Hemopoiesis 1.1
I looked around blankly, trying to understand where I was and what was happening. I was in the middle of some sort of bedroom where children clearly lived. Nearby stood an old-model television playing a colorful cartoon about some costumed heroes, and building blocks and other children's toys were scattered nearby. It is worth noting that the characters on the screen spoke English. Next to it was a green sofa and a small wooden table littered with newspapers and comic books. None of this, of course, was familiar to me.
Raising my hands, I stared at them in shock for a while. This was clearly not my body. I had become significantly shorter, and the limbs looked as if they belonged to a child. I was also wearing a blue t-shirt with a picture of some superhero on it and small green shorts. On my feet were slippers and socks with a monkey. I slowly move my fingers, trying to convince myself of the reality of what is happening. I tried to find some inconsistencies, testing the theory that everything happening around me was a dream. The brain is capable of creating a very high-quality illusion, but in this regard, it is like neural networks and often makes mistakes in the "rendering" of hands and overall symmetry. But no matter how hard I tried, there were no distortions. Yet despite this, it was still hard to believe in the reality of what was happening. Just a moment ago, I was walking down the street when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my heart. Then a headache began, it became hard to breathe, and my vision went dark. I was quite young and healthy, but a detached blood clot is the kind of thing that can happen to anyone. Dying was, to put it mildly, unpleasant, but I didn't expect what I would meet on the other end. Anything... but this.
There was another thing that confused me "a little". Namely, the blood that covered the walls, floor, and ceiling of this place. I was no exception and was almost completely smeared with the scarlet liquid. It was also hard not to notice a pile of meat lying in the corner not far from me. The torn pieces of flesh and broken bones didn't even allow me to determine the gender of the deceased, but I was sure it used to be a human, as the bloodied remnants of clothing and light brown hair strongly hinted at it. Pieces of raw flesh were scattered all over the room, while some bone shards had pierced the sofa and other furniture. But the worst part was the smell... metal and meat mixed into an unimaginable stench that almost made me nauseous. The metallic smell was so strong that I couldn't smell anything else.
Tens and hundreds of thoughts flashed through my head at lightning speed as I tried to figure it all out. I wasn't an emotional person and would have called myself a fairly calm and rational individual, but everyone has their limits. Besides, I had no time to react to what was happening and formulate a reasonable plan, for my hearing was pierced by a scream from behind me. Turning around, I saw a blonde woman in her thirties, wearing a light blue sundress with a white kitchen apron over it. She looked at me with undisguised horror, while I saw shock and almost primal fear in her gray eyes. It took her some time to overcome herself and speak. Her voice was broken and practically transitioned into a cry, while tears welled up in her eyes, and it was clear she was holding on with her last bit of strength not to burst into sobs. The woman leaned against the wall, and it seemed that it alone was keeping her from completely collapsing. She spoke in English, definitely an American accent, but I wouldn't be able to pinpoint the exact state. I knew the language quite well and could speak it without problems, so I had no trouble understanding her. Although her trembling voice complicated the situation a bit.
"Mark... what have you done..."
. . .
I wake up to the sound of an alarm clock and immediately get out of bed, starting my morning warm-up. Nothing complicated, a light workout needed to tone the body and wake up. The day will be long, and I don't want to waste a single minute. While warming up, I once again examine my new place of residence. Blue walls, a small bed, a small locker, a chair, and a table. That's all. Nothing more was allocated to me, but I was glad for what I had. The room I was currently in was small, but at least I was lucky enough to be its sole occupant here. As far as I understood, this is temporary while I get used to the new place; later I will be relocated and get a roommate.
I had spent a little over a week in this world, and that time was enough for me to at least partially figure out what had actually happened. It was obvious that I had died and for some reason ended up in this universe, occupying the body of a child. Mark Ennis, a six-year-old boy, to be exact. That fact alone was enough to almost drive someone crazy and raise a million questions. Does reincarnation exist? Or is everything around me a hallucination created by my dying brain? Things got weirder with every new fact I learned, but this was only the beginning. The year was currently two thousand and three. Somehow, I had traveled twenty years into the past, and that made even less sense. Even though I didn't have many open sources of information, television and newspapers were still riding high here, so I had a way to find out what was going on in the world. And here surfaced the third, most maddening fact.
