《The Regenerator》


 Prologue Part 1

    ¡°You know, I really thought things would change once I got to university. But it¡¯s the same bullying, the same bullshit from a group of so-called adults who haven¡¯t grown up. I know I should be scared right now. I mean, barring some miracle my life is basically over. But, I¡¯m just too angry to be scared. Although, they do say that depression and rage are the same emotion, with different energy levels. So pardon me when I finally cool off and collapse into a sobbing puddle of shame.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just rage, its righteous indignation. Its fury ignited from a thousand little matchsticks piled up over a lifetime. And this, my casual murder, is the final spark. Argh, I need something to punch. Someone to punch. Like those jerks at Amber Flag Academy. Twelve years with the same twenty-four stuck up, self-righteous assholes. Twelve years of being shunned by those rich shits. Twelve years of being the only fat kid in class. They were all phenomes with talent and genius. That bastard Luke even ascended to the earthly realm. Damn, I want to punch him so badly. But as he is now, he wouldn¡¯t feel it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to find some other kind of revenge. Now that I can no longer give a damn about the consequences. Back in school, all I could do to get even was keep them from getting the high scores. You were all destined for greatness, geniuses with talents in music, sports, poetry or science. But the ugly fat kid always placed top at every test. I knew that just ate you up. Here you are, the chosen, gifted with unlimited potential, being held up by some poor fat kid. Oh, how I must have wounded your pride.


    I pushed myself, harder than I thought possible, to graduate as valedictorian. To laud that one thing over them. But it was Luke who got to speak that day. He was already close to ascension at that time, so of course, Amber Flag needed to show off its pride and joy. I hate them, hate all of them. Well, maybe not my parents.¡±


    ¡°I used to hate my parents though. I pleaded with them for years to go to public school. Begged them for a chance to get out of that shithole. Hated them for not giving me enough time or love. But now that I¡¯m a bit older, I can see how they worked themselves to exhaustion just to pay the tuition. From their point of view, they sacrificed everything to give me the best possible education. But some good that did. Their son and only child died on a field trip in his second year of college. Dead, by the same kind of shit heads that made his life a living hell for the last thirteen years.¡±


    ¡°No real point in wishing I could change it all. My parents did what they thought was right, and maybe all that suffering was for the best. Made my character stronger or something. But really, if I could change something, I wouldn¡¯t have gone to Descon University. Then again, my reason for choosing Descon might have been a mistake too. Being valedictorian of the prestigious Amber Flag Academy earned me scholarship rights to just about any place I wanted. I think the mistake was in choosing to pursue the philosophy of ascension. I could have gone to MITT and studied the biological components, but that just seemed too solid, too ridged for my mind. It didn¡¯t really suit my yearning to conquer the abstract. And really, I think it¡¯s a dead-end to study hard science. At least for right now. I think there¡¯d need to be tools and instruments born of the divine before you could really study the divine. So, really I fell to my curiosity and landed here.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°No, wait. That brute Chad is why I landed here. But where is here? I mean I know where we are, but where in San Agustin are we?¡±


    Earlier Rhett awoke in a pile of vomit at the bottom of a long narrow shaft. He realized he must have had a concussion, and checked himself out for other injuries and his surroundings. He wondered how many times he had done this before he had the wherewithal to remember. His left leg had a compound fracture of the shin bone. His hip was crushed and he had a concussion. Definitely a concussion.


    Motes of light drifted down from between the plants and vines that hid the small opening to the shaft. Thirty feet below was the cold stone floor. The walls curved as they rose, growing narrower at the top. Rhett determined that it was impossible to get back out the way he got in and would need to find another path. A large polished copper disk on the wall, strangely untouched by the effects of aging and corrosion, reflected light further into the chamber.


    Rhett mustered up the last bits of strength and dragged himself along the floor. He had hoped for an exit, escape, and rescue. But he only found a single room blocked off by a cave-in or collapse. A small pool of water had gathered on the floor, and beyond it, a statue of Buddha carved into the wall. It held one hand up and in the other rested a small stone jar. Below the statue¡¯s feet was a long series of writings carved beautifully into the stone. The text inscribed in several languages. Untouched and undamaged for generations. Light reflected off the pool and lit up the statue¡¯s pump face. Buddha¡¯s comforting features became Rhett¡¯s only friend and through a concussed mind he sought to expel his last will and testimony.


    Rhett found the carving as the last vestiges of his shock and endorphins were wearing off. He had crawled around the pit he fell into and finally came to this strange hidden chamber. His anger waned and despair set in. He laid his head on the floor and cried. His stomach gurgled. In the last bits of light, Rhett lay his head upon the cold stone floor and read the inscriptions. They looked to be written in kanji, pinyin, and Aramaic. Not knowing anything else Rhett sounded out to Romanized letters and read through the sutra until he fell asleep.

