Terrechel managed to catch a night's sleep while sitting upright on a memorial bench in an abandoned amusement park in the Undergrid.
The experience of his first rest as a human was far from pleasant. He recalled back to being a fly, finding rest was as simple as clinging upside down to any old surface. He preferred chandeliers, but navigating the night as a human without a home? This was a whole different challenge.
The slightest tang of sympathy for the homeless sneaked up in the back of his mind. Followed by a cold morning breeze that caused his teeth to chatter. By now it was 5Am in the realm of Arcadia, the sun was rising but the stars remained in eyesight as bright as the night before. The sky slowly transcended from violet to soft lavender. Terrchel stand on the bench in awe of the display above him. He grew found of the sky, he wished he could combine this new found appreciation with flying but he knew the days of having wings were long gone. A sudden sadness overcame him which he couldnt fathom. He was happy for this new life. He is alive
better yet he is human
but....
why was he not eternally grateful and overjoyed.
The cold remained, he let out a yawn and a random thought from Arnold popped up in his mind; (A yawn is an involuntary reflex that involves opening the mouth wide and taking in a deep breath, followed by a slow exhale. Several theories exist about why we yawn, but I have not proven any yet).
At this thought Terrchel shook his head trying to get Arnold's research memories out of his own. He had absolutely no intention researching yawning and anything of the sort. Nor did he find joy in sharing memories and instead he longed for his own memories to be made and his own skills to be learnt and obtained in his own way.
Rubbing his hands together vigorously he fixated his thoughts on trying to warm-up in doing so he let his guard down and his senses were dulled as Terrchel focused all his attention on the temperature.
Someone was drawing closer with intention to engage in conversation.
Until this someone were inches away from Terrchel's left ear he didn't notice. The second he turned his head to look; a loud alerting "buck-buck-buck" beamed through his ear sending him jumping to the opposite side of the bench.
Leghorn spoke with poise and elegance while taking his place where Terrchel once sat a few seconds ago "Well thank you, I thought you'd never offer a 300-year-old man a seat.".
This was clearly not an ordinary chicken. It had human-like features and wore a leather jacket? Terrchel raised his eyebrow and crooked his head to the side.
Terrchel thought to himself "Another android/chicken like being. This is actually insane. Was I reincarnated into some fantasy world or something" but instead, he said "Did You just call yourself a man!! I mean I should be last to judge but...that seems very questionable at this point"
Leghorn: "I once was a man. This appearance is called consequences"
Terrchel looked away suddenly feeling guilty, knowing that every word spoken now just came from deep emotion. He cleared his throat and changed the subject.
Terrchel: What brings you here, from the celestial realm right? Wait I mean the Light Realm'".
Leghorn: "This chicken clearly decided it was time for you to rise and shine with the sun, waking you by the sound of clucking seemed like the perfect thing to do on this miserably cold morning in Arcadia".
A bird flew by in that moment and dropped flyby poop on Leghorn's forehead. He I wiped it off with a look of irritation and disgust on his face.
Leghorn: "These creatures of the sky are uncultured. the birds and the humans with jetpack alike I can't stand for this behaviour".
Terrchels burst out laughing and started mockingly yelling at the sky where the bird disappeared into, with his hands in the air " You feathered culprit! can you not see we have a guest from the heavens with us today!"
A kid passing by on her roverboots looked at Terrchel with confusion and continued with her journey ahead.
He turned his attention back to Leghorn.
Terrchel: "You said something about humans in the sky"
Leghorn: 'Don't worry I won't need to explain it once you see it. Lucky for you Fluffysky dropped you here in The Undergrid with the help of her cloud".
Terrchel:" Oh how kind of her, not like she dumped me in the trash or anything!"
Leghorn: "hahaha, How did you sleep?" he patted the bench where they sat.
Terrchel: "All I kept repeating to myself throughout the night was I need to get through the night and when the sun comes up, I would be able to proceed with my mission to get to New Arcadia city. Part of me knows something better awaited me there".
Leghorn took his sunglasses out his pocket and slid it on his face "Then let's go amico"
before getting up from the bench Terrchel sat with my hands on his head for a few seconds zoned out searching both memories as a fly and as a human, and he couldn't recall ever being able to communicate with chickens. Is this a new ability he questioned himself? Has the world evolved this much or am I CRAZY. What if my reincarnation is also just a figment of my imagination and I'm actually in a coma somewhere in a psych hospital.
