I had the sneaking suspicion that I was dead.
The total nothingness that surrounded me on all sides was my primary piece of evidence at the moment. I drifted in a state of existence totally devoid of space. No darkness nor light, no sound, nor pain and no single scent could be found in this no-space.
My evident senselessness did call into question how I knew there was nothing around me. But deep down, I instinctively knew it to be true. It appeared that I possessed some form of general cognisance of the space around me.
That same instinctive certainty told me one other thing. Over and over an assertion replayed in my head. The voice, my voice, said that I was dead. Deceased, expired, perished, defunct, lifeless, barren, six feet under, etcetera, etcetera.
Is this the afterlife then? Or perhaps merely ‘an’ afterlife?
At the very least, my present stream of consciousness suggested some form of post-mortem persistence. Of course it may simply be one last blaze of glory on behalf of my dwindling neurons.
The ones quickly and currently spilling from my decapitated head…
Oh dear.
A memory of pain reemerged so suddenly and strongly that I screamed. A particularly unsatisfying silent scream at that.
Nowhere in particular hurt, I no longer maintained any particulars, but pain remained in my mind as I relived my untimely death. And the removal of my head from my body.
Bloody images shuddered into my mind. They recounted a fatal experience with a violent being.
Blinding light exploded before me. A silhouetted figure emerged from the haze. They were tall, angular and razor sharp.
A venomous roar assaulted me, and my eardrums burst before I could process it. The being swung a sword twice my size around like a child playing with a doll. The blade parted my head from my body in a millisecond.
The memory faded. My vacant, unquantifiable existence returned. Time seemed to pass, despite its intangibility. But nothing happened. There was nothing to happen. Alone and motionless, I lingered on my death. There was little else to do.
The meaninglessness of it incensed me. How could I die in such a way? It was totally unreasonable!
Unreasonable? I laughed. Rather, I approximated a laugh in my mind. I hardly could have foreseen that death by alien knight was a possibility. It was a preposterous death. Incongruously violent for someone like myself.
What happened after I died? Did the monster continue its rampage? Would I begin to perceive other bobbing souls beam into existence around me?
For their sakes I hoped not. I would not wish this upon any other.
And nothing happened. There was no relief. Instead, a deep regret, for a life unlived engulfed what must likely be my soul. I never achieved my dreams. Never made an impact. I failed to improve others' lives.
The imminent grief that would shroud the few that loved me suffocated me. No child should die before their parents. No matter how strange or unnatural the circumstances. Ultimately, my failure to live was unforgivable.
As sorrow flooded my being, filling the void that was once life, another presence made itself known to me.
A flat voice boomed into my mind, crushing every thought and emotion momentarily. “My condolences, former-human. The aether is not a kind place to grieve, and will never be a place to heal. Still your mind, and find solace later. Listen closely at this moment, for I believe this should be of great importance to you.”
I was no longer alone! But I could give no response, only listen. The presence of this other being radiated such gravity that it was all I could do to follow along.
“Regarding your untimely death,” they continued. “I must confess, owing to a minor clerical error originating from my department’s Fifth Dimensional Oversight team, a class 1424a sentient was misplaced during routine dimensional rerouting. Consequently your head was irreparably detached from your body roughly eleven years early.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
During routine what? Eleven years what?
In response to this other being’s audacity, I admit I may have gotten a little worked up. Not that it translated across very well. Voiceless, I protested to the other being whilst struggling to stop recalling the image of my own beheaded self in my mind.
“Quiet.” The command swallowed me whole, and blew my frenzied confusion away.
They continued, “I care not whether you believe in what I say, or if you fully grasp the intricacies of the universe. You are, however, owed an explanation. And you are entitled to rightful compensation, that is all. If I must hold you here, and flush every fancy from your mind for you to comprehend what I say, I shall. Right now. This is important. For you.”
A gargantuan pressure descended upon me. I felt the crushing weight of an infinite mass surrounding my being, threatening to crush me.
I held my breath, and nodded in acknowledgment. Or at least I envisioned myself doing so. The entity appeared to comprehend my every intention, and I was now quite prepared to cooperate.