 Prologue Part 2

    The pain woke Rhett up. In the darkness of the ruins he screamed and cried until dawn broke. Slowly the first faint ripples of light reflected off the pool of water. As the light grew it filled the still surface and brought light to the statue. Under the reassuring gaze of the holy icon Rhett strengthened his will. He wasn¡¯t in any condition to try and get escape. And with his leg so badly messed up he might die from sepsis long before he could be found. Surely, someone would come looking for him. Right? A student goes missing on an archeological field trip. That would make some headlines. He looked at his leg. Part of the bone was sticking out and had ripped into his pants. Blood had leaked out and dried sticking his jeans to his leg.


    Strengthening his will for what was to come; Rhett bowed down and drank from the pool. The cool water was crisp and clean. Drips dribbled down his chin as Rhett swallowed hard. With an effort, he rolled from his stomach to his back. His shattered hip pressing down on a new side caused paint to shriek though his body anew. His head lulled to the side, weak and listless he looked at the statue¡¯s kindly face.


    ¡°Friend, I¡¯m sorry for what you¡¯re about to see.¡±


    With a deep breath, Rhett started the struggle of removing his belt. Although easy enough to do lying down, the sensation of it pulling against his swollen shattered hip caused his teeth to grind. After carefully placing the belt beside him and within easy reach Rhett emptied his pockets. All that he had was a simple velcro wallet, shattered cell phone, and a few keys. His travel pack, with snacks and drinks was left on the bus. He had deemed it too much effort and pointless to carry for just a few hours. He regretted the decision immensely.


    Slowly, ever so slowly Rhett inched his pants down. Once he got his jeans past his hips he had to take a break. Sweat dripped from his forehead and he closed his eyes. Help. He really wanted some help right now, but he knew no one was coming. Rhett was alone. Well, there was the statue, he turned his pitiful gaze upon it and a memory came welling up from the depths of his mind.Stolen novel; please report.


    Rhett was an avid reader. After finishing off textbooks he would read science fiction or fantasy novels. He wished and hoped for a life in a faraway world. Somewhere new and exciting and somewhere he could live without getting pushed around every day. For him wanted to be the hero, but a respectable bystander. He wanted to witness and be swept away by the amazing. No matter how incredible his own world was, Rhett would never consider it. This world meant nothing but pain and fear to him.


    One of the stories Rhett had really enjoyed spoke of fear as being a mind-killer. He didn¡¯t remember the mantra word for word, but it was enough to stick with him. He didn¡¯t know why, but the memory suddenly resurfaced and built a strange connection. He realized now that it wasn¡¯t just fear, but all negative emotion that destroyed the mind. In the moment of enlightenment he cleared his head and chanted.


    ¡°Pain is the mind-killer. I will face my pain. I will allow it to flow past me and through me. When it is gone I will see its path. Where it has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. I will remain.¡±


    As Rhett repeated his adlib phrase the strength in his voice grew. Louder and louder he reiterated until it reached a crescendo. With a mighty yell, Rhett bent forward and ripped his pants free from his legs. Victory clouded his mind and the pain swam back, more intense than ever. He fell to the side, took a small rest, wiped the sweat from his eyes and drank from the pool.


    After calming down a bit Rhett focused on the next step; setting the bone in his leg. Somehow this didn¡¯t seem like such a great challenge anymore. After all, he managed to get his pants off, and that involved sitting up on his had hip. This couldn¡¯t hurt any worse. Rhett was wrong. It hurt more. A lot more. His leg turned purple before he had the strength to remove the belt tourniquet. Rhett noticed the blood dripping out of the freshly reopened wound and lifted up his good leg and removed his sock. Not much of a bandage but it was all he could think of to use.


    Rhett rested, drank from the pool and crawled a short way over to the urine corner, where he relieved himself. Feeling depressed and wasted energy again he used the lost blood to write his name and birthday on the wall. Should he ever be found, the might discover who he was.

 Prologue Part 3

    The next morning Rhett awoke with a fever. It never got too hot or too cold in the chamber, but he shuddered with intense chills. He wrapped his arms around himself and wanted to cry. The pain, the sickness, all he could feel was agony. Every time he coughed excruciating agony shook through his body. This would be it, this would be how he died. Not from injury, but sickness. Rhett had given up and just wished for the end to be as painless as possible.


    The cool water from the pool did little to temper Rhett¡¯s fever. He drank from it a little then rolled onto his good side and curled up painfully. He tucked his pants under his head as a pillow and looked at the statue. Had he been in a more correct state of mind he would have been filled with questions. But right now all he had was acceptance. With nothing else to do he read the sutra written in stone again and again. Shadows slowly swept across the chamber as Rhett read and waited for his end to come.


