Prologue: The Act of Giving Up (REVISED)
Author's Note
I started this Fanfiction in early 2018, and I have decided that this whole chapter needs a revamp. I am going to try and make it less cringey, and if you find this story after the rework, be thankful that this chapter has changed.
The Act of Giving Up (Prologue)
Heavy breathing, the sound of my heart pounds louder and louder, filling my ears with gut-wrenching sound. As I think of ways of getting out of this, my mind fires blanks. Fifteen. Fifteen years of nonstop torment. Nine years of suffering because of a gang that were too sorry to get jobs. I thought my life would get better after high school. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The walls of the alleyway seeming to suffocate me. This pain I feel, as these people torment and beat me while I’m on the ground, it’s unbearable. At least 15 minutes have passed since the last break. I don't know how long they have been beating me seemingly to a pulp. My left eye is swollen, I can’t feel my ribs, I can feel that I have multiple cracked bones, and I’m coughing up my own blood. No one passing by could hear my screams.
And I was crying.
When will it stop?
I was screaming.
When can I go home?
I was begging for mercy.
I couldn't think straight anymore as they were suddenly called off by their leader. I lay on the ground, expecting more of the same treatment from him, but it never came. Instead, his rough voice filled my ears as he commanded his goons.
“Alright, I think he’s learned his lesson,” he said as I looked up at him in hatred, but also, hope, hoping that this would be the end of the beatings. He got on one knee, “Isn’t that right, Stormy?" I look at him and try to get up, but he punches me, making me fall back to the ground letting out a small sob. "Stormy, don't just ignore me, if you want us to stop, then all you have to do is tell us!"
I've seen this trick before, I've been screaming for them to stop for I don't know how long, and this is when I realized that there isn't an out to this situation. Even so, I try to stand up again, which was a bad idea, seeing as how a lot of the bones in my arms and legs were fractured. I push myself to at least get on one knee and speak my mind. I've had enough of them. They have harassed me for long enough.
"Go to hell, Kyle."
Kyle, the leader of the group, looked at me in amusement, as he stood up on both feet. "Well, look who finally decided to pony up!" He laughed as he delivered an uppercut to my jaw, sending me flying a few feet backward. I would expect him to do nothing less.
Typical...
I went headfirst into the pavement, sliding a few feet until my head slammed against a run-down jalopy.
The world faded away until all I saw was darkness.
A few hours later
I could feel my senses slowly coming back to me as I awoke back in the alley. It was daytime, so I assumed that I had been out for several hours. I could tell that I was left without any sort of warm clothing except for a pair of pants. Every bone in my body was aching, and I could still taste blood, but instead of just blood, of course, it had to have dried in my mouth. I begin to cough, making my body shudder in pain due to the sudden use of my muscles. I rolled over to my side, as that was all I could do as I flailed on the ground, coughing up my insides.
As my hearing came back, I could hear someone yelling just before I heard the taps of footsteps and looked down the alleyway. There was a figure, I couldn't tell who it was, but no matter who it was, I didn't want to take the chance that it might be the gang that left me like this, coming back to finish me off. I hastily tried to get on my feet so I could flee, but as soon as I got to my feet, my knees buckled, making me fall onto the hot pavement chest first. I couldn't do anything, I was useless in this state. The footsteps were coming closer at a higher pace than before, making me panic as I tried to at least crawl away. But it was useless, I was too weak. I stopped and rolled over to turn to my pursuer.
"No, stop! Don't do this! I'm already down!" I yelled back at the figure. They stopped a couple of feet away from me for a brief moment, my eyesight was still recovering it seemed, because I couldn't tell who it was from even this short of a distance. They walked up to me, closing the distance. They knelt down and reached towards me. I was unable to move anymore, I was frozen. The only thing I could do to prepare for the onslaught was to try and move my arms to shield my face...
...but the onslaught never came. Instead, they wrapped their arms around me and held me close. It hurt, but I could hear their sobs now. I could hear them grieving. Just then, I finally recognized her voice.
It was my mother. She had come to get me out of this alleyway, and take me home. Through her sobbing, she had told me that when I hadn't returned home, she started to worry so much that she had been searching for me for hours. I put my left arm around her, returning the hug.
I had been out for 12 hours.
