《Otherworld》
Beginning and end of a Dream
2041,May 31
Age 8 years old
A boy is sitting on the floor with his eyes glued to the screen.Next to him is his father who is also intently watching the T.V
On the screen is a rocket headed to Mars
A huge 380 feet tall rocket preparing for take off and an equally large service structure still connected to the humungous space craft
His father patted his back and said
"Here it comes son"
While looking a little emotional
He wondered why but he looked back at the screen as soon as the countdown started
"..T minus 15,14,13,12,11,10 ignition sequence start 6,5,4,3,2,1"
Boom!
The Dragon Rocket takes off carrying within it the first 6 humans that''s going to step foot on the red planet.Instead of shooting straight up the rocket arched as if avoiding a transparent dome in the sky.Of course there''s no dome in the sky it only did this because it intends to enter orbit and it is much efficient.
The first stage of the rocket returns to Earth and refuels then it goes back to the main rocket with fuel enough for the journey to Mars
Carl is amazed at how that huge piece of metal can reach space.Isn''t it too big?Will it reach another Mars?and how far even is Mars?
Questions fills his head.Too many questions, he doesn''t know why he''s bothered by it.
That''s when he realized that there''s is so many things he doesn''t know.
He asked
"Dad,how far is Mars?"
Then his father answered but there are still questions.Every answer leads to more questions, he kept asking his dad questions but fearing that his father might grow impatient after he bombard him with questions Carl looked down and apologized
"Sorry dad"
His father looked at his son with a confused expression
"For asking too many questions"Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
His father heard his answer he patted Carl''s head and smiled
"There''s nothing with asking questions.Asking questions is what gives meaning to life"
2071
38 years old
Carl is now a successful interpreneur
His company The Red Dragon Inc is based on-Mars but started on Earth
Mars that previously only contained some few 3-D printed igloo shaped habitats made of silicon and iron that is abundant there
But now there are several greenhouses
These are hemispherical clear hard plastic filled with cynobacteria and algae with part of it buried under the surface.The greenhouses are pressurized.To keep the plant from freezing LCDs are used to warm the greenhouse
An air compressor concentrates the Martian atmosphere giving Carbon Dioxide.Nitrogen are being extracted from the dust using various chemical processes.
There is a region full cracks near the settlement but underneath this desolate looking wasteland is an important ingredient to support the Marsian colony:Water or more specifically ice water and permafrost
The ice water is mined using microwaves.A device beam microwaves on the ground.It works through sublimation,converting frozen water directly into gas and then a cold trap captures 99 percent of the extracted water vapor
The people here on Mars lives in modified lava tubes with oxygen coming from the greenhouses.All moisture excreted by the body are being extracted by vents and recycled
The energy comes from solar panels gathering energy during Mars 24 hours long day.
Carl looked at the colony with pride
"One day I will transform Mars"
This is only the beginning Carl thought
2300
267 years old
Carl is now very old
There''s nothing left for him to do now than watch the product of his hardwork
These days humans can now extend their life span so being 200+ is nothing special
Humans now understand how every gene in the body works.
Supercomputers can simulate protein foldings and interactions.They can simulate complex cellular environment making it possible to know what changes in genes is necessary to expand our lifetime.Humans also uses DNA of other animals like naked mole rats that can live much longer than other rodents to extend their own
Humanity is now an interplanetary species with cities on Mars,Moon and an cylindrical orbital city orbiting Earth
Powerplants with fusion reactors are the main source of energy.Neumann Probes,self replicating robots,are now mining the asteroid belt and Mercury
Humanity''s Goal is now to become a Type II civilization by building a Dyson Bubble by disassembling Mercury
2600
567 years old
Carl watched as humanity advanced but somehow he doesn''t care anymore
The flame of passion in his heart has died
Mercury is now gone and the Sun surrounded by the mirrors and collectors
The energy from it is used to power up the orbital cities and Neumann probes
Now humanity has set it''s sight on Alpha Centauri and beyond by using the latest space faring technology: The Kugelblitz Drive,space craft fueled by the Hawking Radiation emitted by a microscopic black hole
2630
597 years old
Carl''s eyes grew heavy
His long life have taken its toll and now its time for Carl to say good bye.As darkness swallows Carl''s vision a faint glint of light can be seen
Chapter 1:Carl and the space squid
This isit, the end of the road.Theres no need for me to remain here anymore,I''ve succeeded and now the future of the human race is in the hands of the current generation
Well,I may not beas significant asI think I ambutI like to flatter myself that I may be Columbusto someone.I''m definitely not thefirst to discover space but I think I''m the first to risk all of my money to mine space rocksand toexploit the resources found in space.
