Then other things began penetrating. Outside the window were stars and galaxies, not as if in a night sky. He passed a moon close enough that he thought he might have been able to jump from the train and land on it.
Then there were the passengers. Quite a few of them had those blue glowing balls of foxfire. Some had batwings. Some had white feathered wings. Some were clearly nonhuman.
"Mister Saotome?" asked someone.
"Hah?" asked Ranma, looking up to find someone staring down at him. Looked like a typical Japanese businessman. "Yeah?"
"Oh good," said the businessman, choosing a seat nearby. "Do you know why you're here, Mister Saotome?"
"Ah, no," admitted Ranma, noticing he was kind of transparent.
"You're dead, Mister Saotome," said the businessman. "Oh, and I'm a spirit guide by the way."
The overhead crackled. "The Great Preserve. Next Stop. The Great Preserve."
"Uhm," said Ranma, looking through his transparent hand. "Okay. How did I die?"
"Don't remember, Mister Saotome?" The businessman nodded at that as he sat down. "It happens. Lots of people have fairly traumatic deaths and it tends to leave them confused when they appear here."
The train seemed to go into a tunnel and then emerged in a place where a deep blue sky was lit by two suns. Thick jungle gave way to flat grasslands with snow-capped mountains in the background.
Ranma just looked around as the train pulled into a station. "What's this?"
"A destination," said the spirit guide. "My name's Susanoo, by the way."
"THE Susanoo?" asked Ranma.
"No, not hardly," said Susanoo.
"So am I supposed to get off here?" asked Ranma, looking out at the greenery.
"No, this is not your stop, Mister Saotome," said Susanoo, looking at a device like a palm pilot crossed with a hairy artichoke. "Here we go, let me see. Oh, you DID have some karma problems, didn't you?"
"That doesn't sound good," said Ranma.
"Oh, but you have several notes in here about extenuating circumstances," said Susanoo.
"Well, that's better," admitted Ranma as the train began moving again.
"However, it does say here that you've created great mental and emotional suffering," said Susanoo. "Did you really have this many fiancees?"
"Probably," said Ranma, watching the jungles and grasslands vanish after another tunnel.
The overhead crackled again. "Eternal Agony And Suffering. Next Stop. EAS."
"That's not..." asked Ranma.
"Do you honestly believe you deserve that, Mister Saotome?" asked Susanoo.
"No?" asked Ranma.
"Well, neither do those who have reviewed your file," said Susanoo.
"So, those are afterlives?" guessed Ranma. "The stations?"
"Very good, Mister Saotome," said Susanoo. "Clearly at least one reviewer underestimated you."
"Yeah, well, lots of people do," said Ranma. "Uhm, how many of these stations are there?"
"I could tell you, Mister Saotome, but your frame of reference probably wouldn't allow you to grasp it," said Susanoo. "Hmmm. Ah, you had a rival making death threats repeatedly, but you eventually got him past that and did what you could to set him up with a destined love," said Susanoo. He smiled at Ranma. "That made you quite a few points right there."
"Oh, good," said Ranma.
The overhead crackled again. "Eternal Agony And Suffering. Next Stop. EAS."
Ranma was quiet again as they went into another tunnel and came out in what seemed to be active volcanoes and glittering shards of rock.
When the train came to a stop here, he noticed something. "People get off the train, but nobody gets on."
"That must mean something," said Susanoo. "Oh dear. Destroyed people's honor. Repeatedly using people for momentary pleasure and your own ego stroking. Oh, that cost you a few points."
"Is that... screaming?" asked Ranma, listening at the window.
"Best not to listen too long, Mister Saotome," said Susanoo. "Besides, those who end up here can't be rehabilitated. The roots of their sins run too deep."
The train began moving again. Not before Ranma thought he saw things like cats crossed with spiders or something going after those who had disembarked.
"So, uhm, where am I getting off?" asked Ranma.
"Ah, that is the question, isn't it?" said Susanoo.
"Galaxy Crucible. Next Stop. Galaxy Crucible."
"There?" asked Ranma.
"No, Mister Saotome, there's a problem with your file," said Susanoo. "Some of the higher ups have requested you be given a 'redo'."
"A do-over?" asked Ranma. "You can do that?"
"Me? No. I'm just a spirit guide, Mister Saotome. Which is another destination altogether," said Susanoo. "Actually, you're the first I've seen get one of those."
"Oh," said Ranma. "So, how do I keep things from going the same way?"
"It's very simple, Mister Saotome," said the Guide.
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(Posted Mon, 28 Aug 2006 05:44)
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