BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

3 Surprise

Erik did wake up to the image of his house ceiling. He felt confused, as he couldn't connect the dots of what had happened to him. The young man slowly stood up; he looked at his body to see if something was out of place, and once he looked at his chest, he saw a pile of ashes. At that moment, he recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness.

"AAAH!" he immediately tried to get rid of the ashes on him. He was on the brink of having a panic attack. What exactly did happen to him? What about the creature?

The young man stood up and went to the bathroom to wash away the ashes. He had a hunch about what these could belong to, but he had no proof.

He went to the sink, made the water run, and then used it to wash the powder.

"THESE ARE THE MONSTER'S REMAINS!" the young man said.

He washed away all traces of the creature on him, including the ash-like residue. Then he stared at his reflection in the mirror, staring at the blackened area near his neck. There was no doubt: it was the creature's remains.

"But how?" the young man said. "What happened?" he asked himself out loud.

After cleaning off the remaining ashes, Erik decided to shower—to cleanse himself from any other remnants of the creature; it was faster and better.

He quickly undressed and went in. Warm water ran through the young man's body, soothing a few of his worries. But there were still many questions left unanswered that bugged his mind.

After having washed, the young man went to the living room, the clock hung over the desk, and it showed 08:00PM.

Erik whitened; he immediately picked up his phone to call his employer, Mister Fox, but something weird happened.

[DEVICE FOUND: SMARTPHONE. DO YOU WANT TO CONNECT TO IT?]

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Erik shouted. He jumped back when he saw the screen in front of his eyes, but he tripped on the small table in front of the couch and fell.

"AUCH!"

The young man blinked, and for a moment, the screen he saw disappeared, but when he opened his eyes again, the window was still there.

[DEVICE FOUND: SMARTPHONE. DO YOU WANT TO CONNECT TO IT?]

Incredulity was plastered on Erik's face; what the hell was that? The young man contemplated but could not find any explanation for what he was seeing. Then, he did the logical thing one could do in that situation. Trying to understand what was happening.

"Yes!" the young man said.

[CONNECTION TO THE DEVICE: ERIK'S SMARTPHONE, COMPLETE.]

It was then that a sort of feeling spread in Erik's mind. It was like, the weird screen said. He really felt a connection to the device. He picked up his phone and immediately looked at it. It was the same as always, but something was different simultaneously. The young man then recalled that he had to make a call to Mister Fox, and as soon as he thought about it, the phone went to his contacts and chose Mister Fox's number, and then the call started.

<What? Am I controlling the phone with my mind?> the young man thought while the phone rang.

"Hello?" the voice of Mister Fox rang directly inside the young man's ears. He could still hear his surroundings clearly, but at the same time, he could do so for the phone too. He didn't have the device in his ears; he simply heard the phone in his brain or ears... He didn't know.

"Hello? Mister Fox?"

"Erik?! Where the hell are you?"

"I'm sorry I didn't show up today, Mister Fox, but..."

"You are sorry? I will give you a reason to be sorry when you bring your ugly ass here, you dumb kid!"

"Please, Mister Fox, it won't happen again."

"I bet it won't, or else you will be fired. Do you understand me, kid? Besides, what did you have so important to do that you couldn't even call to tell me you wouldn't come?"

The young man couldn't say what had happened to him, so he tried to find an excuse for the situation.

"I got beaten up and lost consciousness, sir..."

The old man didn't reply; he was stern with the young man and often took advantage of him thanks to his power, but in a very deep, deep, deep... very deep and weird way, he cared about him.

"Well... Next time try to stay out of trouble..."

"I will, sir. Again, I'm sorry," Erik said.

The man sighed, "Come tomorrow at the usual time if you don't consider yourself jobless."

"I will come, sir, don't worry."

The man then hung up, and then the line went dead. He stopped hearing the phone and could see the screen in his vision. It was like he could see and not see the screen simultaneously; it was weird.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" the young man shouted. He didn't know if he had to be happy for the weird power he had developed or scared. Then he thought back at the monster his father brought back, and he started making connections.

<Is it possible that the creature inside the glass container wasn't a thaid?> the young man thought.

He remembered how the thing looked exactly like a thaid from the stories his mother read him before bedtime. His parents were both avid readers; they would buy books almost every week and share them among themselves. They also told him all kinds of stories and myths. As far as he knew, his family was very close-knit. He loved his parents more than anything in this world. He never wanted to disappoint them, but his mother died, and his father disappeared.

[ANSWER: I, THE BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER, IMPLANTED MYSELF INSIDE ERIK ROMANO'S BRAIN, MAKING A CONNECTION TO THE BRAIN CRYSTAL]

"What the hell?" Erik tripped again when the screen appeared before him. "This thing reads my mind!" then he elaborated on what the screen said.

"It implanted itself inside my brain? What are you talking about?" he said as if he was talking to someone.

[I repeat, I implanted myself inside your brain. Are you stupid, perhaps?]

"What the fuck! Now you are talking normally!" Erik said.

[This Supercomputer had to tune down his language skill to make the Host able to understand. Do you understand?]

"I'm not stupid!"

[Danger: the Host is becoming angry. Release of calming substance into the brain in 3...2...1]

Erik started calming down; the feeling of being controlled by this Biological supercomputer, or whatever it was, was horrifying. Though, as he calmed down, he started thinking more logically.

"What the hell are you?" he asked the computer.

[Answer: The biological supercomputer is a technology created to enhance individuals. It requires a source of energy to work. Hence, the Biological supercomputer had to connect with the Brain crystal. Though, the amount of mana the host Brain crystal provides is barely enough to allow some essential functions. The Host is advised to strengthen the brain crystal as soon as possible to unlock all the functions.]

"Strengthening the brain crystal? What the hell are you talking about?"

The Host is advised to give a look at the [Powers] window in the Biological supercomputer system]

The reply came quite easily to the young man, "And how am I supposed to do so, you stupid machine?"

[Incorrect. The Biological supercomputer is not a machine; it's a powerful biological AI]

"Whatever!"

[To go to the power window of the Biological supercomputer, the Host must will it to do so. You can also say "Powers" to make the process easier.]

Erik wondered if all that was happening was only a hallucination; after all, he was being attacked by what looked like a thaid. Maybe the creature injected a potent venom into him that made him obedient so that the creature could eat his brain or consume him whole. Who knew? Though, the young man also hoped that maybe, all of this was real and he had earned something powerful. Something that could potentially help him get a better life.

"Powers," the young man said while willing to see the screen the supercomputer was referring to. Immediately, as when he communicated with the interface, something appeared before him. He could not touch something that wasn't in front of him yet that he could see.

A list of what the Biological supercomputer said were superpowers he had unlocked flashed before his eyes. He couldn't believe what he saw.

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[Powers]

[Biological Super Computer Powers]

-Brain Crystal Manipulation

- (LOCKED)

- Brain Crystal Power Strengthening

(Allows the gaining of the energy attribute points)

-DNA Manipulation

- (LOCKED)

-DNA Strengthening

(Allows the gaining of the Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity attribute points)