The feeling of awe he sensed was fading away.

"Look, just because I am a higher entity doesn't mean I know all the secrets of existence, all right? I can't even give concrete proof of whether the afterlife exists or not! How am I supposed to direct you to that place, then? I mean, it is not like you really wish to go to the afterlife, do you?"

He was shocked by the words of the old man, but he still managed to say "I would prefer going to the afterlife rather than staying in this weird form!"

"Come on now" The old man started to pace up and down. "Your current state might not be the best, but at least it is better than eternal damnation."

"...What?"

"Why are you even surprised? Don't forget that I watched your life, kid. Do you think you can weave your net of lies in the afterlife? Or perhaps you trusted your manipulative skills? They were impressive down there in the mortal realm, but I don't think such tricks would work in the supposed afterlife. Even I can see whether you are lying or bearing any ill intentions if I choose to look at your essence."

He was wordless because...

He had no idea what the old man was talking about.

"Sir... Perhaps there is a misunderstanding?.." The old man stopped, and now they were once again facing one another.

"Hah, now you even trying to play innocent! Fine, let's do it then." The old man's eyes were no longer slits, now he could clearly see his eyes. The old man's stare made him feel like he was laid bare. He was certain that the old man could feel his feelings and subconscious intentions before he himself realized their existence. While keeping this heavy gaze, the old man asked:

"What were you doing for a living?"

"I was the head of a private security agency." The old man looked bewildered for a reason unknown to him.

"Then... What about your financial advisor? What about the thing you have done to convince her to work for you?"

"I didn't do anything though? She was the one who applied for the job."

"How... How is that... Then what about..."

The old man's questions continued, and he answered. He wanted to tell the old man perhaps he was confusing him with someone else, but he couldn't. The old man who didn't let anything out even when he looked dejected and a bit angry was now releasing an immensely suppressive aura. He could see his grey eyes burning with curiosity. Now all he could do was answer his questions.

    The old man stopped after a while. He sat down on a nearby chair and stared at the white sky. And than...

He laughed. He was shaking, and he could barely stand on the chair. He tried to wipe the tears coming out of his eyes while holding his stomach with his other hand. Collecting his breath, he said:

"I might not have watched your entire life, and I couldn't see what was passing through your mind from where I stood. So I knew that there could be things I failed to understand in your story but this... This is beyond all of my expectations!" He laughed a bit more, then continued. "Even I can't fully understand what caused your situation. Such a rare specimen you are! So rare that two such souls from the same world wouldn't be alive in each other's lifetime!" The old man continued laughing, though it was not as intense as before.

The little soul was completely lost, he had no idea what the old man was talking about. He no longer doubted that the old man mistook him for someone else because, for some questions, the old man injected the images of some people he knew into his consciousness. So he asked the other thing that was on his mind:

"If you are done with the questions, could you please tell me... Will I remain in this form? Is there nothing you can do?" The old man stopped laughing and responded:

"There are two things I want to tell you. First, I only pulled your soul here, I am not the one responsible for your current state."

"Do you mean that my current state is how someone is supposed to be after death?"

"No." The old man said. "Usually a soul, at least its portion that can be realized by us, decomposes after death. This decomposition, however, is not absolute and can be prevented. Your soul, for example, was packed by your friend."

"In that case, is my friend too-" He was about to ask excitedly, but the old man shook his head.

"He tried to save only you. Perhaps this wasn't something he was familiar with, and he didn't have much time either."

For a moment he was hopeful for his friend, only to lose this hope immediately. It seemed like his own death was not enough reason to spare him from sorrow.

"So... What now? What do you think I can do?" He said with a dispirited voice. The old man smiled, his eyes burning with excitement.

"This, little one, brings me to the second thing I was about to tell you. Sure, there might be things that I don't know and I can't do, but at the end of the day, I am still more than a senile old man. Tell me, would like to start a new life, in a new world?"

He was quite surprised that he couldn't think of this before. The only thing the old man could do to set things back on the trail was to destroy the encasement of his soul and let it decompose, though neither of them worded that since both of them couldn't be sure what would count as a "proper death". If truly dying when your body died was the way to go, for example, what would happen to him? It was a matter neither of them had any solid knowledge of, so they didn't mention this option. Instead, the old man offered him an opportunity to start a new life. He would prefer it over an uncertain future, but he still felt the need to ask a question:

"Will I be able to remember my memories?"

"Hmm..." The old man pondered. "Considering the way I am planning to do this, you should fully regain what you have once you reach adulthood by that world's standards. And that would be for the best. Otherwise, it would be straining your new brain. So in short, it will take a bit of time but you won't lose more than what you already had." The old man's last sentence disturbed him.

"Wait, did I already lose some of my memories?"

"You see, your friend that saved you was focused too much on your 'fundamentals'. He still did a good job, but it looks like you end up losing one thing: names"

He couldn't process what the old man said immediately. Then, it hit him. He had a clear image of himself, the people in his life, and the things he experienced but...

What was his name?

And what was the name of his dear friend, who saved his soul at the expense of saving his own?

He felt a void creeping inside of him. The old man talked to him:

"I know that it is an important loss, but don't let it dominate you. You might have forgotten the names, but you still remember your experiences, your thoughts, the people in your life, and what they meant to you. This is what your friend saved in his last moments."

The sense of loss was still there, but the old man's words soothed him a bit.

"So that was why you were using images while questioning- wait, can't you just tell me some of the names, then?" To his disappointment, the old man shook his head.

"You are still in the encasement your friend created. I can't safely transfer you to another one and we should not add something that it is not created to carry."

The voice sighed. "It can't be helped then. Fine, if there is nothing else you will tell me, let's get going."

"Alright then." The old man raised his hands towards him. "All I need to do is prepare a blessing to cause your reincarnation. Thankfully it can be cast over your body-or encasement in your case- so we don't have to strain its inner structure. The blessing will dissolve the encasement once you arrived in that world and let your soul be accepted like a new one, so your inclusion into the world will be natural. In other words, you won't be taking over someone else's body, you will be born anew."

Some time passed, and he heard the old man say "Done", then he suddenly started to feel sluggish. He realized that the garden, the old man, and even the white sky were fading away. He could still hear the voice of the old man.

"Honestly I was planning to just cast you out once I was done talking with you, but after realizing how... unique you are, I thought... Maybe..." The voice was gone, and the lone soul let the darkness embrace him.

And he was gone.