Prologue: THANK GOD FOR DRUGS.

  “A Warrior is somebody who lives and dies in the pursuit of honor.”

  August 28th, 1994.

  Fire burned in the midst of corpse after corpse.

  But to me, I've always found this in different variations.

  Whether it be broken families.

  Gang affiliated ones.

  Or people led down to suicidal ideals or drugs.

  All reminding myself of life's true impact despite drugs, sex, and purpose.

  Grief.

  United in grief.

  Yet for nothing at all.

  As the flames should've died in the snow… they didn't.

  They never stopped from their scientific limits.

  It's echo dark and twisted, human and elven corpses burning like scarecrows.

  Everybody's death looks so innocent from my drunken heart.

  Glancing downwards at the wounds on myself.

  Emitting red like a Christmas ribbon.

  A scary color to look at for too long.

  While the world around me feels like I could see everything and nothing at the same time.

  Reaching out to the skies like a poor boy.

  Feeling like absolute hell to hold a position of grace.

  My hands streaked with red too.

  Hands with an epiphany of good and evil.

  Hands of the Ampersand.

  Not just human-bound perspectives.

  While the black hole floated.

  Standing.

  Vibrating in frequencies unknown to mankind.

  Deathly silence filling the air besides my footsteps against hail.

  As I look behind, I see death come for others.

  Buildings.

  People.

  Life itself tossed in the garbage.

  The most common things I've heard in life, knowing the tragedy of this hellish place.

  Above, I see the whole god damn solar system collapse.

  My trembling body in the cold, reminiscent of a boy pissing his pants.

  At least he'd be warm…

  While I prepped my hands to summon a parting gift to myself.

  A chair.

  A chair to watch the world end.

  Hated standing on bodies anyways.

  So, I sat on the chair like a kid.

  Watching.

  Listening.

  Peering into the damnation of my life.

  Asking myself while watching hell incarnate collapse this world into nothing but a meaningless speck.

  “Is this what you wanted, MAYBE MAN?

  Was it worth the risk of killing thousands by your hand?

  Did you want to prove your worth by killing everything?

  Did you want to damn your entire earth all because you got tortured on your 11th birthday?”

  Just shut the fuck up and listen, everybody's got a sob story you piece of shit.

  Maybe that's why you deserve this…

  …

  The date read August 28th, 1983.

  An Artificial Intelligence turned assassin fucking up his life for bliss.

  That is Samuel.

  The man responsible for Link II.

  A clanker given life.

  He sat around a local park bench, stinking like an ozone of motor oil.

  Wood creaked underneath his weight.

  Everyone around Samuel sat in their own sorrow.

  Blunts burning

  Drinks spilling.

  The air full of smoke, smelling like beef jerky and tobacco.

  His own artificial face hiding the motors running.

  Generating the face of a human that nobody knew.

  Remembering the past disguises he wore.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Embarrassed by his past, he nursed the blunt from the hole in his throat.

  Feeling the weed enter his body though his metal frame.

  Tasting disgusting.

  Wishing that he never achieved this life through immoral means.

  His digital face betrayed human eyes.

  It looked like he was inhaling it with lips.

  While his eyes were unrealistic and animated to show emotion that was never there.

  …continuing to sit in regret, every opportunity came to mind when trying to stop this “habit.”

  He looked back down to the table.

  Seeing the blunt ablaze, flying particles into the air.

  Smoke spoke to him in a sense of comfort and temptation.

  Almost like it was speaking to him.

  “You should trust me, I don't blame you for wanting to be free…

  you've been such a good person, Samuel.

  I mean, look at how much you've accomplished, Samuel.

  You deserve this, Samuel.”

  “Smoke me, Samuel. And all your flaws will go away.”

  Samuel immediately reached out towards it, smoking it to ignore the doubts in his mind.

  After that one blunt, each moment became a blur of decisions.

  Seeing blurs of motion.

  Arms flailing in the air.

  Death blurred into his life.

  Gunshots and technology tended to wounds and broken limbs.

  Only remembering the disguise as Samuel, his smoking problem.

  Knowing that he would never be allowed to come back home due to his imperfections.

  As he sat in thought, time seemed to freeze in motion.

  People froze.

  The junkies halted mid-conversation.

  The smoke from the blunt hung motionless in the air, like an acrobat performance.

  Samuel noticed these strange occurrences, immediately trying to wake everyone around him.

  Waving his hand towards them, touching their shoulders to feel for a pulse.

  Anything to make sure he wasn't losing his mind.

  Panic set in, thinking he died from overdosing on weed.

  Forgetting how much weed he smoked in those endless hours of smoking.

  Patting his body in fear, sighing in relief when he felt his own pulse, still unnerved by everybody's frozen state.

  Walking away, speaking to himself.

  “Maybe its just me hallucinating, right? I mean, people could only stop moving if-”

  Then he felt it, something around him fade into darkness, something twisted and divine yet cursed by hellish fire.

  Watching the sky, seeing a fiery orb hurtling toward Earth, a fireball with less innocence and more anger.

  In the middle of Compton Towne Center, the orb descended towards it while Samuel stood in shock from afar.

  As the fiery orb approached, he could hear faint drums—synths, resembling a theme song—slow-paced, unrelenting, aggressive.

  Sounding almost like a demon in plain sight.

  To Samuel, it felt like the theme song of resurrection.

  With each second Samuel remained motionless, the fiery orb drew nearer.

  He ran towards it, wanting to try and be a savior for a town that didn't matter to him.

  But wanted the people to be safe, despite what his overall thoughts were of humanity.

  Finding himself face to face with it right before it crashed.

  In its glow, he saw a reflection of himself—burning alive, flames engulfing him, arms flailing as he burned alive.