"What happened to you!? Why are you so beaten up!? Who did this to you!? Is anything broken!?" She asked in rapid succession. I couldn't answer the first three questions of course. If I did, what if the gang found out? They have people everywhere, spying and digging up information on everybody. If they found out that I had told my mother or anyone at all? Well... They would kill me, and then they would go for my mother. I couldn't risk it, but I could at least tell her about the injuries.
"I think that my ribs are the only thing that's broken. My other injuries are probably just fractured." She grabbed my right arm and positioned it across the back of her neck, she put her arm under mine for support as she hoisted me back up to my feet.
"We have to get you to the car, you can't walk for long, so this is the only option." We started haphazardly walking towards my mom's car. I fell a few times before finally reaching the passenger side door. She opened the door and set me down inside with very little help from me. Again, I'm useless in this state.
"Mom..." I say.
"Shhh..." She interrupted, "It will be okay, I'm with you now." She said, comforting my nerves. "Can you get buckled by yourself?"
I nod as I wave my left hand for her to see. She chuckles. I grab my seat-belt, pulling it across my chest and fasten it into place.
"Good. Now, we're going to get you to a hospital." She walked to the other side of the car and gets into the driver's seat. After she fastens her seat-belt, she turns towards me, concerned. "Alex, I need you to tell me what happened, so I can help." I look at her, my left eye was still swollen. She continues, "I need to help. Otherwise, who's to say that this will happen again? This has happened before in the past! I've seen you come home with bruises! But you never tell me anything about it! You look even worse than the last time something like this happened..." She eyes my injuries and notices a few cuts and bruises along my torso. Other than the fact that they kicked me, they had also taken anything sharp that they could find, and made cuts into my skin. They were relatively deep, but not enough to have me bleed to death. In truth, I wish they had, just to put me out of my misery.
"I can't tell you, mom..." I told her, making eye contact. She winces at the sight of my swollen eye. My body is still aching as I tell her this, but not so much as to keep me from talking. "If I could, I would, but..." I pause and think, but, I have nothing else to say except, "I just can't. I don't want to risk you getting hurt too..."
"Not for me, not for anyone."
I finish talking as she continues to look at me, before turning to start the car. The engine starts and we're on our way.
The alleyway went silent as the car drove away onto the main road. A man watching from a dark corner scowls at the sight. Clenching his fist, he punches the wall next to him, breaking away a large chunk of bricks.
He turns to run and comes to an abandoned warehouse, slamming the door open with the force of a Rhino
"Kyle!" The man shouted. "Come here!" He commanded.
A man in his early twenties was standing on a catwalk leaning against the railing when he heard his bosses' shout and ran down to meet the man. "Yeah?" He replied casually.
The man looked at Kyle in annoyance. "That man you fellas beat to a pulp last night? He's still breathing!" He shouted, grabbing Kyle's shirt with one hand and hoisting him up. "Why is he still alive?"
Kyle looked uninterested in what the man had said. "We're not supposed to kill him. He's our main source of income, and if he doesn't deliver, we have to beat him up. Not kill him." He looked at the man who had lifted him like a feather and raised an eyebrow. "Were we, for some reason, supposed to kill him?"
The man looked at Kyle with utmost rage. "Idiot! Now he'll tell everyone about what happened!" He dropped Kyle onto the ground and turned to the side, his fists clenched. "This is the worst that we've ever roughed him up!" He finished, breathing frantically before calming himself down. Sighing, he looked at Kyle. "We have no choice but to kill him now."
Kyle looked at the man, determination beaming from his face. "Alright, I'll send someone out to-"
"No!" The man interrupted. walking out of the shadows of the warehouse. He was a muscular man, at about 6 feet and 3 inches with a buzz-cut. He wore a white undershirt with a black leather jacket and baggy black cargo pants. His name was Reese. "I will do it myself, and you are coming with me."
"Are you sure, boss?" Kyle questioned.
Reese looked down at the smaller man, seeming to soften up in his face. "Yes. It is rather unfortunate though."
"Why's that?" Kyle asked.
Reese looked at Kyle with a sorrowful look. "That exchange last night would have been the last time that we would have to use his money." The man started walking out of the warehouse with Kyle in tow and walked up to a black Rolls Royce. "Then he would have never had to hear from us again." He looked down. "And here I was about to apologize to him for everything we've done, and somehow make-up with him. But that's all out of the picture now."
