He was lost in the darkness again. The last thing he could remember was the strange entity within his mind requesting his permission to 'save' him. He remembered giving it that permission. Right before it put him back to sleep. As illogical as it would have seemed to trust something he did not fully understand, at that he supposed it had felt like the right thing to do. Even now his feelings had not changed. Besides at least this time he was not completely drowned in oblivion.
As he felt himself slowly returning to the surface of conscious awareness, he could 'see' things in the deep void of darkness that dwelled at the core of his empty mind. Images flashing by at such high speeds that he could barely make out the blurry figures, strange unfamiliar voices that were warbled beyond auditory comprehension. He did not know what to make of these things. But fortunately he would not have to. He was already so close to regaining himself.
The very first thing he registered upon coming into full cognizance, was pain. White hot, agonizing pain that seared through his entire body. It felt like every organ in his body was on fire, while being simultaneously turned inside out slowly. His eyes snapped open, wide and unseeing as his body unwillingly contorted under the pain. That proved to be a terrible idea, as it only seemed to make the whole thing worse.
Just when he felt himself about to slip back into unconsciousness due to the immense strain on his mind, he felt most of the muscles in his body suddenly go slack as something momentarily took control of him for a brief moment, allowing him to lie back down on whatever surface he was on. The familiar interface he had seen the last time he had been somewhat lucid fizzled into existence in his mind's eye, only this time the interface was heavily tinged with a deep crimson hue that almost made the blue interface seem purple.
[The Host has regained consciousness]
[The System will now relinquish control back to the Host—]
His eyes widened and he immediately forced a thought to the surface of his mind.
'No! Don't do that!'
The interface paused for a moment before new texts appeared again.
[Does the Host not wish to regain control of his body?]
He realized for the first time that he could actually hear the written texts in his mind. The System, as it called itself, had a somewhat feminine voice which had remained completely level and unfeeling, probably why he had not been able to detect it earlier. Now it seemed to have the slightest hint of confusion and questioning in its tone.
'No, that's not it,' he replied wordlessly with his thoughts. 'It's just that, my body is in a whole lot of pain right now and I don't think it would be advisable to deal with that while I listen to whatever explanation you're going to give me. Because I'm pretty sure that this...' if he could have, he would have gestured to his sorry state of his body. '...isn't normal for a human.'
The interface remained silence for a while and he could almost feel it peering into his thoughts, which was illogical considering that since it existed within his mind, it pretty much had unlimited access to said thoughts.
[The System understands and is willing to answer any question the Host to the best of its ability]
'Perfect. First question, who am I?'
[The Host is a product of the Soul System Project, with the official designation as Subject 013]
'The Soul System Project? That sounds like an experiment...'
>[That is correct. The Soul System Project is a top secret government program that was proposed to the national government by the organisation The White Circle. The main aim of the Project is to further advance human evolution by tapping into the undiscovered hidden potential that lies within the human mind]
'Undiscovered potential... I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that you're talking about the soul?'
[That is correct]
The System repeated again.
>[While its existence has been debated by scientists and scholars for centuries, the soul has remained an enigma that has been of great interest to the world of science and technology. In recent decades, The White Circle has made great strides in their understanding of the soul, progressing in their research until a breakthrough had been made. They discovered a way to actively draw out the soul by forcing the mind to go far beyond the assumed limits of human capability]
Gradually, he was able to piece together the complete picture of his existence as he arranged the details of information he was currently receiving in his head. Based on what the System had told him so far, he must have been part of those chosen to undergo the process. That must have been what he had seen in those brief moments of lucidity he had experienced back at the facility.
A strange feeling of confusion crossed his mind when he realized that he could barely recall his time at the facility. But he pushed that concern aside for the moment. There were still some questions that he needed answers so to sooner than later.
'So I am a test subject? Or at least I was. But what does that make you?'
[The System is another product of the Soul System Project. As the name would imply, the project sought to draw out the power of the soul to the forefront of the body, thereby indirectly forcing its evolution]
'I think I understand now. It would be logical to assume that an advancement in the internal components of any system would force the external components to adjust in a fitting manner.'
[An accurate analogy to describe the intentions of The White Circle. But a problem had arisen during the early stages of the project. While a way to unlock the hidden potential of the soul had been discovered, it had become very quickly apparent that it was not possible for a human to instantly become capable of controlling and comprehending such vast amounts of latent ability. Therefore, using an amalgamation of a number of technological advancements, the scientists of The White Circle were able to produce The System]