章 5: Chapter 5: The Glass Artifact

The morning sun streamed through the window, casting a warm glow on Kai's face. He was sitting in the garden, his fingers tracing the patterns on the armrest of his wheelchair, lost in thought. His mind wandered back to his old life, just few months before he died. He was seventeen, and was on his way back to home from work. "I will take a warm bath first thing once I reach home." He was passing by the park, when he saw a child fall in a park and his mother rushing to comfort him. He had watched the scene unfold, a pang of loneliness hitting him, "Let's just go home…" as he realized he had never experienced such parental care.

His reverie was broken by Emily's voice. "Kai! Are you hungry?", Emily came to the garden, while she had her basket with ingredients for dinner. He looked at her and responded with a nod and a small smile. "Alright then!" Emily went to prepare food, and Kai found himself thinking, "I'm not alone anymore. I have a mom now." He wheeled himself inside the house, towards the kitchen and started helping Emily, who smiled warmly at him.

"It's been a month since I came here. Waking up in middle of a forest. That too, in a body which can't walk nor talk. But I don't mind that. I am leading a peaceful life here, also I am not alone now."

After they finished eating, "Ah! I almost forgot! The books you wanted are here now. I asked the chief for them and he said he will order them. I will get them later on, so you just go and rest alright?", Emily told Kai to rest while she cleaned up. He nodded and started heading to his room. As he was about to return to his room, Emily mentioned something, "Oh right! Today I found a strange thing. A glass piece in the forest. It had some strange writing on it as well." Intrigued, Kai came back and started to write a note, "Can I see it?". "Oh sure." Emily pointed him to a basket on the table. He rummaged through it and found a small, perfectly shaped, transparent piece of glass.

"I will be taking it in my room. Is it alright?", he showed another note to her. "Sure, that's fine.", Emily replied with a smile on her face. As he started to head towards his room, Emily mumbled to herself, "Maybe I should try to look for more strange stuffs in the forest!" and started humming as she cleaned the dishes.

He quickly took the glass piece to his room. Once there, he placed it on the table and double-tapped it. "Please…" to his surprise, the surface of the glass glowed and a projection appeared in the air. The writings were not Vestalith, but in another language. He tapped on one of the writings in the air, and the glass transformed into a small earpiece. He took it and put it on his ear. His heart was racing, full of excitement. As he did, a screen displayed in front of him. "Hello, Eva." he thought, and a voice responded, "Welcome back, Sir."

As the voice responded, a wide smile spread across Kai's face. His heart pounded with excitement, a thrill he hadn't felt in a long time. He took it out and looked at the earpiece, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. He clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white. "Now, this is going to be some fun," he thought to himself, his mind already racing with the possibilities.