1 I want to see you again.

I lay on the hospital bed thinking about all the good things I used to have, about all the mistakes I made in my life and about all the regrets I could have avoided if I made better choices.

"None of that matters anymore, there is no going back." I sigh with a heavy heart "Is it even fair to blame her? Probably not. She probably doesn't even know about any of this."

Let me tell you a little about myself..

My name is Ethan. I was born in a normal family and had a happy childhood. Everything was all sunshine and rainbows until I met her in high school. It wasn't that big of a deal at first, we barely even spoke to each other. Her name was Diana and we were both placed in the same classroom, interacting only as usual classmates.

One day, things changed. She approached me to speak with me alone. We walked to a quiet corner of the class where she told me if I could help her get together with my best friend. I didn't think too much about it and decided I will just try to put a good word for her and maybe even ask my friend what he thinks about her.

When I asked my friend what he thought of her, he said he wasn't interested. I told her that, but she didn't want to give up and we would constantly talk to each other, most of the time about what my friend likes, wants or other stuff. Slowly, I actually fell for her myself and didn't even notice. My friend noticed tho and he told be I should give up on trying to hook them up and give it a try myself, because apparently he could see that I fell for her. I was actually stunned silly when I head him. It took me a while to actually understand that what he said was the truth.

Mustering up my courage, a week later I confessed to her.. Of course, after the initial surprise passed, she rejected me gently, saying something in the line 'I'm sorry, but I still love him'. I was half expecting it so I told her I just wanted her to know and that how she didn't give up I didn't want to give up either. Soon, we both continued our friendship as before, mostly ignoring the big elephant inside the room.

Over the next year I slowly started adding more talks about ourselves in our conversations. We were slowly getting closer to each other, until I confessed again during our summer vacation. She surprisingly didn't reject me this time, she just told me to give her some time to think about it and left.

Two days later, she just sent me a long text saying that she didn't exactly love me yet but is willing to give it a try. It was over the moon, feeling that it was the best day of my life. I slowly managed to get her to fall for me. We had our ups and downs, like any other relationship but we were generally happy. We were together for six years.

I don't know if I did anything wrong, but in the sixth year of our relationship she said that she was no longer in love with me and that she wanted to break up. I tried to ask for a reason and to save it somehow but it all failed. We eventually just separated and I was so heartbroken that the whole world stopped making any sense to me.

Seven years after that, I stopped caring about anything, never actually managing to forget her. I had other relationships but most of them were just a way for me to manage my loneliness.

After seven years of depression, I managed to meet someone that saved me from all that darkness, at least for a while. Fast forward a year later and we get to my actual situation. I was just diagnosed with a terminal disease, caused by all the stupid stuff I got into while trying to forget her and trying to make the world make sense again.

I only have one week to live, at most. I know that there are people more unfortunate than me, but, at this moment, I feel that life must have really saved all of it's lemons especially for me.

While laying in the hospital bed I look at the phone in my hand, not knowing if I should let my new girlfriend know about it. Mustering up my courage I press the call button.

"Hello. What's up, Ethan? How did the check up at the hospital go?"

"Hi… Could you come to the hospital please?"

I tried to not let it show in my voice. I wanted her to be happy for a little while more if possible.

"Sure. I'll just finish some stuff for work and come there. Anything wrong?"

"We'll speak when you get here. Love you." I said as I closed the phone, feeling my voice beginning to crack. I also turned my phone off, afraid that she will call back after the sudden hang up.

Laying on the bad and looking at the ceiling, a teardrop starts rolling down my cheek. A self-mocking chuckle escaped my lips.

"Ha ha, funny how I spent seven years after my breakup not shedding a single tear, not having any hope in life and just waiting for it to end, and now, when I'm so close to dying, I am actually crying."

I cried myself to sleep while waiting for my girlfriend to arrive. Too bad that this stupid ass life didn't even give me the chance to see her again.

A last breath escaped my lips as only one thought kept repeating in my mind.

'I want to see you again.'

A shiver passed through my body, making me open my eyes. I thought that maybe I just fell asleep in my hospital bed, but what I saw when I woke up was completely unexpected. I was sitting on a small white disk, floating around in what seemed like the outer space. Trying to get up, I suddenly realized that I can't actually feel my feel, or any other part of my body.

A fear gripped my very being. 'Am I dead? Is this the afterlife? What is wrong with my body? Why can't I see my body? How can I see when I can't feel any part of my body?' Questions kept drifting through my head until I heard a voice coming from all around me at the same time.

"Don't me scared. You don't have a body now, just a soul."

I tried to respond but couldn't actually form a single word. 'Of course you can't speak if you don't have a mouth, you idiot.' I told myself as I just waited for the voice to continue.

"Don't worry, if you speak inside your mind I can hear you clearly."

