Nora could see the dark looming clouds overhead, the city around her had been destroyed, and smoke billowed into the air. It had only been a few days since her country had declared war, and now nuclear fallout was imminent.
Her job had let her out early, on account of the war and the fact that many of the buildings in her district had been bombed. There were many battles taking place right outside her city, a fight for land.
She had quit her project early and left as soon as she had heard the news of another bombing. In the distance she could hear the shouts and cries of battle, and the occasional mine exploding on the field.
Hurrying down different streets Nora struggled to find her way, the street signs had been torn and broken in order to make it harder to move through the city, 'a war strategy', they had claimed.
Turning down a familiar looking street, Nora stopped briefly to cough, the smoke had been getting into her lungs and making it hard to breathe, especially after she had run all the way here.
Looking around Nora could faintly see the building she was looking for, her old apartment complex, now in ruins. Fear gripped her heart as she rushed towards it. Looking frantically around the rubble, her eyes searching for something, someone.. Her fiancé, her soulmate… Ethan.
Scouring the rubble she eventually saw what she was looking for. He was on the ground, all that Nora could really see was his face. Rushing over she quickly knelt by him, his entire lower body had been covered by the rubble of the building, in his hands was a slightly creased photo of them together, on the day that he proposed… he always kept that photo on him, "to look at whenever I feel sad" he would say.
They both looked so happy in that photo, like it was meant to be. Even now, that their world had been turned upside down, he still carried that photo around with him, more so now than he had before.
Nora could feel the tears welling in her eyes as her hands moved towards his neck, her fingers brushing across his skin briefly before she pulled away.
There was a sudden noise in the distance that attracted her attention. It was the distinct sound of another bomb falling, but this one sounded different, it was bigger, and looking at it brought a sense of dread to Nora's heart.
A nuclear bomb.
Looking down at Ethan's lifeless body, still clutching that photograph, Nora smiled slightly, a bitter smile.
'I'll be joining you soon honey', she thought as she closed her eyes, steadied her breathing, and waited. A single tear fell down her face.
As the bomb hit and the world went white, all Nora felt before she died was a warm brush of air, and a strong ringing in her ears.
.
.
.
.
Slowly opening her eyes again, Nora realized that she was laying down on the floor of a completely white void, the ringing was gone, and all was quiet.
She was wearing the same clothes that she had been in, only now they were free from rubble and soot, the scrapes on her knees were gone, and so were the burns that she assumed she had gotten from the explosion.
Taking a look around Nora could only assume that she had died, and that now she was in the afterlife. Nora wasn't really a believer in Christianity, nor any other religion, so the fact that there was even an afterlife at all was a surprise to her.
Slowly standing up, she was shocked at how easy it was, any pains and soreness that she had was gone, even the mild carpal tunnel that she had in her hands from her job as a programmer was gone.
Right now she felt very light, like she was a kid again. Even the sadness from losing Ethan felt far away right now, her mind felt weirdly clear.
The room she was in was completely empty, it was just a white void that stretched on infinitely.
'Well this isn't what I was expecting at all,' she thought, 'I wonder what I will do now? Should I just start moving around?'
However, just when Nora was about to start heading in a direction, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Quickly turning around Nora was met with a figure.
Looking at the figure Nora was stumped, instead of some ethereal being or old man that Nora would have expected, a young woman was standing there, she had deep black eyes and long brown hair, however Nora's eyes were immediately drawn to the very large black marking on her right eye, she wasn't wearing white robes or angelic attire like what Nora was expecting, but rather casual clothing. A t-shirt and some shorts. On her arms were faint scars and more black markings, these ones seemed to be moving ever so slightly.
Despite the intimidating appearance of this figure, she still gave off a calming and welcoming presence, inviting Nora to trust her.
The figure looks at Nora with great sadness and compassion, gently she begins to speak, "My child, as you have most likely gathered, you are now dead. You suffered so much, and your time was cut too short, but I will give you another chance, an opportunity for greatness"
"...Who are you?" Nora asked with caution, burrowing her brows slightly and taking a slightly defensive stance.
The woman smiled in amusement, noticing Nora's defensiveness. "Who do you think I am?"
"..."
This question stumped her, Nora sat for a while thinking, the most likely answer was a god of some sorts.
After a minute or two, she finally spoke up again,
"Are you god?"
The figure chuckled slightly, "Some call me that, but I find that labels can be misleading."
'So why did you ask me then?' Nora thought, but didn't say out loud. Instead she asked, "Does that mean that this is heaven?" Her stance relaxed slightly.
"I simply wanted to know what your answer was." the figure chuckled, apparently reading Nora's mind. "And to answer your question, it is not heaven, more like a limbo, a waiting room if you will." The woman winked.
"Either way," she carried on, "I would like to give you a new opportunity. A chance at reincarnation."
"Reincarnation?" Nora was stumped. She wasn't sure how to feel about this, sure she could be reincarnated, but what was the point? Ethan was dead, everything that she knew was gone. What was the point of going back to a nuclear wasteland?
"I know what you are thinking," the figure interrupted, "but it won't be the same world that you are going back to, this world is filled with magic and unknown, I'm giving you a chance to rise above your current self, and to discover new truths."
Thinking about it a bit more Nora thought, 'why not? It's not like I have anything left to hold on to.'
"I accept"
The woman nodded in satisfaction, then held out her hand. On the the palm of her hand was a small white orb
"The world I am about to send you to will be very similar to what you would call a "game". I am giving you a tool that will help you stand above your peers in this world"
"I Believe it prefers to be called the 'system'"
Nora nodded, staring at the orb in the woman's hand. Then looking up at it she asked, "so uhm, what do I do with it?"
The woman slowly moved her hand sweeping it forward to Nora, she quickly moved her hands to accept the orb, however the orb quickly moved past her and entered into the middle of her chest.
From the corner of her eye Nora suddenly saw a small screen appear.
Ding!
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Initialization to host started
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Then a moment later,
Ding!
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Connection complete, hello new Host.
-System
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"Now you are ready for the new world," the figure said, waving her hand. Nora instantly felt sleepy, biting her tongue, she tried to stay awake for just a little bit longer, but the tiredness was too strong.
"Before you go I do have one more bit of advice," the figure spoke up, "I highly suggest not mentioning this system or me to anyone in the world, it may nor be smart for you, if you know what I mean…"
'So tired…'Nora could no longer hold on and fell to the floor, now fast asleep once more, the woman watched as her figure slowly disintegrated, sending her to the next world.
.
.
.
"That was an interesting move," a second figure spoke up, now appearing in the empty void. It was another woman, with piercing grey eyes and lighter brown hair that slowly transitioned to purple, she was wearing more formal clothing, and gave off an intimidating pressure.
The first woman chuckled, "I would like to see how far she'll go, it's been a long time since we have sponsored anyone in this world."
"You said that none of the others were worthy, why this one." The second woman interrogated.
"Well," the first woman responded, pulling up a screen similar to Nora's system window, "I think you would be interested to know this," she gestured towards the feed on the screen.
The second woman's eyes widened, "so she has also chosen someone to sponsor."
"Yes, and I figured Nora would be a perfect match."
"How interesting, we'll have to see how this situation develops." The first lady got rid of the screen in front of her, and both figures slowly dissipated, leaving the white space completely empty once again.