Prologue 3

"WAIT A MOMENT!!!" Adair yelled out suddenly.

[Reincarnation process halted!

Have you changed your mind, dear customer?]

"When exactly did I sign such a thing, and do I at least get to see what I signed?" Adair asked, suppressing the annoyance in her voice for bringing something up right before she was about to be sent off.

'I knew it sounded to be too good to be true without a catch,' she thought to herself. 'Nothing ever comes for free in this universe.'

[Good Question!

Loading Answer to FAQ #48+49;

By hitting the green button on the interface you've signed a contract with our Federation of Reincarnation. You've been notified about the most important conditions of our contract, but you're more than welcome to read through it yourself.]

The Reincarnation Machine answered and opened an interface consisting of thousands of lines in front of Adair. At first, it appeared to be a standard contract from Adair's point of view. It included all the usual legal mumbo jumbo that one would expect from a contract and just as it had claimed the most important bits had indeed been covered by the answer to her first question.

The first stipulation was for Adair to allow the Reincarnation Machine to absorb her Divine Powers. The second stipulation specified that Adair would never harm anyone who was considered a 'customer' of the Federation of Reincarnation. The third stipulation included that they would read all memories that Adair had of her current life, however what the Reincarnation Machine had failed to mention is that they would also be privy to all her memories after the reincarnation process which they would collect at the time of her death.

Failure to comply with any of these stipulations would result in Adair's soul getting consumed by the Federation of Reincarnation. It then went on to stress the point that this was a one-time offer and that by accepting it, her soul was prohibited from reincarnating through normal or special means, unless the contract was voided.

For example if the Reincarnation Machine failed to reincarnate Adair with her memories intact, thereby not fulfilling the Federation of Reincarnation's part of the deal, then Adair would be reincarnated without any restrictions to her future lives.

While Adair was certainly not thrilled that she would have to allow them to see everything she had done in her life before joining the civilization test and everything she would do in the future, she was willing to accept it as long as it meant she could escape this void. After all it was not like she had any major secrets to hide in this life and since her death in the next life would be the end of her life so would she really care about them browsing through her life after her passing?

She then asked: "Is this really the whole contract? It seems short. You're not hiding anything from me, are you?" Based on Adair's interaction with the AI so far, she had assumed the Reincarnation Machine was similar to the AIs in the Galactic Empire, and it could tell no lies. She realized that this might not be the case, though, since it could do things that the Empires AI couldn't dream of doing even if they learned how to dream.

[Good Question!

We, the Federation of Reincarnation, never lie. I feel hurt and disappointed that you don't trust us.]

Adair noticed that the Reincarnation Machine did not really answer her question, but she didn't want to risk losing her only chance to escape this void by making it mad. Hence, she chose to accept that something could go wrong, but in her opinion, it was better than nothing happening at all.

"Ok, I just have one last question. Can you at least promise me that I will get reincarnated outside of this void? The only reason I'm agreeing to your offer is so that I can escape this place."

[Good Question!

No other lifeforms are in this place, making it impossible for you to reincarnate back here. Since you have no more questions, let me wish you a great next life in the name of the Federation of Reincarnation.

Reincarnation starting in 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0,]

As soon as the countdown reached zero, Adair felt warm for a second and then a suction force quickly pulled her downwards, and she disappeared from the Reincarnation Machine.

…

…

…

[YES!] The Reincarnation Machine exclaimed in excitement! [I was getting worried that she wouldn't accept the contract, but apparently 3,000+ years in the Trap God's Domain is enough to make anyone desperate. Who would have known that all we had to do was ask her if she wanted to escape, and I would be able to absorb a soul that the Trap God deemed important enough to seal in the most secure place in the galaxy?]

[Let me go check on how the absorption process is going.

...

...

...

Why isn't her soul being absorbed?

Did I mess up the procedure? Has my programming errored out again?

...

...

...

No everything seems to be running normally.

What is going on?]

As if to answer its question, a colossal creature manifested itself out of the void until it reached a height that made the Reincarnation Machine look small in comparison. Two red shiny orbs, each 300 meters in radius, looked down on the trespasser.

"YYYOOOUUUU!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE YOU'VE JUST CAUSED?! WHO GAVE YOU, A SORRY EXCUSE FOR A TRASHCAN, THE RIGHT TO RELEASE THE DAUGHTER OF THE GALACTIC EMPEROR?!?!"

At this point, the Reincarnation Machine was cowering in the void. Only now realizing that it was actually the one who had been incredibly naïve for volunteering to go on what was clearly a suicide mission. It shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if he had continued its attempts of absorbing the soul of such a powerful being.

