My most famous story is back! (I always thought it was Light of Hellfire…) I’m currently working on building this story into a four-part book series, and while it will take years for it to be completed, I have updated the writing and even added some new content to this version. Enjoy!

Chapter One:

Somalia, one of the poorest and most chaotic countries in the world, sits at the Horn of Africa, when at one time it was a beacon of the worldwide shipping economy. It now suffers from an ongoing civil war, between the struggling government and the Islamist group Al-Shabaab. In the capital city of Mogadishu, piracy thrives in the chaos as people struggle to survive the violence and turmoil. In essence, it is perfect for someone with certain needs.

A strange sound to be heard in this area, the hammering of nails and crying of drills, so similar to the calls of combat normally echoing through the ravaged streets. Outside of the city, houses are being built, nice ones, standing out like islands in a sea of squalor. A new plumbing and electrical system is installed, providing clean water and power to all the new homes, which strangely sit vacant. The men building these houses are not Somali, their varying skin tones and languages confirm it. They do not associate with anyone besides their coworkers. They simply build during the day, eat food that they brought with them, disappear at night, and then reappear the next day to continue their work. Nobody knows who hired them or whom these luxurious houses belong to. Now, movers are showing up with trucks full of furniture and appliances. People come out from the city to watch, wondering what in the world is going on. They are now surrounded by what looks like American suburbia.

Today, a man approaches a local tavern with a metal briefcase in hand. His posture, his clothes, and his haircut give away his identity as the foreigner, at least to this city. He is a mercenary from Egypt, armed with a handgun and even some grenades hooked to his belt. He steps inside, momentarily pausing to acclimate himself to the smell of bad cigars and cheap booze. The dank bar is filled with men, openly carrying assault rifles and talking amongst themselves. Everyone here is a pirate and everyone here has killed before.

The mercenary walks over to the counter, ignoring all the cautious stares he’s getting. He stands out too much to not raise alarm. Setting the briefcase on the counter, he turns to face everyone. “I’m looking for Mahmud Hussein,” he says, speaking Arabic.

Nobody answers him, but everyone is preparing to grab their weapons should they need them. Annoyed, the mercenary draws one of his grenades, sending a shiver of terror through the room as he pulls the pin. He keeps the spoon pressed, preventing the bomb from going off, but should he release his grip, there will only be seconds to get away. A dozen men get their feat and shout at him to return the pin, pointing their AK-47 rifles at him.

“I repeat: I am looking for Mahmud Hussein.”

He eases his grip on the spoon, starting the countdown.

“I’m the one you want.”

The mercenary turns to the one man not pointing a weapon at him, sitting in the corner amongst his bodyguards. He seems amused by the situation, more curious than fearful. His target found, the mercenary returns the pin to the grenade and stows it, replacing it instead with a cellphone. Set to speakerphone, he dials in a number, walks over, and places it at Mahmud’s table. Without saying another word, the mercenary departs, leaving his briefcase on the counter. From the cellphone, a voice is heard, distorted by a modulator.

“Hello Mr. Hussein, it’s nice to meet you.”

The stranger’s voice has a slight accent, unavoidable to anyone who doesn’t speak Arabic as a first language, but the way he speaks was otherwise perfect.

“Who is this?” Mahmud demands with everyone listening in.

“My name isn’t important. Am I correct in claiming you are the one in charge here?”

“That is right.”

“Good, then my sources are accurate. Allow me to get to the point: I have a business proposition for you, all of you. Work for me and I’ll give you all a future beyond your wildest dreams.”

Mahmud laughed at the offer. “And what would be we doing?”

“Bringing stability and prosperity to Somalia. Unfortunately, the instability and volatility of your country stands in the way of my endeavors, so I’ll have to fix it, and you’re all going to help.”

“This joke is wearing on my nerves.”

“It’s not a joke. The man who approached you left a metal briefcase on the counter. Have one of your men open it.”

All eyes turn to the briefcase, setting off alarms in everyone’s mind as to what could be inside. Enough C4 could be crammed into it to reduce the entire building to dust. They felt like it was staring back at them, daring them to make a move.

“You honestly expect me to fall for that?”

“If I wanted you dead, I would have leveled the building with all of you inside, and I could have done it with the push of a button. Might I add that that is still an option for me? The young man by the counter, Elijah, have him open it.” Standing closest to the suitcase, the emaciated nineteen-year-old looks like he was about to faint. “That’s right, I’m looking at all of you right now. You’re surrounded by eyes, many of which are behind sniper scopes. Open the case.”

Having forgotten the last time he had felt such fear, Mahmud hesitates and then nods to Elijah. The young man slowly approaches the case and unfastens it, the unclasping of the locks sounding like gunshots to everyone in the room. He at last works up the courage to open the case and gives a sigh of relief when nothing happens. Everyone gives similar gasps, having expected to be wrapped in a thunderous fireball.

“Boy, what’s in it?” Mahmud asks.

“Keys, sir. It’s full of keys.”

“My gift to all of you,” says the stranger. “Each key goes to one of the new houses that have been built. You can move your families into them whenever you want.”

The men gaped in amazement looking at the keys set out for them. Was this really happening? This was too good to be true!

“Why are you doing this?” Mahmud asks.

“There is no reason for my subordinates to live in squalor. I need people to help me save this world and one of the first steps in ensuring that countries like yours are stable. You’re all just the start. Besides, the lives you’ll be living will set the standard for the new era.”

“We’re just fishermen and pirates, we can’t fix this country!”

“Well then let’s change that, shall we? There is another building being set up, I’m sure you’re all aware of it. It’s the large facility on the other side of town, a university I’ve opened. Tomorrow at 8:00 am, all of you show up there and you’ll be given a free education to help welcome you into the 21st century. I’ll even pay you to attend classes so that you can focus on studying rather than work. Until then, take your keys and show your families to their new homes. Your country is about to be rebuilt from the ground up.”

On the other end of the line, Adrian turned off his phone, satisfied with the results, but without his face showing even a glimmer of joy. Stowing his phone, he got out of his car and made his way to the high school entrance. First period would start soon.

His name was Adrian Ashford, eighteen years old and a high school Junior, but by no means was he like any of the other guys his age. With an IQ of 300, he was regarded as the smartest man alive, past, present, and possibly even future. The only reason why he attended public school was because students at gifted schools were too competitive and desperate to beat him. To him, they were little more than arrogant little lap dogs, nipping at his heels as if they were his equals.

