37 Transportation

The ride was a silent and tense affair. Jin was not a very talkative man. Especially once he was informed of the news by his superior. When she told him, his demeanor had turned from one of confidant indifference to a sullen and tense one.

His face had practically been set to sour and annoyed for the whole ride. The rest of the agents weren't all that better. Whatever had happened had put them on edge.

So the ride had been rather dull. Not that I hadn't tried to get some information, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Several brick walls that mistrusted you.

Not particularly effective.

Once I'd figured that I wouldn't be getting any information out of them by talking, I simply turned my attention to where we were going. My awareness had always partially been on the road, but now it had my undivided attention.

My newfound ability had allowed me to see outside with ease.

There was a slight blurring of my vision in the truck and in its immediate surrounding. I guessed that it was probably made in some way to impair vision so that they could transfer their targets without leaking their base location. Given that they probably created these countermeasures to interact with only specific energies, they barely hindered my vision.

They didn't know what energy I used.

Plus, based on the fact that they weren't all that worried about it, I guessed that they probably just assumed I didn't have any other energy sources. Which was honestly fine by me. If they wanted to underestimate me, I wouldn't stop them.

With that, I was able to clearly see the pathway that was taken. The ride was approximately around 3 hours long. It was only about 3/4 of the way in before we were driven deep into the swiss mountains. The closest town had been 45 minutes away, and the number of cars that traveled with us had been reduced to 0.

We well out of the canton of geneva and were probably somewhere closer to Zurich by my estimations.

When we arrived at the destination, I was slightly disappointed to not see some secret government complex or a building of any kind. It made sense that there wasn't one, but I was still disappointed.

I was, at least, expecting to see some agents waiting for us or perhaps even a cabin that would be the entrance to the HQ. All that was there was a mechanical structure shaped like an arc.

I was ordered to stay a couple meters back as they began to work on the structure.

Of course, jin and his superior stuck to my sides. They were was no way that they would allow me to mess around with whatever that arch thing was.

It took only about two minutes to get it started. The exact nature of what the agents had done to it was unknown to me. Even with my vision, I didn't really understand what they were doing. Regardless the activation of the machine was undeniable.

It was the sudden hum of power through the surroundings that was the first sign. The sense of being drawn towards it was the second. The final was the blue veil that sprung up between the arch.

From then on, it didn't take me long to realize what it was. I know a teleporting device when I see one. I guessed that this probably wasn't a permanent spot for it either. That's why they probably weren't all that worried about me.

"How'd you guys build that?"My question was directed at the woman, but she simply smirked before motioning for me to follow her. The agents stood at the side of the arch as she walked through.

Without hesitation, I followed suit and immediately regretted doing so.

It felt as if my body was being pulled in an infinite amount of directions. While simultaneously being crushed into a single piece of space smaller than an atom.

It looked much more mesmerizing than it felt, but I couldn't appreciate it through the pain. As I was spat out on the other side, it was only due to my new strength and abilities that I managed to not fall over.

And I was only due to my lack of a head that I hadn't immediately keeled over and puked my guts out.

That was one of the most horrible transportation ever. My version of teleportation back in Malum hadn't felt anywhere near this bad.

When I finally managed to get over the feeling of nausea and disorientation, I looked up to see what was perhaps one of the strangest sites ever. I stood on a platform that was one of many overlooking a city.

The fool scope of the city was far beyond the range of sight. With a single thought, I used my pretender abilities and transformed into myself predeath self.

I inhaled sharply as the full scope of the gargantuan city was impressed upon me.

It stretched out far into the horizon, and much farther than even my human eyes could see.

Skyscrapers that dwarfed even the greatest of the earth seemed to be a dime a dozen in this city. It looked like a city straight out of a science fiction novel. Flying cars zoomed through the skies as giant advertisements of different sorts blared out and flashed.

A quick glance to my sides showed that what I had thought had been a few platforms was, in fact, an endless line of them that seemed to stretch on forever.

As I looked at the sky, it was confirmed that I was most definitely not on earth. The skies were a milky purplish and blue color with no visible source of light insight. Perhaps the most impressive and strangest thing of all was the giant circle in the sky. As I channeled qi into my eyes, I realized that it was spitting out souls.

The beautiful and colorful trails that seemed to hover around its exit were the trails of souls. I watched as a fresh soul was spat out and immediately picked up by a weird machine that resembled a centipede.

