Chapter 0: A Meeting With God

There was a dark empty. In this empty, there were two entities. They were dark as well, making them invisible in the empty but they felt each other.

"You died. There's no point mincing it."

"..."

"You were driving home and you were hit by a truck. The paramedics tried their best to save you but to no avail. But trust me, it is better this way."

"What do you mean?"

"Surviving would have meant a lifetime looking at a window while lying on a bed, hoping for the sweet release of death."

"..." 

"I meant paralysis, David."

"Yes, I got that."

"Did you?"

David nodded. He didn't have a body but he felt as if he nodded.

"So, am I dead?"

"Yes."

"Where am I?"

"In the life after your life."

"Couldn't you just say afterlife?"

"No, because you aren't fully dead. True death means to disappear into nothing. As you are now, you still have life."

"This isn't much of a life."

"Oh, your new life hasn't come yet."

David waited for the other one to continue but he didn't.

"And???"

"What?"

"My new life hasn't come yet. What does that mean?"

"Oh, I'm just preparing it."

"Preparing wha-"

A bright light suddenly flashes and David finds himself above the skies. Looking around, David saw a planet below him. Surveying the lush green planet with its beautiful oceans, David thought to himself.

Beautiful

"This. I am preparing this."

David turns his head towards the voice but finds himself alone in the void. David doesn't have a body.

"What is this?"

"Ultima Foserense or just Foserense."

"Foserense? Sounds like a made-up word."

"All words are made up words."

David shrugs.

"You'll be living here David."

"Oh... you could've bought me dinner first."

"Always coping through humor right, David?"

"Ok, that's it! How do you know my name? Who are you? Are you God?"

"Yes, I am God."

"Oh. Please forgive my impertinence."

"Don't do that. I don't care how people think of me. Now, I'll be sending you down there. Good luck David."

"Wai-wait!"

"Hmmm?"

"Can't I ask a few questions?"

God didn't reply for a bit. David assumed he was thinking.

"Sure."

"Is heaven and hell real? Is this heaven? Or is this hell? Is buddha re-"

"David.”

David quiets down.

"Ask questions important to the situation at hand."

"Hmmm, you don't seem like God."

"Well, tell me, David. Do you know God?"

David was silent. He was never a bible reader nor did he have any strong beliefs.

"You do not. Now, do not put any labels on me. I am more than a religion, and I don't care much for infinitesimally small mortals’ petty wants and desires. Do you understand?"

David nods.

"Now, ask important questions. I'll give you three."

David nods again. God waits.

"What is this world? Tell me more about it."

"Foserense is a world I just finished creating. Its basic physics and rules are similar to the ones followed by your universe with some additions."

"What additions?"

"Is that your 2nd question?"

"Ummm... No?"

"Then I won't answer it."

"Fudge. Okay, will I get anything when I go down there?"

"A gift from me but otherwise nothing."

"A gift?"

"Is that your third question?"

"FUDGE. No..."

David was quiet. Since he didn't have a body so he didn't know how to move or traverse this area so he stayed.

God didn't speak either. He simply waited.

Due to the lack of physical sensations, David was not aware of the time. He couldn't tell. Looking around, David saw a sun and two moons.

Are those worth asking about?

David internally shook his head. The celestial bodies would not help him once he was on the planet.

David didn't know where God was. He couldn't sense or feel God's presence.

David didn't feel any sense of pressure either.

Ughh... This isn't enough. I need to get a lay of the land. Maybe that can help me with my final question.

David tried to move but his lack of a body prevented him from doing so.

"Hey, how can I move? And before you say ‘is that my 3rd question?’, it's not connected to this world. I just want to move around."

God didn’t reply.

“So is that a yes?”

“Without a body, you do not need to feel the movement as you did when you had it. Now, just will yourself to move. Use your mind to move yourself.”

David nods internally.

With instructions to follow, David tries to move. Instead of moving himself as if he had a body, David wills his body to move by imagining himself moving.

Within a few seconds, David finds himself moving quickly. With his new movement, David traverses the night sky with blinding speed.

Woah!

David quickly found himself on the other side of the planet. Before David could admire the beauty of the planet’s dark side, he hears God’s voice.

“Having fun?”

“Oh shit! You scared me.”

God didn’t reply.

“Can’t you take a physical form? So I don’t get spooked when you suddenly talk?”

“I can.”

“Can you please do that?”

