He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Fourteen - The End and The Beginning

Warren had left behind many a heavy heart, but none seemed quite so broken as his lover. For several weeks after the funeral, the man was not as alone as he thought, with Hanna, Shaun and most often Mrs Taylor checking in on him. They especially worried when he emerged from his apartment a month later and resumed his job. The mask he wore was too stable, too perfect to be a reflexion of a man in mourning. He smiled when comforted, laughed when told a joke, sympathetic when woes were shared.

But as weeks turned into months and months into years, he did not stumble in each step moving forward and only once did he pause. Almost a year to the day of Warren's death, Alex came to apologise followed by a short man, with great presence and two arguing brats. It turned out that he, after a rather intense chase, had succumbed to the advances of the small doctor and was now totally henpecked and stupidly happy.  Aidan had listened, accepted the apology and congratulated his brother.  And later, he consumed copious amounts of alcohol and wept until he slept.

Five long years passed.  Friends and family assumed that the pain had softened and Aidan had moved on.  They were wrong, but their visits lessened as they focused on their own lives and families. 

So doctors were baffled by the autopsy report as it stated that the thirty year old man was healthy when he died, so could only conclude that the cause of death was Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.  However, Aidan's father preferred to believe that his son could simply cope no further without his lover so had let go to follow him, wherever he had gone. No one could see the last message received on his mobile phone;

*Mission complete; trust in this backup system.*

*Mission complete; live.*

*Do you wish to leave this world?*

****

Aidan awoke in a totally cliche white room. He sat up and felt strange, like his body was not quite his own. Then again, he supposed, he had left his body behind and was currently a soul, so perhaps it wasn't so strange.

The white room was actually not entirely white, or rather not a flat white. There were ridges and groves in the floor beneath him that trailed up the walls and around the corner. The pattern they created kind of resembled the circuits upon a computers motherboard. To one side, these 'circuits' rose out of the floor, forming what looked like a screen upon a stand. Upon the screen was a small white orb with a large black spot. Another formation of rising circuits appeared to form into a chair or throne. It stood behind him and was occupied by a man with long black hair and strange black clothes. Smaller versions of the floor patterns were tattooed in black upon his cheek and more in white adorned his sleeves and trouser hems. He stared at Aidan quietly, resting his chin upon his hand, as if waiting to be acknowledged.

Aidan swallowed the nerves that had risen due to this strangeness. "Hi," he said, finally. "Were you the one sending me those messages, missions?"

"Not entirely," the man replied. "That would be my subordinate, the one you know as the 'Backup System'. I recently renamed him Yang." He gestured to the white orb upon the screen which blinked it's pure black eye.

Questions upon questions flooded Aidan's mind, accusations and words formed of anger and despair followed, but he forced all of these down, locking them in the recesses of his heart.  "Warren..." this lone cracked word was all that slipped from his throat.

"Ah, yes," the man said in response.  "We have finally located the place of his rebirth.  Are you not glad."  There was no warmth or emotion to his voice, but it was not cold either.

"What took so long?" Aidan could not stop the bitterness from his tongue.

The man appeared nonplussed.  "His soul is weak.  The sensory waves it produces are therefore also weak.  Searching through the millions of worlds to find him was a feat. In addition we were required to create a suitable vessel to house you in his new world."

"Weak? Is that why he requires protection?"  Aidan asked, suddenly concerned.

"He requires protection from that which has made him weak," came the reply.

"What? What exactly do I need to protect him from?"

The man stood up from his strange throne, which sank back into the floor, melding with the lined patterns upon it. He walked to the screen and the backup system called Yang. "I cannot share too much with you as yet, there is too much to know and you are not ready for such a burden. But accept that I will fully part all my knowledge onto you as you and he grow stronger." He lifted up Yang from the screen and tossed it to Aidan, who automatically caught it without thought. "You will leave now. You will not remember me nor this conversation, but when the time comes, Yang will awaken you and guide you."

Aidan looked down at the orb, which blinked back. It's eye then shifted into the shape of a crescent moon, the peak of it's semi-circle reaching upward forming something of a smiling eye. Aidan offered a weak smile in return, before returning his attention to the man. "Wait, did Warren die because his soul is weak? Will I lose him again while we are young in the next world?"

"No and unlikely. Your Warren died because I willed it. If he had not died then, it is unlikely his soul would be strong enough to enter the rebirth state and would have ceased to exist." Aidan was conflicted by gratitude and hatred, hatred due to his loss, but gratitude as the thought of Warren truly becoming nothing but a memory was far more painful. "Oh and remember, in your next life he is no longer Warren and you are no longer Aidan. He does not remember himself nor you and cannot. Protect him until he is strong enough to protect himself and I'll grant you your wish."

"My wish?" But Aidan could say no more before darkness took him.

Author note: apologies to Lizzylittlekitty. I'd already planned the time they were to be separated and felt it necessary to keep it the same. Hopefully such separations will not be so lengthy in the future !

Also, I've made some plans for the next world, I thought of having a vote of which world came next, but decided that might spoil the surprise! However, if anyone has any wishes for the boy's, their lives and worlds, feel free to share and I'll see what I can do!