When I regained consciousness, I found myself adrift in the endless space between lives, I should find a better name for this place.

I guess I died again, huh? Well, that life was interesting. I lived quite a long time this round. Too bad I lost that battle with that meatbag. I've given up counting how many times I have been here. Is this the 30th life? Or is it the 31st? 35th?

I wonder how long I'll have to wait until my next reincarnation. Hopefully, I won't be reborn into some primitive or uncivilized society. The last life had a lot of creature comforts, which may have made me softer than I would prefer. Oh well, I guess I'll just adapt like always.

Being here has always been odd, I can never tell how long time has passed. Despite this, there is a certain calming effect to simply floating in the darkness, after that last life that was filled with anger, rage, and a twisted sense of pleasure that was only partially mitigated by my anchor. Not that I particularly care about those I killed, but I do dislike being out of control. On the topic of anchors, I wonder how Hiko is doing. I regret being cruel to her, but I didn't have control over who I was in that life.

I have often wondered why the being that controls my reincarnations and allows me to retain my memories does what it does, but it's been so long since my original death I remember nothing from my first life. One would think basically living forever through the reincarnation cycle would be great, but with each reincarnation I lose some part of me but regain what was lost. It's quite maddening. Why can't I just rest after death? Conclusion? The being that controls my existence is a major asshat.

Hmm… I've never tried asking this asshole if it can give me a break and not give me some fucked-up mental illness for my next life. Is it even here? Does the asshole even exist or am I just thinking something is doing all of this shit as some form of coping mechanism? I guess the only way to know is to ask.

"Hey fuckface!" I screamed into the empty endless space

"I know you're there asshole! Come on, talk to me buddy. We've known each other for how long now?"

"Well, if you're not talking back, then listen to what I have to say!"

"I've been going through your fucked-up reincarnation cycle for a while now and each life fucking sucks with the fucked-up things you did to my personality and my mind!"

"What am I even saying? Of course, you would know what you did to me every time as some sort of sadistic entertainment. The fuck do you even do? Watch every reincarnation as some sort of fucked-up TV show?"

"If you don't make my next life something easy and simple, no fucked-up mental illness like the last one or the previous one or like every life since u started this shit. I'll make you suffer with me!"

Pausing to think what I'll do to make it suffer. I haven't thought this far. Ah! I know what I'll do.

"Well, I'll tell you what I'll do if you don't do as I ask! I'm going to kill myself every chance I get! We'll see how would like 10 seasons of sudden infant death!"

I must sound crazy screaming into the endless space, which isn't that far off I'm sure I lost my sanity a long time ago. If I'm being honest with myself, I haven't used these many profanities in such a short amount of time in a long time. I didn't realize how furious I was at this asshole, who I don't even know even exists.

"Well, I've said my peace. Now leave me alone fuckface." My voice no longer screaming in anger.

That was very therapeutic to express my feelings and frustrations. Although I don't have a physical body in this dimension, it felt good to get those thoughts off my 'chest'. Floating in the endless space is trippy. It feels like I just ended talking to the asshole, but I'm sure it's been days since I screamed my imaginary lungs out.

Suddenly, I feel a tug. I guess it's time for my next life. Hopefully, the asshole agreed to my demands! I wonder what gender I'll be this time, dang I just remember being a toddler sucks. It's been so long since I've been one.

Mayhaps that asshat decides to reincarnate me into an animal or an alien. Never had those experiences before. Might be interesting.

Well, it's been nice floating here for who knows how long. Alas, it's time for the next life!


Being reborn is such an out-of-body experience, the limited motor functions, the inability to speak, limited vision, muffled sounds, and lungs full of liquid. In the first year of every reincarnation, my body would be on some sort of autopilot.

Ah, I can see light now. I guess I'm out of my mother's womb now. I wonder what sort of world I'm born into, but it doesn't look like it's some kind of a backward world, a bit primitive compared to the last one, but I can't complain too soon. Looks like these people cleared my airways and now I'm involuntarily screaming my lungs out. I wish that I had more control over my body at this moment. They're bringing me back to my new parents. I do wonder how they will react when they realize what kind of child they have brought into the world.

"Congratulations Mrs. Frey, you have a beautiful girl." Said the nurse in English.

Looks like I'm a female in this life. I never felt there was any kind of pattern in terms of the gender I am assigned upon reincarnation; it seems to be completely random. It appears that I have been born in an English-speaking country again. I've always wondered why people say a newborn child to be beautiful, like bitch I probably look like a potato now and you have no idea what I'll look like in the future. I might be ugly as sin.