I''m going to die,thisis it,the final frontier.I wish I could return to tell everyone what happens after you die butdead men tell no tales
I''m going to die alone,it''s a little sad butthats it.The people I want to spend my last moments with are already gone
The fact that I''mgoing to die in a house at aman made city floating in space just tells how far humanity and technology has come since the time when the cost of sendingstuff to Low EarthOrbit is 3000 thousand dollars per pound
My field of vision is narrowing down,its getting darker and darkeruntil theres only a tiny dot in the middle.But before I completely lost my visionan intense light came from above,so bright that it can probably blind you even if you closed your eyes
Where does the light came from? I dont know and I dont care.I''m going to die any second now.Why bother
By this time I already lost my vision but I can still feel the light,so bright that its probably several times hotter thansunlight
Well,It looks likeI wontdie painlessly afteall
Then I heard a cold,robotic AI sounding voice says:
"Scan complete"
I slowly opened my eyes and I am...still in my house
Arent I supposed to be dead.However I feel aliveand more healthy than before
What happened?
Then I remembered the electronic voice just before I "died"
Something is definitely off
I checked my surroundings and everything is exactly where its supposed to be, Its as if I had just woke up from a nightmare.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"It seems you have awaken"
Startled by the sudden intrusion,I immediately stood up faced the direction where the voice is coming from
"Who are you? no let me rephrase that,what are you?"
He,It, looks like a squid.A squid with a transparent body that has wires instead of vains and isgivingoff violet-blue steadily pulsing light
"Who I am is not important"
I glared at him and said
"Yes it is, if we''re to going to discuss somethingthen I need to know who you are and what you are"
There is asilence for amomentthen the robotic Cephalopod''s cold,emotionless voice answered
"We are probesmade by a civilization long gone, we were programmed tostrive forperfection and seed the universe with life"
Like Von Neumann Probes, machine with specific tasks,continously replicating and evolving.They probably learned how to create AI''s themselves,if this is true then it ispossible that their creators lost control of them leading to the most predictable movie plotline ever
I''minterested but I should just ask the necessary questions
"What do you need from me?"
"Out of all theplanetsin this galaxy we seeded with life, thecarbon based life forms,your species,are the only one that passed the Great Filters"
I crossed my arms and continued to glare at thething claiming to be part of the race responsible for life on Earth.If this is true then they are the closest thing to "God" but theres no way I''m going to worship a glowing space calamari
"That doesnt answer my question,get straight to the point"
I know that I dont have a leverage againts this guy or his entire race but I guess I just got used to this attitude.Wimpering wont do anything good,better show them I''m the alpha here even though I''m really not.
"You are the reason why your raceescaped their prison called "Earth",no a cradle shouldn''t be compared to a prison.But all babies must learn to walk and leave their cradle, all chicks must break free from their eggs "
I smiled wryly and shook my head,who knows that even aliens think so highly of me?I dont really thinkI did anythingrevolutionary.I didn''t really discovered anything great, I''m just a foolwho think space ships are cooland someone who got conned by his father torisk everything he haveso he can see his favorite movies space battle scenes come to life:Even though space battles isnt really that great, no sounds and no flashy explosions like that on Earth ,only lot ofdeaths.Painful deaths.Not really that exciting if you ask me
"No,I didn''t do anything.I just gave them a little push"
The glowing floating spacesquid looked at me and said
"That is what a certain place needs,a little push,thats why we''re sending you there"
The squid started to fade away after saying that
"Wait! I didn''t agree to this yet!"
Just before "he"dissapeared I heard him said
"In time,you will know your place in the grand plan of the Transendence"
The hell!
thatlast part sounds really ominous
The room isalso starting todissapear, reality is recedingaway from my feet until only a blank white canvass remains
Shit, I dontlike being controlled likea puppet but I knowthat if something is too powerful to be opposed, then you should just go with the flow
If theres nothing I can do then I''d rather just sit back and enjoythe ride.I''m supposed to be dead anyway
Then I heard that electronic soundingvoice again
"Scanning..."
