Sunday, April 14, 2013

Page 9

“I wonder how long it would’ve taken...”

The reaper fell quiet after that. It wasn’t until after Hector had nearly finished cleaning that the conversation resumed.

I’m Garovel, by the way. Garovel is my name, that is.’

Hector took a seat on the edge of the bathtub and looked at the floating skeleton again. “Okay,” was all he said.

Garovel tilted his head. ‘Not much for conversation, eh? You talked more when you were dead.’

“...Sorry. I don’t... I mean... yeah.”

Well, don’t worry about it. There’s no need to rush things.’ Garovel drifted nearer the mirror, and Hector realized suddenly that the reaper had no reflection. ‘You don’t seem to be the very curious type, so I guess I’ll just explain. Stop me if you have a question.’

Hector waited.

You and I are now connected,’ Garovel said. ‘I am what sustains your life, now. Biologically, your body is alive again, but I am the only thing that keeps you attached to your body. Your soul, your consciousness, your sense of self, whatever you want to call the thing, I’m the one who maintains its connection with this world, now.’ The reaper paused a moment, considerate perhaps. ‘I suppose that might sound like a bad thing. Having your soul controlled by someone else, that is, but there are actually some pretty fantastic advantages to this whole scenario. The first is, of course, the ability to restore your body, but I already talked about that. And I believe you’ve already glimpsed the second major advantage. That is, the ability to continue moving, even after your body is technically dead.’

He blinked.

16 comments:

  1. I just discovered this today. Very interesting so far! o: Can't wait to read the rest.

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    1. Ah. Thank you kindly, Chellethulhu. Your name is very fun to spell, by the way.

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  2. Fascinating stuff, George, but you need to have your name more prominently displayed. No reason you shouldn't have a generous byline up there with the title.

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    1. Maybe you're right. But. MEH. I don't really want my name at the top of the page.

      Also, thank you.

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  3. I'm still reading. I was beginning to wonder when you'd hit on why Hector killed himself. I like the subtle reference to Hector wondering when his parents would've noticed. I look forward to reading more.

    Scott Scherr

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  4. I like Garovel a lot already. Seems like a very reasonable, personable guy. You know, for a 'reaper of the grim kind.'

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  5. I really like this and the two main characters just seem to get even better with each page.

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  6. Finally got a name for the reaper. Garovel seems like good people...for a reaper, I mean. I found myself kinda disappointed though that "Garovel" sounds masculine. I guess I was hoping the reaper would be female...even though it's most likely a genderless personification of death lol

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  7. Well ... personally I don't like this story so far. The plot, that the reaper revived him to save some people (there are already more than enough people on the earth) isn't very plausible to me. And I don't believe in a soul.
    (This novel was recommended in the comments of an Ark chapter [japtem.com]. So my interest is in the direction of VR.)
    But your writing style looks professional, your releases are very fast and other people like this kind of story, so keep up writing! ;)

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  8. If those are your reasons, then I wish you'd give it more of a chance. It's true that this story is fantasy, but it probably takes more of a rationalist approach to things than you're currently expecting.

    As for your point about not believing in souls, well. Neither do I.

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  9. I didn't believe in souls when I started reading, although I do now for unrelated reasons (mostly the Observer Effect).

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  10. Ok ... I will give it a second try and read some more pages (at least to page 50).
    Then I will write my opinion again ;)

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  11. Again, someone is lead here by the ARK comments thread lol

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  12. I'd like to know what you ended up thinking bout the series. If I'm not mistaken, it might have been my comment you saw in that ARK comments thread that led you here. I'd recommended it recently on there

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