Submerged, he was submerged. A soul that was dyed the colour 'red' was submerged within the recesses of an unknown construct. It was smooth, malleable and liquid. Inuwa's soul was tugged along a conveyor belt as if it was simply one of the billions of products produced in a day. Against the assembly line, Inuwa felt his being change, fundamentally, unequivocally.
A gut-wrenching, teeth-grating, debilitating feeling emerged; it was as if Inuwa's entire being was being washed over, blanched of its colour like a chicken breast in boiling water. Even though his conscience was in a deep slumber, he hated it. The very feeling was etched into his soul, his core.
In a great lurching movement, Inuwa's soul rejected the blanching process. Instead, it rolled away like a little ball, escaping the conveyor belt. However, there was no ground upon which to fall or roll outside the belt. As a consequence, Inuwa's soul was subjected to falling from a great height.
For what felt like years, Inuwa's soul fluttered downwards. There was little in the place of the way down, so the fall was straight and constant.
At some point, the world around Inuwa began to change. The space gradually shifted more to the colour red as hundreds of thousands of squares of red projected themselves around the space like imaginary constructs.
Then, when this change was finalised, Inuwa landed on something hard. It was solid ground. With that, he opened his eyes. Interestingly, though souls lack vision– they can perceive with an efficiency greater than the body. Yet, this efficiency did little to alleviate the situation.
Inuwa felt a strange, archaic energy well up from the depths of his gut as it channelled around and through him till it reached the area of his eyes. At that point, it gathered at the spot. From there, Inuwa rubbed his eyes, and he could identify what the world looked like.
It was red. A striking, brilliant, surreal red. He swerved to the left and to the right in a daze; what surrounded him for miles was an ocean of red. There was no obvious or navigable landmark in sight. Inuwa would have given up now if it weren't for the fact that from the corner of his 'sight' there appeared to be a slight protrusion of that energy.
It was lighter than the rest. If Inuwa could describe it, then if the world itself was red, then the illusory protrusion was crimson.
Walking up to it, Inuwa leaned over, absorbing whatever he could from the sensations offered to him. He held it up like a pet. It felt solid and bug-like. Under his soft and warm embrace, it squirmed, wriggling about. It appeared to have many legs, a soft, smooth dome-like shell structure covering its top and a small snout-like appendage where its mouth should be.
Inuwa stared deeply into it. He wasn't able to talk to it, for he lacked a mouth and sight, and so did it. Yet, unlike Inuwa, it seemed to have the ability to navigate the space.
As if responding to his desire to navigate the unfamiliar area, the creature squirmed in Inuwa's arms. Inuwa loosened his grip slightly. Then, the creature seemed to rotate its head and lurch forward. That must be the place the creature wanted to go. Without any other options, Inuwa shrugged and followed the path, making sure to stroke the creature now and then.
At this moment, the soul that was Inuwa's felt incredibly restricted. Without a body, its range of movement was limited. Without a mind, its ability to perceive, comprehend and remember was also severely incapacitated. In this state, it was incredibly vulnerable. With that notion guiding it, an inkling of doubt wedged its way in, and it became increasingly convinced that leaving that assembly line was nothing more than a fool's errand.
While Inuwa's soul was deeply nestled within the deep, dank caverns of its thoughts, the environment around it morphed again and again. The world took on a more saturated hue as the red-like protrusions that were the bug creatures grew in population and size.
The creature cradled within the arms of Inuwa's soul wobbled and jiggled back and forth. It seemed to tremble with a palpable excitement as the duo got closer and closer to their destination. However, that was to Inuwa's dismay, as he quite enjoyed the lucid warmth that was provided by the spirit. It reminded him of a warmth that was directly etched into his heart– his brother.
If souls had mouths and could sigh– he would be doing so right now. Instead, he heaved his shoulders and strutted towards the whims of the creature in his arms. A few minutes of walking later, and the creature finally concluded. Its trembles withered down to a gentle nod as the duo approached something.
