CHAPTER 2

"My name is Maggie, and my associate here is Carlos. We will be handling the registration process. Do you all have the same surname?"

"Yes, it's Nakamura," Kari replied. "I am Kari, the other girl is Hana, and the boy is Sota."

"Very well. Please write those names down in these spaces, as well as your dates of birth."

The comforting atmosphere of the consultation room did little to alleviate the tension between the two workers seated behind a large white desk and the three apprehensive children squirming on the soft beige couch, huddled around the electronic tablet.

"Now pass that around and place your hand in the square next to your name, so your handprint will be on file with us. This will be used to identify you throughout this world."

Kari added hers, then guided Sota's hand to the square next to his name. She then handed the tablet to Hana, who pressed her hand to the screen and then handed the device back to Maggie.

"Very good, you are all now in our system!" Maggie set the tablet aside and smiled gently at the three children as Carlos continued to work at the computer terminal. "Now... I know this is going to be hard for the three of you to understand, but please listen. You are all here because... something happened that ended your lives in the world you were in. I'm terribly sorry that this happened to you.

"This is what we call a 'between-life world', or 'BLW'. There are different kinds of these worlds for different people. You ended up in this BLW because of how young you were at the end of your life, and the architects of this world designed it so that you can do almost anything that you were unable to do in your life, so that your self-fulfillment may be complete and you have no regrets before you pass on to whatever's next. This is not meant to be a world that you can live in for eternity, but you are able to stay here for a maximum of one hundred years from the date of entry.

"This BLW was specifically designed for young children. If your sister Yuri died as well, she would end up in a different BLW that was meant for her and other kids her age. There are a few exceptions, but generally those older than thirteen years of age are not targeted for this world."

"So we won't see Mom or Dad or Yuri-san ever again?" Sota, on the verge of tears, could barely get the words out.

Maggie rose from the desk and swiftly walked over to the couch to comfort Sota and the others. "I know it's hard to take... I know you loved your parents and your sister very much... and who knows, maybe once you leave this world you'll be able to see them again. Nobody knows exactly what's beyond our existence, but this world was put here to give troubled souls another chance to finish whatever goals they had in their natural lives before moving on."

"The good news is... you are unable to die here. You will regain your consciousness and your health in a matter of seconds," Carlos chimed in. "The bad news? Well, you are still able to feel pain in your bodies. While this world is free of disease, and your bodies are restored to perfection, you'll still get a stomachache if you eat or drink too much. That's why we still warn you against doing anything too risky. While you won't die because of anything you do, it'll still hurt for a bit."

"And while you are free to do anything here, we still have rules against harming other people," said Maggie. "Everything in this world is under watchful eyes. Bullying or other forms of unwanted violence are quickly dealt with. We have people you can talk to if you ever feel like lashing out at somebody.

"Everything you ever wanted is free, but if you feel better about actually paying for something, we can still give you money and nobody will tell you how much something is. And you can sleep anywhere you want... in a house, in a hotel, on the street, in a park, at school, on a mountain, anywhere. Nobody will stop you... unless you're at school in the middle of class, you might get scolded for that."

"And about the schools here," Carlos interjected, "you're welcome to go, but you don't have to, you won't get in trouble for not going. The schools are here for those kids who wanted to meet some sort of school goal, such as graduate, get their intended degree, win a game, make the perfect science fair project, and so on. You still have to follow the school's rules, though, if you decide to go there. But the good thing is, the rules will be different from school to school. We even have a school where anything goes, nothing is too weird and aside from the bullying thing, there's no strict rules."

That lifted Hana's spirits a little. From the time she started primary school, she was disheartened by all the rules she had to get used to, the constant nagging about keeping her uniform neat and tucked in, getting chastised for not paying attention or not staying still. But she still had a love for learning and didn't want to ditch school altogether. The thought of an extremely laid-back school life brought a faint smile to her face.

"Is this something you're interested in?" Carlos asked as he noticed that smile.

"I... would like to go outside and see this world," Hana replied. "Do you want to go for a walk?" she asked her other two siblings, who nodded, their faces still tear-streaked.

Maggie stood up. "Yes, let's get some fresh air. Time to see what awaits you."

The five of them made the journey down the corridor into a courtyard of colorful walkways and all kinds of exotic plants. A wide fountain occupied the center of the courtyard, adorned by a tall sculpture of several angels holding urns that either poured out or sprayed water. Straight ahead was a crystal-clear lake buffeted by a white sand beach full of activity. To the left was the entrance to a massive amusement park. Between the amusement park and the lake was a tall, ornate luxury hotel with what appeared to be a thousand rooms. And on the right was an expansive transportation hub, with several rail terminals, bus stops, bike racks and a parking garage for cars.

A glistening city skyline in front of a snow-capped mountain range could be seen in the distance beyond the hub. The rich blue sky was dotted with a sun and some small clouds. A small storm system could be seen in the distance past the lake.

Children were everywhere. Running, playing, on bikes, on roller skates, sleeping on benches, sleeping in the grass, wading and swimming in the fountain, or just sitting and admiring the scenery.

Kari was surprised to see so many adults interspersed among the throngs of children. She turned to Carlos and asked him, "Didn't you say not many adults made it to this world?"

"That is correct," Carlos replied. "But keep in mind, not every adult you see here is a genuine human being with a soul."

A confused look took over Kari's face. "What...?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer any more questions. We must go back and assist other new arrivals like yourselves. The tour guides in the courtyard will be able to help you with any other questions you have. Please feel free to call on them."

"Enjoy your stay!" Maggie shouted as the two of them walked back into the Welcome Center building.

Kari waved nervously to them, and turned to face her siblings.

"Well... what do we do now?"

"I want to see what's at the amusement park!" exclaimed Hana. "Do you want to go there, little brother?"

Sota nodded, and his face managed a small grin.

I still want to know about the adults without souls, but I guess some fun is what we could use right now, thought Kari. "I'm cool with that. Let's go!"