Life-After

by J. A. Laraque

  The sky brightened turning golden. Clara’s eyes shined white as the world returned to the valley and blue sky it was before. She released my hand and took a few steps from me then turned around looking directly into my eyes.

  “The Avatar never asked for us to give up our life energy to him.” Clara said. “However a man named Gabriel discovered the truth of our afterlife and learned the Avatar’s history. He was able to discover the Avatar’s location and went to see him. It was there he learned the rest. He discovered that because our life energy was not released until our deaths it is much more powerful than Bain’s creations. Gabriel decided to give part of his life energy to the Avatar and once he saw how powerful it made him he knew what he had to do.”

  I could do nothing but stand there trying desperately to absorb and understand everything Clara had told me. If I was to believe her story then the attack on our world, her death and mine were all caused by Bain and his creations. There was one thing that bothered me about her story. The last thing I remembered when I was killed was the green light and then nothing. If their weapons would steal the life energy of its victims then how was it that I was standing with Clara. On the other hand if the other Clara was correct and everything I was being told was a lie than perhaps my life energy was taken and I was in Bain’s afterlife. I only had one card to play.

  “I want to see him.” I told Clara. “I want to see the Avatar.”

  Clara looked at me as if she never expected me to ask that question. The other Clara told me the only way to be free would be to escape the world I was trapped in. Clara would have two choices, show me this Avatar and prove her story true or refuse my request. If she was to refuse or attempt to fool me then I would know she and everything she had told me was a lie.

  8

  “What is it that you are looking for?” Clara asked. “I know you have never believed, that if it was not something you could see or touch then it was not real.”

  “Perhaps that is because people have abandoned me one way or another all my life.” I responded. “You told me this God requires some of our life energy. Do you think it is too much to ask to see who created me, who created all of us?”

  I could see in Clara’s expression that she was torn. The story she had told me while fantastic also made sense. The Trinity council, The Awakened Project and the alien attack, it all came together. Then again it could be that was part of the lie. If the very world I was in could be changed and modified by thought then a tale could also be crafted to keep me within. Unfortunately I did not have a reason yet as to why such an elaborate plot would be put into action in the first place.

  “No, it is not too much to ask.” Clara replied. “I can take you from this place temporarily, but there are risks. You have to trust me and for this we will have to separate. I will not be able to hold onto you. If you lose control you life energy can destabilize and if that happens you could be trapped within your conscious thoughts and I may not be able to bring you out of it.”

  I stood there silently. A cool breeze blew cross the grass bringing the fresh smell of spring along with it. Feeling the sun shine down upon me and looking across at the woman I loved gave me pause. Even with everything I had been told it was not easy to abandon the world I was in. In the end I guess that was the point. Who would ask to leave heaven? That was exactly what I was asking to do.

  “I just need to see it, Clara.” I said. “After you show me I promise I will not bring it up again.”

  Clara nodded and took hold of my hand. She closed her eyes for a moment and when they reopened were glowing white. As before reality as I knew it began to brighten around me. From the vibrant colors of life a golden shimmering energy emerged. Everything was coated in the golden energy, it was a majestic feeling. Slowly the shimmering shape began to bleed as if the world was made of ice and was slowly melting away.

  “Our world was created within a pocket of this dimension.” Clara begins. “This Haven was created outside of normal space and time. This was done so that Bain and his creations could never enter. However, its creation is not of life energy alone.”

  This transition was different, before it felt as if I was traveling, my body changing and moving within a defined space. What I felt then was a fusion, of my existence and the world around me. Reality turned to pure energy and fused with mine. In that instant I could feel every blade of grass, every drop of water that had been created.

  I could see nothing but light as if I was looking into the sun, but for a moment I could imagine how a God must have felt. It was as if I was standing before the entrance of the universe watching the birth of creation. All the energy became one with me leaving me in darkness. I went from an expansive freedom to a confined space.

  From the silence sound became audible, it was mechanical. I could hear the sounds of a computer processing information, the gyrations of moving parts. A flash of light startled me. It took a moment before I realized I was looking at a monitor displaying information in a language I could not understand. The screen that began with a distorted image stabilized. The image I saw, standing before me, staring at me, it was a containment suit.

  Unlike the aliens in the suits that attacked our planet the one before me was pearl white with gold accents, none the less seeing it looking directly at me sent me staggering backwards. As I moved away I could hear the processing sound grow louder. The heads up display flashed information I could not understand.

  I was not in control of my body, I could not feel anything, but I could sense my movements. As my foot hit the ground it echoed loudly. The containment suit reached out towards me. I raise my hand to push it away when I realized it looked the same. I was in a containment suit as well.

  “David, it’s me.” Clara said her voice emanating from within the suit. “I should have told you. I wanted to see if you would adapt to the suit, to being outside.”

