Chapter 115 - 114: The Force Awakens
Richard’s eyes fluttered open. Instantly, he was assaulted by an overwhelming cacophony of voices and sensations. A thousand whispers, a thousand echoes, a storm of thoughts, emotions, and raw data crashed into him all at once.
The sheer volume was deafening, a crushing wave of information that threatened to drown him. He tried to move, but his limbs felt strange, heavy and light at the same time, his mouth clumsy, unable to form words amidst the internal deluge.
"Richard! You’re awake! Lina! He’s awake!" Jack’s voice, strained with emotion, cut through the internal clamor, though it felt distant, muted.
Jack, who had been watching him, gasped, seeing Richard’s new, ethereal silver eyes open. He rushed forward, his face etched with a mixture of shock and profound relief.
"How are you feeling? What happened to you?"
Richard attempted to respond, but his mouth still felt clumsy, and the internal noise was too distracting. He struggled to filter it, to find a single point of silence. His new abilities, completely unfiltered, were already active.
He perceived Jack’s thoughts: a distinct stream of worry and profound concern, a fear for his friend’s drastically altered state, questions about the pure white skin and long white hair, and thoughts of Anita and Estello, and how they would react. He perceived the low, rhythmic hum of the mansion’s systems, the distant movements of androids and humans within the base, their mundane thoughts flitting like fireflies in the background.
Most strikingly, Lina’s thoughts were a roaring torrent in his mind – countless calculations, simulations, desperate attempts to process the unknown. Her "loudness" was overwhelming, a constant, dizzying storm of data processing that threatened to consume his nascent consciousness.
Gods, the noise. It’s a thousand different conversations, a million whispers, all at once. Jack’s worry, sharp and clear. The low thrum of the base, each android’s programmed logic, each human’s mundane thought – all of it screaming in my head. But Lina... her mind is a fucking supernova. Calculations, data streams, every single processing cycle a roar. I can’t—I can’t shut it off! It’s like a million radio stations all blasting at once, right inside my skull. I just need... one second of silence. One single, goddamn moment of peace.
As Richard tried to suppress the overwhelming voices and sounds, his internal System interface flared to life. Its familiar blue panel now shimmered with an uncharacteristic intensity, a vibrant, silver hue, presenting a barrage of notifications that demanded his immediate attention:
[ System Levelled Up to 3 ]