Subject is steady, heart rate and brain activity normal."

"Good, prepare for the final testing to awaken the subconscious and conscious mind at the same time.

We only have one shot at this..."

An unsteady voice mixed into the jumble of nonsense that he was unable to comprehend, noises that he had never heard.

"Doctor Henderson, do you really think it is a good idea to continue with the human testing?

I can understand that it was your dream to achieve results but your son..."

A rough voice interrupted the shaky one, Makoto was unable to understand what was said but the tone alone made his little body shiver and he hugged into the soft blanket that was around him.

"You clearly do not understand me Jacob.

He might be my son but this is for all of humanity and a step into the right direction, prepare to inject the subject for the final time.

We shall see if it is possible to awaken a human's mind to its full potential."

"Sir, I can not go through with this anymore, the side effects alone on his mind could be catastrophic and the drug has not even been tested on animals yet.

The risk that it poses for a newborn child-"

"I said do it Jacob or do I have to get rid of you and do it myself?!"

Silence filled the room.

Again footsteps resounded around him and a shadow dimmed his blurry vision.

"Administering subject with the last dosage of TX-459..."

A sudden sting like he had felt it so many times already appeared on his neck but he was used to it at this point and he did not even cry, only a slight frown appeared on his face as he turned around to get into a more comfortable position.

The voices around him had stopped.

Together with a sluggish feeling that suddenly creeped into his body, strange words resounded around him again.

"Vitals are stable, heart rate remains the same while brain activity has increased by 50% and continues to rise. It seems to be working Doctor Henderson."

"Why wouldn't it? I have spent the last 15 years of my life to get this far so the experiment can not fail under any circumstances."

Together with the sluggish feeling a sudden pain inside his head started to greatly disturb him.

His instincts were sounding all and every alarm bell and Makoto knew that something bad was happening with him

Even if he didn't understand the words or the knowledge, his instincts alone told him that something was very wrong with him.

"Brain activity in the frontal lobe has reached an increase of 200%, all other parts of the brain have reached an average of 125% above the norm."

Pain.

First just a sting that kept getting worse inside his head.

Right away he opened his mouth and the wailing of a baby echoed in the large room.

As the pain increased, so did the intensity of his scream.

He could still hear the voices around him, they now had to shout to be heard over his screams.

"Abnormally in his temporal lobe, nearly a 400% increase in only a few seconds, Doctor Henderson he is going to have a seizure at this rate!"

"Continue with the observations until I say it is enough!"

His entire head felt like it was splitting apart.

The before blurry vision turned sharp and he could see distinct faces of men and women in white clothes all around him as they watched either him or monitors.

"His vitals are off the charts! Doctor Henderson I am begging you give him the serum and put an end to this, your son is going to die if we continue!"

"Jacob! I told you to shut up! What is his condition!?"

After a short pause where his screams increased yet again another shout filled the room.

"Overall activity increased by nearly 700% and starting to stabilize, that he is even alive right now is a miracle!"

Makoto could feel it, between the pain and everything else he could feel someone else.

First it was only a flicker but soon enough other thoughts mixed with his own, darker thoughts and with them came a wave of emotions that he had never before felt.

"His temporal lobe has started to go off the fritz! 900% increased activity and drastically rising!"

Together with IT he could feel how his mind was nearly torn apart by the pain and Makoto's vision started to darken while all color disappeared, only shades of red were left behind.

"Doctor Henderson! He is going critical!"

Together with the voice that shouted something that made no sense, his body started to twitch and tense, breathing became impossible and the pain in his head got even worse.

He could see the figure of a man standing above him, watching him with an unhappy face.

After a few seconds in which his body started to thrash about, bringing him even more pain he could see how the figure opened its mouth and the same cold and sharp voice from before echoed through the room.

"Give him the serum, conclude the final test as a failure.

Jacob, destroy our previous research and burn the evidence."

Once again the shaky voice resounded in the room, seemingly unsure.

"All of it, Sir?"

"Yes, all of it. No point in keeping it archived if the final result of 15 long years of research turns out to be a failure.

Make sure to get rid of any loose ends we might have concerning our backers, tell them that I am sorry."

