Darkness, void, weightlessness
Yeah, that pretty much sums up my situation. I am currently floating in what looks like outer space. No physical sensation whatsoever. It's like one of those sensory deprivation chambers. Where it's just you, and the rest of the people living inside your head.
It's quit relaxing actually. I am liking it.
And then something changed. Suddenly there were lights. Tiny lights actually. They were like the stars or maybe fireflies. Not those genetically engineered big ones, no. These were tiny ones. They are really rare. I remember there were almost no planet where they could live naturally. They had to live in specially designed environments. I really liked seeing them at the zoo. They were quite wonderful at night.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. These tiny little lights began to increase. They were going somewhere. Some went ahead of me. And that's when I realized that I was one of them. Well, I was moving in the same direction as them and had the same size as them.
But weirdly I was not bright like them. I was almost dim and unilluminated.
I tried to move, to shake my hands, to twitch my fingers, to bend my spine, to kick with my legs. But nothing worked. It was like I was paralyzed. Then I realized I could see. I was seeing the firefly like lights.
Maybe I can hear too?
I tried to hear something. Anything really. Maybe the wind flowing or maybe even my heartbeat.
Which by the way, shouldn't exist. Cause after all, I am now the size of a small insect.
I should not have any heartbeat.
But then I started to hear something. It was the sound of the wind flowing.
I became confused. Why?
There is nothing here but suddenly I wanted to hear it and so I ...did?
That doesn't make sense.
Then again, who am I to judge? After all, I am an insect right now.
Yeah, that was a stupid joke. Just because I am the size of an insect doesn't mean that I am.
But that's when I became dumbfounded. Because I started to feel my body. And believe me when I say, that didn't feel like a human body.
I have become an insect.
I see. So, that's how it is.
If so, then I want to be human again and be inside a party and have some fun.
Nothing happened for a while.
Then I started to feel my body change. I slowly but surely became human. But that's where the fun part ended. I started to feel pain. It was small at first. But then it became overwhelming, and I began screaming. Everything blacked out and I fainted.
..........
In a small cozy house.
There is a tiny bed. In that tiny bed, a man can be seen. He looked tired. And emaciated. He was so thin that his skeleton can be seen poking in his skin. His skin had no moisture, his eyes were caving in, his breaths were weak and slow. Overall, he looked like a man who had eaten nothing but water for a very long time.
That man suddenly woke up. His eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes. His brilliant brown eyes looked around the room that is filled with warm sunlight coming in from the window. There was only a bed and a bedside table next to it. The room was small.
The man tried to move but couldn't. He was too weak to move.
He closed his eyes again and drifted to sleep.
And that's when a woman came in. A beautiful woman with a round face that made tiny dimples when she smiled. And smile she did. Her smile was more beautiful than sunshine in the morning reflecting on the grass dew. She said gently,
"Wake up Rick. It's time to get up."
Rick practically groaned and groggily said," Come on, mom. Let me sleep a little longer. I am so tired right now."
"Oh, dear. I'm sorry but that won't do. You see, if you fall asleep now, you will never wake up again."
Rick's eyes jolted open with a snap.
"What? What did you just say? This is no time for jokes."
"Oh, I'm quite serious dear. Your soul is almost exhausted. You may disintegrate at any moment."
"WAIT, WHAT THE HELL, FIX IT THEN!"
"I'm afraid that's not possible. Not in your condition especially."
"Wait a second, you're not my mother. And, and… I am supposed to be in the spaceship. What happened?"
"What happened is that you died."
.
.
"What? Why, how? Did the spaceship malfunction or something? Or maybe I was shot down. Who was Ayla, how could she do that? Or maybe the order came from someone else. Or maybe….."
Rick kept mumbling out the possible reasons for his death. Until the woman couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop mumbling Rick, it was none of those. You died because your neurons stopped working. You simply died a natural death."
"What? I died a natural death? That's stupid. I was at the prime of my life. And what do you mean my neurons stopped working, they were perfectly fine the last time I checked."
"Sigh. I hate long descriptions.
Buckle up. This might take some time. You don't know a lot of things."
After that she described how his BAMI chip was rigged. How his memories were overwritten and that he basically spent one thousand years working his brains out for them. She also explained that Ayla and Asif became the unstoppable overlord of the entire galaxy, and much more by using his inventions in just one hundred years. And also, that they gave him his original memory and freedom at the last moment to cajole their own conscience in a sick and twisted way. At that point Rick asked,
"Wait a minute, what happened to me then? And where am I now?"
"I am getting there. So, where was I?
Oh, after your death, they did the experiment successfully and now are on a warpath to conquer every single universe they can get their hands on."
Rick's jaw dropped so low that they had to be dug out of the ground.
"WTF! How is that fair? I am the one who did all the work, and they get to bask in success."
"Well, real life is almost always not really fair.
As for what happened to you, your brain just couldn't take it anymore. You had already become a vegetable at that point. So, there was no point in keeping you alive, so they let you go out in a final burst of glory."
"Huh, how nice of them"
"No one can hate someone for a hundred years. Eventually, they stopped hating you. Time heals everything and erodes everything."
