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nWhen I woke up the following day, I felt fantastic after completing my first cycle through my Mana Circuit the next day.

nNot only did I feel fully rested, but I felt as if I could run a marathon while juggling bowling balls and doing back handsprings instead of running.

nMy newfound energy reserves astounded me. While I knew I couldn’t fully utilize these energy levels, I couldn’t stop myself from attempting to sprint around my room like a lunatic, which ultimately ended with me faceplanting on the ground more times than actually making it to the wall and back to my crib.

nBy lunchtime, I concluded that not only did I have newfound energy, I also didn’t need a nap. One of the most annoying things about my infant body was how much sleep it needed. After awakening my Mana Circuit and Codex, it seemed unnecessary to have a mid-day nap anymore, to which I was ecstatic.

nNoticing how active I was, Cinyah made a quick in-the-moment decision while looking over at me as I sat on the couch watching a children’s cartoon on the HoloTv.

nBringing up her left arm and revealing the gauntlet-style watch wrapped around he left wrist, she proceeded to press a few buttons on it. Not long after, a holographic image of Rikard appeared hovering above her watch.

n“Hello, my beautiful wife; how may I be of assistance to you on this fine day?” as Rikard responded, the sound of several explosions and guttural roars were audible in the background.

n“I’ve decided to go to the park today with Cynrik; how long until you are finished with work?” Her clear melodious voice chimed out, drawing my attention.

nI tilted my head subtly to the side, ignored the stupid dancing bear on screen, and picked up on the word “Park.” lOutside…OUTSIDE, FINALLY, I CAN GO EXPLORING; I’ve been stuck in this house for nearly a full year. But, eh, who am I kidding. With how much of a helicopter parent Cinyah is, I wouldn’t be surprised if she put a leash on me when we go out.l

n“LITTLE CYNRIKS FIRST PARK TRIP. GUYS, HURRY IT UP MY BABY IS GOING TO THE PARK FOR THE FIRST TIME; THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I CAN MISS THIS”

nRikard’s response was so cringeworthy to me that it drew a physical reaction from me, nearly making me fall off the couch.

n“Mhm, hurry up, honey. You’ve got about an hour. I have to throw together a diaper bag and a snack box, on top of figuring out which outfit to dress him in before we leave, so get to it, YOU HEAR ME REAVERS, HURRY IT UP!” Cinyah went from zero to 100, nearly finishing up her statement in a vicious roar.

n“YES, MA’AM!” Several voices on the other end of the call yelled in response to my beautiful (but now ever so slightly terrifying) mother’s warning.

n“I’ll be done here soon, my darling wife” Rikard proceeded to make kissy noises into his watch, to which Cinyah’s reply was to end the call swiftly.

nlDamn, could it be that Mom is an ice queen in public, all the while being a tender loving parent and spouse at home?l This simple thought sent a bit of a shiver down my tiny spine.

nOne hour later, a simple blue diaper bag was neatly resting on the kitchen counter alongside a small green lunchbox which sported the large face of the stupid dancing Bear from the cartoon my mother seems to think I love.

nI, on the other hand, was miserably strapped into a high-tech hovering baby stroller with a look of defeat plastered on my face.

nCinyah had spent the majority of the last hour playing dress the baby in an attempt to choose the perfect outfit for me. The final result was a pair of dark purple shorts and a bright red T-shirt which, like the Lunchbox, sported the stupid **ing cartoon bear alongside matching light-up sneakers that were tainted, like its shirt and lunchbox counterpart, by my NOW new nemesis, Carlisle, The Bear.

nCinyah refused to leave me alone at this point with her continuous fussing over how my clothes fit, and me being trapped in the hover stroller of death left me no means of escape.

nWhen Rikard walked in the front door, he was greeted with the image of his bombshell of a wife smothering his handsome son with kisses and affection.

nUnfortunately for me, Rikard didn’t even acknowledge the looks I was shooting him, seeking reprieve from the onslaught of baby talk and kisses from Cinyah. To make matters worse, he even joined in.

nAs highly anti-social in my previous life, this amount of attention was worse than any horror movie or event imaginable for me. It was borderline suffocating.

nIt took another 30 minutes before it was finally time for my first steps…well, hover steps into the outside world.

nBreaching the threshold of our home, I was awestruck by my first glimpse of our neighborhood. Since the technology of this world was so advanced, none of the windows in our house showed what lies on the other side of the walls.

nThe windows always showed a digital image of a rainforest or beach. So when I finally went outside for the first time, What my eyes took in was the most futuristic sight I could imagine.

nWhat appeared to be a typical community for this world was like something from a science fiction movie. Every house aside from ours stood two stories or more tall and was uniquely built. The vision I had in my mind was modular homes made of a similar shape, size, and color. Furthermore, instead of being made from wood or brick, each house on our street was made from some metallic alloy I couldn’t recognize. The result was dozens upon dozens of homes that glittered and shined in the sun.

nLooking up into the deep blue sky, I counted not one or two but three different gaseous giants floating in different directions. Surprisingly, it wasn’t hot out; In fact, If I had to guess, the temperature was around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. A brief gust of wind lightly accented the nice weather and tossed my tiny tuft of dark purple hair.

nAs I was staring dumbfoundedly like a fool at my surroundings, several hover cars zoomed by silently as Cinyah walked alongside my hover stroller while watching my reactions with bright eyes and a smile.

nBirds were chirping, people were coming and going, and the most impressive part about all of this was, off in the distance, I could vaguely see huge skyscrapers and buildings.

nMy eyes darted around in every direction taking in every bit of my surroundings and enjoying not only the sunlight but the cool breeze. Being locked in the house for so long made me feel like a vampire, so it was nice to finally get some sun rays.

nMaking our way down the sidewalk, I took in all the sights, sounds, and smells of everything this world had to offer.

nUp until this moment, my entire world revolved around the warm, four-bedroom home I had grown accustomed to. Thus, everything I was experiencing was new and exciting for me.

nWell… it was…

nUntil we got to the park, that is.

nThe second we stepped into the play area, Cinyah instantly forced me to socialize with several other children. I couldn’t stop my right eye from twitching as Cinyah unbuckled me from my stroller and forcefully shoved me into a group of snot-nosed, loud, dirty children.

nPutting me down in front of a group of four kids around my age, she slowly stepped back and raised her hands to her face while watching me expectantly.

nMuch to her surprise, I completely locked up, making my bufoon of a father howl in laughter.

nRobotically I slowly turned my upper body and gave a fearful look towards Cinyah and Rikard. My parents. The only humans, other than Brandon, who are supposed to care about me. YET HERE THEY WERE, STRAIGHT UP ABANDONING ME TO THE WOLVES.

n‘I’M ALMOST 30 FUCKING YEARS OLD, HOW IN THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY WITH BABIES? HELL, I DON’T EVEN LIKE KIDS; NOW YOU EXPECT ME -THE KING OF LONERS- TO BE SURROUNDED BY THEM.’ I screamed in my mind while slowly turning to face the children who were tossing a small hover disk to each other.

nThe laughter of the kids and the murmurs of encouragement from Cinyah would have eventually chipped away at me if it wasn’t all interrupted by the hover disk going out of control and making a b-line straight for my head.

nNot having any time to think about my current predicament or the eyes on me at this exact moment in time, my body reacted instinctually.

nThe precise moment before the disk would have collided with my head, I flung out my left fist and punched the disk as hard as I could.

nBOOM!!!

nCausing it to explode instantly.

nCinyah screamed, Rikard burst out into a fit of laughter again, and all of the kids began screaming and crying while I stood there looking at my hand in shock, which was now a mess of broken skin and blood.

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