"Iris, we don't have much time left. At least have a car ready beforehand. "
The actress's manager anxiously followed the girl down the hospital ward, struggling to keep up with her brisk pace.
"It'll be quick," Iris assured him, without turning back.
She was dressed head to toe in her standard paparazzi-avoiding gear: a black cap covering her hair, knee-length trench coat, followed by sunglasses and run-down hiking boots. A little cliché as Kadar had pointed out before. But Iris decided it was effective, nonetheless.
What concerned her more was the news that had been bothering her for the past 2 days.
*Kadar...What the hell have you gotten yourself into?*
At last, they reached his room, where they were led in by a nurse. The sight of Kadar in such a weakened state, made her grimace. This wasn't the man she knew. There was something about that annoyingly carefree and unambitious attitude of his, that convinced her he was invincible. Not the sort of person who would be confined to a bed, nor the sort of person she would've expected to hold so dear. But Kadar was always unpredictable.
Iris approached his still body and took off her hat and sunglasses, ignoring the stares from some of the hospital staff. She'd heard from somewhere that the senses of a patient in comatose were still partially operational, and that the words of a loved one could actually motivate them to recover.
*Then maybe... if it was me...?*
Iris gave herself a mental shake. There was no way.
*Me? A loved one?*
The stupidity of even entertaining such a thought, was enough to make her feel sick. Besides, she couldn't possibly fathom what motivations Kadar had. And that wasn't to say that she'd never tried.
"Pretty girls," he would monotonously reply whenever she asked. Iris was sure that he must've had a good reason to enter the world of showbiz, but as usual, getting any serious answers from him was immensely difficult. Mostly, because he was always such an absolute ass.
"Iris," Her manager began tentatively "They want the entire cast on-set in an hour's time,"
The girl nodded. By tonight, she'd expected herself to have finished off her final shoot. She'd expected the director to be praising her along with the rest of the filming crew. She'd expected Kadar to be waiting for her outside, ready to tell her how good of a job she'd done, whilst somehow pissing her off simultaneously. But not all of that could happen now.
He'd risked his own life to save two strangers and failed miserably.
*Is this the way you wanted things to end? Dying a tragic hero? Don't make me laugh...*
"You were never suited to saving lives," Iris muttered, pursing her lips "You stupid idiot..."
The actress knelt down and touched his hand gingerly for a moment, before clasping it in her own. Deep in her heart, she knew that she was the only one to blame for having brought him out. But he'd better be fighting to return.
***
Kadar knew he was falling. What felt like hours had already passed, and still, he had somehow not reached the bottom yet.
The pitch-black abyss seemed to stretch on forever.
Of course, he wasn't too keen on the thought of having to land, but enough time had passed for him to wish that there was some sort of end to this hell hole. He was suddenly reminded of that theory regarding the bottomless pit, in which the victim would die of starvation before hitting the ground. Or was it starvation being symbolised by a bottomless pit? Kadar couldn't remember, nor did he care. The only thing he was starved of was his senses.
And a floor.
The lack of floor was definitely wearing away his sanity the most.
The only good thing about his situation, was that he had plenty of time to process the events that had occurred. But as his mind was already devolving into spaghetti, organizing his thoughts became near impossible.
Kadar shut his eyes, which had no effect whatsoever, and attempted to cross his 'legs' to assume his usual brooding position. He remembered being rammed by a car on his way to a shoot, attempting to save some twins and then blacking out. The obvious conclusion was that he was very dead. But Kadar also felt as though he was forgetting something important. Something that would give him a clue on this bleak afterlife he existed in.
*What was it?*
He strained his memory, trying to recall everything once again, until the image of a grey square drifted into his line of sight.
---
[System]:
You have entered the [Harvesting Chamber].
---
...
Just before he could make any meaningful conclusion, he realized that he had stopped falling. Kadar felt his senses return to him in full force causing intense pain for a half-second before allowing him to take in the new scenery.
It was still pitch-black for the most part, but this time light orbs of various shades floated lazily about in colour-coded groups. Scattered amongst them were glowing humanoid figures sorted into pairs, that were systematically vacuuming orbs with an otherworldly force.
As he attempted to move in for a closer look, Kadar found himself locked in place by some invisible wall, causing him to walk on the spot.
