《Novos Hitchhiker》Prologue
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Nothing.
I try to look up and nothing changes. I try to look down and nothing changes. Nothing to the left or right. Am I even moving? I have no arms or legs or body even. There's absolutely nothing around me. No light, color, or even darkness. You are probably wondering how can there not be darkness without any light? Well you got me there. This is like trying to explain color to a blind person. There's just nothing. Well, let's call it static instead. Like the fuzzy colorful pixel images that used to be on the television when in between channels. That's probably the best way to describe this.
Of course this is scary as all hell. I can't even figure out if I'm floating, flying, or falling. There's no wind, so I suppose I'm stationary. But I can't really feel anything. Like being stuck in the endless expanse of space, not being able to turn around to see if you are even within range of a star, you just see in one direction. You have no idea if you're moving or not. There's really nothing to do in this kind of situation except hope for some kind of change.
All of this is new, yet for some reason I get the sneaking suspicion that I've been here before. But that can't be right. I was born on Earth, lived a useless life like all humans... did I die? I don't remember clearly. The last thing I remember was reading web novels in bed and now, nothing. Did a nuclear war start while I was in bed or something? Oh well, the web novel I was reading was terrible anyway. No regrets.
Okay, so now I believe I might be dead. Now what? Is a god supposed to show up and guide me to the afterlife or something? Do I get to decide to reincarnate? Years of reading reincarnation web novels has gotten me excited. But of course I know magic is a scientific impossibility, at least in the universe Earth resided in. Wait, will I even remember my memories on Earth if I reincarnate? If that happens I won't be able to marvel at magic as much! It will be like growing up with electricity. It just becomes so normal that you don't think about the intricacies of it all and marvel at how it works. Not that I know how it works. I was not a smart... man? Woman? What the hell? How in the ever-loving fuck did I forget my sex?
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Okay... okay... think think think. There has to be some clue in my memories that will tell me what I am. Okay, memories. Anything with a mirror! Ah, there's one. Aaaaand, everything reflected is a blur. Ooookay. Um, school! Maybe I lived in a country that had a school dress code. WAIT! Why are two memories overlapping? I'm in two different rooms of completely different layout and decor and on the door are two uniforms overlapped. One is a blazer with a skirt and the other a dress shirt and pants. That... can't be right. My memories of myself are blurred. Any identifiable article is overlapped by at least one other and sometimes more. Some of the oldest seem to be like this really frilly Victorian dress overlapped by a French soldier's uniform.
Wait, mother! A picture of my mother has to be somewhere in my memories! I had to have had one mother! If only that will be a foundation for my memories, I don't care!
Wait, why is she so blurry? I see a figure reflected in my eye as obviously my mother, but all of her features are blurred. Her eyes aren't any definite shape, her mouth is blurred all around, and her face's shape isn't solid. No... that... This is my mother. No. Mothers. All blurred together into one memory. I recognized all as a mother I once, and still do, love with all my heart. But...
I've reincarnated before. This is all I can conclude from this delving into my memory. I've reincarnated innumerable times, yet for some reason that fact never stuck with me between lives. Everything sort of blended together in my mind. Like a tape recorder recording over an old cassette. Only now that I can see, from the outside in, do I see every part of the tape that has been recorded over. How many lives have I lived? How many times had I died? Is this normal? Sitting in this blank space of static to reminisce on what I left behind and wait for the next life? I... think I can do that. I've lost so much in my lives that if I am going to forget them again, I might as well look upon these memories again with some sort of reverence.
The life before this, I died from street violence as a child. Pass.
I was still a student in the life before this. Death by suicide... Fuck I am not a very happy person am I? I don't get this life. I was cute, wasn't I? Someone worth getting along with and talking to in school? The memories of the emotions are a blur, mixed with other lives so I can't discern the individual thoughts. Perhaps I should just leave this life alone. It's what I probably would have wanted. Sorry, momma and papa.
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Oh here's an older one. Still a young death though. But comparatively, I lived longer than the other three. At least I had a lover and children in this life before disease got me.
The one before this I died in a war. Let's pass over this one like the suicide.
Buuuh, this is more depressing than anything. I was hoping maybe I lived a nice long modern life full of achievements. But I keep dying too young for that. I get the feeling all of my previous lives will turn out the same. Am I some victim of karma or something? Did my first life piss off a voodoo priest? I don't know if I want to reincarnate now if a short life is all I can look forward to.
Heeeeey, who's in here? I want to speak to your manager! Puh. Why haven't I reincarnated yet? Sure I might not like to now, but it has to be better than floating around in this static thinking about my depressing lives. Just let me forget them again and move on to the next miserable existence. Maybe I'll try to paralyze myself. At least then the hospital should keep me alive longer. Then I could pick up chess and become a grandmaster! I've always wanted to be good at chess, but I never picked it up. Too many distractions.
Maybe I got to think about it? Me soul, want be born on Earth. Think think think Earth. Blue planet, white sun, seven continents, well six if you merge Asia and Europe together like you're supposed to. And five if you don't count Antarctica because if you remove all the ice it's just a bunch of little islands. Damn, my last life was pathetic, but I still picked up a lot of useless knowledge.
Hmm, this isn't working. How long have I been in here anyway? There's nothing to reference time with in here. I could have been floating here for hours or years for all I know. Do I even need to reincarnate as a human? I could try to reincarnate as a character in one of my web novels. If the multiverse theory is correct, I'll eventually hit one where I can reincarnate as Rudeus Greyrat. That's probably pushing it though. I know magic isn't real and trying to find a universe where it is real could be pushing it.
BUT, I've got nothing better to do. Living as a character like that would be bad, though. If I try to avoid a bad circumstance that had to happen in order for the plot to advance a certain way, I could cause the whole story to change, and not for the better. I make one mistake, the story doesn't go as planned and who knows, I could end up having one of his love interests kill me. I should try to think up my own magic world life so I'm not messed up by spoilers.
First of all, the planet. A planet like Earth would be nice. Full seven continents to explore. I would like to explore space, but I'll save that for my next life. If I never reincarnate again, I want to at least have a magic fantasy adventure life.
So, seven continents. Maybe a bunch of difference species, too. Humans for sure, but then you can have the elves. Magicky species of humanoids that look down their nose at everything. Then their opposites, the demons. Horns on their heads, some odd colored skin, and tails. Where elves are the best magicky race, I want the demons to be the strongest physically. Then I will flush out the rest of the world with bestial humanoids like snake people, wolf people, cat, and fox people and stuff. Then fill the world full of monsters and stuff to fight! And magic, of course. But the magic needs to be something different instead of just the obvious elemental stuff. Spacial magic! Magic powered by the stars!
Sigh. Now I'm starting to lose my mind. Do I have to sit here for an eternity before I am finally given another life? Or is this it? Was that my last life and this nothingness void is the afterlife? Was Earth destroyed for real? I was just joking before, don't tell me they actually blew it up! Fuuuuuuuck! Are there other people out here, too? Or was I the only one? SOMEONE FUCKING ANSWER ME GOD DAAAAMN IT! ANSWER MEEEEEEEeeee...
...
...
I wonder how far back my lives go... Might be a way to distract myself from the infinity of this void. I wish I had hands and paper to write down information about these lives so I don't forget. Not that it matters, really. Ahhh, infinity is a cruel mistress~
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