My conciousness is slipping away just like before,my vision is all black and I already cant hear a damn thing.
"Scan complete.Beaming information todestination toconstruct"Clone no.2"
The Black Hole Miners from the end of time
A
12Ga(Billion years)
A galaxyisgiving off lesslight that it should.But at a closer lookthe stars are there,thereis just something blocking their light
Its as iftheir energy is being harnessed
100 Ta (Trillion years)
Star formation ends, Galaxies slowly die as interstellar gas is exhausted.All high mass stars are already dead andonly low mass stars remains
Something is pushingthese remaining stars to their doom.Pushing them closer to the giant Super Massive Black Hole that is stillin the middle of the now fading galaxy
The culprits are Stellar Engines, giantmachines capable of moving entire stars using their own light as thrust.These Stellar Engines have enoughmass that it is also attracting the star with its own gravity
These stellar tow trucks are moving slowly through space but eventually,after a billion years,these engines will be traveling in space at relativistic speeds
These stars will be dump into the black holeand a dyson sphere likemegastructure surrounding theblack hole will capturethe kinetic energy of the mass as it plummetsdown into theblack hole.
They are hoardingenergy,like how animals store food before winter.These black hole miners are preparing for winter, a very cold and long one
120 Ta
The universe is dead,dark and cold.A universefilled with white dwarfs,neutron stars and black holesHelp support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
A universe devoid of star, but not of life
A giant ring surrounds a gigantic black hole.
TheBlack hole minersnow uploaded theirconciousness inside a giant computerand is in a state of hybernation.Using as littleenergy as possible, this giant computer harnesses theHawking Radiation emitted by theBlack Hole
This state of hibernation continued for a very long time
| 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years (Undecillion years) |
The Black Hole miners are now scurrying to find ways to escape their dying universe, or to save it.At any cost even if it meansdestroying others
The super cold universemakes computation a lot faster, they''re now using their precious hoard of energy.Slinging themselves closer to the Black Hole''s event horizon slowingthe flow of time for themselves
Simulating entire universes searching for the answer thatwill allow them to escape the increasingly hostile universe
| 29,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years (Trecedillion years) |
The miners have now discovered a way to punch a hole straight to their universe''s "daughter" universe
They start to devise a plan :to leave or to stay
To migrate to the daugther universe or just siphon energy from it anddump entropy in there.Accelerating the death of that universe and rejuvenating their own universe
Ch.2 A new beginning
Age12
My name is John and I am what you would call a reincarnated person
How did I know? No, I dont know.I''m still unsure ifI really am a reincarnated person.But I have these dreams,fragmented dreams that I was able to piece together
Based on these dreams I was once a smart,rich and powerful man.And being rich and powerful always comes with being respected or feared or maybe despised and it seems like he was respected,maybe even hailed as hero .The worldhe, or rather I,lived in wasso different from the world I grew up in that calling it another universe is probably more appropriate.Magic also doesnt exist there and it seems like they use these ships that can travel through space
"Hey,John! You''re doing it again!"
As Iwas lost in thought I heard the voice of my childhood friend,Alice Dedeae,waved her hand infront ofmedragging me back to reality
"Ah,s-sorry I was just thinking of something it''s going to be the last time I promised " Iapolized to her while rubbing the back of my head.Alice looks at me unoconvinced,probably because I alwayskeep repeating the same excuseIf you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
She sighed and said "If youre always like that other people are going to think your weird you know?"
"I don''t care"
I answered curtly
"Yeah,you dont why did Ieven bother asking?If you''ve got something bothering you,you can always tell it to me"
Alice said smiling as she points her thumb to herself
Tell what? that I think Ireincarnated from another world?Just thinking about it souds crazy enough
I dont care ifother people think im weird or whatever, but the thought of Alice thinking I''m weird is something I would like to avoid.She''s like anelder sister to me, even though she''s only 14 years old,just 2 years older than me.She''s so mature compared to others of her age.She''s upbeat,smart,mature and understanding and even though I knew her for the rest of my life there is always an air of mystery surrounding her
When I think about it, I practically dont know anything about her
"Here,take this"
A necklace with a pendant engraved with a tree,a cat and a man hanging on the tree is on her outstretched hands
"It''s a gift,don''t ever lose it okay?"