Since he was ten years old, he had always preferred to be left alone and his cold personality was proof of this desire. He saw no use in human socialization and found it to be a hindrance and did whatever could to avoid it. Love and friendship only got in the way of his goals and Adrian wanted neither of them. He had closed off his heart so that he wouldn’t feel lonely and mastered complete control of his hormones and physical desires so that he wouldn’t feel attraction or arousal.

Having recently transferred in at the end of September, he already had a reputation. Most people at school couldn’t stand being around him, because his logic and focus on reality basically crushed all of their dreams and beliefs. He could scientifically explain why their religion is false, why the habits that they think help them actually serve no purpose, why their views go against logic and reason, and he can list all of the flaws in their arguments. When someone asked him how he could possibly develop the views he had, he replied by saying that he simply came to conclusions by looking at problems the way a machine would. This tendency to crush their human traits had earned him the nickname ‘Adroid’, since he was basically the closest thing they’d ever come to meeting a robot.

The world knew him only for his record IQ and his groundbreaking inventions, but no one on Earth knew just what he was capable of and how powerful he was, intellectually, physically, and economically.

“Hey, Adrian!”

Clasping his hand as he reached the front doors, a girl seemingly appeared beside him out of thin air. Jenny Sinclair, her appearance meant nothing to his cold heart, but his opinion was of no concern in the unquestionable fact that she was exceptionally beautiful. She had a well-tanned complexion, bright blue eyes, and long blonde hair. It caught the light beautifully with a deep full golden shade. Her figure was… womanly, to say the least. Were he a normal teenager, Adrian would have gone into a stupor at the sensation of her hand touching his, but with his emotions and desires sealed away, her appearance meant nothing to him.

She asked him questions as if he was an all-knowing magic 8-ball, but she always picked her questions carefully, because his harsh logic was like fire: it’s comforting if you keep a safe distance, but you’ll get burned if you come too close. She sought him out for guidance and wisdom, using his inhuman logic in a human world. She was a social goddess, a celebrity to the other students, so why, of all people, would she so much as say hello to someone like Adrian? If anything, he just considered her an annoyance.

“So, Adrian, how about having lunch with my friends and I?”

“Why in the world would I ever do that?”

“Because you need to spend time with people. Think of it as like a social psychology experiment. You get an up close and personal view of how people interact.”

“You’re just going to keep badgering me until I say yes, aren’t you?”

“Not badgering you, encouraging you!”

“Ugh, fine, whatever. Now leave me alone.”

Most of Adrian’s day was spent on his phone, silently taking care of business while his teachers droned on. After all the books he had read, there was nothing they could tell him that he didn’t already know. He had mastered all academic subjects years ago. The people he was texting weren’t friends; they were subordinates. What was going on in Somalia was nothing out of the ordinary for Adrian. He was in the process or reformatting dozens of countries around the globe, with his oldest factions boasting thousands of members. There were also several other people, subordinates in charge not of countries, but corporations. Whether it was taking over companies or starting them himself, Adrian had used his intellect to build up a corporate empire, one that the world knew nothing about, and the profits from these companies funded his endeavors.

There was something new being muttered by the students in the halls, something that almost seemed to scare them. Normally ignoring everything around him, Adrian began to get curious. For once, he was glad that Jenny trailed behind him at every chance.

“Jenny, do you know what is going on? I’m only picking up small pieces of the story.”

“A bully named Logan is coming back from suspension. He was almost kicked out of school on the first day because he and his friends slashed the tires of all the teachers’ cars and set off fireworks in the halls.”

“Oh great, just what this school needs.”

“Well you’ll get to meet him, we have the same English class for fourth period.”

“Huzzah,” Adrian groaned sarcastically.

“So you’re the new kid,” Logan mused.

He was six feet tall, had short blond hair, a sadistic look in his eyes, and he was dressed like a cliché bad boy from an 80’s movie. Jenny was sitting in the back of the classroom with her friends, watching him.

“No, I’m just a figment of your imagination. As the kids would say, you are ‘totally tripping balls’ right now. Is that the answer you were looking for?” Adrian asked sarcastically.

“Very funny, prick, very funny. You must have been the funniest guy in the mental hospital.”

Adrian just rolled his eyes and sighed. The teacher had yet to show up, and until he did, Logan saw no reason to stop. Everyone was watching as if this was a sporting event.

“So fag, how do you like the new school? I bet a scrawny little bitch like you fell apart on the first day.”

“Your sense of assumption is far from correct,” Adrian said as stood up.

“Well you’ll find that my aim is better!” Logan laughed as he reached out to punch him.

With little effort but lightning-fast reflexes, Adrian blocked his fist with the back of his hand, completely halting his attack.

“Who the fuck are you?” Logan hissed, pushing as hard as he could, but finding Adrian’s arm to be as strong as steel.

“I already told you, I’m a figment of your imagination.”

Without warning or hesitation, Adrian bolted forward and stabbed him with his hand, straight in the solar plexus. The attack had been so fast that Logan didn’t even feel the impact, but the pain was so intense, that just a fraction of a second later he couldn’t even scream. Adrian had stabbed with his fingers folded halfway and his hand between a fist and being completely flat. Had his fingers been straight, Adrian could have pierced his skin, with his whole hand coated in blood and a gaping hole left in Logan’s chest.

Adrian pulled his hand back and Logan fell to the floor, gagging in pain and gripping the place Adrian had stabbed him. “Before your talk to me again, you had better learn respect, for I will not tolerate such insulting behavior. You are nothing more than a misbehaving dog that needs an attitude adjustment, and I will continue to treat you like one if you continue to act like one. Do I make myself clear, or am I going to have to put you in your place?”

Everyone was staring at him with disbelief as Logan slowly got to his feet, chuckling like a serial killer. “Go fuck yourself. You’re no better than the rest of us, no matter how much you want to be.”

“I’m not saying everyone is below me; I’m saying that you are below everyone. Like I said, you are nothing more than a misbehaving dog that needs an attitude adjustment. A pathetic sub-human like you deserves to be treated as such. You had better learn respect, because I won’t be as merciful next time.”

