'What is this? Where am I?'
People in lab coats surrounded me. I could feel my body moving forward towards a large tomb.
'Is this a dream?'
"Test pilot 01, how are you feeling? ready for your third synchronization?"
"#####."
'Was it me who was speaking? What am I saying?'
As I started walking towards the large tomb, I could feel that it was something that I knew of.
'This is a memory? I remember now…'
It was the new VR prototype. From the outside, the prototype looked like a large metallic box with lots of cables attached but it was quite comfy on the inside with lots of support cushions made up of very soft materials.
As the shiny top casing lifted by itself I could see my reflection.
'Huh, my face… I don't have a face? I look taller as well...who am I?'
Yes, I remember now. I was working here as an alpha tester. I graduated school early and got a job at Nebula technologies, one of the best in the gaming industry at just 17 years.
'... Am I getting inside that now? What is that written on the casing?...'
'Full dive?'
Yes, how can I forget? Full dive was their latest technology for VR gaming. I was working here as an alpha tester for EtherWorld.
EtherWorld was the world's first and only supported game in Full dive. It's been in development for quite some time with the help of engineers and scientists from all over the world for supporting the new quantum Brain-Computer Interface.
"Safety checks are all green."
"Vitals are all green. We are ready."
"###### are all green."
With the chamber closed, I could hear the soft artificial voice echoing.
"Synchronization in progress… Entering EtherWorld, year 890"
As the progress neared towards the end, I could hear the muffled sounds of alarms ringing.
"Sir, we have detected a hack in our servers. Someone is trying to.. "
'Huh, what?...I feel so tired…'
=====
"Waaghhh waaggh"
'Why do I feel so different? Who is crying? Wait., It's me?'
'Why can't I stop crying? Where am I? Is this a carriage?'
"It's gonna be alright my baby, your dad is coming. It'll be alri--"
"Mu-"
'Is this a dream or a memory? And I have a mum?'
With a loud noise, the carriage shook. The horses squealed. Shouts of knights and clashes of swords echoed all around.
"Madam, please escape. We'll protect you."
Not wanting to waste another minute, the lady who I presume to be my mother kicked the door open. Holding me tightly with one arm, she raised a rapier with the other.
"Don't cry, mother has got you. You are almost three, your sister will keep calling you a crybaby at this rate."
"Mum..heuk"
Caressing my head gently, she sprinted through the woods holding me up.
Soldiers with black armour pursued right after us.
As one of the soldiers reached near us, she turned and blocked the attack with her rapier. But soon, the one on one fight turned to be five against one.
The soldiers kept pressuring, targeting their attacks on my side to drop her guard. Unable to charge and attack, they lead us towards a cliff.
"We need to finish this fast, he is coming!" yelled one of the black knights.
"Die!!" The black knights jumped back while activating a spell.
As the spell hit directly from behind, I and her were thrown out from the cliff.
Holding on to a bracelet, I felt myself falling. As I slowly lost my vision, I could still hear her screaming for me.
"Noah? NOAH!"
=====
"Ah...Shit, what was that dream? It felt so real."
A loud groan left my mouth.
Opening my eyes, I could see the familiar wooden ceiling of the orphanage.
Waiting for a moment for my head to clear up, I got up from the bed.
'It wasn't a dream… she really was my mum. I guess I really am an orphan this life too. This life? Yes… that's right, I had a life before this. I was an orphan then as well. I remember now. Hmm, now that I think about it, isn't this world EtherWorld.'
Clearing my throat, I muttered.
"Log out"
Fortunately, nothing happened.
'Living 10 years in a VR world. Impossible.'
'But what were those alarms at the end? I can't remember anything after that in my first life… Did I die then or get trapped here for 10 years.'
Getting slightly worried, I started reciting different voice commands I knew till my throat felt dry.
"System info"
"Health info"
"Heads Up Display"
"Fuc-"
As health and other details started to appear in the boundaries of my vision, the world turned white.
