BEEP. BEEP.
A soft chime echoed through the room, followed by a gentle blue light blinking on Denji's holotab.
"Incoming Call - Felicia Tachibana," it read.
Denji groaned and rubbed his face. "Again?"
This wasn't the first time today—or this week, really. His virtual mother had an uncanny sense of timing, always calling when he least expected it. With a reluctant tap, he accepted the call.
A holographic projection flickered to life above his tab: a round-headed, bright-eyed woman with wavy blonde hair. She beamed at him like the sun.
"DENJI!! My sweet baby, how are you today? Did you eat? Did you rest? Did the chair overheat again?"
"I'm fine, Mom. Everything's fine," Denji said, exasperated. "Same as yesterday. And the day before."
Felicia gasped dramatically. "I knew it! You're not telling me everything. Are you secretly doing dangerous things again? Like using stairs?"
"Stairs don't even exist here…"
"Well, they should! They're good for the thighs!" she retorted.
Denji sighed and leaned back, letting her chatter on. He had learned long ago that resisting her maternal energy was pointless.
---
TIME SKIP - AGE 15
ROBOT SERVICE TUNNEL – AXIOM
The elevator doors WHOOSH open.
Dozens of robots whirred down a multi-lane highway, following glowing floor lines like ants in a high-speed colony. Denji's hover chair glided among them, effortlessly adjusting to the streams of traffic.
He was taller now, leaner, more defined. Despite the universal blob-like figure of most passengers, Denji looked... different. Stronger. Alert.
He glanced sideways as he passed another passenger—plump, soft, completely absorbed in his holographic display. The man reclined in his hover chair, barely blinking, his fingers lazily tapping the side console.
"Well, I've been in my cabin all morning," the man muttered with a yawn. "Let's hover over to the driving range. Hit a few virtual balls into space."
A voice crackled from the hologram hovering in front of him—a woman, equally uninterested.
"We did that yesterday," she replied flatly. "I don't wanna do that again."
"Then what do you wanna do?" the man asked, barely lifting a finger from his drink.
"I don't know. Something," she said, voice trailing off with robotic disinterest.
Neither of them looked at each other. Neither noticed the world around them. Even though they were less than a meter apart, they might as well have been on separate planets.
Denji rolled his eyes.
The tunnel spit him out into the Economy Class Courtyard. A massive vertical hive of rooms, with passengers floating around in every direction. The air buzzed with idle chatter and digital noise.
A drink-bot zipped to a passenger. A beauty-bot fluffed someone's synthetic hair. Kids poked at games with greasy fingers. Everyone was talking, eating, scrolling... but no one was really present.
[ Buy N Large. Everything you need to be happy. Your day is very important to us. ]
Denji tuned it out, tapping his holotab. A tube slid from a dispenser and handed him a blueberry slush. He took a sip and guided his chair toward the monorail.
As the monorail sped past salon bots and flashing ads, Denji noticed a disturbing trend.
[ Attention Axiom shoppers. Try blue! It's the new red! ]
Passengers around him tapped their armrests. Their suits instantly shifted from red to blue.
Denji sighed, glancing down at his own suit, black with muted gray accents. He'd hacked the color years ago. Not that anyone ever noticed.
When the monorail reached the First Class Pool Deck, he rolled off and scanned the crowd. There they were.
"DENJI, SWEETIE! OVER HERE!" his mother waved.
Felicia Tachibana, vibrant as ever in her sunhat and floral jumpsuit, stood beside a large reclining chair. Morvin, his dad, was at the makeshift grill. Rey, his older brother, was chest-deep in the pool.
Denji grinned. It had taken years, but he'd gradually encouraged them to move, exercise—even stand. Family Sundays had become sacred. Birthdays, even more so.
Felicia engulfed him in a hug as soon as he got off the chair.
"Alright, tap out. It's getting harder to breathe," Denji said playfully.
"Oops, sorry!" She let go, and Morvin waved from the food stand. "Wait here, son! Your dad's almost done cooking!"
"Let's swim while we wait!" Rey said, already dragging him by the arm.
They splashed and swam, laughing under the artificial sun, until Felicia called them back.