“You condescending son of a—”

“Sorry I’m late, everyone take out your textbooks,” the English teacher said as he stepped into the room, cutting Logan off. He immediately knew something had just being going on. “Logan… Adrian… what were the two of you just doing?” he asked, waiting for a reason to start handing out detentions.

“Nothing sir,” Adrian said as he brushed his messy black hair out of his face. “Since you weren’t here, I thought it would be entertaining if I gave the lesson until you arrived. As you can see, everyone in class found the subject very interesting. I can only hope that Logan was paying attention and learned his lesson.”

Logan began to laugh with a psychotic smile on his face. “Oh, I definitely learned something. And maybe soon, I’ll be able to teach you something.”

“It seems you’ve already forgotten the lesson,” Adrian replied as he sat back down.

“Everyone sit down and take out your textbooks,” the teacher ordered.

As Logan moved towards an empty seat, he came to a stop in front of Jenny’s desk. All of her friends clustered around her, as if trying to scare Logan off. He was unfazed by their attempt. “Hey Sinclair, I missed you while I was gone. Or to be exact, I missed you every night.”

Jenny blushed with anger. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? I hate you and the only time I’ve ever came into contact with you was to slap you. I don’t like you and I never will.”

“Your mouth says “no, no”, but that very lovely cleavage of yours says “yes, oh yes”.”

Jenny instinctively tightened her shirt and she and all her friends glared at him.

“Logan, sit down or you’ll be drowning in detentions,” the teacher warned.

Logan just laughed and sat down at an empty desk. Adrian turned back to Jenny and their gazes met. As she looked into his eyes, the anger and frustration in her own was replaced by calmness and comfort. She even gave him a dreamy smile.

“So what’s that guy’s problem?” Adrian asked as he made his way to his next class.

“He’s just always been a total asshole. Even as a Senior, he hasn’t matured at all. He throws a temper tantrum whenever someone tries to tell him what to do and he loves to torment everyone around him. He’s like a magnet for all the delinquents in the school. He and all his friends are part of a gang that hangs out in a warehouse in the city and everyone knows that he sells drugs. There is also a “rumor” that he raped a girl at a party, but the girl was so devastated and traumatized that she moved away without even testifying against him.”

“And what’s his problem with you?”

“He’s after all the pretty girls, but he taunts me the most, ever since middle school. I’ve always been terrified of yelling at him to leave him alone, then when I turn me back and walk away, he comes up behind me and covers my face with a chloroform rag, and then… you can imagine. Everyone knows he raped that poor girl, and I don’t want to end up as his next victim.”

Adrian gave no reply.

Her scowl then turned into a small smile. “But it was really great seeing you stand up to him like that, and even knock him to the ground. It was like seeing a tyrant being overthrown. I had never seen someone verbally assault another person like that, was that some sort of strategy?”

“Yes, it’s an argument tactic that I use when my opponent refuses to be logical and just wants to cause harm. I attack the source of their pride: the delusion they have they are equal or better than other people. I subjugate and crush their view of themselves by saying that they are inferior sub-humans and should be treated as such. Calling someone a monster or a parasite does nothing, but treating him or her like one is like a dagger to the heart. If Logan tried to get into another fight with me, I could weaken his mental foundations by referring to him as “it” or saying something like “I can’t believe things like you are allowed to vote”. That way, I can take away his power as an individual person and psychologically crush him like the cockroach that he is.”

Jenny’s smile was again filled with admiration. “Adrian, can I ask you a favor?” She asked, going from happy to nervous.

“What is it?”

“Will you protect me from him? If he comes after me, will you stop him?”

“If you stay by my side, I will.”

Lunch had arrived, and Adrian was sitting at a large round table in the middle of the school cafeteria. Jenny’s friends paid no attention to him, and Adrian just sat back and ate his lunch. Normally they would have refused having someone like him, but after his encounter with Logan, he had gained a temporary hero status. The girl were gossiping about the boys they were dating, and as he listened to them, a question began to form in his mind, one that he couldn’t help but ask, due to the situation.

“Can I ask you all a question? I’m hoping that you can give me the answer that I can’t find on his own.”

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds.

“Sure, what is it?” Jenny’s friend Amanda asked.

“What is the purpose of your relationships?”

There was another awkward silence as everyone tried to figure out the meaning of the question.

“What do you mean?” Jenny asked.

“What is the purpose of the relationships you have through dating? I don’t understand why you bother.”

“We do it… to find someone to love,” one of Jenny’s friends said, trying to pick her words carefully.

“But what comes out of it? Say you find someone that you actually do love; do you have any idea how high the chances are that you will break up? It’s practically inevitable.”

“No it’s not,” another girl piped up.

“Yes it is. Statistically speaking, one of the greatest cause of all divorces is because the man and woman had been dating since high school or college and got married in their twenties or even their teens. Being in your teens is a death sentence to any relationship, and marriage isn’t the long shot, life is. Do you really think your relationship can last throughout the rest of high school, your college years, and your twenties? Basically, if you’ve lasted until college, unless you both go to the same universities, that relationship is more doomed than it already is.

Even if you say to yourself that your relationship is “special”, and you and your partner will maintain your romantic bond for the rest of your lives, you have to realize that every single couple that failed thought the same thing. What makes you think that your relationships are any different than all of the others? Why do you enter relationships when failure is practically unavoidable, especially at such young ages?”

There was yet another awkward silence.

“We do it… for the memories? For the enjoyment? For practice?” one girl shrugged, telling herself more than she was asking him. All around the table, all of the girls were being affected by his words, and were beginning to contemplate the value and point of being in a relationship.

“What kind of answer is practice? How would you like it if you were dating someone and they just said that you were practice to them? How would you like it if we were dating and I told you that I’m just using you as practice for when someone better than you comes along? But if everyone considers their teenage relationships to be practice, then that must mean that all teenagers know that they are nothing but practice, and are in denial. If you weren’t in denial, then why would you put any emotional effort into a relationship if you know that you both consider the other one to be practice for a more meaningful relationship later, and it will inevitably fail?

And what memories? What enjoyment? Relationships in this part of your lives are nothing but emotionally strenuous bonds with the illusion of something new and exciting. Your minds aren’t fully developed and stabilized, making it so that hormones and the fear of being alone cause your feelings towards the other person. The whole time you’re with them, your instincts and hormones are making you look at other people the way you originally looked at your partner. This wandering gaze causes you to devalue your relationship, because you convince yourselves that your heart is telling you that you aren’t where you are meant to be, when really, its because your hormones are telling you to be with other people.