If David wasn’t so focused on the sheer insanity of the situation, he might have heard God chuckle. David continued to watch the world in awe as God suddenly manifested. At first, there was nothing but then in the center of where God was supposed to be, appeared a small infant which then grew. David turned to his side to see a quickly growing infant. The infant was pure and lacked any horrible-looking features. Quickly, the infant grew to that of a young child. The young child had heavenly features and if one took a long look, they would be sure that the child would grow up to be beautiful without peers.

Huh? A girl?

The child continued to mature and slowly their body filled out as she quickly reached adolescence. Within mere minutes, the adolescent transforms into an extremely beautiful woman with perfect proportions and other equally perfect traits. David’s eyes were wide. He came from a world where women of all types, beauty, renown, and ability were everywhere. The internet allowed everyone to showcase their uniqueness but all of those paled in comparison to the entity in front of David.

What was the word… Perfect?

David concluded that this was God. Perfect in whatever way he… or in this case, she wants.

“Does this satisfy you?”

Oh, that voice…

David was stunned. God’s physical appearance was perfect but her voice was just as equally perfect. Each vocalization seemed to strike a part of David’s mind which made her so much more beautiful than what she already is. David gulps and nods internally. God nods and she seems to take a seat.

David looks away. He felt weird. He had a horrible feeling that if he continued to look at God, he would never be able to look away. Steeling himself, David asks a question.

“Why a woman though?”

“Is that… your 3rd question?”

David suddenly felt weak.

What is this?!

David was never a popular guy with women but he’s never buckled or felt physically weak from interacting with the fairer sex.

Is this an effect of God’s power?

“Now, do you see why I do not take a physical form?”

“Ye-yeah… but… why a woman? Isn’t God a man?”

David was looking away from God but he felt her raise an eyebrow. God chuckled and then lightly laughed. David felt weak again. Her laughter was so rich and infectious that David started laughing as well.

“It’s truly hilarious for humans to attach gender to something that doesn’t reproduce.”

“Don’t you have children?”

“That’s a symbolic meaning rather than a literal meaning David. And as I said, why attach a gender to an entity who is so far above a sex organ?”

David felt better. He still felt a pit in his being each time he heard God speak but it was better now.

“I… I don’t know. I guess I’m used to the notion that God is a male… We had a lot of stories of you being a man or took the form of a man. And you also made sure that all your prophets and priests were males so you know… you can’t blame me for being curious.”

“Free will David. I had many female prophets and priestesses and even had a daughter but for some reason, humanity decided not to include them. I believe they call it blasphemy.”

“Oh? Ummm… Well, would you prefer being called Goddess?”

“God or Goddess. It doesn’t matter. I am both and not both at the same time.”  

David nodded.

“I’ll call you Goddess while you’re in that form then…”

Goddess did not reply. David continued to fly but noticed that he could not leave the atmosphere of the planet. After asking Goddess, she replied.

“This is where I plan to put you, why would I let you leave?”

“Ominous but okay. Can I enter the world to see it?”

“Its name is Foserense. Use its name, it is to respect the entity itself.”

“Planets aren’t entities. They can’t think.”

David hears Goddess chuckle again.

“Oh… sorry. I forgot who I was talking to… So are all planets entities or is this one special?”

“All planets are entities but most are asleep. This one is special in its own right.”

“This is Foserense?

“Yes.” 

David felt that he was getting away with a lot of questions being asked but he knew that he hadn't asked anything truly meaningful.

David floated a bit. He studied the world and he felt a sense of majesty and at the same time, apprehension. What weirded him out the most was his lack of reaction.

But… I’ve always been like this. In my previous life, I’ve always gone with the flow. There’s nothing different here or before. I just followed the flow my parents, teachers, and boss put me on. Now… it’s just Goddess, the creator of the universe… Huh…

David turned to Goddess. David almost fainted when he turned to look at Goddess’ perfect visage.

Still too much… Too perfect…

“Why did you pick me?”

Goddess smiled which almost knocked David out. If not for the fact that he didn't have a body, David would have been a drooling mess.

Goddess smiled.

“Have you not noticed David?” 

“Noticed what?”

“David. Have you noticed that you are too rational?”

“That was always a part of me but aren’t there other people more rational than me?”

“Yes but you have traits that will allow you to survive in Foserense.”

“Like what?”

Goddess chuckled.

“David, the knowledge I have cannot be understood by a human.”

