A/N: So this story came about when my therapist recommended I try to find myself a personal project. To date, I have written until chapter ten and recently my therapist recommended that it might help me to post it online as I mentioned it as a possibility around the time I started writing. (For those curious the problem I see my therapist for is Atelophobia, but that is neither here nor there at the moment, those wondering what it is can look it up if they wish to.)

Anyways all this is a really roundabout way of saying that I have wanted to try posting up this story for a while now, but I could never get myself to do it.

As for the story itself I am not sure how good it is or is going to be, but I am open to advice to help better my writing. So hopefully at least a few people enjoy this story and I will either post a chapter every day or every three days until it reaches the last of my already finished chapters.

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“So today is the day I die, huh.”

I am dying. No, I am not crossing over from something such as getting hit by a truck or bleeding out after being stabbed in a sad attempt at saving someone. No, I just happen to have finally been caught by the most insidious of killers. Now you are probably wondering who or what this so called killer could be and the answer to that question is simple … time. That's right, after avoiding every other possible end I am dying of old age and I can feel my body telling me today is the day my journey through life ends.

“I always thought this would be a more apprehensive time, but I am strangely calm.”

Thinking back on my life I can only say that it has been decent. At 120 years of age while I do feel that my path through life could have been different I do not regret most of my choices, but there are some things I do wish some things were done differently. My greatest regret is that while I have always been disgusted by the fact that I was born a male I never attempted to do anything to change the sex I have always been so discontented with. Then again these lingering regrets will soon be irrelevant because when I die, they will die with me.

“There really is no one left.”

Having said that I release a sigh. Currently, I am laying in a hospital bed in a rather empty room. Some people may find themselves leaving this world in the presence of friends and or family, but for me there is only the silence of my own thoughts. I was never a very socially outgoing person and only ever had a few people I could count as friends.

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Those people I called friends were there for me for most of my life. However, none of them are here now as they have all left this world ahead of me. As for family, I have always been distant with my family which is why it doesn't surprise me that none of them are here with me now.

“Maybe when I close my eyes for the final time I will wake up in front of a god or goddess who will offer to reincarnate me in a new world.”

I chuckle to myself while contemplating something like reincarnation. If I did get the chance for a do over, no the chance at a new life, well that would be quite nice and maybe next time I won't receive a damnable male body. While entertaining such thoughts I close my eyes letting my consciousness drift off one last time as my breathing slows and this body's life slowly leaves it.

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Somehow the afterlife feels quite a bit different than I thought it would. It almost feels as if i am suspended in some kind of liquid. Maybe, could I actually have reincarnated and this is the inside of my mother's womb. No that seems very unlikely I mean how would an unborn child be capable of conscious thoughts and I can also very faintly feel that I have a body. While I can feel my body I can’t seem to move it. Was my body taken to a lab somewhere to experiment on? If so then how is my consciousness still active? Could it possibly be experiments in prolonging human life past its natural limits? No all that seems unlikely because if I focus on my body hard enough I can tell it doesn’t feel quite like my old one. Well speculating wildly is not going to get me answers so I should slowly think this through.

After making up my mind to do just that I hear a computerised female voice begin to speak, “Heightened brain activity recognised in specimen 56. Commencing procedure to exit virtual sleep. Commencing procedure to induce temporary sleep while the specimen is relocated.”

Specimen 56? Virtual sleep? What is is the virtual sleep the voice is talking about and what exactly is specimen 56?

While trying in vain to come up with answers to these questions my consciousness is attacked by a sudden bout of drowsiness. As I fight a failing battle to stay awake I think back to the last line I heard from the voice.Temporary sleep for relocation? Wait…am I specimen 56? With that one last thought, my mind drifts into darkness.