The clock struck 10:00 AM. A sun that was far too bright, the smell of hot asphalt, and a young boy chasing a ball toward the center of the road. There was no conscious thought, only a muscle reflex: a sprint, a decisive shove, and the screeching sound of brakes arriving a second too late.
True to the script, I was flattened by a truck. The driver? Dead drunk, obviously. A classic.
Then, nothingness. Just a final mental sigh before reality crumbled away.
I woke up in an aseptic void, a white so blinding it cast no shadows. In front of me, sitting on a chair that wasn't there, an entity was fiddling with a Rubik's cube made of pure light. He called himself R.O.B. (Random Omnipotent Being).
"You know I can read your thoughts, right?" the entity began without looking up.
"I just died. Leave me in peace," I replied, trying to figure out if I still had lungs left to breathe with.
"I don't have all the time in the world—well, technically I do, but I get bored easily.
So, let's get to the point: you're being reincarnated. You have two options: choose your Power or choose your World."
I didn't hesitate for a second. "Power."
R.O.B. finally looked up, a lopsided smile crossing his formless face.
"Wow, fast.
Usually, people spend hours whining about their past lives. Which one do you want? And don't say 'Cosmic Being' or 'Omnipotence.' If there's no challenge, there's no fun in watching you."
I frowned. "Who is watching me?"
"Me and... them," he replied, gesturing vaguely toward the infinite void behind me. But I could tell he wasn't talking about ghosts. His gaze was pointed straight beyond the fourth wall.
"Are you schizophrenic or something?"
"Ahh, never mind. So, this power?"
I thought about it for a moment, visualizing the infinite possibilities. "Something versatile. I want the ability to copy other people's powers."
R.O.B. spun the cube of light, which vanished in a shower of sparks. "Deal. But you'll have limitations. Nothing drastic, just enough to make sure this isn't a total walk in the park."
"I can live with that. So, when do we start?"
The entity observed me with curiosity. "You seem almost happy to be dead."
"Well, I didn't have anything holding me back on Earth," I admitted with a shrug. "And now you're offering me superpowers. It's not exactly a bad day, all things considered."
"I like you. I hope you put on a good show."
With a snap of his fingers, the floor beneath me ceased to exist. I began to plummet into the void, the air whistling in my ears as the white room shrank into a distant speck.
"WAIT!" I yelled, my voice distorted by the rushing wind. "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME WHAT WORLD YOU'RE SENDING ME TO!"
R.O.B.'s voice resonated directly inside my skull, dripping with irritating irony:
"Consider it a surprise. Good luck."