I found myself lying on the floor with a pillow under my head, and upon seeing the concerned looks of my family, I couldn't help but ask dumbly,
"What?"

"Elmund, we have been awake for around 10 minutes," my mother said, "we were worried you weren't going to wake up." Rubbing my still-aching head, I said, 
"ahh, that's right, the place said I had to stay longer... Wait! You guys were there too???" 
"Yeah, we were all there. We don't understand it. Who were they? And what is a Mortis Drive or Neurons or cells?" my mother wondered, a furrowed brow highlighting her look of deep thought. I wondered to myself. I guess a Mortis Drive is whatever they gave to or changed in us, but yeah.. what is a neuron or a cell for that fact?

[*Beep!* Booting Reaper Mark stage one.]
"Arrrggghhh," I couldn't help to exclaim as a wave of searing heat and nausea assaulted me from the middle of my forehead. I retched as I held my head rolling onto my side, hearing nothing but buzzing in my ears. 
Why the hell does this keep happening??
Slowly the feeling receded, replaced with a cool and unexpectedly enjoyable sensation, like a breeze washing over me on a hot day. I couldn't help but sigh and relax my tense body, laying flat on the floor again.

[Boot complete, establishing an equitable bi-directional link.]
"Nooooo!! Not again!!" I yelled, bracing myself for yet more pain. However, as the seconds ticked by, none came. Cracking my eyelid open, I peered around, only seeing my family and their troubled and distressed looks. My sister Lilae was the first to speak, 
"Are you okay, L? What's going on?"
"I'm not sure. Didn't you guys experience this as well?" I could see their confusion as they all looked at each other.
"No, Elmund," my mother said,
"we have felt fine from the time we woke up. What is happening?"
"I'm... not sure. I just heard a voice telling me it was 'booting reaper mark,' whatever that means?"

[Ding! Link established. Reaper Mark stage one is now operational.]
My vision blinked dark for only a fraction of a second before a tiny white snake-like line repeatedly circling in a "∞" pattern appeared in the bottom left of my vision. Confused, I tried to look at it, but the symbol also moved when I shifted my eyes as if tethered to that spot. I found I was only able to look at it indirectly. 
What is that? I thought. The circling ∞ symbol seemed to grow thicker and thinner before:
*Ding* 
[That is the symbol for the Reaper Mark.] 
It was now writing, accompanied by a bored robotic voice, and it was easy to see, appearing to the right of the symbol and disappearing seemingly as soon as I had understood what it had written. As if it somehow knew I had comprehended it...
What is a Reaper Mark? I wondered tentatively, not sure if I was hallucinating. Again the circling ∞ symbol seemed to grow thicker and thinner before:
[A Reaper Mark is a small partial consciousness attached to a host with consent that allows for bi-directional information sharing]
When did I consent to this?! 
[Would user SSS-055 like to remove 'Reaper Mark stage one' from your consciousness? *Please note the process can be painful*]
I was about to think 'yes.' when I paused...

...Exactly what information am I sharing?
[Host is sharing all sensory information with REDACTED, REDACTED is sharing REDACTED]
The hell? Why are things hidden?
[Host does not have the necessary qualifications to view all available information. Reaper Mark stage one advises the host to advance your Mortis Drive rank classification for further access to the available information.]
"You are worrying us, L. Are you okay?" asked my little brother Sorkin.
Shaking my head to clear it, I looked at Sorkin, not wanting to worry him, "Yeah, I think I'm okay now. More importantly, how are you guys all doing?" My mother took charge as usual. 
"Well, Lilae, Sorkin, and Ombra have all received what they called Mortis Drives. Lucan Bright, Alesia Bright, and myself were told that we were not within the suitable adaptation limits, whatever that means." 
*Ding* 
[Suitable adaptation limits for Mortis Drive implementation refers to the acceptable ranges regarding the neuroplasticity of the brain undergoing implementation.]
Rolling my eyes, I thought. Oh yes, thank you for that *totally* helpful information that I completely don't understand, mister... ahhh, do you have a name... Reaper Mark guy? I'm not going to be calling you Reaper Mark guy.
[Reaper Mark stage one can be renamed by the host if the host so wishes]
Okay, well... thinking about it briefly, the Reaper Mark almost felt like my personal... I'll call you Butler then, now be quiet if you don't have any helpful information that I can actually understand.
[ ... ]
[Butler is standing by]