Kyle looked at him, seeing the true sorrow in his face. He truly didn't want to do this, but he insisted, it was a necessity to keep the integrity of his gang. "Let's go, boss." Kyle finally said.
Reese put his hand on the door handle, "Contact our boys at the construction site so that we can possibly ambush them on the road."
They got into the car and drove out onto the street, in pursuit of their former "business" partner.
I love my Mother. She's a kind, but also a stern parent. She's a scientist working on an advanced prosthesis prototype for wounded veterans. In other words; she makes it so veterans who have had their limbs amputated, or blown off in the heat of battle, have a normal life again, and in some cases, even better lives with enhancements. They have almost perfected it, and when it is complete, it will revolutionize our society. She would do anything to make people happy, even if it put her in harm's way. But I couldn't let her do that. Not with this gang.
It had been a silent drive. We had been driving for about 18 minutes. I sat there in the passenger's seat, deep in thought. I had been thinking about what I could actually say to her. We were in the car, the gang wasn't listening in, right? I hesitantly decided that it would be best to keep the explanation brief. I looked towards my mother, who was silent as she concentrated on the road. I didn't know what to say as to keep it brief, so I just started talking.
"Mom, I know I said I can't say anything about the incident, but I can't stand it anymore." I started. His mother's interest was peaked, I could tell that she was all ears. "The people who did this to me, they wanted my money and I refused like I always have."
"What changed this time that they left you to near-death?" she inquired, briefly glancing at me before returning her eyes to the road. "The last few times you came home like this weren't this bad. Honestly, I thought you were just brawling with other people those times. Obviously, I was wrong." She sighed as she made a right turn.
"They wanted my money those times too, and I refused to give it to them those times as well. I only gave them the money that they wanted because they beat me up." I looked down. He had been dealing with these people for the last 9 years. It started the year after he graduated, and it never stopped up to this day.
"What do they want the money for, I wonder?" She said as she came to a stop in front of a roadblock. Apparently, someone had gotten into a wreck just up ahead, in front of a construction site and they were moving debris off the road. An officer came to our car and said that there were at least 3 cars involved.
"Jeez..."
This was going to take a while.
I waited for the officer to head back to his car so I could start talking again, and he did after a few seconds. I looked at her.
"I don't know why they wanted the money," I said finally. "All I know is that they are desperate for it, for whatever reason. At one point, they had mentioned that they 'had a debt to pay' to some crime boss." I looked down at my body, wondering what kind of debt could force them to torment me for 9 years. "It's been the same people for 9 years."
"9 years!?" My mother exclaimed. "You haven't told me anything about these people for 9 years?! Honey, you need to tell me everything, and I mean EVERYTHING from here on out." As she said this, I looked at her and then past her out the window and my face turned to one of terror. A wrecking ball was heading straight for the car.
"Mom!" I tried to warn.
But it was too late.
It seemed as if time had slowed down as the giant mass collided with the car, making it crumble as it flew into the air. She had received the full force of the wrecking ball as it had collided with her side of the car. The car was still flying as I let out a scream that would pierce the heavens. The car had made contact with a building before crashing to the ground, upside down.
"Mom!" He cried out.
She was crushed by the remains of the driver's side of the car. She was dead. I could just barely recognize her as I started to smell gas, and with my common sense, I unbuckled myself with my left hand. I fell onto the roof of the car, which could now be considered the floor at this point. I landed painfully, before looking toward the door. I tried to open it, only to find that it was stuck due to how it was crushed. I saw that the window was cracked from the landing, and started to try and kick it out with my 'good' leg. It took me several painful tries as the smell of gas started to get stronger. A fire had started, due to the engine still being on. I kicked one last time before the window gave in and I could escape. I crawled through the window and haphazardly got to my feet, the pain shooting through my bones was ignored due to the adrenaline coursing through my body. I clumsily jogged away from the car just before it had blown up.
"What?! No!" I stared, as my mother and the car went up in a plume of smoke. "This can't be happening!" I yelled.
"Unfortunately, I believe it is, Alex." A voice suddenly called out followed by the cock of a gun. "It's unfortunate that you lived."
