Living Life on Purpose - Chapter 1

It was early in the morning when Frank stopped at the little bodega on the corner.  He needed coffee if he was going to survive the trip to see his mom.  He had found that the drive was only bearable when he was caffeinated.

This had become something of a ritual ever since he moved downtown.  Once a month, his mother would demand he visit and Frank was always too tired to argue.  The woman was a psychologist, so he wouldn’t have won anyway.

Sighing, he took a step forward as the line shrunk in front of him.  Sipping the coffee in his left hand, he kept the one in his right as a reserve.  While he waited, his eyes wandered around, noticing the diverse gathering of individuals out and about that morning.  At 5:30 am on a Saturday, his neighborhood had the drunk people from the bars that closed at 4 interacting with the people who woke up early to jog or just generally be productive.  Downtown Chicago was nothing if not interesting.

Taking a step forward as the line slowly shrunk, he enjoyed the stunted conversation going on behind him.  He listened to two college girls trying to feign sobriety who were talking to a woman pushing a stroller.  It was hilarious.

He couldn't stop himself from jumping a little when he heard the sound of a can erupting against the ground.  Annoyed, he looked over his shoulder attempting to give them the 'you should be ashamed of yourself' glare.  He couldn't pull it off though.

Stifling a laugh, Frank watched one of the girls trying, and failing, to pick up the energy drink which was currently spraying her shoes.  Inadvertently, he met the eyes of the woman with the stroller.  She gave him a look that said, ‘Well, are you going to help? Or are you just going to stand there?’.

With a chuckle, he offered her a shrug, then turned around and ignored her.  He was going to be getting judgmental looks all day from his mother, and if he could ignore his own mother, the mom in yoga pants behind him didn’t stand a chance.

After all, he knew that changing majors from electrical engineering to philosophy was stupid.  Yet, he didn’t care.  No one’s opinion, other than his own, should affect his choices.  Philosophy 101 had taught him that.  Unsurprisingly, Frank’s mother didn’t appreciate that argument at all.

Finally reaching the checkout counter, Frank put his coffees down.  When the cashier reached for them to ring him up, she paused as Frank pulled out the two iced coffees he had stashed in his coat.  Receiving a look of rebuke, he smiled and shrugged as if he meant no harm.  He REALLY wasn’t looking forward to the 2 hour drive.

As the clerk started ringing up his purchases, Frank felt the ground lurch.  Stumbling, he held onto the counter.  Back when he was a junior in high school he’d taken shrooms, so his immediate thought was that he was having some kind of flashback.  The guidance councilor had warned him this might happen.

The colors in the shop started melting together.  Feeling his stomach lurch, Frank looked up at the clerk and started to panic.  The fear in the young woman’s eyes was more terrifying than the feeling of the world going mad.

Before Frank could decide on a course of action, the colors started to bleed away into a gray-scale backdrop.  As the edges blurred, Frank felt the ground fall away.  Trying to look around, all he saw was gray.  He couldn’t see his hands, and his limbs felt numb.  Wondering what the hell was going on, Frank felt like his entire body was jerked up.  As if he were a fish on a hook, he flailed around trying to regain some control.

The gray background vanished, and Frank felt his body return to his control.  Moments later, he dropped into a chair.  Panicking, he looked around to see confused faces looking back at him.  He was at a standard folding table, like the ones you'd find at a convention hall, or a church bake sale.  There were rows and rows of tables all filled with people who seemed just as confused as he was.

All the tables were facing toward an empty podium on a raised platform, behind which was a giant flag floating ominously in the air.  The flag was displaying a logo he didn’t recognize.  Frank was around 10 rows back, and the flag was large enough for him to have to turn his head to see the edges.  Rather than examine the logo, which resembled a round shield with a ‘z’ on it, he chose to try and figure out what was happening.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw rows and rows of tables filled with people.  The confusion was transitioning to panic, and people seemed unable to stand up.  Frank saw people bouncing in their seats, terror clear on their face.  Yet, there was no sound.  No sound at all.

Turning his head, he frowned at the fact that there didn't seem to be any walls.  It was like they were at a comic convention in a giant airplane hangar.  A hangar so large that the distance just faded to black.  There must have been thousands of people.  And the silence was eerie.

“Everyone calm down, and let me explain what’s going on,” came a loud voice over what sounded like loudspeakers.

Snapping his attention to the podium, Frank saw a middle aged man addressing the audience.  His face was being projected behind him on what he realized was the biggest screen he had ever seen.

