Consciousness returned to Fin Wilson like a radio slowly being tuned to the right frequency, at first just static and distortion, then fragments of awareness, and finally a strange clarity unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
There was no pain. That was the first thing he noticed. The searing agony of electricity coursing through his body had vanished completely. In fact, he couldn't feel his body at all.
The second thing he noticed was that he appeared to be floating in an endless void. Not darkness, exactly, the space around him was filled with distant pinpricks of light that might have been stars, though they moved in ways no stars should. Some drifted in lazy spirals, others pulsed rhythmically, and a few seemed to shimmer between different spectrums of light altogether.
"Am I... dead?" Fin asked, surprised to find he could speak without lungs or a voice. The question seemed to ripple outward through the void.
"Oh! You're conscious already. That's... unexpected."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, followed by a swirl of blue luminescence that coalesced before him. It gradually took shape into a vaguely humanoid figure that glowed with internal light, though its features remained indistinct, and its edges blurred into the surrounding space.
"Yes, I'm afraid you are quite deceased," the entity continued, its tone oddly bureaucratic despite the cosmic setting. "Though it wasn't supposed to happen for another fifty-seven years, four months, and eighteen days, according to your designated timeline parameters."
Fin tried to look down at himself but found nothing to see, no body, no limbs, just a faint white glow that he somehow knew was "him."
"Who are you?" Fin asked. "And where am I?"
The blue luminescent being made a gesture that might have been straightening an invisible tie. "My apologies for the lack of proper introduction. I am Kailos, Junior Administrative Deity, Third Rank, Elemental Transfer Division." The being paused, then added with a note of pride, "Recently promoted from Fourth Rank after six hundred years of service."
Fin would have blinked if he had eyelids. "A... deity?"
"In your cultural context, that term is simplistic but serviceable," Kailos replied. "My function involves the regulation and transfer of elemental energies between different realms to maintain cosmic equilibrium."
"And I'm... where exactly?"
"Currently? You're in a transitional space between physical reality and the processing region. A waiting room of sorts." The deity's form flickered slightly. "You shouldn't actually be here. This is highly irregular."
Fin tried to process this information. He had never been particularly religious in life, had always approached the universe through the lens of science and observable phenomena. Yet here he was, apparently having a conversation with a self-proclaimed deity after being struck by lightning.
"I died," Fin said, memories of the lightning strike flooding back. "In Boston Common. The lightning hit me."
"Not exactly," Kailos corrected, seeming to grow more distressed. "The lightning didn't just hit you by random chance. It was... well, there's no easy way to say this... it was my fault."
"Your fault?"
The deity's form dimmed, the equivalent of a shamefaced expression. "I really am quite embarrassed about all this. In over seven thousand years of service, I've never had such a catastrophic routing error."
Kailos made a gesture, and a translucent scroll materialized between them, covered in symbols that hurt to look at directly, not because they were bright, but because they seemed to exist in more dimensions than Fin's mind could process.
"You see," Kailos continued, "I was redirecting excess lightning energy from a realm experiencing dangerous elemental imbalance. A standard procedure I've performed countless times. But there was a surge in the transfer conduit, an unexpected feedback loop in the elemental network, and somehow the isolation barrier protecting Earth was momentarily breached."
Fin tried to follow this explanation, his scientific mind latching onto the familiar concepts despite the bizarre context. "Earth is protected by an isolation barrier?"Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
"Indeed. Your world exists in what we call a 'stable isolation zone.' Earth generates and consumes its own elemental energies in near-perfect balance. It's not supposed to be connected to the transfer network at all."
The deity's form flickered with apparent distress. "Until today, when my transfer conduit experienced that surge and somehow punctured the isolation barrier. The excess lightning energy found the path of least resistance, directly to you."
Fin would have taken a deep breath if he had lungs. "So I didn't just... die in a freak accident? I was killed by a divine clerical error?"
"Clerical is perhaps not the term I would choose," Kailos said with a hint of defensiveness. "It was a technical malfunction in an enormously complex system of elemental equilibrium management."
"But the result is the same," Fin insisted. "I'm dead because of a mistake you made."
