INTO THE VOID

CHAPTER 16: ORIGINS

The infirmary in The VOID was nothing like the classic hospitals Xaviere knew. There were no white and blue tiles, there were not IV fluids hanging from metal stands, neither was there the classic hospital scent of cleaning solvents. It was a high tech place like every other thing in The VOID. On stepping into the place, Xaviere’s memories were triggered and he remembered he had been there before. He got injured during one of the training sessions and had to go to the infirmary. Even with his memories, the sight in real time was still amazing to him

“Desertwind, X, you’re welcome; congratulation on your mission.” The medic said.

“Thanks a lot Snowfall.” Petrichor responded. Snowfall was a VOID agent that specialized in tending to injured agents. Agents are at the risk of sustaining injuries during training or fieldwork. It is Snowfall’s responsibility to nurse them back to health.

“So, what brings you here today, few broken bones in Mongolia?” The medic asked.

“Not mine, his… he took a really nasty hit to the head during the fight.” Petrichor said.

“X, wow, first field mission and you are already taking damages? You need to be more careful out there.” Snowfall said maintaining an unshaken gaze at Xaviere’s eyes. During the awkward eye contact, the pupils of the medic’s eyes became completely white and he looked intently into Xaviere’s.

“There seem to be no physical damages.” Snowfall said lowering his gaze.

“Well, the battle took place in The Soulish Realm.” Petrichor said.

“Oh, that makes things a little more interesting. I need to take a scan. X step on the panel please.” The medic said.

The panel was a round, black circle on the ground quite similar to The VOID logo. Xaviere stepped on it and then a beam of blue light encircled him. He could see Petrichor and Snowfall standing outside the light observing him. From their point of view, they could see three different people. At first, Xaviere, his physical form, and then a frame made of sparkling, blue light standing behind him and then a frame that was completely white but then there were streaks of colors appearing and disappearing.

“That’s quite fascinating.” Snowfall said.

“What is?” Petrichor asked.

“Well, it appears that his soul has feeds of consciousness from a past life.”

“Don’t we all? The only reason we are VOID agents is because of our Hyper-Soulish activities.”

“That is true, but in his case this activities are well… very hyper.”

“What does that mean?” Petrichor asked.

“I… don’t…exactly…low.” Snowfall replied hesitantly. “How about we find out?” He asked turning towards Petrichor with a smile on his face. This was his attempt to give her reassurance as he saw the obvious expression of concern on her face. She felt responsible for Xaviere’s well being; not just because she headed the mission or because she was charged with his activation but for some other reason. She cared about him. In the time they spent together, she has grown quite fond of the eccentric personality. It would be a big blow to her in anything happened to him on her watch.

“X, how do you feel?” Snowfall asked him after he stepped off the panel.

“I’m good…really. Desertwind here just doesn’t want to believe me.” Xaviere said pointing in the direction of Petrichor who stood there with her arms crossed. “I am just really tired and need to rest… that’s all.”

“Have a seat agent X.” Snowfall said as he made a gesture with his arm. A seat suddenly emanated from the ground. Xaviere sat down on the chair.

“Tell me about your dreams.” Snowfall said. He was also seated. He crossed his legs and had his hands to his chin. He dangled his left leg back and forth and listened intently as Xaviere spoke.

“Well… before my…my activation, I was never actually able to recall my dreams. I wake up in the mornings and all I can remember are flashes, like scenes from a movie that I’ve forgotten. It never actually made sense; it was just all hazy. After that night…” Xaviere paused as he looked at Petrichor; she blushed. “After that night, it all began to make sense. All the memories, every single book I’ve read in The VOID library, the trainings; everything. It was like a torrent, like a giant wave of realization hit me. It is like all my life, I’ve been standing behind a translucent curtain; seeing shadows and all of a sudden, the curtain was pulled down.”

“So, you know everything. How does it feel though?” Snowfall asked.

“I walk in to room for example and I see a picture and boom… I begin to remember things; vivid memories. Although there is a dream I had that still doesn’t make sense.”

“What dream is that? What exactly happened in there?”

“Well… it was like in someone else’s body in some ancient kingdom. There was war, a lot of bloodshed. I fought in the war. It was very vivid and very strange but I am yet to discover the significance of that particular dream. What does this mean?” Xaviere asked Snowfall.

“Bingo, exactly what I suspected.” Snowfall exclaimed.

“What is it, what’s wrong?” Petrichor asked with great concern.

“Let me just say, our friend here has a very powerful soul.”

“Please explain, what exactly do you mean?” Xaviere asked.

“From what we have all read in The Book of Eras, some souls are powerful enough to imprint on the spirits hosted in the body. Basically, all VOID agents are reincarnations. We all got to find this out after the activation. The only catch is; we are not meant to remember the memories of our past life. The memories are lost to time but not with X. No, no, no… our friend has kept memories from a past life. That is very rare and very powerful.”

“How does that affect us?” Petrichor asked.

“It doesn’t really change anything. I just need more evaluation of X. keep me posted of any new developments. I recommend complete monitoring of all missions which involves him.”

“Thanks a lot Snowfall.” Xaviere said which a sigh of relieve. “Desertwind here can finally let me rest.”

“I will keep you abreast of any further developments.” Petrichor said.

“You’re both welcome. I'm just doing my job.” Snowfall said. After the scans, Xaviere and Petrichor walked out of the infirmary, walking through the wall in VOID fashion. Xaviere was feeling very relieved and so was Petrichor. She was finally at peace. Snowfall sat in his chair looking intently at Xaviere’s scans. He had a little rectangular pad that had a hologram of Xaviere’s Soulish energy suspended above its surface. He was very concerned and he had a worried look on his face.

“I told you there was nothing to worry about but you chose to disturb yourself.” Xaviere said to Petrichor as they walked away from the infirmary.

“I just had to confirm I didn’t give you permanent brain damage on your first actual mission.” Petrichor responded. They both laughed. “I am not going to pretend like nothing is wrong. You have a lot of questions, it’s obvious. Mongolia was quite an experience and not the vacation vibe kind.” She said.

“Well… I don’t exactly have questions.” Xaviere said hesitantly. There was a brief moment of awkward silence. Xaviere finally broke the ice when he said, “I just think is crazy that we basically erased a person’s soul a few moments ago. That’s like the sum total of everything that made him…well, him. Watching you drive a sword through him like that… whoa… that was a lot. It was the most gruesome I have ever seen. I am not judging your decision; you had a mission to do and you did it. You solved the problem to the best of your intuition. I just wonder; what if I was the one? What if I was the person who had my soul erased today? All my life experiences, every emotion I’ve ever felt just fading away like that; that’s a lot to process.”

“I can imagine and I'm sorry I had to put you through that so early. These are things we have to do, sacrifices we make for the greater good. If one soul has to be erased for millions to remain, I will do it. It is our duty as VOID agents; it’s what we owe the world; protecting the reality from the shadows.”

“Why exactly are we VOID agents? Why us? Why were we chosen? Who started all of this?”

“I thought you said you didn’t have questions.” Petrichor said with a smile on her face. “To understand the story of The VOID, you have to first know the story of Zeros and ones.