Infinitium

September 21st, 2019

Johnathan’s dream-fueled vision filled with message prompts.

Congratulations! You have reached level 2! You have been awarded 4 attribute points which may be distributed however you wish.

Congratulations! You have reached level 3! You have been awarded 4 attribute points which may be distributed however you wish.

WARNING you reached a new level without allocating your attribute points from a previous level. You now have 8 unspent attribute points. If you do not allocate your unspent attribute points within seven days, they will be randomly allocated for you.

Congratulations! You have reached level 4! You have been awarded 4 attribute points which may be distributed however you wish.

The prompts shattered as he heard his father’s voice calling to him. “Johnathan. Jonathan, wake up. Johnathan?”

Feeling that he was on the ground, Johnathan realized he must have passed out for a minute or two after his mom and dad showed him the car, his car! He opened his eyes to see his father’s face hovering over his and his mother’s face close behind. Smiling sheepishly, Johnathan said, “Yeah Dad, I’m here. How long was I out?”

“About two minutes, give or take. How are you feeling?” his dad asked

Putting a quirky smile on his face, he answered, “I feel fine, a little bit of a headache, but fine. I guess the surprise was a little too much for me?”

Standing up, Johnathan’s father reached down and helped Johnathan to his feet. As he grabbed his dad's hand and Johnathan was hauled to his feet, his dad said, “I doubt it, probably too much sun out there at the park. Get a big glass of water, head off to your room, and watch some cable or something, but definitely get some rest tonight.”

“Are you sure you’re, okay?” his mom asked as she stepped forward and brushed Johnathan off.

“Yes Mom, I’m fine. Dad’s probably right, I woke up early, We were all outside all day, and I probably just need to take it easy.” Looking into his mom’s eyes, then his dad’s, he gave them both a hug as he said, “Thank you for the car, it means so much, and I will come home and visit as often as I can.” Holding them both for about a minute, he released them and stepped back. As he turned away, he saw a tear in his mom’s eye which was really interesting because he had tears in his eyes too.

Wiping his eyes, he turned and headed out of the garage into the kitchen. He grabbed a big glass of water and headed to his room. Johnathan had intended to watch some TV, play a video game, or maybe even read a book, but none of that happened. As soon as he took his shoes off, sat down on his bed, leaned back, and let his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep and slept the rest of the night.

The next week he played with his new car, packed, and went to see his friends a couple more times, as their schedules would allow. Nothing eventful happened and everyone was both excited and bummed out, especially his tabletop Role-playing Games friends. He was their Game Master (GM), after all. His online gamer friends were also a little bummed, but not as much. They’d see him again online as soon as he set up his consoles and PC in his dorm room. Johnathan was staying in his own room in the dorms on campus on a full scholarship which included internet access. Maintaining a 4.0 Grade Point Average (G.P.A.). was easy with a mind like his.

Johnathan had been born with what the doctors called a “photographic memory.” If he saw or read something, he could always remember it. Also, if he needed the information his mind would automatically bring that knowledge to the forefront of his thoughts, so he didn’t have to think hard about anything he needed. This made school incredibly easy.

A couple of teachers thought he was cheating and tried to punish him. His parents had paid to have him clinically evaluated to fight those claims. The doctors’ findings had answered the question unequivocally that Johnathan didn’t need any help answering questions about information he’d heard, read, touched, tasted, or smelled. Additionally, the test showed that anything he studied and then focused his attention on with the intent to learn was done with little or no effort. Tasks that required muscle memory took a little more exertion, but he could learn any skill with very little effort.

Johnathan had also asked for and received special permission not to take notes. He didn’t need them, ever. His brain was an information sponge; he remembered everything. That ability had helped him learn every computer language he had access to by the time he was 14. He had also taken the time to learn to read and speak Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. He could probably learn every other language as well and probably would.

In addition to his mental acuity, His father had realized that Johnathan was special by the time he was 4. Knowing that martial arts were a good method for relieving stress as well as learning self-defense he enrolled Johnathan in Judo classes at the age of 6.

By the time Johnathan was 16, he had black belts in the seven most popular martial arts: Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Krav Maga, and Aikido. Additionally, he’d picked up the basics using just about every single martial arts weapon that existed. He wasn’t great with any of them, but he understood their form and function and could use all of them. He also knew the techniques to defend against them.

As for modern weapons, Johnathan had tried to stay away from guns, but his father had taken him to a range and he learned the correct way to dress down, clean, and reassemble most handguns, rifles, and shotguns. His dad didn’t own any guns, but he’d thought the information might come in handy so he’d taken Johnathan to the local shooting range. Johnathan was a good shot, but not in any way a marksman. He just knew his way around weapons and how to use them.

The Doctors who had assessed Johnathan weren’t sure if there would ever be an upper limit to the amount of information he could absorb or skills he could learn. They had defined him as a genius-level prodigy in anything he put his mind to.

September 28th came much too quickly. It was a teary and heartfelt goodbye with his mom and dad, but they knew he’d be back for the holidays. The drive wasn’t too bad. He just followed Highway 70 southwest through Portales and Roswell then west through the mountains. The only weird thing about Saturday happened after he’d arrived on campus and checked into his single-room dorm. For a split second, He’d felt a little queasy. He’d gone to the bathroom, splashed some water over his face, and then froze. He could swear he’d felt intense pain, an almost phantom ripping sensation, then nothing. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. The queasiness went away, and he realized he felt great. Moving to the bedroom, he laid back on the bed for a minute to close his eyes. He’d slept for about an hour and then finished unpacking as he prepared for school the next day.