Chapter 2 - Rewired

Zikito's Apartment - 6am

Zikito woke up in the bathroom, perhaps a little bit better than yesterday. He opened the door just to confirm what happened yesterday.

"Oh yes, I was completely hallucinating yesterday." Zikito sighed as he opened his door, it was nothing unusual.

Zikito looked up at the clock and then made pace, it's almost 7. Something was weird… he felt… he was being watched… Zikito paused as he looked around, he saw his teddy bear, the turtle. However, it couldn't possibly be that the turtle was watching him. 

"Yo, Zikito." The turtle toy greeted, about the size of his palm.

Zikito's head was about to go into pain and panic, he just barely recovered. He closed his eyes and hoped when he opened it again, he wasn't hallucinating.

"Holy fuck." Zikito exclaimed, the turtle stuffed toy was standing in front of him.

"What do you want from me? Are you a ghost here to haunt me!?" Zikito shouted, angry and in fear.

The turtle looked at him.

"Oh gomen-gomen, I didn't mean to scare you nor am I about to kill you and anything malicious." The turtle spoke with a hint of amusement.

"Since I caused you trouble yesterday, I figured I should at least say sorry to you." The turtle added.

"What do you mean…?" Zikito inquired, waiting for an answer.

"About the door, I didn't expect you to get into that state to enter it. I should've known." The turtle explained.

"For that, I can't really give you overwhelming power, but I can do you a favor." The turtle added as he smiled.

Zikito thought about it for a second.

"At least fix my head, I can't work like this." Zikito requested, expressing this unfavorable circumstance.

The turtle looked at him in shock.

"Now, now. That's quite a huge favor…" The turtle responded.

"Then how do you expect me to work with this kind of head?" Zikito retorted, his frustration so evident.

"Alright alright, just this once." The turtle conceded.

The turtle approached Zikito while he was speaking,

"That's only righ-." Zikito spoke, yet interrupted.

The turtle knocked him out, and Zikito fell to the floor. However, Zikito tried to keep conscious, even if it meant not being able to move.

"No… shit… not again…" Zikito murmured to himself.

The turtle rewired his brain, he performed critical work for days. Zikito received many missed calls from his company. The turtle finished work on the third day, and Zikito woke up. 

"What the hell…." Zikito exclaimed, trying to grasp what happened.

Things felt weird, it was as if it was too calm. He realized, IT WAS THREE DAYS!

"TURTLE… WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!?!" Zikito shouted angrily.

"I'VE MISSED THREE DAYS OF WORK! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Zikito continued,

The turtle looked at him disappointed.

"Do you really think I'm some grand wizard who can fix your monkey brain in one second? You should be thankful." The turtle argued, having a disappointed look.

"All I asked was for you to stop my headache, I could'VE DONE IT WITH PILLS!" Zikito exclaimed in frustration, thinking there was a better way.

"O H….." The turtle responded, realizing what he had done…

"I might've… gone too far-...." The turtle admitted, regretting what he's done.

Zikito immediately returned pace, wearing his suit and getting ready for work.

"Okay okay.. I'm sorry…" The turtle apologized.

"What if I make it up to-." The turtle began, but was cut off as soon as Zikito was ready for work.

Zikito ran as fast as he could, without taking care of the surrounding people. He rushed towards his company building. He checked his phone, over 50 missed calls, and a company noticed "salary deduction".

"Crap, crap, crap!" Zikito uttered, even running faster to explain what had happened.

Zikito arrived at the front desk, panting.

"Zikito-san, the chief has been looking for you…. What happened…?" Miss Takumi asked, with her face turning concerned.

"Hell, how do I even explain this…." Zikito thought to himself.

"We even called your neighbors, but they said you weren't at your apartment. We were about to call the police this day…" Miss Takumi explained, trying to hold back the tears she had.

"Zikito you baka! I-.... You should meet the office chief.. He's waiting for you…" Miss Takumi scolded, mixed with frustration and concern, she was a little bit relieved.

"I'm really sorry, Miss Takumi! And thank you for your concern!" Zikito bowed down as he expressed his apologies.

Zikito rushed towards the elevator to meet the office chief, Mr. Haruto. As the elevator door opened, he saw Mr. Haruto just in front of him.

"Oh.. Zikito-!....." Mr. Haruto exclaimed.

"You had us WORRIED! WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THE PAST THREE DAYS!?" Mr. Haruto demanded an explanation of his absence.

