abcnovels
Chapter 5: The Merging
Chapter 5: The Merging
Chapter 5: The Merging
19th June 1989 (2 years later), New York City, New York
My stay in the orphanage was relatively comfortable. We had no chores, except for cleaning up our room or as punishment. Since I'm a well-behaved child and the matron is very lenient with me, considering my history. I still, however, did not assimilate my predecessor's old memories which is not a bad thing. I definitely don't want memories of child abuse in my head.
Anyway, the last few years were very productive in term of my control over telepathy. My range can encompass the entire of the city of New York, but I get a headache from the overflow of information, so I don't do it that much. It's like a muscle, really. The more you use it, the stronger you get. I can control a few dozen of people at a time now, after so much practice. I felt bad about controlling people but when I do it to someone who's not a criminal, I tend to leave them a gift or something.
In terms of computers, I got some posh guy to donate 50'000 dollars to the orphanage. I made him use the money I stole from the dirty doctor. As a part of the donation, I made him give away a top-of-the-line laptop and a thousand-dollar gift card to the smartest kid around, which I made sure they picked me. I now have unrestricted access to the internet, which was necessary when I set up a bank account under Morgan Evanshade with the rest of the money I had left, and with some skimming off the accounts of a few mob bosses. That left me with a good million dollars to play with.
Using my new computer, I was able to copy and improve an algorithm that helped investment companies in the past predict the flow of the market, something that doesn't exist yet in this world. I also created an online poker website with which I get 2% of the earnings of each hand. I of course advertised it on social media, something no one thought of doing so before. I, now, have over 50 million in the bank. Well, technically, Morgan Evanshade has that in the bank. To avoid getting in trouble with the IRS, she has birth certificate, social security number and even a university degree. I used the money to buy a mansion in Manhattan, where I intend to stay after she 'adopts' me.
In terms of innovation, I finally did it. I finished my last life's goal and built a fully functioning artificial intelligence. The coding part wasn't that hard since I had almost finished it before. My new eidetic memory was a life saver in this project. The main issue was to achieve the processing power I needed for the AI to function the way I wanted to. I used the same technique that someone used in my world, where he used the hardware of a multitude of PS3 to build the cheapest super computer in the world. I found what I needed in some Oscorp gaming console that didn't do well on the market and was able to discreetly buy what remained in stock as a startup tech recycling company (under Morgan Evanshade of course) without much question. After that I bought a warehouse and was able create the AI's core.
As such Alfred, was born. What, I like batman, alright? Speaking of which my new book (or Morgan's new book) called 'Batman Begins' will be published in a few months so that's a new source of revenue. I couldn't resist giving a small slice of DC in Marvel, I wrote the entire Nolan Trilogy to be published a few years apart. Anyway, after a few months of training, Alfred is now a fully functioning AI that pretty much manages my finances and is essentially now my butler.
I kind of hit a snag with the memory absorption. I realized it when I took the doctor's memories and again when I tried to steal the knowledge of a physicist and a few engineers. It's like the information was dormant. Well, not really dormant, it's more like I learned it and but never used it again. The information is there but only if I try to focus with it. Makes it really hard to actually innovate using the skills as I need to know the subject like the back of my hand and not have to concentrate for every thought. However, learning the skills are very easy. It's more like relearning, really. I'm now technically a mechanical and electrical engineer, a geneticist, a physicist and a programmer. It's enough with common knowledge but when something is not available to the common public, it wouldn't be possible for me to get the material necessary to learn. When I entered the mind of a hand ninja (Found him in Chinatown, he was almost emotionless and felt wrong so I was curious), I copied his infiltration and martial skills and I still didn't know where to start to learn what I copied.
What I have been trying for over 10 months now is to access my mindscape and be able to assimilate the memories I steal in the future. Plus, to be able to fully master my power, I must master my own mind. It took over ten books on meditation and every Sherlock Holmes novel to achieve progress. My mind was getting clearer by the day, which was the only indication that my efforts were not going to waste. The premise is somewhat similar to the one in Occlumency in Harry Potter. I just clear my mind of all thoughts and feelings. I tend to picture a flame and focus on it.
As I am doing this exercise, my head suddenly clears and I'm now in my mansion, you know the one I bought with my fake identity. I'm inside the library, which is supposed to be empty in the real world. However, a lot of books are on the shelf. I pick one up and suddenly I'm in a memory of myself pretending to pay attention in primary school. I pick up another one and it's the memory of my diagnosis in my last life. So, the shelf is what I remember. I guess having an eidetic memory automatically puts the memories on the shelf. However, the ground is also littered with books. I pick one up and it's the memory of a lecture that I stole from a physicist over a year ago. As the memory ends, the book dissolves and appears in the physics section. I suddenly remember every detail about this lecture. Ah, so that's how to remember everything. Looking at the litter of books around me. They're everywhere, even outside the library. I sigh, this is gonna take a long time.
