[Back To Shelf]
[Tumblr Post]
writing-prompt-s :
The probe sent back 12 seconds of video from the afterlife, before it was utterly destroyed. 12 seconds which have now united humanity in a desperate search for immortality.
Now, it is very interesting how they managed to obtain this footage at all, because there are, of course, many deniers, claiming that such a thing is impossible, or that humans don't have a real soul or anything like that, and people who are of a different religion that claim that their afterlife is still true.
Let us begin with how the outcast team of scientists and doctors obtained the footage.
"He's cut off. Death in maybe 90 seconds." One voice said, just a bit louder than the heart monitor beeping above a horrible looking old man, clearly he has been kept alive longer than he should have, and many bruises cover the not already bandaged parts of his body.
"Probe is active and receiving input." Another voice, this one typing furiously at a computer, not fast, but with great power heard in each click, somehow.
"And it's from the soul, you're certain? Not just the brain?" The first voice worried.
"It's not designed to give us brain input, and even if it does, we'll see in a couple seconds here." The typing slowed and stopped. "We just need to wait."
Silence, broken only by the slowing beeps of the heart monitor, and faint white noise from the immediate input of the probe. A terrifying minute. An entire minute counting down. The heart has already stopped entirely.
"Still... getting input..."
They both reach for the probe's input display to turn it away.
"His note." The first person pulls out a small envelope, opens it and begins to read. "Thank you, to everyone involved, for letting me be helpful. I do hope that this works, so my legacy can live on, even if only for this one thing. I wish I had done more with my life, but this was the last thing I could do. Thank you for giving my life meaning."
"That's nice..." A loud beep is heard. "Input's down!"
"That was fast..." Suspicious...
"Should we...?" The one at the computer reaches for the monitor. "Or should we wait for the others?"
"Play it. I don't think I can wait any longer."
The one at the computer turns the monitor back around and navigates to the saved video. "Get ready for... Something, maybe..."
The video plays. 12 seconds of video, 97 seconds of audio. Their own chatter is heard for most of it, along with a slowing heartbeat. The sound fades, growing more and more muffled until the audio monitor detects nothing.
2 second pause. <~>
Bright white light appears on the screen, then fades into a large green field, overgrown with grass, dense forest surrounding it.
A large, silver, tombstone-like object is in directly forward, with some glowing text on it. Likely not actually a tombstone.
"Ah, there you are! You were late!" A cheery voice speaks, and continues speaking, but it is not caught as it is not focused on.
The words on the tombstone-structure are focused on. A large counter on it ticks down to
113455 DEATHS UNTIL END
"Oh, what's this doing here?" The video and audio completely cuts off.
Silence.
"Fuck."
[
<~> Alternate ending :
*Skyrim Intro Scene Fades In*
]