I nodded and took the necklace from her hands
"Its getting dark,we should probably get home"
She ran away and turned around and waved good bye and shouted
As I looked at her shrinking figure as she run further away
I never saw her again,the enigma that is Alice disappeared from my life
Ch 2.1:Lost
Its already been 10 days since I last saw Alice.I''m starting to get worried, I want to visit her but I don''t know where she lives.For a while forgot about those dreams
I asked everyone in the village if they know where she lives but it seems that no one knows .I even asked the visiting adventurers if they saw someone who matches her description.It seems that she just disappeared
"Looking for your imaginary friend,John? "
The who asked that in a mockingtone is Edward, he''s the arrogant son of a merchant who settled in this village.He''s also the richest kid around here andherubs his privilages on everyones faces
"She''s not imaginary!"
"Yeah,sure she isn''t"
He replied,grinning from ear to ear.
My blood boiled,I clenched my fistthat is shaking withanger.I want to erase that smug look on his face
"Oh, so you want tofight back?why dont you try hitting me?but I''m sure you knowwhats going to happen if you do right?"
Edward said while walking withhis hands up in the air as if urging me to do just that
I want to hit him, but I understoodthat if I do that then It''s not going to turn out well.I know that because I did hit him in the past
What happened?like I said it didn''t turned out well.I got beaten up andhis father,obviouslyand understably sided with his son. Since they''re rich and I am just the son of a farmer who also hunts sometimes.His father basically rules this little village.
"You''re a coward"
I just smiled, because he''s right.I am a coward .
I left him behind and went towhere Alice and I often meet.It''s outside our villageso going thereafter the sun set is dangerous.I often sneak out of the village to go this place, but I can only meet her when my father is out hunting
Luckily,today my father isout and is currently hunting in the nearby woods
I canalmost see the tree which is kind of a landmark.As I approached the tree theusual sight ofmy friend isn''t there
But thatdoesnt mean there isnt anything there
A Peryton, a stag with the wings of a giant eagle.Its wings werecoveredwith dark green feathers.Ontop of its head were agiant,extremely sharp jet black set of antlers.
A magnificent beast, probably one of the most majestic creatures i''ve ever seen.I would probably keep staring at it if Idon''t know what a Peryton is
Behind that beautifulfacade is a dagerous blood thirsty beast, aPeryton is monster that hates its own existence.Always looking for the "perfect heart"to ascend to ahigher stateof existence,it tears the still beating heart of its prey.
APeryton''s shadowdoesn''t cast the shadow ofthe beast,instead the shadow shows the outline of the last creature whose heart it has devoured
I was just about to silently flee until I saw its shadow
The shadow of it shows the outline ofa girl that I instantly recognized,the shadow it cast is a shadow that I am very familiar with.It has the shadow of Alice
As if somethingsnapped inside me I did something I would have never done normally
I picked up a stone and threw it at the beast as hard as I can
"Give herback!"
I roared at the beast as If it will change anything, as if I shout harder it willbring my friend back to life
As expected The Peryton seems unfazed and all I did was anger it and attract its attention.It spread its wings openand the gust ofair coming from it made me realized what I just did and the first thought that came to my head is that
I''m dead
I ran as fast I could,I ran evenbefore thePeryton flew.
The Peryton now circles the sky above me like a hawk and the It skydivedin a ramming position,like a flying bull after amattador holding a capotesUnauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
I jumped and rolled to the right to avoid the angry beast, I almost bumped into a tree
The Peryton''s antlers only hit air.I quickly stood upbut so does the Peryton, it quickly charge towards my direction.
I had no time to evade by jumping sideways so I just ducked.Again, I escaped being skewered by its antlers and instead the antlers dug and got stuck into the tree behind me.This is the advantage of being much smaller than your enemy
Using the chance I ran again,I ran towards the direction of the village.The adventurers are staying there and theyre the only one I can think ofwho can take on this beast.I ran so fast that I didnt notice the root of a tree and I tripped, a stupid mistake
I can hear the Peryton''s screeches,roars andit even makes sounds resembling a human screaming in agony
By now the Peryton has already freed one of its antlers and the tree is barely standing.The Perylot was able to free itsantlers because of itsmonstrous strength, its antlers didnt broke because its nota normal antler but rather a material as hard as steel
I heard the tree snaps and falls toward the ground
I can barely stand up, my whole body hurts
My body is coveredin bruises and wounds
I''m tired both physically and mentally
The Peryton approached me carefully, thinking that I cant escape.Itis probably restraining itself from killing me immediately so it can consume my heart
I closed my eyes and gave up, waiting for the death blow, waiting for the beast to tear through my chest and eat myheart
"Get away from my son!"
