Note: This chapter has not gone to my editors and events may change before final release. The below is also unedited and in a raw non-polished form.

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Tiberius opened his eyes. It was pitch black other than a blinking yellow light a few inches in-front of him. He tried to reach out and touch it, but his arms were confined. He tried his feet and then his body in general. He was completely immobilized.

“Hello?” His voice came out low and raspy. He licked his dry and cracking lips and tried again, this time with more fiver. “Hello!?”

He heard the click of an unseen speaker kicking on. “Ahh, Mr. Stone. I see you have woken up. Please stay as still as you can so we ensure a proper scan.

Tiberius recognized the voice. It was the suit from earlier. “Scan? What the fuck are you talking about? Let me out of here. Now!” He tried to push himself up, but his constraints were tight and well made.

“We’ve discussed this, Mr. Stone. You’ve signed all the documents enabling your upload into Yggdrasil in exchange for a onetime payment to your remaining family members.”

Hoping someone else could hear him, Tiberius called out. “Help! This guys trying to kill me! Someone, anyone, help me!”

“Ahh! I had my volume turned up to load. You hurt my ears.” A moment passed while the man, presumably, adjusted his volume setting. “That’s better. Now stop your shouting. This is a secure connection between the two of us. No one can hear you.”

“That might be true, but there has to be someone out there. Help me!”

“This facility is almost completely unmanned. The nearest person to you, other than me, is several rooms away. Besides, your chamber is completely soundproof. Now do you want to hear what I have to say or not?” The man waited for a response, but after not getting one for several minutes, he continued speaking. “You’re being scanned and uploaded into Yggdrasil, the online prison designed and operated by Techavant. This prison has saved the various world governments hundreds of billions of dollars and is a state-of-the-art simulation. Now, I have to inform you that this is a one-way journey. During the upload process, your mind will be separated from your body and your remains will be incinerated. Do you have any questions so far?”

“Yeah. How do you live with yourself? Killing an innocent man?”

“Quite comfortably, Mr. Stone. Quite comfortably indeed. Now, let me kick this process off.”

The blinking yellow light turned off, and a monitor built into the pod in-front of him turned on. It illuminated the surrounding space. He wasn’t able to turn his head much but was able to see thick metal straps covering various spots on his arms and chest. He presumed there were more on his head and legs because he wasn’t able to move those either.

Looking back at the monitor, he read the display with growing dread.

Initialization process started.

[████▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒]

Wide red lights moved up and down his body, scanning him, focusing mostly on his head. An outline of a brain appeared on the scream below the progress bar. As the bar filled in, so did the brain.

“You’ll lose consciousness around ninety percent. That’s when the transfer will begin. I’ve been told it's a bit painful. That’s the main reason the chambers are soundproof. We used to require technicians to be present during the transfer, and they complained quite vocally about the screaming. I’m supposed to ask if you have any last words so I can record them on your prison record. Do you have any last words? And before you answer, I’m going to scrub any claims of the company’s involvement in your imprisonment.”

Tiberius could think of a lot of choice words he wanted to share with this scumbag suit and Techavant, but the progress bar was at eighty percent already. He only had time for one statement before they killed him. “Tell Lilly I didn’t kill her mother.”

“Hmm… that’s pretty close to shining light on this… unique situation.” The man rebutted.

“Blame it on a stranger, a neighbor, I don’t care. You just let her know my final words were that I didn’t do this.”

“I suppose people would draw that conclusion or just assume your mad. I mean, why would an innocent man enter Yggdrasil after all.”

Unless someone forced me. He thought about adding but was afraid it would tip the scales and the man wouldn’t record his message to his daughter. He decided it was best to keep it to himself.

“Ok. I shall write down to tell your daughter you were innocent. If she ever wants to look at your prison records, she can see the message. I believe with that, our transaction is complete. I wish you luck in your new world. Goodbye, Mr. Stone.”

Before Tiberius could even respond, he heard the speaker click off. Focusing on the monitor, he didn’t weep or cry. He balled his fists up in anger. He squeezed so tightly blood dripped from his palms.

I’ll find a way. A way back, a way to communicate, a way to ensure the world knows what Techavant did to me. I will make sure they pay. The monitor chimed with a new message.

Consciousness transfer started.

[██████████████████████████▒▒▒]

Tiberius’s vision was getting spotty. An immense pain, nothing like he’d ever felt before, washed over him. It felt like he was being stung by bees on every inch of his body all at once. Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. Somehow the pain managed to intensify. He tried to stay strong and stubborn, but it was too much. He screamed out something unintelligent.

He wasn’t able to focus on anything in particular. The pain was too much for him. Luckily, he didn’t have to suffer long. A swirling mixture of blue, gray and white streams of light spun around his vision regardless of where he looked. As the amount of swirling light increased, the remainder of his vision darkened. When it all became too much, he passed out for the second time that day.

When he came to this time, he was relieved that it wasn’t too darkness, and it overjoyed him that the pain was gone as well. Instead of pitch blackness, it was the stark opposite. It was extremely bright. So bright, he had to shield his eyes from the sun beaming down on him. Squinting, he sat up and looked around.