I looked to where the voice was coming from. It was a man that stood at about 6 feet. He looked to have what I considered a 'buzz-cut'. He was buff, to a certain extent, and he wore a white tank top under a black leather jacket with black cargo shorts. He was walking away from the crane that held the wrecking ball. I instantly knew that he was the one behind all of this. I could tell that this was the boss of the gang.
"You!" Alex exclaimed. "I-I'll kill you! You killed my mother!" I yelled, pointing a finger towards him.
The man looked at Alex with an amused smirk, before turning into a sad frown. He walked up to me, "The name's Reese. Glad to make your acquaintance." He extended his left hand as if to offer a handshake. I looked at the hand before looking at Reese with a piercing gaze.
"Why!? Why did you do this!?" I questioned, pushing away his arm. "What made you do this!?" I yelled as tears started to well up in my eyes.
Reese was silent for a few seconds, before raising his pistol and pointing it at me from the hip. "She knew too much, and if she didn't, then she would have. She found you in that alley and drove you away. I knew you were gonna blab sooner or later." He extended his arm, fully aiming at my head now. "We couldn't take that risk."
I looked at the pile of rubble that was his mother's car. I then looked back at Reese with anger. "Well!? What are you waiting for!?" I yelled, extending my arms outward. "Do it! Shoot me! I have nothing else to live for! You took the only thing away from me! So just do it!" Tears were now flowing freely down my face, dripping down onto the cement. I looked down, then back to his face. "Just get it over with..."
I looked at the man in front of me as he stared straight at me, crying, but with full confidence, ready to die. Seconds seeming like minutes, we stared at each other. My hand started to tremble, the gun shaking.
Why!? Why am I shaking!? I should be able to do this! I'm not a weakling! I looked into his eyes, the man that we've tormented for so long, finally broken. For what? Power? No. Money? Maybe. But did we want him dead? Hell no. But he knew too much, had seen too much. We were so close! We could finally be out of this hellish debt!
...
But at what cost? His mother was already dead, his father was gone, and he had nowhere to go, not even our gang, he'd refuse.
...
I decided to finally say something.
"You really want to die that much?" I asked.
"Yes!" Alex answered, still sobbing. "I do! After what you've put me through for 9 years, of course, I do!" Alex narrowed his eyes, making his glare even more piercing. "It doesn't help the fact that I'm a useless piece of garbage, that now because of you, nobody wants! I am not good at anything, not even drawing! I gave that up in middle-school! The only thing that was driving me forward was the love that I got from my mother, and now she's gone! I have dealt with your nonstop pummelings for nine, goddamned years! So please, JUST DO IT.
I just stared, unsure of what to do anymore. My hands were trembling. This man, seemingly spilling his life story out to me, made my heart clench. Why?! I stared at a man that had given up on the world, whose wish was to just die and end it all. It didn't help the fact that I had killed the man's mother. There was no coming back from this.
"Goddamnit!" I started. "Now I can't kill you. You have made me regret my actions. Goddammit!" I clenched my empty hand, looking to the side. Alex couldn't believe it. This man was about to kill him, but why did he stop? "I can't kill you anymore, my conscience has won out," I said as I threw the gun to the ground. "I'm done." And just walked away, disappearing down a nearby alleyway.
I stood there, in shock. The man who killed my mother seemingly disappearing from my sight. He was about to kill me! I wanted him to just end me. Somehow, I knew he was going to do that. Nothing ever goes my way, does it? I look at the gun on the ground, its shine luring me towards it. I walk over to the gun and pick it up hesitantly. I turn it in my hand, observing the weapon. It wasn't my preferred choice of weapon, but it would have to do. The sight of the gun sent a painful shiver down my spine. I look towards the alley, looking for the man, but he was nowhere to be seen. The burning car had drawn more than a few people to the area, me being in the center. They all stood and stared at me. Some put their hands to their mouths, while others called out for someone to help, but there was no helping this situation. I put the gun to my head. Suddenly, a gruff voice called out.
"Put the gun down, and put your hands on your head!" It was the police officer who was at the roadblock. "I don't want to hurt you, so if you could just put the gun down, we won't have to!"
I would not put the gun down. This is what I wanted, and I wanted everyone to know it.