Leghorn: "Earth to flyman, with you zoning out like that people will think you're on some new Neo- Retro Market drugs and the Arcadian patrol is always watching".
Terrchel: "You seem to know a lot for a chicken. A TALKING CHICKEN".
Leghorn: "I'm like your celestial babysitter from the Light realm, making sure you don't trip over your own feet!".
Terrchel: "A chicken!?"
At this realization of reality Terrchel burst laughing. "Oh, well, I guess at this point it doesn't matter if this is real or not. I have to make the best of the crazy too, he thought to myself".
He got up from the bench and grabbed his bag of trash from Cybro's Pizza Den.
Terrchel: "Well, I sure have been contemplating if I should keep eating trash or if I should give in to the cravings I've been thinking about. You know, embrace the human in me and chicken as a first proper meal sounds thrilling don't you think? If I'm not mistaken it was Arnold's favorite. His wife made it specially with a honey mustard caramelized glaze"
Leghorn: "You're surely an optimistic person. Don't worry one of your abilities is environment adaptation. Soon your cravings for the usual trash and odd odurs will fade away and on the note of you threatening to eat me, I should probably inform you that I got an upload of your life progress over here on my holographic swatch, surely you wouldn't want to eat your only source of meaning in your dull new human life".
Terrchel made a jokingly mopping face.
Leghorn pulled his arm out his sleeve revealing his high-tech swatch. At his command it lit up and a 3D digital hologram projected off it with a picture of Terrchel and information.
Terrchel: What is this? I don't have much to go off, only past memories and whatever I was told in the Light realm, but certainly a lot is amiss".
Leghorn: "That's because your memories are only 20% restored look it shows the data here. It's my swatch"
Terrchel rapidly moved in full rotation around the device speedily changing his angles of inspection and began speaking at acceleration.
Terrchel: "Swatch; because it's a contraction of second watch meaning it's double lens see into the Light realm and has all the mundane features needed here in Arcadia but at high-tech level whilst integrating the concept of low cost and artistic, emotion design element. WHY DID'NT I THINK OF THAT".
Leghorn: " It seems your memories is awakened 40% now. It may seem that humanity has swiftly advanced in technology However, you should know better than anyone right now given your condition; that everything is not always as it seems. You died and unfortunately your spirit was kept asleep in The Light Realm, during this time all these advancements were added to Arcadia by means of using forbidden celestial energy that Arnold made possible to use but we will get into all of that eventually. Consider these exclusive statistics. [pointing to the hologram] The Arcadians doesn't have all this information yet; this is from my Intel received by General Lucile".
Terrchel: "The Leghorn female in the Light realm..."
Leghorn nodded "The hologram will read the stats out loud for us and look, at least The Light Realm added a good picture of you. You should see mine! Horrible".
Terrchel: "I'm guessing if the Arcadians get hold of these stats you have it wont be good?"
Leghorn: "The patrols would upload it onto their citizens records and it would raise red flags. I've added a protective firewall on my swatch so the information I'm showing you cannot be leaked despite me using Arcadian Tech".
Terrchel: "So it states here my name is Terrchel Flyman, Gender: Male, Height:1.75 Meters, Cause of death: Human hand swat...wow.. Age of death: Day 30, New cycle Age: 24 years old, Reincarnation year: 2050, Vessel: Arnold Maximus, Eye colour: Cerise, Hair colour: Dirty Green, zero dependents and family.
Abilities :
Compound Eyesight: Increased peripheral vision and detection of slight movements
Acute Sense of Smell: Tracking scents and detecting subtle changes.
Agility and Reflexes: Increased speed and reaction time.
Fly's Instinct: Anticipation and reaction to danger.
Swarm Sense: Ability to sense and track multiple targets.
Regenerative Resilience: Increased resistance to damage and ability to recover from injuries.
Environmental Adaptation: Ability to survive in extreme environments.
Leghorn: "These abilities and strengths can be improved through leveling up, training, and experience. There are unlocked levels to be obtained".
Terrechel: "Weaknesses: annoyance!?, excuse me!?"
Leghorn subtly laughed and closed the swatch whilst Terrchel's eyes still peered at the data.
Terrchel: " Woah wait why you doing that. I SAW THAT 'Reason for reincarnation: CLASSIFIED' . What's that about.
Leghorn: " I can tell you what it's not Amico, it's not your business. Come we have work to do".