Prologue.

  …

  …

  She blinked.

  The area was gloomy. An infinite expanse of grey clouds, sparks of lightning flaring through every so often.

  Beneath her feet was a finite white platform. It was circular. She could likely walk 50 feet in any direction before tipping over the edge.

  Her eyes subconsciously glossed around.

  She examined the tangible but... fragmented memories overhead.

  Her own home, not fully assembled, pieces of it floating around as if it was a broken Lego structure.

  Then, there was a frozen grey statue of she and her father. Him giving her a tight hug as she cried into his arms. Of course, that too was dissembled, as if the memory wasn’t complete.

  She looked down, her toes digging into the white floor.

  It was solid and cold, like marble, yet her feet sunk. As if she was standing on memory foam.

  It was solid until she moved, then it would warp textures.

  ”I’m dead...” She whispered.

  She looked around, taking the time to let her mind bring itself together.

  She was confused, but she didn’t show it.

  She felt some pains in her heart, but she didn’t show it.

  There was a lot of wonder within her, yet not even that did she show.

  Perhaps it was just a habit ingrained into her soul. After all, there was no one here to hide anything from.

  As her neck was craned upwards, at an almost ninety degree angle, a blue hologram appeared before her.

  A video game screen, with some words displayed on it.

  Then, two graphs appeared. One of them shot upwards, a blackish-red color. The other followed suit, a shining gold bar attempting to catch up.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Beneath the two bars were numbers, their size rapidly increasing.

  Slowly, the bars stagnated, the black-red line stopping at two-thirds the size of the golden one.

  The numbers listed beneath were honestly too much for her to count at the moment. She could only recognize that they were far, far larger than the millions.

  Then a new screen appeared in place of the graphs.

  They came sequentially, closing the moment she finished reading.

  Then, a tingle was felt in her ears.

  A low, low voice infiltrated her hearing. Though, she could recognize the femininity, and…

  The weird grace it had.

  She didn’t ask a single question. She stood, perplexed, feeling as the tingling faded.

  Another screen manifested, and along with it rose a white gateway straight ahead. It was a misty portal, and essence emanated into the surroundings through it.

  This was a different voice, not divine in any way. It audibly read the words displayed on the screen before her, but most noticeably…

  It sounded like a robotic version of her very own voice.

  Like an artificial inner voice.

  Calmly, she took note of its words. She looked downwards once more, wiggling her toes in the strange floor.

  She let her knees bend, a palm falling to the ground, assisting her in sitting down.

  There was a small exhale as she closed her eyes. She leaned backwards, her body sinking into the floor.

  Her mouth opened.

  “…”

  Though, no sound escaped.

  Slowly, it closed. A hand found its way to her face, but it rubbing over it.

  ”…Am I really dead?…”

  ”…Help me understand.”

  …