The deafening sound of rain hitting twisted metal bathes the cold pavement on which a man lies almost inert, barely able to breathe or even maintain consciousness. Blurred in sight and unable to move his head from him, he can barely make out a crowd gathering around the heavy transport unit that is on top of him.
Everything went so fast, there was not even time to react for him, nor for the bus operator. Fate takes many forms and this time it did so in a subtle way, with a black cat running down the avenue causing the driver of that unit to turn the wheel in a violent way, overturning loudly and in the trajectory of him hit that inadvertent subject .
"How did it all end this way?" - The unfortunate individual thought pitifully as the events of just a couple of hours ago came to his mind. The Inovatech company was a developer of computer security software and technologies for large corporations. Just 15 years after starting as a consulting business in a small rental department, that company became a consolidated titan whose founders were recognized for their achievements in the field.
A man no more than 35 years old worked in it, whose work in the crypto security area was beginning to be recognized by one of the founders of the company. And thanks to his latest development, the company managed to close its first international deal, and as a result, his future in the organization was predicted as the next manager of the business unit in the Korean subsidiary.
Adam Prichenco was a widowed man with a daughter and the sole support of his elderly mother. This promotion was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, as his income would allow her to pay for the medical expenses derived from his daughter's heart disease without worry. But he was faced with the dilemma of leaving the country and not seeing his family again for a long time, so that decision was not so easy to handle.
The day before the fatal accident, a colleague approached him taking him by the shoulder in the office cafeteria. The subtle scent of roses and the wagging of long black hair was accompanied by a gentle whisper in the ear: "Congratulations next manager."
Turning his face away, Adan contemplated that seductive figure dressed in a navy blue tailored suit. It was Natalia Mendoza, a colleague from the same department where Adán worked. That gesture between the two was not at all casual for anyone who observed them in the company, as it was an open secret that they maintained a relationship beyond the professional level.
"You know, I will feel very lonely in this place when you leave." - Natalia's lips rested on the edge of her Adam's coffee cup, leaving a subtle lip mark resembling an indirect kiss.
"Will you just miss me here?" - In a subtle but seductive tone, Adan looked into Natalia's eyes as she blushed leaving a surprised expression as she glanced sideways through the door frame that no one was near her.
"I know that the announcement of your promotion will be given until tomorrow, but what do you think about celebrating in advance at my house. I will prepare that dish that you like so much" - Leaving that small room, Natalia leaned against the door frame turning towards Adam while winked at him.
He took another sip of his coffee while he tried to hide his smile as he watched the messages on his cell phone.
At nightfall, Adan arrived at Natalia's apartment with a bottle of red wine. Through the curtains of the windows, you could see the meandering of the candle flame that with its dim light gave a romantic touch to the situation.
After ringing the bell, a figure barely covered in a see-through negligee opened the door to welcome Adam. Natalia did not hide her intentions, which were only confirmed by her penetrating gaze that was fixed on that man's eyes. Pulling him by his tie and closing the apartment door.
Dropping his briefcase on the couch, Adan held on to Natalia's waist as he melted into a passionate kiss with her on his way to bed. Him laying her on the mattress as he began to remove his shirt from her.
A couple of hours passed between the sounds of the head of the bed tapping against the wall, accompanied by the complaints of Natalia who asked Adan to control himself for the noise he was making, forcing him to put a pillow between the headboard and the wall. .
When they finished, Natalia served Adan a glass of the wine he had brought. Smiling fondly at her as she prostrated herself next to her. Suddenly the man began to feel sleepy, thinking it was work fatigue and vigorous activity.
As he closed his eyes, he thought he saw a strange expression on Natalia's face. But she ignored it thinking that it was a confusion from the dream.
The next morning, the sound of the alarm clock echoed in Adam's head from the headache from the previous night's drink. Turning to his side, he couldn't find Natalia, who left a note on the dining room table with a plastic covered plate. Noticing that he had to leave early to fix some things in the office.
As soon as he finished eating breakfast, Adan took a shower and changed his clothes to go to the offices. But when she took the briefcase from him, she saw that the lock was not properly closed. That caught his attention, since he was always very meticulous with his belongings and it was not normal for him to make such mistakes.
The sound of his cell phone ringtone began to sound, when answering the call, a voice on the other side of the headset was heard stressed to the point of anguish: "You must come soon, the servers in Korea are under a DDoS attack and are collapsing. Information from our clients is being leaked "
That was like a bucket of cold water for Adam, because he knew that the software he had designed did not have weak points in handling the TCP / IP protocols since the encryption was done directly with the IDs of the host hardware. Only an inside job could be the cause of that failure.
Speeding the company car, Adan reached the company parking lot, leaving the door open as he ran to the elevator to reach his computer desk.
When observing the monitor there was no doubt that the security flaw came from one of the company's portable terminals. After analyzing the data stream, the result made his heart stop printing. The security breach was coming from his laptop.
