Lords

So… What is this place? Bright white and full of nothing. Should be heaven or something like that, right? Is this a prank by one of my friends? I think I saw something similar in a movie once. Nah, it's too weird even for them. A dream, perhaps? I need to check that. Well, that won't be easy, as I don't seem to have a body. It's definitely a dream, but something's just off. Ah, I remember now. It's Purgatory. Well, not the one publicized by all the religions I don't believe in anyways, this is the real deal. WAIT! DID I DIE?! AGAIN? Wait, what? Oh, that's right, I can remember my previous lives while I'm here. The memories just seem to pop in, whenever I need them. This explains the nothingness, and the lack of body – this is only my consciousness here. It's sort of a pocket dimension, exclusively for souls in the reincarnation system. Uhhh… I don't really see a point in this, getting reincarnated all over again just seems boring. Did I at least do anything fun in my previous lives? The memories flooding in are way too scrambled – it's just too much damn information. Is there a way to make sense of this? Oh, that's nice, I figured out a way to catalogue my memories for easy access and review after my 18th death. Let's do that now… Aaaaand it's done. Have I really died that many times? Oh, it's actually 3872 times now, counting my unfortunate meeting with that bullet some moments ago. Painful, but quick death, I like those. In the middle ages I was once hunted for being a witch, and burned alive, that has to be one of the worst way to go. Oh, in ancient China I was once branded a traitor and… Let's not think about past deaths anymore. But what should I do? How does reincarnation even work?

"Hey!" The voice fills the entire place, I can't point to it's source at all. Well, it's not like there are actual sounds here, nor anything material. How was it that I phrased it when I finally understood it? 'Time and relative dimensions in this space are a byproduct of my consciousness trying to cling to notions that are familiar to it, otherwise they just don't exist.' That was a fancy way of telling myself, that I'm basically god here…

"Well, impressive as always." – Who is that? Is this… Ark? At least that's what I came to call the transdimensional being that seeds potential worlds in our universe, then feeds off their soul power after they die. Only of the many from its species, that created life as we know it – gods, if you will. But again, none of the mythological mumbo-jumbo. They can't even communicate with our universe, let alone manifest themselves as Apophis, Adonis, Apollo, Azura or whatnot. I also remember impersonating Hades sometime around 450 B.C. I practically saw the "birth" of the Greek gods – and it happened in a tavern.

"You managed to regain your memories even faster than last time. You really got the hang of this dimension, huh?"

"Ark. How's the soul s.u.c.k.i.n.g enterprise going?"

"You never get tired of that little joke of yours, do you? Well, since you asked, I might as well answer, for the 562nd time in a row. It's better than ever. The world is vastly overpopulated, and in chaos with all the wars and revolutions going on. I bet you realized this already, but this is pretty much everything I ever wanted."

"Great. What does it matter if a few billion people suffer, at least you get a nice meal."

"I know, right? It's awesome!"

"I was being sarcastic!"

"And I wasn't. You know I don't adhere to humanity's bullshit morale code of 'all life is sacred'. I created lives, I steered it in the path of evolution and intelligence, and now I'm reaping the rewards for it. It's not like I make them kill each other – or the planet for that matter. I give opportunities, with lots of choices. Many people make the right ones, and most don't. As far as I'm concerned, that's just the way of things…"

Chatty fellow. Ever since I've discovered the way to communicate with it, we do this every time I get reincarnated. I was shocked the first few times by his negligence towards the lives he created, but I soon realized, that it's not doing anything wrong. My mind was finally put to ease when it told me that while it doesn't care about the suffering of living beings in our universe, energy can be extracted easier from souls that lived a long, prosperous and peaceful life. Still, the current turmoil in the world is a huge gain for it, even with all the violence and prem.a.t.u.r.e deaths. Come to think of it…

I just remembered my plan. I haven't told Ark about it, but I'm sure it figured it out, and I've seen no interference from it, so I'm good to go. And if its consumption went up greatly, it might mean this is the best time to do it.

"… with all their religions and morals, you'd think that they'd stop killing each other, but nooooo. And there are even some, who blame god for their problems and twisted behavior. It's not as if I could interfere. But what do they know." Ark could go on for a long time and sometimes it was just too annoying to bear.

"I'm going to have to stop your rambling there, Ark. While it's fun to listen to, even for the thousandth time…"

"One thousand four hundred twenty six, counting all my variations on the topic. Did you notice, that it's always different by at least a word? It's not easy saying the same thing over again, and still have some diversity, you know."

"Sure, buddy, whatever. So, I have to ask. What happens when you fill up?"

"Huh?"

"I figured that you got to have a maximum capacity for soul energy, since infinite energy doesn't exist in any form. Also, you chose our planet, when I'm sure there are larger planets out there with the same, or even better conditions for life. So you must have a capacity for the energy you can take from a planet, and since it's your primary food source, I'm willing to bet that you don't just stop feeding and let it go to waste. So what happens?"

"Smart and assertive as always. You know, you're my favorite talking buddy here. The others don't even come close to your knowledge and impressive observational and deducting skills."

"A I bet you tell that to all the ladies." I can't help throwing out a joke at him even at a time like this. I need its cooperation, and if I'm entertaining it, I have a far better chance. So far I got the most useful information from it when it seemed really pleased with our philosophical conversations or amused by my jokes. Not sure if my observations were correct, though, but as far as I can tell, all intelligent lifeforms appreciate intelligence in others, and Ark is no exception.