Despite the weirdness, Frank felt the tension in his shoulders ease up a little.  If there was a generic office employee award of the year, this guy would win it hands down.  Frank could see the bags under his eyes, and would bet money on the fact that the guy hated his life.  Those who were panicking stopped trying to fight their way free, everyone apparently wanted to hear what the man had to say.

“You’re all here because the universe you were living in had to be restarted.  There was a slight problem with some soul leakage.  As your reality didn’t have a support system to address that failure, steps had to be taken.  Now before you all freak out, just try and listen until the end of the presentation.  If you still have questions that haven’t been addressed, we’ll deal with them at that time,” he said.

Frank looked around and saw people pantomiming shouting.  Testing his theory, he tried to say something.  Confirming that he couldn’t make any noise, he returned his attention to the guy waiting patiently at the podium.

The guy looked over his shoulder, and clicked something in his hand.  The screen changed to what could be an image from the Hubble telescope.  “This is reality as you know it.  Your little planet hasn’t had a lot of time to figure anything out, so most of this will be over your head.  I’ve been created by the Z corporation to act as a translator for you.  This form is a representation of a government functionary for whatever area you were in when the reality wipe occurred.  For the record, the Z corporation doesn’t really exist, but you can call it that.  It’s really a conglomeration of multi-dimensional entities that deal with universes causing issues with those around them.  But you can call it a corporation, it’s a close enough approximation,” he said.

Clicking the device in his hand, the image on the screen changed from a rotating galaxy to a series of bubbles with little galaxies in them.  “This is an approximation of how realities fit together in the greater expanse.  Again, this isn’t real, but it’s close enough for you to get the general idea.  Now, YOUR reality started causing issues with the ones around it.  Essentially your reality sprung a leak, and started spraying souls all over the place.  Some souls were absorbed by the realities around yours, some were ripped apart by the void between realities, and some were collected by the Z corporation when they noticed the problem,” he said.  While he was speaking, the screen showed one of the bubble’s spraying little dots out into the black and some stuck to the other bubbles.

Frank looked around and saw some people who were confused, some were focused, some were angry, but he could tell that everyone was paying attention.

Another click, and the screen showed the bubble being picked up like a marble by a giant blue hand.  The hand rolled the ball between another equally blue hand, as if it were smoothing out a lump of clay.  Once it’s task was completed, it placed the bubble back with the others.

In a bored voice, the man continued, “After fixing your reality, the Z corporation returned it to its place among the others floating through the great expanse.  Unfortunately for you, that meant that everything that was, must be reset to the last functional time/space configuration.  That turned out to be around 3400 B.C. according to how you measure time where you are.  I’m not going to get into the soul cycle with you, not just because your world doesn't understand it yet, but also because at this point in your world's development you all have your own views about it.  But regardless of how you feel, you have no physical form to go back to.  Right now, you are all just souls with mind imprints.”

Frank saw that the people around him weren’t handling the situation well at all.  Some were silently shouting and slamming their fists against the tables.  Some were weeping.  Many sat in stunned silence, staring blankly at the man.  Frank though, couldn’t help but be curious as to what came next.  Realizing he might be repressing his outrage, Frank decided it probably didn’t matter, and tried to focus on what the man said next.

“Where you go from here is up to you.  The Z corporation doesn’t really care.  It spoke with your reality’s deities and made some arrangements where it could.  Some of the beings you believed in existed, some didn’t, and some were just abstract concepts that were created by your communal beliefs.  In any case, you have some options to continue on to your ‘next great adventure’ as your common expression dictates,” he said, then clicked to a new screen.

In large letters, Frank saw a bunch of options:

Where you go from here is your choice:

1 – Be sent to the afterlife that you would have been sent to had you died naturally.  Your mind imprint will be sent on to its reward/punishment/afterlife, while your soul is put back into circulation.

2 – Be wiped out of existence and delete your mind imprint from your soul, avoiding your fate.  Your soul will be put back into circulation.

3 – Be sent to another world as a deity's champion.  They will offer you boons, along with a task you must complete.  Your afterlife will then be in their control.  You will take your soul with you, and they will compensate this reality through other means.

4 – Be sent to an arena world where you will have the opportunity to fight, and grow in power.  You will keep your soul, and your afterlife will depend on your actions in your new reality.  The powers-that-be will compensate this reality through other means.

5 – Have your mind wiped, and your soul sent to another reality to enter its cycle of life and death.  A fresh start is its own reward.