"It's impossible, only I have access to my laptop" - Those words were his undoing, as he had said them just at the moment that CEO Barbosa was looking at him through the office door.
A hint of disappointment and anger showed in the eyes of the CEO, who gave the order to security employees to escort Adam to his office on the top floor.
Upon entering it, two corporate lawyers with stern countenance began to reprimand Adam. Accusing him of causing millions in losses to the company and being a participant in industrial sabotage by a competitor.
Not only had he lost his job, he now faced a commercial lawsuit and the risk of going to jail. As soon as the process of accusations ended, the guards again escorted Adam to take his things from his desk and lead him out of the company.
Upon reaching the elevator, he saw Natalia coming out of an office accompanied by CEO Martinez; who at some point was a staunch detractor of Adam's project. That woman glanced at the dejected subject, only to move her lips without making a sound. But that was very clear when she read her movements: "It was me"
Adam tried to get out of the elevator, but was stopped by the guards who subdued him by force while the elevator doors were closed.
As if he were awakening from a slumber, Adam's mind was brought to the present with the sound of the thunder of the public lighting cables breaking due to the impact of the bus. The shouts of the crowd were barely audible to him, as if they were murmurs; but the movement of the people warned that things were not right.
Yesterday a software developer with a background in cybersecurity, turned 35 with a promising career. Now a piece of meat that fights in the midst of more agony, blood and the transmission fluid of the bus that imprisons him, ending his life.
"Adam, wake up sleepyhead" - An internal voice runs through every part of that man's memory, like the running of the reel of a film tape that is rewound, letting fragments of a distant and happy childhood pass. Going through a rebellious adolescence, until reaching a mature age whose only incentive was fatherhood.
"I'm dying, I feel cold" - It is the thought that seized a dying Adam while he contemplated the lights of the flash of the cell phones of a dozen onlookers who enjoyed the morbid, like vultures that pounced on the carrion of a wounded animal that waits The sharp blade of the blinding machine.
A grimace of smile played on his lips, accepting his misfortune as a practical joke of fate, but at the same time feeling helpless to leave an elderly mother and a helpless daughter who waits at home for a father who will not return. .
Upon experiencing this sensation, he clenched his right fist with what little strength he had left. Crushing the cell phone that even with the broken screen, he let see a disastrous message that embittered the last moments of Adam.
"Thank you for your hard work, I will make good use of your effort. With love, Natalia" - If hell could be filled with anger, it would not be enough with just one to contain the anger that Adam felt at that moment. As a joke in bad taste that woman who at some point I consider as his future wife, put a nail at a time on the coffin of the last moments of his life.
Adan realized that he made a mistake by falling in love with her, he was frustrated when he realized that all the events that led to his dismissal were the product of the trust he had placed in him.
"This thing is on fire, run!" - A man in the crowd shouted warning the crowd of the disaster that was threatening to unleash. Gasoline from the truck's fuel tank began to leak, while the power lines of the pole that had been knocked over by the impact, flashingly waited for the fluid to reach them.
"It's all over Judith, dad will wait for you on the other side" - were Adam's last words, as the fuel reached the spark in the electrical wiring, starting the conflagration. His body soaked with him began to burn in flames, while his lungs struggled to draw air between screams of pain as his fists hit the pavement.
No more than 30 seconds were enough for the unit to explode deafening all the surrounding sounds, while an intense white light completely blinded the view of that man. Giving way to immense darkness and deathly silence.
"Is this death?" - Adam felt that he was immersed in a sea of darkness while the surrounding emptiness absorbed his thoughts. The words in his mind raced as his consciousness shot to madness.
"A little darkness scares you little puny man?" - A playful voice was felt in that immense chaos, stirring every thought leaving Adam's mind on a white canvas. At the same time that the sound of a couple of claps resounded, giving way to an immense light that revealed a white room with some office furniture.
Leaning on his feet, Adam walked around that barren room without doors. Completely taken aback, he felt light and devoid of all physical sensation; giving rise to the thought in his mind as clear as day: he was dead.
Adam took one of the chairs with his hands, pulling it to get ready to sit down. When he in the distance he saw a delicate figure that made its way out of the white space. Long straight hair, black as obsidian, piercing emerald green eyes like cold icebergs, and delicate skin pale as snow. Only a porcelain doll could match her.
Except for the dissonant gray uniform and black boots. Like an officer worthy of an Orwellian fantasy.
"I know you have many questions, everyone who comes here has them. But if we mortals and we astrals have something in common, it is that our time is valuable, so I'll get straight to the point."
"Astral?" - He asked himself skeptically as he tried to digest everything that had just happened between his death and that precise moment. Sitting in the middle of it with no more knowledge than what he had been taught about death since his childhood, he realized that he was ignorant of a whole world behind the world itself and did not have enough time to understand everything.
