Chapter 1 - A Mild Curiosity

"This is death?" I asked myself, confused, cold, and all alone. I had always been curious about death. Always thinking to myself, "I wonder what lies beyond life? Is there an afterlife? What comes next?" But there have never been any proven answers. A part of me expected a quick time lapse of the future, a quick burst of images showing me the futile future of the universe from present day to the grim, long, dark death of the universe.

Maybe a 3 minute focus on the life and death of Earth, once the sun swallows our little planet whole, burning alive any living creature unfortunate enough to still be in existence at the time.

The rest of the time lapse, however long it may be, possibly an hour or two, showing me the life and death of stars. Giant red balls imploding because it couldn't take the pressure of being alive, only to condense into either a void of pure darkness, or an infinitely dense, beautiful marble. The death of these neutron stars, even the black holes. Nothing else left in the universe but dark matter, particles flying around endlessly, and silence. Pure silence.

I always compared my problems back on Earth to the vastness of space. Impossibly insignificant. In an odd way, that gave me comfort. Knowing my life wasn't as complicated as I thought. The universe, even the galaxy alone was so much more complicated, so enormous, that I could find peace in how small I was.

I would never do anything significant. Organic life in general, no matter where in the universe, can only exist for less than .1 percent of the total lifespan of the universe. That's how small I am. Truly insignificant.

So what happens after my minuscule existence? When I inevitably pass on, what happens next?

I felt like I was floating after I died. I felt a light pressure on every inch of my body, almost as if I were being carried.

Suddenly, I felt the pressure increase drastically. However, it didn't hurt. It felt like a massage. Or like one of those rides at an amusement park that would spin you around really fast, making you stick to the wall. It felt like something pulling me down, like a vacuum, condensing me into a single point.

I opened my eyes slowly, my vision pulsing rapidly as I struggled to sit up.

"Algmd gamg olngi!" a strange sounding voice broke the silence. I felt something touch my right arm, suddenly I felt much better. I looked at my arm to see a purple light emanating from the "hand" of a creature I had never seen before, yet the creature seemed very familiar. At the sight of the creature I had never seen before, I wasn't scared or confused. I was actually... happy? Relieved? I don't know, but it was a pleasant feeling.

"Where am I?" I tried to speak out loud, however my mouth doesn't make a sound. I stared at the creature on my right. A humanoid, two armed, two legged creature. Its face resembled a human's but it had no facial features besides the eyes. There was no mouth, no nose, it was just flat. Its arms and legs were similar to humans. Its hands were replaced with cylinders that had a faint glow radiating off the end. The shape of the cylinder reminded me of a salt-shaker that you'd find at any local restaurant. The entire humanoid seemed to be made of a metallic substance that was pitch black in color. The surface of the humanoid was clear enough that it gave me a clear reflection of myself in its "skin".

I looked human mostly. Except I had no mouth, no nose, just eyes. The only difference I noticed between this robotic figure in front of me and my facial features was the distinct difference in our eyes. Its eyes looked black. Empty black. Like sensors. My eyes seemed, for lack of better term, infinite. Like a galaxy, stars playing with each other.

'No mouth, that's why I can't speak. Makes sense.' I thought to myself.

"Are you feeling okay?" A robotic voice came from nowhere, almost like it was playing in my head.

'Who are you?' I tried replying.

"I am in front of you," the robotic figure in front of me gave me a wave.

'Ah, I see. I'm feeling a little confused, but other than that, I feel okay,' I answered the robot. 'Telepathy, that must be how we communicate.'

'Where am I?' I asked the robot.

"Amnesia is normal after the procedure. Please wait for staff to arrive. They will explain further." The robotic voice played in my head, tone deadpan like a recorded message.

Not much later, I heard footsteps from outside the door.