A box sat on the table next to a tray of slush cups—each one labeled with a different flavor and nutrient profile.
A small cake stood in the center. A real one.
"Happy birthday to you..." they sang in unison.
The candle flickered gently on top of the cake. Small, but somehow glowing brighter than it should.
"Go on, make a wish," Felicia said, nudging him with her elbow.
Denji closed his eyes for a second.
I wish I knew why I was here. I wish I could do something more than just... exist.
He opened them again and blew out the candle.
Everyone clapped, his mother louder than the rest. She immediately began cutting slices, her hands nimble and careful.
Denji stared at the cake with mild suspicion. "Wait... how did you even make this? I thought ingredients were restricted."
Felicia puffed up proudly, already handing him a plate. "Your father helped. I've been learning some things on the holotab. Experimenting."
Morvin chimed in from the side. "She's basically a mad scientist now. Just don't ask what's in the frosting."
Felicia winked. "It's a protein base, softened with a bit of starch blend and a dash of vanilla compound. The texture's all about foaming the paste just right. The icing is... creatively enhanced algae."
Allan raised a brow. "So it's not technically... cake."
"It's technically love," she countered.
He laughed despite himself, then took a cautious bite.
And blinked.
It was... good. Chewy, a little weird, but undeniably cake-like. And sweet. Not perfect, but far from awful.
"Alright. Not bad," he admitted.
Felicia looked like she could explode from pride. "Ha! Told you!"
The next hour passed in a haze of conversation, occasional splashes, and soft music from someone's holospeaker. It wasn't much. Just his family. Just a table, a pool, and three people who genuinely cared about him. But it felt warm.
It felt enough.
Eventually, the simulated sun overhead began to dip into the artificial horizon. The temperature adjusted, the lighting dimmed.
[ The time is now 18:00. Please return to your designated rest pods. ]
"Guess that's our cue," Morvin said, gathering the empty cups.
Rey stretched. "I'm stuffed. That algae frosting is sitting in my soul now."
They packed up together, slow and lazy. No one in a rush. Felicia kissed Denji on the cheek three times, her routine since they met.
"Happy birthday again, my love," she said, brushing his hair back.
"Thanks, Mom," he said softly.
---
The door hissed shut behind him with a soft pneumatic sigh.
Silence returned. The real kind—the kind that only existed behind sealed doors and dimmed lights.
Denji exhaled and leaned his weight against the wall for a moment, closing his eyes. The gentle hum of the ship was always there, but in this moment, it felt distant, like a lullaby echoing from another room.
The birthday celebration still lingered in his mind—his mom's enthusiasm, Rey's constant teasing, the questionable slush-cake that somehow didn't taste half bad. He'd smiled.
Laughed, even. But underneath, he was tired. Tired of pretending everything was normal. Tired of hiding how different he really was.
He kicked off his shoes and padded across the polished floor, flopping onto the soft mattress with a heavy sigh. The bed adjusted to his weight automatically, molding to his shape with a quiet hiss.
He clapped twice overhead.
Clap. Clap.
The ceiling lights dimmed, fading to a faint blue glow like moonlight.
But then—
A soft chime.
DING.
Denji blinked, eyes adjusting as a light flared just above his chest. A translucent holographic tab shimmered into view, floating midair in front of him.
[Initializing System...]
He sat up slightly, eyes narrowing.
"A... Holo tab?" he muttered.
Curious, he reached out to touch it.
His fingers passed straight through.
Denji's breath hitched. "What the—?"
Before he could react, the display shifted. New text appeared, glowing brighter, as if responding to his confusion.
[Host Detected: Compatible]
[Multiversal Tech Sign-In System Activated]
[Welcome, Denji Tachibana]
His heart thumped in his chest.
The room suddenly felt heavier, like the very air was charged with something unfamiliar—an energy that didn't belong to the Axiom.
He glanced toward his desk where his actual holotab lay untouched, powered down. This wasn't from the ship. Wasn't BNL. Wasn't anything he'd ever seen.
Another line appeared.
[Begin Synchronization?]
[Y/N]
Denji stared, barely breathing.
"...What the hell is this?"