Its the voice of my father, my father roared at the beast and unsheathed his sword.He rushed at the Peryton and tries to stab it but instead of blood the onlything that came out is the sound of steel clashing against steel
The Peryton kicked at the direction of my father but my father evaded quickly jumping sideways and rolling onto the ground
"John! get out here! call the adventurersstaying in thevillage!"
"B-but,father! you-"
"GO!!"
I ran away again,as fast as I canwith every step making my heartfeel heavier
I can''t do anything
I''m uslessand weak all I can do is run away
I dont want this
I''m just fooling myself that going with the flow means that I am smartand intelligent.I dont go with the flow,I get swept by it because I''m weak.
Its earlyso there are still lot of people outside and after searching for a bit I found the two adventurers surrounded by the village kids
I forced my way through the crowd of kids,Edward was about to say something but I shove him out of the way.The adventurers noticed me andthats whenI yelled
" Help! there''s a monster outside the village! my father''s life is in danger!"
One of the adventurers approached me ,ablack hairedman that looks like he''s in in his mid 20s He''s wearing acuirass andhis arms wereequipped with vembraces.A sheathed shortsword hung on his waist
He''s aboutto ask mebut when he saw my eyes,seeing how dead serious I am,he stopped and just nodded
His companion,a blonde hairedwoman wearing a breast plate, her arms werecovered by gauntlets with a red crystal embedded on each palm walks closer to me and handed me a small bottle containing a green viscous liquidsaying "Its not the purest potion but it should be enough to heal your wounds"
"Tell me where your father is,we''re going to do our best to save him"
"No,I''m coming my father needs me" I said in a resolute voice,so resolute that even I dont recognize it my self.I thought he''s going to object but he just replied "Then come, just dont get in our way"
With me leading the way, we dashedto where the Peryton and my father wasfighting.But when we arrived its already too late,the fight is over and my father lies on the ground bleeding
Irushed to my father''s side and checked his pulse.Its weak but its still there, he''s still alive
Yes! there''s still a chance!
"Get him out of here! this place is going to be a battlefield soon!"
Alaric, the adventurer ,shouted as he unsheathed the short sword that hung on his waist.Its not a normal sword, the blade is covered withrunes
"Yes!"
I gently draggedmy father to a safe distance away from the site of the imminentbattle.I took the potion that Christine,thewoman adventurer gaveme and slowlypoured its content in my unconscious father''s mouth.The bruises and small wounds are dissapearing and closing but the hole in his stomach stubbornly refused to close
No, this won''t do if this keep uphe''s definitely going to die
Hope turned into despairand all I can think is how weakI am
Would anything change if Ihad stayed? probably nothing because I''m too weak
I tried to carry him but since he is a lot bigger thanme and by how exhausted and injured I amI didn''t even managed to move himby 1 meter before Ifell down
Then I felt it,the weak movement of his chest is gone, I checked his pulse again but they too have already dissapeared
No...
I slumped to the ground in exhaustion and sadness,my vision is becoming more blurry by each second.I''ll probably pass out in afew minutes
I heard the hellish screech of the Peryton as itdescended from above aiming its sharp antlers atAlaric
"Protection Magic! [Algis]!"
His sword glowed bright blue and the light turned into particles that got absorbed by his body
Alaric just stood there not moving an inch,I was expectinghim to get impaled by the beast''s antlers but contrary to what I expected the Peryton''s antlers didn''t even penetrated Alarics armor
Even the monstrous stag and eagle hybridseems confused
Seeing this opening Christine pointed her index finger at the Peryton before it can take off
The red crystal that is embedded inhergauntlet glowed bright red, the light then concentratedin her index finger
"Concentrated fire spell [Kenaz]!"
A stream of concentrated fire shot from her finger and it went right through the Peryton''s body, instantly killing it
If im onlyas strong as them thennone of this would have happen...
I fell unconscious while cursing my own weakness and uselessness