Human Plus (Book 4) (Post-Human Series) by David Simpson

Author:David Simpson [Simpson, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Trans-Human, Sub-Human, Post-Human, Science Fiction, Series, Human Plus
Publisher: Post-Human Media
Published: 2013-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

11

As you well know, one cannot really fathom the abyss unless one has seen it for his or herself. It was like nothing I could have imagined. My head spun as I looked at it, trying desperately to comprehend such darkness. Such emptiness. Such nothingness.

The helicopter had flown from the city, out of the shroud of clouds, up north to the trendy ski village that had hosted a Winter Olympics, and then...poof! We’d flown through a small mountain pass, turned a corner, and found ourselves face to face with the end of the world.

“Uh...the world’s flat?” Mark said in disbelief. “That’s not supposed to be right. Is it?”

The larger door at the back of the helicopter began to open, lowering itself to form a ramp. I nearly swallowed my tongue from surprise when I saw Haywire at the bottom of the ramp, beckoning for me to join her.

“I don’t know what question to ask first...” I muttered to her as I exited the helicopter in the crowd of dozens of other ghosts in the machine.

“Virtual gods, remember?” she said as she hooked her arm in mine and began to escort me to the edge of the world.

“Virtual gods have something against riding in helicopters?”

She laughed. “Well, if you had the choice between riding in your self-driving, electric car or taking, say, a horse and buggy, which would you choose?”

“You realize I have no idea what you’re talking about, don’t you?” I pointed out.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I know. Don’t worry. Everything will make sense soon enough.”

We walked to the edge. It was at once the most amazing and most terrifying thing I’d ever seen. It looked the way I’d always imagined death would look: lonely, empty, quiet, and eternal. Instinctively, I turned away from it, shuddering as I did so, and looked back at the world. I saw the warm glow of the ski village not far away, just around the bend, and saw more helicopters hovering as they came in for their landings. But mostly, I saw the faces of the people, frightened and corralled like sheep. There were hundreds of them there, but soon there would be thousands. I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of love for them—they were the opposite of the darkness—of the emptiness—of the loneliness. They were the opposite of the chasm of black before me.

“I know it seems a bit frightening,” Haywire said, a hint of sympathy in her voice, “but this is the exit. All we have to do is get these people to cross the plane, to go into the liminal space.”

I turned back to her, my face painted with disbelief. “What? Are you telling me you expect them to jump off a cliff?” I reacted. “They’re not lemmings, Haywire. They’re conscious. You may have some difficulty convincing them to do that,” I said, understating for effect.

“They don’t have to jump,” Haywire replied. “There’s nothing that dramatic—unfortunately.” She seemed slightly disappointed. “That’d be cool,” she whispered under her breath, barely loud enough for me to catch it.

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