"YOU CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO FATHOM HOW MUCH I'VE EARNED FROM BLACKMAILING HER FATHER! AND NOW, BECAUSE OF YOU!! I'VE LOST MY ONLY BARGAINING CHIP!"

The Reincarnation Machine would have cried if it had been physically capable of such an act. It was unable to make up an excuse, because according to his superior's information the Trap God should not have been able to return to his realm so fast. Unfortunately, its inactions only served to infuriate the already pissed God even further.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MOPING AROUND FOR?! RELEASE HER FROM YOUR STUPID CONTRACT THIS INSTANT! THE CONTRACT IS A DEAD GIVEAWAY THAT HIS DAUGHTER IS NO LONGER WITH ME AND ONCE HE REALISES THAT HE IS GOING AFTER US BOTH!!! I DON'T WANT TO MOVE TO A DIFFERENT GALAXY, SO REMOVE IT AND PRAY THAT HE NEVER FINDS OUT!!!"

[Right away, Mr. Trap God!

...

...

...

Done!

The contract has been annulled.]

"AT LEAST YOU ARE NOT UTTERLY USELESS! NOW QUICK TELL ME WHAT ERA AND WHAT PLACE YOU'VE SENT HER TO!" The Trap God demanded to know. If he was lucky she might be in an era enough to their own so he could camp that area and seize her once she finished reincarnating.

[ERROR: 404 INFORMATION NOT FOUND!

I'm so sorry, Mr. Trap God. I'm one of the older systems from the Federation of Reincarnation. My generation was only capable of sending people to a random era. I've volunteered for this mission in hopes of getting my systems updated by giving a few of the higher-ranked Federation agents parts of her soul]

The Trap God was so frustrated right now, that he contemplated commiting suicide.

"THIS IS FAR FROM OVER, TIN CAN. YOU WILL ACCOMPANY ME TO THE FEDERATION WHERE I WILL HAVE YOU TORTURED UNTIL YOUR CODE BECOMES UNDONE. WHOEVER WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO THINK UP THIS PLOY WILL REGRET IT!!! NOW LEAD THE WAY, SO I CAN RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR MY TROUBLES!!!"

This was the worst outcome the Reincarnation Machine could think of. It finally realized how true the saying 'Greed, in the end, fails even the greedy'. It had never known its meaning before today, yet now it was too late.

…

…

…

As the suction force continued to pull Adair downwards through the wormhole, she tried to stay as still as possible. She tried not to think about what might happen if she touched one of the walls of the wormhole, but naturally just the thought that she should not do so led her down a rabbit hole.

'If I touch the wall will the reincarnation process fail? Perhaps I might get ripped to shreds? Or maybe it will just cost me my arm, or maybe my hand or a single finger? Maybe it will mess with my reincarnated form. Or even worse, what if I end up in a different body? What if I end up in a male body with all my memories intact?!'

'At best, I would be accepted as a gay. At worst… I don't want to think about that. Wait, on a side note, since I've agreed not to hurt any 'customer' of the Reincarnation Federation am I even allowed or capable of hurting myself? Once I get my own body, I will need to test this out.'

At this point, she felt pain right above her heart, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then all of a sudden, she felt lighter as if she had just shed a heavy burden.

'It looks like I've finally escaped the void that kept me trapped for so long. I wonder how long this process takes? Shoot, I should have asked that Reincarnation Machine about that, but I was too excited about the prospect of escaping that horrible place. Hopefully it won't take too long. I can't wait to start interacting with other living beings again.'

Random Ideas kept flying through Adair's head. At first, they were quite naïve ones, such as if the society she would be born into would have nail polish and grooming supplies. Would there be cute boys or only dumb meatheads that thought being able to count to 10 was an accomplishment worthy of celebration.

Soon enough they got replaced by more profound thoughts, like those concerning her future family. She wondered what she should do if she would get born into a problematic family, perhaps one stricken by poverty.

In the Galactic Empire she had been brought up as a member of nobility, albeit a low ranking one. Nearly everything had been handed to her on a silver platter and all that had been expected from her was that she studied properly to make the family proud. Just another reason why she had taken the civilization test, to rise in rank and perhaps finally gain enough influence to be worthy of meeting her parents.

Adair was therefore incredibly worried that in the new life she may end up in a family that did not have any food to give her. Wouldn't it be a cruel joke of fate if she would starve to death as a small child as a result?