    Delirium set in. Days passed as Rhett slipped in and out of consciousness. He repeated the sutra endlessly, hundreds then thousands of times. Instinctually he drank when he could, and went to the shame corner when he could. Other times he just stained the stone where he writhed. Shadows grew, shrank and darkness came. In his pitch-black dreams, Rhett repeated the sutra. One hundred eight times one hundred eight he chanted the foreign words. Then as he drank from the pool again, energy like a small seed began to sprout within him.


    Sometime in the night of an unknown day, Rhett¡¯s fever broke. He opened his eyes as if for the first time. The pain that had accompanied him had died down from a screaming banshee to a mere gurgle. He tentatively flexed his leg. It was still sore, more like a bad bruise than a broken bone. Slightly dumbfounded, Rhett stretched and eased himself up onto his side so he could examine himself. He must have been out of it for a while as he found himself noticeably thinner. He was suddenly, and for the first time ever, thankful he was fat.


    Rhett looked at his reflection in the still pool and was disgusted by what he saw. Filthy, he was caked in snot and sweat that had dripped down into his light beard. But there was nowhere to clean up. Well, there was the pool, but he really felt disinclined to dirty that water. Instead, he gently scooped up and handful and wiped his face off.


    Feeling refreshed Rhett moved his attention to his broken leg. The long black sock he had tied around the wound was still there. Gingerly he unwrapped the sock. It was stuck to his leg, thick with dry blood and foul-smelling discharge. Rhett squeezed his eyes and ripped the last of the makeshift bandage from his leg. But there was no pain. Rhett slowly opened one eye, then the other. His leg was stained red and yellow, but there was no fresh blood. With handfuls of water he carefully washed away the filth. But instead of an open wound or even a scab, there was just fresh red flesh.


    ¡°This can¡¯t be. How long was I out of it? Or¡­ is this your doing?¡± Rhett turned to the statue. ¡°Is this a blessing?¡±


    As if in answer Rhett became aware of a faint sensation that tickled its way through his veins. Convinced this was the answer, Rhett gave thanks and read the sutra again and again. He felt the little tickle grow and twitch and settle in his stomach. Hunger pains had come and gone and now all he felt was a pleasant warm sensation rising from his midsection.


    ¡°So, this is a blessing. Is it protection? No, it must be health. Well, thank you. Not really sure what good it does me being trapped down here. N, not that I¡¯m ungrateful. I am really grateful in fact. The pain is almost gone and I can move my hip a bit. I might even be able to walk. I mean I¡¯ll probably starve to death down here. But at least I won¡¯t die in agony.¡±


    ¡°Although, I don¡¯t remember hearing about a blessing being passed along this way. I thought only the ascended could grant them. And then they don¡¯t last too long. This is really weird. I mean friend, what are you even doing here in South America? They have different gods here. And the pinyin? How old are you? These ruins are centuries old, but pinyin is kind of new, isn¡¯t it? Why other languages? Just how did you get here?¡±


    The statue stayed silent and Rhett¡¯s questions would go unanswered for now. So after a bit of contemplation, he gave up on the unanswerable and focused again on the energy inside. It was new, the only really new thing after days without stimulation. With a bit of soreness Rhett eased himself upright. Before the pool he sat and read the sutra. As the day passed Rhett was able to feel the energy circulate within him.


    Before Rhett had realized the shadows had already grown long. Another night alone with the Buddha would soon be upon him. After scooping up a couple of mouthfuls of water, he decided to head to the corner of shame. Cautiously Rhett eased himself up and took wobbly steps. As a man, it was a great victory to be able to relieve himself while standing.


    Feeling invigorated the next morning, Rhett took his first steps around the small space. The room with the Buddha was no bigger than two cubicles. The far wall might have had more space, but it had caved in. Enormous quarried stones lay cracked and collapsed. Even with two lifetimes to work, there was no way Rhett could clear the passage. The passage leading back to the shaft room was only eight feet long, although it felt much farther the first time he went through it.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The shaft room was the same as before; circular with a domed shaft leading up about thirty feet. A light showed down from between the roots and leaves that covered the hole at the top. A large copper disk hung against the wall reflected the light down the passageway. As Rhett looked at it, he noticed the disk wasn¡¯t perfectly flat, but slightly curved. It was as if it was designed to catch the light from different angles. So that no matter the position of the sun it would always shine upon the Buddha.


    ¡°Well, I guess that is my only option. Now, the real question, how to go about doing it?¡±


    Rhett went over the options in his mind. He could try to climb, but the walls were made of smooth stone, hand-laid generations ago. He could try to smash through the stone and dig another shaft out. But that ran the risk of a cave-in and no guarantee that he could clear a path. Rhett also contemplated digging though the stone and piling it up in the shaft until he could reach the exit. That seemed like the safest route. Rhett would dig a small hole in the wall and build a mound of dirt. Then he would climb the mound and dig another hole slightly higher up and repeat the process. But he would risk blocking off his water supply and death by dehydration.