"I'm terribly sorry Mr. Haruto!" Zikito bowed and apologized sincerely.

Mr. Haruto felt slightly bad.

"Go to your desk, everyone is waiting for you, Zikito." Mr. Haruto's frustration faded, revealing a faint smile as he reintroduced Zikito back into the office.

Shogo noticed Zikito, he took a second break from his work and greeted,

"Yo! Welcome back Zikito senpai!" 

"Oh! Zikito! How have you been?" Renzo politely asked.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, everyone! I'm fine now and I will return to work! Thank you for covering for me!" Zikito apologized, expressing gratitude for the work they handled without him.

"It's alright, Zikito-san! It's nothing much." Kazuki reassured.

Zikito nodded to everyone as he headed back to his desk. The papers there weren't as many as he expected.

"We covered a little bit for you while you were gone, Zikito senpai!" Shogo shared enthusiastically.

Zikito gave a faint yet warm smile. He proceeded to work. The atmosphere regained its mundane spirit. 10 minutes elapsed and Zikito was already done, he stood up and prepared the documents to be submitted.

"Holy, that was so fast, Zikito-san…" Yuto marveled, he was certain that the papers at his desk would take at least three hours.

The other coworkers stared at Zikito as he was heading towards the office chief.

"He must be joking…" Renjiro remarked, skeptical about the inhuman speed of finishing the paperwork.

They resumed back to their working state. Zikito arrived back at the office chief. Mr. Haruto looked very surprised, it hasn't even been 30 minutes since Zikito arrived.

"What's wrong, Zikito? Why the papers-?" Mr. Haruto questioned.

"I've finished, Mr. Haruto." Zikito calmly stated.

"Are you serious?" Mr. Haruto doubted.

"Show me." Mr. Haruto demanded the papers.

Mr. Haruto took a seat as he inspected the papers Zikito submitted. He gave a slight stare.

"These papers were even of better quality than the ones you submitted in the past, and above all, did you really finish these in 10 minutes?" Mr. Haruto inquired, very skeptical of the work done, and also very impressed.

"Mr. Haruto… I'm certain that I must've taken at least an hour-." Zikito doubted, thinking it took him quite long.

Mr. Haruto pointed at the clock above his head, it clearly had been only 10 minutes. Both of them were now speechless.

"I've got some papers here… if you don't mind, you can do these too…." Mr. Haruto suggested, slightly worried and really surprised.

"Certainly, Mr. Haruto." Zikito responded, taking the papers in question.

"What have you really been doing in the past three days…." Mr. Haruto thought to himself.

Zikito walked back to his desk, full of papers this time. 

"Did I really take only 10 minutes…?" Zikito asked himself, then proceeded to do the papers.

In just 15 minutes, he finished them all, the office went silent. Staring at Zikito with papers ready to be submitted.

"Are you serious… Zikito-san…?" Kaito asked, in worry, doubt, and surprise.

"Why are you all looking at me like that…?" Zikito question, perplexed by the reaction of his colleagues.

They all went back to work, the office feeling stranger than ever. Zikito headed back to his office chief, Mr. Haruto. Mr. Haruto gave Zikito a stern look.

"Zikito… This would've usually taken you three hours, or at least one hour, are you serious?" Mr. Haruto inquired, astonished and left speechless of this inhuman achievement.

Mr. Haruto took off his glasses to look at Zikito eye to eye.

"You know… The usual workload I give you is thrice as many than the other ones, I don't get why you're working this hard. Still, you'd finish those in three hours and walk home early. You can go home at noon…." Mr. Haruto expressed, being left in confusion

"I greatly appreciate that, Mr. Haruto…." Zikito expressed his gratitude, yet confused about the reactions he has been getting today…

Zikito walked off and took the elevator out. Upon walking by the desk, Miss Takumi approached with concern.

"What happened? It hasn't even been half an hour, did something happen? Zikito-san! Talk to me!" Miss Takumi pressed, thinking that Zikito might've been fired or suspended.

"Mr. Haruto allowed me to take a break early… Nothing really bad happened." Zikito explained, trying to reassure Miss Takumi.

"This early…. You're working too hard Zikito-san…" Miss Takumi expressed, slightly relieved, that he's not fired.

"I'll get going, Miss Takumi." Zikito exited the building. 