I take a breath and close my eyes. I began to slowly inhale and exhale, trying to clear my head of unnecessary thoughts and feelings. It took me more than a minute to start feeling the blood in my own body. Not a simple sensation of the heart pumping it through arteries and veins, no, something much more sacred and supernatural. The blood was in endless motion, and I felt every drop, every milliliter. But besides that, knowledge of hundreds and hundreds of other facts about this scarlet liquid came to me, the vast majority of which meant nothing to me. I could figure out the heart rate and blood pressure, but that was my limit. However, it was still an absolutely incredible feeling, because if I just wanted to, I could alter the flow of blood and redirect it at will. Except I wasn't an idiot, and therefore I didn't try to change anything in my body without understanding the consequences. I had already died once, and I definitely didn't want to repeat the experience.
Real superheroes existed in this world. On television, they showed a man in a blue suit with an American flag cape who actually flew, shot lasers from his eyes, and was capable of lifting cars with one hand. But besides him, there were tens and hundreds of other supes possessing a wide variety of crazy powers. I only saw them on the TV screen, so I might have believed it was all CGI if I didn't possess a power myself. Although it stood out even against the local backdrop of actual freaks...
Mark, or rather I now, belonged to the race of supes. Blessed by the Lord God with a new round of human evolution, as local programs dedicated to "superheroes" called it. Every supe has some unique power or even a whole set: flight, teleportation, mind reading, and much more. The spectrum was extremely broad, and you could end up with completely bizarre abilities like turning into animals without retaining sentience. Or something straight out of horror movies, like blood manipulation, ahem. Except in the place where I ended up, almost everyone didn't care about me or my abilities. The main thing was not to cause trouble with the law and not to riot. The fact is that after the encounter with the terrified woman, doctors and police arrived and almost immediately sent me to an institution for people like me. The Red River Institute was an orphanage where underage supes were exiled, whose parents had either died or abandoned their children. I, as is not hard to guess, belonged to the second category.
The tear-stained woman who first met me was Mark's mother. I hadn't seen her since I was taken away, and I thought it was for the best. The pile of meat that was next to me turned out to be the remains of my father. I suspect that little Mark unlocked his abilities, accidentally blowing up his parent. It's hard to even imagine how that would have affected the boy's psyche, but we'll never know, because I appeared. A personality much more resilient and already formed. And honestly, maybe it's even for the better. After all, what a mentally unstable person with my powers would be capable of is terrifying to even imagine. Of course, this is just my attempt to lock away unwanted thoughts as far as possible and not dwell on the fact that I killed a child.
The institute itself was so-so, to be honest. A typical old building where the renovation was older than the adult students themselves. Oppressive blue walls, old furniture, and a critical shortage of technology. The entire institution only had two computers, which no one under twelve was allowed near. The orphans were also educated here, but I was temporarily exempted from it. I had a whole bunch of appointments scheduled with a psychologist who was supposed to check how stable I was. I had already prepared to play the role of a withdrawn and quiet child who closed himself off after a tragedy. Such a reaction from a six-year-old wouldn't be anything unique or unusual, but it would allow me to keep the fact of knowing my past life a secret. Telling anyone about it seemed like a very bad idea. Superpowers are one thing, but they would sooner consider me simply insane. Besides, I had absolutely no idea how the past Mark would have behaved in this situation, and so a change in behavior would have been quickly noticed, prompting uncomfortable questions. About the kid's past, for example. Honestly, as bad as it sounds, I benefited from this whole tragedy - I felt sorry for Mark and his father, but I didn't want to sacrifice myself either. Even compassion must have reasonable limits, and you can't forget about yourself.
After gathering information, my main priority was the development of my powers and formulating a plan for future actions. I often wondered, what should I even do in this life? A second chance shouldn't be wasted on nonsense, so I wanted to do something truly important. And necessarily connected to the use of the power I obtained. I didn't get it for nothing, right? Such opportunities shouldn't be thrown away just like that. Therefore, I mainly chose between three options: a career as a scientist, a doctor, and, oddly enough, a superhero.
