Strange… I should be desperate after hearing that. I should be screaming, crying, cursing myself for having died, but… I feel as if, deep down, I already knew this was the case and, even so, I feel at peace.
The person on the other side of the table looked at me as if waiting for something. Perhaps he expected me to despair, but honestly, only one thing crossed my mind.
"I-Is she all right?…"
As if he wasn't expecting my response, the person began laughing, setting the cup on the table and pointing at me.
"Ah, this is exactly the kind of thing that warms my soul, Carter. You are truly a rare one. Few can simply accept their own death, and yet you did, realizing you sacrificed your life for the sake of your beloved. Stories like this fascinate me deeply; this very outcome alone is more captivating than the 'Beginning of the Layer' of your 'Realities'."
"The what of the what?!!?"
Realizing he had said too much, the person calmed himself and sat back down, sipping his tea.
"Forgive me once again; at times, I am overtaken by enthusiasm for stories as remarkable as yours. Very well, I suppose I must answer your question. Yes, she is well. It took her some years to recover, but she managed. In the end, she married and lived a life considered 'normal'. Sadly, you were her soulmate, so not everything was pure joy, but yes, she was happy."
I began to cry, strangely not only tears of joy but also of sadness.
I wish I had stayed by your side.
What matters is that in the end, she was happy. I spent some time just processing the information, and the person respected my silence. But after a while, another question arose.
"Who are you? Death?"
As if already expecting me to say something like that, the person replied:
"Life and Death are but concepts; there is no entity that truly holds their essence. I dwell in what could be called 'Pre-Life', or the 'Before', and also the 'Post-Death', or the 'After', of beings. It does not displease me that you call me Death, for it is easier for others to accept it that way. However, if I were to choose a name that truly defines me, it would be 'Now'.
I am, for all intents and purposes within the 'All,' the closest thing to absolute power. I do not possess omnipresence, omniscience, or omnipotence; yet, what I can do is enough to reduce to nothing anything that exists in this same 'All.' Call it authority by delegation, if you will. It is not a title I sought — it is a burden I simply carry.
My duty is simple and inexorable: from time to time, I speak with certain souls and present them with the advantages granted by the 'Path,' and through this, I sow the birth of that person in a new place. Why? Not even I know. The mechanism fulfills itself, the threads intertwine, and another story begins where once was silence.
As for who imposed this function upon me… it is better that you do not know. There are truths that grant no light; they only burn. Some doors, once opened, never close again — and the price of crossing them rarely repays curiosity.
Still, make no mistake: though I remain ignorant of the ultimate purpose of my work, I value dialogue. I enjoy listening to those who arrive, whether restrained or tempestuous, skeptical or credulous. When they behave, we converse at length; there is solace in bringing order to the chaos of a freshly broken heart, and there is grace in watching courage emerge in the very place where fear once resided.
I am 'Now.' I promise no miracles, I guarantee no endings. I offer choices, context, and passage. The rest belongs to you — and to the new story that begins when you decide to move forward."
'Now'. What a flamboyant name. But, considering the position 'Now' holds, a title like that almost makes sense. Well, knowing that practically a 'god' is sitting right in front of me feels more reassuring than thinking it's just some random guy sipping tea.
But you know what? I expected more. Something… grand. I expected trumpets announcing his arrival, a light so blinding it would nearly burn my eyes, maybe even thunder tearing across the sky to mark the difference between us. I expected a voice that carried the weight of law, vibrating through the air with undeniable authority. In short, all the clichés you see in movies, books, and stories whenever someone comes face to face with the divine.
In the end, none of that was there. Just a calm person, with formal manners, drinking tea as if we were sharing an ordinary afternoon. The anticlimax is almost comical… but I guess I'll just have to accept it, for now.
"All right, 'Now', so now what? What happens to me?"
"It is simple: you reincarnate in a 'Version'."
"Ah, I see. Simple eno— Wait, I'm going to reincarnate? And where? A 'Version'?"
"If you so wish, I can reveal to you what is meant by a 'Version', although such revelation carries with it a profound knowledge that, I believe, will hardly serve you in the future. And still… do you dare venture to understand the delicate workings of 'All'?"
"Well… What do I have to lose, it's not like anyone is waiting for me."
"I will ask you one last time: do you truly wish to know the secrets of 'All'? Very few have endured such knowledge; the overwhelming majority succumbed, consumed by their own mind, refusing reincarnation and choosing instead to 'Reset'—if you grasp the gravity of that. The power to comprehend 'All' is relentless, and few remain whole in the face of it. And you… do you dare challenge this fate and answer me?"