6 – Plead your case in front of an account manager.  Offer a good idea, and you may choose your destination.  Fail to convince them to follow your suggestion, and be sent to whatever choice they choose for you.

“There is no ‘right’ answer.  However you want to proceed is up to you.  I would caution you on taking the 6th choice.  Account managers will have a lot of souls to see, and they won’t waste time by listening to you just complaining.  Have a valid idea before you meet with them,” he said, sounding like a teacher warning their students to behave.

The man at the podium clicked his device again, and Frank saw a sheet of paper appear in front of him, with a pen on a chain attached to it.  It looked like a form from a bank.  The pen was attached to the table, and the paper was immobile.  It listed the options from the screen, but had little boxes next to the numbers.  Frank guessed that he needed to check a box to move on.

Looking back at the podium, he saw that the man had disappeared, and the screen had returned to the logo from before.  Taking a closer look, he saw that it really was just a black circle with a white ‘z’ in the middle.  After staring at it for a few seconds, he couldn't help but think that it would have been a pretty nice phone icon.

Glancing at the people sitting next to him, he was just in time to see the woman on his left check the box for option 1, then vanish into thin air.  There was still no sound in the room, but he was surprised at how she just disappeared without any fanfare, not even a cool animation or anything.  He soon felt the guy on his right disappear.  More and more people were making their choice, and peer pressure made Frank focus on the paper in front of him.

Well, he sure wasn’t going to go with option 1.  He was brought up catholic.  Even the possibility that he would be sent to hell was a deal-breaker.  Maybe he could check with an account manager and ask where he was heading?  Setting that aside as a possibility, Frank moved through the list.

Option 2 wasn’t going to happen.  If he lost his personality and identity, what was the point of even making a choice.

Cringing at option 3’s description, Frank thought about all the web novels he’d read.  While some were just full-on wish fulfillment, there were just as many offering nothing but nightmare fuel.  Petty gods with control issues, quests to fight demon kings, even the harem novels had some things he’d want to avoid.  Frank refused to have sex with a snake-woman, or take care of a cute animal companion.

Option 4 wasn’t bad.  Live or die based on his actions.  Level and grow like a murder-hobo.  Thinking about some of his favorite books, Frank thought about how he would handle it.  In his head he saw images of former soldiers thriving in a world full of blood and gore, and barbarians in fur loincloths holding scantily clad sorceresses atop piles of dead bodies, swords raised in victory.  Intruding into his fantasy was the memory of when he got his ass kicked by Terry McGuiness in high school.  Their fight was pathetic.  Frank had spent most of the time on his back while Terry slapped him over and over again.  Although Frank had 'lost' the fight, he knew there were no winners there.  Maybe he should think about something else.

Option 5 was just as bad as option 2.  Which only left option 6.

Did Frank have an idea worthy of speaking with an account manager?  No, he did not.

Frowning, he looked around at the mostly empty tables.  There weren’t many people left.  Instead of wondering what everyone else chose, Frank needed to focus on his decision.  Tapping his pen against the table, he thought about what he wanted.

Below option 6, there was plenty of blank space.  Frank started making a list.  What did he want for his new life:

1 – No Faustian bargains.  Fresh start without any strings attached.

2 – Option to level without limits.  If game worlds were an option, why not go for broke.

3 – Stable world.  No demonic invasions or oppressive regimes.

4 – No omnipotent beings screwing with the little people.

5 – Immortality?  That’s probably not on the table, but couldn’t hurt to ask.

6 –

While Frank was tapping his pen in thought, he didn’t realize that everyone in his area had made their choice.  Before he could think of a good number 6, his surroundings vanished.  Dropping into a folding chair, Frank looked around and saw that he was now in a small cubicle.  It even had a little cat poster.  Across from him was a middle aged woman reading a sheet of paper with a frown on her face.

While the woman ignored him, Frank looked around.  He heard phones ringing, people answering them with, “Thank you for calling Z corp.  How can I help you?”  It was like he was in the human resources department from any movie ever.

“I’m guessing you want a reincarnation package huh?” the woman said, without looking up from the paper in her hands.

Frank stuttered, “Um… What?”

Setting the paper down, the woman folder hands and stared at him like he was wasting her time.

Quickly, Frank said, “Yes, I’d like a reincarnation package with the things I wrote out.  I just want a life in a fantasy world with levels and such.  But I don’t want to be a pawn of random omnipotent beings.  I just don’t want to lose my independence, or my memories and personality, you know?  Also, I’d like to avoid coming back as a baby.  That would suck."

