Mitch looked at the new pop-up with hollow eyes, tears still streaking down his cheeks. The voice had reminded him of his goals, but at this point it all felt trivial.
He still remembers the day the headmaster died, the laborious breaths echoing in the dull hospital room. He remembers the last conversation he had with him, of his wishes and expectations, of his determination.
#####
"Mitch, nature is a scary thing. Throughout history, us humans have been looking for ways to conquer it, but it always bites back. Do you remember the history lessons I held for everyone? They will be unbelievably important to you in the future."
There was no answer, just the combined sounds of constant sobbing and forced breathing. For Mitch, the headmaster was not only a caretaker; he was a father.
Theodor had found him as an infant, and took him in as his own. Mitch might have lacked the love of a mother, but he knew that, although Theodor did not explicitly say it, he was really loved and cared for.
"We went from being prey to practically every carnivore in existence to becoming apex predators through our wits. But while we survived other animals' attacks, we were still succumbing to starvation."
Cough,cough.
His explanation was cut short, as he had a sudden coughing fit. The audible sound of liquid splashing against linen fabric followed.
Mitch jumped at this sound. He looked up to see blood flowing down the corner of Theodor's mouth.
'This is it,' he thought. 'This is the last time I will ever get to see him.' But he couldn't say anything. He knew that Theodor had a reason for saying all this at his deathbed, so he just listened.
"What I'm trying to say is that, despite how much humans have developed, how far we've come, and how we've continued to adapt, there has always been some force out there preventing us from advancing further—something pushing us down from above."
Theodor turned his head to the side and looked Mitch in the eyes. One person's eyes puffed from all the crying, the other's eyes sunken in from disease.
There was nothing but loving care apparent in Theodor's eyes, looking to prepare Mitch for the real world even in his last moments in life.
"As long as humans are flawed creatures, all we can do is adapt to nature. We cannot conquer it unless we find a way to conquer our own limitations. There will always be an end to every story. Make sure that your end is a happy one, with the people you care the most about by your side."
Hearing these words, Mitch could no longer hold himself back. He rushed towards his adoptive father and hugged his sickly body. Tears and mucus stained the white hospital sheets. A son clung to his father's body, as if trying to prevent him from leaving.
"Don't go! You promised to stay with me, to watch me grow up and see me make a life for myself. That you would come to my wedding, see me have kids, watch me build a successful life for myself, and then we would grow old together. Why do you have to leave already? Why? Don't leave me!"
Even Theodor started tearing up when he heard this. Contrary to Mitch's tears of sadness, these were tears of joy.
A peaceful expression covered his face, and a light laughter started replacing the sobbing in the room, as he kept muttering "that's just life…" while trying to reassure Mitch.
The only sound interrupting their last moments together was the beeping from the life support machinery, which was growing slower, and slower...
#####
Recalling this vivid memory did nothing to appease Mitch's grief, but it did calm his anger just enough for him to start assessing the situation. What he lacked now was information to make a conclusion about the severity of everything.
"What is this so-called 'Khad skill'? What does it do?"
"It seems you've calmed down a bit. That's a relief; I was starting to get worried. I understand that you have been through a lot, but you need to pull yourself together. We can get through this together."
The KAT's tone had softened slightly, in an attempt to comfort Mitch about everything he had been through.
"Khad skills are exactly what they sound like: skills that Khads use to aid them in their activities. Just think about opening your terminal interface and you should be able to view everything there."
Too grief-struck to think any deeper than necessary, Mitch simply followed the instructions and imagined a status page appearing in front of him. The next second another light blue screen came into view in front of his eyes.
[Name: Mitch Khadeic]
[Title: Lesser Khad]
[Mynt: 100]
[Power System: N/A]
[Followers: N/A]
[Skills: N/A]
[Khad skills: {Manifestation}, {Blessing}]
[Unique Khad skills: {Gene Tree}]
"I remember the interface saying something about being rewarded with a skill because of my performance in the simulation. So this is where it ended up. What now? Do I create a world or just wait for something to happen naturally?"
"You can use [Manifestation] to plan out the details for the world you want to create, or you can give me the parameters you desire and I will help you with the process."
"I want to create the world I lived in until now." That was everything Mitch had been thinking about until now, to go back to his world, one way or another.
'I'm a God, am I not? Why create a new world when I can just recreate my own.'
Alas, if only it were that simple.
"I am sorry Mitch, I truly am, but that is not possible at the moment. Not only do you lack the Mynt necessary to create such a vast universe, you also lack the power to manifest intelligent life forms on that scale."
Words meant to discourage Mitch did nothing but give him hope, something he desperately needed right now.
"You said 'at the moment', which means there is a chance I can do it in the future? So if I have enough Mynt, and enough power, I can bring Theodor back? I can recreate the world for us to live in? Then things can go back to how they used to be, just me and Theodor?"
The grief in his eyes was slowly being replaced with a blaze of motivation.