*What the--*
Without warning, another grey text window appeared before him.
---
[System]:
Movement is limited while in [Soul Form]
---
"System...?" he muttered to himself. "Soul Form?"
He had remembered seeing this kind of thing just before he lost consciousness. Except, that one had mentioned something about a 'Soul Tribute'.
The edges of Kadar's mouth twitched upwards into a derisive smile as he entertained the thought of being trapped in a scheme devised by those bloody life-is-a-simulation-ists, or whatever they called themselves. However, it quickly faded as a pair of voices suddenly came into earshot.
"--can't believe we're having to resort to this. The irony."
"Hush, brother. He is here. We must show some basic respect."
The sound appeared to be coming from two glowing humanoids that had possibly hundreds of orbs towed behind them, one voice seemingly female, while the other, a gruff male's. Kadar gave them an apprehensive look as they leisurely made their way towards him.
"Come over here," The gruff male humanoid said, beckoning Kadar forwards.
---
[System]
A [Harvester] has granted you [Physical Body].
You are now able to move as normal.
---
Kadar silently obeyed. If this being was somehow able to decide this much, then it was enough to assume that he was stuck. Completely at their mercy.
For a moment, the humanoid duo stared down at him, as though thinking of how best to dissect him. But then the glowing male humanoid stepped forwards and placed it's hands heavily on Kadar's shoulders.
"Redhead," it began "You are our only hope,"
Kadar returned its intense gaze with his own confused one. " Sorry, bu--"
"We are the ones who take the lives of twins across many different worlds." It continued cutting him off. "You see, despite each sibling having a complete soul of their own, they share a portion of it that determines their appearance, resulting in two look-alikes. This leaves some of the soul excess, which we aim to harvest whilst the rest is returned."
The humanoid being took one of the red orbs floating behind it and held it out for Kadar to see. But the former actor kept his eyes on the creature's formless face.
"I don't.... What does this even have do with me?"
It sighed, clearly annoyed at the thought of needing to explain everything again.
"In your world, those twins you failed to save are dead. But we transported their remaining souls to a different world, giving them another life as compensation. You, however, are merely a collateral in the process. An accident, who we would usually discard had we not accepted and harvested your soul by mistake."
Was that what his death was to them? A mistake? He may not have led a diligent life before, but he still had many regrets and loose ends to tie.
Kadar clenched his fists, his knuckles quickly losing their colour. He didn't want an apology. He wanted to give them a one-sided beat down.
For beings trying to play God, they sure do have a lot of accidents. And as a result, I had died a useless death.
"Calm down, Redhead," The glowing humanoid said. It seemed to know what was going on in Kadar's mind "We're still obligated to transport you since a fraction of your soul is part of the Soul Tribute. But once other Harvesters see that you're not a twin, they'll stop us. Either way we'd all die."
"I'm already dead," Kadar replied coldly "Why should I care?"
"Because even with such low odds there's still an option for you to make it to next world. And possibly a way to return to your previous world depending on whether or not you accept my proposal."
The actor perked up slightly. Deals were something he had a lot of experience with, during his career. And he was quite adept at handling them.
"Explain."
The female humanoid swiped the air in front of her, causing a block of text to materialize.
---
[System]:
A new Quest is pending:
- Escape the Harvesting Chamber alone, without getting caught or destroyed.
Temporary effect(s) on accepting:
- [Harvester's Blessing] (12 min): ???
Rewards:
+1000 XP
- Unlock Skill [Fractal Dreamer]: Every 10 levels you advance, you can temporarily use [Return To Past Life]
- Access to Soul Menu
Will you accept?
(Y/N)
---
"Escape the Harvesting Chamber?" Kadar read out uncertainly. "I don't even know where the exit is."
The pair pointed to the end of the dark chamber where, standing well over a mile, lay a gate wide open. The number of glowing humanoids surrounding it was too much to count.
"So? What will it be Redhead? We'll assist you from here, but you'll be on your own, more or less."
Kadar looked at the gate with newfound determination. At this point, he'd already chucked all logical reasoning out the window. He didn't even know the meaning of half those things on the 'quest window'. But it seemed like there was no other choice.
"...I accept."