original

God the Machine

Chương 1: Second chance or your dream.

I just stared at the lights flashing past me, thinking. It didn't seem like heaven or hell or anything, really. I've been looking at those lights for a long time now, like 345890 kan. Don't even ask me what "kan" is, because I have no idea. Instead of the usual seconds, minutes, or hours, it's just... something else. How did I even manage to count those lights so accurately? They go by so fast!

Anyway, let me get back to the point. So, your name is...? What was your name again? Oh, it's not funny, man. I'm trying to remember your name right now! Damn, your name! I remember... dying, or was I alive?

No, I wasn't. At least, I don't think so. All I remember is that I died. By fire, maybe? No, it wasn't fire. But there was some kind of explosion. Maybe that's what caused the fire? Yeah, that sounds about right.It was a normal day. I was heading to... work? Yeah, that's right. What was I doing there? I don't remember. All I know is that it was what I'd dreamed of doing my whole life. Explosions and machines, that's what I recall.

Then all of a sudden, a sharp pain hit me and I wanted to cry out. It felt like everything was hurting at once, but only inside my head. I tried to yell, but it didn't sound like my voice. Where was my voice? I couldn't feel my mouth.

And as my vision started to fade, something made me pass out, or rather, it just switched me off and I was plunged into blackness. Blackness?

...

It's so nice to just lie there and let your mind wander. Wait, what am I thinking about? I'm dead, right? No, I can still see... a road, people... I remember now. And I'm seeing with my eyes, not just my mind. And then the light swallowed me up.

February 26th, 2026, St Petersburg, Earth

SergeyNot a bad day at all! In fact, it was great! Instead of a usual cloudy day, it was clear blue with not a single cloud in sight. Yeah, on days like that, I just wanna walk around the city and breathe in the fresh air and admire the sky. But nah, I'll only be able to appreciate all that once I'm older.

What really ruins my day is having to get up for work every day. I mean, seriously! It's the same thing I hated in high school and college, and it's still the same at work now.

But at least I do work in something I've always wanted to do – with machines! I've been fascinated with how beautiful machines are since I was a kid. After all, we created them, not nature or some higher power – we did! We humans. That's where my passion for creating came from. Then, surprisingly, I got the chance to create computer games. Yeah, yeah, yeah! I spend hours designing and building and watching things come to life. That's what I love about strategy games. Oh man, I used to spend hours just playing them.That's when I discovered sci-fi, you know, Wahoo and Spectre and all those other universes. That was when my love for the stars started. Every night, I'd imagine building a spaceship or making a discovery that'd be remembered for ages. After school, that's what drove me to apply to a technical uni for the info and control systems department. After graduating, I landed a contract with a company and got a job. And that's it, really.

Now, I'm just walking down the streets again. Or, rather, I'm staring with my eyes, 'cause I can't control my body. And everything flashes by in seconds - arriving at work, standing in front of the "thing", everyone running after me as I sign papers, and then I turn around, and the fire engulfs my body...

Unknown place, unknown planet.

And there I am.I remembered my name. I remembered being alive. And where I was wasn't exactly the afterlife. It was… strange. More than anything, I wasn't used to not breathing. When I realized what was going on, I was totally confused. I tried to breathe and move, but I couldn't. Then I got so scared! To get my bearings and adjust to my… uh… body, I needed time. It took me 2467 cans to do that. Those damn cans again! I don't know what they are. But I feel like they've been with me all my life. All right, we need to do something about this. The lights are still in my face, but they feel warm and familiar. Like they're part of me.I tried to grab one of those... and weirdly enough, one came flying towards me. It stopped right in front of my face - or so it seemed - like it was waiting for my instructions. Anyway, it was like it had become some sort of tool. And all of a sudden, it started changing, shining a bright light everywhere that made me have to close my eyes. When I opened them again, I was on some platform. A really weird platform. Made of all sorts of shapes - pyramids, cubes, you know? They were moving around in this huge space, coming together in little groups, then breaking apart into more shapes again. I was just standing there in the middle of nowhere. Stop! Stop! I looked down and there were my feet! My old feet from a past life! And my whole body! All my clothes!I was happy for like five or six minutes, and then I realized that this was exactly what I wanted. That's what I was thinking as I was holding the flame in my hand. So, I could create anything I wanted with my mind, right? Hmm, as soon as that thought came to me, I started looking around for lights, and there they were, weirdly enough, on the ground. They were following some lines, making weird patterns. Cool.When I grabbed for it, I managed to grab another one. Now, what do I need? Answers, I guess. Suddenly, the light transformed the platform into a tunnel. Why so short, though? As I got to the end, I wanted to check it out. All of a sudden, cubes started flying up from below, forming a wall – an extension of the tunnel – and as I got closer to the end, the tunnel kept going. Sometimes it was straight, sometimes it turned left, right, even went all the way up! I was curious about how long the tunnel was. I just lost track of time. But nothing lasts forever, you know?

After countless turns and twists, strange as it sounds, I saw a light at the other end. Though there was light everywhere, that area at the end stood out because of its bright light. When I reached it, it turned out to be a pretty big room, but totally empty.But no! In the middle was some kind of… device? It looked like a really low chair, like a throne. Maybe half a meter high for a kid. And if I sat on it, it wouldn't be very comfy.

Just as I was thinking about it, the chair or whatever it was started to change shape and mold itself to fit me. Crazy! Could I do anything here? Of course, I was still waiting for someone to answer me.

I sat down on the chair to rest and think. But then, suddenly, a table appeared next to me with a hoop on it. The hoop was made from the same blocks as the path I came through. I picked up the hoop, turned it over, but there was nothing inside, so I didn't know what else to do. So I just hummed, thinking it can't get worse, and put on the hoop.

And then I was in darkness.