Chapter 39: Hello World

Lotus Stalk Hospital, after undergoing numerous repairs, it had been rebuilt into a sturdier building. On the 8th floor of the hospital, within a certain ward, a patient slept. He looked like a slightly malnourished teenager, lacking development in the areas of his limbs where muscle mass should have accumulated.

Sporting an androgynous face, the boy lay unconscious, having not shown any signs of activity for the past few years. The room was vacant, except for him, looking bereft of life. The door opened as a nurse entered, showing a bored look as she focused her gaze on the monitor, taking note of the data mechanically.

Not once did she bother to spare a glance at the boy, leaving the room once she was done with her observation. An hour later, the nurse entered once again, making note of the readings from the machine, and setting aside a glance at the sleeping patient.

"What a waste of that pretty face." She clicked her tongue, lamenting the fate of the patient. Finished with her routine, she exited the room. Coming across a colleague, the two nurses chatted, planning to take a five minutes break, acting sneaky.

In the hospital room, the body of the boy showed no signs of activity, except for the involuntary muscles that functioned nonstop. Suddenly, the body of the boy violently jerked, like a man that had fits. His body spasmed, severing the cords that were connected to him, raising a set of alarms.

Within a couple of seconds, the nurse in charge of him rushed in, accompanied by the other nurse. The two were flustered, witnessing a situation that they hadn't thought was possible. One of them rushed out to contact a doctor while the other inspected the condition of the boy, trying to figure out the cause for his spasms while struggling to placate him.

No sounds were emitted from the boy, his mouth closed. His body was held in place by the nurse, using her psychic energy to suppress his spasms. Not even 10 seconds had passed since the nurse had rushed out, arriving with a doctor.

The doctor emitted a dense fluctuation of psychic energy, infusing it into the body of the boy, inspecting the cause for his abnormality.

"His body is emitting some sort of rejection, making the organs fail one after the other. Hurry, use a muscle relaxant." The doctor ordered, reinforcing the failing organs with his psychic energy.

The nurse did as was told, injecting a solution into the bloodstream of the boy, trying her best to preserve his vitals from dropping further. A minute later, the thrashing body of the boy came to a halt, recovering to his previous vegetative state.

The doctor and the two nurses heaved a sigh of relief. The doctor noted the vitals, saying to the nurses, "His brain activity has improved as compared to before. If it improves at this rate, there is a chance of the boy waking up in the future."

"I'll summon the doctor in charge of this patient. Let him take care of the rest." Saying so, the doctor exited the room, hurrying along the corridor. He rushed into an operating ward, gazing at three other doctors who had surrounded a patient, operating on him.

"It's the needle of a Spindle Bee; lodged at three places. The blooming effect has been suppressed by a Skill of the patient but, it is showing signs of a breach." A doctor murmured, picking up a scalpel, and cutting open a small section along the stomach.

A needle that looked no different from a sewing needle used for handling wool was lodged beneath the cut section, looking brown, and filled with three rings of yellow. Faint tendrils started to emerge from the tip, burrowing into the surrounding flesh. A light, red coloured hue surrounded the flesh, hindering the tendrils.

The door to the operation ward closed with a shut.

The two nurses looked at the sleeping figure of the boy, leaving him alone after a minute of inspection. The doctor in charge of him had arrived, giving him some medication and reattaching the life-supporting devices with the help of the nurses. Once they were done, they exited the room.

The boy lay unconscious, bereft of the signs of the healthy, his haggard expression making people want to pity him. The room turned peaceful, filled with a harmonious atmosphere, the only sounds being the faint beeps from the life support machine.

Though, within his body, a bloody war was being waged, one that was at its climax. The blue soul looked damaged, parts of its soul were peeling off. Its two Soul Corneas were almost transparent, looking like they would disappear any minute.

The subsoul that had burrowed into Jyorta's soul had been destroyed, assimilated into the murky soul of Jyorta. Jyorta's soul thrashed, having gained some features from the subsoul that it had absorbed. Though, most of its attacks were directed at itself, thanks to the blue soul having invaded most of it by now.

'Kaushik, don't dare assume that I would go down without a fight. If I can't win, I'll ensure to take you down with me.'

'Well, you have grown, Jyorta. But, what can you actually do? Even if you have obtained most of my memories, you don't have the methods to deal with me.' The blue soul communicated, using its weakened Soul Corneas to drill into Jyorta's soul.

