Decision

The clock on Gregory's room was reading 7:00 AM.The Sun was just starting to seep through the windows, just enough so that Gregory could feel its warmth. Eventually he got up and closed the alarm on his phone, his daily routine has just begun.

After getting ready for work Gregory left his apartment and started commuting to work. His commute consisted of a 5 minute walk to the nearest Metro station, and another 10 minutes of waiting inside the Metro. It was summer season so after he entered the Metro station Gregory felt a nice breeze of cool air envelop his body, a nice break from the summer heat. The Metro arrived almost as soon as he arrived on the platform and took him to work, like always. The inside of the Metro was the same. Radiant cool lights lit up the air conditioned cabins nicely and most of the passengers bore a neutral expression, not happy but not sad either.

Gregory got out of the Metro station and arrived at Nemesia Central Bank, where he worked as a bank teller. The entrance to the bank was a simple pair of thin automatic doors. The people of this nation where not afraid about any danger relating to criminality. Nemesia is the world's wealthiest nation. It's people are the happiest and crime rates are nearly 0%.

"Morning, Greg!"
"Good morning."

After having entered the bank he exchanged  greetings with the other employees and went to his post.

Customers started coming in and for the next few hours this was just another Monday for Gregory. That was about to change.

"Welcome to the NCB sir, what can I help you with?"

Gregory was greeting a rather suspicious looking customer who had entered the bank. That customer was constantly looking around and was walking in a very stiff manner. His eyes were red, and his hair and facial hair where left on their own for a while. He had a serious look on his face and his clothes where damaged and of poor quality, a person like this stood out like a sore thumb in this country. People around were giving him quick glances, trying to make out what a person like that was doing in this bank.

"Does he want a loan or something?"
"Is this a drunkard that just wandered in here?"

"Sir...?"

He looked at the bank teller when he talked to him for a second time and then he shouted:
"YOU WILL ALL REPENT FOR YOUR SINS!"

The next thing Gregory knew was that he was lying down somewhere, being moved by other people. His vision was dizzyingly blurry and his peripheral vision was blackened. He started to feel a truly horrible pain almost everywhere on his body but he couldn't scream, he couldn't move, he couldn't do anything. He thought he was at the mercy of the doctors, but truly, he was at the mercy of god.

His vision eventually faded to black.

After a brief moment Gregory felt like he just woke up from a deep sleep.

"Was... that a.. nightmare...?"
He muttered to himself, but the real nightmare was just about to begin.

"Get up and face me."

He heard a commanding, mechanical, almost celestial voice call out to him.

Gregory mustered all the strength he had and got up only to realize he was standing on and surrounded by stars. When his vision recovered completely and he came to his senses he saw it.

An indescribable mass of objects. It was otherworldly, symmetrical, and yet weirdly beautiful. In it's center was a glowing white sphere that looked like the sun and it was surrounded by geometrical vectors that looked like they were made from obsidian, spinning around it.

"Where am I?"  He asked a futile question.

"Gregory Khoner, you have lived your peaceful life and enjoyed the vices that this nation gave you without question, pretending to ignore the suffering around you that was keeping this vicious society alive. You never truly helped anyone in your life."

Gregory had nothing to say, the words he was hearing frightened him for a reason he did not know.

"I am obliged to give you a choice. You can decide to be judged at this very moment and have your soul be sent to either Aether or the Hypocosmos for eternity, or you can start a life in a different realm and do enough good in that realm to outweigh the sins of your previous existence. If you can successfully do the latter, once you die on your second life your soul will be automatically and instantly sent to Aether."

The people of Nemesia where atheists. They did not know about the concept of "god", nor did they have any depictions of "Aether" or "The Hypocosmos". Gregory had learnt about the Hyposocmos however in an ancient mythology class in his high school days. He barely remembered the lesson but he knew that he absolutely did not want to go to the Hypocosmos.

Is this a dream? A nightmare? Doesn't matter. Whatever this is it's not reality, my only option is to just play along for now I guess.

But then he heard that same celestial voice in his head "I can assure you this is not some sort of illusion"

He was trembling and fear had overtaken his body in an instant.
Suddenly he was seeing moments of his life flash in front of his very eyes. Some of his happiest and saddest memories both brought tears to his eyes. Tears of both grief and happiness. At this point Gregory did not know how to feel or what to do. He was completely lost.

"You need to make a choice quickly!" Said the celestial being in a commanding tone. "They are waiting for you."

Who are "they"? Oh well, I don't care anymore. The only thing I can do in this situation is to follow his instructions. Doesn't matter if this is reality or not I have to do something.

Gregory banished all of the emotions he was feeling right now and made his decision.

"I choose to start another life"

Why would this be his choice? Gregory was such an upstanding and productive citizen! What kind of sins was he afraid of? Did he just want to be alive more before going to the afterlife? Gregory did not truly know himself. All that he knew was that he did not want to end up in the Hypocosmos for eternity and he wanted to be sure of that. Starting from now he made a promise to himself to be the best person he could be, and to help anyone that needs help. Let's see how long this mindset can last.

"As you wish" Said the celestial voice.

Gregory's vision faded to black once again. "I wish you the best of luck." He heard while his vision was blackening.

When Gregory regained his senses his body was burning. He was lying down on top of sand and the sun was at it's zenith, as if it was looking directly at Gregory. What is this? The sun he remembered back in Nemesia was not nearly as bright as this one.

He suddenly heard the noise of footsteps, not those of a human though. Gregory got up and saw a terrible creature that was as tall as him. It was some sort of gigantic insect.

A cockroach the height of a human was making it's way to Gregory at a normal pace. The cockroach must have thought that this was an easy prey, that's why it wasn't running at him.

It's antennae where moving frantically in contrast to the precise mechanical movement of its legs. A slimy substance so foul that Gregory could smell it from meters away was dripping from the abomination's mouth and melting the sand beneath it.

Gregory tried to fight it but his limbs were not obeying his commands. His body was so terrified that it could not move.

Was Gregory's new life over before it even begun?