Eventually your relationship—which had briefly burned with such passion—will be nothing but ash, as you both try to hide your contempt for each other out of the fear of being alone. Soon, your doomed relationship shatters, and you are left emotionally barren and exhausted. And during the time it takes to recuperate from the emotional strain, you look back at that relationship and curse yourself for wasting all of that effort on something so insipid as a high school romance. The trial leaves you with more emotional strain than happy memories, and your youth is wasted while your heart and mind heal, only for you to repeat the process with someone else. Even without knowing the statistics, you must surely know what I am talking about, and have experienced it first hand.”

All around the table, the girls’ eyes gained a sad grayish hue and their complexions became pale as sorrow lined their faces. The impact of his words had broken their illusion of reality. Jenny’s eyes showed the most pain.

“But what about you? What would you seek in a relationship?” a girl asked.

“I do not want to be in a relationship.” Just before she could ask, Adrian answered her. “You assume that like all other teenage boys, I only desire sex, which is the largest reason why males enter relationships. Even after all I have said, your experience with boys tells you that I am just a horny fool looking for someone to screw. At eighteen years of age, when my anatomy is supposed to be saturated with hormones, I have learned ultimate self-control. I have severed logical thought from sexual desire, as sexual desire serves no beneficial purpose outside of reproduction, which has no place at this stage in his life. It is illogical.

There was a time when I might have wanted a relationship, but I have cast off the desire. A relationship is too dangerous for me anyway.”

His words shook all of the girls from their dread-dazes, and they stared at him with disbelief.

“Dangerous?” Jenny asked.

“Intimate and romantic relationships require effort and compromise, and even if you desire not to change, your identity subconsciously conforms. This is something I cannot allow. Since basically all relationships in your teens and early twenties are pointless, sex is nothing but a hollow act of perversion, compromising the purity of your identity as you give away a piece of your soul for a doomed romance. Our species is so desperate for love at such young ages that we compromise our identities without any consideration of the future. By accepting my limitations, studying the facts of reality, gaining control of physical desire, and embracing my urge to have solitude, I have achieved enlightenment and come to accept and embrace the fact that I am going to die alone. So I ask again: After everything I have just told you, what purpose do you find in relationships?”

No reply came. Everyone had the same look of sorrow as before and Jenny was clutching herself and shaking.

Adrian gave low sigh and stood up with his back to them. “What I just showed you were my last few strands of humanity from back before I cast my humanity aside. I am glad they are gone, as they serve no purpose in a rational mind.”

He stood up to leave, and after taking only a few steps, Adrian stopped as he heard one of the girls jump to her feet. It was Amanda. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! What could have possibly twisted you into such a cold bastard? Just because something doesn’t help you in the long run doesn’t make it pointless. Some of the smallest things make people the happiest.”

He turned to her and gave a small quick sigh, almost like a chuckle. “Tch, how illogical,” he scoffed before walking away.

As time went on, Logan continuously harassed Jenny and Adrian. When he wasn’t trying to grab her or making lewd comments, he was trying to make Adrian angry and insult him. His attempts to bait him into an argument where he would become angry or frustrated were completely futile, for trying to rile him was like trying to get blood from stone. When her schedule allowed it, Jenny stayed with Adrian even more often then before, afraid of Logan showing up but comforted to have Adrian with her. Whenever Logan did make an appearance and try to force himself on Jenny, Adrian would step forward and protect her, scaring him off like he was a hyena.

It was late November and Amanda was hanging out with Jenny in her bedroom. She was happy she was finally able to spend time with her friend, for Jenny had been spending almost every minute with him since they met. As always, she was trying to convince Jenny to stop hanging out with him.

“Will you stop it already? I already told you that I like him and that you can’t change it,” Jenny said with frustration from how Amanda resembled a broken record.

“But does he like you? He said that he doesn’t want a friend or even a girlfriend. He even took control of his hormones and physical desires—which I still think is impossible and that he’s lying to you—so that he wouldn’t be attracted to girls and distracted from whatever the hell he’s doing.

Jenny, you’re gorgeous, you’re so gorgeous that all the girls are jealous of you. But when it comes to Adrian… it would be easier for you to seduce a gay guy. At least a gay guy has feelings. Seriously, this guy isn’t heterosexual, bisexual, or a homosexual; he’s anti-sexual.”

Jenny just held a confident smile. “Not for long, we’ll start swimming in gym this week and I have a new bathing suit to show off.”

“Trust me babe, unless you got that bathing suit for a wardrobe malfunction, I doubt that will work.”

Next to the gymnasium was a building holding the school pool and all of the students were sitting on bleachers along one side of the room. Among them was Jenny, constantly shifting in her seat and biting her lip. Her new one-piece bathing suit was clinging to her curved frame, exposing almost as much of her body as if she were wearing a bikini. All of the boys in the class kept on staring at her from the corners of their eyes.

Adrian was sitting in the boy’s locker room, mentally preparing himself for what would happen next. He had shown up after everyone had already changed and now everyone was waiting for him to come out so that the class could begin. Like all the other boys, he was wearing a pair of swim trunks.

“Come on, Adroid! Get out here!” the gym teacher barked.

Adrian took a deep breath and walked out of the locker room. The second Adrian was in sight, Jenny shifted again, trying to find a sexy pose.

“Oh Jenny, do you want to borrow some high heels?” Amanda teased.

Jenny just elbowed her in the ribs and tried to regain her composure as Adrian approached.

As he got closer, everyone’s eyes widened and they covered their mouths to hide their gasps of disbelief. The gym teacher took off his sunglasses, hoping that they were causing the sight before him. “Holy shit,” he muttered.

Jenny stared at him with her mouth hanging open, almost on the verge of tears. “Oh my god.”

Adrian’s legs, arms, chest, and back were all covered in burn marks, scars, and permanent bruises, all ranging in different sizes. The most recent ones were only a few weeks old. With all the scars and healed injuries, his whole body looked like the skin on a carpenter’s palm. Even from across the room, the healed injuries were as clear as day. Adrian was much more muscular than anyone expected, like a young bodybuilder, but even with his physique, it was difficult to see his muscles beneath all of the scars and injuries. Adrian ignored the stares and gasps as he walked past everyone. He took a seat on the bleachers and looked at Jenny. Her whole body was shaking as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Adrian, wait!” he heard Jenny holler as he climbed into his car.