"I will not!" My voice boomed with a power it never had. "This is what I want. For fifteen years, I've been putting up with the constant torment of being pushed around and stepped on! Nine of those years were filled with being tormented by the gang that terrorizes this city!" The crowd started to stir, and the officer raised his head. "Fifteen years of absolute torture! I have had enough! The only person that I could look to for comfort was my mother, and there she is!" I said as I pointed towards the burning wreckage that no longer looked like.car. "And now she's dead. Murdered!" My entire body shook as I muttered those words. Murdered. "By a man that didn't have the guts to just end me as he did with her!" The officer was approaching slowly as he held his arms up to show that he wasn't hostile. To bad, but there's no stopping this. "Stay back!" I shout, and he did, but he reached for his radio. "Don't you dare! You don't have the right to stop me from getting what I want!" I pull the hammer of the gun back, locking it. "Please, just don't..." I plead, tears streaming down my face. In turn, he stops.
"What's he doing!?"
"He should be trying to stop him!"
"Hurry up officer!"
"You seem to be confident about this," The officer started, "but I can't just let this happen! We can help you! You don't have to do this!" He then looked at me with hopeful eyes, as if he could stop me from pulling the trigger by abiding by my demands.
I look at him, with a sad smile "I can't be helped." I said. "There's no longer anyone to help me in this world." I glanced towards the car. "So just stay back, please."
He looked at me, and I looked at him.
"I'm sorry..." I started to pull down on the trigger.
The officer started to run towards me, his eyes were full of terror. "NO!"
And then I pulled the trigger.
Chapter 1: The Void [REVISED]
Author's Note
I've updated this chapter to have better flow and to correct some grammar and spelling issues. I've also changed o few details.
The Void (Chapter 1)
The faint echos of silence.
This is what filled my ears as I regained consciousness. Regaining my senses, one by one, I opened my eyes only to be met with darkness. Darkness, combined with nothing in any direction. I was confused. I didn’t know where I was, or how I got there, but the last thing that I could remember was pulling the trigger of the pistol that I had pressed against my head. How am I alive? How did I get to this bizarre place? I was dead, as far as I could tell.
Then it hit me like a pile of bricks.
Is this where you go after you die?
I turned my head around in all directions, finding nothing but endless darkness, as I expected. I looked down at my body and found that I had no body to look at. I couldn’t feel anything. I began to panic, as the thought of becoming nothing filled my mind. But then I remembered something: this is what I wanted. I wanted a place where I could just let go of all of the hurt that I had dealt with. A place that was so peaceful, that I could forget everything.
And then a screen came up.
“Huh?”
Subject: Alexander Storm
Age: Deceased
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Above Average
Cause of Death: ERROR
I looked at the bizarre screen, seeing my name, blood type, and the confirmation that I was indeed dead. I looked at the last entry and became confused. “What type of afterlife doesn’t know your cause of death?” I said aloud.
A blinding light filled my eyes as a orb of light started to float towards me. “The type that is the equivalent to a database, of course,” Came a voice from the light. It had started to take the shape of an older man, with his peppered brown hair was ragged. He wore a tan robe over what looked to be a lab uniform that was white, with a brown belt that separated his upper half from what looked to be the ends of a tunic and black pants with black shoes. “And I, being its creator, am not all-knowing, unfortunately.”
I looked at him, bewildered at how he appeared out of nowhere. I parted his mouth slightly, (at least in my mind), before closing it again, not knowing what to say. I stared for a few more seconds before the man waved his hand, and a little keyboard appeared. He hovered it over to where my hands would have been.
“Just picture in your mind what you want to type,” The man said. “And when you are ready, concentrate on all of your being, and imagine that your hands are on the keyboard.” He demonstrated with slow breathing, before raising his hand. “See you in a bit. Chou!” And he disappeared.
I was at a loss for words at what had just happened. All I could do was heed the man’s words. I focused on my being, closing my eyes and concentrating on what I wanted to type. At first, nothing had happened. Nothing but the sounds of silence. I tried once more, this time focusing on my hands and almost in an instant, I could feel my hands again. I then focused on the keyboard, feeling my hands hover over to it, looking towards the screen. The next entry was indicated by a blinking white line. ‘Cause of Death’ were the words running through I head. I began to type;
Cause of Death: Gunshot to the head; Suicide
I pressed ‘Enter’, which triggered the system to expand and gather other entities. They looked like data. Not just any data, but data about me. My data.
