Lord of Perverted Ladies

The name on the paper refused to stay still.

Adrian stared at it.

He knew those letters.

He had seen them before.

Not in a book.

Not in a memory.

Somewhere deeper.

Somewhere that felt like home.

His fingers tightened around the paper.

"What is this?"

The little boy standing in front of him smiled.

"Your name."

"My name is Adrian Cross."

"No."

The boy shook his head.

"That is the name you chose."

Adrian looked down at the paper again.

The letters seemed to shift.

For a moment, he could read them clearly.

Then they blurred.

He blinked.

The name became clear again.

AERIS.

Adrian’s breathing stopped.

"Aeris..."

The boy nodded.

"That was your first name."

Adrian looked around.

Everyone was gone.

The city.

The ocean.

His family.

His friends.

Even the strange tower had disappeared.

Only the boy remained.

"Where is everyone?"

"Outside."

"Why can’t I see them?"

"Because this is inside you."

Adrian looked around.

"This doesn’t look like my memory."

"It isn’t."

"Then what is it?"

The boy smiled.

"Your identity."

Adrian frowned.

The word felt heavier than it should have.

The System appeared.

IDENTITY STAGE: BEGINNING.

Adrian stared at it.

"You’re still here?"

The System didn’t respond.

Another message appeared.

IDENTITY IS NOT MEMORY.

Then:

MEMORY REMEMBERS WHAT YOU WERE.

IDENTITY DECIDES WHAT YOU ARE.

Adrian looked at the boy.

"Then who am I?"

The boy smiled.

"That is the question."

Adrian hated that answer.

"I’ve already answered it."

"You said you’re human."

"I am."

"You said you’re Adrian."

"Yes."

"You said you chose to be both."

"Yes."

The boy stepped closer.

"Then why are you afraid of the name Aeris?"

Adrian looked at the paper.

He didn’t know.

But the name made something inside him hurt.

Not physically.

It felt like remembering a person who had died.

Except the person was him.

"I don’t know."

The boy took the paper back.

"You forgot because you wanted to."

Adrian shook his head.

"No."

"Yes."

"Why would I forget my own name?"

"Because the name belonged to someone you didn’t want to be anymore."

Adrian stared at him.

"Who?"

The boy smiled.

"You."

The room changed.

Suddenly Adrian was standing somewhere else.

A vast white field stretched in every direction.

Aeris stood there.

But he wasn’t alone.

Hundreds of figures surrounded him.

The children.

His brother.

His mother.

The First Choice.

The Guardian.

Elia.

Aeron.

Noah.

Ryan.

All of them were watching.

But none of them spoke.

Aeris looked different from Adrian.

He looked younger.

But there was something terrifying in his eyes.

Power.

Not Creator power.

Something older.

He was holding a small glowing sphere.

Inside it was a world.

Adrian watched him.

"What am I seeing?"

"Your first identity."

Aeris raised his hand.

The world inside the sphere changed.

Mountains appeared.

Oceans.

Life.

Stars.

Then everything vanished.

Aeris created another.

Then another.

Then another.

Adrian stared.

"He created worlds."

The boy nodded.

"Before you became human."

"Why?"

"He didn’t know how to be anything else."

The scene changed.

Aeris stood before countless beings.

They bowed to him.

They called him Creator.

Aeris didn’t smile.

He looked tired.

He looked lonely.

Adrian suddenly understood.

The Creator hadn’t been a throne.

It had been a prison.

Aeris had been trapped inside the role.

The scene changed again.

Aeris was sitting alone.

His mother stood behind him.

She touched his shoulder.

"You don’t have to continue."

Aeris looked at her.

"What happens if I stop?"

"Nothing."

"Then who creates?"

"No one."

Aeris looked toward the empty universe.

"That sounds dangerous."

His mother smiled.

"Maybe."

Aeris looked at the darkness.

Then he said something Adrian had never heard before.

"I want to know what happens if nobody controls it."

The memory shattered.

Adrian stepped backward.

"That was me."

The boy nodded.

"You wanted freedom before you understood what freedom meant."

Adrian stared at him.

"Then why did I become the Creator again?"

"You didn’t."

Adrian frowned.

"The others called me Creator."

"They called Aeris Creator."

Adrian’s eyes widened.

"But Aeris is me."

"Was."

The boy pointed toward Adrian.

"You are Adrian now."

Adrian looked at his hands.

The distinction suddenly made sense.

Aeris had been an identity.

Adrian was another.

The same consciousness.

The same memories.

But a different choice.

"So I’m not trying to remember who I was."

"No."

"You’re asking me to decide whether Aeris still exists."

The boy smiled.

"Exactly."

The world became silent.

Adrian looked at the figure of Aeris.

The old identity turned toward him.

Their eyes met.

Aeris smiled.

"You’ve come back."

Adrian stepped forward.

"I didn’t come back."

Aeris laughed.

"You always say that."

"I’m not you."

"You are."

"I was you."

Aeris shook his head.

"Identity doesn’t disappear just because you stop using it."

Adrian looked at him.

"Then what do you want?"

Aeris raised the glowing world.

"I want control."

Adrian’s expression hardened.

"No."

"I want to fix everything."

"No."

"I want to prevent suffering."

"No."

"I want to stop people from hurting each other."

"No."

Aeris frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I already tried."

"And?"

"I failed."

Aeris smiled.

"Then try harder."