  I steadied myself and looked at my hands through the heads up display. In the military we experimented with battle suits that would connect to your spine and be controlled by your thoughts. Another failed project from Factor Alpha, the suits when damaged even slightly could paralyze or kill the wearer. Originally when I saw the alien containment suits I though the attackers were human, only there was no body inside. Not a physical one anyway.

  “If you allow me I can show you how to use the suit, to understand the language.” Clara said. “I will need to connect with you to do so.”

  If Clara had planned the sequence of events then I would have to admit it was well played. Trapped within the suit I had no choice but to allow her to help me otherwise she would become suspicious. I had no idea how her connection to me would work, if she could read all my thoughts and feelings or only the ones I were thinking at the time. All I could do is focus on the Clara before me and hope she would not discover my true thoughts.

  “Of course...” I said trying to sound as natural as possible. “I was just… I did not expect this.”

  I could not even tell it was Clara within the suit. She walked behind me and I could hear something being connected to my suit. A red light flashed on the heads up display. A few moments of silence went by then I could feel Clara’s presence. For a moment it brought me pleasure to feel her with me again.

  “Just relax, David.” Clara said softly. “When we become pure life energy we can share much more than just thoughts and feelings. I can teach you everything I know transferring my knowledge to you. Think of it as data being transmitted from one point to another. I can show you anything I have seen and you will understand it as if taught to you over time. This is also part of the stabilization process when one passes on to the afterlife.”

  Along with hearing her words I could feel the information she wanted me to know being fed into me. The symbols on my heads up display became recognizable, almost familiar. A feeling of uneasiness came with it as I began to wonder what else could be fed into me.

  “There, now you should understand how the suit works.” Clara said. �
�Now we can continue.”

  Clara was correct. While I still did not understand where I was or why the suit was needed I understood how to control it and what the information being displayed to me meant. It was not as if I sat in a class and learned how to control it. It was more like I was born with the inherit skill and controlling the suit was second nature to me.

  I could move just as I would in a physical body. The heads up display gave information on the suits systems as well as the surrounding area. A flashing green symbol that I took notice of when I first saw the display now made sense. It was telling me I was still connected to the transfer system. I turned around to see a long hose connected to the back of the suit. It was then I realized what I was connected to and more importantly what kind of location I was in.

  I stood in a circular multi-floored room larger than a football field and several stories high. Thousands of containments suits sat motionless connected to a series of tubes and conduits than ran throughout the area. In the center a massive capsule made of glass ran from the bottom floor to the dome ceiling above. Within the capsule was the same golden energy I had saw before.

  “Clara…” I stuttered. “What the hell is this? Where the hell are we?”

  “We do not know the name the builders gave this place.” Clara said. “We just call it Haven.”

  As I looked around the massive structure it became clear that its construction was not the work of God’s or energy beings. Each of the fifty-two floors I could see was built identically to support the structure as a whole. I could tell the pocket dimension Clara spoke of must have existed in an environment similar to space. There were clearly marked ventilation shafts and my heads up display confirmed the air outside the suit was oxygen.

  “If this is heaven or the home of a God why does it look man made?” I asked.

  “It was man made.” Clara answered. “The beings first created by the Avatar constructed a device to harness life energy. It was to serve as a containment unit for life energy they planned to collect from various sources around the universe. They believed non-sentient life energy, energy not contained within a living being, could be used to augment their own power increasing their life energy.”

  As I listened to Clara’s story I took notice of the equipment around each containment suit station. All the connection tubes and wires from the containment units led back to the central capsule. I could also access information located within the suits computer. I wanted to see if any of the other suits were active but only Clara and my own suit had a host within. I realized the central capsule did not contain the Avatar Clara spoke of but the souls of humanity.

  “Wait, are you telling me the Avatar had created more than just the world you showed me before?” I asked. “How many beings has this Avatar created?”

  “There were eleven before us.” Clara answered. “We are number twelve. The Avatar’s original beings were creatures made of pure energy. They had no physical body and did not go through any evolutionary process. They were placed on a world fully aware that they were the Avatar’s creations and were told to go four and flourish.”

  There was so much information to process but I had to remember my main goal, to find the truth and reconnect with the other Clara. Towards the top of the structure I could see four separate rooms but they were sealed and I could not see what was beyond them. There were no windows in the vicinity. I could only guess that it was not meant for physical beings to spend any extended amount of time there. However, the heads up display along with showing the air was primarily oxygen also showed that the temperature was well within normal human tolerance levels.

  “The beings had no purpose and no direction.” Clara continued. “All they knew was that there was a being more powerful than them and they wanted to achieve a similar power. They knew they could not directly attack the Avatar and searched for a way to gain his power that is where Bain intervened. He taught the Avatar’s creations a means to turn life energy into matter that could be used to construct a structure that could gather life energy, but it would serve a dual purpose.”