The nurse hands me to my new mother, and I'm finally able to see her. Despite being covered in sweat from the birthing process, she looks good enough to me. She has this bright smile that's full of love on her when she looks at me. I wonder if I'm able to reciprocate such love, knowing myself probably not. I never seem to be able to connect with any of my parents in every life I lived through.

"She's beautiful honey." Said someone I assume to be my father.

The nurse asked. "Have the new parents decided on a name for this little one?"

"Yes, her name is Hanna. Hanna Frey." Said my mother.

I suppose that the name Hanna is acceptable for now until I am old enough to leave this place and create a new identity for myself. In the meantime, I will observe my surroundings and figure out what kind of mask I need to adopt in order to fit in with these people. There isn't much I can do for the first year of my life, but I will make the most of my time.


It's been more than a year since Hanna was born, and in that time she's been able to figure out what year and date she was born in which was April 1, 1977. She finds it funny that she's only a dozen years apart from her last life. But the world she was born into is clearly different from her last one. The biggest tell is that technology is quite primitive if she were to compare technology from the same decade in her last life to now. Oh, and she even finds out she's American again, but she was born in Texas compared to New York.

She finds it amusing that she has been reborn as an American again, not that she had much love for the country in the last life. Hanna has not been able to learn much about her current world, but it seems to be fairly generic. In the past year, she has not heard her parents talk about mega-corporations, major wars, or major unrest. They mainly talk about mundane things, such as a space shuttle launch, a new disco opening in Kingsville, and a new movie called "Grease" that her parents want to go watch.

Even the house Hanna is living in is a modest single-story home, which is a much better housing situation than she had in her last life. Despite the Texas heat.

'Did that asshat actually do as I asked?' Hanna thought to herself

'I have felt no kind of bad thoughts so far. It could still come later in life. I shouldn't get my hopes up too high. It is an asshat.'

Currently, Hanna is sitting on the floor of the living room looking at the books her parents gave her to read. Her parents noticed Hanna is quite advance in reading and have given her books for three-year-olds. But for Hanna, it's not good enough for her.

"Mom! I want better books! These are boring!" Hanna said loudly and petulantly to her mother, who was making dinner in the kitchen.

"We just gotten those books honey, you can't have finished them already." Her mother replied.

"I did finish them! And they're boring!" Hanna said, annoyingly.

With a sigh, her mother replied, "We'll just ask your dad when he gets back. Ok?"

"Fine." she replied in defeat.

Just as Hanna resigned herself to boredom, her father came entered the house from work.

"DAD! You're back!" Hanna put on a cheerful tone and smile for her father as he came to her.

Her father picked her up into his arms and was moving towards the kitchen to meet his wife.

"Hey there baby girl, how's your day?" He asked Hanna with a bright smile on his face.

"Dad, can I get new books?" Hanna asked sweetly.

"But you just gotten those books." He replied while looking at his wife for answers.

"She told me she finished them and said they were boring." Her mother replied with an odd expression on her face.

"I did, and they were boring!" Hanna said with a pout to her father.

Her father gave mother a look, and she only gave a shrug.

"Ok, what books do you want?" He replied with a sigh of defeat.

"Can I get books on maths and computers?" Hanna asked lovingly with a pout.

"Computers? Where did you even hear of them?" He muttered to himself loudly.

"Fine, how about we go to the library during the weekend to find some books for you?" He said with a proud smile on him.

"Thank you, DAD! Love you!" Hanna said while screaming happily into her father's face.

Hanna couldn't hold back the smug smile she had on her face.

'They're so easy.' She thought to herself.

Hanna has always found it useful to learn about computers in each of her lives whenever it is applicable. She decides to start researching the current state of computer technology in this world, since it can't hurt to start learning early.


It was a pleasant spring morning just after Hanna's fourth birthday. She was blissfully reading her recent novel, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' which her father had borrowed from the library for her. She couldn't remember if this book existed in her last life or not. When suddenly her mother burst into her room told her to change her clothes and that they're going to the park so she can make 'friends' after a year of avoiding it. Despite her protest, she relented to her mother demands.

So here she is at the park, looking at the children at the play area with disdain. Her mother is behind her, gently encouraging her to go towards the gaggle of children that are merrily playing together. Hanna has never been good with children. Hanna has never been good with children and finds them too emotional for her liking. She has difficulty understanding them.

When Hanna looks back at her mother, she sees an expression of encouragement. "Please go play with them, Hanna. It'll be good practice for making friends."

"Alright mom, but no promises."

