Ki Horizons - [Litrpg, Adventure, Power Levels]

"He's responding so well to the tests!"

"Indeed. It's remarkable. At this rate, we may very well see our first success! Subject Seventy Four may be the key to everlasting life. Have his blood and bone marrow sampled tomorrow and have his Ki measured again. I'm worried about the restraints."

"Ah, sure. Oh, did you see the new Kimono we got him? It's so beautiful! Ah, I can't wait to visit him later tonight. Director, can we finally name him? Seventy Four is so bland and-"

"For the last time, no! He is a thing, an experiment, a living breathing test tube but not a pet or a toy. The previous Director was far too lax. He is Experimental Subject Seventy Four till he dies."

"Yes Director… but those are bold words considering what you've been doing to Subject Sixty Three you know?"

"Ah, well… even I need some stress relief from time to time. But at least I don't name them!"

Seventy four-

No.

Cooler began to struggle to awareness. Terrible memories assaulted him but the very fact that they were memories raised his spirits. After thirty years… the nightmare was over. The conclusion was unacceptable, but it was not the first time he'd lost someone close in this hell. His emotions were numb.

At least, they had been.

The slaughter, the breakout, finally seeing brand new sights with his own eyes, fighting, all of the death, meeting someone from above ground who wasn't evil… Despite how in control he had always needed to be, today had shaken such a necessity.

The grave of everyone he knew, of everyone he had ever known, had been the final straw. He could no more hold himself back from giving everyone their final rest than he could grow gills and breathe water.

May you rest in peace Seventy Five. I mourn you and all the others that came before you. I wish… you could have had a name. I wish you got to see what I have seen this day. The weight… is heavy. But I will bear it.

He opened his eyes and stood, focusing his senses. He frowned. He didn't know where he was. He was within the horrible hell, that was for certain, but he had never been in this room before. A tingle of fear snaked its way up his spine. The unknown was the most terrifying.

Looking forward, he saw Mutai standing there in front of-

Hmm.

"So this is where I was born."

Mutai turned to him, panic in his eyes.

It hurt.

Mutai, far as Cooler could tell, was innocent. Innocent like Seventy Five. Innocent like he'd always known to exist but could never experience, never talk to, never touch. Unburdened from the life he had lived. What wonderful stories might he tell? What fun and happiness must he have had? It was better than even seeing the sun that Cooler had looked so forward towards. It was like… seeing the earth. The ground from above. He'd long been able to fly but never once had he been able to look down upon anything but cold metal. Even wounded, Mutai was… filled with so much joy.

Divines above, he even sympathized with him. He hadn't puked at the bodies but at the horrors inflicted upon him. Hadn't looked upon him with lust. Hadn't belittled him or treated him wrong. Hadn't looked upon him with fear (Well, too much fear) when he was so clearly stronger. He'd gone so far as to call him a 'dick'. His very energy warmed him in a way that made him want to cry. An act he'd long grown incapable of.

…It didn't hurt that he was so cute.

And yet, he'd not only accidentally brought him down here, but collapsed and abandoned him to whatever forces may still be around or may show up at any time. He'd put him in danger by accident and then by negligence. It was an unacceptable way to start his new life.

"Mutai, I am sorry for-"

"Where the fuck are we Cooler? What the fuck is that?"

Cooler turned… and was at a loss for words.

That… how?

Nothing made sense. Floating in a tank was Mutai, but a far less athletic one. It looked… weak. He could do more than simply see, he could feel it. He had never felt a weaker organism in his entire existence.

Looking around… there were many such tanks. Not all were filled with Mutai, but many were. He spotted a few of himself, unsurprising. He had seen more than a few of himself over the decades.

"I do not understand." He finally replied. "Clones are a normal experience here, it is how we were born. But we were born. I began as a babe. Yet now before me I see you, fully formed. Many of you. And yet I have never seen you're face before today. I simply do not understand how that could be possible."

He was at a loss. He had foolishly begun to believe he understood the horrors of this lab. To find that there was more yet unseen was… troubling.

Mutai looked around wildly, aggravating his injuries. He began to cough, even as the terror seemed to fill him. Cooler felt frozen more than normal. How he wished to provide comfort and warmth! Yet neither his Kitsune ingrained wisdom nor his reading had properly gone over such measures. He should… offer words? But what words?

"What troubles you so Mutai?"

"What troubles me?! Cooler, are you- There's a whole room full of me! Full of clones of me. In some demented horrible basement lab deep underneath The Fucking Smile Company! What do you think 'Troubles me?!'"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He had erred. Asking for clarification was the wrong direction. A foolish action. Of course he would be troubled by such, even he felt unnerved seeing so many of himself sleeping in tanks. He must do better. But how?

