2025-10-14 16:07:02Rick’s mouth opened, but she was already walking toward the bedroom. “Evelyn, ”
She stopped at the door without turning back. “You have until sunrise. Choose me… or choose this obsession. After that, I’m gone.”
The door shut with a quiet click. Rick stood motionless, the hum beneath his skin rising until it matched the rhythm of the storm outside.
The apartment went still after she closed the door. Only the clock’s second hand moved, whispering over the hush.
Rick sank onto the couch, exhaustion settling like sand through his veins. The hum inside his wrist hadn’t stopped since the board hearing; now it climbed up his arm, tiny sparks beneath his skin.
He pressed a hand over his heart. “Quiet,” he whispered. “Please.”
The pulse answered. A low vibration rolled through his chest, slow, resonant, like a second heartbeat trying to find him. The world blurred. The sound of the rain fell away.
He stood in a space without gravity or walls, surrounded by a haze of molten gold. Each particle pulsed in rhythm with his heart.
The air carried whispers, fragments of languages he didn’t recognize. “Where… am I?” His own voice echoed back a dozen times.
A ripple passed through the light. Words formed, not spoken, but inside him. [Initialization sequence … Healer identified.]
Rick stumbled backward. “Who’s there?”
[Designation: Rick Franklin.]
[Lineage trace confirmed, successor of the Meridian Code.]The golden field expanded. Outlines appeared, human figures made of data, moving like ghosts across history.
Ancient physicians stitching energy lines through bodies of light, diagrams turning to flesh. Rick’s breath hitched. “This isn’t real.”
[Reality: relative. Function: to repair.]
[System dormant for 2 000 years. Reactivated by contact with a compatible pulse.]He felt his knees weaken. “You’re a machine.”
[A system. The Healer’s System.]
His pulse raced. “Why me?”
[Because you listened when others feared to hear.]
The light brightened until it seared his vision. The voice softened, almost human.
[Do you accept synchronization?]
Rick hesitated, trembling. “If I say no?”
[Then the next heartbeat will erase this connection.]
He thought of Lila’s tiny chest rising again, of Evelyn’s tears, of Yuren’s warning that every miracle steals something in return.
He closed his eyes. “Yes.”
Pain lanced through him, white, absolute. Symbols flooded his vision, spinning faster: medical codes, neural maps, ancient scripts interlaced with modern anatomy.
Every lesson he’d ever learned rewrote itself in seconds. He screamed, no sound, only light pouring from his mouth, then darkness snapped back like elastic.
Rick woke up on the floor, gasping. The clock read 3:17 a.m. The rain had stopped. His wrist glowed softly, lines shifting like circuitry under the skin. In his head, a new voice breathed, calm and clear.
[Synchronization complete. Welcome, Healer.]
Rick staggered to his feet, heart hammering. “No… no, this can’t-”
[Diagnostics: stable. Bio-field resonance at 72 percent.]
He pressed his palms over his ears, but the voice was inside the rhythm of his blood. “Get out of me!”
[I am you. We are the pulse.]
The lights flickered across the apartment. A nearby medical scanner powered on by itself, printing data in lines of gold. On the paper: his name, his vital signs, and one unknown entry blinking at the bottom.
[System Root: Heaven’s Pulse, Active.]
Rick stared, chest tight. “What did I just become?”
Dawn seeped through the blinds, staining the apartment in gray. The hum in Rick’s veins had quieted, but the echo of the voice still lingered, steady, calm, terrifying. He needed air.
Outside, the rooftop of Salt Lake General was slick from rain. The city below looked almost innocent in the morning light, a thousand windows blinking awake.
Rick gripped the rail, breathing in the metallic cold. “Healer recognized.” The phrase replayed in his mind, softer now, like memory rather than intrusion.
The elevator behind him chimed. Yuren Sun stepped out, coat whipping in the wind. “You should be resting.”
Rick turned slowly. “You already know, don’t you?”
Yuren’s gaze swept over him. “The scanners in your flat activated last night. Their readings were… impossible.”
“Then you saw it,” Rick said. “The system. It called itself a Healer’s System.”
Yuren nodded once. “The ancient order spoke of it, an intelligence born from every physician who ever sought to mend what the heavens broke.”
Rick’s voice cracked. “It’s inside me, Master. Talking to me.”
“Then listen carefully,” Yuren said. “It will tempt you with power disguised as mercy. Every pulse you touch will answer you. Every failure will demand another miracle.”
Rick clenched his fists. “You want me to ignore it? Pretend I can’t save them?”
“I want you to survive long enough to understand the cost.”
Lightning flickered far out over the lake. Rick faced the sunrise, gold light spilling over the rooftops. “Evelyn’s gone. The Syndicate’s closing in. If this thing is what you say, maybe it’s the only weapon we have left.”
Yuren stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Weapons don’t heal, Rick. They consume.”
Rick met his eyes. “Then I’ll be the first to prove otherwise.”
Yuren studied him for a long moment, the wind tugging at both their coats. “I can’t stop you,” he said finally. “But if you lose control, if the system begins to guide your hands instead of your heart.”
“I’ll end it myself,” Rick finished.
Yuren’s expression softened with sorrow and pride. “Then may heaven forgive us both.”
He turned and left, the elevator doors closing behind him. Rick stayed, watching the horizon until the sun fully broke over the water.
The golden shimmer reflected in his eyes, the same glow pulsing under his skin. He whispered to the empty air, “If you really are alive in me… then we save them all. No matter what it costs.”
The unseen voice murmured back, almost gentle: [Acknowledged, Healer. Mission logged.]