27th August 1989, New York City, New York
It took over two months of non-stop meditating to sort through all the memories I acquired. It's a lot of work and something I'll have to take into consideration when I steal skills in the future. I spent the last few weeks doing nothing but meditating and every skill I stole is now fully mastered. Except for the martial arts, but I started to properly train to gain the muscle memory and body I'll need to be able to fight.
Funnily enough, my mastery over my mind has helped me discover a new skill of mine: power recreation. As long as it's mainly a power centered on the mind, I can copy my target's power by copying how his mind works to use his power. For example, I sensed a guy who was a mutant that could learn any languages by hearing it and reading it for a minute. I, of course, copied all the languages that he already knows, and his power. This was, of course, due to my plan of learning sorcery. Since their books are all in different languages, I would have needed to learn each language to be able to understand anything. Funnily enough, this ability helped me improve my programming vastly, by considering each programming language, as well, a language, I can now code as if I'm writing in English. I can even understand binary machine code which, if you ask any computer engineer, is absolutely overpowered.
I tried to copy a mutant that can explode things by touching them but it wouldn't work. This confirmed the fact that I cannot copy anything that doesn't involve the mind.
Anyway, I'm now doing a full sweep of the manor in my mind palace to make sure everything is in order so that I can start putting defenses on my mind. I look in the basement and see that there's a locked door. There's something inside my mind that I did not put there. It's incredibly disturbing. I don't know if opening the door is a bad idea but like hell am I going to let there be something unknown in my mind. I slowly pick the lock and step inside. It's a library, a lot smaller than my own upstairs. These are probably the memories of my predecessor. As I put my hand up to absorb them, I see a girl that looks like me when I was in the hospital. She looks malnourished, and precious. Emerald eyes stared at each other and she bellows, "Who are you and what are you doing in my library?"
I respond, "My name is Morgan Smith and I think the better question is who are you and what are you doing in my mind?"
"Hi! My name is Jasmine Potter."
I freeze at the name; I might not just be in the Marvel Universe. But I would know if I had magic right? To confirm my hypothesis, I ask, "Are you familiar with the magical Potter family in Britain?"
She scowled, "Yes my parents are James and Lily Potter, they left me with my aunt's family because my brother was the Boy-Who-Lived. I'm a little fuzzy about the details of when I was left there but I remember Albus Dumbledore was involved."
Okay, we're in a WBWL situation where the Potter's abandoned their child. I normally would have tried to take advantage of the situation but I feel compelled to help the girl. I don't understand it but I won't try to fight it.
"I have an idea about what happened. What's the last thing you remember?"
She replies, "The Dursleys left me in New York after we came here for a meeting with Uncle Vernon. I remember walking then I heard an explosion, and then nothing."
"That explosion happened two years ago."
"I'VE BEEN IN HERE FOR TWO YEARS?"
"Sorry I'm making a mess explaining this. Let me introduce myself. My name is Morgan Smith, I was a muggle and I got sick when I was 14, and I was 16 when I died. When I died, I woke up in your body in the hospital. I thought you died and I took over or something but my soul somehow made its way into your body."
She seems to process that info dump quite quickly. "So, what do we do now?". I replied, "We can get to know each other a little. I don't know about you, but I could use a friend."
What followed was a conversation that took hours where we each started telling superficial facts about each other. How she used her magic and how I used my telepathy. We shared our likes and dislikes, even our deepest feelings and secrets. By the end of it we were like sisters. We, surprisingly, got along very well, even with the age difference. Jasmine was very mature for her age and had a wicked sense of humor. When we were done, she asked, "So what now?"
"I guess we can share our body, each one of us get turns, or"
"Or what?"
"I think we could become one. I don't know about you but spending time with you here felt right. Ever since I came to your body I felt like a guest, an intruder, but right now, I don't know how to explain it, I feel like I belong. You get me?"
"Yes, I think I do. I feel the same way."
"Do you wanna do it?"
"Yes, I think I do."
"Are you sure? Because after this there won't be any Jasmine or Morgan. We will become something new."
"Yeah, I'm sure."
I look into her eyes and she looks into mine. We move toward one another, our faces almost touching. We're in each other's arms, her lips touch mine, and then the world turned white.