Technomancer: Genesis Chapter 5: Curiosity

His mouth was agape. He fell down with his back to the floor like a slipping motion as this happened. The surreal feeling had vanished. The higher state of consciousness had disappeared; he suddenly became exhausted.

His mother immediately rushed to him and carried him while talking to him. He still couldn't understand her. She laid him down in the crib and spoke in a gentle manner. He observed her expression. It looked as if she was curious about why he wasn't crying. Her shock from seeing her son walk had dissipated and only underlying concern remained.

He tried very hard to stay conscious but because of the instant exhaustion, he had fallen asleep to the voice of his "mother". When he had awoken, he still felt quite weak. He did not know how many hours passed by but his mother was asleep beside him with unkempt hair and a blanket on her back. This was probably put on by his "father".

She had a worried look on her face although she was sleeping. He had never felt the tender love of a mother and this was the first time he ever experienced it. He didn't know what to feel. It was bizarre since he did not consider this human being as a parent but nonetheless, he was moved though he could not admit it to himself.

He pondered at what he saw before slipping. It defied common sense. Instantaneous freezing required a great amount of energy or abnormally low temperatures. There was certainly no temperature drop within the vicinity or he would have frozen to death. It was as if the water had touched liquid nitrogen. But there was certainly no sign of that as well. And his "mother" acted completely normal. Her concern was for him and not the unnatural phenomenon. He did not see what happened to the cup after he had slipped.

Although he was curious at that moment, the sudden drained feeling made him helpless. Was it just one of his imaginings because the strange surreal heightened state of consciousness had ended? For the moment, he could only accept the reincarnation begrudgingly but seeing the instantaneous freezing was beyond his expectations. At the very least, he thought that he was still on the same planet. However, after seeing this occurrence, he must be in a different universe altogether. Super String theory proposed multiple universes anyway. Each with different natural laws. This was a breakthrough if he were on earth. He would have won a Nobel prize for this discovery if it were true. For now, this was just a hypothesis. He hadn't seen any star systems or constellations yet so he couldn't conclude on anything as of yet.

"Interesting. When I'm a bit older physically, I'll conduct a few basic experiments about the laws of nature in this place." He thought.

"Maybe I can find a way to return,"

"But first, what should I do? That woman clearly saw me walking. She looks tired as well. I would have had a heart attack if that were me." He thought of this as he glanced at his mother.

"Seems that there are plenty of oddities in this world. "

Freezing water for no apparent reason. A baby who has the consciousness of a scientist. And one that can walk to boot.

"Hmm, letting her see me walk puts me in a dilemma. " He thought as he glanced at his mother.

"I wonder how she will respond to it. I better observe and lie low the next few days."

"Learning the language here will take me a few days or weeks."

"I'll try to get their attention and analyze the syntax. The words are no problem since I have eidetic memory"

"Maybe I'll sound out a whole phrase and observe their reaction. From there, I'll plan for the next course of action"

"If it bodes well, I will ask them everything about this place. Though, I must not ask them all at once; that would be terrifying for them."

"But where do I start? Their alphabet? Their culture? The societal structure? Their technology? Maybe, I should ask about the fundamental laws of physics in this place like, why do things fall? I need to gauge their intelligence as well. What are the customs, skills and abilities, and social standing of my would be parents?"

"I have nowhere to go so I might as well stay in this place. "

His curiosity burned.

"Before I do anything, I'll have to inspect the full capacity of this body. It was already miraculous that I was able to walk in this body since my muscles are not fully developed, plus my bone structure cannot support that. Most of my primary bones for upright walking aren't even solid yet; this body is full of tendons. Yet, why was I able to walk?; that is really strange. Is it related to the altered state of consciousness I had?"

"I can't wait to experience this new world around me."

But the drowsiness was creeping up on him.

Glancing back at his "mother", he slowly closed his eyes while he thought, "Poor woman having a freak as a child."

Chapter end