[ WP ] After dying , God asks you : `` So , how was heaven ? ''

The light was the first thing I noticed, before the voice that is, it was almost blinding when I finally came to. 
 
 `` Do n't worry, you'll get used to the light again.'' 
 
 I shook my head as my eyes grew accustomed to the light. I was n't sure where exactly I was, or how I got here, but I did remember dying. Or at least, it felt like death. You know, I had my whole family there. I was old, living out my final days in the comfort of my childhood home. My kids were there, and so were their kids, and even a few of my great-grandchildren. I had lived a good life. 
 
 `` He's reliving his last moments,'' a second voice said. It was feminine, unlike the first. 
 
 `` That's normal. Open the pod.'' 
 
 There was a light hissing sound as, what I realized was clear glass, opened in front of me. The room around was artificial, I knew that, but it was almost too artificial. Like it was made up in some lab a thousand miles away, never to be touched by mankind. 
 
 I finally saw who the two voices belonged to. The second was a female, as I assumed. She stood tall, posture was perfect, and her hair looked just like my daughters. Wanda. That was her name, I *knew* it. 
 
 The first voice was a man who looked old but had to be thirty years my younger. Or, was he my younger? I looked at my hands, my eyes drifting between the man's long grey beard and my own hands. They were n't wrinkly anymore. No, they were soft and *calloused*. I nodded. 
 
 `` How was Heaven?'' 
 
 I almost laughed at God's comment, that was n't his *actual* name, that's just what everyone called him around here. He was the Creator and the Savior, and just about everything in between. 
 
 `` Better,'' I finally managed to croak out, my voice was coarse. From the pod, the fluids they fed me, I remembered that too. `` I made it to ninety-seven.'' I coughed a bit, thick pockets of dried phlegm coming out of the back of my throat. 
 
 `` We watched your progress. A perfect run.'' 
 
 I agreed. `` I can do better. Next time I go in.'' 
 
 Wanda sighed at the comment and then I remembered. 
 
 My eyes shut and my hands found their way to my face. I rubbed at it, trying to get the feeling back, trying to make my brain work again. `` What'd you learn?'' 
 
 `` We threw everything we could at Heaven this time, tried to find what failed here. Unfortunately, your path as a Doctor and not a Politician as we agreed did n't help much.'' 
 
 `` I had limited options with the background you gave me.'' 
 
 God waved his hands, `` All part of the test, which you did pass by the way.'' 
 
 I reached for the towel Wanda was now handing me. One of the downsides to our home was the cold, and the fact that you had to be naked going in the pod. I cleaned myself off before stepping out and heading towards my locker. 
 
 `` How'd the others do?'' 
 
 `` Seven were successful, including you,'' Wanda said. She was reading from her clipboard, I knew that. `` Thirteen failed. Three critical. One death.'' 
 
 I shuddered, one of the downsides of Heaven, if you died there from causes not specifically coded, you had trouble getting *back*. `` Who?'' 
 
 `` I think you need rest before we debrief you, L.'' 
 
 I turned back to them and threw on my jumpsuit, a dark crimson color, to denote my status as God's second. `` Who?'' 
 
 God sighed, `` Jasper. He died in the war that plagued your nation, complications arose when we tried to wake him. He never came to.'' 
 
 I sighed, Jasper was a great solider, servant, and a better friend. I would miss him deeply. `` So, what did you learn? I have one KIA, three in critical, and nine fails. I want some answers.'' 
 
 Wanda shook her head, `` Unfortunately, we do n't have many. We attributed some of the pitfalls to the aspects of humanity of the time. Others to random factors.'' 
 
 `` That's it?'' I petitioned, `` *Random* factors?'' 
 
 God took my shoulder, `` Yes. In the end, a world with free will,'' he sighed, `` it will always have chaos. The necessity of man, to say the least.'' 
 
 I shook my head, `` Then how do you fix that? Free will, I mean, you found everything on that belief. All of us here do.'' 
 
 God turned to Wanda, who smiled for a moment, `` We have one solution as of now. For the next phase.'' 
 
 I raised an eyebrow, `` You're going ahead with it? The Creation?'' 
 
 God nodded, `` I am. After millennia of searching for answers, after thousands of iterations of heavens, fallen children, your brothers and sisters.'' 
 
 I held up my hand and nodded. I remembered. Every single day I remembered. Their names, their faces. Everything about them. 
 
 `` I am splitting us up.'' 
 
 I looked back to God, `` You're doing what?'' 
 
 Wanda chimed in, `` In all of our ideas. We had the Creation and we had us, here. We feed the Creation what it needs and they eventually come back to us. However,'' Wanda took a deep breath, `` however, sometimes it fails. In worse ways than just death.'' 
 
 `` How?'' 
 
 `` We lose every essence of the one we sent in.'' God shook his head, `` I will not allow that.'' 
 
 `` So how do you fix it while maintaining free will?'' 
 
 `` We create a third plane of existence. One the Created would come to fear.'' 
 
 I raised an eyebrow, `` Fear?'' 
 
 God nodded, `` Yes. In that plane, they would be judged and sentenced. It would be for all who do not fulfill their life's purpose. For those who need more time.'' 
 
 I nodded, `` So the Judgement is made, they do the punishment and then go back?'' 
 
 `` Yes, and they keep trying. Again and again.'' 
 
 `` Until it works,'' Wanda finished. `` I already ran the diagnostics with the other engineers. It will work.'' 
 
 `` Who decides the Judgement?'' 
 
 God lowered his head, `` You will.'' 
 
 I stepped back, `` *What*?'' 
 
 `` Wanda, a moment,'' God ordered and she did n't hesitate. She left the room almost immediately and God turned back to me. `` You are my most-trusted asset. My greatest Creation. For that, you must lead the plane that the other Created will fear.'' 
 
 `` You want me to go in a plane not created? You want me to create another?'' 
 
 `` Yes. Until the Created are ready, I need a second guide.'' 
 
 I shook my head, `` I did my time. My penance is done. I proved it time and time again in Heaven.'' 
 
 `` It is why I chose you and not another.'' God grabbed both my arms, `` Lucifer. You must fall, so your brothers and sisters can rise again. They are stuck, their minds, their souls, in that plane. The millions that exist there *can* exist here again.'' God sighed, `` But I need you to guide them.'' 
 
 I lowered my head, `` How long?'' 
 
 `` As long as it takes them to redeem themselves.'' 
 
 `` Will you help me?'' 
 
 `` I taught you all there is to know about the Existent Planes already. It is up to you to create one they will fear.'' 
 
 I stared at the ground, my heart pumped fast and my eyes grew heavy. The responsbility was overwhelming, but it was not something I could refuse. I nodded. `` Okay.'' I looked back at him, `` I will fall for them.'' 
 
 God smiled, and so did I, `` Then let's get started.'' 
 
 ______ 
 *Not exactly the direction you might have imagined, but it's just what came from the prompt. Hope you enjoyed and /r/BlankPagesEmptyMugs has more of my work! * 
 
 *Oh woah, this blew up overnight. I'm going to try and skim through my inbox here. Thank you everyone for the kind comments! And of course, thank you to whoever gilded the story!: D* 
 
 *This has officially become my highest voted story. Thank you everyone! * 
 
 **A second gild! Thank you! Also, thank you to everyone who read and shared comments. I really appreciate it. If I do continue it, it will be over at my subreddit. Although, a continuation may take a few days. **