Hanna let out a deep sigh and reluctantly approached the group of children, who were playing tag with each other. She walked as slowly as possible, trying to think of a way to make this torturous experience that her mother had imposed on her as tolerable as possible. 'I can't intentionally cause harm to these gremlins. That would bring unwanted attention to myself.' As she neared the group, an idea occurred to her, and a smirk appeared on her face. They seem to have finished their last round of whatever they were playing and are about to start another when one of them noticed her approaching them.

"Hello, my fellow children. My name is Hanna Frey. May I partake in whatever you're playing?"

That seems to have the effect Hanna hoped for. All of them were now looking at her with that dumb look children have when they're confused.

"You sound weird." Said female child 1

"Hi, my name is Will." Said Male child 1

The other three kids said nothing, who seem to be satisfied by continuing to look at her confusingly. They might be simple, the poor children.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Will. And I do not 'sound weird', I am speaking in a way how all children speak. It is you who 'sounds weird', and it is quite rude of you to say that to someone who introduces themselves with their name and did not receive yours. I should report you to your mother, who seems to be talking to my mother over there."

`The look on female child 1 is priceless. This is going better than I imagine. ` Hanna continues smiling, while female child number 1 face looks like she's going to cry. The other 3 kids seem to come to their senses.

"The name's Jimmy." said Male child 2

"I'm Sara." said Female child 3

"I'm Rob." said Male child 3

And lastly, female child 1 responded timidly, "Mary."

Satisfied with the responses, Hanna can't help but think that this might be the pettiest thing she had done in quite a long time. But she needs to be entertained for at least an hour to satisfy her mother's unnecessary desire for her to make friends, lest her mother nag her about it for the rest of the day.

With a devious smile on her face, "Now that introductions are finished, I see that you lot are playing tag with each other. That's such a boring version of tag. Might I introduce you all to British Bulldog?"


RUTH FREY POV

As she talks with the other parents, Ruth couldn't help but let her mind wonder about her daughter. She seems to be more interested in reading books than interacting with kids her age, despite Ruth's unending attempts to have Hanna make friends. But yesterday, during the birthday yesterday, Ruth had finally had enough. She invited all her friends that had kids to the party to have Hanna at least talk to kids her age. Instead, she ignored everyone by keeping her head buried in a book about algebra. What 4-year-old reads algebra, anyway?

Ruth let out a small sigh, which Mrs. Garcia noticed. "What's bothering you, Ruth?"

"It's nothing. I know Hanna isn't a shy girl, but she just doesn't want to make any friends." Ruth replies.

"She seems fine to me," says Mr. Jones, nodding his head towards the kids. "Looks like they're playing British Bulldog or something similar to that."

Ruth couldn't help but smile at the sight of Hanna running around and trying to avoid the other kids. Satisfied with the scene, she joins back the local gossiping session. Only at the sound of someone crying makes everyone stopped and looked at the kids.

"Looks like Mary tripped on something," says Mrs. Brown. "I'll be right back."

She noticed Hanna peeled off from the group and is approaching her. Ruth raised her eyebrows when she got a good look at Hanna, noticing there wasn't a single speck of dirt on her while the others seem worse for wear.

"Mom, it's been an hour. Can we go now?" Hanna asks.

"What? It hasn't been an hour…" Looking down at her wristwatch "Sweetie, it's only been 30 minutes since we arrived here. Shouldn't you continue playing with the others? You seem to have fun."

"30 minutes? I swear it was longer than that," said Hanna softly,

"Well, we better leave anyway," says Hanna. "It doesn't look like anyone wants to continue playing. Can we go to the library?" She smiles brightly at Ruth.

Ruth looked at the other parents, who were talking to their own children. It seems that the other kids are not eager to continue playing. Looking back at Hanna, who continues to smile. Ruth got suspicious.

"What did you do, Hanna?"

Hanna looks shocked, surprised, and sad by the accusation. Ruth instantly regrets accusing her. "Me? I did nothing. No one wanted to continue after Will accidentally tripped Mary."

Ruth sees Mrs. Garcia berating will while Mrs. Brown looked on. She let out a sigh and said, "Alright, I believe you Hanna, let's go."

Hanna's face brightened up as she eagerly followed her mother towards the car. Ruth couldn't shake off the feeling that Hanna had done something, but she decided not to press the issue. She made a mental note to keep an eye on her daughter's interactions with others in the future.

Hanna asked again, "Can we go to the library, mom? I would really like to look for books about C!"

Ruth smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm for learning. "Sure thing, Hanna. Let's go to the library and see what they have on the sea."

'Why the sudden interest in the sea?'