  His screams silenced by the crushing weight of the orb, falling onto his metal body.

  Crushed between dirt and grass—burning and crushing his body to atoms.

  The last thing visible from the reflection being his arm reaching out towards nobody but the sign of Compton, California.

  Just as he was pushed back abruptly as a door swung open forwards, slamming him into the nearest tree with a loud thump.

  Stepping out was a being of light, their voice powerful and resonant.

  “Hm. Thought I would see more from a world I hate.”

  They noticed Samuel’s posture, the silent determination within him, they walked towards him eagerly, knowing he was the right person for what they required .

  “Ahh, yes, you there? Hello!”

  Samuel's eyes opened to the light, confused as to who was speaking, raising his hand to block away the heavy light from his eyes.

  His voice hesitant to speak.

  “You mean me? ”

  “Yes, Samuel—You will take care of my child. You seem like the right fit.

  A broken, injured, AI.

  Healing one of the most powerful beings of all time.

  You seem perfect for raising a demigod.”

  Samuel got up in shock, objecting.

  “Hey! LISTEN HERE! I'm not gonna raise some random infant because you-”

  Before he could finish, they had grabbed him by the throat.

  The light around them dimmed, revealing a woman's silhouette, her straight posture, the hatred filled eyes gazing on Samuel.

  But he could faintly sense the pain hidden on her face.

  Something that reminded Samuel of himself.

  “Don’t get me started on brats…”

  She said, glancing at his Walmart tag, which read, “Hi! My Name Is Samuel!”

  “Samuel. You're gonna raise my child, whether you like it or not.”

  Peering back at her child, who was waking up in the basket she had in her other arm.

  Its eyes barely visible from Samuel’s perspective.

  She tossed Samuel towards the tree, ignoring him and focusing on her child.

  While Samuel hit the tree again, his back throbbing with pain by the time he landed onto the floor.

  His hands turning into fists, ready to run towards this being he felt anger towards.

  Just as he leaned on his arm while getting up, he saw her pain filled face.

  Tears welling up in her eyes.

  Her fingers trembled as she drifted on her newborn's face.

  Seeing this lady pulling the baby into her arms, he saw the baby's smile—the smile that radiated undeniable hope.

  She began to cry, mumbling in a high-pitched, muddy voice, “You are all I have, buddy… you're my reason for living… I don't want to give you up but I have to… it's just for your safety Link…”

  Her child continued to smile and giggle, sensing the energy of his mother.

  Samuel began to connect the dots, the pain in her eyes, the trembling hands…

  She was giving him away to Samuel because something had happened, and she wanted her child to be safe.

  Or so he assumed.

  His emotions finally calming, he responded.

  “Fine. Could I at least ask questions about the kid?”

  Seeing his expression, the lady lowered her eyebrows and softened her demeanor, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  “Fine. You may ask three questions before I have to leave,” -she replied, glancing around, sensing something was wrong.

  Samuel began, asking questions rapidly.

  “One, what the hell are you? I mean, you have a beam of light on you, and your child-”

  Before being interrupted by her.

  “Yes, I am a being of light… a goddess, to say the least—perhaps the most powerful being in this time, maybe even of all time.

  This is my son, Link II, named after his father…”

  She pulled up the basket that held her sleeping child, along with documents and baby formula besides the sleeping baby.

  “My name is—My name doesn’t matter, okay? All you need to know is that this child is the answer to everything. His father is dead, and you are the right person to raise him. It doesn’t matter if there are others that could do a potentially better job.”

  She spoke, handing the basket to Samuel while dashing back toward the fiery orb.

  Yelling her last answer:

  “You'll find your answers within time!”

  As she began to ascend upwards, turning away and flying back into space.

  The light blasting him as everything around him was engulfed in a blinding flash.

  And when it faded, he found himself in a new house, a suburban part of Compton.

  Opening the door and stepping outside, Samuel noticed how this part of the city looked safe enough to raise a child.

  Seeing neighbors interacting with each other as they walked, the almost peaceful feeling of it.

  Like the goddess had chosen a better neighborhood without even knowing what Compton was nor its past.

  Peering at the sign on his lawn, reading “Sold!”

  While staring at it in surprise, he felt movement in his pocket.

  Reaching into it, grabbing what seemed to be a small note left by the goddess.

  Unwrapping the small paper lead to a huge note, which read:

  “Hey, Samuel. I bought the house for you and my baby boy. I hope it didn't confuse you, but here are some extra notes.

  He won't require food for the firstborn years of his life, but he can eat if you feel uncomfortable starving a baby, he doesn't mind food anyways…

  And your expenses like the house and everything inside it are covered, just make sure he has the best life possible.

  But don't forget to treat Link II like a human rather than a demigod, okay?

  Have him work, have him learn normal human life before he finds out about his godly morality.

  Make him do chores to be humble and prepared for regular life.

  Secondly, keep his existence a secret. Make sure nobody finds out about him.

  Keep him away from schools, homeschool him even.

  Also, you will get a check of about 1 million each month to cover the expenses of food, gas, and whatever you need to take care of my child.

  Lastly, the reason I paused time was that I didn't want people to discover that he or I exists. It would cause even more tragedy in the world to find out that gods exist… okay?

  And furthermore, the reason I gave you my child was that… I needed somebody lost without purpose, a suicidal person.

  So I gave him to you to give you purpose, even if you never wanted to take care of a child like him.

  Because my child will give hope to everybody, even if he suffers, he will always protect them over himself.

  Tell my boy I love him, and thank you, Samuel…

  Even if I seem like a deadbeat parent, I never wanted to lose him… but I had to, for the sake of something you'll find out in time.”

  —Adriana