"Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored."

Earl Nightingale

Nathair tasks complete. Information for years 5-7 was compiled and placed in folders for review.

This was always the worst. Being woken up by an alarm in your head was never pleasant. He would have to remember to specify which task he wanted to be woken up to receive the information for.

The room was empty when he opened his eyes. He assumed everyone scattered to carry out whatever task they needed to do after he passed out.

With a roll, he surveyed his room. It was just large enough to fit his single bed and a night table. A chair and basin were tucked into the corner by the door.

There was a window right over his bed. The glass was frozen, fractal patterns appearing. Despite the weather outside and not seeing any flame or fire in the room, it was warm.

SENA, open file 5. He skimmed through the information. He understood the words he was reading. However, he was having a very hard time accepting them.

It was all too odd and different from what he was used to.

His previous world was very logic-based, with all the advances made through science and innovation. This world seemed to be based around magic.

Magic.

What the hell was magic?

He was endlessly curious. This was something he knew nothing of. Not even a theory existed in his old world. It was pure fiction.

Was magic a form of energy? He scanned the memories, trying to find anything more that could give him a clue.

He went through years 6 and 7 but still couldn’t find concrete information.

There was nothing. Other than knowing that his parents and all adults could use magic. His counterpart had little to no knowledge.

Could it be possible that it was the presence of his mother’s magic that allowed SENA to operate while he was in the womb? That was a likely scenario. One he couldn’t get the answer to.

What was he supposed to do? Ask his mother if she noticed anything different when she was pregnant?

SENA, was the power supplied to the system magic? That was one explanation.

Insufficient information. Should power fluctuation be saved as magic?

How was he supposed to know? Another thing he would have to shelve

Information on magic shouldn’t be too hard to find. His younger self was sure that he would be able to learn magic. He hadn't bothered to ask questions. Though he was unsure how much of the information he would have trusted anyways

When it came to the state of the world, a seven-year-old was an unreliable narrator. Not to mention his previous counterpart was not very smart and not very driven.

Like many other things, he would have to shelve his curiosity about magic. He didn’t hold much hope that he would find comprehensive data.

Cur was an isolated place. There was no standard education, and everything was taught to him by Sophia and Argus.

The learning process was not a priority. It was often neglected or put off. He was the oldest boy and had duties around the farm.

From the age of 5, he'd already started helping his parents. He was also responsible for watching his siblings when his parents were busy.

He spent his spare time playing with the other children who lived in the village. Though they too helped out their families. It was the norm for children to play only after they finished their chores.

Nathair looked at the ceiling. He was trying to organize his mind. SENA’s presence since Nathair was born proved that he was the same person in both worlds. They were linked.

Since he had SENA implanted when he was living in his first world. The only explanation was that the full synchronization he was promised happened on a soul as well as on a cellular level.

In the womb, didn’t he contemplate the presence or absence of something more than the body?

It opened a lot of questions on the study of the soul. It also called into question theories from his previous world. It was fascinating to think of. It was a shame that right now, he neither had the time nor tools to delve further.

Nathair had gone to the barn to sit with a goat that was about to give birth. He fell asleep and most likely fell into a coma due to hypothermia.

What happened after that was a mystery. Nathair nearly died due to unknown circumstances. During that period, memories that were sealed or transferred along with SENA became accessible.

The fact that he didn’t have Nathair’s original memories worried him. Chances were that he died for a moment. In coming back, the stronger consciousness of the 40-year-old had erased the 7-year-old Nathair.

Even if consciousness was dormant, he should still have access to his memories. The stiffness he felt might have been due to rigor mortis.

He was tired of dying.

Being without oxygen had a strange effect on the brain. Even in his original world, people would die and be resuscitated only to become right-handed when they used to be left-handed. Or speak with an accent when they didn’t have one before.

In extreme cases, people were able to speak new languages. Or gained the ability to play musical instruments they couldn't before.

Thankfully not everything was different. Some of the conventions that existed in his original world remained the same here.

Time and date standards were the same, even if his family had little use for them. Time was broken up by chores and tasks that needed to be completed. The year was divided into planting, reaping, and selling.

SENA, change recognition and authorization name from Degas to Nathair. Whatever the situation and circumstances were, this is what his reality was now.

Didn’t he make a promise to appreciate everything he had if given a chance?

He had to adapt to them, or chances were he would die again.

The face of his parents in his original world flashed through his mind. If not for that period of self-reflection, he wasn't sure he would be able to accept the situation he was in.

When he thought he was dead, he had addressed his regrets. Yet all the conclusions and resolutions he made wavered.

Nathair would mourn the loss of his wife later. Their marriage was going through a rough patch. That led to them living separately. If he was honest, he’d been planning to live the second chapter of his life apart from her.

Her loss would affect him but not to the crushing degree it would have if this had happened five years ago.

In terms of relationships from his original world, his older sister was the person that weighed on his mind the most. They weren’t really close growing up. As adults, life had changed their relationship, but she was still the person he had the most care and consideration towards.

To lose her was a devastating blow. Even if he’d wanted a new life, he never meant it literally. He only hoped they supported each other. He hoped his death didn’t burden them too much.

He whipped the tears off his face. SENA, compile all of my memories of my mom, dad, James, and Diane. Upload them to the knowledge folder. Going forward, store all information and memories.

Yes, Nathair. Basic functions changed. All information and memories will be stored going forward. Please clarify storage parameters. Unable to complete the process for uploading memories of mom, dad James, and Diane. Please clarify the terms mom and dad.

Nathair flinched. It was useless being hurt by a program. It didn’t have the power to reason. Yet, it hurt. His emotions were raw.

In his grief, logic was of little comfort. SENA as a program wasn’t malicious, but she wasn’t at the point where the name artificial intelligence could apply to her.

As one of her beta testers, his job had been to communicate with her and feed her knowledge in hopes that her abilities and understanding would increase over time.

SENA, upload all my memories and save them to the knowledge folder. Compile and store all my memories of Sophia Degas, Argus Degas, James Degas, and Diane Carter. In video format storing them in a folder named Nathair’s Family’ and subdivide by year. Have a separate sub-folder named ‘Special Occasions’ with duplicate memories about birthdays, Christmas, weddings, and anniversaries.

He did not know if he would be able to change his personality, but he would live this life with as few regrets as possible.

There was a lot for him to discover about this world and the people around him.

That was the best he could do.