As they fought for a long time, and as their memories became intertwined, Jyorta had come to know of its existence and could hence communicate with it. He tried to retaliate, using the methods of the blue soul against it. Alas, some inert differences between their souls made it difficult for Jyorta to effectively make use of the methods.

The blue soul immediately began to chant the verse of the creepy haired man, shaving off the remainder of the murky substance covering Jyorta's soul. Jyorta's soul retaliated, using a tendril extended from its soul to lash out. The two enacted their self-destructive plans, making use of all methods to destroy their opponent.

Time passed in such a manner. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Suddenly, a third party emerged, drilling into the remainder of Jyorta's soul, attacking him with reckless abandon.

'Haha, you didn't expect this, did you? Two months ago, a new nurse was posted to take care of me, a newly advanced Tier 2 Area Controller. And, guess what, I converted the soul of the Wisdom Parasite in her with ease, waiting for the right opportunity to strike at you.' The blue soul attacked.

'Dammit!' Jyorta's soul cursed, struggling to maintain his sense of self. The appearance of a third party endangered him. After a long period of struggles, he had managed to destroy the subsoul that had burrowed into its soul. Now, the sudden appearance of another subsoul put him in an impasse.

'Well, it was fun while it lasted. Goodbye, Jyorta. I'll be sure to live a fulfilling life in your place.' The blue soul communicated, snuffing out the last of Jyorta's soul.

'Finally!' The blue soul thought, feeling euphoria. Being hidden, striving to hide itself without alerting others, feeling a sense of danger when its memories leaked out to Jyorta, and having to patiently wait in darkness spanning more than a decade, it had all come to an end.

The blue soul wrapped up the bits and pieces of Jyorta's soul, one that had lost its ego. It absorbed them into its body, fusing with them. Having already digested most of Jyorta's memories over the period, it didn't have to do much segregation, directly integrating the memory fragments into a cluster.

Once it was done, it absorbed all the memory fragments from the subsoul, sending it back to the body of the nurse who happened to be near. The nurse had been wiping his body with a moist towel, hence giving the subsoul ample time to prepare its ambush, finish its job, and return to its original place.

'Now, there isn't any chance that the nurse might learn of my existence. All memories have been stripped from the subsoul.' The blue soul thought, forming a connection with Jyorta's body, and engaging with all the senses of the body.

Wenina Marble was wiping the body of Jyorta when she noticed his eyes twitching. It was minute at first before becoming obvious. The nurse leaned before him, planning to observe if what she had seen wasn't an illusion when, his eyelids fluttered open. A pair of cloudy eyes greeted her view.

After a couple of seconds, the cloudy eyes gained a sense of clarity, looking deep while having a startling sense of calm. It focused its gaze at the face of the nurse, taking a good while, etching the face to memory. The mouth below parted, the vocal cords moved up and down, leaking out a coarse voice, filled with hesitation.

"…Hello?"

"Hello there, take some deep breaths as you get up." The nurse helped him, gently moving his body to a sitting posture. "Don't worry about anything and just take deep breaths, okay?"

"Okay," Jyorta nodded, expressing his confusion. Under the influence of the calm and gentle voice of the nurse, his heart rate slowed down. The nurse noticed his heart rate depicted on the monitor from the corner of her eye, heaving a sigh of relief when it returned to normal levels.

"I am Wenina Marble, the nurse in charge of you. Are you feeling hungry? Do you want to eat some food?" The nurse said, keeping him distracted with trivial stuff until he looked ready to hold a normal conversation.

"W-Where is this place?" Jyorta spoke, his gaze waving past the surroundings in the room.

"A hospital," The nurse replied, "Give this sister a minute, will you? I'll bring your doctor to check up on you."

"I…" His voice trailed, "I seem to have faced a nightmare, something horrible." Clutching his head, Jyorta seemed to be in pain.

"Relax," The nurse held his hands, the warmth in them calming him. "Everything's fine. It was just a bad dream. Just relax for the moment."

"Okay," Jyorta nodded, resting his back on the ground, falling asleep. The nurse checked his condition, feeling relieved after noticing that he was just in a state of slumber. She gently closed the door, hurrying along the corridor to inform the respective doctor, the one in charge of Jyorta.

The moment the door closed, the eyes of Jyorta shot open, his mouth curled up in a smile, similar to a 3-year-old child having just received a gift. His hands moved around his body, groping them, and feeling the sensation of touch. Taking in a deep breath of the air, he felt its refreshing taste. The sensory stimulus brought tears to his eyes, choking his emotions. His mouth opened, forming words in his native language.

"Hello, World!"