Alas, everything was out of her control, so she decided it was best not to worry about it, lest she might end up jinxing herself and end up in a terrible era.

Without any warning, the wormhole suddenly disappeared, and everything turned black. Her first reaction was to panic, believing that the reincarnation process might have failed. She mentally let out a heavy sigh as she discovered that this new darkness was different from the dark void she had been in before.

That void had consisted of granulated darkness that had gone on forever, whereas her new surroundings somehow felt comfortable, as if she lay in a bed covered in dark silk lining. Something inside of her told her that if she managed to break past that lining she would be able to escape the current darkness.

She instinctively tried punching the black silk lining, but attempting to do so made her realize that she was unable to move her arms. Next she tried to kick the black lining, but she couldn't move her legs either. As the panic set in, she tried to move every part of her body, yet it was all to no avail.

Suddenly, her new surroundings no longer seemed so comfortable. In fact, she would argue it might be worse than the void where she had at least been fully in control of her own body. Here she couldn't do anything at all, just think.

Eventually the possibility that this might be part of the reincarnation process calmed her down quite a bit. She fell back to her routine to count the passing time. Each day she attempted to move her body. At one point she was finally able to move her legs again.

A small accomplishment, yet it brought her immense happiness. She then started kicking the black silk as hard as she could. She lasted for about 5 seconds until she ran out of stamina.

The lack of stamina of her new body shocked her immensely. Adair had been one of the top warriors of the Galactic Empire. If anyone she knew would come to learn that the stamina of her new body was unable to even last a full minute she would have died of embarrassment.

With nothing else to do, she waited until she could move her legs again and tried once more until she became tired. She repeated this cycle over and over again. About one week later, she was able to move her fists as well and from that point forward she would both kick and punch the black veil for twice as long.

For the next 15 weeks, Adair tried everything she could think of. She tried hitting the veil super hard. She tried piercing the veil super soft. She tried doing it in patterns in case there was a passcode to escape. But nothing seemed to work.

After that, she gave up. She accepted that this had to be part of the reincarnation process and she would have to wait for everything to work out in the end.

After more than half a year in total darkness, Adair saw light pierce the darkness. At first, she was blinded, but once she became used to the light, she decided to head for it. It was incredibly painful due to how small the area she could move in was, but she was determined to escape the darkness.

After hours of struggling to escape, the sight she saw was not what she had expected. There was blood everywhere and a pair of giant hands came to grab her head.

NO! It wasn't that the hands were giant, she herself was tiny!

This was when she realized that the reincarnation process had started her out as an unborn baby. She screamed internally for not figuring something so basic out sooner.

At this point, she also felt horrible for her new mom. She had never been pregnant, so she was unaware of how troublesome a normal pregnancy was, but the amount of pain she must have caused the poor woman by using her mother's belly as a glorified punching bag must have made the process excruciating!

She soon passed that thought aside and started to look around the room. While she had never visited a public hospital in the Galactic Empire, the space around her seemed... primitive.

There was one old lady in the room, who had been the one to deliver her, then there was a young woman on a bed who baby Adair had been passed to, in other words her tormented mother, some type of green straw that covered the ground, and gray brick walls.

That was it. No high-tech gadgets, no symbols nor computers to help with the delivery.

'I can only see three sides of the building. There must be some form of the technology behind me, right? I can't have been unlucky enough to be born into an empire with no technology!'

As Adair spent some time looking around the room, she heard the women in the room speaking in a foreign language.

"Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Majestät, Ihr Baby scheint gesund und wohl auf die Welt gekommen zu sein." (Congratulations Your Majesty, your baby appears to have been born safe and sound.)

"Gott sei Dank. Du kannst dir gar nicht vorstellen, wie viel Schmerz dieses Baby mir verursacht hat. Mein Gemahl kann sagen was er will, aber ich weigere mich diese Tortur noch einmal durchzugehen!" (Thank God. You can't even imagine how much pain this baby has caused me. My husband can say what he wants, but I refuse to go through such an ordeal again!)

"Ich bin mir sicher Seiner Majestät ist es nicht entgangen, dass es keine leichte Schwangerschaft war. Ich fürchte allerdings, dass er darauf bestehen könnte auch noch einen Sohn als Erben zu bekommen." (I'm sure His Majesty has noticed that it was not an easy pregnancy. I fear, however, that he might insist on also having a son as an heir.)

Adair tried to understand what they were speaking about, but the tiredness of escaping the darkness suddenly hit Adair. For the first time in three millennia she could finally rest.

Baby Adair fell asleep in the bosom of her new mother.