The sole thing that Vance really hated about his life was the fact that it was totally predictable.
He was 24 years old, working as a middle-level analyst for a fintech company that made an app, the main product of which was the app that tracked how many steps the user took while wearing a certain brand of smart shoe. Living on the third floor of a building with a leaky faucet, he had a cat named Mittens that only tolerated him when he opened a can of tuna for himself.
Microwaving a breakfast burrito, consuming the soul-crushing aroma of stale office coffee, and taking the notoriously unreliable 8:15 A.M. train were all a part of his daily routine that was repeated every morning.
This Tuesday morning was just like any other.
He was half-listening to a podcast about theoretical archaeology, sitting by the window with the earbuds in. A crowded train, a can of compressed and half-animated humans. Elias had his elbow rested on the window, looking at the usual grimy industrial outskirts of the city with his gaze following the landscape blur by. He was thinking of a spreadsheet, in fact, why the Q3 projections for the Mid-Atlantic region were off by $500,000 when the world shattered with a very strong impact.
It was not a slow, ominous kind of event. But rather one loud and intense that made one think that the entire universe was punched instead of a collision with another body.
The lights went out. It was filled with screaming and the smell of ozone and burning metal. Elias's body was thrown forward, his shoulder hitting the seat in front of him hard while he was bounced against the window. He felt a sickening breaking sound, but it wasn't the glass breaking.
Afterwards, there was only silence, a ringing in his ears, and a cold, spreading numbness.
He was lying in a heap on the bent metal frame of the seat, not quite able to move. A thin and sticky warmth that was spreading under his cheek. Through the huge tear in the wall of the train car, he could watch a ray of sunbeam, dust particles visible inside it, coming in. The smell of spilled fuel and fear was too much for him.
Q3 projections... they are still wrong... So absurdly banal was the thought that it almost made him chuckle.
He made an attempt to breathe in deeply, but his chest was so heavy as if it was made of broken rocks. The numbness was taking over his body little by little creeping up his limbs. His eyesight had narrowed down to a very dim grey spot. The voice of the person crying next to him that he could hear was becoming weaker.
The last thing he thought of in a lucid manner before the light went out totally was: What an anticlimactic way to die.
The Void?
Elias came to consciousness.
However, he was not awakened in a usual manner. He didn't open his eyes in a hospital bed or on the ground.
He was just "he", in a location that was not a place.
It was infinite, smooth, and black void. There was no up, no down, no sound, and no temperature. Although he was floating, he could not feel the movement because he had no body. He felt very much alive but at the same time, he was completely separated from the man who was worrying about spreadsheets.
"A truly unremarkable existence, wouldn't you say?" a voice asked.
Trying to turn his head, Elias could not, still, locate his body. The voice was very smooth, deep, and sounded as if it was going directly into his mind, not the ears.
A presence appeared from the darkness. It was not a person, at least not exactly. It was rather an impossibility dressed in a suit. The size of it was about seven feet and its form kept changing slightly- at some times a tall column made of glittering colors, at other times the outline of a man with stars shining within the shadow but mainly a well-dressed, middle-aged man with an impeccably tailored, charcoal-gray suit and a pocket square the color of a supernova was the one that the entity resembled most.
The entity grinned. The smile did not reach its eyes though, which were like two little universes of swirling cosmic dust.
"Welcome, Elias Vance. Or rather, goodbye. That was a pretty bad train derailment. Too bad about the outdated track maintenance schedule," the being said, waving a hand dismissively. "Sorry, I am not in a great bedside manner. I am just a Random Omnipotent Being - ROB, for short - and you are in my metaphysical waiting room,"
Response of Elias - or the disembodied consciousness that was Elias- was surprisingly calm. "A ROB? So, I am... dead?"
"More dead than dead, my friend. Splattered. Vaporized. But you are a statistical anomaly. A cosmic quirk. The derailment was only supposed to kill thirty-seven people and you were meant to be number thirty-eight, a few stops down the line. Either fate or the cosmos' faulty wiring put you there early,"
The ROB bent forward, his starry eyes shining. "Because your death was out of your assigned cosmic slot, I have an excess of soul energy. It's a real pain in the neck, I have to reallocate you right away, or the whole timeline of Sector 7-G will be affected,"
"Reallocate me?" Elias said.
"Yes. A new beginning. A new life. A different planet. Just think of it as a refund for the inconvenience of being killed off prematurely," the ROB laughed, a dry laugh that reverberated throughout the nothingness. "And to make it faster, you get a bonus. A little cheat that will make your next life a bit more... interesting,"
The ROB fingers snapped and between them a three-dimensional holographic display appeared. It was like a menu screen, shining with golden texts.
"The deal is as follows, Elias. A new world, a new body, completely random. But you may choose one skill from this list. Think very carefully. These are the abilities that can alter the reality, break the rules, and generally ensure that you will not die by a faulty train again,"
The Nine Divine Skills
The list that was in front of Elias was incredible. It was not merely a list, each item seemed to be a tiny seed of infinite power, radiating immense, complex energy.
1.[Reality Rewrite Protocol]
Allows limited alteration of physical or metaphysical laws within a small radius, rewriting cause and effect once per day. The greater the rewrite, the higher the energy cost.
2.[Temporal Echo]
Grants the ability to reverse personal time by up to ten seconds or perceive alternate outcomes before they occur. Useful for both combat and decision-making.
3.[Eternal Genesis]
Passive regeneration of body, mind, and energy—no wound, curse, or ailment can permanently harm you. You can even regrow lost organs or limbs instantly.
4.[Soul Forge Domain]
Lets you manipulate and strengthen your own soul, absorb fragments from defeated beings, or craft new abilities from collected essence.
5.[All-Weapon Mastery]
Instantly grants perfect proficiency with every weapon ever created or conceptualized, including mythical and futuristic arms.
6.[Cognitive Overclock]
Doubles processing speed of thoughts infinitely upon activation, allowing analysis, reaction, and learning at unimaginable rates. Time seems to slow from your perspective.
7.[Infinite Creation Archive]
You can manifest any object, tool, or structure you can imagine, provided you understand its concept. No material cost; limited only by imagination and focus.
8.[Authority of Dominion]
Emits an aura of command binding weaker wills. Those under your spiritual threshold instinctively obey, while stronger beings feel immense pressure or awe.
9.[Omniversal Adaptation]
Ensures automatic adjustment of your physiology, energy type, and skills to any environment, magic system, or world's rules. You can survive anywhere and exploit any power system flawlessly.
The ROB gave him a look that seemed to encompass all the indifference and amusement in the cosmos. "Take your time, Elias. This is the only spreadsheet that truly matters now."