Road Accident :
20 years of pure hardship, 20 years of hard work in the service of a boss who did not even recognize my value. I gave it my all, earning $20 a week for slave labor so my parents wouldn't die sick. A life of eating poor quality food. Solitary and with an antisocial behavior that has developed during these years of hell. Let's go back to the present, it's 6:23 p.m. and I'm going out for a walk on this cold December evening. Once out, the air coming from my lungs turned into a little mist as if I were smoking a cigarette. The atmosphere was icy, the street rather empty and silent. In this kind of weather, people stay at home by the fire. In the distance I see a lady and her daughter, no doubt returning from a candy store because the little girl was holding a spiral-shaped lollipop which she was licking cheerfully while skipping. I wait patiently for the pedestrian light to turn green before crossing this double road. The music from my headphones in my ears, I paid no attention to what was happening around me. It wasn't until the horn of a gray truck, two elephants long put end to end, started to sound that I became aware of the situation. The panicked look of the driver, a zigzag ride, all the signs for an accident are present. Frozen in place, the little girl with the lollipop and her mother watched in horror as the truck slammed into them.
A scenario worthy of a novel was unfolding before my eyes. In a few milliseconds, my stupid life flashed before my eyes, a life filled with pain, loneliness and suffering. Realizing that continuing in this world made no sense, my body rushed forward, covering the ten meters that separated me from the two girls and before the truck hit them, I pushed them violently to the side . Seeing them safe, I smiled for half a second before taking the full force of the heavy weight of several tons. A pain incomparable to anything I have experienced before took hold of me. My body shattered and I fell pathetically back onto the cold, hard tarmac.
"Sorry dad, sorry mum…" I said crying, knowing that the dead man was coming to pay me his first visit. A horrified cry suddenly sounded, but misunderstood because of the blood flowing in my ears. I felt arms around me, a panicked voice telling me that everything would be fine, that I would soon be saved. At these words I smile, my eyes are closed and the darkness invades me. I was 31 years old and my name was Altaïr like one of the bright stars that crosses the celestial vault.
"Altaïr...Altaïr...wake up!" It's the gene awakening ceremony! You must not be late, this ceremony can change your future! »
Opening my eyes suddenly, common brown eyes entered my gaze, followed by shaggy black hair that had no definite hairstyle.
"What… what is this fantasy? I say to myself
The moment before I die peacefully, so to speak I still took a truck, and now I wake up I don't know where, with I don't know who telling me about a gene awakening ceremony.
A searing pain in my head suddenly came over me. Memories of a person I do not know but whose name is Altaïr like me and whose age is 18 come to mind. He was born in a land roughly similar to mine but which has undergone a whole series of changes. Wild beasts have mutated, plants have grown monstrous, and new life forms have appeared. So far so good, but 1000 years ago beasts
Ancient and powerful have taken over the world. The dragons, the silver wolves led by the powerful Fenris, the snakes under the direction of his elders Jörmungand, Apophis or Medusa, in short the examples are long and the humans have been decimated. Reclusive in a small region of this gigantic world undergoing the assaults of smaller beasts than these powerful but who still have the determination to taste human flesh. Humans discovered they could awaken their genes through a special product with a seed source ingredient that has since been mass-cultivated. They would allow the human who eats it to have either no effect or to randomly awaken a gene conferring either a lineage for the beasts or an elemental ability and many other effects. This seed can only be eaten once, evidenced by the howls of pain that quickly died down from the brave who tested its effects.
Coming to my senses, I looked for two long seconds at this boy in front of me before finally remembering his first name: Max. Like me, he is not part of high society and he is also an orphan. Today is for us the day when we will take this miracle seed. The new government, mainly composed of powerful and wealthy awakened people, has defined that the taking of this seed will be done in the year of coming of age.
"Get dressed quickly, I'll be waiting for you outside and hurry up otherwise we'll be late because of you. He told me in a grumpy tone.
After he closed the door, I got up. Pulling one of my old baggy T-shirts and my patched tracksuit out of my closet, I got dressed in a hurry. Opening the door, I walked out without looking back, not quite adjusted yet but ready to live this exciting new life.