What did she say? My slice of the afterlife? Did I die?

  This couldn't be. I looked at the room around me, it seemed real. I could feel the cold press of the steel table under my arms. I could smell the woman's perfume, soft floral undertones, dominated by fresh jasmine and hints of rose intermingled with an unmistakable earthiness. Emily would kill for a scent like that.

  Emily... The thought of her sent a wave of nausea through me. The crash came back in flashes—her scream, the crushing metal, her body disappearing into the darkness. Was she gone? Really gone? Or was she somewhere in this "Solace" place too?

  "Where... where am I? What is happening? Where is my wife?" I almost yelled at her.

  She responded in a gentle, soothing tone, "Alden, you are in Solace, a unique realm designed to provide an afterlife experience."

  I clutched the edge of the table, steadying myself. "An afterlife experience? What does that even mean?"

  "I understand that this may be disorienting and overwhelming," she continued, "but please know that you are safe here. As for your wife, I'm afraid I do not have any information about her current status."

  My throat tightened. No information? What did that mean? Was Emily alive somewhere, mourning me? Or was she... No, I couldn't think about that.

  "However," the woman added, "I am here to help you navigate this new world and answer any questions you may have."

  I worked at the upper echelons of software development. We were working towards immersive experiences, but nothing like this. It was too real. Everything felt real. Unless it wasn't crafted by us.

  "What do you mean you don't know where Emily is? Is she ali—" I stopped myself. What was the right word now? "Is she here? And who crafted this place?" I asked, this time the words coming out a bit more calmly.

  The woman smiled warmly, her look reassuring. She sure as shit seemed real.

  "I understand your concern for Emily, Alden."

  I looked down at my hands. They looked like my hands—the small scar on my thumb from when I cut myself coding during a 36-hour hackathon, the wedding ring Emily had slipped onto my finger five years ago. Was I still me? Or just some digital copy? The thought made me dizzy.

  She continued, "As per the regulations established to ensure a fair and equitable start for everyone in Solace, individuals are intentionally separated upon arrival. This prevents any undue influence or advantage based on prior relationships."

  I let out a bitter laugh. "Advantage? What advantage? This isn't a game."

  She didn't react to my outburst, just continued in that same measured tone. "While I cannot provide information on Emily's whereabouts or confirm her presence here, I can assure you that everyone is treated with care and consideration in this realm."

  Well at least that wasn't a no... it was too vague to be certain but I felt like there was a chance she was here, whatever here really was.

  "Solace," she continued, "was meticulously crafted by Nexus Innovations, the very company you were a part of."

  I froze. "Nexus? My company?"

  "They designed this extraordinary afterlife experience as a reflection of their innovative spirit and commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and human experience."

  Nexus? No way, no fucking way. I knew every project at that company. Our AI division was new, for fucks sake. We had just made our first large language model, it wasn't even that good! This wasn't possible, there was no way this was possible.

  "How the hell does this place exist? We don't have the technology for this." I ran my hand through my hair—even that felt exactly right. The same texture, the same motion I'd done a thousand times when frustrated with a coding problem.

  The woman smiled again. The exact same smile that said 'don't worry little one, everything is okay'. It was almost starting to feel insulting.

  "Alden, during your time, the technology for creating a realm like Solace might have seemed impossible."

  I snorted. "Might have seemed? It was impossible."

  She nodded, acknowledging my comment but pressing on. "However, Nexus Innovations has made groundbreaking advancements in the years since your departure, resulting in the development of this extraordinary afterlife experience."

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Years since my departure? A chill ran down my spine.

  "The intricacies of this technology go beyond what you knew in your time, blending cutting-edge advancements in neuroscience, quantum computing, and virtual reality to create a seamless and immersive environment that transcends the boundaries of conventional existence."

  Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. In the years since my departure? How long has it been?

  Alright. Okay. I was starting to understand. I needed to know more.

  "When you say 'in the years since your departure', exactly how many years has that been? How is any of this possible?"

  The woman nodded, seeming to understand my confusion. "Alden, since your departure in 2023, it has been 264 years."

  I felt the blood drain from my face. "Two hundred and sixty-four years?" My voice was barely a whisper.

  "I know it may be difficult to grasp," she said, "but during that time, Nexus Innovations has made remarkable strides in technology, particularly in the fields of cryogenics and virtual reality."

  264 years. Everyone I knew—my mother, my friends, my colleagues—they were all gone. Long gone. Dust. And Emily... if she had survived the crash, she too was centuries dead. A crushing weight of loneliness pressed down on me. I was utterly, completely alone in a world I didn't understand.

