“If I were God, I’d have mercy on men.”
Maurice Maeterlinck, a Belgian dramatist
Ava stared at the data provider on her left wrist. The pink notification wouldn’t stop blinking.
Tears of joy welled up in her eyes. She reached up and gently ran her index finger over the shimmering rosy light.
A 3D image of a plump, red-cheeked woman’s face appeared above her wrist. The woman’s red lips parted in a smile.
“Ava Daniel Pert, you’ve been chosen for transformation. Your appointment is on Wednesday, July 5, at 9:30 a.m. You have exactly two months to prepare for the event. In case you renege, the next-in-line will be called up. Remember that you’re allowed to withdraw your participation within the next two weeks. If a withdrawal has not been submitted by July 20, the transformation becomes obligatory.”
Withdrawal? Are they insane?
Ava’s heart fluttered in her ribs like a caged tiger. There was so much to do! Selecting the items she would bring with her to the Eternity Ring. Writing farewell letters to her close ones. Mom, Dad, her sisters… her school friends… oh, there would be so many goodbyes…
Ava dropped her school bag to the ground and rushed through the front yard.
***
The day had come.
The day she would not only become one of the inhabitants of the Eternity Ring, but what was more, would get to know how this would happen.
Scientists had long ago discovered the secret of immortality, but the Elite kept it under wraps. Every year, they selected one thousand young people to transform and send to the artificial new earth in orbit, called the Eternity Ring. The home of the Immortals. The Immortals, who lived there and took care of the old planet Earth. The Immortals, whom the mortal population called “gods.”
Ava trembled as they put her in the black chair, sticking electrodes on her freshly shaved head. They had explained they would reveal the secret of transformation once the process was finished. Now they were working in complete silence. Another cold piece of metal was placed on Ava’s forehead. She felt a shot of pain as a needle entered her vein. She was visibly trembling now. No, I’m not scared. It’s just excitement. Well, maybe I’m a little scared, but who wouldn’t be?
As always, at times of great stress, she repeated silently to herself:
I’m Ava and I’m strong. I can handle anything. I’m Ava and I’m strong. I’m Ava. I’m Ava.
I’m Ava.
Ava…
The room thinned before her eyes. Then it disappeared.
Time began to roll back with maddening speed, and yet she could see everything. Every tiny detail of her life passed through her mind. She saw moments of her childhood she had completely forgotten: kicking down her brother’s brick tower while he screamed in despair; throwing a fit on the floor because her mother wouldn’t buy her ice cream; petting a puffy white street cat; staring in wonder at the colorful pages of a book projector. Then she saw herself as a baby, sucking with pleasure at her mother’s breast; and then she was surrounded by warm, dark water, and the steady beats of a huge heart sent ripples through it. It was soothing. Then she was suddenly split in two. She was now both her mother and father; she could see their young faces, flushed with emotions as they kissed on a bench shaded by a bright green artificial oak tree; she could feel her mother’s shame behind her excitement and feel her thoughts: Will Dad know? I should have told him I was going out with Lizzie, and she could feel her father’s white-hot desire melting all thoughts away. His head was a scorching summer sun. Then she lived out her parents’ lives: their teenage years and their childhood; and then their parents’ lives; and their parents’ parents’ lives; and her mind kept branching out until she became all people in the world simultaneously. She went back to the beginning of human civilization; passed back through the beginning of the planet, the Solar System, the Galaxy, and the Universe. She exploded into nothingness and floated into gentle darkness above that nothingness. Then she began creating…
…and life went on again. It started, thrived, and ended; and then it was dark and she was drifting over nothingness again. She began creating, and life went on.
Darkness.
Life.
Darkness.
Life.
Together. Inseparable.
Below her, in her, through her.
She opened her eyes. She was lying in the black chair. She looked at the white figures around her in dismay. She had meant to ask them so many things, but now she knew the answer to all the questions a human being could possibly think of.
Even the answers to questions that are far beyond humanity’s reach.
“Hello, goddess,” one of the figures smiled.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “I, and everyone else: we are God. He is Us. We can rise over the space-time loop and become the creators instead of the creation. We can become what we truly are if only we…”
“…erase our names,” the figure finished. “Your name and everything connected with it has been completely deleted from your neural paths. Without your name, you’re not a single person; you’re everyone. Without your name, you are not born and will not die. This is…”
“…the secret of immortality,” the goddess finished.
The figure nodded.
“Now rise!” they said. “Fly to the Eternity Ring. The other gods are waiting for you. Soon the rest of us will follow. This is humanity’s ultimate fate.”
The young goddess rose.
I’m God and I’m omnipotent. I’m God and I can do anything. I’m God. I’m God.
I’m God.
“Oh, God…”
She flew.
Hello, friends! I hope you enjoyed my story! If you subscribe, you’ll get one short story in your inbox every week. The next one will reveal a miracle coming from the most unexpected place!
Always yours,
Dreamy Nev
You are the queen of long paragraphs, I feel breathless (in a good way).
I'll return to take notes. This was amazing.
This was superb! Thanks, Nevena! 💗