He stared into my eyes as if looking through glass. I couldn’t tell what he was really thinking. I snapped my head to the side, startling myself in the process. My neck felt rock solid and stiffer than nails.

Looking around, I saw a tangle of rainbow wires sprawled across the white floor. A bunch of metal and plastic decorated the vicinity, making a quick glimpse of the place look like an aftermath of a natural disaster. But rather than just messy, the place felt odd. Unconventional? I couldn’t tell.

Some mechanical segments rotated side to side like an irregular heartbeat. It was all over the place. Well, I guess machines can do that, I thought. I turned my head back to see the unmoving eyes staring into my soul. 

As if broken from a trance, the eyes finally blinked. And the man spoke for the first time. “Oh, why hello there.” The deep, low voice echoed through the chamber full of moving machinery. “What a surprise. I seem to have forgotten even my manners.” He pulled back to straighten himself up. “Pleasure. Name’s Dr. Genome. You can just call me Dr. G.”

“Uh,” I started. “Mr. Genome—”

“Doctor—G.” The last letter reverberated between my skull like an aching headache. His eyes seemingly sharpened for a split second, but they mellowed out quickly. “Ah,” Dr. G replied. “I apologize for the interruption. Please,” he paused again, “continue.”

“Um, M-Dr. G?”

“Yes?” he whispered suggestively. 

I felt a chill run down my spine. “Uh…” I’m just gunna ignore that. “So, where am I?”

“Ah, they always start with those, don’t they?”

“Who’s they?”

Ignoring my second inquiry, he answered, “All you need to know is that you’re safe.”

“What do you mean, safe?” I asked. “Who even are you?” Suddenly panicked, I tried to remember the last memory I had. Mom? Yeah. I remember my mom. I’m… 18? No, I think I was 19… But what else? What was I doing just a few minutes ago? My mind blanked. 

“You’re dead,” the low voice replied. 

Dead? I focused on his lips. It was pale. Very pale. I looked up at his face. It looked almost ghastly. Almost see-through. I suddenly felt a lot colder. My face felt pale, freezing. I thought it was the feeling of blood draining from my face, but when I looked down at my fingers, I thought I could see the bones beneath my skin. I shut my eyes, trying to get away from all these images. 

After a few seconds, I opened my eyes again. My fingers looked normal. All the color had returned to my hands. Perplexed, I wondered if I had just imagined the feeling of cold too. The idea of me being dead wasn’t something I was ready to hear. Maybe that’s why? I thought. I took a deep breath. This wasn’t the time to be confused. 

I looked up at the bony features of the man’s face. He still looked the same. The skin around him seemed to grow paler and paler by the second. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” I coldly retorted. 

“Ah, yes. Of course you’ll be curious given the situation.” He chuckled. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be rude. It’s just… this is always so amusing.” From thin air, he summoned a snow-white chair. He let out a comfortable sigh as he sat down. Crossing his legs and arms, he leaned back and stared. He started to rub his beardless chin with his bony fingers. “Well, where to start…” Leaning a little closer, he started to talk. “You’re dead.” He gestured as if nothing could be done about it. “But I decided that you deserve another chance, so here you are.”

“What? Are you supposed to be God or something?” I questioned. 

He laughed as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. It irritated me to no end, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Dr. G asked, “Jesus, was it? Or do you worship Buddha? Maybe Zeus?”

“I’m atheist,” I replied snidely. 

“Ah, yes. Of course. Atheist.” He started chuckling again. The deep rhythmic noise surrounded my ears in agony. 

If this was God, I thought, I’d rather be in hell with the devil. 

“Well Martin, all jokes aside, I better get you down into your new world.”

“Uh, Martin?” Martin? I thought. Was that my name? “Wait, new world? What world?”

“Ah, was that not your name? Did I get it mixed up again?” He stood up and walked towards what looked like a very high-tech computer. “Ah, well. Who cares about names nowadays.” Dr. G started to type something in. A countdown sputtered to life on a large, digital screen just above the keyboard. 

A mechanical voice boomed, “Warning. Teleportation imminent in 5… 4… 3…” 

Bewildered, I stood still for what seemed like an eternity. “Wait, teleportation? What are you doing? What world are you—” 

The scenery around me started to change. All I managed to see in that split second was a glimpse of Dr. G waving before I saw a sudden flash of light from beneath me. Instinctively, I moved my hands to cover my eyes. Then everything went dark. It was pitch black. 

Were my eyes closed? No. I blinked several times. No, they were open alright. I moved my head in every possible direction. No light. Was I blind? No. Light. I saw light. Small dots of light surrounded my eyes. Stars!

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized that I was staring at a night sky. And I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening to me.