Looking up in astonishment, I began to speak, “This... This is an entire data stream of every event in my life!” I looked at the stream, seeing events that he could never forget, to things that he had tried to suppress and keep hidden. I winced at these. “This isn’t just a data stream...”
“It’s a recording.” I said in unison with the other man’s voice that sounded like it came from behind. I jumped and turned around. I saw him once again with his arms folded behind his back. He had a look of wisdom or radiance of light in this dark abyss. I wanted answers, so I asked the most obvious question.
“Who are you?” I asked.
The man looked at me and tilted his head forward, closing his eyes. He looked to be deep in thought, as if he was thinking about what he should say, or to remember something. After a few seconds of silence, he opened his eyes, raised his head and walked toward Alex, stopping right in front of him. Looking straight into his eyes, he began to speak.
“I am Doctor Owen Parker, a former scientist, if you will, in the field of creating the perfect afterlife.” He said while gesturing around him with one of his hands. “My job was to create the perfect afterlife for those who have experienced an unfair, or unfortunate end to their biological lifestream.” He gestured toward the holographic screen, causing it to move and stop in front of him. “As you can see, your last moments were quite unfortunate if I may say so myself, but of your own accord.”
I took a moment to process what he said and began thinking about if my suicide had any impact on anything. I had no idea if this man was telling the truth or not. He was supposedly a scientist and based on what I had seen, he wasn’t very successful in creating much of an ‘afterlife’ in my honest opinion. I looked around once more, and once again all I saw was darkness. I had many more questions than I had answers. I looked at Owen, who was waiting for me to process things.
“This is real, right?” I asked, receiving a nod in response. “This is the ‘afterlife' that you created?” I received another nod. “It doesn’t have much of a presence, does it?”
What I received this time was the opposite of what I expected. He chuckled, “Well, this part of the 'afterlife' could be considered the main lobby with information on what is to be expected from this place. But I’ll spare you the fine details for now and welcome you to my world.” He clapped his hands and suddenly a bright light started to build up. Electronic buzzing and whistles accompanied the light as thousands of data and video screens started to form. The screens began to project different data sets that seemed to be from different people. They started to fly around in the darkness. They flew around in a way that could be described as a vortex of light that had surrounded us. This went on for a few minutes. The silence around us was soon replaced with constant electric noise, whirring engines and beeps, as if it were a server room, but beyond the holographic screens, there was darkness, a void of nothingness, as if these screens were what made up this ‘afterlife’. The screens started to settle down and rest in place, looking up, I could see a vortex of data and visuals.
“Whoa...” I said. I looked in front of me and saw a holograph detailing names and info pertaining to those names. I could finally feel a floor beneath my feet. I looked down but all I could see were more screens and data, but still no-body. I looked at Owen, who had a grin on his face. He looked at me, raising his eyebrows.
“Welcome to the Void.” Owen started. “Here you can see into millions of people’s lives with the press of a button. You can travel to other realities here, and you can even visit certain important people in history; depending on which history you are interested in.” Owen looked back to the wall of screens before continuing. “I originally invented this space to give people, like you, a second chance at life. I, of course, have evolved it into something greater.” He paused, furrowing his brow a bit.
I looked at him for a few seconds before looking back at the holograph. Being curious, I walked towards it until it was an arm's length away, right in front of me. I read a few of the descriptions. Some of them were dead, but most of them were still alive. “How did you do all of this? I know you said that you’re a scientist, but...” I continued to read the descriptions of more subjects, each one having their own unique background. One of which, caught my attention. The data appeared to be more detailed than my profile. I was then confused even more. “Uhm...”
Owen saw my confusion and wondered what had caught my eye. He walked up to the holograph and stood next to me. I pointed to the profile. He saw me pointing to a name that caught my attention. A quick glance was all that was needed to understand why. “Ah, that,” he said.
