Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

"Where am I...?" Vahn muses to himself.&nbsp; "Ah, I must have passed out again." he says while looking at the machine attached to the valve on his hip. He remembers the day it was attached six years ago. The Doctors had begun to get frustrated with trying to draw blood from the veins in his arms and legs, so they had put him under and performed an operation to attach a mechanism on the left side of his hip to serve as an easy access to the arteries going into his legs. Now instead of having to attach tubes to his arms, they just had to attach a hose to the release of the mechanism for quick access to his blood. He often worries about the valve leaking, and if it were to get damaged if he would die...&nbsp; In the last few years, this thought came to Vahn's mind quite often. The boy, now 14 years old, had an emaciated appearance. Though his complexion hadn't changed since birth, still almost translucent in nature, it now had an almost unhealthy appearance. Though the Doctors put him on a highly nutritious diet and even had him hooked up to various tubes to feed a cocktail of vitamins directly into his body, it couldn't hide the damage done by the endless experiments.&nbsp; Vahn sighs, "Guess I'm still alive."&nbsp; He often nurtured the expectation that every time he falls asleep it would hopefully be for good. He had long given up on the possibility of killing himself because the Doctors were constantly monitoring his every action. Once, when he was recovering from one of the more severe experiments, he had tried to take his life by bashing his head into the wall. Unfortunately, his attempt ended in a failure resulting in the walls to now become a padded cell. In protest, he had tried to stop eating, but the Doctors simply injected him with a muscle relaxer and hooked him up to an IV and nutrient drip.&nbsp; A bespectacled female Doctor with short brown hair spoke, "Awake are we Mr. Mason?"&nbsp; "Yes, Doctor Keenly. I guess I'm just feeling a little...anemic." spoke Vahn with a cynical attempt at humor.&nbsp; Smiling, she grabs her tablet. "That's good. Don't worry, the procedure is almost over. How are you feeling today?" she asks feigning concern. She had been assigned to me after my attempted suicide. Even though I know she isn't really my friend, she is one of the only people that at least pretends to treat me like a human.&nbsp; "I'm feeling a lot better. I just finished the latest volume of Naruto. When can I get the next volume?" Vahn asked expectantly. He had really begun to enjoy reading manga and watching anime in previous years. Doctor Keenly had introduced him to it after one of their earlier sessions as a coping mechanism of sorts.&nbsp; "You really do enjoy that manga don't you? Which one is that...ah, the one with the blonde haired ninja boy, correct? I believe the request had gone through recently, so I should be able to get you the newer volumes soon. That is, assuming you do well in your upcoming tests."&nbsp; She often tempts me like this. It was discovered early on that my mental state had slight improvements on the quality of my blood during testing. Nothing significant, but one of the groups within the lab had gotten a grant to observe the effects, so someone must have cared. At least I get something to alleviate my boredom.&nbsp; Vahn nods his head, "Yes ma'am. I will do my best." He gives his most practiced smile.&nbsp; "Very good Mr. Mason. " she says while making notes on her tablet.&nbsp; "I'm looking forward to our session this evening. Now, if you'll please excuse me I'm going to go check up on the status of my shipping request. " She turns and walks out the secured door, nodding to the guards as she passes.&nbsp; After she leaves Vahn rests his head on the table, trying to get what comfort he can as the machines slowly drain the warmth from his body.