William is Dead

"What are you?" Emily stepped forward.

"Your Shepherds," said the form.

"Shepherds?"

"That is the word your kind use, is it not?"

"Are you Christians?" One of the humans asked from the back of the crowd.

"No. We are not that nor do we belong to any other belief systems you all hold. We are beyond. We are here to take you, to learn from you all."

"Learn what?" Will asked.

"All the details of your lives."

"Why?"

"That is our role."

"And then?"

"You will see. Come, the ship awaits." With that, the alien stepped to the side, holding one arm out toward the platform.

Seeing there was no other choice to be had, the humans walked onto the platform. It began to ascend as soon as everyone was on it. Will stared at the interior of the ship as it was slowly revealed; sleek shapes outlined by faint glowing lines, what appeared to be slightly translucent walls and all manner of pulsing lights travelling within them, like great circuits surging with power.

He noted there were screens spaced along some of the walls. Despite being so far in the interior, he saw they functioned as windows when he walked up to one of them and could see the field below, and the maelstrom above. Strangely, it no longer frightened him.

The ship lifted off and began to travel back the way it came.

There was no feedback from the ship as they travelled. He saw one screen that showed darkness with occasional streaks of light and asked the nearest alien what it showed. The alien informed him it showed the area exterior to the ship. To his eyes, it appeared to be almost completely a void. It was the only thing that gave him the idea they were moving at great speeds.

"Where is this place?" Will asked, feeling a twinge of awe.

"This is our world," said the alien who stood nearest to him.

"Okay, but where is it? What's it called? Where is it in relation to where I was? I come from Earth."

The alien regarded him mutely.

Will did not say anything after that. He wandered about the ship as far as he was allowed to go. Despite there being no doors of any kind blocking his way, he was always aware of the beings and where they stood. They only watched him, but there was a distinct feeling of unease that stopped him from approaching any corridors leading away from the room. He wondered if the beings were somehow projecting that unease, or if their mere presence was enough to curb his exploratory impulses.

As he wandered amongst the other humans, he caught snippets of questions they were asking of their Shepherds. Questions about long-dead family members, about what was coming, about whether there was a Hell waiting, or a Heaven, as hard as it was to believe. He wasn't sure where he was wandering to until he ended up near Emily.

"Will my husband be there?" She was asking one of the other beings. "My son? They couldn't save him."

"Many have passed through here," replied the Shepherd.

"Passed through? That implies there's something more to come after this," pointed out Emily.

The Shepherd stayed quiet.

Emily shrugged and turned to Will. She smiled lightly. "Any luck finding anything out?"

Will shook his head.

"So, we have no choice then, do we? Other than to wait and see what happens."

"It seems that way, yeah," agreed Will.

"Oh, well. I'm curious, Will. Were you one of those who believed in something after death?"

"No."

"So, what do you think of all of this, then?"

Will looked at her blankly. "I don't know. Did you believe in something after death?"

"Not at all. You know hardly anyone did."

Will frowned and hesitated.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

"Most people I knew were believers. You must've lived in a very godless place."

"Will, most of the world was godless."

They were both silent for a few moments. Will looked at the Shepherd near them. It stared back, seemingly interested in the conversation.

"What year was it when you died?" Will asked eventually.

"2092."

"Oh. That's... unexpected." Will felt briefly light-headed; her answer had violently untethered him for a moment.

"Judging from that comment, I'd say you have something interesting to tell me," said Emily.

"It was 2017 when I died."

"What?" Emily's face contorted in surprise. It was the first really overt display of emotion Will could remember seeing from her.

"That's over fifty years before you," he murmured.

"Well, that's... I don't know. I suppose we don't really understand this after-death thing so maybe it's not a big thing, at all. It's just surprising."

"Like the number of dead here," said Will.

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't it strike you as odd in some way? People die all the time but there are only about fifty of us here."

"Well... considering this place doesn't seem to obey the same rules as our world did, maybe it's just something to do with that."

"I suppose so."

"You don't sound sure."

"It just doesn't make sense."

