- Setting: futuristic world where the planet depends on a sentient god-like ball of energy to provide… energy for the planet to survive. It can be considered as the ‘heart’/’core’ of the planet.
- Monsters roam the planet to feed on morsels of energy leaked by the heart. Their origins are unknown (or are they not?!)
- Protagonist (let’s call him… Severin :)) once lost his heart in an accident with the monsters.
- Severin was saved when doctors extracted a core of energy from the sentient planet-heart and replaced his heart with it. He was chosen as the first group of patients to receive this experimental method of survival – provided that the sentient planet-heart allowed for it.
- A ritual was conducted with the sentient planet-heart – it would decide who in that group of patients it deemed worthy to live and keep its energy forever. If not, it would incinerate the patient’s heart and retrieve its energy.
- On the day of the ritual, Severin watched as all the friends he made in the ward collapse one by one. He is filled with resentment towards the sentient planet-heart, that he has to depend on that artificial thing to survive, and questions what makes it worthy to judge if a human should live or die.
- The sentient planet-heart sensed his thoughts and is amused. Severin nearly collapses, but refuses to yield his heart back – he has someone waiting for him back home. The sentient planet-heart is amused once more by his will and determination to defy it and live. It is intrigued by the human heart. Severin enters a mental struggle with it, and they make a deal.
- In condition for letting Severin keep his heart, he has to agree to let the sentient planet-heart take over his body for a period of time to do what it likes. It agrees to learn more about humans and the lives it provides for through the body of Severin.
- Thus Severin’s alternate ego is born – Sylus.
- Sylus is unhinged, a bit psychotic, lacks empathy, is problematic, but never oversteps his boundaries – he never severely hurts or harms another person, as agreed with Severin.
- In Severin’s body, Sylus begins to experience human emotions and starts feeling some form of attraction to this badass lady he met at a shady joint.
- In Severin’s body, Sylus’s main body is weakened for that period of time, and easily susceptible to threats as its barriers are lowered, and because of his carelessness and pride, a group of cultists/radicals break into area where Sylus’s main body is stored, and try to destroy it.
- Sylus senses the danger and tries to return, but is unable to and rushes to the scene himself, only to find that his main body was indeed destroyed. The government and organisations are in panic mode – their means of energy and survival is completely gone, and the planet will die within 10 years if no replacement is found. (or a century?)
- Sylus is furious, and very disoriented. He is the only source of energy left on the planet, weak and bound to a human body as a heart. He has no choice but to remain in Severin’s heart until he finds a replacement body or core. Angrily, he takes it out on Severin and attempts to wrestle complete control of his body and mind.
- Severin refuses, and they enter into a scuffle. Severin states that he’d rather die than let a emotionless ball of energy abuse his body, and rips the core right out his chest.
It was at that moment when Ren rounded the corner and saw Severin fall to his knees. Their eyes briefly met, before Severin collapsed to the ground, eyes still open, staring at nothing.
Ren rushed towards Severin and scooped him up in his arms, trying to take in what happened. The energy core heart lay on the ground, still sparking sadly.
No, no no… Ren cupped Severin’s unconscious face and brought it to his, but all he felt in return were a pair of cold lips, and soulless eyes looking back at him. Ren scrambled to pick the energy core off the ground and tried to shove it back into his chest, but it did not seem to be reacting. He needed to find a doctor. Or someone who could patch it back in an emergency. Yet it was in the middle of the night, in a park no one visited.
“You promised…” Ren sobbed. “You would not die before you found yourself a new heart. To never leave me alone again.” No matter how hard he hugged Severin’s lifeless body, he would not come back. Not a single beat could be heard from his chest, not a single breath could be felt from his mouth, it was just like that night a year ago. Just that instead of the rain beating down on his body, it was tears which fell in a steady stream down Ren’s face.
“…you lied again.”
Ah… what a fucking waste.
Sylus’s world returned to a floating mass of darkness and matter once more.
If it had to end like this, he would have liked to spend one last night sharing a cigarette with Red outside The Beady Bar. To have a whiff of her midnight perfume, or to caress the soft curls of her ever-changing coloured hair. He wondered if she ever did find out who the asshole was who broke into her flat the other night and stole her underwear. Or if she managed to make the payment for last month’s rent. Or if she was eating right. Or if mustered up the courage to give her sister a call.
To think that the last and only thing he could think of was her. Millions and millions of years of existence, and all he could think of was her.
“Severin, you fucking prick. Give me back my body.”
“Not in a million fucking years, asshole.”
There, floating right beside him, was Severin himself.
“I promised never to leave Ren alone. Look what you did.”
“I did nothing. You were the one who ripped out your own heart.”
Severin scoffed. “So I should just give you my body then?”
“Of course. I keep you alive. I have a right to claim it.”
“Bullshit. Without my body, you never would have met Red. You would have been stuck in that stupid ball, locked up behind layers and layers of protection with no interaction with the outside world except with those who want to use your energy.”
Sylus suddenly felt angry. “If you hadn’t made that deal with me, if you hadn’t let me meet Red, none of this would have happened. Your planet would still be surviving centuries from now, and I would have been content in that prison!”
“Quit sulking, you sound like Ren’s younger sister. You could have just left me alone with your energy core.”
Sylus could not argue back. He knew how childish he sounded, for an entity meant to be treated as a god by a planet. Now they were dying.
Note:
This sprung from a dream I had some nights ago! The context was literally just: Severin had an artifical heart granted to him by a giant sentient energy source which also happened to power a dying planet. I can’t lie this was partly inspired by Xavier’s myth from Love and Deepspace, and it somehow permeated my dream lol.
Fiction from the soul 