Subject: Alexander Storm
Age: 27
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Athletic
Health: Above Average
Heart-rate: 42 bpm
Physical Abnormalities: Amputated Left Arm
Special Abilities: High Jump, Acrobatics, Swordsmanship, Arcane Magic
Mentality: ERROR
This profile was not mine, but at the same time, I had looked into the studies of alternate realities and wondered if this was one of them. This ‘Alexander Storm’ was still alive, and he had a much more interesting life than I did. What bothered me most of all, was that this Alexander’s world was completely different. Technology had advanced quicker and easier. He had people to call his friends, and some to call his family. He still had enemies, but that was nothing new. He had abilities that would have never been possible in the real world, but there he was with arcane magic by his side. He also appeared to have spiked brown hair, which looked like it came straight out of an anime.
“Doctor, could you tell me what this means?” I asked.
“This, Alex, is an alternate reality, but you probably already know that,” Owen answered, looking at me. I nodded. “One of which that has significant differences and changes compared to your timeline, and has had elements placed there by an unknown entity. This world is going through a war so great, that civilians from all over the world have had to train themselves to fight powerful machines, mages, swordsman, demigods, and much, much more.” Owen looked at the picture of Alexander Storm. “This man is probably the most important man in this alternate reality, and in reality, Alex, this man is an alternate you.”
“What?!” I yelled. “How!? I’m here! How can I even be here?! This shouldn't even be possible, this is all science-fiction!”
“I’ll give you the short answer;” Owen responded. “This place was created by me when I had a scientific breakthrough; the key to the so-called 'afterlife'. Now,” He put his hands in front of him, bringing up a visual interface. “If you had a bubble," he began drawing, "and you created another bubble on the outside of the first bubble, there would be two bubbles, joined together, fragile, but together. The barriers between these two bubbles act as a passageway to one another. With the Void, I found and figured out a way to recreate that same passageway but with universes and realities. Now, suppose we add a restriction to these bubbles, like say... An unfair life or death. This would only make it so that only people who have suffered an unfair life, or an unfair death could pass through this barrier, into the Void.”
“And how does it do that?” I asked. Still confused and overwhelmed.
Owen paused, looking at me, and smiled. “The wonders of science, Alex! I created this, 'bubble' by creating a miniature black hole in my reality. What I found out, was that this particular black hole was different. Naturally, my world and I were sucked into it. My world was unfortunately destroyed, but I survived! Once I was here, I found that I could do things that I would only ever dream of doing! I could manipulate the black hole from the inside, and as an experiment, I wanted to create a 'portal' to another world. It worked, but what I found out through time, is that I could only visit a world for 30 minutes at a time, every 10,000 years.”
In my opinion, this man was either a genius or a loon. But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered were my next questions.
“So... What am I doing here? Am I the first person to come here after you?”
Owen’s smile grew even wider as I asked these questions, but then his face got serious. He looked at me.
“You are here because of your unfortunate life and death,” Owen said, "and yes, you are the first person that I have decided to bring to the Void. This is your second chance Alex! I admit, that your life was very, very unfortunate, but your death is more tragic." He turned to the holographs and began browsing. "Suicide, tut-tut..."
"What is it?" I asked, noticing his displeasure.
"Suicide is never the answer Alex, but that just means that you have a lot to learn." He glanced in my direction, then back to the holograph. "I need you to learn that most of all. So while you are here, there will be a punishment. But we will get to that in a moment. For now, I must tell you what you are meant to do here."
I knew that my suicide would play a factor in this, but hopefully he'll explain that later. I looked to him with interest, "What I am meant to do?"
“This is what I meant when I said that I have evolved the Void into something greater." He said with pep in his voice. "You will be the first experiment of this evolution."
Now I was even more confused than I was originally. More questions, great... "I don't understand, what is this evolution?"
Owen chuckled "Something that I'm sure that I'll be proud of." He stopped his scrolling on a particular profile. "This evolution is meant to help those that are in the land of the living or the 'Waking World'. Some people need guidance; protection if you will." He tapped on the profile to reveal that it was a girl's. She had red and gold flowing hair with a smile in her picture. "Alex, you're essentially immortal in the void, time passes differently here than in the outside world. That means that you have as much time as you need to train, and you must train if you are to protect this particular person."
Time differences? "How much of a difference is time here compared to the outside world?" I asked.
