NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Chapter 1
"Ugh…my head…", I groaned, waking up in an empty, white room, "What the hell happened?"
Trying to recall how I ended up here, I vaguely remembered working on my new rocket engine when a bright flash blinded me. Not wanting to believe that I had accidentally killed myself, I was about to call out for a doctor or nurse when a young man appeared out of thin air in front of me.
"About time you came too…", he sighed, his annoyance evident in his tone, "As a self-proclaimed genius, I assume you understand that you died working on your pet project right?"
"Yeah, I vaguely recall working on my rocket engine. What I do not understand is how it detonated in the first place. It had no fuel or batteries in it, I was just running some diagnostics after our failed launch two days ago.", I said, scratching my head in confusion.
"You can thank your janitor for that. A competitor paid him to sabotage it, but they forgot to show him how they wanted it done. He moved several wires around and reinstalled the battery, so when you performed a diagnostic test it overloaded and exploded.", he told me, "They did not want you dead, they just wanted to buy additional time for themselves so they could deliver their rocket engine to the government before you."
"Seriously…I should have never listened to my father and replaced the cleaning staff with robots like I wanted.", I stated, looking up at the ceiling, "My dream of getting to travel the stars is done then, damn it!"
Taking a moment to collect my thoughts, I decided to just forget about it as there was nothing I could do now. There was no way to bring me back to life, and even if there was, I would not want to deal with the trauma that explosion would have caused me mentally and physically.
"So now what then? Are you here to judge my soul and send me to Heaven or Hell?", I asked, bracing myself for the inevitable.
"Nah, that has already been done. Even though you were an unsocial person, you did a lot of good with your charitable donations and the technological aid you provided to the poor. The Big Man has given me the thumbs up to give you a chance at a new life in another world. Where would you like to go?", he asked, impatiently tapping his foot.
"It can be anywhere?", I inquired, for clarification.
"Correct, so hurry up and choose…there are a lot of other people I have to meet with today.", he pressed me.
Seeing this as a golden opportunity to fulfill my dream of exploring the stars, I thought about what sci-fi universe I wanted to live in. Completely skipping over Stargate, Star Wars, and Star Trek for their incredibly dangerous enemies, a manga I was reading suddenly came to mind. It had a semi-fleshed-out universe with many different races and places to visit. Moreover, instead of being a space traveler, I could become a Bounty Hunter like Spike from Cowboy Bebop.
"If I can pick what universe to live in, I want it to be the Reborn as a Space Mercenary universe!", I said, certain of my decision, "Getting to play the role of a space bounty hunter sounds like a blast to me! Not only can I travel the stars as a badass merc, but I can also purchase planets and create new tech to my heart's content!"
"Hmm…it honestly sounds a bit boring in my opinion.", he shrugged, unimpressed with my decision, "I can mix in some other universes to spice things up for you. Maybe a little Warhammer 40k, Doom, Star Wars, and a few others to make it a bit more exciting."
"I like a challenge, but as a normal human, I would stand no chance against Space Marines, Sith, or Hellspawn. Nothing I know how to make or could wield would put me anywhere close to their power.", I remarked, imagining a swift death in my new life, "Not only that, all the monsters in those franchises would be way too much for a normal, human bounty hunter."
"I suppose that is fair, what if I send you to a world far removed from them?", he suggested, rubbing his chin as he thought about it, "In that world, you could collect equipment and skills to help you out in space, and make allies/lovers to make space travel a little less lonely."
Liking the sound of that, as working in my lab alone was quite lonely, the only remaining issue I had was how I would fix any tech that I found. Even though I was one of the best engineers in my line of work, my knowledge paled in comparison to what I would run into out there. Ships capable of interstellar travel were well beyond my knowledge, and weapons like Lightsabers or Phaser Pistols could potentially become bombs in my hands. Deciding that I needed a higher intellect than I possessed now, I decided to push my luck and see if I could request more from him.
"If I go with your suggestion, is there any way I can edit myself to suit this universe? As it stands now, I will be well over my head trying to use or fix any of the equipment you mentioned. Would it be possible to make me like Tony Stark or Victor Von Doom in terms of my intelligence and ability to absorb knowledge? It would be great if I could disassemble tech, reverse engineer it, and understand how it all works.", I said, unsure how he would take it.
"Fair enough, it is not like you can take this stuff to a local repair shop or anything.", he conceded, "Alright, I can make that happen easily enough. Anything else you want to change?"
"Two things, I want to have a very long life to enjoy this new universe and have an Item Box to store away all the loot I find!", I chuckled, with a big grin.
"A healthy body that can live for a long time, and an Item Box…let me write this all down.", he stated, summoning a clipboard to him.
Jotting down everything I requested, the man had me sign off on it once he was done. Reviewing it quickly, as he was becoming more impatient by the second, I reluctantly signed even though he did not spell out what world I would be starting on or what specific universes would be involved here.
"Perfect, enjoy your new life!!", he said, snatching it out of my hand, "Try not to show up here before old age takes you!!"
Before I could respond, the world around me went dark for a few moments. The next thing I knew, I was looking into the eyes of people I was unfamiliar with. Trying to move my body around to put some distance between us I found that my body was not moving properly. Becoming agitated quicker than I was used to, my body began to wail uncontrollably as my arms began to move on their own. Realizing that they were infant arms, my gut dropped to my knees.
'Oh hell no, he did not start me out a baby damn it!! I wanted to get to exploring right away!!", I thought, overwhelmed with anger, 'I bet he put that shit somewhere in the fine print, this is some bullshit!'
"He has your eyes, dear.", the man said, poking my cheek, "What should we name our new baby boy?"
"How about Leon? It was my grandfather's name and I like it.", the woman replied, smiling at me.
"Leon Bartfort, that has a nice ring to it.", the man chuckled.
'Hold on…Leon Bartfort…where have I heard that name before?', I thought, trying to recall the name, 'WAIT!? That is the protagonist from Mobuseka!? Why the hell did that asshole send me here!! I told him I wanted technology, this world is the complete opposite of tech!! He tricked me, that dirty, used car salesman bastard lied to me and now I am stuck here!!'
Unable to take this overwhelming shock, my infant body began to cry even louder. Assuming my wails were a sign that I was hungry, the next thing I knew my mother was pulling me to her chest to breastfeed me.
'Well fuck, nothing I can do now but just play the waiting game I guess.', I mentally sighed, as my mouth began to suckle, 'Hopefully the loot he mentioned includes some ships and advanced weapons. As soon as I can, I am going to start Dungeon Crawling for stuff that can quickly get me off this medieval shithole of a world.'
Resigning myself to relaxing these next few years, I fully intended to explore this Baroney for technology when I was free to roam.