Looking back to my mother, I said, 
"I think the Mortis Drive, or as they called it 'MD,' is something in our heads that allows us to..." I was finding it hard to put into words what I had done in the mysterious place they called the mind weave, so words failing me, I just said: 
"...to do stuff like this." Getting to my feet and reaching my right hand out in front of me, I shifted the focus of my vision back to the mirage-like shimmers all around me. My vision focused after a moment. I could see the shimmers concentrating around the floorboards and seeping upwards from between them. I had a very distinct feeling of warmth from them. Breathing in a deep breath, I also imagined 'breathing' the shimmers from the air into my arm as I had before. The same sensation of warm water rushing over my arm snapped to cold as condensation formed around my hand and started to drip down my arm. Fog began to roll out of the air around my hand and arm as my heart once again started pumping vigorously. The room brightened, and my vision seemed to sharpen as my body felt more energetic than I could ever remember having felt before. My muscles felt bundled with enough strength to pull a tree out of the ground with my bare hands. I also noticed the room sharply dropped in temperature, with a well-defined chill in the air. Noticing a weird sense of itching coming from my left hand, I gave it an exploratory flex. I was confused to notice I felt hardly any pain at all. I glanced around and saw that both my family and the Bright family were looking at me with utterly stunned expressions.

Without thinking, I flicked my arm down to get rid of the wet condensation over my skin, I was surprised to see that I had managed to remove almost every drop of water as if my arm had been a sword, and I'd flicked it like the town guards did to remove excess blood from their blades. I looked over at my mother, meeting her eyes. I could see in seemingly slow motion with clear and precise detail that her pupils grew larger as she took in what she saw. I could see her start taking a breath to form words, but it seemed strange. Then I realized she had been taking in what appeared to be a small breath for almost 5 seconds. I started to consider what was happening, but then my thoughts turned vague and hazy, as if I had lost my place mid-sentence when talking to someone. But then, I saw a message in the corner of my vision.
[Excessive use of will-bending powers in early MD rank classifications will rapidly drain the willpower of the MD user. Possible consequences ranked in severity include: losing consciousness, will snap, brain damage, and death. Please expel any excess captured energy to return to a more neutral state]
My thoughts were becoming more and more difficult to string back together. Still, I knew with a sinking that something was seriously wrong. Expel. Excess. Energy. I kept turning these three words over and over and over in my head as I felt my thoughts turn further to sand, slipping through the cracks of my consciousness. Something somewhere deep in me felt fear, and the back of my neck started to heat up and prickle as if I was staring into the cold dead eyes of death. Closing my eyes, I grit my teeth and set everything I had to understand those three words I knew must be important. Then acting on desperate instinct, snapped my eyes back open. I pointed my hand to the nearest window away from my family, palm open, and pushed out as if rapidly expelling air from my lungs. A torrent of thick red flame burst from my hand in a fast-rushing column, bursting out of the window and into the sky beyond. With my free hand, I covered my face from the intense radiant heat flaring against my skin as the seemingly half-minute torrent of flame raged out the side of the house. I started to feel weak, much weaker than before I had taken the energy in, so I stopped actively pushing and 'breathing' out the shimmers. Dropping down to my knees and heaving in deep breaths, I could feel my thoughts once again begin to string themselves back together into a coherent order. 

Butler! I growled. Why did you not warn me earlier?!
[ I was remaining quiet as I was not sure it was helpful information you might actually understand... without experiencing it yourself]
I was speechless.