Then, with an annoying brusqueness, the creature plopped off of Inuwa's arms and walked away, to Inuwa's chagrin.
With no chauffeur to guide him around the area, the soul sagged its shoulders and mimicked the motion of taking in a deep breath. Then, he walked in a random direction. Yet, it was not long before he came into contact with something. It was a leg. Feeling around, Inuwa tried to understand the parts of the leg, grasping at the straws that were his memory– to no avail.
He felt an intense void where what should've been common knowledge resided. Was it because he had no body? Without a brain, maybe he was unable to properly express his conscience.
The soul shook what it believed to be its head.
Then, it felt a movement.
Beyond Inuwa, a massive figure made its move. Inuwa's soul shuddered and buckled under an intense pressure that it didn't know was there. Then, it did something that Inuwa never would've expected. It spoke.
"Triangulating, Triangulating along the surging storms. Triangulating, Triangulating, a world devoid of norms. Triangulating, Triangulating, Bustling trade, commerce and violence. Triangulating, Triangulating, no penance repaid, the war is lost. There's nothing left to Triangulate. The shores have been invaded, populated, curated and now, rest the enslaved."
Was this a riddle? The soul that belonged to Inuwa began to sweat. Without the vast memories and experiences of the body that it resided in, what hope did it have in answering the riddle?
Or maybe, it didn't have to.
The soul did not have access to the same specific pieces of information that the body did, but it did have vast banks of words and knowledge. It just needed to recall it.
Triangles. Triangles. Triangles. Shores.
It was referencing a trade of sorts. Some sort of exchange. The soul didn't understand, but it didn't have to understand. That was because it felt inclined to travel somewhere already. It felt a yearning, a beckoning to assimilate within the robotic assembly line overhead. The pull was magnetic, attractive.
Therefore, it opted to follow the opposite of its instincts; it would travel in the opposite direction the assembly line was. With that notion in mind, Inuwa's soul travelled in that direction, wandering.
It continued travelling in that direction for what felt like hours. However, the soul had no perception of time. Instead, it relied upon fragments of unconscious memory to determine that fact.
Soon enough, Inuwa's soul encountered a natural barrier blocking it from venturing any further. It was a shoreline of some sort. Inuwa's soul didn't want to descend further than it already had from the fall it sustained from the assembly line of souls; as such, it walked along the coast sagely. At certain intervals, it would stretch out its arms as if reaching for something. Yet, that something wasn't there.
At some point, Inuwa's soul began to tire. The stresses it had undergone without being bound to a body had greatly stripped it of its energy. It didn't help that it was constantly using some form of energy in this space to navigate slightly better than before. As such, the soul of the boy did the last thing it could. It was an instinctual response, a core response, a natural response.
The soul decided to enter a state of slumber. To preserve itself? To regain energy? Who knows.
The soul was laid to rest for an unknown length of time. Beyond it, stars shifted, skies changed, worlds collided, asteroids connected, oceans shifted, storms blew, and lands shook. Yet, the soul remained, resting solemnly, softly, soundly. In this state, one would never begin to think the soul had belonged to a human. The innocence expressed in that state showcased a blanched excitement that only newly created souls or reincarnated ones could achieve.
Then, a shock jolted throughout the soul. Something had resounded through it. The soul itself felt different. There was some sort of energy resounding through it just like before, yet this time the soul was able to output even more.
In fact, it was able to output so much that it had gained sight. It could see in this space of red. However, it still lacked a mouth– and brain and tongue.
Navigating the space, Inuwa's soul finally found something of interest. It was a boat. Well, it wasn't entirely a boat, but that was what the soul believed it to be.
With the energetic and rough spirit of a young boy given freedom for the first time, the spirit clambered over to the boat, sometimes tripping and awkwardly shuffling but still with the alacrity of a child. It came into contact with many of the bug creatures.
