Chapter 13: K-Day [I]

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"There are memories that time does not erase."

Word Count 1443

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[12 hours remaining to K-Day]

Dark Forest Theory, I thought while taking a huge bite from a thick chicken drumstick.

"So thick and delish," I groaned with my eyes closed to savor the crunchiness and... unforgettable taste.

I was sprawled on my sofa with a KFC bucket standing heroically on my chest.

A random program was ongoing on the television... could it be called random if it was currently showing a white duck in a sailor's shirt?

Well, it was random so you got nothing more to think about.

But the television wasn't the normal kind of television but... A FUCKING BAT COMPUTER.

Brother...

Bruh...

Using the fucking bat computer to watch a random old cartoon?!!

There was truly no justice in this reality.

So it was just better to wake up to reality.

"I bet Batman will cough up blood when he witnesses the way I am using one of his tech gadgets." I took another large bite from the mouth-watering drumstick, not leaving out even the bones.

"So what is Dark Forest Theory all about?" I burped in satisfaction while throwing the KFC bucket away.

Immediately a cleaning bot came and picked it up before disappearing.

I sat upright while looking at my high end wrist watch on my left hand.

"12 hours remaining... I will be lying to myself if I say this countdown isn't giving me anxiety, hehe." I laughed lightly before lacing my fingers under my chin.

"Yelena, the moment you pick up any strange signals in the Pacific ocean make sure to tell me." I looked upwards while smiling.

"Affirmative, sir." Yelena's emotionless voice sounded in the living room.

I nodded curtly.

Then I proceeded to change the channel to a global news report.

There were many things happening all over the world.

Many discoveries are being found each day.

Sports and athletics.

Industrialization.

Politics.

Economics and Finance.

Cryptocurrency.

Humanity was still thriving as always.

They still remained the apex rulers of the planet unaware of the extraterrestrial entities hiding in the shadows.

That was where the Dark Forest Theory comes in.

I didn't remember the exact details about the individual who proposed such a theory.

In my past life, I hadn't been concerned about alien lifeforms that much.

But the theory was an interesting notion that was quite in sync with what was currently happening in this universe.

The unperceived hunters - The Precursors - were silently, biding their time in a separate Spatio-temporal dimension and humanity was the prey.

We terraformed our planet for them to conquer as they have always done.

"Sadly, I am part of humanity and I can't exactly change my genetic origin... or not?" I mused silently.

"It's better to call myself a modified human..."

Superior? Ultimate? Supernatural?

"I am just better... yeah I think that's simple enough instead of going over the superiority yadda yadda."

I have always been curious about the Precursors... not exactly them essentially but the knowledge they held.

Which type of civilization would they have been categorized in according to the Kardashian- ...Kardashev scale?

Type 11 or maybe Type 111?

I wasn't sure since the Precursors as an alien civilization wasn't explored much in the movies and novelization.

They were just extraterrestrial lifeforms capable of manufacturing giant monsters.

"The first Pacific Rim movie was good but the sequel movie..."

"That one is the biggest pile of shit that I have ever seen." I shook my head with visible disappointment showing on my face.

Uprising, the sequel, had a very anticlimactic ending.

"I always wonder why the Precursors are always playing along with the humans."

Like if they were so powerful, couldn't they have just created a bioweapon capable of silently erasing humanity?!

For example, deploying gaseous Kaiju blue all over the planet to kill every inhabitant.

I cackled.

I cackled again.

"That's just pure evil, Kal." I was a human, so why was I thinking about creative ideas of ending humanity?

"Humans are naturally weak. They can't be compared to cockroaches that can survive extreme amounts of radiation or the Tardigrade that can live just well in outer space."

"But where humans can't be underestimated is their survivability and mental evolution."

"They are adaptable creatures in their own right."

"Or do you think otherwise, Yelena?" I smiled.

"No, I think humans are generally an interesting species. They wouldn't have been rulers of the current world if they weren't... kind of special." She replied nonchalantly while her holographic figure started materializing beside me.

I observed her from the corner of my eyes.

Even if she was an AI, I had to admit that she really knew how to design her own appearance.

She had the form of a blue-skinned beautiful woman that reminded of a... Na'vi Avatar.

Shouldn't I have just called her Pandora or something, if it was going to be like this?

Anyway, that aside, Yelena was a sexy AI. Just like Cortana.

Were Siri, Alexa, and Jexi also sexy? I wondered.

"You are part of humanity yet you seem so vastly different, sir." Yelena casually commented after a moment of silence.

"In what way?" I was curious to know how Yelena viewed me from her own perspective.

I didn't need her validation or whatsoever. I just wanted to hear more from her.

Were those signs of loneliness? Signs of just wanting to talk to someone about anything? Maybe.

"You have no hesitation when deciding about something. You are your own person who has fully embodied his ambitions."

"You don't care about humanity. You live for yourself."

"I think you are a very unique individual, sir. Even with the little flaws in your character."

"That's what I like about you, mast-... sorry, I meant sir."

Thanos would be proud if he saw the smile I currently had on my charming face.

"Oh-Ho." I then stayed silent for a moment.

"Yelena, do you think I am invincible?" I asked a random question that popped in my mind.

"..."

Yelena didn't respond quickly... maybe caught by surprise by my unusual question.

"Sir, even though you are very powerful and exhibit strength beyond human comprehension... In my honest opinion, you are infinitely far from invincibility, theoretically."

"Invincibility is a pretty vague concept that doesn't fall in place with my deductive capabilities."

I chuckled while waving my hand in dismal fashion. "I don't care about all that."

"I just wanted to say that there was only one person in my life that I was powerless against." I started with a reminiscent face.

Hidden emotions could be felt brewing in my two orbs.

"Who was it? I understand that there isn't anyone related to you, in this world."

"You have made every effort to keep your biodata a secret that even I can't access." Yelena said in a voice that held waves of shock.

"But what I am more curious about is about that person capable of making you powerless."

"Haha, it is simple really. My mother is the only person capable of making me powerless."

"Your... mother?"

"Yes, my mother. I always remember when she held her cosmic reality shattering weapon named the Almighty sandal, she would discipline my rambunctious younger self whenever I stole something like money or just did anything crazy." I shook my head while dying of laughter from remembrance of those past memories.

"What happened to her?" Yelena asked curiously.

I paused while brushing away the tears of laughter from my eyes.

My face returned to seriousness.

"She sadly went to Heaven when I was only 9 years old."

"The afterlife is what she had believed in."

I looked down at the time and was surprised that almost six hours had passed when I was chatting with Yelena.

"I am sorry."

"You don't have to be. It's a very distant past that I am even surprised to still remember. My mother was a kind soul unlike me, the exact opposite." I laughed again, brushing away her misdirected condolences.

Wait, was she even capable of empathy? No.

"If you had the capabilities, would you try to resurrect her?" Yelena asked after a moment of deliberation.

I frowned at her rather insensitive question but then smiled afterwards. "I wouldn't think of trying... something like that."

After all, it was unwise to disturb the dead from their slumber.

And who knows maybe my mother still has her secret cosmic weapon in the Afterlife.

And I wasn't Reed Richards who could casually create a machine capable of traveling to the Afterlife!

Anyway, I chatted with Yelena about random stories and before I realized it - K-Day came knocking on San Francisco Bay!

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End Note: Hope you like it and fuel my motivation with powerstones.