"I see. That does make some sense. So, what about now?
Who are you and where am I?"
"Me? I am what your people call a god. Small 'g'. Not the big one.
I am simply an administrator of souls of various worlds. My higherups gave me the task of finding someone for a task, and I am doing it."
"I see. That makes sense. So, what's the task? What does the so-called higherups want with me?"
"Simple, you will have to clean up your mess. You, Mr. Rick are going to stop a multi-trillion population civilization"
There was an awkward silence.
Rick sorted out the shock and simply said,
"That's impossible to do alone and you know it."
"Who said anything about you being alone."
"I mean, isn't that how it works in the stories? There is a demon kingdom that is trying to take over the world and then the hero arrives and forms a tiny crew and destroys a thousand strong army all by himself?"
"Pfft, hahahahaha. That is so true. Every one of those isekai stories are like that. But this is not like that now, is it? This is real life. In order to fight against an army with trillions of soldiers, you will also need trillions of soldiers."
"Yea, I suppose you're right."
Suddenly the woman face palmed.
"Ah right. I forgot to mention. You do not remember your thousand-year memories because your soul is very weakened. That is also why you look so malnourished right now.After all no mortal should live that long. It is also the main reason why you look like this in your soul form.
After getting your new body and entering that world, you should slowly get your memories back and heal your soul."
"You forgot to mention why you look and sound exactly like my long dead mother."
"Well, I thought that it would put you at ease and help lower your defenses. I tried out other forms before, but I found that this is the optimal one. Some become hysteric after hearing that they died. This helps prevent that."
"Somehow, that also makes sense. Interesting.
Alright, let's talk business. What's the plan, and how to best execute it.
Who should be the new host of my soul and the backstory of the world. Tell me everything you can. This is not like the stories. I need information. The more the better."
"We are actually on a timer here. Your soul is falling apart. I am currently using a lot of soul energy to keep you from breaking down. But I will try to put in as many necessary information possible. You see, you have a predecessor. We tried to copy the stories and send a hot-headed teen to that world. They have a lot of space in their soul form. So, we could easily add in some cheats. But there was only so much he could do. He eventually failed. So, now we are in a worse and better position than before. Depends on how you look at it. Also, to make matters worse, you are the last person we can send. There are some rules regarding this matter."
"So, I will get no cheats? Cause my soul is already in a bad situation as is."
"No, we can't do that for you. But we will add something that is very necessary. We will give you the method to communicate with us."
"Wow, that's huge. That will help in many ways. I mean, that way nothing will be able to stop me. I will be able to know everything at any time."
"Nope. Sorry to burst your bubble but it won't work like that. Because of your situation, it will be a really weak cheat. Almost not a cheat. That's because we will not be able to provide energy for the communication."
Rick was a bit confused as to why that would be a problem and then it clicked.
"Shit! I will have to provide the energy for a communication across entire dimensions. Also, to make it worse, I personally will have to be the conduit. I will freaking explode after one second."
She looked shocked that he figured out the problem so quickly.
She looked so satisfied after that; it looked like she was feeling bliss.
Rick noticed, "Why are you looking at me like that? It's obvious, even a kid can understand that."
She simply replied, "Ah, it's so nice to finally talk with an educated person. Most are self-entitled idiots or just plain dumb. I am so happy to finally find a human that doesn't throw a tantrum over not getting more stuff."
She silently wiped an invisible tear off her eyes.
Rick was feeling embarrassed at this point.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I am smart. Now let's move on. Let's discuss the plan and give me info."
"He he, Rickie is embarrassed. Alright, let's begin"
After that they started to discuss every detail about the plan. This is not one of those unrealistic novels where the reincarnator is simply dropped off without info just because the writer is too lazy.
After some time, they finally finished.
"So, Mr. or Miss god or whatever you are. Nice to meet you, time to put this plan to action."
"Yes Mr. Rick. I think this should do. If you need more guidance, just call me."
"Of course. Till then see you."
"Okay. See you."
After that, Rick entered (Was thrown actually. After all, he was bedridden) the portal that took him toward his new adventures.
…
"Miss Tanjila, why didn't you tell him the reason he needed to stop them? And that if he failed, they would be unstoppable?"
"Well, he has enough on his plate. He will realize the answer to both of those questions soon enough according to the clues he has received already."
"Is that why you put that special failsafe on him?"
"No, it doesn't matter to him really. It is actually not such a big deal even. Why would he be against that?
No, that's not the reason. No human should be unchecked after having the amount of power that he will possess.
on another note, he might be able to remove it though. Who knows?"
"Are you serious about that? A mortal capable of undoing that?"
"At that point, it would be better to not call him a mortal. Nothing is impossible. You had better not let arrogance and pride guide you. After all, 'pride cometh before the fall' is such an accurate statement.
You of all people should understand that."
"I understand madam. It will not happen again."
"Good."
Well, show me what you got Rick. I will be watching.
.....
[AN: I'm leaving this chapter as is. There's not much to add. Well, I'll have to fix the threads here in the future. Also, if you have any complaints and suggestions, feel free. I'll have to amke sure there are no problems.]