Behind her, students were climbing onto buses and walking out to their own cars. Adrian lowered the window while she approached. Reaching him, she gripped the window frame of the door so tightly that her knuckles were white. Adrian looked at her face and realized that she had been crying.

“Adrian, I’m begging you, please talk to me,” she whispered.

“You want to know, don’t you?”

In reply, she reached into the car and grasped his hands.

“Very well, come with me.”

Jenny nodded and rushed to the other side of the car, climbing into the passenger seat. Adrian pulled out of the school parking lot and began driving, with he and Jenny stone silent. After ten minutes, they arrived at his house, having not spoken a single word.

“Follow me,” Adrian said as he grabbed his backpack and climbed out of the car.

He led Jenny to the back of the house, where the basement exit resided. He opened up the double doors and they stepped down into the darkness. Adrian turned on the lights and Jenny gasped as she realized where she was. The house had been built with a finished basement with its own bathroom, and the whole level was his. One half of the room was filled with power tools and machinery for metalwork. Along one of the walls was his workbench, covered with his hand-tools for when he needed to work with wood. Adrian used the tools for building and inventing new machines of all shapes and sizes, all of which covered tables spread throughout the half of the room.

The other half of the basement was his bedroom. Against the wall was a large bed with a nearby TV, set up on a mini-fridge. There were several bookcases, all filled with textbooks and almanacs on everything from surgery to engineering and each page was recorded to memory. In the corner of the basement was the bathroom door and steps leading up to a second exit. The walls of the whole room were not covered in pictures or posters, but pieces of hardware from dismantled electronics. Hundreds of circuit boards and screens had been tied together and hung across the walls, creating a wallpaper of metallic green. They were used for both decoration and spare parts to cannibalize for his work. There were also many pieces of exercise equipment spread throughout the basement.

Adrian put down his backpack beside his bed, took off his coat, and removed his button-down shirt and the t-shirt underneath. Jenny slowly stepped up to him and put her hands on his chest, looking at the scars and injuries that covered his body. She tried to fight back tears as she examined them with the fluorescent lights above.

“I did all of this to myself, every scar and injury.”

Jenny stared into his eyes. “Why? Why would you do this to yourself?”

“Because that is the cost of power. This is what I had to do to become the man I am today.”

“What do you mean?” Jenny asked, wiping away her tears.

Adrian took her hand and they sat down on his bed. “I was not always like this; I used to be a regular boy. I had fun and was emotional like all children, but when I was ten years old, I was in a lethal car accident. EMTs struggled to keep me alive, but my will to live was not powerful enough. My heart stopped and my body shut down. I was legally dead for almost three minutes before they were able to stabilize me on a heart/lung machine. I don’t know how long I was in that coma, but after my body recovered, I was declared brain dead because my heart and lungs would not work on their own. It’s a good thing my parents decided to wait to see if my condition would improve, because that saved my life. Time passed, but my condition didn’t.

One night, a gas mane within the hospital exploded and the whole building was set ablaze. Firefighters and the hospital staff worked desperately to evacuate the patients, but they themselves had to flee before I could be rescued. They believed me to already be dead and the building was too unstable to send in any more people. But in that massive funeral pyre, I was far from dead. I was more alive than I had ever been before. When my bypass machine shut down from the loss of power, my mind reactivated and my body began to work again. I remember the intense heat lashing at my skin and the thick smoke filling my lungs as I opened his eyes, finally awake. I stepped out of bed in an enlightened state that I had never experienced before.

I could see the flames moving in slow motion, I could smell and taste the individual chemicals and ingredients in the smoke, I could feel the rumbling of the building and the creases between the floor tiles beneath my feet, and I could hear my own heart beating and blood rushing through my veins. You know those stories about people being brought back to life minutes after death, about seeing a bright light and often returning to the world with an ability or talent they had never possessed? I had done the same thing, but on a much greater scale. When their minds entered the precipice between life and death, the barriers that stood before total neural awakening are brought down, and they are able to reach out and expand the parameters of their mind before coming back. However, I remained in that state for much longer. I was neither living nor dead for months on end, and because of that, I was able to unlock the potential that had been forgotten by our species.

With the building around me breaking apart in a fiery cataclysm, I walked down the halls, completely at peace. Rubble and shrapnel were flying in all directions, but I was able to avoid them as if they were floating bubbles, and I could tell when the flames were going to erupt through a door or a floor just by feeling the pressure changes in the air. By rewiring my entire mind, I gained full mastery of my senses, and was able to sense more than humans had ever dreamed. At last, I stepped out of the flames and into the rain. I stood as still as a statue, letting the water cool my body and wash away the soot and ash. Never in my life had I felt so awake, so alive, so… enlightened. All of my senses were working at unbelievable magnitudes and my entire mind was surging with energy and ideas.

On the day of the car crash, the old Adrian died, but from death, a new Adrian was born. I stared into the shadows of death and stole something from the darkness. I stole power, and that power was rushing through me as I walked out of the building and stood in the rain, reborn into an ascended being. I was seeing behind a curtain that no one even knew existed, but I knew that there was more. I was desperate to take this euphoria farther, to bring myself to the limits of my existence and shatter those limits. Ever since then, I have been working myself to go farther in every way possible.”

“But these scars and burns… why would you do these things to yourself?” Jenny whispered as tears fell from her eyes.

Adrian stood back up and turned to her. “I did it for the pain. For six years, I’ve been testing my mind and body to try and break every known barrier, and the greatest barrier humans face is the barrier of pain. Pain is both a curse and a blessing; the more pain we feel, the stronger we become, but pain is also the barrier that keeps us from getting stronger. Many of the greatest leaders and prophets only gained their wisdom and experience through great suffering at some point in their lives, for it is pain that lets us see through the curtain of unnecessary distractions and become truly wise.

I’ve cut, burned, and battered my body both to harness the benefits of pain and become immune to it. Pain forces the mind to focus and set priorities, it clears away all useless thoughts and can allow humans to work at their peak when used correctly. But by also learning to block out pain, I have learned to use this body at its maximum potential, allowing me to push onwards until the laws of anatomy force me to stop, and not just an illusion of the senses.

