[Rebooting in 3...2...1]

[Initializing System Activation]

“Ahhh!” Dimitri screamed as he opened his eyes, tormented by the sharp throbbing searing through his head. Blinded by the intense pain, he instinctively tried to reach the source of his suffering - his head. However, his efforts seemed futile. He could not move both of his hands at all.

His prolonged scream eventually turned into a howl, his face now wet with tears, his lips trembling in anguish. With no sense of time, he endured the agonizing pain slowly spreading through deep inside his brain. His whole body appeared immobile.

Despite feeling the restraint of his immobility, Dimitri continued his futile attempts to struggle out of his confinement, ignoring the excruciating pain in his head. Numbness lingered all throughout his body. The growing feeling of discomfort became nearly unbearable.

About to give up trying, the severe pain in his head suddenly stopped. A strange sense of relief replaced his prior agony.

[System Activated]

When Dimitri regained his vision, a system prompt appeared right in front of him, dead center. At the upper right corner, a gear icon blinked continuously, awaiting his response. As his apparent paralysis rendered him unable to tap on the gear icon, he looked straight ahead.

Just behind the system prompt, he noticed a transparent monitor displaying all sorts of data. Seeing a photo of his face and a whole array of information plastered on the screen, he figured that he must be staring at his own health report. “What’s going on?”

At this moment, Dimitri realized that his body seemed to be lying inside a capsule. The white sphere and the memory flashbacks he had seen throughout his long dream-like state had disappeared. “Is this another dream?”

The AI butler peeked through the transparent glass enclosing the capsule with a beaming smile. “Finally, you are awake!”

***

“How do you feel, Dimitri?” The hologram, wearing a white coat and spectacles, hovered in front of the young man still lying inside the capsule. “You were screaming! Were you in pain?”

The AI butler pressed a button to open the capsule, releasing the restraints at the same time.

Dimitri, in a new bodysuit, simply nodded. Forcing himself up, he rubbed his forehead, trying to remove any traces of pain. “Where am I?”

“You are still in Shangri-la, silly!” The hologram replied with a hint of sarcasm. The AI butler wrote something on his clipboard then shifted his gaze back to the young man. “Still having amnesia?”

Dimitri nodded. He noticed the gear icon that kept blinking at the upper right corner of his line of sight. He looked around, observed his surroundings, then blinked twice.

The young man still saw the same blinking gear icon. He tried to move his head in different directions. Yet, the gear icon remained stuck at the upper right corner of his line of sight. “What happened to me?”

“You have just awakened from a 51-day coma!” The AI butler pointed his left hand at the mirrored wall next to the capsule, then adjusted his spectacles. He did all these while still holding the clipboard firmly with his right hand.

Dimitri glanced at the direction the hologram pointed to seconds ago, completely baffled by the recent turn of events. The whole mirrored wall suddenly turned into a gigantic flat screen TV. It showed videos of him still unconscious inside the pod. “What do you mean by a 51-day coma?”

“Hmmm, slow comprehension!” The AI butler mumbled to himself, his mocking voice purposely loud enough for the young man to hear. The hologram continued to write on his clipboard, talking to himself.

“Ever since your return, you seemed a bit off!” The AI butler looked at Dimitri contemplatively. “No, a bit off would be an understatement.”

“Stupid!” The hologram suddenly mocked him. “Now, that is the word I was looking for.”

“I mean, why was I in a coma?” Dimitri glared at the AI butler, ignoring its mocking tone.

“Beats me!” The hologram shrugged. “You fainted in between tests. And since then, you never woke up, not even once, not until now.”

Dimitri sensed the futility of extracting information from the AI butler, shifting his focus back to the blinking icon. “How about this gear icon then?”

“What icon?” The hologram saw the young man pointing at nothing in particular.

The AI butler, with a puzzled expression, stared at Dimitri’s finger raised midair.

“This icon.” The young man insisted, still pointing at the gear icon floating between them. “What is this for?”

“Hmmm, showing signs of hallucination.” The hologram jeered, writing more notes on his clipboard. “Oh boy, you sure sound cuckoo!”

“I’m not hallucinating!” Dimitri stopped explaining further when he saw the overt mockery in the AI butler’s expression. “You know what, never mind! It’s completely pointless, talking to you.”

“Hmmm, quite temperamental, too!” The hologram seemed oblivious to the young man’s annoyance. “Oh boy, this list is getting longer. I might need to get a mob of doctors in here to do further tests.”

“I’m done here.” Dimitri tried to stand up, but his knees felt weak. He abruptly sat back down involuntarily.

“For the time being, I highly recommend you stay still and rest!” The AI butler insisted at the sight of the young man’s inability to stand. “I just introduced a muscle stimulant into your IV line to counter the muscle degeneration induced by your extended coma. It normally takes an hour or two to restore full muscle control.”

“I will see you in two hours!” The hologram disappeared.

“Jerk! What an @sshole!” Out of frustration, Dimitri tapped the gear icon. A transparent screen appeared right below it.

The young man’s scowl turned serious. He stared at the single grayed-out lightbulb icon found on the virtual screen. The icon’s label simply said, ”Host Memory.”

Out of sheer curiosity, Dimitri tapped the grayed-out lightbulb icon. He then heard a beep followed by a series of system prompts.

[Host Memory Integration - 61.90%]

[Warning: Usage Restriction Due To Limited Function Mode Activation]

[System Availability Duration - Reached]

[Try Again Later]

“What is this thing?”

***

“The council has already decided!” The old man sitting in his leather chair listened with apprehension. He looked directly at the hologram of a hooded figure, anxiously hoping for good news.

“You can no longer save him, Ivan! Please refrain from doing anything. Otherwise, we could all be exposed.”

The old man sighed. The news turned out to be worse than he had expected. He knew for a fact that the person on the other line was right.

“The decree has already been rolled out. The emissary is on his way. Dimitri’s survival is all up to himself now.”

The recording ended.