1 Reincarnating

Studying was exhausting, but it was even more so when you had to study and work at the same time.

David had to drop out of engineering school several times, until finally at 27 he was about to finish it, it was a tough stretch but here he was, about to take his last exam.

He was finally going to quit his part-time job and start earning money in a decent way, was what he was thinking in his head with excitement before going to take the final exam, he had not slept, he had been studying meticulously to finish with the last challenge that life put in front of him.

Sleep was starting to take effect on him, but in order to avoid falling asleep he drank coffee in addition to the energy drinks he had taken during the night, too much caffeine was bad but life was a risk after all.

He walked enthusiastically to the classroom where the exam would be given, grabbed the doorknob and suddenly, a sharp pain in his chest paralyzed his body, he groaned in pain, the pain in his chest began to spread throughout his body until seconds later he collapsed on the floor.

He knew it, an overload of caffeine had caused a cardiac arrest, he heard the screams of the people around him and although he saw people approaching to help him, his life was gone in an instant.

...

...

...

"Son, today is your big day" said an unfamiliar voice.

David opened his eyes again and saw that he was in a completely different place, in front of him was a man of maybe 50 years old, he was wearing an old military uniform of high rank, next to him there was another lady who was around the same age.

David stood up but a strong headache fell on him, the memories of another person seemed to join with his own and after a few seconds the pain disappeared, he looked around him, the room and his own hands, he was no longer David Lee.

According to his memories, this was the body of Diego Ramirez, a lieutenant in the army of the young Republic of the Isthmus and son of the former governor and current President, Carlos Ramirez. Quickly he also recognized the lady accompanying his now father, it was his mother, former teacher Ana Ramirez.

Diego got out of bed, it was a large and luxurious room, as he had seen today was the day of celebration, it was one year since the separation of the department of the Isthmus from the Republic of Grenada.

Diego did not recognize these countries, but with the memories he received it seemed that he was in an alternate version of the 19th century, with the memories of his new identity he noticed that America was not called America, now it had the name of Vinland.

He tried to recognize some nations but noticed that they were different, the United States was no longer a federal republic, it was now a constitutional monarchy known as the United Kingdom of Vinland.

"Son, are you all right?" asked Carlos again.

Diego nodded "Yes father, I'm fine, just a little tired".

Ana approached Diego and touched his young face gently.

"My son, someday you will have to take your father's place, you can't keep drinking like you did last night, you must be attentive to your enemies like your father does" she said as she caressed her son's face

"I know mother, it won't happen again, I promise" He replied with a sigh.

Carlos smiled as he pointed to a uniform in a closet "There is your new uniform, a gift from the minister of defense for the young lieutenant, or should I say, the honorable colonel Diego Ramirez".

Diego looked at the uniform, through memories he learned that although he had finished officer's school in Europe and obtained the rank of lieutenant, upon returning to the republic his father pulled strings to have him promoted to colonel, however certain officers were opposed and there were some complaints for a while, but his father took it upon himself to kindly convince the dissenters to change their minds.

After a kiss on the cheek from his mother and a hug from his father, Diego was left alone in the room, he had some time to change and then to attend the ceremony that was to take place.

He was currently in the presidential palace so he had all the comforts at the moment, he thought about what to do first, he smelled his body and saw that he still reeked a bit of alcohol, so he definitely had to take a shower.

But this was the 19th century, she would most likely have to use a bathtub or buckets of water, because of the current status her family had she would most likely be the first.

Diego decided to check the room, among the things he found were; a map, a percussion revolver along with some round lead bullets, a curved saber typical of officers of the time and some liquor.

From the weapons it seemed that the second industrial revolution had not yet begun, perhaps steam locomotives still do not exist or if they do exist they are very primitive, they still fight with smoothbore muskets and definitely things like bolt action rifles are just experiments of which there is not even a prototype.

Not to mention that things like electrical grids or telegraphs are not even a sketch on the table of some inventor, or maybe they are but they need someone to give them a chance.

He was a student, he could try to invent things but being honest with himself, maybe he needed some help to do it, if he could bring to his country the great minds that would invent those inventions then he could put himself ahead of the other nations, he had to take advantage of the great minds before the investors of this world and the governments realized their existence.

But technology can still wait, he needed a map to know what date he was in, his memories told him 1283 but this definitely did not look medieval, he grabbed the world map and began to see the countries, he was surprised to see that the names were different, it was a completely alternative history to his own.

Canada was now known as the Northern Dominion, the United States was now the United Kingdom of Vinland, Mexico still had its ancient territory and was called Aztlan, the Inca Empire was still standing, the north of South America or now known as South Vinland was called Grenada, Brazil had been divided into 4 states, and the Confederation of the Rio de la Plata extended all the way south of Vinland.

In Europe things were somewhat different, Angles, Gauls and Italians took the place of the British, French and Italians, what was Spain and Portugal were now 5 distinct nations, Germany was divided into north and south, Eastern Europe and the Balkans had distinct nations, Greece was a small Empire and seemed to rival the Osmanli Dynasty, the name of this world for the Ottomans.

There were more changes on the map but he had to go to take a bath to get ready for the event, he saw the clock, it was 5:35 in the afternoon, and the celebration of the republic started at 6 in the evening.

He could not miss and give a bad presentation, he was the son and heir of El Presidente.