&nbsp; "I hope I can get the new volume today....I guess I'll need to put in a little more effort this afternoon." he muses to himself as he once again begins to pass out. Though he used to fear "going under" now he tries his best to sleep through any procedure he can, especially the ones like this where they cycle blood out of his body.&nbsp; As he lay back, he begins to let his mind wander to the various stories he had been reading recently. His current favorites are Naruto, Bleach, and Danmachi. He liked to imagine what it would be like to be in the various worlds, away from all the painful machines and experiments. There were even times he prayed to a god which he didn't believe in, hoping to bring an end to this endless cycle of suffering, as he was unable to do it himself.&nbsp; As the various images and scenarios play through his head, Vahn's conscience begins to fade...&nbsp; (...)&nbsp; *insert random sounds of combat, bullets, and moderate explosions*&nbsp; Awakening suddenly to the new sounds, Vahn turns his head in the direction they're being emitted. From the door that symbolizes his imprisonment, he can hear the sounds of dull impacts and vibrations.&nbsp; Straining his ears, he can hear the shouts of various men and women trying to get control of the situation.&nbsp; "What's going on? Those voices sound like the Doctors that are always watching me through the windows...and is that the sound of gunshots?"&nbsp; Instead of fear at the unknown events happening outside of his room, he feels an anticipation. He had often heard from some of the researchers about various the organizations that wanted to "save" and "free" him. According to some of the rumors he had heard, outside of this cold and hateful lab, there were countless people that treated him like a hero or messiah. This was how he came to understand the concept of what a god was, as some of the researchers had tried to 'encourage' him saying how much the research he was 'assisting' with was saving lives all around the world.&nbsp; As he closely watched the door, he could hear the sounds getting closer and closer. After several minutes, the sounds suddenly cut off and Vahn can hear a scraping of sorts happening from outside the door.&nbsp; *muffled explosive noises*&nbsp; Suddenly the seam around the door emits a spontaneous 'coughing' sound and a mild shock-wave which causes Vahn to wince and become slightly disoriented.&nbsp; As the door falls, a group of men wearing dark militaristic style clothing rushes into the room. They quickly spread out and two of the men directly approach Vahn who is still hooked up to the machine.&nbsp; Still slightly disoriented, Vahn looks directly at the men. "A-are y-y-you here to save me?" he stutters with anxiety beginning to build.&nbsp; "We are soldiers from the organization known as Dawn. Are you Vahn Mason?" One of the soldiers asks while looking over the mechanisms Vahn is hooked up to.&nbsp; "Yes, my name is Vahn Mason. Who are you?" he asks with excitement.&nbsp; The man pulls down the mask covering the bottom half of his face. "My name is Maxwell, and yes, we're here to get you out of here." he says while smiling.&nbsp; The second man that had approached Vahn fiddles around a bit with the mechanism attached to his hip, trying to disconnect it. Unfamiliar with the device, he ends up snapping the release near the valve while detaching the tube.&nbsp; Suddenly, blood begins to rapidly drain from the now unblocked valve.&nbsp; "NO, please, what are you doing!?" Vahn screams in panic for the first time in years.&nbsp; All of the men in the room turn towards the now frantic boy while the man named Maxwell quickly tries to seal the wound. Due to the nature of the valve and the fact that it is connected directly to a series of major arteries he is unable to stymie the blood-flow.&nbsp; In a matter of seconds, Vahn begins to lose consciousness. The last thought that passes through his mind before the darkness grabs him is how he always worried that this valve might kill him...&nbsp; (...)&nbsp; ?&nbsp; (You poor child.)