“Good. Listen, as I do not have the patience to repeat myself. You were struck down by an alien subspacial trespasser without the mercy, respect or dignity a class H sentient is owed, and as such, you are entitled to certain compensation. Taking into account the time lost, the potential information produced and transformed as a result of your once-future actions, we are willing to reimburse you, or ‘reincarnate’ you to an equivalent class I to G planetoid. Your natural life-expectancy will be limited of course, but you have earned some benefits in enduring the pain, mental trauma and humiliation associated with your loss of life. As well as the forthcoming erosion as part of your erroneous materialisation here, in the Aether.”
‘Erroneous materialisation…’? Panic reemerged for a moment, before it was snuffed out carelessly by the other entity.
“As I was saying. You are entitled to benefits, as such, we will be performing a brief scan to determine a suitable plan for dematerialisation and subsequent reincarnation. Maintain a clear, calm mind, and we will extract the necessary information required to formulate your desired life-path. Keep in mind this is a limited lifetime on a planetoid governed under similar or mirrored evolutionary paths. No silicate lifeforms, no gaseous, amorphous blobs and no single-celled organisms.”
Discomfort bubbled beneath the tight grip the entity had over my mind. I attempted to form some sort of response, to express my confusion in some way.
Sighing, they continued. “I detect your apprehension and uncertainty. Given your circumstances and limited intelligence, these primitive emotions make sense. However, I must inform you that I am unable to reciprocate in kind, or adequately respond to your concerns. I am out of practice. We will proceed now, yes?”
What sort of system is this? I hurled a few childish insults and braced for some kind of impact.
“Clear and calm please.” Boomed the other.
It was as if I held my breath, while someone else plunged my head into icy water. Vicious currents engulfed my essence, lashing at every pocket, every corner of my existence.
The assault was so harsh, that I felt little pieces of me rupture, collapse and dissolve into nothingness. I lost pieces of myself. Parts that I had already forgotten had ever existed.
Just as my memories and self-awareness buckled and frayed, as I felt the weight of the universe bear down on my soul, the torrent suddenly stopped.
The celestial whiplash induced total numbness and I silently, thoughtlessly floated in disbelief.
“The mental probe was successful.” Announced the omnipresent other. “You have provided us with a loose framework to operate under. It has been cross referenced with our catalogue, and a suitable host will become available momentarily. Now, observe.”
In a single moment, a fully formed world and life manifested in my mind. Not unlike Earth, it was deep blue, covered with swathes of emerald green. But there were blemishes here and there, angry purplish bruises and dark scar-like bands.
Altogether, it was vibrant, radiant, violent, and uncharted.
The immense scope of the vision was impossible to conceive. But I knew in that moment, I had been presented with a real world to live in. To survive in.
“That was Sorefen. The class G planet which suits your needs. It is a little out of your league technically, but your soul was set on a challenge. I am uncertain if some great delusion has wholly clouded your mind, or if one such as you could maintain such an ambition, but that is not for me to concern myself with. It is your mistake to make. You will discover for yourself if your mind outmatches your body.”
Still reeling from the brutal mental probing, I latched onto the other’s words, determined to memorise them. Though all meaning was lost on me in my dumbfounded state.
“A little advice,” Offered the entity. “Whilst this planet, and its designated biological and metaphysical systems align with your asinine aspirations, do not mistake your dreams for reality, or your entitled benefits as fated powers. Sorefen is a dangerous world, populated by souls living their own life, indifferent to your struggles. You are not special. You are what you make yourself to be in the time you have left.”
My whiplash had finally faded now, and I felt lighter, as though I were floating upwards. That boded well. I hoped. But as colour bled into unreality for the first time, my head throbbed deeply and a deep scarlet strobed on and off all around me.
“I have done my due diligence former-human. It is up to you to take heed. Prepare for reconstitution.”
“Prepare for what?” My own voice, without tone, intonation or volume, only intent, echoed into the void. But it was too late. The omniscient other exploded before me as the brilliant red surrounding me materialised into a cosmic, luminous hand. The hand reached out before me, and lunged forward, snatching up my soul.
Raw, blazing power surrounded me and before I knew it, the bastard had hurled me through the aether at a billion metres a second. I tore through non-space, sizzled into nothingness, and seared a hole through unreality.
Into somewhere entirely new.