Cringe… that's all I thought after hearing what 'Now' said, but interesting — 'Reset'. I presume it means one can refuse reincarnation and choose to start again from zero. Well, in theory before drinking the tea I was already 'Reset'. So I don't see a problem with it. Wait…
"I forgot to ask, what the heck is this tea? Why did I remember everything after drinking it?"
'Now' spent a few seconds looking at me as if he couldn't believe what I had asked, and then burst into laughter.
"Only now do you realize that you recovered your memories thanks to the tea? After all this? After I dramatized about 'All'? Ah, Carter… truly, you are of an extraordinarily rare kind."
After laughing for some time, he spoke again.
"I'm afraid it's not possible to reveal the nature of the tea without first explaining what we call 'All'. Therefore, I ask you once again: do you truly wish to know the 'All', or would you rather remain in ignorance?"
"Ah, screw it. Tell me about this 'All'."
Nodding, 'Now' began.
"'All'… is exactly that, Carter. Everything that exists and that will never cease to exist. Every atom ever formed, every instant ever lived and all those yet to come. Past, present, and future — all coexisting in a tapestry that no ordinary being could ever fully comprehend. If I had to give you a definition, I would say only that 'All' is the totality itself, the beginning and the end, the essence that transcends names and descriptions.
But understand, Carter… 'All' does not necessarily mean absolute completeness. All is relative, shaped by perspective. There exist entities that transcend even 'All' itself, beings so far beyond comprehension that concepts such as omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience appear to them as nothing more than the most basic requirement, the minimum necessary for their existence. What to you would be the pinnacle of divinity is to them merely a starting point.
So comprehend, Carter… 'All' represents the pinnacle your existence can reach. Beyond it, there is no continuity, no essence, not even memory of you. It is the limit from which you cannot escape, for your very existence is only possible within this 'All'. Outside it, you would simply… cease to be."
"..."
"Frightening, isn't it? Even I, who am what comes closest to the absolute within this 'All', lack any singularity beyond its limits. Outside it, there would be no distinction, no relevance; only void.
I wonder how you, a being from some tiny planet whose greatest concern until recently was simply paying your bills, react to hearing something like this. No, wait… I believe I know very well how you feel."
The words of 'Now' reminded me of the cosmic horror stories I used to read. Powerless — that's how I feel. As if everything I lived didn't really matter.
"Very well, that is the essential about 'All'. I believe that, for the sake of your sanity, it is prudent to narrow the scope for now. The 'All' constitutes our absolute, the 100% of all existence. But understand: 'All' is not limited to being a mere accumulation of everything that exists. It has order, structure, and purpose, being organized into compartments we call 'Knowledge'.
But you may ask: what are the parameters employed to separate these 'Knowledge'? The answer is simple: stories, or, as those stories used for such separation are called, 'Common Start'."
"Wait, what do you mean stories? In what sense? Like a book? A book can be one of those… how did you call it… Ah, 'Common Start'?"
"I regret to say I do not possess an entirely precise answer to that question. The 'Common Start' is on such a high level in the hierarchy of the 'All' that its true origin eludes even me. Still, in theory, it is possible: a fantasy book, in which a hero faces a dragon to save a princess, could serve the formation of a 'Knowledge'. What I can assure you, without a shadow of a doubt, is that such stories are chosen by entities that exist beyond the limits of our 'All', beings whose intentions and criteria surpass us completely."
I won't lie — I find this both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. I'm face-to-face with what is supposedly the absolute itself. On Earth he would be worshipped as a god, above everything and everyone — and yet he tells me there are beings beyond comprehension even for him? Now I understand why people go insane after hearing all this. It's simply too much.
"You are mistaken, Carter, if you think I have revealed the worst part already. It is precisely from this point that things become truly complex. The 'Common Start', as I mentioned, represents strictly the first story, that initially determined by entities beyond our 'All'. From it begins another concept, which we call 'Realities'. Allow me now to carefully explain the nature of this concept.
The 'Realities' are the collection of all the versions of a given story, including the original narrative of the 'Beginning of the Layer' itself. This term, 'Beginning of the Layer', refers to the base story of that 'Realities'. While the 'Common Start' serves the separation of 'Knowledge', the 'Beginning of the Layer' separates the different 'Realities'. And note: the very 'Common Start' is itself a 'Beginning of the Layer', for from it a 'Realities' is generated.
