The Invincible Hero - Chapter 98

Three wizened old figures and a young woman walk slowly away from Big O Wall Town. Big O Wall Town is known for being one of the few towns near a wall so tall and big that no one can see its end. From the ground, it seems like it extends forever into the infinite void of space.

The four people walk slowly, step by step, up to the wall. The young woman with her armed hooked into the arm of one of the men helps him walk slowly forward. The three old people struggle to avoid tripping over the rugged terrain. Rocks of all sizes are spread throughout the dust-covered landscape.

Throughout the long trek, not a single word is said between the four people. After nearly three hours of walking due to frequent breaks and slow walking, they arrive next to the wall. All four people stop to look at the wall. All three old people hunch over each using canes to help them move forward. The tallest of the three is a grizzled old man with dark almost black skin and white hair. An ancient woman stands next to him holding his arm to both keep him from falling over and herself. Her skin is nearly as dark as the old man and her face is filled with as many wrinkles as the old man.

The final old man who is being escorted by the young woman slowly turns his head away from the wall and looks to the woman who looks to be in her early thirties. His greying eyes filled with cataracts takes her in for a long time.

“I guess this is it, we should leave soon,” he said.

“Lorne, are you sure you want to do this?” she asks.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us Su Ming?” he responds.

“We’ve talked about this, the children and grandchildren and all the great great great grandchildren are here. I can’t leave them,” She responds.

“You’re right, we’ve talked about this, I can’t sit still any longer. I thought all I wanted was to settle down and spend eternity with my friends and family. As it turns out, I’m bored to death!” Lorne says to his wife.

“So you’re just going to leave me here,” she said.

“No, of course not, I’ll still be here,” he responded.

“You mean your clone will be here,” she says.

“My clone is me, same body same soul, same memories, and all four of my bodies can communicate with one another,” he said.

“If you and your clone are the same then why don’t you send the clone adventuring and you stay here,” she said.

“Here we go again,” Tower, the other old man said under his breath.

“She has a point you know,” B’wriri responded.

“Boys against girls again,” he said.

“No, right opinions versus wrong opinions,” she responded.

Finally, the entire group broke into a full argument over whether Lorne should send his clone or go directly with his original soul. This argument was had over and over again for the last few hundred years. Ever since Lorne decided to continue his adventuring, he wanted to do it with his original soul and not the clones he made using the clone stones.

There was no right or wrong answer in this debate only who was going to be more willful. Lorne won and he forced his wife to accept his decision because he was going to do it no matter what. What could she do, she felt bitter about all of this. She was right, what’s the difference between him going versus the clone? If he cared about her feelings why not send the clone?

“Look, we’ve had this argument for the last few hundred years and I’m not going to change my mind. I’ve aged this body to the point of dying of old age so it’s too late now,” Lorne concluded.

“Why did you age your body, why not just shoot yourself in the head,” she asked.

“Suicide harms my karmic ratings and would negatively impact my reincarnation options. To maximize the benefits of reincarnation, this body must die of old age. Let’s stop arguing sweetheart, please. I don’t have long. I’ll be dead in just a few minutes. Can’t we see each other with sweet words?” he asked.

“I’m surprised your uncle isn’t here for this,” Su Ming said while changing the subject.

“He’s off on his adventures. I told him he should do what he wanted and he did just that. At least he came and gave me some information about the wall and did some preliminary updates to the Samsara pods. Speaking of which, did everyone set their reincarnation settings to local?” Lorne asked.

“Yes,” both B’wiri and Tower responded.

“Excellent, excellent,” he said to his friends.

“The children will miss you,” Su Ming said to her husband.

“No they won’t, I’m still here for them, but I understand. I’ll miss you. You’re the wife I’ve been with the longest, I’m going to miss you,” he said.

“Enough not to get married again?” she asked.

“Stop it, come on give me a kiss before I’m off,” he said as he deflected her question.

“I don’t like kissing old you, it’s weird, but since is the last time…” she leaned over and gently kissed her husband on the lips and stood back.

Tower and B’wiri said their goodbyes to Su Ming as well. They formed a tight-knit family over the last few hundred years and they would miss Su Ming as much as they would miss their children. Su Ming was like their sister. Their clones would also remain behind, but as much as Lorne said otherwise, there was a difference between main souls and the souls of the clones.

Suddenly, Lorne winced in pain.

“Oh, here it comes, I guess this is it! Take this body back and tell my clone to add it to the collection. I love you, sweetheart!”

With those words, Lorne collapsed to the ground and breathed his last breath. A few minutes later, Tower and B’wiri followed him.