He must be dead—nothing else explains this.
Weightless and sightless, he drifts through a black that isn't darkness so much as absence. No heartbeat. No breath.
Floating in a dark void, he felt nothing. Which was an odd sensation. It wasn't that he couldn't feel anything; it was that he felt nothing.
If that even made sense.
Like his body was drifting across nothing, he tried to move but couldn't. He tried to see but saw nothing. He tried to shout, but no one came.
Is this purgatory?
He only had snippets of his life; one thing he was sure about was that he used to be a man.
But other than that, there was almost nothing.
Is this all there is?
If so, then this was a letdown… But it wasn't that bad.
In the vast expanse of darkness, he felt oddly at peace. He would have been content with drifting across nothingness for the rest of time.
If it weren't for the immense feeling of discontent.
He wanted to do something. He didn't want to drift across nothingness forever. He wanted to do something, to experience something.
HE WANTED TO LIVE!
Suddenly, he felt a shift in the darkness, as if the world responded to his words—no, to his will, to his determination to live.
_____________________________________________
…
WOULD YOU LIKE TO START A NEW GAME?
YES NO
…
_____________________________________________
A screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
After reading the words on the screen, only one word appeared in his mind: Yes. He had no arms to touch the screen, but as if it read his mind, the option "YES" glowed yellow, and the world turned white.
He wanted to shut his eyes but remembered that he had none.
How did I even see the screen?
But his question remained unanswered and forgotten as another screen appeared.
_____________________________________________
Name the DESCENDER
…
_____________________________________________
He didn't know why. But something in his mind clicked when he saw those words. It was familiar; he'd seen something like this somewhere.
Finally, he chose a name.
_____________________________________________
Is this name correct?
FRISK
YES NO
_____________________________________________
Yes.
The window shatters into motes of light. A sudden tug—
—and "FRISK" erupts into a sunlit field, lungs heaving, tasting air for the first time.