Prologue: An Old Man's Dying Wish

The year is 2090. The sun rose and illuminated the small hospital room in the wake of dawn.

I woke up to the sound of the birds chirping outside and the bustling hospital atmosphere of doctors and nurses scrambling to treat patients.

[What a nice day today.] I thought,

[I wouldn't mind dying on a day like this].

My name is Enzo Guerra, today was the eve of my 86th birthday. You would expect someone to visit me during whatever days I had left on this Earth, however, it was the opposite. No one has visited me for the past month.

I used to get regular visitors weekly, but that changed last month due to a new pandemic that struck the planet. Ironically, this seems to be the second pandemic I have lived through, although I could not recall what the previous one was, however, I believe that it started with a 'C'. But, enough about that.

I feel extremely weak today, more than usual. It must be my time soon. But, before I die, I hope to see or hear from my family before I go.

Per usual, I reached over to the left onto the nearby nightstand, reaching for the black remote so I can turn on the overhead television.

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬.

The television turned on to my favorite channel, it was a nostalgic one. The channel spoke about olden times, trying to preserve the culture from the previous decades. Today it was no different. The man on the television, referred to as 'The Nostalgia Critic' spoke about old video games from the early 21st century.

"Hello everyone, on today's Nostalgia Talk, I would like to share my thoughts on the old-school video games from the well-known era, the 2010s," He explained. "I don't know if any of you young folk have heard of this game, but for my older audience, you may remember such gems as 'Among Us' or 'Fall Guys'."

Ah. Among Us. That game was quite the funny one. It sparked a lot of internet buzz around it, and the game was quite fun overall. I remember sitting on my computer playing the game with my friends. We had a blast, that game was really fun when it lasted. It's a shame it's not as popular with the kids nowadays, everyone is playing on those fancy 'virtual reality' systems now. Old computer gaming has basically gone obsolete.

"I hope every..." Everything went quiet.

I could see that his mouth was moving, but I could not hear anything. I tried moving my arm to see if I could turn on the volume again, thinking that it was a problem with the television. However, my arm only moved an inch, I could not move it any further.

[Oh, I know what this is,] I thought. [My time must be coming.]

I could not even witness my 86th birthday. My family did not call me or did anyone come visit. No matter, I guess that is the life of a lonely old man like me. I did live a good life, but I seems like it's my time to go.

Boom! The door burst open in response to an alarm triggered by Enzo's dropping vitals. His life signature was dropping by the second, and the nurses and doctors could only try to resuscitate him.

"Quickly, quickly! We must administer shock!" A doctor exclaimed.

"Shock!? Are you crazy old man? That's going to kill him faster!" Another reprimanded. "We should try to first put him under oxygen, he's losing oxygen fast."

I could not hear a thing, however, I understood what they were trying to do. They're trying to keep me alive. But I don't want to live anymore. It is my time. I just want to die peacefully. Who knows, maybe I'll be reincarnated, but that is wishful thinking.

My life force was draining by the second, and I could no longer keep consciousness. I was fading in and out of consciousness, and I decided to not struggle anymore. I let it all go, relaxing my muscles and emptying my mind.

[I hope that reincarnation is real, and that I could live out another life to the fullest.] I thought.

𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘱. The vitals machine went.

Enzo had died. The doctors looked around in shock, but there was nothing to be done.

April 9th, 2090, marked the death of Enzo Guerra, but, as the quote goes, "heroes never die."