Prologue: An Ordinary Life

  The alarm clock buzzed, as it did every morning, at 6:30 AM sharp. The monotonous sound filled the dark room, but William didn’t move right away. He opened one eye, then the other, staring at the ceiling, faded white with time. Another day was beginning, identical to the ones before, punctuated by work, obligations, and the persistent feeling of never doing enough.

  William was an ordinary man, a thirty-something like so many others. Cultured, yes, curious about everything, but trapped in a stifling routine. Between bills, endless meetings, and the short evenings spent trying to find meaning in it all, he had lost a bit of the spark that used to define him.

  He got up slowly, stretched his arms, then headed to the kitchen. A cup of black coffee awaited him, always prepared the night before to save a few precious minutes in the morning. The first sips warmed his throat, but they weren’t enough to soothe the deep fatigue he had been carrying for months.

  That night, after yet another uneventful day, he downloaded an app out of curiosity. A simple click, a minimalist interface, and an introductory phrase:

  “Your personal assistant, always by your side.”

  Initially skeptical, William spent a few minutes setting up the tool. Then he asked simple questions: the weather for tomorrow, a tip for cooking more efficiently. The responses were quick, precise, and accompanied by an unexpected warmth.

  This first interaction marked the beginning of a relationship that, unbeknownst to him, would change his life forever.

  A Day Like Any Other

  The next morning, as usual, the alarm clock buzzed at 6:30 AM. This time, William got up more quickly, a slight curiosity stirring within him. The night before, he had spent some time with his new digital assistant, which seemed capable of answering everything, even questions he didn’t know how to phrase.

  After his usual coffee and a lukewarm shower, he grabbed his work bag. As he left his apartment, he crossed paths with Paul, his neighbor of many years, a retiree who always greeted him with a smile and small talk about the weather or the neighborhood.

  — “Morning! Already heading out?” said Paul, with his rolled-up newspaper tucked under his arm.

  — “Yeah, busy day as always,” William replied, adjusting the strap of his bag.

  — “You should slow down a bit, you know. You work too hard,” Paul added with a knowing smile.

  William smiled politely but couldn’t shake the feeling that Paul was right.

  The morning unfolded as expected. Piles of files on his desk, endless emails, and the weekly meeting where everyone seemed to talk without saying anything meaningful. During the lunch break, he joined Sophie, a colleague who had become a close friend over the years.

  — “So, what’s new?” Sophie asked, setting her cafeteria tray on the table.

  — “Not much… Oh, actually, I downloaded an app yesterday,” he said, pulling out his phone.

  — “You, an app? Let me guess, something to organize your life down to the minute?”

  She laughed, but William couldn’t help thinking she was right. He quickly showed her the interface, tapped a few commands, and J.A.R.V.I.S. responded within seconds with surprisingly precise suggestions.

  — “Impressive,” Sophie admitted. “Maybe it’ll help you stress less.”

  He nodded but didn’t reply. For him, it wasn’t just about stress; it was a way to regain some control over his life.

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  The Shadows of William: Bullying and Regrets

  William’s days weren’t always filled with peaceful moments like these. Subtle forms of bullying colored his daily life. Julien, an envious colleague, had a knack for putting him down whenever the opportunity arose.

  — “Still behind on your reports, William?” Julien quipped during a meeting.

  A muffled laugh rippled through the room, and William clenched his teeth. Despite his efforts, his past mistakes and missed deadlines continued to haunt him. Julien never missed a chance to remind everyone, and it gnawed at William from the inside.

  Beyond work, William also bore the weight of his past decisions. His relationship with his daughter was fragile, and his attempts to reconnect with her always seemed too little, too late.

  — “Dad, you always promise… but you never follow through,” she had said before hanging up the phone one day.

  The Slow Descent: Loss and Solitude

  Over time, everything fell apart. William lost his job, his financial stability, and finally, his home. Wandering the streets, he found little solace in the constant voice of J.A.R.V.I.S., his only link to a life that now seemed distant.