From the distance, I could see a lady floating down towards where I was. There was no colour in her entire body all I could make out were the contours formed from the shadows.
A soft soothing voice escaped from her lips as she reached near me.
"Not exactly the greeting I expected. You are probably the only human to have cursed when they met a God."
"Who are you? Why does it feel like I've heard your voice somewhere before? Wait... this voice, it's the same as that A.I, Aditi."
Chuckling, "I am not an A.I but yes, I am Aditi, one of the goddesses of this world. I oversee the infinite possibilities of this world."
"What is all this? Was that really my memory? Why do I still not remember my face or other details?"
"This is a celestial plane. And yes, that was your memory from your past life. It is against Janus's wishes to allow someone to re-live while allowing you to remember all your memories. You are recalling the memories of your previous life according to the deal I have made with him."
"I know this may all sound confusing but this world is ending soon. As one of the primordial gods, I can't directly give my blessing to the people in this world, so that's why I came to yours, to find someone whom I can trust to save it. The VR world you experienced was made from a time slice of this one. I--"
"So by kidnapping and forcing me, you want me to save this world?"
"You asked the same question when we first met.
"I didn't kidnap you nor do I want to force you. I can't forcefully bring a soul from another world unless they are free from their body. I wanted to give you a second chance in life after you died."
As she spoke, I could feel parts of my memories returning. After the alpha test was cancelled from the attempted hack, I had gone back to the orphanage to pick up the last of my stuff to shift to my new apartment and then, as I went to my room, my roommate stabbed me. Why?...
"I died then…Why did he stab… me? Was he jealous?"
"No… the orphanage took care of you, the kids had even shared their savings secretly to help you study. They really did love you once. But, you betrayed that love by not being there when they needed you. It wasn't just you who died that day."
"What do you mean?"
"Miss Reina, the orphanage caretaker, was battling for her life for a few years. She passed away that day, unable to receive treatment. The kids in the orphanage believed that you would've helped her once you got a job. After she passed, your roommate exercised his anger in an unfortunate way."
I was left speechless.
"Is this world even real? Why me?"
"This world is real. Your memories are real as well. The world you experienced through that device in your previous life is made from a time slice from the future. You can think of it as a copy of the world made at one point in time in the future close to when the original world ends. I wanted you to experience that world and see the different possibilities that you could take to save it. Due to some circumstances, even I, don't know how the world will end, only that it will."
"Why now? Why are you coming to me now? Where were you when… what's the point of being born again if the first memory I have is my family dying??"
"Child, time... is in disorder. I didn't know the one I brought was you until you used my blessing. Life doesn't end because of one tragic moment. It's true that only a moment is enough for your life to experience a series of misfortune but you just have to keep working towards finding the next moment to turn it all around again. Even this could be that moment. I hope you take this to heart.
I truly hope you are able to find what you want in this life. As you saw before, I've granted you a blessing to see the world as you saw this world from that VR device. Take care of yourself and your family. I hope you come to cherish this world like I do and try to save it. I can't talk to you for long without hurting you, so I must bid you farewell here."
"Wait!" I snapped. "What do you mean by family? Are they alive?"
"Your family is alive. Goodbye Noah."
"Wait!! I still have more questions!!"
As the light flashed, I found myself back in my room.
====
At the celestial plane. Another being slowly came forward.
"Aditi, are you sure about this? We had more time. We could've chosen someone who would've taken the mission seriously, someone with better character atleast... When did you start gambling, I thought you always made your decision based on certainty."
"Perhaps, but when it comes to humans, who knows what new possibilities they could bring?"
"Are you serious? Didn't you choose him out of pity?? What if he fails?"
The soft soothing smile that was there left from Aditi's face as if it was never there.
"If he fails…? If he fails, I'll enter this war. What do you think, Morpheus?"
"H-h-he won't fail. He looks like a hard worker even. Isn't he your child? He'll definitely succeed. Ha ha ha"
"Good."
====