"This place is known as the corridor of reminiscence, here all human souls come when they die in order to be evaluated and judged according to their actions in life. If a soul cannot bear the weight of judgment, it is sent to the ouroboros There you will face a cycle of evolution from the most insignificant creature to return to its human phase. On the other hand, there is rebirth. There are very few souls that can go directly to that point, so for you from now on begins the exciting"
On the desk a cloud began to form out of nowhere, accompanied by small lightning bolts as that astral entity placed its hands on it while smiling maliciously, almost like a child who is about to play a prank. The entire show ended with a simple yellow dossier, which to Adam's surprise and disappointment looked like a cheap street illusionist trick.
"Mmmmm, a somewhat demanding public. You know there is not much that can be done in this place, thank me that I make the attempt to make this boring work something interesting" - A pouty face with flushed cheeks in that girl almost caused her to laugh to Adam, who held back so as not to hurt her and make her situation worse.
Diligently going through page by page of that thick file without taking his eyes off it for a second, that creature was excited at times and laughed derisively at others. When he finished reading it in its entirety, he firmly closed the folder and with a gesture of his left hand made something similar to a crystal ball appear.
"Contemplate Adam, look through the orb and observe everything that you are about to leave behind" - If he had a physical body, it is certain that Adam would experience chills when contemplating the scenes that he glimpsed in the orb. In it he watched as his daughter was taken from him by the family of his ex-wife, while his mother was plunged into immense loneliness and depression. A series of mixed feelings gave way to frustration, as Adam manifested something similar to a physical form, pouncing on the astral entity while strangling it.
"What do you gain by torturing me unhappy !? Do you enjoy tormenting all the idiots who cross your path to take away your boredom?" - Full of anger and frustration, blinded by his low passions Adam could not contain himself as he lifted that seemingly fragile figure by the neck. Which changed his serious tone to a Machiavellian smile that was a prelude to all the misfortune to come.
A tremor shook that room at the same time that a strong hurricane wind threw Adam to the other end as if it were a rag doll. - "You dare to challenge an astral, insolent mortal! We are the closest thing to what you pathetic inferior beings would call gods." - While she approached with a slow and proud step, that girl enjoyed her showing her hands flashing like lightning. Adorning the reflection of her pupils highlighted by her pale skin and carmine red lips that drew a ghoulish smile thirsty for blood.
"On your knees pathetic miserable creature, if you lick my footwear I might consider indulging you" - A colossal force bent the newly created spiritual body of Adam, subjecting him in a beseeching position that contrasted with his face filled with rage and murderous gaze. Which caused that entity to rage with more fury, taking him to the point of collapse.
"Enough Lucero!" - A feminine but deafening voice shouted inside the room without showing the source of it. That creature trembled like a branch swayed by the wind and in his eyes that previously distilled a cold look, now they were on the verge of tears of despair. That voice could only be a being far superior to provoke such a reaction, was Adam's thought as he stood up.
"I will discuss your punishment later, for now I must prosecute this man according to his actions." –The silence preceded that statement, causing time to lose its meaning while waiting for the higher entity to dictate its verdict.
"Due to your shock it would not cost me to send you to the ouroboros and for you to start as a pathetic creature inferior to a bacterium. But I will not allow you to have a new beginning as a human being free of your emotional burdens. Your punishment will be to reincarnate."
"Reincarnate? What difference does that make to rebirth?" - Adam was thinking to himself when he was interrupted by the higher entity.
"I can read your mortal mind, but I would prefer that all your questions were audible since Lucero is insignificant compared to me and his power is minimized in my presence." - With a stupefied Adam, the higher entity began to explain to him that a reincarnated person is a soul that is imbued in the body of a recently deceased person. Acquiring a nature known as Loa, similar in power to astral entities such as Lucero, but with a significant disadvantage: By possessing a mortal body, they can be killed. And if that happens, the soul dies definitively without the possibility of even entering the ouroboros.
In the same way, by preserving their memories, they would come into conflict with the remains of the corpse that they occupied as a container. Which would cause immense pain and instability of his powers, which would be subject to the capacity for self-control that he developed over the container.
"All this power you must remember that it does not belong to you, but to the flow of life from which all living beings emanate and will be at my service to fulfill the missions that I entrust to you. You do not have permission to use them without my consent, because when do, this mark that I will put on your forehead will induce an unbearable pain that I will make you experience until my desires are satisfied "
The moment the mark was placed on Adam's astral body, indescribable pain threw him to the ground, putting him on the brink of collapse without being able to do anything at all. Only the sound of a snapping of fingers made the pain disappear, thus demonstrating that this higher entity had him at the absolute mercy of him.
With effort, Adam staggers to his feet, as a portal opens before his eyes, signaling that his long journey of slaveding is about to begin.