Adrian shook his head.

"No."

Aeris’s smile disappeared.

"Why?"

"Because I finally understand."

Adrian stepped closer.

"You can’t create freedom by controlling everyone."

Aeris looked away.

"And you think humans can handle freedom?"

"No."

"Then you’re willing to let them suffer?"

"Yes."

Aeris stared at him.

Adrian’s voice softened.

"Because suffering doesn’t mean existence was a mistake."

Aeris looked at him for a long time.

Then he asked,

"What about the people you couldn’t save?"

Adrian froze.

Images appeared.

People he had failed.

Worlds he had lost.

Friends who had died.

Choices that had gone wrong.

Every mistake.

Every failure.

Every regret.

Aeris whispered,

"Wouldn’t it be easier if you could erase all of it?"

Adrian closed his eyes.

For a moment, he wanted to say yes.

Then he remembered Ryan laughing.

Noah standing beside him.

Elia waiting.

Aeron choosing not to kill.

His brother asking for a family.

His mother saying she was sorry.

He remembered the children choosing their own names.

He remembered the world choosing itself.

"No."

Aeris stared at him.

"Why?"

"Because those memories made me who I am."

The old identity began cracking.

Adrian stepped closer.

"I don’t need to destroy you."

Aeris looked surprised.

"What?"

"You’re part of me."

"So you’re accepting me?"

Adrian nodded.

"But I won’t become you."

The cracks spread.

Aeris smiled.

"Then what will you become?"

Adrian thought about it.

"I don’t know."

The boy laughed.

"Good."

Aeris disappeared.

The white field collapsed.

Adrian opened his eyes.

He was standing in the city again.

Everyone was there.

His brother was holding his shoulder.

"Adrian!"

Adrian looked around.

"What happened?"

"You disappeared."

"For how long?"

His brother looked confused.

"Three seconds."

Ryan stared at Adrian.

"You looked like you were having a whole lifetime."

Adrian looked at the paper in his hand.

It was still there.

But the name had changed.

AERIS CROSS

was written on one side.

On the other:

ADRIAN CROSS

Adrian folded it.

His mother approached him.

"What did you see?"

"My first identity."

She immediately understood.

"Did you remember?"

"Yes."

"Everything?"

"No."

She looked relieved.

"Good."

Adrian smiled.

"I remembered enough."

His brother looked at the paper.

"Who was Aeris?"

Adrian looked toward the sky.

"Me."

His brother frowned.

"But you’re Adrian."

"Yes."

"Then which one is real?"

Adrian looked at him.

"Both."

The System appeared.

IDENTITY ACCEPTED.

Adrian waited.

Another message appeared.

AERIS: RETAINED.

Then:

ADRIAN: ACTIVE.

Then:

IDENTITY DOES NOT REQUIRE ERASURE.

The message disappeared.

The children began cheering.

Aeron looked toward the ocean.

Something was changing there again.

The water was moving strangely.

Adrian noticed.

"What now?"

Aeron shook his head.

"I don’t know."

The ocean rose.

A massive wave formed.

But instead of attacking, it created a shape.

A human silhouette.

Then another.

Then thousands.

Every person who had ever existed appeared in the water.

The dead.

The forgotten.

The erased.

The alternate versions.

All of them.

Adrian stared.

The First Reader whispered,

"This is impossible."

Adrian smiled faintly.

"We’ve stopped using that word."

The watery figures turned toward Adrian.

All of them spoke together.

"We know your name."

Adrian felt a chill.

The figures began disappearing.

One remained.

Aeris.

But this time, he wasn’t the old Creator.

He was simply a man.

A younger version of Adrian.

He looked at him and smiled.

"You finally know who you are."

Adrian nodded.

"Yes."

Aeris pointed toward the horizon.

"But you still don’t know who everyone else is."

Adrian frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Aeris disappeared.

The ocean became calm.

Then a message appeared in the sky.

IDENTITY STAGE: 100%

Adrian stared.

Another message appeared.

LIFE HAS LEARNED TO CHOOSE.

LIFE HAS LEARNED TO FEEL.

LIFE HAS LEARNED TO WANT.

LIFE HAS LEARNED TO CONFLICT.

LIFE HAS LEARNED TO SACRIFICE.

Then:

LIFE HAS LEARNED WHO IT IS.

Adrian waited.

The final message appeared.

NOW LIFE MUST LEARN WHO OTHERS ARE.

The world went silent.

Then every person in the city suddenly saw another person’s memories.

Not their own.

Someone else’s.

Ryan saw Noah’s childhood.

Noah saw Adrian’s first memory.

Adrian’s mother saw her son’s loneliness.

Adrian’s brother saw his mother’s fear.

Aeron saw the life of a human.

Elia saw the memories of the forgotten children.

And Adrian saw something that wasn’t his.

He saw the life of someone standing far away.

A stranger.

A young woman.

She was sitting alone in a dark room.

She was holding a wooden car.

The same wooden car.

She looked directly toward Adrian.

And somehow...

she could see him.

She smiled.

Then she whispered:

"I remember you."

Adrian’s blood ran cold.

The System appeared one final time.

NEXT EVOLUTION: EMPATHY.

And beneath it:

TO UNDERSTAND ANOTHER LIFE...

A pause.

YOU MUST FIRST EXPERIENCE IT.

Adrian looked at the woman.

The world disappeared.

And he opened his eyes inside someone else’s life.

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