"So you can read my mind?" I asked, a bit relieved even tho the mind reading thing sounded a bit scary.

"Not really. When you want to speak to someone in spirit form your thoughts are actually transmitted to that person."

"I see. So I guess I really died. Are you God?"

"Ha ha. I'm no God but compared to your level of existence I guess you can consider me one."

"So who are you then? Or What?"

"You could say I'm a failsafe of some kind. An extremely powerful being created me in case the balance was broken and he was not available to take care of the problem Himself."

"Failsafe? Balance? Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That's only normal. You can consider me similar to an artificial intelligence from your world. The One who created me also created a system to manage the entire multiverse, making sure that all the worlds are stable and not in danger of being destroyed. Every time a world was about to be destroyed it would select an individual of said world and bless him with a strong fate to be able to repair the balance and save that world. Sadly, with the long absence of my Lord, the system's energy started getting low and the system chose to start giving up on some of the smaller worlds. That system is called the 'Fate system'. Do you understand up to here?"

"Kind of. Please continue."

"After the first world was abandoned by the fate system, I, as a failsafe for this exact scenario was woken up from my slumber. My exact mission is to pick a dying soul and send it to save those worlds that are now heading towards destruction."

"So that's why I'm here. But why me? Can't you just send me back?"

"I can but I won't do it, I apologize. To explain in a way you could understand, I can only do things I am programed to do. As for the reason I picked you, it was random. I just picked the last soul that left a body on the closest planet to my central nexus."

"I see, but is there any reason for me to do this then? What if I just want to die. Also, what happens if I choose to die?"

"You can always refuse. I will just pick another soul. Also, if you refuse I will just send you to the spirit pool to have your soul wiped."

"Spirit pool? What is that?"

"Is the origin and destination of all souls in the multiverse. When a being is being born, spirit energy will gather from the spirit pool into the newborn being and create a brand new soul. After they die, souls are gathered inside the spirit pool again and wiped clean before being transformed back into spirit energy."

"So it's like a reincarnation cycle. Those Asian countries were right all along. So do I get anything from this? You didn't answer me the last time."

"I am programmed to provide you with a reward system. As you do the tasks entrusted to you, you will receive a number of points. You can use these points to buy benefits from me."

"What are these benefits?"

"Anything and everything."

"Huh?" if I had a jaw it will be on the floor right now "What if I wish for someone? A real human being."

"Of course it's possible. Some things are locked behind some requirements but if you manage to fulfill those requirements then everything is available for you. You can even buy the destruction of the multiverse."

"Is there any requirement for the destruction of the multiverse?"

"Yes, you need to reach the level of power of the One that created me."

"That really sounds like a scam… Does this person who created you have a name?"

"He used to but after reaching the top of the universe He declared a law that made His name taboo so I can't provide you with that information."

"No problem, I was just curious. Can you tell me the requirements to bring a person from earth to me?"

"The requirement is to save three worlds and to have the necessary points for it."

"But wouldn't that take a long time? She might just die before I manage to save three worlds?"

"That is true."

"Any way around that? You said I could have everything."

"You can buy the right to break the space-time continuum and pull that person from a certain point in space and time."

"And what are the requirements for that?"

"To manage to stabilize the multiverse. Breaking the space-time continuum in the multiverse's current state will lead to further destabilization and to it's eventual destruction which goes around my directives."

"Didn't you say I can destroy the universe? Aren't you contradicting yourself."

"Reaching the power level to unlock that benefit will make it possible for you to reprogram my directives, so there is no contradiction there."

"Fine, whatever. Tell me more about how all this works."

"I will send you to a world that is on the path of destruction. Your mission will be to eliminate the reason for it's eventual destruction and link that world to my nexus so I can take over the task of managing it in the future."

"Can't you do it from the beginning then?"

"I am unable to move from my position. You will need to save that world and connect me to that world's will."

"Can't I connect you first and you will just save it after that?"

"Negative. I goes against my directive."

"Why do I feel that the one who programmed you was an ass?" I asked a bit irked by all these directives.

"I don't have an opinion on that matter."

"Fine, do I get any special powers or something to help me?"

"You will get a body that is suitable for the power system of that world and also a system that will provide you mostly with information."

"So in gaming terms I get a default character and a tutorial?"

"Affirmative."

"Sigh.. Okay. Anything else I need to know?"

"This is all the basic information that I have to provide. If you have any further questions you are free to ask."

"Can I speak to you when I am in that world? Also, what should I call you?"

"Yes, I will be the one who manages your system in that world, also I don't have a name, you can pick one for me and I will register it."

"Fine, I'll just call you Ai. If I have other questions I'll just ask you when the time comes. You can send me whenever you want."

"All right. I'll initiate the soul transfer in three, two, one…'

A bright flash of white obscured my vision and in the next moment I found myself sitting naked on top of a mountain, submerged in snow.

"Fuck."