  "So I'm some kind of... digital ghost?" I asked, my voice hollow.

  She continued, "Upon accepting the CTO position, you became part of a groundbreaking initiative that involved preserving the minds of select individuals upon their passing."

  I never signed up for this. Did I? My mind raced through the promotion paperwork. There had been so many documents...

  "Your head and brain were cryogenically frozen, preserving your consciousness for future possibilities. With the creation of Solace, Nexus Innovations began to integrate preserved minds into this new realm, and you were placed on a waitlist."

  I felt sick. They kept my head? For centuries?

  "You are, in fact, the oldest mind in Solace, as no one who departed before you was added to the waitlist."

  Great. A pioneer in a nightmare I never asked for.

  Pausing for a moment, she added, "The successful integration of your preserved consciousness into Solace is a testament to the incredible advancements Nexus Innovations has made in the intervening years. It's truly a remarkable feat, blending the wonders of cryogenics, neuroscience, and virtual reality to create this unparalleled afterlife experience."

  I wasn't listening anymore. My mind was stuck on Emily. If they had her too, if she was here somewhere... Maybe this was all some elaborate hallucination. Maybe I was in a hospital bed somewhere, brain damaged from the crash, dreaming all this up.

  "And no, Alden, you are not in a coma."

  I looked up sharply. "What?"

  The last part she added with a hint of sadness. I hadn't said anything about a coma out loud. Wait, does that mean she can read my mind?

  "Yes, Alden, your mind is now part of Solace, and I am Solace." Her voice changed, sounding suddenly weary. "Don't worry, though, I only do this when necessary, which is very rare these days." The earlier warmth in her voice had left, she sounded tired. Though it only lasted a moment, the warm smile reappeared on her face.

  So I had been added to a cryogenics program? Fuck. I never read the fine print.

  "So, obviously I didn't read the fine print." I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Beyond that, this shit didn't even exist when I was alive. What if I don't want this? What if I just want to be... done?"

  What kind of eternal purgatory was this? Was this better than death? I wasn't sure. The thought of centuries stretching ahead of me in this artificial world made me feel claustrophobic, despite the seemingly endless room.

  She responded, the same calm tone washing over me. "Alden, I understand that this situation may be overwhelming and not what you anticipated."

  I barked out a laugh. "Yeah, you could say that."

  "However, as a result of the agreement you entered into as part of the cryogenics program, your head and brain became the property of Nexus Innovations."

  Property. The word hit me like a physical blow. I wasn't a person anymore. I was an asset.

  "In 2188, the legality of this arrangement was upheld in the landmark case of Beckett v. Nexus Innovations, solidifying the company's right to preserve and utilize your consciousness in this manner."

  My brain is now property? My consciousness is now being 'utilized'. What kind of dystopian shithole was this future?

  "You're telling me I have no choice?" I whispered, a growing sense of panic bubbling up inside me. "I'm trapped here forever?"

  She continued, "In Solace, individuals are given the opportunity to choose their path after a period of 50 years."

  "Fifty years?" I shouted, standing up so fast my chair wobbled.

  "At the end of this time, you will be given the option to either depart from this world or remain. Should you choose to stay, you will be presented with the same choice every 50 years thereafter."

  I collapsed back into my chair, my legs suddenly weak. Fifty years. I'd only lived thirty-five before the crash. This wasn't a second chance—it was a sentence.

  "Unfortunately, this restriction cannot be overridden, and for the time being, your mind will be part of Solace. I am here to assist and support you in making the best of this extraordinary afterlife experience."

  50 years. What a bunch of arbitrary bullshit. My mind reeled at this. The panic started rising in me again and I rose from the chair. I looked around the room, realizing for the first time that there were no windows or doors. I was trapped, literally and figuratively. I stepped back, the chair clattering loudly to the ground, and I started to breathe rapidly.

  The woman… Solace itself I guess, waved her hands and the walls melted away. We were suddenly outdoors, in a field. The table and chairs had become a picnic table. I recognized this place… this was High Park in Toronto. Emily and I came here all the time. It felt real. The sun was warm on my skin. The rough feel of the paint-chipped table top rubbed against my arms. It even smelled exactly how I remembered.

  The park where Emily had first told me she loved me. Where we'd spent countless Sundays, her reading a book, me working on my laptop, both of us just happy to be near each other. A memory so precious I'd buried it deep.

  The AI was doing it again, it was scraping my mind, this time to try to calm me down. Instead, it just pissed me off. This wasn't my park. This wasn't my world. And Emily wasn't here.