Makoto could feel how a strong grip pinned his thrashing body down and yet again pain from his neck shot to his head but with it came a strange sense of relief.

The pain started to lessen, he could breathe again without any problems and the twitching in his body had stopped.

Once again the wailing of a baby resounded in the room as he could feel the other growl and thrash about in his head.

Makoto could feel how it started to lose substance, pulled back to the deep and dark place that it had clawed its way free from but something had changed.

Even if it was gone he could still feel that it was there, asleep now but clearly waiting for a chance to break free once again.

Tears started to flow down his cheeks and he snuggled into the soft blanket that was now disheveled.

Makoto was scared of the people that had done this to him but even more so was he scared of this thing that was now inside of him.

He had felt what it felt and even a few seconds of experiencing these strong emotions had scarred him.

A plea for comfort mixed itself into the wailing but no one came to hug him.

Makoto missed his Mommy...

.....

Drenched in sweat he awoke.

The first light of the new day was quite a bit away but Makoto still stood up to at least change his shirt that was stuck to him.

His mind was foggy, a strange mist clouded it and he was unable to remember anything about his dream.

One thing he was sure of was that it had not been a good one.

Unable to shake the dizziness in his head, Makoto stumbled into the kitchen.

With a quick motion he turned on the tap and without even grabbing a glass he started to drink from it like an animal, uncaring for any civil standards and only concerned by his own greed to fill up his water reserves again.

His entire apartment was still in the dark and he had not bothered turning on any lights.

Staring at his own blurry reflection in the flooded sink his mind drifted off.

After the water calmed down it was like a clear mirror that shined in the moonlight, showing his own face and a pair of crimson red eyes.

Makoto knew that this meant something but not what exactly.

Shaky on his own two legs he returned to his bed.

Lady luck did not grace him with sleep again but at least his eyes and body had time to rest even if his mind was trying to piece together this strange dream that he had.

Even after the sun shined on his face, blinding him as he opened his sleep deprived eyes, the feeling that he was close to remembering his dream was still there.

Mentally and physically tired, Makoto got ready for College.

It was Friday, the last day of the week and the only thing separating him from a nice time with his friends.

Naturally his thoughts always came back to a specific topic, Sharon.

Even after a whole week of spending time with her it was still a mystery to him how and why she loved him, then again he could also not pinpoint why exactly he loved her.

Sure she was beautiful but it was more than that, he could blame it on her kind and understanding nature but was that really it?

The true reason why he loved her was probably because she had seen the beast, or at least a glimpse of it.

She had seen it and instead of being repulsed or disgusted she had accepted and supported him.

Sharon was the only thing in his life that seemed real, the only person that had never really given him a reason to doubt her intentions.

Even the way she told him about her real self was honest, who really would go through the effort of finding someone through a game and then to show up like she had?

The reason she hid her identity was simple too, first it was because she was bound by contract but later on after realizing her feelings for him she was just too scared of losing him for good if she didn't tell him properly so he in no way resented her actions but instead could empathize with them.

It just showed what kind of person she was, a generally honest one.

That was probably the best reason to say why he liked her, because she had simply honest feelings for him and was a good person.

It might sound a bit shallow but that was the core reason together with all the others like her personality, behavior and nature that appealed to him.

The question now was, what did she see in him?

He was neither especially handsome nor of good character, if he had to objectively look at himself he would even say that he was a bad person as shown by how much he ignored his own mother most of the time.

Bad character traits, clearly not a looker and on top of that a mental problem which he even tried to keep under wraps from his own girlfriend...

In a way he was the exact opposite to her but his reasoning was that he was too scared of letting her see his other side.

Makoto might not be good natured guy per se but showing her the beast inside of him that had recently awakened again was... not something he ever wanted to do.

The thought alone scared him that she could look at him the same way that his father had after finding out about it...

Makoto was the reason his Dad left after all.

Shaking his head to get his mind back on track he quickly went to the bathroom and swallowed an array of pills.

It supposedly helped keep the thing in chains but honestly he had seen no visible effect, quite the opposite actually, it was getting worse.

Sure he had neglected his medication but that was after everything was finally starting to look normal and only recently did it start again...

