Prologue: The Last Thought
"Do you believe in a second life?"
A friend asked me that once, back in high school. I was eighteen. Christian, then and now. He was Hindu—his family had come from India back in his grandfather's time. Mine had roots in Africa, old and worn through my father's journey.
I didn't hesitate. "No," I told him.
He didn't respond at first. Just stared out the window for a long, long moment, like he was listening to something the rest of us couldn't hear. Then he turned to me and said:
"I believe in a second life. But since you don't, could you try something for me? Liberate yourself while you're still alive. Make sure your soul is free—like a bird. So you can escape the circle of rebirth before death even touches you."
It was graduation day. He was moving away. I thought he was being dramatic, philosophical, trying to leave me with some kind of parting gift. So I smiled and said, "Sure. I'll try."
I meant it as a joke.
He didn't laugh.
And now, lying here on a New York sidewalk, a heart attack tearing through me like a thief in the night, that memory slips back into my mind. That one strange conversation. That one impossible challenge.
Free yourself.
Be free.
That was the last thought I had before I died.
That was the end—
of David.
Chapter 1: The Second Spark
What do you think was the first moment you realized you had a self, a choice, free will?
For most humans, it happens around the age of two.
It's not like the snap of a finger, not some dramatic awakening.
It's a slow, creeping realization.
Like a fog lifting from the edges of your mind.
You begin to notice yourself.
You begin to exist.
For me… this is the second time it's happened.
Strange, right?
The sensation isn't new, but it's fresh—like déjà vu wrapped in silk and smoke.
I've been reborn. Of that, I'm almost certain.
Where? I don't know.
How? Even less.
All I know is this:
I am.
And so, with that grand, spiritual realization…
I proceeded to absolutely freak out
…and pee myself.
I was two years old, after all.
To the person taking care of me, I must've seemed completely inconsolable.
And honestly? I was.
I wasn't crying because I was hungry or tired or wanted a toy.
I was crying because I had lost everything.
My family.
My friends.
My job.
And perhaps the greatest tragedy of all is my computer.
And as I looked around this new world, the horror only grew.
No glowing screens.
No hum of electricity.
Not even a single light bulb.
Only candles. Flickering. Dim.
The person taking care of me, my mother, I think was wearing green robes.
They were strange, almost ceremonial. On the front was a box.
And inside the box… a single dot.
I couldn't tell if it meant anything, but she wore it like it mattered.
My new mother looked… Asian. Or at least, the equivalent of that in this world.
Then someone else entered the room.
A man. Dark-skinned, tall, probably around six feet, and built like a warrior out of a myth.
He had a massive beard and no hair on his head.
His presence filled the space.
They started speaking to each other, my mother and the bearded man.
Their voices were calm, maybe a little tense, maybe just concerned.
But I couldn't understand a word.
And honestly?
I didn't care.
I was exhausted.
Exhausted from crying.
Exhausted from panicking.
Exhausted from the realization that my second chance at life didn't come with WiFi or flush toilets or, God forbid, even Google.
So I did what any sane, emotionally obliterated toddler would do.
I passed out.
When I woke up, the sun was rising, spilling soft gold across the room.
I looked over at the large bed nearby. My new parents were still asleep, their forms rising and falling gently beneath woven sheets.
I was lying in a smaller bed a crib, technically tucked just beside them.
If I had to guess, I was either two or three years old.
My limbs were stubby.
My head felt too big for my body.
But curiosity burned in my chest like a tiny flame.
So I decided to move.
The crib walls loomed over me like a castle gate. Climbing out was its own small adventure.
I climbed up. Paused. Took a deep breath.
Then I jumped.
The landing hit hard. My tiny feet smacked the earth with a thud that echoed through the floor.
Did the ground shake a little? Maybe.
Or maybe my pride made it feel that way.
I didn't dwell on it.
I slipped past the cloth hanging where a door should've been, and wandered out into the rest of the house.
From my small body, the world seemed enormous.
But really, the house was modest, humble, even.
One sitting room. One kitchen. A bathroom and a washroom. Two bedrooms.
Everything was made of wood and stone. The walls whispered of a time long past, of a world far simpler than the one I came from.
Thud.
Footsteps.
They came from the bedroom. I turned toward the sound and saw him my new father.
He stood tall in the doorway, looking at me.
His eyes softened. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, barely visible beneath the thick forest of his beard.
But I saw it.
And strangely, it made me feel… safe.
He walked over and picked me up without saying anything.
Then he carried me into the kitchen and sat me down near the sink.
I just sat there, watching quietly as he opened this wooden cupboard. Inside were a few metal cups.
Then he raised his hand and made this small motion.
And the cups, two of them, just floated out and landed in his hands.
I blinked.
How did he do that?
There was nothing in his hands. No strings, no wires, no tools. Just his fingers, and that little flick of movement.
He looked at me and laughed.
I think it was because I looked super confused. Like, brain-melting confused.
Then he said something. I didn't understand most of it.
But one word he said clearly.
He said it like it meant everything:
"NES."
After that, over the next few weeks, I started seeing it more.
Both of my parents doing stuff no normal person could do.
Like, one time, my mom lifted the couch in the air with one hand. Just lifted it like it was a pillow.
And every time they did something wild, I'd always see a shimmer.
Like heat coming off a fire. The air would shake, shimmer, flicker.
That shimmer always came with Nes.
This went on for a while, like two whole years.
In that time, I learned a lot.
I learned the language.
I turned four.
And I started learning what Nes was.
Turns out, it's completely different from what I thought.
Here's what my mom told me in this new world we live in:
In the beginning, there was Hewa.
And from Hewa, Nes was born.
Nes is the energy of the soul. Of all things that have a soul.
And all souls? They take the form of one of the four parts of creation:
Empower
Makes you stronger. Faster. Tougher.
Shape
Lets you control Nes outside your body and give it a form.
Transform
Changes stuff. Like turning ice into water, or stone into dust.
Refine
Changes the form of things. Like turning a wooden chair into a wooden bat.