    After choosing a large stone from the cave in rubble Rhett started chipping away at the wall. He had briefly considered using the copper disk, but he really didn¡¯t want to risk damaging his light source. Plus, it felt wrong somehow. A few hours later and he had broken out a small section between the seams of two stones. Rhett wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back. He was not impressed by the results. At this rate, it would take days to smash all the way through. As Rhett sighed he gazed around and noticed another stone, higher up, with similarly gouged out place.


    Too bad this other rock was too high to reach Rhett thought. But, maybe it wasn¡¯t. Rhett realized he could use the space he made as a handhold and reach the next. It took him a dozen tries and several long rests before he did it. Rhett finally pulled himself up high enough to grab onto the next handhold. And so a new plan of escape entered his mind.


    Having decided on a new path forward Rhett returned to the other chamber and sat before the pool. Although he didn¡¯t really do much, just a few hours of work, his arms and shoulder were sore and tired. With difficulty, he lifted water to his mouth and drank. Lacking motivation and energy Rhett rested. The only other thing he could do was play around with this mysterious energy that brought him back from the brink. While reciting the sutra Rhett shifted and circulated the energy within his body until dawn came again.


    Rhett no longer bothered to count the days as they passed. His small life was only filled with the hammering of stone on stone to the song of the sutra. Foothold, handhold and another foothold, he dug them out. He recited the sutra as he worked and it kept him going all day. With no wasted time he made steady progress.


    Ten feet up the wall Rhett clung tenuously while chipping out another step. He had lost a lot of weight and now his muscles were starting to become visible. He would work with one arm until it got tired then switch to the other. His legs were focused on keeping him stabilized, his toes dug into the stone. As the tired arm rested the ripped and warn muscles mended. They grew as dense and thick as the stone he worked.


    Days later Rhett hung from one hand while hammering stone with the other. He was nearly thirty feet up when the hunger pain finally returned. He lost concentration and his place in the sutra and fell. It wasn¡¯t the first time. But after hundreds of falls and dozens of broken legs he had managed to stick the landing. His bones had broken and repaired themselves until they became like iron. The muscles in his legs like steel bands. Rhett¡¯s flabby body had transformed into the human peak and beyond. And now, with fat stores used his body cried for nutrition.


    Time was really becoming short and Rhett needed to hurry. Without resting he scrambled back up the wall. The first twenty feet were nearly vertical with the last ten domed. It was there he swung from grip to grip. While suspended by one hand he dug out his smashing rock from his very loose pants. Rhett circulated the sutra as he worked like a jackhammer to smash out another handhold.


    The pain in Rhett¡¯s stomach was nearly unbearable. Only the song of the sutra kept him going as he labored into the night. His eyes had grown stronger and the ephemeral glow of the moon provided enough light to work. Sometime after midnight, he landed the final blow and a large chunk of stone clanked to the floor. For a moment Rhett considered hoisting himself out immediately but then reconsidered. He dropped to the floor and felt the familiar crack of his legs. Then quickly he strode the short distance to the Buddha.


    Before the statue, Rhett knelt and gave thanks. The song of the sutra flowed through his heart. As he drank from the pool his first star chakra quietly cracked open. Without realizing it Rhett had become an Ascending. Strength and power, unknowable to the average person opened up and flowed within him.


    Satisfied, Rhett stood and with ease and excitement, he climbed up the shaft. He reached the last handhold and stuck his harm up past the roots and gripped soft earth. His fingers dug in and he pulled himself out. As if the earth was giving birth and he cried like a newborn. Under the waning moon he drew in fresh breath. New breaths of the new life given him.


    With a thought, Rhett sprung to his feet. Nearly weightlessly he ran through the ruins of San Agustin. Past the temples to the old blood gods and down the hill he flew to the guard station. He looked like some primitive wild man as he shouted in excitement. Baggy, ragged clothes hung from his wiry frame. A short and dirty beard covered his face while fearsome eyes shone like the stars.


    Some pantomime and pleading convinced the guards not to attack. In spite of the language barrier, they were able to figure out that Rhett was asking for food and a phone. The two guards ultimately assumed that Rhett was some tourist who got lost out in the jungle. Never once did they consider that he was the student who had gone missing nearly two months ago.


    Even though it was just past mid-night where Rhett was, it was only after ten in Roselandia, where his parents lived. He called collect, and miraculously his parents picked up. The shock of the unexpected reunion left everyone crying while the guards looked away.