Zikito went to Mishu Convenience store, taking his usual snacks, fresh milk and cream puffs. 

"That'll be 260 yen sir." The cashier prompted.

Zikito took out a 500 yen coin and paid.

"Have a nice day sir." The cashier stated.

He saw the old man in front of him, sitting on the bench.

"It's you again, corporate boy?" The old man chuckled.

Zikito approached and sat on the bench.

"Yes, it is me." Zikito replied while opening his cream puff.

"No, you're not." The old man scoffed, looking disappointed.

"What do you mean?" Zikito asked.

"I see, you haven't noticed?" The old man expressed, stating that something crucial isn't realized by Zikito.

Zikito took a bite of his cream puff and a sip from his fresh milk. He looked at the old man, trying to silently press why. The old man looked the other way and stood up.

"You'll know soon, boy." The old man stated, and walked away.

Zikito was left confused, but he proceeded to continue eating his snacks. He threw the garbage into the bin, and headed back towards the office building. The front desk clerk greeted him,

"Zikito-san, Mr. Haruto informed me you can go home early. I've already logged you out right now, take care." Miss Takumi relayed the message with a smile.

"I see… Thank you, Miss Takumi." Zikito responded as he signed to officially logout. 

Zikito headed outside right after he logged out. Trying to think what he should do in his free time. 

"I guess I can consider this as a day off…" Zikito thought to himself.

While Zikito was walking, he witnessed something strange. A hostage situation was right there in the alleyway, he had to do something. He grabbed his phone and called the police. Zikito tried to call, but there was no signal.

"This is bad…" Zikito thought to himself.

Zikito knew that he had to do it himself, or else it'll be too late. Zikito took off his coat and rolled up his sleeve, preparing for a fight. 

"What am I even doing, playing hero-..?" Zikito reflected to himself.

Zikito dashed towards the alleyway, reaching 3 meters a second of sprint. He punched the man, releasing the girl he was holding.

"That hurt, brat." The man spoke in anger, checking his bruise in his face.

The man looked at Zikito, he was a 6 foot frame capable of crushing Zikito, who is only 5 '7. The man clenched his fist and punched Zikito. Zikito suddenly felt something strange, the punch was rather slow, and his body felt really heavy, but he could react in time to move.

"Hoho, we got a fighter, do we?" The man taunted, getting ready for the next clash.

The girl tried to escape, but the man grabbed her hair and tossed her aside. This greatly angered Zikito.

"Don't run away from me, I'll feel lonely." The man mocked the girl, of a sadistic nature.

The girl curled up, crying. Zikito got very furious. He then, with all his might, dragged and forced his body to move in less than a second to blast the man's face with a punch. The man saw it, but he was too late. Zikito landed a punch, but he felt the strings of his muscles break, he forced himself too much. The man was lying down, trying to recover and is now more furious than ever. The man stood up.

"Not bad for a dwarf…" The man taunted more, now running in adrenaline.

"TAKE THIS MOTHERFUCKER!" The man launched, and unfortunately, Zikito didn't manage to dodge.

The punch was faster and stronger, and Zikito felt death. It was all up to his body's instinct to protect him. A sudden plasma of electricity trying to deflect the punch reaching up to 200 kilos in force- the man's hand was burning while Zikito was deflecting it with his life. Fortunately, he did. However, the man isn't finished.

"I never thought I'd see a magician, but I'll show you reality! STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN!" The man screamed, ripping his shirt, bulging every muscle in his body. 

Zikito could even see the man steaming hot red, but this wasn't a good sign. Each punch reached over 500 kilos of force, and this was an onslaught of punches. His body by instinct, randomly casted magic desperately deflecting them to live. Air barriers, plasma deflections, land absorption, fire deceleration. His mind was trying to desperately survive. Both of them were panting, with damage fair to each side. Zikito couldn't feel his left leg, he was standing on one foot. 

"I'll say it, you're STRONG! But I.. AM… STRONGER!!!!" The man grunted, some of his veins bursted, gambling it all in a thousand kilo punch. 

This time, Zikito's body was in a thread. His instincts were ravaging his brains to adapt and survive, the punch wasn't getting deflected nowhere, but it slowed down to at least 100 kilos in force. Zikito got punched, he spat and coughed up blood. The man died. Zikito couldn't feel both his legs anymore… He was going unconscious… He couldn't even lift his head, he could no longer fight the black.

CHAPTER 2 END