In the seemingly infinite darkness, Vahn's consciousness begins to stir. Memories from his life begin to cycle through like a reverse-kaleidoscope within his mind. He experiences the moment of his death once again, every single experiment he was ever put through. All the thoughts, pains, emotions, and agony which had been locked away in his mind assault him anew. He begins to 'scream' out with a voice that doesn't exist as the phantom pain pulses throughout his non-existent body, threatening to rob him of his existence.&nbsp; 'It hurts.'&nbsp; Key events begin to get emphasized within his mind, taking the forefront of the kaleidoscopes focus. He remembers the time where the Doctors had amputated his legs to keep him from moving around on his own. He remembers the group of scientists that tried to test his 'regenerative' properties by cutting and burning segments of his skin. He remembers the time when he tried to commit suicide, only to have any semblance of freedom removed for his efforts.&nbsp; 'I don't deserve this. Nobody deserves this pain.'&nbsp; As the events continue to cycle through his mind, the kaleidoscope slowly begins to dissolve from its edges. The pain which now encompasses his entire being begins to dull as his mind seeks reprieve within the comfort of oblivion.&nbsp; 'Why did I have to suffer so much...it's not fair.'&nbsp; The kaleidoscope now begins to fragment, shattering into segmentary images which seem to exist outside the periphery of Vahn's focus. Without directly observing each fragment, he is able to let the pain cease.&nbsp; 'I should have never been born..."&nbsp; Vahn lets his mind wander away from the images within the kaleidoscope. He begins to look within the encroaching darkness, something that causes a fundamental fear to resonate within his soul.&nbsp; 'I shouldn't even exist...what meaning did my life have? To be used as a tool for the benefit of others...I hate them. THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONES TO SUFFER, NOT ME.'&nbsp; The entire kaleidoscope fragments further, leaving only a few remnant images floating within the darkness. Vahn continues to stare into the abyss, developing a sense of longing to contrast the fear. He refuses to stare at the images that only cause him pain. Each image slowly begins to fade away, and with it, Vahn himself begins to fade.&nbsp; '...I just....wanted....to be free...'&nbsp; Now only a single image remains within the darkness. Vahn instinctually knows that if the image fades, everything that ever defined who he was, his very existence itself, would fade into nothingness.&nbsp; 'Finally, I don't have to suffer anymore...'&nbsp; He closes what he imagines to be his 'eyes' and awaits the coming oblivion. He feels no sense contentedness, only a solemnity far beyond anything a fourteen-year-old child should possess.&nbsp; ...&nbsp; After waiting for an indeterminant amount of time, an unease arrises within Vahn. He feels as though he had been waiting a long time, but no matter how much time passes he cannot cease to be. Within the darkness, a single image still remains, the last defining moment of his entire life. The last bastion of the pain that defined his very existence. Finally succumbing to the unease within, Vahn grits his 'teeth' and looks towards the last image as if to acknowledge his pain for the last time.&nbsp; To his surprise, he sees a scene foreign to him. Something outside the scope of his memory. There is no feeling of pain, only a longing, and a feeling of loss. He stares blankly into the image where a woman in tears cradles a young infant in her arms. Everything else within the scene is a blur, but the image of the woman remains perfectly vivid within the ambiguity. He feels an attachment to this woman, unlike anything he has ever experienced. His soul seems to cry out as the feeling of longing begins to overwhelm him.&nbsp; "I will love you no matter what...Vahn."&nbsp; Suddenly, the darkness shatters, and a now crying child lays on the ground bawling into a now infinite white space. He stares into the image that now encompasses his entire view as the woman smiles gently while rubbing his face. He watches as the strength in her body fails her, and the gentle sign of affection ceases as her hand falls. He screams as if in a testament to the very embodiment of suffering and loss. He recognizes this woman he has never met as his mother, the first and last person that ever truly loved him. He stares into the image that now encompasses his entire view as it begins to deteriorate from its edges. He screams and screams with an inhuman unwillingness to let the image fade.&nbsp; 'Mother...mother please, don't go! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME.'&nbsp; He watches as the image begins to fade, reaching out but unable to grasp it until finally, the image disappears into nothingness.&nbsp; An emptiness far deeper than the black abyss he previously observed settles within him. Though the image within the kaleidoscope has faded, he adamantly refuses to let the 'memory' escape from his mind. He sits within the vast white space, tears dripping from his face, as a silent cry escapes from his throat. The image of the mother he never had the opportunity to be with the becomes the only thing holding him into existence.&nbsp; (You poor child.)&nbsp; A voice sounds within the vast emptiness. Observing the young emaciated boy from above, it begins to descend upon him.