CH 6° Strange Realm

This version of 'The Enoch' was a prototype, it can still have some work, not to mention it was rushed, Aldrich was meant the remain awake throughout the entire process, els the result will not be good, but the pain was too much, having billions of microscopic robots, merge with your spine, was not an easy one.

Although heart rate and pulse monitoring equipment were in place, Aldrich had lost consciousness. His heartbeat and pulse remained stable, but his mind was elsewhere, drifting beyond the reach of the monitoring systems designed to oversee such procedures.

Hence, the monitoring equipment didn't sound any alarms, and Marie assumed Aldrich was okay, believing the procedure was progressing smoothly. However, she was soundly mistaken.

...

Aldrich felt his mind pass through multiple layers of space, he felt as if his body and mind were constantly being destroyed.

He couldn't scream even if he wanted to; the sensation was akin to having his mind forcibly squeezed through the eye of a needle—a torment beyond any he had known. His vision blurred with swirling colors as excruciating pain engulfed him. Just as he felt on the brink of death, he abruptly found himself adrift in an alien environment. No matter how he gazed upon it, there was only one word to describe this place: Hell

A translucent silhouette of Aldrich could be seen floating in a crimson-hued expanse. The entire space was bathed in deep red, devoid of any visible objects except for clouds saturated with what appeared to be blood. These clouds encircled Aldrich, forming a perfect ring that bordered the entirety of this eerie space.

Doubt filled Aldrich's mind as he observed the crimson surroundings. "I guess I failed," he muttered to himself, recalling the moment he had been injected with the nanites. Now, finding himself in this disconcerting space, he couldn't help but entertain the thought, "This is probably hell."

Although Aldrich hadn't committed many bad deeds in his life, he could not even if he wanted to, he still couldn't shake the feeling that this place in which he found himself was far from heaven—it could only be hell.

He was never a religious person, to begin with, he never believed in heaven or hell.

He was never a religious person, to begin with, never believing in concepts like heaven or hell. As he observed the eerie surroundings more closely, however, he couldn't help but entertain the unsettling thought that he might be in hell.

"Well, it does have some of the characteristics,"

he muttered to himself, his unease growing with each passing moment.

In some religions, hell is depicted as a place of raging lava and inhabited by demonic beings where the wicked people go after they die. On the other hand, heaven is often portrayed as a realm of pure white light, inhabited by beings with wings, where the righteous go after death. Some texts even suggest that everyone will go to hell, regardless of their deeds during life, to face judgment.

The perpetual debate over religious beliefs, with its centuries-long struggle to determine who is right and who is wrong, has persisted throughout history. There are often individuals who use religion as a shield to justify heinous acts. To Aldritch, these individuals are all the same; he tends to steer clear of religious figures. Whether God exists or not is not his concern.

He subconsciously raised his right hand to his face and was startled to find that he could see through it, as though it were made of transparent glass.

Just then, multiple strange sensations flooded his mind, sensations he couldn't understand or interpret. It felt as if something was trying to communicate with him in a language he couldn't grasp, like walking blindly through a room filled with thorns.

The feeling was akin to a human trying to see out of his elbow—an impossible and frustrating endeavor. His nonexistent mind raced with attempts to comprehend, yet it was futile. He couldn't understand a single thing.

the feeling of trying to scratch an itch through once boots wasn't an easy one to accommodate, he felt like pulling his hair, but his hand just passed through his hand as if it was not there.

The only thought he was able to translate was the boundaries of this red space.

It measured roughly 300 cubic meters, at least by his estimation. He sensed the size of the space within his mind.

Soon more though became clear, this wasn't hell, although he didn't know what this place was, he just knew it wasn't.

As he observed the place, he felt his soul relax, as if this place was where he was meant to be, like long lost home.

Just then, he noticed a purple orb materializing amid the world. It hadn't been there before, of that he was certain. The orb glowed softly, suspended in the air.

He floated closer to the purple object and realized it wasn't an orb but a large purple seed, resembling a tennis ball-sized bean with red cracks streaking across its surface. He attempted to touch it, but his hands simply passed through, as if the seed existed in a different state of reality.

After observing the seed for a moment, Aldrich pondered, "But how do I leave this place, though?" The moment he entertained the thought, his translucent figure vanished from the red world.

What awaited him on the other side was beyond anything he had prepared for.