Chapter 2: 2 The truth
3 days later…
"Reflect on your existence and you will not fall into the wrath of the gods…"
The strange man's words were constantly repeating in Tamashi's head. In those three days since Ryo's death, his mood had completely dropped and he didn't know what to do. But he knew that something was wrong and he had to find out.
"Am I something special? I don't think I've ever been special to anyone in over 16 years of my life and I don't think I'm special today either. But I have to do something, I can't let Ryo's death go in vain." Tamashi said determined to face what life would throw at him.
Tamashi will visit Ryo's grave in the afternoon and return home in the evening. Tamashi's mother died 5 years ago due to an accident that has not yet been fully identified. Tamashi's father, on the other hand, worked for the government and was home only a few days a month, maximum three. Basically, Tamashi lived with his grandfather constantly and the two helped each other.
The door opens and the boy enters the house: "I've arrived grandfather. How did it go today?".
"Well, nothing special as always. Did you go to visit Ryo's grave? You were quite late today, usually you come home early" said Grandpa.
"Yes, I went to visit him. I think I will do it every day if time allows me. It's the least I can do. However, school will start tomorrow and I think I will have little time unfortunately." Tamashi said.
"I see… there is food, I have left something for you too". Grandfather said.
"Thank you" Tamashi said.
20 minutes passed, the boy had finished eating and his grandfather was cleaning some old objects. Tamashi will approach him and ask him: "Listen Grandpa, I have a question. Some time ago you told me that life is different today, human beings are no longer as before, we are considered something superior. Well, actually, I still don't understand the meaning of the sentence. You've always tried to keep me away from this topic but in 5 months I'll be 18 and I think it's time to tell me the truth."
"heheheh, well, I had to expect this moment to come sooner or later. You are a much smarter boy than most boys today. Probably over 90% of the people you find out there know little or nothing about it, just enough to survive. But after what happened to Ryo, I think it's time to put the pieces in place."
"I don't know what Ryo has to do with all this, but something is happening," Tamashi said.
"Well, let's get started. Basically in the last hundreds of years, man's technologies have evolved more and more. They have multiplied reaching levels never seen before, surreal. The human species has been able to create technologies capable of exchanging our body with our soul, making us immortal beings. The soul is a concept, it is something abstract, intangible, an abstraction, something that exists beyond the human senses. The body is our external part, the soul our internal part, which is immortal, because it is not affected by the cycle of life and death. All human beings in the world today are souls and no longer physical bodies". Told to Tamashi.
"What, really? Am I a soul right now?" Tamashi said confused by what he had just heard.
"Yes, you are a soul, like all of us" replied the grandfather.
"But… wait. You are getting old, you are 82 years old. If we are souls and we are immortal, but we grow old, sooner or later we will die of old age" Tamashi said.
"I grow up, like you and like everyone else, but we're not going to die. It is as if we are already dead but at the same time never die" concluded the grandfather.
"What happened to Ryo is not a coincidence, it is something that often happens today. Ryo was killed by a Soul Killer".
"What, a Soul Killer?" Tamashi said.
"It is a group of 5 people and they are the most wanted people in the whole world by the government. They are the only 5 people in the world who are not souls and still have physical bodies left. They refused to become souls and went against modern technology. They live in contact with nature and, as mentioned before, they completely reject anything related to technology. They strongly believe in God and in the naturalness of the world and the universe. Effectively making us immortal has caused a collapse of the cycle of reality itself, universes like Heaven and Hell, even if they existed, are no longer populated by people for over 250 years. The mission of the Soul Killers is to kill a certain amount of people to keep the balance between life and death always stable. They do it as a favor to the Gods, for nothing else. Not being souls, they cannot interact and touch us, but they can kill us and see us thanks to the weapons they have, which are capable of affecting souls. In this way, they are able to kill us even if they are "mere people". I know, this all sounds surreal, but it's the truth. The government has been looking for these people for many years, but they are difficult to catch. They have superhuman strength, incredible combat and evasion technique. This is what happened to Ryo, he was killed by one of those 5" Grandpa said.
Tamashi remains silent for some time. He couldn't believe everything he had heard and he couldn't believe that all these years he was unaware of absolutely anything around him. The words of that man and the visions of that tragic evening are now much clearer in his mind and even more rigid.
"I have one last question... if we can't die, how did mom die then?" Tamashi asked.
"I cannot answer this question. To tell the truth I don't know, it's a good question. Something must have happened..." Grandpa answered, with great difficulty.
Tamashi wasn't absolutely convinced by his grandfather's answer. He had some ideas in mind but he also wanted to take things slow. After all that, 2 hours passed since the end of the conversation. Tamashi went to bed and before sleeping he said: "Now that I know the truth, I think it's time to go and visit that man."
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