The soul is an ephemeral spark, a brief flash of light, precursor to the roaring fire. For the vast majority of human existence, its existence was unproved and doubted. Not by those of my line of course, but by the general populace. Until the child of the void. The question was simple. If we have an inherent essence, how do we isolate it? The answer was equally simple. Sever the senses of one who had never sensed anything, and observe. And in doing so, they peered into the essence of the soul. Alas, some things are beyond science, beyond analysis. They must be felt, experienced, not studied. None of the scientists present didn't survive. The essence of infinity is not something most can bear. They gazed upon the reflection of a weak soul, born of apathy and ignorance. If they had gazed upon a soul of my caliber, well, they would have survived a instant. Some souls just shine brighter. Brilliant.

The lights in the lab flickered wildly as the power grid began to fall apart. A man dashed through the flickering lights and falling spark, tripping several times in his haste, yet being careful not to drop the vials in his hand

“Almost. Almost. Almost.” he chanted under his breath with a fevered intensity.

He sped up further, metallic grafts beneath his skin heating up as he left mortal limits behind. The shelves and tables of the crowded lab began to literally explode in front of him as he blasted them aside with no care for the precious plans and prototypes upon them.

They could wait. This could not.

Finally, he burst through a closed door, into a room absolutely filled with empty vials and batteries.

“I found them!” he yelled.

“Insert them” a robotic voice responded.

With utmost haste and care, the man ran up to a long rectangular box, almost like a coffin, but with wires and cords sticking out of nearly every available centimeter of space, and poured the vials into an open funnel.

“Sufficient material” the robotic voice stated flatly.

“Good! Good!” The man ran to a computer and began furiously typing.

“Systems at full power… Sufficient materials… full computer functionality. Ok, begin resurrection!”

Immediately the coffin began to shiver as the incredible power computer began to stitch the broken body within together. Molecule by molecule, cell by cell, the body began to regain functionality.

“Yes! YES! It's working! It's working!”

I observed sadly. The man’s attempt was doomed to fail. It was an impressive attempt, one so impressive he might actually succeed in stitching together the body and mind. But the soul was gone. Not even I could do anything about that. But I understood.

To be alone was the greatest curse.

Below, the man continued his furious typing as the robots pushed the body closer and closer to perfection.

“Careful with the neuron sequence! Wait…” he hesitated doing some quick math in his head,

“We got it wrong! Switch segments 2 and 45 and reroute 10% of functionality to fixing the gaps left behind!”

I watched, even more impressed, as the man found multiple errors in his calculation mid-operation, and fixed them just as fast. It was a shame he was doomed to failure.

Finally, the last cell was stitched together. With a loud *POP* the power went out, and with a gentler hum the backup generator kicked in. The man slowly approached the unfolding coffin, slowly as if afraid to let hope seize him.

“Brother?” he called out.

With a mechanical whine, the coffin opened slowly to reveal the body of a young boy, perhaps 12 or 13. His chest was rising and falling slowly.

“Brother?” the man called once more.

The child opened his eyes, and the man stumbled back.

I know what he saw. That terrible emptiness. The wrongness. The void.

The child slowly rolled out of the coffin, stumbling as he rose to his feet.

He slowly flexed his hand in front of his face, his visage a mask of apathy.

“Alive” he enunciated as if trying out the word, “I’m alive.”

“Br..br..brother?”

“You are… Alan?”

“Y..yes. I’m Alan.”

“Hmmmm”

Then he collapsed to the ground.

The man, Alan, rushed over to his brother.

The child remained still.

“C..c..c..computer. What's wrong with him?”

“Nothing” came the mechanical reply, “vitals and neural activity are normal.”

“Is he awake?”

“Yes”

“Then why isn't he moving?”

“Answer unknown”

“Any guesses?”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“No.”

I knew what was wrong. The boy lacked a soul. The body and mind may be fully functional on their own, but it is the soul that grants the reason to operate. The spark to start the engine. Without it most creatures simply curl up and die, apathetic to their end. In the beginning, I managed to create creatures that could function without a soul, beasts of mindless destruction, but humans are meant for souls. Without them, they cease to be human.

Alan Gerrik, one of the greatest human minds in the known universe, cured up beside the corpse of his brother and cried.

He had failed once more

—-----------------------------------------------

“This…This is amazing! Alan, do you know what you’ve done?”

The pudgy man looked as if he was going to kneel over at any moment, yet despite his frantic panting, he continued.

“This technology… It's revolutionary. The way you pieced together his mind with advanced computer models…stunning. And those algorithms…mmmmm…beautiful.”

Finally, the burden of his words became too much and leaned forward, panting.

The other scientists were more reserved in their investigation, but they couldn't hide their excitement.

Finally, one asked the pertinent question.

“Didi it work?”

Alan didn't respond, simply quietly leading them deeper into the lab. A pair of titanium doors swung open to reveal his brother suspended in life-support fluid.

“Yes,” he answered quietly, “It worked.”

A moment of silence precluded the explosion.

“It worked?!”

“We can resurrect people now?!”

