The information was flooding into him again — but differently this time. Not just raw data; this was capability. Potential. Muscle memory for movements he'd never attempted. Understanding of techniques he'd never practiced. Familiarity with pain management he'd never needed in this way. All of it integrating into his conscious awareness. Waiting to be activated once he had a body.
[Ability Integration Complete]
[User Profile Updated]
[Remaining AP: 9,750]
[AP can be spent at any time through System Shop]
[New abilities may be added as resources become available]
[Existing abilities may be upgraded to higher tiers]
A clean and organized display appeared. His profile.
[CURRENT ABILITIES]
Physical Attributes:
Top Speed: Good
Explosive Power: Good
Speed Endurance: Good
Technical Skills:
Stride Efficiency: Good
Block Start Technique: Good
Mental Attributes:
Pain Threshold: Excellent ★
Race Focus: Good
★ = Highest Tier Ability
Seven abilities. Six at Good tier. One at Excellent. That should provide a suitable base for his beginning.
Enough to start, but certainly not enough to be a GOAT yet.
However, that is the goal.
He didn't know what lay ahead.
GOATs are not born overnight. They are constructed over the course of years. And I have no clue how many years I will have.
He had the tools to begin, the platform to grow from, the system to direct him, the resources to adjust to whatever circumstances arose, and most importantly, the mentality.
In his previous life, he was limited by the circumstances he was born into. This life would present unknown circumstance, however, he would be empowered to overcome them.
Watching others reach greatness in his previous life. Building his own greatness in this one.
He would evaluate his position after rebirth. Train harder than anyone. Compete with no fear. Earning AP through achievements. Systematically eliminating weaknesses. Strategically upgrading existing abilities. Adding new capabilities as needed.
To become complete.
Not just great at sprinting. The GOAT of sprinting.
Regardless of where or when I start.
[Ability Integration Complete]
[User Preparation Finished]
[Verified Perfect Body Construction]
[All Systems Operational]
[Rebirth Sequence Ready]
It's finally happened.
After death. After the void. After the system. After the choices.
He is getting his second chance. A body that functions correctly. No clue what type of life awaits. However, he is prepared for whatever it is.
[Initiate Rebirth Protocol...]
[Optimal Insertion Point Selected...]
[Timeline Analysis Completed...]
[Ideal Circumstances Determined...]
[Maximum Developmental Potential Calculated...]
Optimal Insertion Point? What does that mean?
Age? Year? Family? Timeline analysis. Am I jumping into the past? Forward? Ideal Circumstances. What is the system considering ideal?
Too many questions. No answers yet.
The void changed. The constant darkness changed. Not gone, but changing. Darius could sense it. Something was tugging on his consciousness. Gentle, but insistent. As if he was being pulled toward something.
[Rebirth Location Selected]
[Rebirth Date Selected]
[Familial Situation Defined]
[Physical Parameters Finalized]
[Begin Consciousness Transfer...]
Where? Location? When? Date? Family? Will they support athletics? Physical parameters? At what age am I starting?
No time to ask. The system moved forward.
The pull became stronger. No longer gentle. Urgent now. Darius's consciousness was being drawn forward. Toward something he could not see yet, but could feel approaching. Fast.
First sensations arrived. Not the void. Something else. Pressure. Heat. Hard to determine which. But different. Real.
And restrictive in some manner.
[Rebirth Commencing...]
[Welcome to Your New Life]
[Best Wishes, Future GOAT]
Darius's consciousness shrunk. The void receded. Something new rushed toward him rapidly. Darius allowed it to occur. Did not resist. Accepted it.
Whatever was ahead, he would adapt.
That is what GOATs do.
Sound arrived first. Distant. Muffled. However, rhythmic. Next came other sensations. Surrounding heat. Pressure from all directions.
And, for the first time since dying...
A heartbeat.
Not a memory of a heartbeat.
A heartbeat.
My heartbeat.
Something felt... small. Restrictive. Not as he anticipated. Space surrounding him was close. Heat surrounded him. Sound was muffled, similar to being submerged under water.
