1 New Dawn Fades

"You didn't have arms. Where did you get arms ?! And why the hell is your belly open ?"

A few days ago she was rescued by the monster floating in front of her. It looked like a dark brown sphere inside of which sitted a giant eye and a drooling maw with shark like teeth. From its "body" extended eye stalks. Twenty of them. And two arms. She was sure it didn't have those two before. Just what the hell is that thing ?

"No I didn't, I thought they would fit me nicely. So I added them to my body. I still need another liver, hence the small cut I made. Would you please be so nice and open the jar on your left ?" it answered

She felt a chill spread down her spine. Inside of those jar were her friend's organs. Harvested from their corpse. This aberration in front of her didn't kill them, the thing that ambushed them did. Then this floating orb of death saved her. Why ? She didn't know and was too frightened to ask. She just did as the monster asked.

The jar opened, a dark red mass of flesh flew out of it toward the opened wound. As it approached, blood vessels and bile ducts expanded out of the incision like tendrils trying to reach the organ. The "Thing" uttered a few words and magic runes inscribed themselves unto the soon to be second liver, which then entered promptly joining the fluorescent flesh hiding in the sphere.

She puked.

"That's how I got arms. Stole 'em from the monster that attacked your party, added them as I did this liver. Does this answer your questions ?"

she fell silent,

"Yes" she muttered. "How... How can you do this ? Stealing organs ?" her trembling voice asked

"Oh that's simple. When you mix advanced surgery and magic. Sky's the limit. And well I was a surgeon in my past life. That's actually a really funny story, let me tell it to you...

Once upon a time was a visceral surgeon named Margot, on a distant world called Earth..."

*************

When she entered med school, Margot was looking for more than just a job. She was craving to do "something meaningful", to "save lives". Deeply she also hoped for others to admire her talents, her achievements. She managed to become a surgeon, a pretty good one. But she would never say that out loud, she was rather shy and her strict education wouldn't allow her to sound too prideful.

But her hopes and dreams soon shattered when confronted with the reality of the public healthcare : Doctors and nurses leaving for the private sector, budget cut, unpaid overtime. But still, she continued to work in the same hospital. Deeply ingrained in her tired brain was the idea that she had no right to complain. People had it worse than her. She felt guilty of even considering getting a better position somewhere else. Plus her colleagues told her she couldn't give up on them.

"12 hours a day, 6 days per week. Fuck. It." she thought

It was the end of her shift. She texted her boyfriend, Simon, to know how he was. He left 2 days before to go on vacation, she was supposed to join him there the day before but had to cancel at the last minute. "You know since Ahmed left we are so understaffed, and I haven't seen my wife in days, it would mean the world to me if you took my shift". "No problem Adam" she simply answered her boss.

Still tomorrow morning she would go join Simon in Nice, close to the mediterranean sea. A full week sleeping and sun bathing. That would be great.

Seeing no answer on her phone, she felt a bit down. She ate some instant noodles and got to sleep.

*******

Like everyday she woke up tired 2 hours before her alarm clock rang. Not able to fall back asleep she took a quick shower and started loading everything she thought she might need in her luggage. Bikini, sunscreen. She was a redhead with rather pale skin, sunscreen was a life saver in the summer. Then her phone rang, it was Simon

"Hey you" she said in a tired voice. "Hey Margot. Hum listen. We need to talk." she sat on her bed. "Is there a problem ?" a long silence followed. "Well, I can't do this anymore. We barely see each other. And you know I met someone. I didn't..." She hung up. Then cried.

She looked at the picture in her room. Friends, family, her now ex-boyfriend. A postcard saying "Hang in there" friends sent her while she preparing for the sixth year competitive examination.

She had been pretty dark thought lately. Didn't tell anyone of course. Why would she, she couldn't do that to the man she loved. But now... why not just end it all ?

When her phone rang again, she didn't answer.

******

Everything seemed clearer, her mind finally at peace. The cold realization of what she did crashed on her psyche : she ended her life. But oddly enough no emotions disturbed her. Somehow she was there in her room. It was silent and engulfed in a a dark green light. Everything looked the same, but there was something strange - like an ill defined air of otherness.

She looked at her body hanging down from the ceiling. She tried to touch its hand - her hand. A translucent mass of energy roughly shaped like an arm entered her field of view and moved through her corpse.

"What am I ? A ghost ?" she asked herself.

Then something even stranger happened, someone answered. "You're just a soul"

She looked around, anxious, trying to find where the voice came from. Then she saw it : a dark silhouette by the window. It didn't have a face, or any specific feature except the rough shape of a humanoid.

"What, who are you ? Stay away from me !"

"Relax, I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to guide you. I'm sure you're confused. Well let's say it clearly - you are dead."

"No shit, couldn't figure that out."

"I'm not sure you understand what I mean by that. You are not you. Just a remnant of your past self. Pure information, bodiless, meaningless. You are to disappear. "

"Fuck you, I know who I am ! Get away from me you asshole !" She panicked and lunge at him. But there was no impact, the shadow simply dissolved into her ethereal body. Flooding her mind with pointless informations, broken memories. Her sense of self started to vanish, assaulted by those foreign thoughts but she wouldn't let go. She would not give in, she would *be* no matter the cost.

She heard the voice again. Another silhouette, much bigger than the last one emerged from the wall. Its body was even less defined, looking more like a gigantic blob than a person.

"I'm just a part of the sea of souls you are to return to. There is nothing for you here anymore. You must find peace"

It was the enemy's turn to attack her. The thing reached out to her with tendrils made of pure darkness and dragged her into its grotesque form. She tried to reach into her own mind to find a weapon to defend herself. And she found it : her emotions. She focused on her feelings. Like a virus it started to convert the formless mass into pieces of her.

The mental anguish stopped for a second. She was alone again. But she knew it would not last. Through the memories she absorbed she learned that there was no way out. Sooner or later she would dissolve into the sea of souls, becoming one with what could be described as God. There was still hope however. The knowledge she made hers was extensive and covered subjects she didn't even supposed existed in the first place. There was other realities and she knew how to reach them.

She focused again as the space around her distorted.