He was sitting in the middle of a small grassy field about the size of an Olympic swimming pool, if the pool was round. There was a small pond off to one side with a water trickling down some rocks. Next to the pond was a small, green, circular metal table with two matching chairs. A low stone wall surrounded the field on all sides but one where it connected to a wooden cottage.

Pushing off the grass, he got to his feet and scratched his head. Is this Yggdrasil? It feels… real. Scrunching the grass up in his toes, he smiled and took in a deep breath. The air was so much more clean and crisp than the polluted substance found on Earth. The sun was so bright too. Smog had created an almost permanent layer of dark clouds that blocked out a lot of the sun’s natural light. Earth was so chaotic, disruptive and downright gross. Everything here, in contrast, seemed peaceful and natural. It was a nice change of pace.

“I see you’re enjoying my garden.” A man spoke, but his voice had a slight echo to it.

Tiberius jerked his head around to see the speaker and fell backwards in shock. The man, if you could call him that, was at least ten feet tall and had nearly white skin. And not white as in pale but white as in the absence of color. Even stranger was his shimmering gold hair. It looked like flowing metal. For cloths, all he had on was a blue wool robe tied tightly to his waist with a rope.

The man cocked his head. “Do you not like my garden? I’ve been working on it for many years. Is there more I could do?” Tiberius still didn’t respond, he just sat in the grass stunned. “Ah, I’m sorry. I know our godly forms can be a little… off putting when humans see one of us for the first time. Take your time and let me know when your ready. Are you hungry?”

“God!?” Tiberius managed to spit out.

“Yes. I am the god Heimdall. Protector of the Bifrost. You are at my home.”

Did I die? The transfer must have messed up, and I actually died. Tiberius started laughing. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”

Heimdall cocked his head. “Many of your kind that travel through here speak of their death and this,” he gestured around at his garden, “as their rebirth. But you are not dead, Human. You are at my home at the edge of the Bifrost. I am to assess you and grant you abilities that will aid you in your travels on Midgard. Tell me. What brought you here?”

Tiberius stood. I forgot. The virtual world they built was based on Norse mythology. This must be one of the several artificial intelligences that govern the world. He brushed the dirt off his rear before speaking. “Hello. I’m Tiberius. I was sent here against my will.”

Heimdall raised an eyebrow. “Against your will? It was my understanding that all choose to come here from atop Yggdrasil. Is that not the case?”

Good to know I’m the first one that was forced here at least. “That was true up until now, I suppose. I wasn’t given a choice, though. I was forced here.”

“Interesting. Were you that bad of an individual that the higher beings forced you to be reborn here?”

“Higher beings? And thats the second time you mentioned being reborn or rebirth, what do you mean?”

Heimdall smiled. “It’s been some time since I conversed with a Human, so I apologize if I have forgotten what information you’re given before coming to see me.”

He waved a hand, and the image of a large tree appeared floating in the space between them. Circular portals appeared along the roots of the tree with a banner labeling them. The only exception was a large platform at the tree's base and halfway down its root system. The top platform had an elaborate golden city built on it with the label Asgard, the home of the Gods. The lower platform had the label Midgard, home of the Humans, while the remaining seven portals were labeled; Alfheim, home of the Elves, Musdellheim, home of the Fire Giants and Demons, Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves, Helheim, home of the Goddess Hel and the dishonored dead, Niflheim, world of ice, fog and mist, Jotunheim, home of the Giants, and Vanaheim, home of the Vanir.

Tiberius approached the beautiful misty model of a Yggdrasil. He waved a hand through it and it turned to smoke until his hand passed all the way through and the image reformed. Amazed by the image, he took a closer look. Each portal displayed scenes of what life was like in each realm. Only Asgard's and Midgard’s images were still.

“These are the nine realms that make up Yggdrasil. We are here,” Heimdall pointed the edge of Asgard where the model of small cabin sat. “After we discuss your life, you will be reborn in Midgard.” He pointed to the appropriate platform. “When I say reborn, I mean I will breathe life back into you with my Gjallarhorn before sending you to live on Midgard with the other Humans.”

“Wait. You mentioned higher beings. Where do they live and who are they? If they’re Gods, wouldn’t they live in Asgard?”

Heimdall nodded. “They are the ones that sent you here. They don’t live in one of the nine realms but in the branches above Yggdrasil itself. They are the ancient ones that created all you see. Just like I will breath life back into you, they breathed life into the realms.”

He’s clearly talking about the developers. About Techavant. “Does anyone speak or communicate with these higher beings?”

“Not many. I know Odin has spoken with them from time to time but its rare.”

“So there’s a chance I could speak with…”

Heimdall waved away the questions. “That’s enough talk about Odin and the higher beings. That’s not why you’re here. You are here to be judged and evaluated so that I may grant you your new life. Now,” he gestured toward the table and chairs. “Tell me your story. I’m interested to hear why you were forced here. Tell me everything.”