So Luke was telling the truth.
That was all Tommy was thinking about now.
At this moment, he was no longer on the street from before. Well, he wasn't even on earth to be honest. The place he was now was a completely empty black space and deprived of any light source.
The only light of the environment was provided by a semi-transparent and incredibly bright blue screen. But this brightness didn't bother Tommy, he was already used to this whole situation.
After all, it wasn't the first time that... well, it wasn't the first time he died.
I don't know what's more impressive, the fact that there really is a creature in the city or the fact that Luke told one truth for the first time in their lives. Maybe both.
An unexpected situation for sure, but nothing out of the ordinary. Well, nothing out of the ordinary for me.
But I think I should explain better what's going on. Not that anyone is really listening to me now, but I kind of like talking to myself.
My name is Thomas Grimm, but my family and friends just call me Tommy. I'm 13 years old, I'll be 14 in a few months. I started middle school a short time ago. I have 2 younger siblings and 1 older sister, and I live with them with my parents and my cousin.
And I'm also an ability user.
I a person who, due to many mystical and genetic factors that haven't been explained very well, was born with something that was formerly called superpowers, supernatural abilities that few people had in the past.
Nowadays these skills are even very common, but this is not important now.
And what would be my ability? Briefly, immortality.
This was too vague for my taste, so I'll explain better.
Do you know those save states you do whenever you play a game? You know, those things that prevent you from being forced to repeat the whole game? Well, my power is essential that.
There are several save points scattered throughout the city, and perhaps around the world. These save points, which by the way only I can see, have the shape of small bright and yellow stars. Using these stars, I establish a fixed point in time to which I can return whenever I want.
... This got too complicated for my taste.
Briefly, whenever I die, I can use a "save" that I did earlier to return to this same point in time and avoid my death. That way, I'm virtually immortal. Not that anyone knows that.
Whenever I die, I always end up returning to this place, this strange black space. I know I'm not alive, but also technically I'm not dead yet, so I like to think it's a kind of afterlife, no matter how strange it is.
And besides me, the only thing in this space is this bright screen. It is always here when I arrive, thus becoming the only immutable detail of this place.
And what's on the screen? Information about me.
This screen is like a personal profile of mine. It contains some basic information about me.
[ Thomas " Tommy " Grimm ]
[ Age: 13 years old ]
[Sign: Gemini]
[ Current status: dead ]
This was the information that was at the top of the screen. Basic information about me that most people I know may already know.
It wasn't relevant information, so let's ignore it.
[ Deaths: 43 ]
Deaths represents the number of times I've died up to this date. Before it was 42, but after my most recent death, now it's 43.
Some may even wonder how someone who is not even 15 years old has been able to die more than 30 times. Well, the great truth is that for a few years, when I discovered that I had this strange ability, I kept abusing this power and putting myself in various situations where I died, only to come back and repeat the process again.
Honestly, it used to be fun. Knowing that I could die and even so, I would come back without any kind of sequel. Today, this is just common for me.
And also, everyone has gone through a few or several near-death situations throughout their lives. So the number of times I died may be lower than the number of times someone almost died.
[DT: 46/46]
DT is the only thing I still don't understand on this screen. I know it's related to me because it's present on a screen with things about me, but I still don't really understand what it means.
All I know is that "DT" stands for determination.
Maybe it symbolizes my willpower, faith, or maybe even hope? If so, then why is it being quantified? As far as I know, the things mentioned above do not have a unit of measurement.
Maybe a second ability of mine? Nowadays it is not strange to find ability users with more than one skill. It's not that common, but it's also not as rare as it used to be.
[Saves]
[ February 15/ 6:30 A. M/ Tommy's Room ]
[ February 15/ 3:10 P.M/ school library door ]
[ February 15/ 6:32 P.M/ dark alley ]
These are my saves. Perhaps the most important part of my power. Saves are fixed points in time that I created using the save points that I mentioned earlier, and that I can access and use whenever I die.
And as I also said before, these save points are scattered around every corner imaginable. There is one inside my room, another that was inside the trash can next to the library doors and another that was inside the dark alley that I passed before I died.
Whenever I die, I can choose which of these points to return to, and everything happens exactly as it happened before my death, unless I actively do something that changes the original events.
Curiously, whenever I die, before coming here where this screen is, another screen always appears asking me if I want to continue. If I choose yes, I'll come here. If I answer no...
I don't know, I never chose "no" before. I think if I choose not, I die. Die for real.
Well, at least one day when I am old or when I simply give up on living, I know I will be able to rest in peace.
But let's not think about it now.
Time to come back from the dead.
In the blink of an eye, Tommy was back at the library doors, right next to the trash can.
"Normal" Tommy said to himself before checking the time on the phone.
3:10 P.M. The same time as before. Everything is completely normal.
"Well, I think I'm not going to the club today," Tommy said turning around and starting to move away from the library. "I think Mr. Deeds will forgive me anyway"
Knowing that the creature probably only attacked him because he went home late, the best option was to return home early.