System Synchronization Complete

"At least all the apple pieces went to me..." Liam muttered to himself as he licked the tips of his fingers, which were still slightly sweet.

Even when sprinkled with dirt, the apples were too good to resist.

He was finally free to do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn't break the rules his mother had set for him.

The first and most important rule was not to show his real appearance in public, which was understandable but still a bummer.

However, that didn't matter much since his mom also forced him to hide his wings and antennae inside the house, using the excuse of practice to ensure he wouldn't slip up, like today.

The other rules were pretty standard: no causing trouble, informing her when and where he was going if he went out, and so on.

But there wasn't much time to hang out outside anyway, thanks to this stupid activity Ella had introduced. It felt like he was in the military.

He sighed and knelt down, pulling out a drawer to grab some clean clothes for a good, relaxing shower. His whole body felt sore after the last sparring session.

"And why do I have to train with Ava..." he muttered, lowering his head in frustration and clenching the edge of the wooden drawer.

It was pure torture, especially since his mom had been giving Ava individual lessons long before she threw him into the fire without any preparation or training.

She had simply come to him two years ago and told him he would be joining her.

The first year was fun because he kept winning, thanks to his abilities, but they soon became irrelevant after Ava adapted to counter them, and now he was consistently on the losing side.

"I just want to eat and have fun..." Liam muttered under his breath as he walked toward the bathroom, entering with a heavy sigh.

He took off his clothes and tossed them aside, but as he headed toward the shower, he stopped in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection.

Liam's forest-green eyes stared back at him, but beneath their surface lurked a sadness he couldn't shake—a constant reminder of the life he had to hide, the freedom he could never fully claim.

"Hey, looking good!" Liam smirked, making finger guns as he inspected the tall, handsome figure in front of him. The most striking details were the intricate tattoos that decorated his body—patterns resembling dragonfly wings, their design so lifelike it seemed like they might swing open at any moment.

The patterns began between his scapulae, where his skin was covered in black exoskeleton, its edges seemingly merging with his skin. The upper wing motif spread outward like delicate branches of a tree.

They extended over his shoulders, wrapping around his arms in elegant, symmetrical curves before narrowing just above his elbows.

The lower wing pattern mirrored the design, starting a little below the first pair. They flowed down his back, following the curvature of his spine.

They spread over his glutes and continued along his legs, wrapping around and thinning out just below the backs of his knees.

The tattoos weren't static, as one might think. They seemed to pulse faintly, as if alive. The color between the dark veins shifted subtly, transitioning between metallic green and purple, scattering the light. It was as if the ink itself had a life of its own.

"But..." His voice dropped to a whisper as he glanced left and right, fearing someone from his family might see him.

Today was an exception due to another neuralgia attack, but his parents would get angry—sometimes even raising their voices—when he showed his true form.

Letting out a sigh of relief after confirming no one was watching, his antennae finally rose from his scalp.

At the same time, the tattoos began to separate from his skin, expanding to form two pairs of giant, magnificent wings. There was power and grace behind their every movement.

"This looks better," he said with a soft smile, watching the transparent surface of the wings shimmer as colors subtly shifted under the artificial light, depending on the angle, like a soap bubble under the sun.

He struck a few poses, but his wings didn't match his demeanor as the hue along his veins pulsated light blue like a clear sky.

He flexed in front of the mirror, admiring the beauty he had to keep hidden. But his eyes eventually fell on the bigger problem he had been trying to avoid. The system message from earlier was still there...

"Man, what am I going to do about that..." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, quickly dismissing the problem, hoping it would magically go away.

"Goodbye, my beauty," he said, blowing an air kiss at the mirror before finally stepping into the shower.

His wings twitched the moment they came into contact with the lukewarm water, but they soon adjusted to the new sensation.

He let the water run freely, trying to wash away his thoughts, but his problems came back to haunt him...

"Argh! Not again..." He fell to his knees, placing both hands on his head as the system began to act up once more.

The stabbing, electrifying pain only grew worse, spreading across his entire body. He would do anything to make it stop, even if it meant killing...

[Recalibration complete]

The red screen flickered erratically, its letters warping and twisting, making it difficult to read.

[System Rebooting]

"Argh!" Another, more intense wave of pain surged through his body, just when he thought it couldn't get any worse.

"What does it want from me?" he shouted, clenching his fist and punching the wall, leaving a tiny dent.

[System rebooted successfully]

[System Online]

[Starting Synchronization with host]

[Please stand by]

The messages appeared one after another, and for the first time, the semi-transparent box wasn't red but blue, with an occasional flicker.

"Is it finally done?" Liam asked, breathing heavily as the pain subsided.

He groaned and stood up, leaning against the wall as it felt like something had drained all his strength.

While waiting to recover and for the system to complete its process, he began to wonder what could have caused the sudden change.

Could it have been a hit from Ava? That didn't make sense—he'd taken worse before.

Maybe outside interference? There had been sightings of another insectoid ship nearby recently.

[System Synchronization Complete]

[Loading host data]

"User data?" Liam raised an eyebrow, wondering what the system meant.

After a few seconds, his question was answered as hundreds of tiny windows opened around him, playing his memories like a film, from the day he was born to the present.

The screens that caught his attention were the ones from his infancy—a part of his history he couldn't remember due to his young age.

"I came from an egg?" Liam narrowed his eyes at the screen showing him emerging from an orange, round structure. There were a few more eggs around him, but none seemed to have hatched yet.

The left corner of his upper lip curled as his nose wrinkled slightly. The idea of coming into the world like that felt slightly repulsive.

All of this made Liam's head spin. He tried to recall the scenes the system was showing him, but the ones from the insectoid nest—or laboratory?—weren't there.

"How is it doing this?" The things he was seeing shouldn't have been there. Humans couldn't store long-term memories from their first three years of life, but then again, was he even human?

Liam's gaze fell on the other scenes, but as they say, curiosity killed the cat.

The next scenes left him horrified. He could feel the pain and taste the iron on his tongue just by watching the images.

He saw himself strapped to a table, being cut, stabbed, ripped apart, burned, and more—things he could barely look at.

Afterward, they would provide medical attention to ensure he didn't die, only to wait for the next molt.

"No! No! Make it stop!" His heart raced, and his breathing became rapid.

The gruesome, blood-soaked scenes made his stomach churn, and he felt like he might vomit.

He knew it wasn't real—it could have been made up. There was no physical pain, but he could still feel it as if it were his own.

"Make it stop..." Liam cried out, sitting down and wrapping himself in his wings, using them as a blanket.

While all of this was happening, muffled sounds came from outside, but the young boy didn't respond.

After everything went quiet, the door burst open, now hanging from only one hinge, as his family rushed in.

They had heard something happening, and due to Liam's unique biology, they always had to stay vigilant.

"Liam, what happened?" His mother was the first to speak, quickly approaching him. She ignored the running water and knelt down, placing a hand on his wing. The first thing she noticed was the pulsating, lavender-purple color around his veins.

While Ella comforted Liam, Kevin went to turn off the water, and Ava watched from a distance, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

Ella waited for an answer, but when she realized she wasn't going to get one, she did what any mother would do.

She wrapped her arms around her sixteen-year-old son, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Shhh, it's going to be all right..." she whispered gently into his ear, rocking him slightly from side to side.

Liam hiccuped as he felt her strong arms around him. Her warmth enveloped his entire body.

Without hesitation, he moved his wings and wrapped them around her, along with his arms.

"T-thank you for saving me..." he stuttered, his voice breaking as his wings and hands trembled.

'What would I have become without you...' he thought, the weight of his past pressing down on him.