Beginner's Gift

Lucas, under the table lamp, ran the pen in his diary. It has become a habit of his to write. Adding a few longer sentences, he filled the entire page.

Getting up from the chair, he stretched his hands and pressed his shoulders; he pushed the table lamp off.

The digital clock on the table turned 10:00. Lucas entered the bed. He snuggled inside the blanket with his wife already sleeping.

Maybe due to tiredness, he fell fast asleep.

...

*Gasping for air* Lucas opened his eyes. *Heavy breathing*

His entire body jolted, and he sat up in bed. He clutched his head with both of his hands.

Lucas released a muffled sound from pain, 'What is with the headache in the middle of the night?'

Lucas inserted his hand under his pillow and rummaged through it. Not wanting to wake his wife up, he pulled a palm-length flashlight and turned it on.

Crawling out of bed, he walked to the living room. He opened the drawer below the TV case and took a pill.

He walked to the kitchen, filled a cup, and swallowed the pills called Excedrin.

While returning, he felt a tingling sensation in his limbs; every step felt heavy and unstable. It was just a moment for his legs to stop supporting him. He tried to call out for his wife, but the sound did not leave his throat.

Facing the situation, he took the support of the wall and reached the couch to fall on.

[Ding! System Binding Initiating.]

[Dear host, taking your safety in mind, you will not be able to talk and move till the binding completes.]

[Estimated time: 1: 58: 27]

'What in the hell?' He screamed his mind out.

[Instruction unclear.]

'Did I take the wrong medicine?'

[Host body analyzing... Analysis complete. Detecting a combination of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine. The host has taken substances for pain relief.]

'Am I hallucinating?'

[No. There are no symptoms of hallucination detected in your body.]

'Then who the hell is talking in my head?'

[I am an intellectually advanced sentient system. My database lacks information more than this on my existence.]

'What are you doing in my head?'

[I have been drifting through time and space, searching for a stable host to integrate myself. You happen to be the perfect candidate.]

'Are you something like an Artificial Intelligence or maybe a parasitic alien?' He felt his situation was like out of a movie or a novel.

[Both. My nature is like an AI, and I am not from your world.]

Lucas went silent.

[Please continue asking your questions.]

'Oh. OK. Are you like some very tiny Alien? How did you enter my body?'

[I am considered Alien due to my origin. I do not have a physical body. I travel through time and space as a form of energy. So, I just entered your body; there is no procedure or path. And I am currently occupying Cerebrum as my humble abode.]

'And why are you specifically in my head of all people?'

[There are two reasons. I can disclose only one.]

'And what is that?'

[Your uncanny trait to remain calm in an extreme situation.]

'What's uncanny about that? Most people are capable of doing unspeakable things during the extreme situation.' He retorted due to the absurd reason for entering his brain.

[In medical description: If any part of the brain or sensory organs is over-stimulated it leads to sensory overload, which is bad for the human brain. But not for you. In your case overstimulation increases your brain activity and processing speed of your brain. You are the perfect candidate to house me without going mad. For example...]

When the voice in his head faded, some pictures started sprouting in his mind. The pictures started moving and started playing like a movie. Lucas's mind dug some memories from the past.

"Stop... Stop it... Stop..." He screamed a few words in his mind and returned to silence. His face which was frozen a moment ago showed anger and changed into an indifferent expression.

[See... This is what I am talking about.]

Trying to suppress those memories nearly pushed him to insanity in the past. He did not want to remember them ever again.

[Sorry for the inconvenience. I will store these memories in the deepest part of your subconsciousness. It will be impossible for you to access these memories without my permission.]

Lucas did not comment on this matter, as his memories of those events regressed to a minimum.

'What do you want?'

[I just want to survive. I just need a little bit of help.]

'Get to the point.'

[I need negative energy as sustenance.]

'Why not positive energy?'

[Due to my reasons. Negative energy is my food source and is the only information I can release at the moment.]

'Elaborate.'

[Fear, hatred, and jealousy, towards you will provide me with the negative energy. You are a conductor for such energy.]

'What benefit do I get?'

[You get to rule the world.]

'....'

[You don't believe me. Just wait a moment.]

[Halting binding progress... Starting the world scan. Scan complete.]

[Binding progress continued.]

[An Empire that exists only in tales. An Empire that exists only in the shadow. An Empire that controls everything hiding behind the scenes. An Empire where you are the only ruler, lawmaker, judge, and executioner.]

'It sounds similar to a gang or shady organization.'

[Ignorant. Don't compare my badass plan using such vulgar words.]

'So, Empire is badass?'

[No, it's just a term I used to describe to you my purpose. We need to work together to create a new name for the Empire.]

'Don't you think it is more bad-ass without a name?' Lucas blurted out without giving it much thought.

[What do you mean?]

'Fear of the unknown is the highest level of fear. I think it was called DREAD. I think I saw it in some movie or similar.'

[Exceptional thinking. I didn't make any mistake choosing you.]

'Really?' Lucas heard the excitement in the voice out of nowhere.

[Yes.]

'But why do you expect that I will help you?' Lucas asked witnessing the confidence-filled voice.

[Because I am in your brain.]

Lucas didn't comment on this matter too.

'You can read everything on my mind.'

[Until the binding process is going on, I sure can.]

'Then you should be aware of my beliefs and moral values too.'

[I sure am.]

'After knowing them, do you still think I will follow you?'

[Yes.]

...

For two hours, a QnA session continued.

[Binding Complete.]

[Integration of system complete.]

[Releasing the Beginner's pack. Do you want to open it?]

'Yes.' A transparent blue screen appeared in front of his eyes. Even in the darkness of the living room, he could easily see the contents.

[Beginner's pack (2):

Item 1: A random character profile. (High chance of getting a necessary profile.)

Item 2: Choice (a) Common Financial asset (b) A rare character profile of a specific field.

--Available field: Finance, Intelligence Network, Executioners, Spy, Hackers]

[Please make a choice.]

Lucas went through the contents one by one.

[I hope you will make a good choice.]

"Open item 2 first. I want a financial asset."

[Beginner's pack Item 2: Common Financial asset

Asset name: Casino Royale

Location: Paradise, San Andreas

Estimated Income: Hundred million dollars per annum]

'Damn, what an absurd number?' Lucas nearly screamed.

[This is just the beginning.]

[Please choose a character for handling the responsibilities of the asset.]

'What do you mean by handling?'

[You are the boss hiding behind the scenes. Underlings are responsible for handling this sort of thing.]

'Well, then open Item 1.'