Today's #flashfiction #EdwinNumber123ExistenceNumber124561000

“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't watching you.”

Big Brother* #quote

“What are we going to do this weekend Langdon?”

“Why the same thing we do every weekend you come over CJ...TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!”

Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Edwin Number 132, Existence Number 124,561,000

          Edwin lived as a space soldier fighting the vile aliens of the Yoreln Empire to save Earth. His comrades didn't see his face as a thick, black visor on a large, cloud white helmet covered it. His armor shared the same color as his helmet and both thin and flexible but hard and strong as steel thanks to advanced technology. He carried a gun that could transform into various other weapons if he plugged it into the proper ports he could find on various things like ally tanks.

          He now stood with some comrades ready to attack an alien base. The aliens feared Edwin, but merely were acquainted with the 131 Edwins that came before him. Though Edwin supposedly experienced many battles, this would be his first. The other ones died in previous fights. Edwin knew the difficulty of this battle, the chance of him coming out alive ranged between ten and fifteen percent. Thankfully the one controlling him possessed at least some skill. He lived in Existence  Number 124,561,000. The next one over, 124,561,001, five hundred Edwins already died for the war.

        So many game overs, so many resets. Hopefully the Edwin's player would guide him through the level successfully. Reaching the endgame and the end of the story would allow Edwin to ascend the scenario and his soul would no longer be needed. But dying here led to a different afterlife. Reincarnation in some other Existence. Maybe in a parallel where he would no longer be an Edwin.  Maybe he would even be one of the aliens. That could wind up being very painful.

       The battle began. Edwin did have faith in his player despite the difficulty in the scenarios of his Existence. But something felt off. He moved differently than he did normally. Very sloppily.  Uncoordinated. Immediately he saw mistakes and his armor began taking damage from alien attacks.  Surely the player wouldn't make so many errors? A recovery must be eminent. Edwin survived so many levels with this player after he made all the mistakes with the previous ones and learned how to play. What went wrong?

     As the assault went on and Edwin's armor grew weaker and weaker and he noticed more and more how awkward his movements became he realized the truth: someone else had been given a turn playing. Eventually the aliens overtook him and Edwin number 133 came into this Existence.