The first option allowed me to immerse myself in researching my ability, which captivated my mind. What even counts as blood? Do I control the red blood cells or maybe the iron in it? Can I only manipulate my own blood, or can I use someone else's too? What about animal blood? So many questions, the study of which I am ready to dive into headfirst. Working as a doctor was connected to the same thing, as it was obvious that without knowledge of anatomy and biology, I wouldn't be able to unlock my ability to its fullest. Besides, what if I could save people's lives with my power? Stop bleeding or even help with heart diseases. And as for working as a hero... it was the most unusual and strange option, which, however, had its pros. The thing is, there was an organization that patronized all supes. Vought International is a multi-billion dollar corporation that practically all superpowered individuals worked for, from what I understood. And who knows more about superpowers than them, having studied them for over half a century? I don't know how unique my power is, but I'm sure they have useful information. Hell, even just asking already experienced supes for advice is worth a lot. In addition, they have virtually limitless resources and, I suspect, can get almost any necessary equipment. Vought, if the endless commercials spinning on TV are to be believed, owns a share in dozens of industries, but their core is pharmaceuticals and merchandising the superhero brand. The latter part didn't appeal to me much, but I am, at least on the inside, an adult and ready to make concessions for the sake of my goals. And the job of a hero itself...
I confess, I dreamed of such a thing in my childhood. Who didn't? Saving lives sounds much more respectable and exciting than doing paperwork and shuffling documents. But all people grow up, and old dreams begin to lose their colors. However now, having received a second chance, I had the opportunity to become a truly worthy person. Someone who will be remembered and not forgotten even after death. It might be a foolish dream, but all people have their weaknesses. And since I got this opportunity, I'm not going to miss it.
I take another breath, but this time I open my eyes, looking around and checking to make sure no one is spying on me. Of course, the entire week I spent here, I didn't risk using my power in the open, so I continued to gather information and sweep my living space for bugs and security cameras. Except I soon realized the futility of this, because everyone here deeply didn't care about the orphans and what they were doing. I saw many other Red River residents using their abilities to the fullest and not even bothering about it. Therefore, it was possible to experiment a little...
I raise my hand, and a drop of blood slowly takes off from the tip of my index finger. At first, I thought about how to carefully prick it so as not to bring in an infection. Obviously, no one planned to give a small child anything sharp like needles. So after some time, I finally decided to risk it and carefully used my power specifically. I was a little afraid that I would blow up my finger or something like that, but everything turned out to be much simpler and practically intuitive. I only had to want it and concentrate on the desire to summon a drop of blood of the smallest possible size, and a tiny red sphere, slightly larger than a millimeter, appeared on the tip of my finger. I didn't even feel any pain.
The drop flew upward, breaking all the laws of physics and ignoring gravity. It hovered about ten centimeters above my skin, and the moment I slightly moved my hand, the drop almost instantly changed shape. Curiously, I felt it without touching it, and it was simply astounding. It was as if a new sensory organ had appeared in my brain, created for the sake of perceiving one specific thing. I understood its shape, the absence of any impurities, and even certain chemical reactions happening within it. Concentrating, I tried to change its shape without moving my hands, and it almost worked! For a moment, ripples went across the drop, but it quickly returned to a calm state. This was a good sign, meaning that the scarlet liquid could be controlled by the power of pure mind.
After playing with it for a few more minutes, I looked around and tried to lift something other than blood. Except I failed, and my sensory organs noticed only the scarlet liquid. I fully immersed myself in the exploration of my new power, which had taken over my entire consciousness. The drop hovered in the air while I tried to trace all the processes happening with it. For several minutes, I watched as it changed color, becoming darker and rougher. I felt the process of blood clotting, but I did it better than any microscope or doctor. My new sense reported on every cell and the thousands of chemical reactions happening at any given moment. I understood absolutely nothing of this and wasn't sure I could even influence them in any way, but I just enjoyed observing this miracle of nature. Such... potential. And I promise that I will unlock it at any cost.