“Oh, God works in mysterious ways right?”

“No. People tend to forget that I am omniscient, well at least as omniscient as I want to be.”

“And? Doesn’t that mean you would know how to explain to me in a way that I would understand?”

“I do but you are not omniscient. Explaining it to you in a way you would understand would take an inordinate amount of time, time that I am not interested in spending, explaining to you.”

Goddess seemed to emphasize the last part of the sentence which sent a sliver of fear in David’s invisible body.

“Okay okay, I won’t force it.”

David and Goddess were silent. There was some tension in the space between them. Despite his hesitation, David was already prepared.

“Are you ready David?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Good.”

David felt a sudden implosion within his invisible body. His vision seems to blur as it changes. What David didn’t know was that he was undergoing the same transformation that Goddess did earlier.

Specifically, Goddess started to create a new body for David. Despite Goddess' power, she wouldn't create a perfect body for David. She intended a body that would be fit for the new world she created. 

David felt grateful as familiar senses slowly flooded in his newly created body. Despite not feeling it earlier, David felt his soul engulfed with the familiar fleshy case of a human body.

Ahh… that… feels nice…

Within a few minutes, similar to Goddess, a body appears for David. 

David studied his body. 

Compared to his old body, he was a bit taller and leaner. He lost most of the fat he had in his previous life. Touching his head, David felt a healthy amount of hair.

Oh wow, that’s smooth.

David felt his body and he noticed his great muscles.

This feels amazing!

David continued to study his body and he found more impressive things to admire.

“That’s enough David. You can admire your body more when you go to the planet.”

“So-Sorry! I was just surprised. I feel great!”

“Yes, I removed a lot of your old weaknesses. You are considered to be physically more capable than Olympic-level athletes.”

“Oh wow! I’m sure to get all the ladies now… but…”

“But what?”

“Are there people down there?”

“Define people.”

“Are there humans down there?”

“Hmmm… I can’t answer that.”

“Why not?”

David felt Goddess smirk.

“You already asked your three questions.”

“Okay.”

With his new body, David was now capable of rolling his eyes so he did.

“Okay, how do I do this? Do you throw me to the planet? Do I teleport towards it?”

“Oh before that, I was going to make you choose.”

“Choose?”

“Yes, choose between many gifts.”

“What?! Why are you only telling me this now?”

“Is that really a tone you should use against your creator? And I already told you this earlier.”

“My creator is going to throw me into a possibly hostile planet, so forgive me if I’m a bit agitated. And I forgot okay? I was focusing on the questions.” 

“True true.”

“You are so much more chill than I expected. I always expected you to be holier than thou.”

Goddess chuckles.

“I am holier than you but I choose to act this way because it helps you.”

David ignores that last part.

“Anyway, gift?”

“Yes. You will be given several gifts to choose from, depending on your previous life.”

“Okay? So, what are my gifts?”

“In your previous life, you were a clerk, a bookkeeper, an accountant, and eventually an accountant manager. You handled important information for people you worked for.”

David nodded. Despite being told his boring life, he had no problems with it. He helped the people around him. He graduated with normal scores and no bad records. He was a normal person who had a simple and boring life.

“So, what’s the gift? Well, what are the gifts?”

“Your choices are the following.”

David’s mind was assaulted by a variety of images, each one with names and titles in a language he didn’t recognize. Despite the language barrier, David felt familiar with all these images. Unconsciously, David started speaking out their names.

"Curator. Librarian. Assessor."

David continued to utter the names of the gifts he was allowed to choose from. Eventually, David mellowed down as he arrived at a choice.

"I want the librarian gift."

"Oh? Good choice. It will be interesting to see you carry the knowledge of your previous life."

David wasn't looking at Goddess. She was far too stimulating and perfect. 

"I shall now pass on the gift to you."

David felt a chill go down his spine as Goddess hugged him from behind. Almost immediately, his body buckled under the sheer weight of perfection. 

Fortunately, Goddess' hug lasted for a short while. David quickly recovers. 

Wha-What is this?!

The overwhelming knowledge of how to access his gift suddenly assaulted David. 

For what seemed like an eternity, David's mind was dead to the world as it assimilated all the knowledge the gift needed to tell him.

"So, are you ready David?"

David took one last long look at the planet and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Good."

And David was gone.

Goddess' form disappeared as she returned to her original formless form. 

I wonder… when shall I add the next one?