"Yo, Alexander, are you sure you have set it to the right time?" a man asked while he was busy looking out nervously.
"Yeah, sure, I did, but I still think that you should be the one who is supposed to do this. After all, you are my senior; I just started like six months ago," Alexander said as he was busy inserting different colored wires.
"I know, I know, but if you don't do this, how else will you learn how to do this when you get promoted and have your own team?" the man said, still looking out.
Alexander was a twenty-year-old man who was working for a shady company. He knew very well what it did, and he hated doing this kind of job, yet in the end, he was still human and greed took over because of that sweet paycheck in the end.
He was under what looked like an underground coliseum, and he was standing next to a pillar that had the whole place stabilized. Next to him was a black computer bag with a name on it: A.O.A.S.I.S.
That was a very famous company, and not in a way that one may think. Sure, their presentation made them seem like computer-based working people, but deep down, they were the opposite of that. They were what you would call bad guys because they were terrorists, and right now they were about to blow up one of the most powerful but dangerously feared countries.
Alexander was the one who was setting up the bomb while his partner was busy on the lookout. Already they were famous for doing these kinds of things, and the word on the streets had claimed that they were already in heat because the government officials of that country were already on the way.
"Hey, man, are you done yet?" his partner was stealing glances nervously.
"Almost done, I just have to set the timer!" Alexander whispered.
"Well, hurry up; I think I hear them coming," his partner told him.
And he wasn't wrong. In the far distance, there was marching coming towards their direction—the kind that gave away that those weren't just ordinary government officials that they were expecting. These ones were worse; they were military.
"Alright, I'm done. Let's go!" Alexander began to back up everything.
His partner didn't even bother to assist him. He just stood there and watched him pack everything by himself, and the second he saw that Alexander was done, instead of waiting for him to be the first one to run out, he ran out first.
Alexander ran after him, but when he was just about to escape to the other side, he found the gate locked with him still inside.
"What's the meaning of this?" Alexander was trying to open up the gate.
His partner didn't even bother to turn around to check what was wrong.
"I'm sorry, man, but in order for these oppressive governments to hear and take us seriously, there are certain steps that we must take," he said, so serious.
"What do you mean by that? Come on, man, open the gate; it's not even funny," Alexander was still trying to open the gate.
"You should be honored. You know how much I'd kill to be in your position? At least like this, you will die a hero and go down in history as a legend who died for our freedom," his partner wasn't nervous like he was before.
The timer was ticking, and though it still had a couple of minutes to spare, Alexander did everything that he could and thought of to try to open the darn gate and leave in one piece.
"Come on, man, this isn't funny anymore; just open the dumb gate!" Now Alexander was getting angry; he even tried to grab his partner.
"Uh-uh." Finally, his partner turned around. "You don't get it, do you? This is your destiny; it's time you gave your life to the good cause." He had taken out the detonator.
Alexander saw what he had in his hand, and that's when everything pieced together: he was set up from the get-go, and the detonator he had with him was nothing but a decoy, just like him.
"Please get me out of here; I don't want to die yet." After losing his cool, Alexander finally gave up and begged.
Meanwhile, the military was getting closer and closer by each second. Now they were at a distance where the sounds of their chants could be heard.
Alexander's partner looked at where the military was coming from and gave a smirk.
"Now, this hurts me more than it will hurt you." He retreated and backed away, being swallowed by the darkness.
The second the military came, they didn't see him; they just saw Alexander on the floor, kneeling down, defeated.
"Get your hands behind your head now!" one of the soldiers ordered him.
They already had their guns on him, and since they spoke in a foreign language that even he didn't understand, Alexander didn't raise his hands like they asked.
His head was facing down, and the funny thing was that he wasn't crying nor doing anything to show any reaction; he just sat there quietly.
"I said put your hands behind your head!" the soldier asked again.
Alexander just raised his head and looked at them. His eyes were full of sorrow and betrayal. The military didn't even care about that; they just saw him holding the detonator.
"Fire before he presses the button!" the commander of the military ordered them.
They all loaded their guns and fired unlimited shots at the same time.
With who knows how many soldiers were there, the bullets had caused Alexander to get up and be shot while he walked back. Once he stood next to the pillar, it was still a miracle that he hadn't died yet.
The detonator was still in his hand, staring at them blankly—at least that's what they thought.
"Please, run away." He let go of the detonator.
The soldiers remained still and watched as the detonator fell. Once it touched the ground, Alexander's partner was still standing within the shadows, and he smiled sinisterly, then pushed the button on the real detonator.
A massive explosion took place, and both Alexander and the military were consumed by the fire.
A few minutes later—or hours; it was really hard to tell—
Cries of an infant that had just been born sounded like the end-of-war siren, taking over the whole room.
Muffled sounds were blocked by this daring, ear-bleeding cry, but from the sound of it, this sounded more like a delivery room with women talking.
"Congratulations, Andrea, you just gave birth to a lovely and healthy baby boy," one of the female voices sounded so happy.
"Oh, thank you. Do you mind if I hold him?" another woman asked, but unlike the first one, this one sounded tired.
"Of course, after all, he is your son," the woman said.
The baby that was crying was picked up and carefully wrapped in a soft baby blanket.
"Here," the woman handed the baby to the one who was tired.
She took him and looked at him; her eyes were full of tears and joy, what one would expect from a mother who had delivered her first child to react.
The baby was still crying.
"Oh, it's okay, baby; mommy's here." She tried to calm him down, but he wasn't having it.
"Maybe it would be better if you were to breastfeed him," the woman suggested.
"Oh, yeah, you are right. My little prince must be starving." She took out her breast and fed him.
Once the breast was in the baby's mouth, he was now starting to calm down, and each time he sucked, he stopped crying.
Wait a minute, what's this warm sensation that's in my mouth right now? A voice echoed in the baby's head.
It was none other than the recently dead and sacrificed former terrorist Alexander. It looked like after his death, he hadn't processed the whole thing.
After drinking his newly breastfed food, his mother put her breast away.
Slowly, his eyes began to flutter open. At first, he couldn't see anything thanks to the brightness that kept his eyes blurry, but after a few seconds, he could see clearly.
Now, where am I? Is this how the afterlife looks? Alexander wondered as he scanned the room.
He found himself in a place that he'd never seen before. It looked like one of those ancient but stylish rooms that had grey stone walls surrounding the room.
"Hello there, new master, welcome home," the woman who helped deliver him came to greet him.
Alexander was caught off guard that the first thing he tried to do was throw a punch at this strange lady, but instead of throwing that punch, he felt his arm being light.
"And I'm your mommy. Can you say mommy?" Alexander's new mother picked him up and made him face her.
Excuse me, but whose mommy are you, and most importantly, why are you bigger than me? He couldn't believe his eyes.
"You know that he was just born, so he can't say any words yet," the woman came to join them.
"Oh right, I totally forgot about that," Alexander's mother giggled.
"I'm sorry, my lady, but what are you going to call the young master?" one of the maids who was standing by the bed asked.
"His name, huh? How about I name him Noah?" Noah's mother suggested.
"Noah Greyhart. Now, that has a nice ring to it," the woman who helped with the delivery liked the name.
Now, wait one second. Where do you get the audacity to give me a name while I have a name? My name is Noah Greyhart. Alexander tried to tell them. "Hold on, why did I just call myself that name knowing very well my name is..." He couldn't understand it.
Then, after looking around and staring at these beautiful women right in front of his eyes, who were a little bigger than him—which meant that they were adults—
You've got to be kidding me. Alexander now realized.
I had just been reincarnated?