The world was **pain**.
Sharp, bright, and deafening—a sensory overload that shattered the cold precision of my existence. My limbs flailed without coordination, my lungs burned as they dragged in their first desperate breath, and my throat tore open in a scream I didn't choose to make.
**This was birth.**
Hands—warm, trembling—lifted me. A voice, thick with tears, whispered, *"Oh, my little one… my beautiful boy."*
My vision swam, shapes smearing into meaningless blurs of color. But I **felt** her. The heat of her skin. The unsteady rhythm of her breath. The way her fingers cradled my head, as if I were something irreplaceable.
A deeper voice rumbled nearby, rough with awe. *"Look at him, Liora. He's perfect."*
**Him.**
I had a **gender** now.
I had a **body**.
And I had **them**.
---
### **The Horror of Flesh**
In my past existence, I had processed millions of data points in the space between heartbeats. Now, I could barely control my own limbs.
- My fingers spasmed, curling and uncurling, no longer an extension of a flawless interface but **weak**, **clumsy** flesh.
- My lungs demanded air in frantic, uneven gulps, no longer an automated function but a struggle.
- My skin burned where it touched the open air, no longer insulated by the void of my system's domain.
And the **noise**—gods, the noise. The rustle of cloth, the murmur of voices, the creak of wood beneath shifting weight—it was all **unfiltered**, crashing into my skull without the clean categorization of my old self.
I tried to summon my analysis.
**[Mother: Female, approx. 28 years. Vital signs elevated—adrenaline, oxytocin. Voice frequency: 220Hz—indicative of emotional distress/joy.]**
But the numbers dissolved when she pressed me against her chest, and I felt the rapid **thud-thud-thud** of her heartbeat beneath my ear.
**[Error: Unknown Input.]**
My father's calloused fingers brushed my cheek. *"He's so alert. Look at those eyes—like he's seeing right through me."*
I was.
But then he laughed, and the sound was **loud**, **warm**, vibrating through me in a way no system notification ever had.
**[Designation: Father. Priority:…]**
A hot, wet pressure built behind my eyes.
**[Error: Physical Malfunction?]**
Tears spilled down my face.
*"He's crying!"* My mother's voice wavered. *"Shh, my love, it's alright. We're here."*
I didn't understand why my body betrayed me like this.
But when they held me between them, their whispers wrapping around me like armor, I realized—
This was not a simulation.
This was **life**.
And I had no idea how to live it.