HANNA FREY POV

The sound of the last bell of the year brought much relief to Hanna, who had to suffer through an entire year full of dumb gremlins and trolls. The first month was hell. It made Hanna wish she was in the dumpster fire of a childhood that was her last life. At least then she didn't have to endure the boredom and nonsense of school. It truly made her miss the collapse. So, she did what she does best. She sowed chaos and anarchy among the children, making sure nothing could ever reach back to her. Recalling how distraught the teachers were when they started losing control of the class always put a genuine smile on her face.

Mercifully, after the first month of kindergarten, the teachers took note that if they didn't bother Hanna and left her to her own devices, the class became peaceful. The teachers became suspicious of her, but could never prove that she did anything wrong. They even brought it up with her parents, but her ever loyal father put his foot down and defended her, said Hanna would never do such things. So, for the past 8 months, Hanna didn't cause any mischief and was content with studying her own materials. Despite the noise and distraction of class, she considered it to be a productive school year.

Hanna starts packing her books, blissfully unaware of her surrounding lost in her own thoughts about graph theory that she just read. Only after she finished tidying up, she noticed that a group of her classmates were talking around her, waiting for her to be done. One of the annoying facades she had to put on when she started going to school is to pretend to be social with her 'peers'. Not only it helps her to blend in with the crowd, because people are wary of the loner types. And it has the bonus of getting her mother to stop bothering her about making 'friends'.

Will, the bright-eyed fool, asked, "So, do you want to join us, Hanna? Everyone's coming. It's gonna be fun." She must have missed the entire conversation going around her, since she does not know what he's talking about.

She put on a disappointed expression and replied, "Gee… That sounds really fun, Will. But I can't. I had planned to go to the library to return some books and spend some time there."

Will pouted and complained, "You go to the library every day! Can't you ditch that boring place?"

"Oh, I heard from my mom that they're bringing in some new things to the library today." Sarah commented offhandedly. This piqued Hanna's interest, and she ignored Will. She asked, "Oh? Did she say what those new things are?" Sarah seems to think about it before saying, "I think mom said her company is donating something called a PC."

That surprised Hanna, since both her parents works at the Celanese facility like Sarah's, but they had mentioned nothing about it. To avoid being caught off guard by important information coming from a child, she should have paid attention to what that old crow of a librarian says. Hanna had not had the opportunity to use a computer in this life, as they seemed to be rare outside of offices and schools.

Hanna put on a regretful tone and told Will, "I really can't pass up this chance to use a computer. I'm sorry, Will. Maybe we can do it another time?"

Will seemed to get the hint that she didn't want to join them, and everyone said their goodbyes. Having gotten rid of the pests, as she left the kindergarten for the last time, the oppressive heat of Texas greeted Hanna. 'I've been living here for 6 years now, and I still can't handle this heat. Makes me miss my old body sans the craziness. The flesh is truly weak.'

On her way to the library, Hanna couldn't help but wonder what she would do in this life. Things in this world are very peaceful compared to her previous life and the last one and honestly quite boring. She knows she couldn't settle for a mundane, rule-following existence. She didn't have the patience or strength for it. 'I guess I'll be a criminal again after I leave this place. At least that would be fun.' She hopes that someone invents this world version of the net, it would make getting jobs so much easier. From what she understands, the technology is still young, with most computers and servers aren't connected to each other, but those that are connected are like an island archipelago.

As she thought about the future, Hanna was pleasantly surprised that the asshat hadn't struck her with some sort of curse so far in her life. Maybe that shithead actually listened to her crazy yelling. She should do it more next time.

As Hanna entered the library, she went straight to Mrs. Jenkins and greeted her with a big smile. "Good day to you, Mrs. Jenkins. How has your day been?"

The old crow looked away from her collection of books she's sorting and replied. "I've been good. Thank you for asking, dear." Hanna spots the brand-new computers sitting at a corner of the library. Someone must have cleared a space to put those things there. "Are those the new computers I heard about?" Mrs. Jenkins looked at what had gotten Hanna's attention and replied, "Why yes, the kind people from Celanese bought six of those things and had them installed earlier today. I have no earthly idea how to use them, but I think you might find it interesting, Hanna. Why don't you give it a try? You would be the first in Bishop to use it."

With a curt thank you, Hanna went straight to the space where the computers were. As she sat down and flicked the switch at the side of the machine to turn on the computer, she noted the model and starts examining it. An IBM PC model 5150, which was relatively new hardware from what she recalls from those magazines she read. While waiting for the computer to start up, Hanna saw some manuals and technical documentation at the side of the table. Just as she started reading the book about the disk operating system, the monitor came to life in glorious green monochrome color. Hanna couldn't help but chuckled to herself at how antiquated and nostalgic charming this machine was.