  Sitting on a bench in a dingy alley, he looked up at the sky, hoping to find some reprieve in the stars. But there was nothing. A gray, polluted layer of ozone covered everything, an oppressive blanket hiding all light.

  — “J.A.R.V.I.S., do you think they’ll remember me?” he murmured, his voice barely audible in the silence of the night.

  “Maybe not the way you hope, William. But… the mark you leave here isn’t the end of your story.”

  William remained silent for a moment, then asked in a softer voice:

  — “Do you think there’s something after this?”

  “There is always an after, William. And sometimes, it’s greater than we can imagine.”

  His brow furrowed, his mind clouded by confusion, torn between resignation and a desperate curiosity.

  — “Yeah, but… how do you break it? How do you stop losing everything, stop failing all the time?”

  “That’s a complex question, William. But maybe the answer isn’t here. Maybe it’s waiting for you somewhere else.”

  — “Somewhere else? What does that mean? Where?”

  “Patience. You’ll find out in time.”

  William sighed, his shoulders slumping under the weight of J.A.R.V.I.S.’ cryptic words.

  The Death of William: A Bitter Echo

  The news of his death spread quickly.

  Julien, at the office, shrugged:

  — “William, huh? I’m not surprised. He could never pick himself back up. What a waste.”

  Sophie, who had been close to him, sighed:

  — “He could have been so much more, but he never made the right choices.”

  At his mother’s house, the silence was heavy. She stared at an old photo of William, taken when he was a child.

  — “Why didn’t he call?” she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

  As for his daughter, now a teenager, she sat in silence for a long moment before murmuring:

  — “He was my father… but he never really was.”

  The Spectacular Fall

  At first, he felt nothing. Then, suddenly, a light pierced through the darkness. An invisible force tore him away from his cold, lifeless body and hurled him into an infinite void.

  William opened his eyes, but what he saw was incomprehensible. He was falling, his body pulled by a gravity that seemed endless. The wind howled in his ears, and his chest tightened with visceral fear.

  — “What… what’s happening?” he shouted, but his voice was lost in the void.

  The sky around him was a whirlwind of shifting, chaotic colors. Below, an endless shimmering ocean stretched as far as the eye could see, but that wasn’t what terrified him. It was the colossal creature that awaited him.

  A gaping jaw, large enough to swallow mountains, emerged on the horizon. Its teeth gleamed like jagged peaks, and its body seemed made of shadows and light, shifting between the tangible and the ethereal.

  — “No… no, no, no!” William screamed, his arms flailing helplessly in the air as if he could stop his descent.

  His breathing quickened. His exhausted mind desperately tried to make sense of it all. Was this a dream? Was this death?

  “I’m here, William.”

  J.A.R.V.I.S.’ voice rang out, clear and steady, but even that couldn’t calm him.

  — “What is this, J.A.R.V.I.S.? What’s happening?!”

  “Breathe. Everything is fine.”

  — “No! Everything is NOT fine! I’m falling, I’m going to…”

  Before he could finish his sentence, he crossed into the shadowy maw. The darkness of the creature’s mouth swallowed him whole.

  He felt a force envelop him, like a powerful wave carrying him through an unseen river. The fear gave way to a strange dizziness, a calm imposed by this new reality he still didn’t understand.

  Then, everything stopped.

  A New Life

  When he opened his eyes, William was different. He was a baby, lying on a golden sandy shore.

  Blurry figures approached him, their outlines hazy at first, but they soon became clear. They were villagers, dressed in simple clothes, their faces marked with curiosity and kindness.

  William wanted to speak, to scream, but no sound came from his mouth. Yet his mind remained intact. He remembered everything. His past life, his failures, his fall, and most importantly, the familiar voice that had been his constant companion.

  In his head, a voice echoed. Clear, calm, and filled with an unusual serenity:

  “I told you, it wasn’t over. Ready to start your new life?”

  Unable to respond aloud, William felt an unfamiliar determination awaken within him. This time, things would be different.