X.Borg

So you've finally come out of hiding, Rooney. It's a shame we had to burn your precious laboratory to get you here.

Oh, that's right, you're tied up and you can't talk. It doesn't matter, you don't need to talk. I've heard enough of your lies. Today you listen.

Don't give me that look. You know very well who I am! It's X.Borg! How could you forget this name? Oh, today I am also called the Eruditio Nightmare, a monster that is neither a man nor a ghost. A being cursed by fire. Some even call me the Child of Disaster...

Why do you always have this incredulous look? Are you forgetting your old days? So let me refresh your memory.

The story begins with this scar on my forehead. While my brother and I were working in the mine, a stone came loose and almost hit my brother. I got this scar when I used my head to protect him. Why my head? Well, if any other part of our body was affected and disabled, we wouldn't be able to work!

I'm sure you're wondering what all this has to do with you, right? What a stupid question. This energy tower used to mine the mountain was built on your orders, correct?

Your great Eruditio built this tower in our city, but none of us knew what it was. After all, we were just happy to have work.

You could say that my fate was my fault, that I should have known the risks of the job when I signed up. But if you came from a poor town like me, you might see how precious the things you take for granted are to us. Maybe, just maybe, working in this mine could help my family move to Eruditio. For a poor child like me, it was a unique opportunity.

But who would have thought that you, who gave us so much hope, cared so little for the lives of so many people, including children like me. You, great scholars, viewed us as tools and looked the other way when it came to your research. You knew what you were exploiting, but you didn't care.

First, people who came into contact with the ore began to fall ill one after another. I tried to ignore it, but then I passed out and fell into the liquid agent we were operating with. The pain... It felt like every inch of my skin was burning from underneath. Can you imagine what I went through? Of course you can, you are the Eruditio prodigy!

Funny enough, I finally managed to access Eruditio, but as a lab rat. They operated on me and transformed me into what I am now. At that moment, I remember your voice screaming frantically, like a little insect buzzing in my ear. You must have been afraid that they would ruin your precious science experiment, right? After the pain finally went away, you personally came and told me that I was the first successful case, that I was “the one.” I had merged with the power of the ore and survived. Boy, you really had a way with words. You convinced me that, as an elected official, I should stay at Eruditio and continue to help you in your research. And in exchange, you would take care of my family and my city.

And I believed it... I really believed it. The scar on my head, the burning pain, the surgery, and being separated from my family... it was all worth being the one. I really thought I was going to make a name for myself, that I would be part of a great future. After all, a few months ago I was just a poor kid who worried about food and clothes, but now I had a mission! I was the chosen one!

You have no right to judge me. You were born with a silver spoon, a citizen of Eruditio with the riches of the world before you. Do you even know what hunger feels like?

Later, when I finally returned to my hometown, can you guess what I found? This damn mineral, which poisons the earth and torments my people. Those who could leave had already left. Those who couldn't simply accepted their fate. They asked me where I had been all these years and I told them. I was with the monsters who did this to them.

All these... eyes filled with anguish... staring at me... their hatred... consuming me... LEAVE! Ugh, my head. No wait, those were all illusions... just illusions...

There was no one there to look at me, Rooney. Each of them has already been buried to pave the way for your research.

So I set the whole thing on fire. The fire lasted three days and three nights. It was the only thing I could give them. I have burned your sins and cleansed my house.

Then I came to the Eruditio with a gift for you all. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Eruditio. I don't even hate you. After all, it was thanks to you that I finally understood that this so-called wonderful future had no place for me. But I found my own purpose.

You see, the world is a cruel place. And fire is my gift to this cruel world. Is there anything more appropriate?

Eh? What is this? Let me guess, you mean to tell me that the people at Eruditio are innocent? You should know that in this world, bad things happen to good people, and worse things happen to worse people.

As your laboratory caught fire, I was born again. The place where you planned to change the world is now a pile of ashes. HAHAHAHA!

Shut up, Rooney! Stop ringing my ear! It's too late for your lies. Look, it's already dawn.