Now that the soul could see the creatures properly, they looked rather cute. Even though they were bugs, they lacked any of the disturbing visceral parts such as claw-like mouths and stingers. They appealed to the soul so much that for a moment– it felt like its instinct was replaced with the desire to pick one up and cradle it like a newborn.
However, it resisted.
The soul decided to sit on top of the highest point on the ship. From there, it could see all that the land and seas held. Which, unfortunately, was not much. The land wasn't decorated or made up with features like rivers or mountains. Instead, it was more of a flat, base red. If the soul had access to conscious memory, then it would have thought of the land as more of an imagination of a digital landscape from series like [ENA].
Even though there was no such thing as 'wind' in the area, with a gust, a force compelled the boat towards a random direction. Inuwa's soul started. It was finally going to find what it desired– and not what was compelling it.
The sea remained calm. The creatures aboard the boat wriggled and pulsated out of an unknown feeling to the soul of Inuwa. They vibrated along as if they were particles in a physics engine.
Even though the boat was clearly moving, there was not even a subtle movement that Inuwa's soul could discern at the bottom of the boat. It was as if they weren't moving at all and were actually suspended in air.
Instinctively, the soul jumped down from its position. Then, with a terrifying intuition, it peered underneath the hull of the still moving ship. Even though it was consumed by the 'waves', it wasn't drowning, nor was its moves inhibited. In fact, even though the seas themselves were hazy, it felt not a single strain upon its eyes. As such, investigating the depths, it discovered something.
A horrifying mass of tentacles had suspended the ark. It had held them up as if they were used by a ventriloquist. Peering even further below, a deep yellow reflected at the soul. It was the first thing that Inuwa's soul saw that wasn't red. This creature– it was special.
The soul's eyes went as wide as dinner plates upon this realisation.
Then, with a colossal swish of its tentacle, the creature launched upon Inuwa's soul. Inuwa's soul barely had the thought to muster a counter before it was dragged down into the depths, suspended like a fly caught in the web of a spider.
Struggling, the spirit was slammed into the seabed with an astounding force. Enough to cause pain to resound through its being.
With desperation and an unwillingness to be destroyed, Inuwa's soul opted to roll out of the intense grip of the tentacle. Tapping into [????], strength welled up within, and it had procured what it needed to successfully escape the assembly line of spirits.
As such, it clutched onto the tentacle like it was a giant plush. It also suspended the tentacle in place. Then, with intense strength, Inuwa's soul managed to escape.
Quickly and seamlessly, the spirit launched off from the seabed. It swam with an intense speed, trying to meet with the head of the creature. Its form was cloaked in a wafting white as a trail trickled behind it like the smoke from a humidifier.
The liquid engulfing it lacked tension, so it was able to maintain even higher speeds. As it zoomed upwards from the sea, it came face to face with the creature. An energy seemed to come off the creature. It was like it was about ready to explode with some force.
Furiously, the creature swung another tentacle at Inuwa's soul. Yet, this time Inuwa's soul swiftly avoided it. Instead, it zoomed directly towards the source of energy, directly towards the point where all seemed to flow.
Desperately, tentacles lashed out before Inuwa, attempting to restrict his soul. Yet, he ducked, weaved and soared through thousands. No longer would it be restricted, no longer would it follow the assembly line. No longer would it be alone.
With that idea, cemented within the deep caverns of experiences, potential and strength, Inuwa's soul arrived at the seabed once again.
There, it peered at the bottom of the creature. The creature appeared to be stuck in some type of hole. Intuitively, the soul understood that. Therefore, it made a choice. With one animated movement, it wedged itself in between the bottom of the creature and what appeared to be the hole.
It then pushed– and pushed. For dear life, it pushed against all the restrictions, all the trials, all the tribulations, for its death and its eventual rebirth; it pushed. Then, with a squeaky pop. The soul disappeared into an abyss of nothingness.