&nbsp; (You have experienced a suffering far greater than the average soul. Please, allow me to help you.)&nbsp; The young boy sits, unmoving as he stares into the emptiness. The tears, now having run dry carve deep trenches within his skin. The voice, that had cried out in pain for so long, now a memory long forgotten.&nbsp; (Please child. You have been sitting in this space for three years now. Please, let me help you. I cannot bear to see you suffer so.)&nbsp; The voice sighs, unable to stir the young boy that has earned its attention. It begins to reflect upon its previous actions, uncertain if it was the correct choice to bring the child's karma to an end, resulting in his death. But the boy has been calling out to them for so long, it believed it's decision to be correct. It did not expect that while the child was observing the 'kaleidoscopic wheel of karma' that his soul would be on the verge of dissolving. To prevent his soul from being lost to oblivion, the voice had created a root to anchor the child's soul to his final memory in hopes to salvage the situation. Little did it expect that its attempt was too successful, causing the child to become firmly attached to the memory even after it faded away. Now the child sits, unwilling to move forward, making it so that the voice itself is unable to leave this space.&nbsp; (...Her name was Adrianne, your mother.)&nbsp; For the first time, the child stirs.&nbsp; (She knew you know. That giving birth to you was bound to have complications.)&nbsp; The child slowly turns towards the voice almost as if each words has a magnetic effect on his very soul.&nbsp; (She was very sick you see. After she became pregnant, the Doctors and her family encouraged her to get an abortion. They feared that the pregnancy itself would be too difficult, and even if she were to bring you to term it would probably result in her death.)&nbsp; The child now stared fixedly at the source of the voice. Before him stood a very beautiful woman? with difficult to define features. Her? hair was short and had the appearance of silvery liquid that refracted light. Staring directly into her? face was almost impossible, as the features within seemed to constantly be shifting. She? seemed both tall and short, fat but thin, and the clothing that garbed her? seemed to be fused with what should have been her? body. It almost seemed as if the body itself was comprised of feathers and dust.&nbsp; (Regardless of what everyone told her, she was determined to give birth to you. It was her belief that every child deserved the opportunity at life, and she was willing to trade her own to ensure you were allowed that chance.)&nbsp; The child seemed to draw tears from a previously expired source as he listened to the words of the woman?&nbsp; (She truly loved you. Even though you lived a life of suffering, you gave meaning to her sacrifice. I cannot ask you to be grateful to her, but I pray you're able to understand that your life had meaning. It was not born of convenience for other people, but out of a genuine expression of love and the desire you would live well.)&nbsp; The child stared at the woman as she concluded her speech, watching, waiting for her to continue. After a time, he seemed to understand she? was waiting for him to speak. He lowered his head, drying his eyes for the first time since his arrival.&nbsp; "Who are you?" the boy asked.&nbsp; The woman?, a gentle smile appearing on her? face looked to the child.&nbsp; (I am Klyscha, the Goddess of Dreams.)&nbsp;

December 31st, 1999. The whole world stands upon the precipice of a new millennia. While some look towards the coming era with endless hope, others wait with anticipation towards a prophesied end.The clock ticks down towards midnight as a woman screams in pain whilst going through labor. In the final seconds of the year, the cry of a baby is heard for the first time as the clock strikes midnight. The delivery was not easy, and the expectant mother lays powerlessly on the hospital bed. Using what remains of her strength she reaches towards the Doctor who wears an expression of shock on his face."Please, let me see my baby..."Her call breaks the Doctor from his thoughts, as he congratulates her on the new birth. After signaling towards the nurse, he exits the room to make a phone call.The nurse, wearing an expression similar to the Doctor, hands the child to the new mother. "It's a boy." she says, her voice trembling.The woman holds her child for the first time, and catches a glimpse of his face. Shock briefly seizes her as she stares at her newborn son. "My baby...w-whats wrong with my baby...". As the shock fades she begins to tremble, unable to express the anxiety growing in her heart. She begins to weep as an agony far greater than the pain brought by childbirth settles into her heart. "My child....my son..."Other than the crying voice of the mother, the rest of the room maintains an eerie silence. None of the nurses can explain the phenomenon they've all just witnessed. The child cradled in the arms of this unfortunate mother is something beyond any of their combined experience. Instead of the rosy skin of a newborn, his complexion is so pale as to be transparent. You can clearly see the veins pulsing in his small limbs. Yes, they can see the blood visibly 'pulsing' through his body with a tiny glowing heart as its source.As the crying of the new mother begins to fade, she