"So this is the afterlife," I muttered. I was surprised at what I was seeing. I hadn't expected the afterlife to be a sci-fi city.

"In a sense, it is."

I turned my attention to the redhead beside me. In the back, I heard the swooshing sounds of multiple other people stepping through the portal before its blue glow was extinguished.

"So what is it?" She paused for a second as if contemplating the question.

"It's a new life. Everyone here is immortal and can't die from aging.." her sentence faded to a stop as she seemed to be distracted by something.

"But?" I interrupted whatever she was thinking of with my question.

She shook her head as she focused on me."But they can die again. And the second or, true death as we call it, is permanent. At least we haven't found any evidence of anything after that.

Huh," I stood still for a second, contemplating. "So everyone who's ever lived has been to this city?"

She shook her head as she began to walk away from the edge of the platform where we stood. I followed closely behind her. "The city was made only 3 Millenia's ago. Beforehand this realm was wild and untamed."

We walked for a while before arriving in front of a futuristic hovering police truck.

At which point, she motioned for me to enter the back as she slid into the passenger seat. Jin and a couple of the Agents slid in after me. She spoke a couple of words in an unknown language before the driver, whose face was obscured from view, started driving.

"This world is a lot more dangerous. The rules here are much laxer than back on earth. So more supernatural things and threats pop up here." As she spoke, she constantly kept glancing at her phone. It seemed as if she was waiting for an update on the previous situation.

I nodded in understanding as I stared out the window and took in the sights.

"So, what is your job exactly?"

"Well, apart from investigating anomalies, we also have to transfer recently deceased people before that haven't naturally transferred over before they become stuck on Earth and are corrupted."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise at her words.

Corrupted by what." I asked, curiosity filling my voice.

Her voice was one of annoyance. She was starting to become annoyed by the constant questions. "The universe, of course. Souls might exist, but that doesn't mean the universe likes them. Most souls that stay in the real world too long are made insane."

She paused again. This time a look of reminiscence covered her face.

"They become strong, but they are limited and can no longer think clearly. The universe doesn't kill them, but it would be much kinder if it did. The insanity they must endure is far crueler than death."

I made no reply as I contemplated her response. Plus, I didn't want to annoy her too much. Her replying at all was a surprise to me.

The rest of the ride was silent as we drove on. At that time, I finally slid out of my pretender form as the exhaustion started to build up.

I hadn't noticed that I had stayed in the form for all that time. It seemed as if the drain here was much less than on earth.

After about thirty minutes, we arrived at a parking platform attached to the side of a massive skyscraper.

Walking out, I looked down and saw the world below.

They looked like ants going about their day,

Once I entered the building, I was led through several hallways and turns before finally, we arrived at a rather bland and grey room. At that point, I was told to wait in the room. Jin and the woman whose name I still hadn't received stood outside the door.

Once inside, I was amused by the simple style of the room.

Their decorations were minimal, and the style rather brutal. For a sci-fi city, the room looked rather unadvanced. It reminded me of an interrogation room.

Unlike an interrogation room, there were no chairs, so I had to make do with simply sitting on the floor.

With nothing else to do, I started to meditate and continue my work on the connection.

An action that I found to be much easier with lax rules of the afterlife.

I was left in the room for around 40 minutes before an Italian-looking man walked in.

He dressed rather colorfully, and his beard was impressive. He wore a hat that seemed to resemble a beret. He strode in with confidence, coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in the other.

The moment he walked in, he stopped and observed the room before sighing and walking towards the door.

"Isabella, why are you using the interrogation room. That isn't how we treat potential recruits." His voice was filled with annoyance as he barked at the redhead. I strained my ears to hear what she responded with, but somehow I couldn't make out what she said.

The man seemed to sigh before he slammed the metallic door behind him. He muttered under his breath in Italian as he walked in.

As he approached me, a desk suddenly materialized in the center of the room "William Francis?" He asked as he strode to the table.

"That's me."

He motioned for me to sit as he took a seat.

"Apologies for the treatment" He gestured at the room as he spoke.

"Isabella doesn't seem to understand the difference between prisoners and recruits."

"No problem."

We shook hands across the table as he introduced himself.

"Leonardo DaVinci at your service. I will be your supervisor for the rest of your provisional trial."