Dead Space: Valor in Laughter

"So....this is how it feels like to be dead."

Joon mused in the thought as he walked on a bright empty plain. And the fact that he was bare naked didn't bother him one bit. His present location made him forget about everything he left behind, and he didn't want to go back. Why should he return to a universe among the mortals, among the foolish, among the suffering?

But he wasn't alone. Faint shadows of human outlines existed in the celestial plains. Millions of them, their thoughts littering the empty environment with their noise pollution. And among them was a blue light, something that Joon just....knew. He had never seen something like it in his life, but he somehow had knowledge of it. And how, despite everything he had seen on Valor, he didn't need to know what it's exact identity was to feel....peaceful and safe. He knew that it would do no harm and its mere presence would ease his conscience. Clinging towards the aura of comfort seizing him, he took a step towards it as soon as he noticed its faint shimmer, and as he did, the infinite number of souls that had found residence in the clear plains faded away.

The blue light resonated closer to Joon, revealing a feminine human to be basking in the glorious hue. She appeared before him in the most familiar of forms. The one that he would have found himself the most comfortable around.

"Anne?" Joon questioned.

As if a multitude of voices, the figure answered back, "Diane Mercer is only the one of many. She is us, and we constitute her. Among us are the innocent, the merciful, the courageous, and the ideal. They have been chosen as you have been, Joon. The Old Ones....and the New. We accept them all."

"Wait, wait, wait. Who are the Old Ones? I feel like I heard them before, but..." Joon, for the first time he arrived in, well, Heaven, focused on his past life to experience in his memory what he deemed important to remember, but the environment's sensation of euphoria clouded his thoughts. He didn't want to remember. Why should he repent for things if he was already dead?

"...I can't remember."

"We, the Old Ones, are the humans before you. Ever since our creation, we have eluded the Universe's tendency for entrophy, and we have maintained such a peace with our Equine brothers and sisters, our Creations and our Teachers. In exchange for their teachings of magic, we educated them in return...of emotion. Of acceptance and love. And most importantly....friendship. But our mutual alliance was not eternal. Such a barrier against Chaos was not forever. Many had been corrupted, and had sought substenance through consumption and cruelty. Too many....too many had gone," the being reminisced with a downward glower.

But the being continued nevertheless, "So we had created the Marker. We had told the Equines to cast a Veil around their world. None would pass, none would escape. We told the Dual Matriarchs to maintain such a shield against Corruption and to never let down their guard. We knew their curiosity of the the outside would both pique and terrify them, but it was our desperate hope that such Darkness of the Universe would die off from consuming itself. The Marker, in your colloquial terms, was our life raft. It was our only hope against our own brothers and sisters. We would become one, so no other being would be able to harm us. One cannot bring violence and chaos upon another if he is alone."

"So...this is the Marker?" Joon asked.

"Indeed. But there are many levels to its structure. More than, concurrent with your knowledge, Heaven and Hell. And to be exact there are nearly 25 decillion different plains of existence in the Marker. This is only one of them, to clarify."

"And what would this level be?"

"...A purgatory of such, Limbo. Your culture has distinctly differentiated between the two ideals, but their essential concept is the same. It is a waiting room for what lies beyond."

"So...I'm really dead?"

She/It smiled, "That is the real question isn't it? Are we truly dead in the afterlife, if our souls are intertwined together then?"

"Uhhhh, I feel like that was rhetorical..."

"You are quite observant. Now-"

"But, back to the question. Am I really dead? Why the hell should I be in a waiting room if I've already been selected?"

The being gazed at him with curiosity, brushing away his bluntness. "Are you happy here? Have you experienced solace?"

"Yes, more than I've ever felt in years. Before....you, I mean her. Sorry you look a lot like Anne, and..." Joon drifted off, his eyes approaching the small object cradled in the being's arms. But it was no simple object. The small infant, covered in a blanket, silently cooed when it saw his face. It's father's face.