Nodding, the woman turned to her computer.  It was one of the old CRT monitors, and the keyboard made that clicking noise as she typed.  Frank couldn’t see what she was looking at, but he knew interrupting would be a mistake on par with eating a chili dog after a night of heavy drinking.

Waiting patiently, Frank tried not to worry about what loopholes he hadn't covered.  Was it worth trying to engage her in conversation, try and bring her onto his side?  Ask for her help maybe?

Before he could make a move, she said, “I think I have a good option for you.  It’s actually rather ironic.  The soul that caused all this created a nice little pathway to the reality.  While he broke your reality, it turned out alright for him.  After tracking him down, we found that he was pretty happy with his new life.  The reality he went to fits what you were looking for pretty well.”

Nervously, Frank said, “I don’t really want to get involved with whoever destroyed my reality.”

The woman turned to him and offered him a look of confusion.  She said, “He didn’t destroy anything.  He found a bug in this reality’s afterlife.  If it wasn't him, it would have been someone else.  It wasn’t malicious, and he doesn’t know what he caused.  It probably won’t matter anyway, as I’m thinking of dropping you off on a continent that doesn’t have the identity-system he’s using.  You would have more freedom to choose your own path.  It would be more like one of your cultivation novels than a level system.  But it fits all your criteria.”

Frank couldn’t help but ask in worry, “Would I need to find cultivation manuals or something?  Fight powerful sects to progress in my cultivation?”

Shaking her head, she said, “No, this reality is a lot more intuitive.  All matter and energy has its roots in the magic system.  It’s actually a rather clever work-around for the sentience divide.”  Seeing Frank’s confusion, she continued, “Don’t worry about it.  You won’t understand anything anyway, and I’m not going to waste my time explaining it to you.  Just know that this is the best I can do.  Any last questions before you head off to your new life?”

Frank tried to push down the panic growing in his gut.  “What’s my arrival going to be like?  Will I get any golden-fingers, or advantages?  Any tips or anything you think I should know?”

With a smirk, she replied, “I’ll just do what the previous guy did.  You’ll be shoved into a recently dead body on the verge of awakening.  The body will be 14, although more like 11 based on the calendar your used to, but the days are longer, so it washes out.  You’ll have some natural advantages because of your past knowledge and experience, but nothing special.  I suppose I could boost your soul a little bit, as we have some left over energy from the restart we need to offload somewhere.  We were just going to build a couple sub-realities, but giving you a little boost won’t affect that.  As for tips?” she paused as she looked off in thought while tapping a finger on the desk.

After a few seconds, she looked Frank in the eyes and said in a serious voice, “You need to remember that you are in a new world.  Everything you knew is no longer true.  Follow your gut, it will be influenced by the world around you.  Reflect carefully on what you experience.  You can become anything you want, but you have to push yourself.  Now hold tight, this will be unpleasant.”

Without being able to offer his thanks, the ground fell out from under him.  Frank felt the world disappear and he tried to scream as he felt like he was being sent down a water-slide in complete darkness.

Pain greeted him as the world slammed into focus.  Gasping for breath, the light was so overwhelming that he felt like he was under a spotlight.  Blinking, he couldn’t see what was going on.  Flailing around, he tried to sit up.

“Brandon, you alright man?  The resuscitation spell barely worked.  Say something!” a voice yelled into Frank's face.

Disoriented, Frank managed to stutter, “What the hell?  What's happening?”

The world slowly came into focus, and Frank saw three shadows standing over him, and another one trying to help him up.  The fact that there were three stern faced young women, wearing fantasy leathers, standing over him caused Frank’s brain to start working again.

His confusion clearing, he turned to look at the concerned man trying to help him up.  Realizing that the man must have been a close friend to his body's previous owner, Frank had a decision to make.

Stumbling to his feet, Frank felt the man patting him down, checking for injuries.

When the guy finally stepped back, he said, “Brandon?  Are you OK?  Talk to me brother… I barely got to you in time.”

Paralyzed with indecision, Frank tried to think up a way to explain who he was.  Amnesia?  Pretend that ‘Brandon’ offered him the body?  Come up with a story?  Awkward seconds passed before he made a decision.  But looking at the serious faces, he eventually sighed and muttered, “Uh…. I think I’m alright.  But you all better sit down, I’ve got something to tell you.”