“How?!”

Alan simply waited out the storm with stoic exhaustion. When they finally quieted, he continued.

“As I was saying, Yes it worked. He regained full functionality in both mind and body. Brain scans perfectly match those pre-mortem and he retains full memories. We have even observed dreams, though they are… strange.”

More shocked exclamations filled the room until one scientist finally had the presence of mind to question Alan's strange melancholy.

“What’s wrong, Alan? This is a great triumph. Humanity, or rather you, have conquered death!”

Alan sighed, running a hand over the life support pod, “Something’s wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“While he theoretically has full functionality, he refuses to do anything. If I hadn't put him in the pod, he would have died on the floor, all the while being perfectly capable of rising to his feet and fetching a meal. He exhibits a level of apathy I had not thought possible.”

“Why, is that?” another scientist questioned.

Alan hesitated, “That's the reason I called you here. I have an idea.”

“Go on.”

“In the weeks since the failed resurrection, I have scoured the web in search of anything that can explain his strange state. I found nothing, except for a few failed cloning attempts with the same problem. So, completely cut-free. I came up with my own explanation.”

The scientist leaned forward, eager to learn.

“He’s missing something. Something crucial.” He looked around hesitantly. “He’s missing a soul.”

Immediately, the room erupted into argument.

“That’s bullshit!”

“Soul’s don’t exist!”

“Come on, Alan. You can do better.”

Alan stoic exhaustion seemed to fade, replaced by annoyance.

“Listen, will you! I know it sounds insane but check for yourself. His readings are perfect. He is the very image of a healthy child, mind and body. Conventional science can do nothing here. We need to turn to things more…esertoic.”

“Alan, tell us true. Where did this idea come from?”

Alan sighed. “When science failed me, I took to scouring history. I didn’t find anything medically relevant, but I found something else. Detailed accounts of the existence of the souls, and their power. I traced the origins of the story to a bloodline. The…Erduks.”

Ah, the Erduks. Even beyond their outstanding members, even the least of them had incredible affinity for the soul. It's no wonder they knew.

Alan breathed in deep. “I had a hunch, so I contacted Halen an Erduk and asked her. She was sympathetic to my plight and told me of her family's oldest stories. They’re ancient, you know? They can easily trace their lineage thousands of years back. Anyways, she said the mind and body are like a…self-driving spaceship. Perfectly capable of going anywhere it wants, whenever it wants. But it is the human within that gives it the reason. The soul within the human that gives them reason to use their body and mind.”

The observing scientists actually looked curious now. “And why did you decide to believe her?”

“I don’t believe her yet, per se. Just have…suspicions. And those suspicions are because what she told me matches perfectly with what he’s experiencing.” he waved at the life support pod.

“He has perfect functionality, and I was thorough in my search. Thousands of the most skilled doctors in the universe verified that. Yet he doesn't move. Not because he can't, but because he has no reason to.”

“I don’t know, Alan.” one of the scientists started, “This seems insane. Are you sure you’re not just grasping at straws now?”

“I am.” Alan admitted, “But, that doesn't mean I'm wrong. Take a look at the data yourself.”

The scientist all crowded around the projected data table, and even after half an hour of searching failed to find a single thing wrong.

“Ok,” one admitted, “There’s nothing wrong with him, but how would you prove the existence of the…soul.”

“Glad you asked. Follow me.”

He led them up the stairs to a massive room, absolutely filled with black pods. Abruptly, Alan turned to the scientist, and posed a question.

“How do you isolate something?”

“Separate it from everything else.” came the response.

“So how would you isolate the inherent essence of a person?”

“Isolate them from the world.” the scientist responded with growing apprehension. “Wait, Alan. You can’t be…”

Alan snapped, “Exactly. You turn the volume down to nothing. And you listen. You seal the senses of one who has never sensed, and you observe what manifests in their absence. If they cannot find substance outside, there will be nothing to drown out the substance within.”

“Alan! That is horrifically unethical!”

He went on as if he hadn't heard. “We will be using human fetuses, and growing them in these sealed tubes. Clones of the fetuses will be used as the control group.”

A horrified gasp spread throughout the group.

“Alan! I know you’re grieving. But this is not the way! Child experimentation! Are you insane?”

Alan finally addressed them, “Insane? Or brilliant?” he whispered. He gestured with his right hand, and the black pods suddenly became see through. In every pod, a child floated, wires emerging from their cerebrums.

Shocked silence filled the room as the scientist, merely half a dozen strong, began to back away.

Alan continued his speech, “I bet you’re wondering why I brought you here. Well, I’ll tell you a secret. I’ve already proven the existence of the soul. But the data is…scrambled. The computers can't comprehend it, but I can somewhat. I suspect comprehension requires a soul.”

He fixed a hungry gaze on them.

“That's where you all come in. You will be interpreting the data and using it to help me build a comprehensive model of the soul ”

“Alan, this…this…this is insane.”

Alan took a step towards them.

“Insane? Or brilliant? I guess only time will tell.”

His laughter was terrible to behold.