It is not merely a starting point; it is the pillar that sustains the integrity of the 'Realities' derived from it. Each 'Beginning of the Layer' is designed to occur exactly as it must, without deviation. For this reason, reincarnations, transmigrations, or transports into this story are impossible. And, when necessary, higher beings oversee its unfolding, ensuring that the narrative unfolds faithfully to the original material.
Almost all stories generated from a 'Beginning of the Layer' and its versions produce their own 'Realities'. Similarly, the narratives created within those 'Realities' also give rise to new 'Realities', and so on, in a potentially infinite process.
Books, games, newspapers, fables, lies… all can generate a 'Beginning of the Layer', except for one thing: pure truth. The only prerequisite for a story to integrate a 'Realities' is to contain minimal elements of fantasy. Even events partially based on real occurrences, but which do not strictly follow the material of the 'Beginning of the Layer' due to limitations of knowledge or dramatization, can generate their own 'Realities'. Only pure truth is an exception, and even it compares to the 'Beginning of the Layer' only in relation to the reality it represents itself.
Thus, each 'Realities' functions as a parallel universe within the framework of the 'All', allowing stories to coexist in multiple variations, preserving the totality and complexity of what we call 'Knowledge'."
After hearing all this, I adjusted myself in the chair to be more comfortable — or as comfortable as I could be, sitting naked in a chair with my… Well, my "Friend" hanging outside.
After asking 'Now' to repeat several times (and much slower this time), I kind of understood the concept. Kind of — and saying I "understand" is a very strong statement. But I think I can keep up.
"Each base story has the responsibility of generating not only the original narrative, but the entire spectrum of versions that stem from it.
This is where the concept of 'Version' arises. A 'Version' is a variation of a 'Beginning of the Layer'. Unlike the Beginning itself, a 'Version' is not supervised in terms of strict preservation of the original story. Each version alters one or multiple factors of the 'Beginning of the Layer', either before the 'Start of the Version', during its running or after the 'End of the Version'. The only certainty is that the narrative of that version will begin; how it unfolds, what will be altered or added, is neither guaranteed nor supervised.
Thus, Carter, each 'Beginning of the Layer' generates an infinity of 'Versions', and each 'Version' can, in turn, give rise to new branches within the same 'Realities'. That is why the universe of stories is vast, almost infinite in its possibilities, allowing each narrative to evolve, transform, and replicate in ways that defy our comprehension."
Wait a minute… 'Version' implies that there are N variations of a 'Beginning of the Layer', and 'Now' confirmed that. So… what am I? Am I just "another" Carter?
Not interested in my doubts, 'Now' continued.
"To fully comprehend the dynamics of the 'Versions', it is necessary to speak of their temporal markers: the 'Start of the Version' and the 'End of the Version'. The 'Start of the Version' is the exact point at which the narrative of this particular version is considered to begin. In theory, all developments of this version stem from that same marker, establishing the baseline from which any subsequent change may occur.
The 'Start of the Version' does not have to follow the same structure that of the 'Beginning of the Layer', but it will always try to be as close as possible. but in those cases, a criteria will be created to consider the story as 'started'. Of course, I can't tell you those criterias.
The 'End of the Version', on the other hand, marks the conclusion of the story in this specific variation. Unlike the start, the end has no necessity to be alike across versions; each may end its narrative in a unique way, completely altering the destiny, events, or characters involved. The only constant is that the ending belongs to the version itself, detached from the supervision of the 'Beginning of the Layer'.
And then, Carter, there is the concept of 'Duplicates'. This is a crucial point for understanding the recursive complexity of the 'All'. Suppose 'Story A' contains a book with 'Story A' itself and another with 'Story B', while 'Story B' contains a book with 'Story A'. 'Story A' will not generate a 'Beginning of the Layer' for itself, but only for 'Story B'. However, 'Story B' will create a 'Beginning of the Layer' for 'Story A', and the cycle proceeds recursively, multiplying universes, versions, and realities endlessly. This is how the 'All' maintains its complexity and infinity, each element interconnected with others in ways that defy human comprehension.
Therefore, Carter, you must understand that each 'Beginning of the Layer' is not merely an initial story, but the foundation of an infinity of 'Versions' and 'Realities', all interwoven, all coexisting within the same framework of the 'All'. Each variation, each duplicate, expands the fabric of knowledge, allowing the universe of narratives to evolve in an almost infinite manner, always preserving the essence of what we call 'Knowledge'."