Owen smirked and turned towards me. "One minute in the waking world is four months in the void." He chuckled, "So that would mean that one second there is worth twelve hours here."
What!? I was flabbergasted. Four months in here is equal to one minute out there?! "That's...that's...how have you managed to do this!? That should be impossible!"
Owen let out a hearty laugh, "That was not my doing. You can blame the black hole for the time differences. But that brings us to your first lesson. You see, because I am limited to this place, essentially trapped, I need you to do what I can't. I will train you in many aspects. For as long as I've been here, I've mastered all forms of combat, defensive and offensive. You must train to protect others while you're here."
Alex was stumped. "Why do I have to train to protect others? Why can't I just stay here?"
Owen looked at Alex with a slight frown. "Because, Alex, I want to prevent things from happening to innocent people's lives that have ended another's. For instance, your death was caused by years of torment by bullies and thugs. You had lost your mother at the end, and that was the last thing you could bare before you ended it all." Owen looked at the data stream. "That's this skull right here." He pointed to Alex's lifestream, which looked like a heart rate monitor. At the end of the stream, was a red skull, which indicated the end of one's life. "This is why I have decided to start this evolution by training anyone that comes here to save others from doing the same."
Alex looked at his life stream, and thought of another question. "If this place is where people go after they suffer through a tragic death..." He paused and looked at Owen. "...then where is my mother?"
Owen sighed. He waved his hand and brought up another screen of data. This one was Alex's mother. It had a list of properties that were different from the other's.
Subject: Linda Storm
Age: Deceased
Previous Age: 69
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Average
Cause of Death: ERROR
Mentality: ERROR
Transfer to Void: FAILURE
"I couldn't save your mother. Her body..." Owen breathed. "...her body was too damaged to be saved, and if the void gets a body, that doesn't look human, then the person cannot be saved."
I couldn't believe it. The one chance of saving my mother, and it's all wasted. Why? Why does this always have to happen to me? Why am I even here?! I shouldn't be here! My mind shouldn't even exist anymore! Just let me die! I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, if I could have tears at all. I looked at Owen, anger welling up in my system. The Void began to shake, the screens and holographs blinking in and out. He looks at me and holds out his hands as if to calm me, but that isn't going to work. My mother! She's fully dead now, and I can't do anything about it...
"Why!" I screamed, making the void shake harder. "Why couldn't you have sent one of your 'Guardians' to save her!" I could feel my anger boiling out of control. "She was the only thing that gave me the will to live!"
"Alexander!" His voiced boomed. I shrunk back in fear of being hit, but it never came. He sighed and looked at me. "Being a Guardian is not that simple." He put one of his hands on my shoulder his tone back to normal. "I can't send them to just any dimension. I have no control over that." His soothing voice was enough to calm my nerves.
I looked at him. "So do these Guardians just get to choose who they want to protect?" I asked.
Owen chuckled, “Oh, no. Nothing like that. Based on my observations, these people are chosen by the will of their heart. Usually, the people who come here and train usually have something in common with the ones whom they were assigned to.” He said. “I train these... ‘Guardians’ to protect these people because I care about the victims who are so unfortunate, that in the end, they just end it all. I send people to protect those people, and usually, it all works out in the end. More often than not, some of my pupils have even became attached to their target by the bonds of friendship.”
Alex had few words to say. This was just so much information at one time to process. He looked back at his alternate’s profile. “So, these are separate from the people who need help?” He said while pointing to the holograph.
“Indeed.” the doctor answered. “These are the people who, given that they meet their end, will come to the void to receive training.” He flicked his hand upwards, causing the list of people to scroll downwards. “See? Here’s your profile. It’s been updated.” Alex looked at the profile. It looked like his mother's, but it was his.
Subject: Alexander Storm
Age: Deceased
Previous Age: 27
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Above Average
Cause of Death: Gunshot to the head; Suicide
Mentality: Conflicted
Transfer to Void: SUCCESS
Alex looked at the profile for a few minutes before making his decision.
"I'm ready to become a Guardian." He said before a locked portal appeared.
This shocked the pair of men, who then looked to the side of the portal. There was a label with a name with a timer underneath. It read:
Subject: Sunset Shimmer
Unlocks in: 100,000 void years
Owen chuckled. "You better get to training then."