"I'm sure we'll get some answers when we get to where we're going," Emily said in a reassuring voice.

Will wasn't sure he needed reassurance, but he let it go. It was an odd feeling; the curiosity itching at him, slowly burrowing deeper and deeper. The longer it went on, the more he felt a distinct, low-grade discomfort growing. He had no time to think about it some more, however, because all the Shepherds in view suddenly straightened and took a step forward.

In perfect unison, they intoned: "We have arrived."

It was difficult for Will to take in what he saw as they left the ship.

At first, there appeared to be nothing but darkness. Then, slowly, pieces of their surroundings filtered in. There were fleeting forms in the far distances all around, magnificently tall, and golden when they appeared, like flickering blurry skyscrapers. Waves of energy emanated in a myriad of colours from random places in the air, and occasionally, Will saw lights streak across the air. The only familiar thing was the black hole, ever-present above and now capable of triggering terror again.

Will's eyes kept being drawn to the tall forms far away. Though they never appeared in their entirety, enough of their lines and edges had been gleaned that he could see they were buildings. He had no way of knowing if they were surrounded by one huge city, or there were several of them in every direction. When he asked for clarity about this, he was ignored.

They were led away from the ship towards an empty space, but the moment they stepped through a threshold, a building solidified around them. Unlike the ship, its walls were opaque, though pulses of light still flashed through. They were in a long hallway, the end of which he couldn't see, but there were several offshoot corridors regularly placed along the way. After a few turns, they were brought to a great hall, large enough to comfortably hold groups of people a few times their fifty.

One of the Shepherds, taller than the rest, approached the crowd of humans and spread its arms. A web of light appeared behind it; different auras joined to create a pattern that made it look as though it had three more pairs of arms majestically reaching out. It accentuated the being's grand stature.

"Welcome, friends," said the Shepherd. "This will be your residence. There will always be those to help if you ask. Since we have had your kind here before, we are able to offer you some familiar entertainments. There are limits, of course, which we will leave for you to discover for yourselves."

The crowd of humans murmured, though Will couldn't tell what sentiment, if any, was being expressed.

"I want to know more about where we are. What all of this is. None of this makes any sense to me," one of the men stepped forward. It was Luc.

The Shepherd lowered its arms and tilted its head slightly, giving the man a little nod. "Yes. We understand you have curiosity and that this world is starkly different to the one you left behind. We have a process put in place for you all. Your questions will be answered as part of your Questioning."

"Questioning?"

"You will learn. We recognise the transition may be difficult, but know you are amongst friends. You are all beings of The Source, like us. We will help you understand during the process."

"When does this happen?" A woman from the crowd asked. "What's The Source?"

The Shepherd turned its face toward the inquisitive person and there was a brief sequence of flashing lights across its face. Finally, it answered, "Soon."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We do not understand Time in a manner corresponding to your understanding. We only know the Questioning will be soon."

The woman creased her eyebrows and looked around her, at the others. Emily and Will exchanged glances; he could see his fascination reflected in her eyes.

"We will leave you now. You are free to wander inside this building. We ask that you do not wander afar outside of this abode. There are dangers you will not recognise."

Another murmur rippled throughout the crowd, but it was cut off immediately at the sight of the being rising. It dissolved into a mess of auras that shredded into tiny ephemeral sparks.

Just like that, the humans were alone.

They began to wander around, though most stayed in the main hall and sat down on floating legless chairs designed for one person, which appeared from nowhere. Will watched them for a while until Emily went over to him.

"Strange place, hmm?" Emily said, looking around. "Want to explore?"

Will could think of nothing else to do and nodded. They wandered off together. Before long it was clear the hall they had been brought to was the centre of the building. Every corridor led to smaller spaces and eventually they found rows of rooms containing floating platforms. He prodded at the surfaces, fingers sinking in like it was soft foam.

"Beds," said Emily. "Funny that. I haven't felt like sleeping since we appeared here."

"Me neither. Maybe it's just somewhere for us to be whenever we're not doing... whatever it is they want us to do."