Stopping what he was doing he looked at himself in the mirror, a clearly shocked expression on his face as something fell into place.

The beast had started to act up precisely after he had entered Azalon for the first time.

Could a dive into a virtual reality put a certain pressure on his mental health that reawakened it from its slumber again?

What about other people with mental issues, could they also worsen from the game?

Had Makoto actually found a big problem with this supposedly safe device?

Naturally the first thing he wondered was why it was not on the news as he doubted that he had been the only one affected but the answer was not hard to come by.

Just watching the news the other day was enough to show just how crazy the entire world had become with the possibilities that Virtual Reality held.

Who actually cared about the small percentage of people that could be affected in a bad way from it all?

With a company growing as much as Ouroboros currently was with 50 million new clients after only one month of beta testing clearly showed how all of this was only the beginning.

If the numbers were right, 213 million others had already posted their demand for a Capsule on the forums.

What mattered a few thousand mentally ill or possible victims with so much money to earn?

The influence Ouroboros had been able to get alone was probably enough to silence the protesting voices that asked for compensation

Makoto knew that the world was a dark and sinister place for normal citizens that angered a big company.

Naturally he had to ask himself if he would still play the game after realizing the effects that it had on his mind and surprisingly he was more than willing.

Without even realizing it he had become an addict to a world that did not exist but felt more real than the one he was born in.

Makoto had felt more joy in this man made one than he ever had in the real one.

Without Azalon he wouldn't even have his current girlfriend so could he really complain that his mental health was a bit hurting from it?

Honestly speaking it wasn't even so bad and the medication should help.

Deceiving himself mentally by saying everything would be alright even as doubt was nagging at him, he quickly left his apartment and walked to College.

Unwilling to let go of everything that he had gained he decided to take on the consequences.

Who could really blame him?

Abandoning friends after being alone all this time?

Leaving the girl that he always dreamed of?

Dismissing Virtual Characters that had been kinder and more understanding towards him than real people?

Was there even a need to ask which world he would decide to live in if given the choice?

With new determination and well aware that the other was following and watching his every step he made his choice.

…..

With unstable knees he walked a few steps.

His father was kneeling before him with outstretched arms and a happy smile.

"Come on, I know you can do it Makoto."

Putting a bit more strength into his legs and encouraged by his Daddy's words it didn't take long for him to reach his goal and he even did it without falling over.

"Good job my little boy, good job!"

Happy about being praised he put his head into his fathers chest while also receiving a big hug.

What he was not able to see was his fathers face that immediately lost the happy smile as he nodded towards a researcher that was eagerly taking notes.

"Motor skills seem to develop stable and without any problems, tests will be held every 3 months until he reaches an age of 5 after which he will have to take a controlled dosage of medication to keep his brain in the normal scope of activity. The side effects we have concluded are only minor and can be treated easily."

Nodding at the researchers words his Daddy put him down again and looked into his eyes.

"Did you hear that Makoto? You are a healthy little boy but we still need to do a few tests, did you think it was fun?"

Nodding happily and wanting to be praised again he could see his father smile yet again.

"See, it wasn't that bad at all. Come on, let's go and see Mommy shall we?"

Turning towards another man in white he quickly gave a few orders.

"Make sure that all files are classified and wipe any and all records about the abnormal results, make sure to bribe the right people should they get a hunch that something is amiss.

No one can find out what we have done, understand?"

Quickly nodding, the man went to work and his father picked him up with yet another big smile.

"What do you say we get some ice cream to celebrate?"

"Yaaayyyy, ice cream!"

Makoto happily screamed while hugging his father.

Doctor Henderson only showed a wry smile.

The expression of love and affection towards his son was only visible whenever the little boy could see his fathers face, every time he turned away the mask dropped and a calculating stare with a stern face was beneath it all.

It was the same mask he wore around his wife, the same mask everyone except his research team knew and associated him with.

The mask of a happy family man that cared only about his family...

-----

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Hope you enjoyed this little twist to the whole story :P

And no we are not going into the Supernatural category, this is still Sci-Fi :P

Anyways, see you all in 2 days and I am interested to see what you all comment. ^^