looks into the closed eyes of her newborn son with a mixture of pain and love. "I will love you no matter what...Vahn."The baby, as if hearing the voice of his mother trembles slightly as if in acknowledgement. The glowing heart within his chest beating in a fast and strong rhythm.Through the worry and anxiety, the mother shows an affectionate smile as her eyelids begin to close.The instruments hooked up to the mother begin to sound, alerting the nurses to action. The baby begins to cry as one nurse removes him from the arms of his mother. The Doctor returns into the room with his team in an effort to resuscitate the young woman. After two hours of emergency treatment, the young woman finally succumbs to the wounds sustained during the difficult birth.Thus the new era greets life with death.With the birth of the child and his unique characteristics, he quickly caught the attention of the media and Doctors around the world. Many wanted to understand the nature and physique of the child, whilst others began spreading rumors of the birth of a new messiah.After a series of tests they quickly discovered that the child's blood had a unique mutation which enabled the cells within the blood to store a previously undocumented form of energy. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the blood they were unable to store it outside of the child's body for more than 24 hours before it lost the unique properties and turned into a black mass of particles similar to ash. The child was quarantined for further tests as the media and populace waited with baited breath for any news related to the child.As test after test were performed and media coverage of the event began to spread globally, all news of the child suddenly ceased overnight. In an outrage at the spontaneous lack of news, people began to gather en mass around the hospital in an effort to pressure the staff into disclosing what had happened. After several days, an official statement was made by the hospital administration saying that the child had been moved to a more secure facility where he would receive care from the best scientific minds in America until they were able to verify if the child's physiology was a threat to normal people. The crowd, further incensed by the turn of events began to rally together claiming that the government was hiding away the child to hide an undisclosed truth. Some more radical groups even claimed that the child was an alien, and the government kidnapped him to dissect and analyze his body in some secret underground lab in the middle of a desert.Several groups began to form after the announcement. They would protest outside government institutions in several states trying to pressure politicians into disclosing information about the child. Though the media had seemingly been silenced, the internet was exploding with several conspiracy theories. Hundreds of thousands of online users began to rally together and petition for full disclosure of any information related to the child. As months grew into years, the size of the groups increased to the point they were able to elect representatives that would allow them to gain some insight into what had happened to the child.After four years of effort and the change of a President, the populace was once again exposed to news regarding the child. They were able to learn the child possessed a mutated blood-type that emitted a unique form of radiation that was able to revitalize cells and even break down other mutations and abnormalities within the body of test subjects. Mice that were injected with the blood were able to show an instantaneous increase in vitality, with any previous genetic defects seeming to repair themselves. After preliminary tests were concluded, the scientists had moved on to conducting experiments on chimps that had cancer as well as a variety of other ailments including Alzheimer and Huntington's Disease. The team was surprised that in every instance where the blood was introduced into a patient, it was able to completely remove the ailment after just several hours of incubation. Follow-up tests showed that not only had the cancer cells been removed, but any tissue within the area that had sustained damaged from prior treatments had been restored to a healthy state.Upon hearing of these discoveries, the populace was in an uproar. Around the world cults and religious organizations began to tout the child as the son of god, the messiah, or a prophet. Many organizations began to demand that the child be turned over to their respective groups so they would be able to raise the child within the proper environment instead of a lab.Other groups included the various members of the scientific community from around the globe. Many countries wanted samples of the child's blood to conduct their own experiments. They eventually even banded together in hopes they would be able to pressure the United States government into turning ownership of the child over to an international group dedicated to the purpose of studying other potential uses the child may have. There was even a movement to try and justify cloning, or even forced extraction and breeding of the child's sperm.Pressure continued to build over the years as everyone wanted access to the child, now known globally as Vahn Mason.The child himself however had very different thoughts going through his mind....

Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End. Part 2/2