"What do you think that is?"

"Who knows?" Will shrugged.

"It's funny what they said about having a different concept of Time. It's got me curious about what else is different," said Emily.

Will nodded. "Something about all of this just feels... I don't know. I can't describe it properly. I feel dulled, you know?"

"In what way?"

"Just... I feel like I can't feel everything like I used to. Don't you?"

"Not really."

Will didn't know what to say to that, but his thoughts were already moving on. "Is that death or is it something they're doing?" Will pondered.

"The Shepherds? You sound like you don't trust them."

The Shepherds. Now she had said that, he knew he'd think of them with the same name. He didn't like the implications the word had. "I don't know," said Will. "I suppose it doesn't matter. What can they do to dead people?"

"A question I never thought I'd hear."

They explored some more, but there was not much else to see. The rooms and spaces they found were often bare. When they found the doors leading to the exterior, there was nothing out there but empty space, except for those cities. He wasn't sure why he had expected anything different. Their curiosity waxed and waned depending on what they saw but even that became a tiresome cycle and finally, Will told Emily he was going to one of the bedrooms to lay down and wait.

How long Will lay there, perusing over the moments in his life with a stark clarity, he could not have said. He felt as though he had gone through a third of his life, occasionally amazed at some of the things he had missed, before he was distracted by the walls flickering and several waves of light passing over the surfaces.

It was a signal the Shepherds had come back; he was sure of it, though he could not say how. Perhaps they had put the thought into his head. When he went back to the main hall, several of the Shepherds stood at one end and Will watched the other humans trickle in slowly.

It appeared that some of the humans had been busy with asking the Shepherds for things to pass the time. There were some instruments at one end of the hall, including a large grand piano that looked like it belonged in a prestigious concert hall. There were boxes of board games, easels messy with paint in front of canvases, half-built models with materials and parts strewn around the floor, and materials for drawing. He was impressed with how many people had been pursuing their creative impulses.

Emily came and stood next to Will as soon as she saw him. She was wearing a simple white dress now, which he was thankful for, albeit a little disappointed.

"Where did you get the dress?"

"I asked them for it."

"I'll have to do that, too."

"Oh? Well, I look forward to seeing you in a dress, though it's a shame you'll be covered up," she said playfully.

Will couldn't help but smile and shake his head. "Funny. But no... a pair of jeans or something will do."

"Pity."

Once everyone was present, the tallest of the Shepherds intoned, "The Questioning can begin. Each of you will be Questioned by one of us."

---xxx---

The Questionings Begin

One by one, a Shepherd would approach a human and beckon, and then they would leave together down one of the corridors. Emily was approached before Will, and she gave him a glance and a little wave right before she left. It felt good. He nodded in return.

The Shepherd who approached Will was roughly eight feet tall and the shapes on its face clustered together to form a three-armed starfish with equal-length arms, dead centred so the two top arms reached its temples and the third ended at its chin. It beckoned to Will nonchalantly as it walked by, barely giving him a glance. Will followed.

It walked down a corridor that was familiar to Will until somehow, it took a turn that Will was certain had not been there before. This suspicion was confirmed when the corridor they travelled through was twisting and turning in shallow curves, in stark contrast to the straight paths in the rest of the building.

The room Will was led to was surprisingly small and had nothing in it but a table and two chairs, one larger than the other.

"Please, sit down," said the Shepherd.

Will did so. The Shepherd sat on the opposite side, its height giving it an imposing feel in that room. Will felt small, like a child with a parent. He watched as the Shepherd stretched out its arm to the side and from the very air itself, tiny streams of white light appeared and sped toward its hand. The streams coalesced into an orb with one flat end. The Shepherd set it down on the centre of the table.

Will regarded it with some fascination. It had different coloured internal lights appearing near the top, sinking down in a helical whirl before flashing out of existence at the bottom. It was constant and it reminded him somewhat of a very regular snow globe.

"We will begin the Questioning," said the Shepherd, causing Will to look up in surprise.

