I'd been knocked out cold by what felt like a brutal hit to the head. I looked about me and found nothing. There was literally nothing in the space aside from myself. The feeling was disorientating. It constantly felt like I was falling but there was no end and then it felt like my feet were planted on solid ground, I couldn't keep up.
It took a few backflips and pivots to get my body righted in the direction-whatever direction there was- I wanted. The beings guide through voice most likely threw me in here. So where was it?
Not that I was especially looking forward to the psychedelic feeling the beings very presence exerted on me, I just wanted to get out of…. space. Now that I think about it, how am I seeing myself? There was darkness all around me and this wasn't truly space as far as I knew, there were no stars, no moon, no planets in the distance and certainly no big orange ball of flame.
I studied myself a bit more and came to the conclusion that this was weird. This was all very weird. What is this exactly? Perhaps my mind has finally broken from the strain of all the rebirths? Are the rebirths even real? This was all too much.
"Being!" I called out desperately but quite unsurprisingly received no answer. Come to think of it, what was its name? Did it even have a name? It spoke of being extradimensional, how do I even begin to fathom what another dimension would look like? Would their cultures and habits be any similar to ours? I had so many unanswered questions it was beginning to piss me off that I was ignorant.
"Relax, Hasina."
I turned around sharply, successfully turning my entire body upside down. But I did finally have some company. It was me.
I…the other me, helped me get upright and smiled sheepishly at me. That didn't sound right.
"Being X?" I called out, poking my doubles cheeks as I did. I was certainly me. That same soft cheek and brilliantly handsome smile? Yup, it was me alright.
"Should I shift into another form perhaps?" it asked.
"AH, no, I like this, I can work with this," I said. The current difference between myself and my double was…I wasn't naked.
"Excellent, I can sense you have a lot of questions, Hasina" no duh.
"Yes, how about you begin by explaining why you won't let me die? And how you even have power over that in the first place."
It smiled. "Humans are a very intelligent species and if they'd existed as I do, they certainly would have been even more so. My species is…extradimensional, you can't see us but we can see you, you will never be able to influence our world but we can yours. It's just in three dimensions after all."
Is that what I looked like while I'm being condescending? That didn't explain much. So I stare at it expectantly waiting for it to continue.
"As for why I'm keeping you alive. Well. You should be grateful. I have reversed a large section of your universe back in time nine times just so you can succeed, why would you even want to die in the first place?"
Why would I want to die? Well, I could list a reason or two, "Don't tell me this rebirth thing is permanent."
The being hummed in thought, "Rebirth, that's a nice name for it. We call it checkpointing."
Checkpointing? My life is a checkpoint, isn't it? The conspiracy theorists were right all along; our entire history was a simulation wasn't it? A game for a super-species child.
"You're thinking you're a simulation aren't you?" the being suddenly asks, breaking me out of my existential meltdown, "You aren't, you are just as real as I am. Thing is, I just have more control and understanding of my surroundings than you do. If your species ever develops to a point where interdimensional travel is possible, it'll all make a bit more of sense then."
I mess up my hair nodding at its words. At this point, I'd given up. I couldn't hope to understand fully how differently we saw the world or how much I was missing.
"I just want to live a natural life. Would that be possible?"
The being smiled at me, I recognized it as a genuine smile, or maybe he was just better at using my face than I was, "You already live a natural life well aside from the permanent aids I gave you-"
"Permanent aids? You mean those things, pain infliction and intelligence gathering are going to be with me permanently? How does it even work?"
It shrugged, "Yes, it'll kill you the moment its removed, its…technology. My kinds technology. And that's why we're here. To help you learn how to use it."
"Can't you just remove it now and let me die?"
This question seemed to irritate the being, as I could tell with the deadpan face he had on.
"I won't be doing that. You may live your life however just make sure it's in the direction of uniting your planet under your rule. You mustn't die in this time and just to make things easier for a species evidently incompetent as you are, I have bestowed upon you advantages."
Incompetent specie? I would bet a lot of money that was an insult. "You didn't exactly handpick me for this little social or political experiment you have going on."
I could see its frustration with me grow as it rubbed its temples I would laugh if I wasn't sure it would just knock me back into another coma.
"Not entirely. We were assigned planets that housed sentient and civilized populations, up to a point of having different cultures, beliefs, a wide variety of technology as well as different political, economic and social structures." It sighed and continued, as if recounting a regret, "Madagascar was chosen for me and I randomly picked your father. He…did well enough but wasn't fast in his attempts."
"You manipulated my father?" it was all coming together now. How successful father was at orchestrating a rebellion and establishing an entirely new nation from the territories of two. "You had him on rebirth!"
"Yes, but he only ever seemed to achieve the things he did at a certain age, leaving him vulnerable to the ageing process. The first time around he had more children aside from yourself."
I had siblings!? What mind-fuckery is this?
"So I had to move onto you. I naively thought a younger human would be more daring and ambitious enough to expand more so than an old one did. Now I'm stuck with you."
"I don't want to do this. You can choose another person to play with, you're already cheating, rewind time and pick someone else, leave my family and I out of it."
At my rebuttal, the being glared intensely at me and suddenly began to feel an intense burning all around me. "AHHH!!!!" it felt just like it would being on fire. I think- I'd never been on fire before.
I fell onto the ground if it was some kind of invisible fire-stop drop and roll right? No, I was in an unending hell for what felt like hours as I ran around the empty space screaming with a voice that wasn't there anymore. Falling unconscious from the pain all just to wake up immediately to it.
Suddenly the pain stopped. And the being walked up to where I was writhing on the floor.
"And that's how pain-infliction works."