Where am I?
I appear to be floating in something.
It's so weird, it feels like my movements are being resisted but I can't see anything physically wrapping around my limbs, it's creating a strange disconnect between my body and my mind.
My head feels so strange, like I was failing to remember what I felt was so integral to me. I could only feel my base desires and all passing thoughts had quieted allowing me to feel a clear disconnect between my mind and body.
Am I …dead?
"Good guess, but not 100% correct." A voice spoke in the void echoing answers to thoughts I was pretty sure I didn't say out loud.
"Who's there?" I asked the voice, "How can you hear what I'm thinking? And what do you mean not fully dead?" I rattled off questions at rapid pace due to my nerves frying due to overload.
"Easy there, one at a time young fella, all questions will be answered with time. First, my name is ROB, and I'm kinda like a cooler version of Jesus. Second, I can read your thoughts because I'm way cooler than you." the voice slowed down to give me some time to absorb what was being said as a figure gradually coalesced into a humanoid form seemingly constructed from light itself.
The form bore no facial features but it seemed to move along with the voice insinuating it was ROBs body or at least a projection of his body.
"And Lastly, you are between death and life right now. You are here because you have been selected by me to get a chance. Hooray!" The humanoid threw its hands up in joy as if trying to get me to engage in its excitement.
"What kind of chance?" I voiced skeptically.
"Hmm, oh come on," ROB complained. He generated a clipboard and began looking at it before continuing.
"It says here Alexander Graham, age 56, an accomplished business who prided himself on helping the frontline employees instead of raising wages for senior executives which boosted most companies you worked for and ended getting you fired from every company you work for." ROB paused, "and total karmic value of a saint"
"Your life's work has given you the opportunity to take this chance before you die to choose, take your chance at the karmic wheel where you will probably be born a prince in a prosperous empire or better. Or you can give me your karma and I will reincarnate you into a world of your choosing with three wishes which I will grant you. So choose, what will you decide?"
I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of what I was hearing. I was saddened by the knowledge that I was dying but to be honest all the family I loved had already passed away and I had only continued due to my hope that I could help my employees through their hard times, but another layoff had hurt too much for me to continue. I had spent so many years thinking about death and hoping that I would be lucky enough to be in a situation like this that it wasn't even a true question in my mind, I knew what wishes I wanted when I 25!
"I choose to be reincarnated in One Piece with three wishes."
I couldn't see ROBs face but I got the feeling he was smiling at me.
"I knew you would have the balls to dream, tell me what are your wishes, I'm already excited to see what kind of story you will tell in a world of pirates," he laughed as he finished his statement.
"First, I wish for a self-repairing marvel helicarrier that is more equipped for livability than launching planes." I had to have the absolute best ship when living in the world of pirates.
"I can do that but you will have to summon it when you are ready for it," Rob seemed pleased by my choice as if he liked it.
"Of course. Second, I would like a devil fruit tree that grows in an alternate world that only I have access too." Securing a sure fire way to strengthen my crew in the future.
"Acceptable but you cannot bring anything into the space and can only take the devil fruits out, not any part of the tree. Also it will be planted when you are born, you won't have to take care of it and it will grow as you grow," replied ROB quickly, making me think there might be more to a devil fruit tree than I thought.
"Lastly, I would like a Queen symbiote with a perfect synchronization rate with me and an obsession with making me her Broodking." I managed to hold off all shame while completing my final wish.
…
"Well that was something," ROB seemed to understand why I wished that and looked at me with his omnipresent deadpan face.
"Do you want to reincarnate with your memories or leave behind your old burdens?"
"I want all of my memories of One Piece to go to my symbiote, I only wish to reincarnate with my memories of this conversation and my will to become the Pirate King. My old memories would only drag me down in the long run." I was sure of the road I was about to set out on.
"Well then, I wish you luck on your next journey, and remember when it rains it pours applies to good and bad things." ROB enthusiastically told me such a cryptic thing before I felt myself begin to disappear.
I was ready to enter my next life so I enjoyed the feeling before I disappeared entirely from the place between life and death.
"Hmm, well since he went through all that trouble to come up with such awesome wishes, I'm sure he'll enjoy it if I crank up the difficulty a little bit. I'm such a nice guy, I even have the karma of a saint, hahahaha…" ROB laughed hysterically to himself as he cranked a knob on his desk that appeared out of nowhere.
Nobody knows if Alex will be able to pay back this ROA in the future…