"What does that mean, exactly? Questioning what? What kind of questions?"

"We wish to learn about you."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"What about me?"

"Your life."

"Why?"

"We wish to keep records."

"Why?"

The Shepherd's face turned toward the orb on the table. "So that you are ever-lasting, like us."

Will frowned. "That implies I'm not ever-lasting right now."

It did not respond.

"Did I die? Is this what all of this is?" Will asked.

"We have often heard that word from your kind; 'die'. And the word 'death'. I wish to know what it means to you," said the Shepherd. It's voice was a little disconcerting; despite its layers, it was emotionless.

"You don't know what death is?"

"We became aware of it because of your kind."

Will's eyebrows rose. "So... you don't die?"

"What is it to die?"

"To stop functioning. Your biological functions stop and they never start again. The body decays. It can never come back. The person who dies, they're forever gone."

"A common answer," noted the Shepherd. "We have often heard variations of that. It is a confusing prospect for us because we do not cease functioning. We have always been unchanging."

"So... what does change for your kind, then?" Will asked, trying to wrap his mind around what the Shepherd had said.

"We build. Sometimes with guidance, we create."

Will was now paying more attention to the Shepherd's head and decided it was a little disconcerting the way the shapes on its face pulsed with every syllable. Even worse, he could see beyond them to inside it's head, where there were cores of soft light slowly moving around in a manner that reminded him of lava lamps. Occasionally the lights would merge and break apart, but they all appeared to be swirling around the very centre.

"Do you have a name?" Will asked impulsively. He hoped it would make the Shepherd seem much less alien.

"We have designations, yes. You do not have the necessary apparatus to express my designation."

"Necessary apparatus?"

"We communicate with our energy." Then the Shepherd's facial shapes flashed in a rapid sequence.

So that was how they communicated. "Then maybe if I give you a name," suggested Will.

The Shepherd tilted its head slightly. "That would be acceptable."

"I'm going to call you Y."

"Y?"

"The shapes on your... face. They remind me of a letter."

"Writing. Symbols. Language recorded through symbols commonly shared. Remarkably interesting concept to us."

"How do you record anything?"

Y gestured to the orb.

"What is it?"

"It absorbs energy. It will absorb the prominence of yours. Your words, your emotions, your movements; all of these emanate in our space. The orb will procure a fraction for our records."

Will stared at the orb. "You're telling me it'll take a part of me into it?"

"All things are an exchange. It will provide clarity in return. You are much like us in structure, but... less."

"What do you mean?"

Y ignored this question and asked, "What is your designation? We will begin there."

"William Dormin."

"Why is that your name?"

"My mother gave me William. Dormin comes from my father."

"Why did she choose that name?"

"I don't know."

The ensuing questions were rather basic. Will recounted some of his earlier life, the number of siblings he had, his wider family in general and the places he grew up until he was ready to leave home. It was not until near the end of the session when he was asked about his death that he realised the memories surrounding it were still sketchy, unlike the clarity present for the rest of his life. It was a very odd experience. When he thought of different scenes of his life, his mind was able to conjure the scene perfectly. He was also able to move the scenes around, as though he was a camera travelling through them.

"Why don't I remember it very well?" Will asked.

"I do not know."

"Is that what it's like for everyone? They have trouble remembering how they died?"

"It varies."

"I just remember a car rushing at me," Will frowned.

"Do you remember why you were there?"

"I was... No. I don't."

Y's face flashed and it turned it's head to the side, as though it had heard something. Will did the same, but there was nothing different about the room. "We will stop here. I have all the details I need until I am asked to delve deeper," said Y. It stood up rather quickly.

It was so abrupt, it made Will involuntarily jerk back. He wondered whether it was his words that had ended the session, or that the Shepherd had decided his death was a natural note to end on.

"You may leave," said Y.

"Right," said Will, standing up slowly.

Y evaporated into nothingness.

Unsettled by the way the session had ended, Will made his way back to the main hall, easier than he expected. Every turn was instinctive to him. It was very different to the feeling he had when he was led there.