By combining enlightenment, pain, and physical mastery, I have ascended to the form that mankind was originally meant to reach. I will do anything to break free of the weaknesses of this body and mind. I have already forsaken companionship, emotions, physical desires, and everything else that makes me human. These scars and injuries are nothing more than superficial markings, having no real affect on my body, and therefore are unimportant.

I need to be sure that my mind and body are ready… for the day when I can truly make my move.”

Jenny averted her gaze and looked down at the floor, letting her tears fall.

In an act truly against his character, Adrian crouched down placed his hand on her cheek, wiping away her tears. “Do not cry for me, Jenny. This is what I want.”

Jenny gained a sad smile and pressed his hand tighter against her cheek. “I’m not crying from sadness, I’m crying from joy. This is what I’ve wanted since I first met you: I’ve wanted you to open up to me. I’ve wanted to find out everything I can about you. Thank you, Adrian. Thank you for trusting me.”

They both stood up and Adrian put his shirt back on. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

It was Friday, and Adrian was getting his textbook for the last class. He closed his locker door and turned around, standing face to face with Jenny. She was wearing a black miniskirt that wrapped tightly around her tan thighs, a white tank top that exposed her cleavage, high-healed boots, and a large belt that went around her stomach instead of her waist. She had her hands behind her back, and was constantly shifting her weight and biting her lip.

“Adrian, I know that this isn’t really your thing… but you know that the Autumn Dance is this weekend, right?”

“Yes,” he said, like the beat of a drum.

“Well I would really like to go, but I have no one to go with. Would you like to go with me, as friends?”

“I would prefer not to.”

“Please? I really don’t want to go with just my girlfriends,” she pleaded, giving him the Bambi eyes.

Adrian gave a very loud and annoyed sigh. “Very well.”

The dance was just as Adrian expected it to be; the gymnasium was dark, the music was trashy, and the people were degenerates. The chaperones weren’t really paying attention, so as long as the room was dark, people could basically do whatever they wanted. On the gym floor, people were grinding against each other as if they were in the first stages of an orgy. Along the walls, guys were drinking from a whiskey bottle hidden in one of the flower bouquets being sold outside. In one of the corners, a couple were making out. The girl pulled down the straps of her dress, revealing her tits, which were round and full for her age. She gave a silent moan as her boyfriend started sucking her on her nipples.

“Perverted fools,” Adrian muttered.

He was sitting at a table in the corner, trying to keep his temper in check as he watched the endless parade of degeneration. Jenny was with a group of her friends, who were constantly looking at him in disbelief, amazed that she was able to convince him to show up.

She walked over to him and sat down on the other side of the table. “Why don’t you go dance?”

“Do you honestly expect me to?”

Several moments passed by, with the only sound being Jenny drumming her fingers on the table and the music in the background. “Adrian, there is something that you said a while back that I didn’t quite understand. It was when you were eating lunch with my friends and I, and you said that you couldn’t let your mind be compromised by others. I’ve never heard anyone say something like that.”

“When two people interact romantically and/or sexually, they trade parts of their identity. It’s like that health class saying, ‘When you have sex with someone, you’re having sex with everyone they’ve had sex with.’ Though it also works at the emotional level. When two people kiss or have sex, they forever carry a part of each other. Those with impure identities don’t realize how important their identities are, and they give their bodies without hesitation. All the guys my age hate their virginity, but I value it, because it symbolizes my intact identity and my morality.”

“So it’s sort of like celibacy to a priest.”

“Not exactly. They are abstinent for God but I am abstinent for myself and for the preservation of my morals and identity. Even after you lose your virginity, your identity can be further corrupted through romantic contact with other people.”

He looked around for a few seconds and pointed to the couple standing in the dark corner. The girl had her knee lifted, letting her boyfriend finger-bang her. The dim lighting of the dark gymnasium just barely reflected off the pussy juice that coated his fingers. Their lack of self-control and decency disgusted him.

“See that couple right there? Neither of them has any sexual ethics left, because they’ve both had countless sexual and romantic partners. They each give each other their physical forms without hesitation, and for the wrong reasons. As I grew older, I became more logical and noticed the inevitable failure of young relationships. I looked up relationship statistics and found that an incredibly vast number of marriages that start before you’re both in your thirties are doomed to fail. I realized that even if I were find someone I had romantic feelings for, my relationship with her would inevitably fail and would have been a waste of time and compromised who I am. If I waited until I was old enough to have a chance at a lifetime relationship with someone, they would have already compromised their identities.

I shut the door for any future romance and turned my attention on myself, working to eliminate useless desires and find peace in solitude. Those realizations made me the man I am today.”

Jenny stared silently, until the sound of a slow song make her perk up like a cat spotting movement. “I know you said that you don’t dance, but do you think that…”

Adrian was silent for a few moments. “As you wish.”

They walked out onto the gym floor, where all of the couples were slow dancing. With Jenny’s hands on his shoulders and his hands on her hips, they began to dance.

Jenny had a warm smile as the song progressed. “What are you, Adrian?”

“What do you mean?”

“You are far too logical to be human, but you have too much heart to be a machine. You think that rejecting other people makes you a machine, but it’s your fear of relationships that shows that you still care. Ever since I met you, I’ve tried to figure out just what you are, but every time you speak, I’m more confused than ever.”

“I am just a man who is wiser than most others, even those that are older than himself. I am merely what others should be.”

Jenny chuckled. “It is people like you who have the power to change the world. People like Jesus and Gandhi always start out this way.”

Adrian was hesitate before speaking, feeling like he needed to say something. “You look beautiful tonight.”

She gave a soft laugh. “That is probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. You know, to be honest, I wouldn’t have dressed up this much if I went with anyone but you.” Adrian was again silent as she slowly placed her hand on his cheek. “I think… I’m ready to go home,” she murmured.

The car came to a halt in front of Jenny’s house. True to what her mom said, the lights were out and one of her parents’ cars was gone. Jenny said that they had gone out with friends and wouldn’t be back for a few hours. Adrian and Jenny stepped outside and he walked her to the door, the two of them rushing to escape the cold.

“Goodbye,” he said without emotion once they came to a stop on the porch.

“Adrian, wait, there is something I really need to talk to you about. Can we please talk inside?”

“Very well,” he said, prompting her to unlock the door.