"That's.....that's-"

"Yes, she had joined us along with her mother. If you make Us whole, then you will enjoy their company for all of eternity. Now, are you happy here? Accept us, and care no more about mortality."

"....No."

"What?" the being gasped.

"I'm honored, I really am. But I have a feeling that..." Joon looked again longingly at the small child. Can't I...just hold her? Just once? "...there's more than one option."

"You cannot return back. Corruption has consumed all of the human race. You have seen the effects of their own Marker, a ...thing of hubris that is against everything that we have stood for."

Suddenly, the figure of the being no longer glowed with a bluish aura, and reverted to a voice Joon would have died for to hear again.

This time, in Anne's voice, it pleaded, "Don't you wish to see me again. Us again? We miss you, and all you have to do is-"

"I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

Joon stammered, "Everytime I look at you and the infant, I'm reminded of what I done. Even though this place is Limbo or whatever the hell it really is, I feel...not anxious. So imagine what sort of paradise Heaven would be. I....I don't deserve any of it. I don't deserve you!"

"I've forgiven you...We've forgiven you. Your child wishes to see you, embrace you."

"I...I left something behind. Something I needed to do."

"Whatever task you were given, forget it. Corruption would only tempt you, bait you!"

"But what about the Equines? What about Pinkie? I...can't....leave them to die while I'm enjoying literal paradise!"

Joon raked his hands through his hair. He sighed out, "I'm still alive aren't I?"

"..."

"Answer me, Diane!"

"...Yes. Barely. Corruption only takes mere moments to destroy the individual, the soul."

"I'm sorry. I really am. I think it would be better if you and the child about me. You both are better off without me," Joon slowly backed away. The atmosphere above started to echo heavenly cracks as parts of the sky were starting to dissolve away.

"You're brave, you know that? Stupid...but brave. I can't stop you. I know I can't. But just to make sure, you know that if you don't accept this oppurtunity...there are no second chances? You won't be able to come back."

"I won't be able to live with myself....or exist with myself if I don't do this. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to forgive if you didn't do anything wrong."

"But can I ask you something? Since, you know, there is a like a trillion of you in there."

Anne smiled, "Anything."

"Why did the Old Ones create Equines in the first place? They already had to power to create an entire species of intelligenct beings, so why need magic?"

"We once were...a rather pessimistic bunch. Equines are unnaturally cheery, as they were designed to be. No person ever deserves to be alone in such an empty Universe. And you've experienced why, also."

"What?"

"Her. Pinkie Pie, I mean. She got you through what no human alone could have survived both physically and mentally. She kept you alive. She made you laugh. And Laughter is the most bravest thing that a being can do in a less-than-fortunate situation. It's a rebelliousness that pierces the most powerful of slience and oppression."

The world was crumbling apart, and right before Joon disappeared into wisps along with it, he said to himself while becoming enveloped in pure light,

"Well...I'll be."

Joon gasped for breath as his vision cleared. He was no longer in the world of warm, Elysian pleasure. Instead, it appeared he was impaled onto a cold metal floor, and missing quite a few digits. And an eye. He strangely did not feel pain from his wounds, though. Only a curious ache within his chest and skull, as if something was rearranging themselves inside his body, waiting for an oppurtunity to rip themselves out. The Necromorphs around him were confused. How could a human revive from death without resurrection nor indoctrination.

In the midst of their bewilderment, and his discomfort, Joon raised a ragged, bloodied hand. Two fingers were missing, so Joon could only squeeze down on the pressure switch of the det control in his grip with his pinkie and ring finger.

Joon could hardly breath. He felt as if his head was about to explode, as if there was something growing inside his body. But he banished aside such useless sensations. He no longer could feel, touch, taste, nor smell.

The last thing he would be able to see was a magnesium-white light of a fusion reactor implosion.

And his last thought? That his pinkie had saved him and every living being in the universe.