  I needed a way to get Clara to leave me along. The suit did not have detailed information on the capsule but it was clear that I was outside whatever influence created the reality inside. The more data I read about the structure the more it reminded me of the virtual reality system used by the military. Inside the capsule human souls were experiencing a reality, but according to the other Clara it was not of their choosing. The military had a reason to connect its soldiers to their reality, what I had to find out was who was connecting everyone to theirs and why.

  “The Avatar’s creations with the help of Bain created this space station.” Clara continued. “Bain wanted to use the capsule you see in its center to trap and contain his brother. The creatures discovered this and were able to trap Bain instead. They planned to use Bain’s energy and the life energy found throughout the universe to increase their power. The Avatar discovered this and confronted his creations. They fought against him and would have trapped him as well if Bain had not escaped. Bain had no choice but to save his brother and use the Avatar’s creations betrayal to cover up his own.”

  I was able to discover a way to return my energy to the capsule. It would be the only way to get back to the other Clara. There was no way that I could find to remove the energy from within the capsule much less specifically remove Clara’s life energy. All I could hope was that by returning on my own I would not be locked within the reality Clara claimed her and I created. If that was the case then the other Clara could contact me and from there we could find a way to escape.

  “Bain used the Avatar’s creations betrayal to try and convince his brother to stop creating life.” Clara continued. “Instead the Avatar continued trying different methods to create what he hoped would become his children. Over eons the Avatar modified this space station to compensate for the various beings he created. He decided to change the capsule to serve as a containment unit for his creations who died. While most of their life energy would return to the planet or be passed on to another being, the essence of the person, their consciousness if you will, would be sent here and live on within the capsule. Inside this capsule the Avatar allowed its inhabitants to make their own world. In essence they could create their own personal heaven.”

  With an escape plan thought out I began to focus on Clara’s story and the Avatar. It was possible all we were to it was food to be slowly fed to it. Our afterlife was nothing but a cage. While we were fed images of a reality we would call heaven it would allow us to remain docile until it was time to be devoured. However, the only problem with my theory was why a powerful god-like being that created life would need to go to such lengths.

  “So within this capsule is all the sentient life energy from the various beings the Avatar has created?” I asked.

  “Yes and the Avatar himself is within the capsule as well.” Clara answered. “When the Avatar created our world he entered the capsule not only to protect himself in his weakened state but also all his creations. He knew his brother had ill intensions and so he wanted to insure that his creations would be safe. Unfortunately it also meant he was unable to prevent any of the atrocities his brother has committed.

  Bain is aware of this place and it is why he used containment suits for his creations. The Avatar originally created these suits so his creations could leave the capsule and meet each other. This would come after Bain had lost and we all would be free.”

  I had learned what I needed to know. There would be nothing else I could gather from Clara and I had run out of relevant data on the heads up display. There was still a risk that everything I was told by the other Clara was wrong or a lie. It was possible she was lying, manipulating me for some unknown purpose. I could only go with what I felt and the peace I had felt was not natural, it was not real.

  “I need a moment, Clara.” I said. “There’s just so much and then this place…”

  “I understand, David.” Clara said. �
�There is something I need to do. If you will wait here I will be back shortly. Please, even though I showed you how the suit functions please do not try to leave or touch the controls. Just being outside the containment unit is dangerous enough.”

  I nodded and walked towards the edge of the floor looking over the metal railing towards the capsule. Clara walked over and stood near a control panel for her suit. There was a flash of light and the suit went limp. I checked the heads-up display to confirm her suit was empty then made my way over to my suit’s control panel. I began the sequence to return my life energy to the capsule.

  I took a final look around the space station going over everything I had learned wondering what I could trust. My sight became blurry. I was being pulled away. Reality once again bled into a golden light; however, something was different. I did not have a feeling of freedom or majestic power. It was a static-like feeling, the same as when I encountered the other Clara. My thoughts turned to the little girl who was killed that started it all. As the golden light faded into darkness a part of me wished I had never tried to save her.

  “David, can you hear me?”

  It was Clara’s voice but I could not tell which one it was. Her voice sounded distant as if I was dreaming and she was calling me back to the waking world. Slowly I regained physical feeling as if my body had returned but I could still see nothing.

  “Clara!” I shouted. “I’m here!”

  From the darkness I could see a ripple in space form head of me. It reminded me of a stone striking the still waters back at the forest. A tear in space formed from the ripple. Streams of multicolored light poured out from the tear, it was blinding. The static-like feeling grew stronger in intensity. From the tear I could see someone emerge and then I could feel it, it was Clara.