Kailos's form dimmed further. "Yes. And I cannot express adequate remorse for this outcome. Your life-thread was severed approximately fifty-seven years prematurely, and cosmic law is quite clear on the matter of administrative errors resulting in premature mortal termination."
Something in the deity's tone caught Fin's attention. "Cosmic law? What does that mean exactly?"
Kailos brightened slightly, apparently more comfortable discussing regulations than emotions. "It means I am obligated to offer appropriate compensation for the premature severance of your existence. There are protocols for such situations, although they're rarely invoked."
"Compensation?" Fin would have laughed if the situation weren't so absurd. "What kind of compensation could possibly make up for ending my entire existence?"
"Actually," Kailos said, his form shifting to something almost resembling eagerness, "that's precisely what I'm authorized to offer you, a new existence."
Fin felt a strange sensation that might have been his non-existent heart skipping a beat. "You mean... bringing me back to life? On Earth?"
Kailos made a gesture that seemed apologetic. "Not exactly. Your Earth body is beyond repair, the lightning damage was quite comprehensive. And timeline corrections of that magnitude are outside my jurisdiction level."
"Then what are you offering?"
The void around them shifted, the distant lights rearranging themselves into what appeared to be a map of sorts, countless worlds displayed like jewels on black velvet, connected by threads of multicolored energy.
"Behold the Elemental Network," Kailos said with obvious pride. "Each world has its own unique balance of elemental energies. My division oversees the transfer and balancing of these energies across the network."
One particular world brightened among the countless others, a beautiful blue-green sphere wrapped in swirling weather patterns.
"Aetherys," Kailos said. "A world where what you would call 'magic' is simply the applied science of elemental manipulation. I can offer you a new beginning there, a second chance at life, with certain... enhancements to compensate for your premature departure from Earth."
Fin studied the glowing world with a mixture of disbelief and fascination. "You're offering to reincarnate me in another world? With magic?"
"With your memories intact," Kailos added. "And with significantly enhanced capacity for elemental manipulation. It's the most substantial compensation package I'm authorized to offer without requiring approval from higher administrative levels."
Fin's consciousness reeled. Death had been shocking enough, but this, the existence of other worlds, of magic as manipulable energy, of cosmic bureaucracies governing it all, challenged everything he had believed about reality.
Yet the scientist in him was already curious, already wondering about the physical laws of this other world, about how "magic" might work as a quantifiable, observable phenomenon rather than supernatural nonsense.
"You're serious about this," Fin said, not quite a question.
"Completely," Kailos replied. "Cosmic law requires proper compensation for administrative errors. I am prepared to offer you a new life in Aetherys, with your Earth memories preserved and enhanced capacity for power development."
Fin would have frowned if he had a face. "This seems... excessive for what you described as a simple mistake. Is there something you're not telling me?"
Kailos's form flickered briefly, a tell, Fin suspected. "The circumstances of your death were... uniquely problematic. You were struck by directed elemental energy from outside your realm's natural cycle. Such contamination creates ripples in the cosmic balance. Properly resolving the situation requires more than standard compensatory measures."
Fin had the distinct impression there was more to it than that, but he decided to focus on the immediate offer. "Tell me more about this world, Aetherys. And about these 'enhancements' you mentioned."
Kailos seemed relieved by the change in subject. "Aetherys is a world where humans have evolved alongside ambient elemental energies. They've developed biological pathways to sense, gather, and manipulate these energies through a process called cultivation."
The deity paused, then added, "But perhaps we should discuss the full details of the compensation offer more systematically. There are important terms and limitations you should understand before making your decision."
Fin felt a strange calm settle over his disembodied consciousness. He'd always been methodical in life, approaching problems with careful analysis rather than emotional reaction. Even in death, even facing this bizarre cosmic bureaucrat offering him resurrection in a magical world, that fundamental aspect of his personality remained.
"Alright," Fin said. "Let's discuss terms. I want to know exactly what you're offering, what the conditions are, and what I'm getting myself into."
Kailos's form brightened with apparent relief. "Excellent. I appreciate your rational approach. Let me explain the full compensation package I'm authorized to offer..."
The void around them shifted again, preparing to display the details of what would become Fin's new existence, if he accepted this cosmic administrator's strange offer of redemption for a divine error.