How does one calm another down?

His mind flashed an answer… and he hesitated. His body… almost refused. Such an act had been… tainted by others. Was it even appropriate? For once, Cooler felt a true lack of knowledge and he decided he hated the feeling. The nervousness and fear were unpleasant. But for the beautiful man before him, and the one that had bestowed upon him a name free from evils of the world, he would try.

******

Was I a clone?

Was I a fucking clone?

Why am I here? Why are so many of me here?! How long, how long had I been here? Why so many? WHY?! Was my life a lie? My memories? Was I… Was I even Mutai? Was I the first? What, why? When? How? Why, what, what, what?

My breathing grew ragged and my lungs made themselves known, blood being coughed up as I spun around and around.

Hundreds. Hundreds! So many tanks, so many, so many bodies! Why? Why? Me and me and another me and another and another and-

Do I have a mom and dad? Did I? Were Mother and Father… real? Are my memories real? How many different me are there? Were there? Am I… am I just an experiment somehow? How did I…

My heart hammered in my chest as my eyes shook, staring at so many of my face. My faces. So many so many so many so many so many so many-

Arms wrapped around me.

I reacted on instinct, elbowing hard and trying to get away. To escape, to flee. The arms wouldn't let go, they had me, they captured me, they-

A hand on my head.

A hand on my head. A blue light. The sewers.

No, no no no, I don't want to go back to the sewers! No! No, please, please, I-

I…

I……

"Do you feel more calm now?"

My mind froze for a good, long minute, pure confusion filling it. Slowly, as the gears in my empty head began to turn, the confusion only doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. It was too… strange. Bizarre. Impossibly weird.

"Cooler… are you… hugging me right now?"

"Indeed."

And he was. He had come up from behind me and wrapped his arms around me. If that was all, perhaps I'd only be at the triple level of absolute confusion and bafflement. But what made things even more, far more, strange was…

That he was…

He was…

"Are you… rubbing… my head?"

"I read about this. I have heard it helps. Do you feel better?"

My jaw dropped as I felt his hand going through my dirty, rumble streaked hair and felt his arms wrapped around my wounded bleeding body.

Today was weird.

Today was really weird.

I don't like today anymore.

And by all the gods, why was the answer to his question yes? It was so… absolutely… insane that feeling anything but insane confusion was beyond me. Was I asleep? Had someone drugged me? Or was this really happening?

Was I really being petted and hugged by some random guy a thousand feet below the earth while staring at clones of me?

"I do. Actually, you know what Cooler? I do feel better. So… could you… you know… please stop?"

"Of course."

He let go, backing away, and I felt like I could breathe again.

There was a version of me that could sit down, examine that, and be stun locked for even longer. I chose not to be that version. My mind hurt enough as it was, I didn't want to think about what the hell had just happened. I was just gonna throw it away into 'this was really weird' and 'I can't expect someone trapped underground for all his life to act sanely.'

Shaking my head, I focused back on… this.

Clones. Clones of me. That part truly made no sense.

"I… don't… think I'm a clone?"

"It is unlikely you yourself are." Cooler said.

I looked at him, seeing him staring at one of himself intently.

"What do you mean?"

"You have lived a life beyond here. Clones have little purpose for such a thing."

"Couldn't my memories just be… false or something?"

He shook his head.

"I have limited experience with the world… but if this facility had such capabilities, I have never heard of it. I believe such measures would've been used liberally if capable. Your body, from strength to form to muscle memory also tells a story of years. These are similar… but they are also younger."

He was right. Although they looked like me, I could tell.

This was me before I'd broken through. When I'd still been stuck at Power Level [1] all my life.

Wait.

I looked closer. Something was off. Staring at another me was… disturbing didn't begin to describe it but…

"Mutai."

I looked over to Cooler. He was in front of a computer with a massive display screen, moving things around via holographic controls.

"I believe this may have the answer you seek."

He was rapidly scrolling through information, going through file after file before-

"Vega Calendar, Year 952, Maxim the 13th."

I blinked. That was… almost four years ago. The first month of the year. A few days after I'd been forced to come to Vega City.

"Today is a new day in our advancement. A new survivor from Vega and with it, a new cloning specimen. Biological this time, human. The easiest type to clone, thank the gods. Ahem. We have already begun producing a test variant to see if there's anything worthwhile but results are promising. No negative interactions nor complications observed so far. The Series, if viable, will be known as the S-Series."

Cooler moved to click the next log but I was frozen.

Four years ago.

Four years.

When I'd been 'rescued' by the Smile Company.

When they'd broken my arm and forced me into the healing tank. That hadn't just been a random act of cruelty after being 'unruly'. They'd done that on purpose, with a purpose.

They'd…

They'd stolen my DNA.