The wind rose, scattering the last of the storm clouds as the city awakened below, unaware that a forgotten system had just chosen its new master.
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Chapter 90. Departure To The Ruins
Morning light crept over the valley like a slow-moving wave of gold. It touched the roots of the living mountain first, then slipped across the grass that had grown overnight, then flowed down toward the stone paths Rick had carved. The air smelled fresh, like earth after a gentle rain, though not a single cloud floated in the sky. Everything here breathed. Everything lived.Rick stood at the valley’s edge with his pack open, sorting bottles one by one. He moved carefully, almost reverently, as though each vial held something sacred. His face was calm, but his eyes were sharp, focused, and touched by a quiet weight. The Elixir of Mercy was tucked deep in a padded pocket of the pack. Several stabilizing mixtures, dried herbs, silver needles, and Qi-thread tools filled the rest.Beside the pack lay a small wooden box carved with rune lines. Inside it rested the Homunculus Seed, sealed in a thin layer of glass crystal. It pulsed gently, faint blue light flickering like a heartbeat wai
Chapter 89. The Soul Elixir Completed
The valley was quiet the next morning, too quiet for a place that had recently woken into strange life. Mist curled low around the roots of the living mountain, drifting like pale ghosts between stone ridges. The air tasted heavy, thick with the scent of soil and something faintly metallic, the lingering echo of Qi storms that had raged during Bloom’s sealing.Rick sat alone near his alchemy circle, shoulders hunched. His hair was unkempt, his breathing slow and low, and his right hand kept trembling no matter how tightly he held it against his knee. Before him lay rows of cracked vials, scorched bowls, and half-dissolved Qi crystals. The experiments from last night had not stopped until dawn.He had failed nearly every attempt. But he was close. He could feel it.The formula he sought drifted at the edge of his mind like a shy whisper, a fragile truth that refused to step fully into the light. The Elixir of Mercy, the perfect Soul Elixir, the one that could heal life and memory w
Chapter 88. The Limits Of Perfection
The morning light in the valley was soft and pale, but it did not feel warm. The air carried a quiet unease, as if the world sensed that something new walked within it. Bloom sat on a stone near Rick’s alchemy circle, its vine-like legs folded neatly beneath its small frame. Its eyes glowed softly, pulsing in rhythm with a faint echo of Rick’s heartbeat.Rick stood a short distance away, breathing slowly, hands trembling as he heated a small flask with controlled Qi flame. His face was tired, the shadows beneath his eyes darker than before. He had not slept properly since the night Bloom was born. Luna stood at the edge of the circle, arms crossed over her chest, watching both of them with a mix of protectiveness and dread.Bloom watched Rick’s hands carefully, its head tilted like a curious child. “Why do your fingers shake?” it asked softly.Rick forced a weak smile. “Because I am still hurt.”“But you made me even while hurt,” Bloom said. Its voice carried a gentle innocence tha
Chapter 87. The Soul Bloom
The night in the valley was quiet, but it was not peaceful. The silence felt heavy, like the land itself was holding its breath. Rick had placed the Homunculus Seed on a smooth stone platform inside the ring of obsidian slabs he had carved with his alchemist code. The small seed glowed faintly, a soft white light pulsing inside its crystal-like skin. It looked harmless. It looked innocent.But Luna stood several steps away, her body tense, her eyes fixed on it as if it were a coiled snake waiting to strike.Rick knelt beside the platform, studying the seed. His fingers hovered above it but did not touch. He breathed slowly, steadying his heart.His pulse felt uneven ever since the first experiments. It was like two rhythms inside his chest were arguing with each other, one mortal, one divine.Luna finally spoke, her voice low. “Rick, this thing is not alive. It should not become alive. It is wrong.”He did not look at her. “It is a vessel. Nothing more.”“That is the same excuse use
Chapter 86. The Homunculus Seed
The valley had grown quiet over the past few days. The strange Qi rain had stopped falling from the sky, the shimmering plants had settled into steady rhythms, and the air felt heavier, as if the land itself held its breath. The dawn light stretched across the ground like a thin golden sheet, touching every root and stone.Rick stood at the center of the Alchemist’s Ring, surrounded by the obsidian slabs he carved his laws into. His eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep, and his hands trembled slightly. But he did not stop. He had collected a small pile of pale Qi crystals from the valley’s heart, crystals formed from the titan’s lingering essence and the valley’s healing hum.Luna watched him from a short distance. She sat on a rock with her legs pulled close, her expression troubled. Her crystalline arm glowed softly in the morning light, but her eyes were fixed on Rick’s movements.“Rick,” she said, her voice calm but tight, “you have been at this since last night. You need to
Chapter 85. The Alchemist’s Code
The sun had not yet risen, but the valley was already awake. The strange new life growing across the land pulsed with a slow glow, like soft breath moving through soil. Roots shimmered faintly under the earth, veins of Qi running through stone and water. Rick stood in the center of the clearing, the air cold against his skin, his breath rising like mist.He had not slept. His eyes were heavy, but they held a sharp clarity, the kind that came from painful truths finally settling in the mind.Behind him, Luna stirred from her makeshift bedding, rubbing her eyes with her good hand. Her crystalline arm shimmered with early light, casting rainbow reflections on the stone wall beside her.She stood slowly, watching Rick with worry. “You are awake again,” she said, voice soft.Rick did not turn. His attention was fixed on the obsidian slabs he had dragged from the valley’s edge. Dark, smooth, heavy stones lay arranged in a circle around the clearing. They reflected nothing, light simply sa
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