They stepped into the dark house and she grasped his hand. “Come with me,” she whispered in the darkness as she led him upstairs.

The stairs were layered with shag carpeting, muffling their footsteps so that the only sound was the swishing of Jenny’s dress. Pictures of family and friends were spread out across the wall along the staircase, allowing Adrian a brief view into Jenny’s life and history. They reached the second story and neither of them spoke as he followed her to her bedroom. Jenny closed the door and then walked to the other end of the room, not saying anything and keeping her back to him. The room was dimly lit by the streetlamp outside. Adrian looked around the room, using the low light to study the surroundings that had created the woman before him.

Against the wall next to the door was a desk with a mirror. The surface was covered in schoolwork and makeup, with the drawers below half-open. There were two windows perpendicular with the door, and between them was a white bureau, filled with clothes and acting as the pedestal for Jenny’s athletic trophies. In the opposite corner of the room from the desk was a bedside table, and next to it was a twin bed, in line with the door. Between the door and the bed was Jenny’s closet. Hanging from the ceiling was a fan and covering the walls were more pictures of friends and family.

“What did you want to talk about?” Adrian asked as his eyes lazily drifted from corner to corner.

Jenny turned to him and her eyes seemed to glow in the faint darkness. She slowly reached up and brushed the straps of her dress off her shoulders. She pulled it all the way off, letting it fall down to her ankles and showing that she was wearing nothing underneath. With Jenny standing naked before him, Adrian struggled to find something to say. Even without physical desire clouding his mind, he would be lying if he said that she didn’t have a beautiful body. Jenny’s eyes were filled with fear and nervousness.

“Adrian… I love you.”

He could see a shiver run through her body once the words were whispered, and the relief on her face from finally speaking the words almost made her glow.

“What?” he asked, her words having shaken him to his core.

“I love you, Adrian. I decided that I want to lose my virginity, and you are the one I want to give it to.”

Without saying a word, Adrian turned around and grasped the door handle. Jenny rushed over and put her hands on his shoulders. “Adrian, please wait.”

“Why? You can only offer physical gratification, something that I have no need for. I have no reason to be here,” he said with as much feeling as a computer.

“Please, don’t stay here for yourself, do it for me. I want to give myself to you.”

“Why in the world would you want that? Have you listened to nothing I have said?” She stepped back and Adrian took his hand off of the doorknob. “Let me tell you what would happen if we were to be intimate: It would be a mediocre experience compared to what you expect it to be and we would both contaminate our identities. We have no chance of forming or even sustaining a relationship, and even if we did form one, it would inevitably fail. Once that happens, any positive feelings we have for each other will be reduced to loathing and all memories will bring nothing but pain.

I would hate myself because I would have doomed my path to transcending the human plain by compromising my ideals and morals and sabotaging my clear-headedness. You would hate yourself because you would realize that you would have given your purity and innocence to someone that didn’t deserve it, and you would have nothing to give if you met someone else. Your heart would be broken and your soul tainted, and I would be a hollow shell, unable to find joy in this human world but unable to break free of it. We would both walk through this world as impure beings, forever regretting the mistake we made and hating the curse of youth.

If we were to be intimate, there would be no love and happiness afterwards, just pain and loathing. That is the curse of the human race and I have worked hard to make sure that I don’t endure that same empty fate. If you have any respect for yourself, you will get some self-control and wait for someone who is actually capable of sharing your feelings.”

Jenny’s eyes darkened and she clutched herself as if his words had struck her naked form like a frigid breeze. A single tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t care about that, I don’t care what happens afterwards. Adrian, when we were dancing and I told you that you had the power to change the world, I meant that you had changed mine. You may not feel the same way about me, but I love you and I just want to be with you in any way that I can.”

“Tch, how illogical,” Adrian scoffed.

Jenny walked over and placed her hand on his cheek. “Please, if you care about me at all, you’ll stay. As much as you try to run from it, you are human. I’m not telling you to be like everyone else, no. Your uniqueness is what I love most about you. I’m just asking you to open your heart and accept me. I don’t care if you don’t love me, just please let me show you how much I love you. You don’t have to give me anything, just let me give myself to you.”

“How could I even consider touching you, knowing that you had probably touched someone else before me? Even if you are a virgin, if we were to kiss, your mind would flash back to whoever you dated before me.”

“Adrian, I’ve never been with any other boys. I’ve never even dated or kissed anyone. For as long as I’ve known what love is, I’ve been looking for someone to share it with. But I haven’t just been going out with any guy I find attractive; I’ve been looking for someone like you. I told myself that I would only give my heart to a man that completely amazed me. Ever since our first class together, I’ve admired and been astounded by everything about you: what you say, what you do, what you think, and who you are! Adrian, you told me that you wanted to be more than a regular human. Through my eyes, you are already more than a regular human, and that is why I idolize and love you.”

Adrian stepped away from her and looked out the window. His mind was tearing itself apart, trying to figure out what to do. As much as he wanted to leave and forget about Jenny, something in his mind had bound him to her, and he could break that bond between them no easier than a steel chain locking them together.

It was over a minute before he spoke. “I can’t let myself get distracted. I can’t let anyone get in the way of my goals. If we do this, Jenny, I will erase the memory of it and this whole night. There won’t be any part of me that was intimate with you. You will never be the same, but this night will have never even existed for me.”

Jenny took a deep breath. “Does this mean you’ll…?”

“Yes, if that is what will finally put you at ease. This night will not exist for me, but you will be unable to take back what happens. You said that you don’t care if I don’t love you. You just want to show how much you love me. Do you really want to waste your heart and virginity on someone who won’t even remember it?”

“With you, it will not be a waste,” she whispered with a small smile.

She walked over to Adrian as he undressed and gently grasped his hand, then guided him to the bed. She walked over to Adrian as he undressed and gently grasped his hand, then guided him to the bed. They sat down and Jenny put her hand on his cheek, looking deep into his eyes. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“I’m just unsure of how to proceed. I only know the standard mechanics of intimacy but no actual protocol.”

Jenny gave the smallest of laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ll guide you.”

With her hands on his cheeks, she leaned forward and pressed her soft lips against his, as gently as a falling leaf. They held that kiss for a few moments, each becoming familiar with the practice. They kissed again, mirroring each other’s movements. For several minutes, their lips joined and separated over and over again, and Adrian had to admit that it felt better then he thought it would. Not only was the physical enjoyment far beyond what he expected it to be, but there was another form of pleasure that he was experiencing, one that wasn’t coming from any nerve endings. Adrian mentally searched his body, trying to find where the feeling was coming from, but he couldn’t identify the source.