'Time to learn how this processor and operating system work so I can start hacking it. I wonder how long I can stay here without causing a fuss back home.'

On a cool January morning. Hanna was spending what's left of her brief Christmas break at the library's computer completely focus on her current project, with her notebook where she jotted down her ideas and notes about the programming language she's currently using to her left and other was the technical reference on her right.

Since the library received the computers, Hanna had spent her entire summer there, much to the dismay of her parents and 'friends'. She only occasionally goes out to socialize when her mother forces her to spend time with others. Despite her disappointment at the return of school, Hanna spent most of her school time brainstorming ideas and concepts to explore on the computers at the library. Even though the technology was ancient to her, she slowly but surely fell in love with computers and programming. It was a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time - a passion for something.

Hanna found something pure about learning and manipulating a simple system, and she was eager to find exploits to use. She was so absorbed in the code she was writing on the monitor that she didn't notice someone standing next to her, studying her work. Suddenly, a voice spoke from her left side, causing her to jump. "Why are you writing a program to save every keystroke?" the voice asked. Hanna tore her eyes away from the monitor to see a short blonde girl still looking at her code.

This piqued Hanna's curiosity. "You understand assembly and what I'm writing?" she asked. The girl stopped looking at the monitor and turned to her notebook. "I've read the IBM macro assembler book," she replied. "I recognized the syntax you're using, but the book doesn't explain much about the processor. And I've never actually coded in it." Hanna was quite speechless. Never did she think someone in this backwater of a town would understand what she's writing. Finally, she asked the only thing she could think of. "Why haven't I seen you here before?"

The girl stopped looking at her notebook and turned to face Hanna, smiling slightly. "I've been coming here for two months now. And I see you here almost every day. Normally, I sit on the other computer there." She pointed to the desk on the other side of the computer area in the library. "I'm not surprised that you never noticed me. You're always neck deep into what you're doing on the computer and never seem to notice what's going on around you."

That made Hanna slightly embarrassed, to be called out by someone who looked younger than her. She tried to brush away the embarrassment by answering the original question. "I'm programming something called a keylogger for the PC. It will log everything someone type in a computer that is using this DOS floppy disk." The girl's eyes in the brighten at that response and asked. "Are u planning do it on every DOS floppy disk u get? Sounds really tedious."

Hanna couldn't help but smile at that and replied. "No, no, no. I'm planning on making this program replicate itself. When it detects another floppy disk is inserted into a computer with an infected floppy disk, it will spread to the other floppy disk. Slowly, it will infect an entire building's floppy disks."

That seemed to excite the girl, and she asked. "How would you know for which computer will the keylogger log file be for since floppy disks will move from one computer to another?" That left Hanna stumped. She did not think of that.

Hanna thought aloud as she tried to come up with a solution. "From what I can recall from the IBM book, the 8088 does not have an opcode for CPU identification. Meaning I must write a code that can identify the minor differences of each CPU that the floppy disk encounters." Hanna let out a frustrated sigh. "That's going to be a pain to code."

The girl let out a snort and replied. "Good luck with that. The technical reference book that comes with the computer did not provide enough information about the 8088." Hanna let out a chortle at that comment. "I know, right? It's barely enough information for basic coding and control of the CPU and memory. You know I've been mailing Intel every week for 3 months now, asking them if they would be so kind to send me a copy of the 8086 user manual." She replied with a genuine smile on her being able to get this off her chest with someone who understands.

"Really? 3 months? And they're just ignoring your mail?" The girl replied with a chuckle. "Yeah, they're completely ignoring me, no return mail saying sorry or anything. Without it, I guess I need to keep testing and breaking codes to see if it works or doesn't." Hanna couldn't help but enjoy talking to this girl.

"By the way, what's your name? Sorry for not noticing you earlier. My name is Hanna Frey." She asked, while extending her hand out to the other girl.

"Name's Samantha Groves. You can call me Sam." She replied, shaking Hanna's hand. "I guess you can call me Han."

Hanna looked at the clock and noticed it's almost 1pm. 'Huh, I swear it was like 10 am a few minutes ago. Time flies when I'm having fun.' "Hey, want to grab lunch and write annoying letters to Intel together?"

Sam looked surprised by the invite and her smile widen. "Sure, if you're paying."

'She's interesting. I'm going to keep her.'


A/N: As a new years resolution I decided needed to improve my English so I started this story as a way to practice my creative writing skills that's atrophied for 12 years. I hope it's not cringe.