1 The Beginning After The End

The echoing would not stop. It was as if a crystal maze of endless proportions had enveloped his body.

Memories, whispers of the past travelled through his mind, decaying into the afterlife as they said their peace.

"Just take the damn pill!"

"It tastes good, doesn't it?"

"Do you feel no shame! Your father would turn over in his grave if he knew what you have done!"

"You are not even a human anymore."

"Val! Stop doing this to yourself!" With a thundering slap, Vale Lin fell onto the ground. His best friend had left him during that fateful day... his only friend. After seeing Vale fall deeper and deeper into the void of gene pharmaceuticals, Henry had enough. He had expended all of his cards, even going as far as offering himself as a test subject.

Vale cared for his friend, so he naturally rejected the offer. A day later, Henry was killed in a Vespian attack. Not even his body was left for Vale to mourn for, much less a goodbye. Vale secluded himself deeper after that day.

Cosmetic genes, physique genes, intellect genes, all genes; Vale found a pill to manipulate them all. The very concept of medicine was now his life, he had become the medicine.

Pills, pills of varying content, made from common plants and chemicals; a stroke of genius. Vale had created and tested so many that he had lost count… not really. He knew every single pill like the back of his hand. The formulas were like basic algebra to him, just fill in the gaps.

However, even with the pills he had taken and all of the vitality boosters he had abused, the chemical fallout was coming back to bite him.

He lost all of his genetic enhancements in the span of months and was near death after a year. The genetic capacity of his body had been ruined by the pills, to the point where his body had reverted to that of a normal man. Of course, the genes did not disappear; they ate him like a cancer.

The great pharmacist would not die like this however. Vale was convinced that a pill was all that he needed.

Fast forward six months into the future, Vale had succeeded. On the most basic life support system money could buy, Vale self-administered the Master Pill.

This pill was a stroke of pure genius, all of his genius. No one could possibly recreate his feat in the entirety of existence. The answer was hiding in the common car battery compound known as Fluxium B, along with a few stabiliser chemicals which could easily be bought at any pharmaceutical warehouse. After taking the pill, a person would become immune to genetic degradation, even going as far as to render the person immune to poisons and all adverse chemical effects.

Such a pill would allow a person to consume all the pills in existence without having any genetic fallout, in other words: a miracle.

GULP

"Ahhh… Henry, mother, father… I finally did it, I created the pill to consume all pills! The Vespians will die under my research! Those monsters will finally become a thing of the past… I WILL END THEM-"

BOOOOOOOOM

The facility erupted in flames as the sound of plasma munitions and laser fire echoed over yonder. That was the very last memory that played through Vale's mind.

[Host has died.]

The sound of birds chirping and a microwave beeping soon grew louder and louder. It was as if death's clutches wouldn't let Vale go.

"Uh…"

"VALE! WAKE THE HELL UP!" The voice belonged to a middle aged woman, very familiar to Vale.

Vale got out from what seemed to be a bed from instinct alone, jumping to his feet. It was like a long lost routine had just come back to haunt him.

His eyes gently opened and the world of colour finally came back to him.

"Val! Henry is waiting for you in the damn kitchen! Your dad said he won't wait longer if you don't get ready in 10 minutes! Chop chop!" His mother finally burst through the door and threw a ham sandwich at him, to which he barely caught.

'Where… how…?' Still confused, Vale observed his surroundings.

'Mother died 20 years ago… but why is she here? Why am I here? This house was demolished last year.'

'Beta, what is my status?'

[Host: Vale Lin

Age: 16

Sex: Male

Genetic stage: Normal

Status: Alive

Year: 2257CS]

'16? My 40th birthday was just last month. How in the world?'

Vale frantically crawled about his room and looked through every nook and cranny, unable to find a single one of his possessions from the moments prior.

"I am back…" He finally came to this realisation, unable to call it an illusion. He knew what illusions feel like, he was a master of every pill.

"Hahahaha… So this is the so-called time travel trope of the 21st century… intriguing."

"A healthy body, knowledge that would be considered impossible… Ah! This is too good to be true."

'This is a gift that should not exist! Another life. My parents… Henry… I won't disappoint you, I promise. This time, I will not let you die.'

Vale no longer felt the confusion he did before. With a mind still unaffected by the side effects of the various narcotic pills he took in his past life, Vale could finally think clearly. His genius was no longer chained to the effects of a few pills.

'First things first, pills. I will not live like I did last time around… But I cannot take them if I want to live well this time…'

A cunning smile gripped his face, he suddenly had another idea.

'If I remember correctly, dad should still have that broken car in the garage.'