As the kiss continued, he could smell the hormones in the air as Jenny’s levels of arousal skyrocketed. She moved her hands from his cheeks to his shoulders, using her soft fingers to find and count the endless scars that pocked his arms and chest. Replicating her actions, Adrian explored her body with his hands, finding comfort in the warmth and softness of her skin. This was a very peculiar experience, and this desire to find the answer to the nature of this puzzling feeling felt almost at good as the feeling itself. Adrian could feel memories of each action being imprinted in his mind in the form of experience, he was learning.

He wanted this feeling to continue, he wanted to keep learning. This lack of knowledge exhilarated him, having finally found an unexplored area of study. It gave him something to strive for, something to work to understand, something to be challenged by. He had studied every field of knowledge from mechanics to astronomy to the languages of the world, but this was something he truly had no experience in. He was facing the most obvious and yet most intricate subject of them all: the essence of a sexual bond. Jenny’s body was like a piece of art from a culture he had never even known existed, and he wanted to examine it as such. He wanted to find out everything he could, he wanted to learn the things that he had always dismissed, and he wanted to finally find something that would require every aspect of his mind to understand, a true challenge to enjoy.

With his arm around her, Adrian gently laid her down and resumed kissing her. As they kissed, his logical side fully gave up and his emotional and hormonal sides took full control. He was becoming more involved and enjoying it more than he thought he would. He already had an erection that was as hard as a rock and seven inches long and was exploring her body with his hands while using his left arm to stay suspended. Her breasts were round and soft, but had the perfect amount of firmness. Her areolas were the size of quarters, with nipples like pencil erasers. She moaned and hummed with each squeeze as he massaged every inch, using every muscle in his hand as if he were controlling the strings of a puppet.

He moved his hand down, with his fingertips brushing against her slim belly. He could feel his heart-rate skyrocket as he reached her pubes, which had obviously been trimmed. She had been planning for this. He placed his index and middle finger on the two lips of her pussy and gently rubbed them, causing Jenny to tremble and hum loudly. With each stroke, the lips would become wetter and wetter as she became more aroused. He slowly inserted his middle finger and her thighs clamped around his hand like a vise grip, but the soft wet insides of her pussy seemed to be inviting him further. He pushed his whole finger in, and Jenny’s moans became louder as he worked it in and out, loosening her virgin pussy.

She put her hand on his and pushed down on it, encouraging him to go even further. He cautiously obliged and pushed in his index and ring finger, then began pulling them out and pushing them back in. Her insides were incredibly tight, but she quickly loosened up as he worked his fingers in her like a piston. He could just barely feel her hymen with his middle finger.

Jenny suddenly pulled her lips from his and whispered in his ear, “Adrian, I’m ready.”

Adrian didn’t have the courage to respond, but when Jenny spread her legs, he grasped his manhood and pressed the head against the soft lips of her pussy. A drop of pre-cum oozed from the tip as his self-control became more erratic. He slowly pushed his cock into her sleeve and they both shivered from the physical ecstasy. Jenny dug her fingernails into his back and her humming turned more into a moan with every centimeter he delved. The head of his cock was pressed against her hymen, receiving no words from Jenny, he gave one large thrust and deflowered her. She gave a shrill moan and dug her nails into his back so tightly that he had to completely block out the pain.

He pulled his dick out six inches and then forced it back in, causing Jenny to give another, deeper moan. They began to move back and forth in rhythm, and with every thrust he gave, Jenny would moan. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, holding onto him for dear life.

With his face buried in her pillow and the sweet smell of her hair filling his senses, Adrian realized that this was nothing like what he thought it would be. He always figured that since he was so different from everyone else, sex would give him only a hollow feeling, but this… this was the opposite. He could feel physical and emotional bliss saturating every fiber of his being. It was a form of enjoyment that he had never thought possible.

Jenny’s pussy felt like a mix of the interior of a grapefruit and soft bubblegum. True, that is a horrible and inaccurate comparison, but he couldn’t think of anything else. Jenny’s hot wet insides hugged his manhood tightly, soaking it as he explored every corner of her pussy.

He wrapped his arms around Jenny and then rolled onto his back, swinging her up. She leaned back and moaned as she rode his cock, moving back and forth and up and down, trying to find some area of her pussy that his manhood had not yet probed. She had a thin film of sweat, which caught the light of the street lamp outside and almost made her glow.

He ran his hand up and down her chest, relishing the feel of her body. In his mind, his hormonal side was howling like a wolf, happy that it was now being fully released. Jenny leaned forward and gripped the headboard for support, and he reached up and began kissing her breasts, sucking on her nipples in pure joy. As she bounced up and down on his cock, Jenny’s body began to tremble and her moans became more and more shrill. She gripped his shoulders and gave a mix of a scream and moan as she had a gushing orgasm. He came moments after, sending thick streams of semen up inside her.

Jenny collapsed beside him, and for several minutes, they just stared at the ceiling as they tried to catch their breath. Once his body had calmed itself, Adrian sat up. “I should head home, my parents will be worried if it gets too late.”

As he got dressed, Jenny sat up and looked at him. “Thank you, Adrian. That meant a lot to me. Did you enjoy that? It seemed like it was good for you, but you are always so hard to read.”

Adrian finished buttoning his shirt and slowly turned to her. For the first time in years, he had a true smile on his face. It was not a wide ear-to-ear smile, but it was a warm one. Adrian was in a state of awareness that he had not felt before. He couldn’t tell which part of his segregated personality was currently dominant, but all he knew was that he felt… happy.

“Would you maybe like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

Jenny gained the same warm smile and gave a small sigh of relief. “That would be a dream come true.”

As Adrian opened the door, Jenny spoke up. “I love you, Adrian.”

He then turned to her, never losing his smile. “Tch, how illogical.”

Adrian walked out of her bedroom and left her house. Halfway from the door to his car, he looked up at Jenny’s bedroom window. She was standing at the window with a blanket wrapped around her. She blew him a kiss and Adrian winked at her in reply before climbing back into his car and driving away, happy for the first time in eight years.

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