Oh.
I'm actually being BORN.
Birth was painful and confusing and bright and loud.
Then the blackness returned.
Consciousness flickered in and out thereafter. Eating. Sleeping. Growth. No System Interface. No true thoughts. Just toddler existence.
Dream-like months passed.
Three years later, on August 7th, 2024, Darius Swift's mind finally cleared.
He was sitting on a couch in a normal-sized living room and thinking again. Thinking clearly. However, he was trapped within a three-year-old body and experiencing motor skills that felt as though attempting to operate a machine with loose wiring.
The TV displayed NBC Olympics coverage. The men's 400 meter finals were about to begin.
I'm three years old. Three. Watching the 2024 Olympics.
Math hit him like a blow. Born in 2021 and deceased in 2024 in his original body. He was watching the same race he died watching, but from a totally different angle.
Did I assume the body of this infant? Or was this child's body developed for me?
Vague memories of the prior three years existed for him, but they seemed distant, as though he viewed them through a haze. Were those memories of his or the child's? Did it matter?
Original Darius was dying today. August 7th, 2024. In that hospital bed. Watching this same race. Monitor would flatline during Quincy Hall's final push.
I'm viewing my own death day. From three years earlier. In an infant's body.
System did not explain the specifics regarding how this occurred. Time travel? Reincarnation? Reality displacement? Simply referred to as "rebirth," and here he was — three years old and watching the Olympics with a loving father and an absent mother.
He had heard his father mention this in the previous couple of weeks and seen photos on the walls depicting his mother as an Olympic long distance runner. Currently she was somewhere, probably at the Olympics for training and competition, while his father remained home taking care of him.
Surreal was the only word to accurately describe the experience. He had died watching this race, and now he was watching it again, but this time he was not dying and this time he had a future and this time he could run, or at least would be able to when this body develops.
Frustration was burning through him as he sat there in his three-year-old body. Unable to coordinate his limbs and unable to speak anything more than simple words and short phrases, but his mind remembered everything from every race he'd ever seen to every technique he'd studied, all of it trapped helplessly in a toddler.
"You want apple slices, buddy?"
Darius raised his head. His father stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Tobias. Thirty-something. Patient. Loving. He was accustomed to Darius's extreme fascination with track, and thought it was funny that his three-year-old son enjoyed the sport as much as his wife (though he had no knowledge of how deep Darius's fascination truly was).
"Yes please," Darius replied, the words somewhat slurred due to his three-year-old pronunciation.
Tobias smiled and stepped back into the kitchen.
Darius turned back to the TV where the commentators were describing the field, listing the lane assignments, and predicting the favorite for the upcoming race. Quincy Hall in lane 8. Matthew Hudson-Smith in lane 6. Michael Norman in lane 4. Darius's heart pounded in a manner that felt too intense for a three-year-old heart.
Tobias returned with a plate of apple slices and a beer, placed the plate between himself and Darius on the couch, and sat beside Darius. "Big race, huh?"
Darius nodded without removing his gaze from the television.
Camera shot of the eight men lined up in front of their respective blocks. Eight lanes. One gold medal. Darius's small hands clenched onto the couch cushions as the announcer's voice came through the TV speakers. "On your marks."
Darius froze. Internal screaming because he knew what was happening. Knew Hall would stage his comeback, Hudson-Smith would falter, and he knew this race perfectly well because he'd watched it in his final moments, but watching it now in this body felt surreal nonetheless.
"Set."
Gun fired.
Runners exploded from the blocks. Hudson-Smith took immediate command from lane six while Norman found himself in second place and Hall was in fourth from the outermost lane. Darius watched the entire event intensely, his fingers digging into the couch cushions.
Tobias gazed at Darius and recognized the level of intensity. "You really enjoy this, don't you?"
Darius nodded, but continued to watch the screen as the commentators called positions. Hudson-Smith was dominating the early stages, Norman was near the top, while Hall maintained his fourth-place position but trailed behind.