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\u00c7a y est ! C\u2019est en train d\u2019arriver\u2026 je suis en train de mourir, pensai-je alors que la douleur s\u2019arr\u00eata. \u00c0 cet instant, tout me revint ; toute une vie de souvenirs, clairs comme de l\u2019eau de roche.<\/p>\n
Il n\u2019y avait plus de temps, et m\u00eame s\u2019il y en avait, ce n\u2019\u00e9tait plus important ; le temps \u00e9tait imperceptible. Je revivais ma vie comme un observateur. Une pens\u00e9e me traversa l\u2019esprit : Leurs visages, leurs corps, les v\u00eatements qu\u2019ils portaient \u2014 tout \u00e9tait d\u2019une nettet\u00e9 incroyable. J\u2019avais entendu dire que certaines personnes avaient une m\u00e9moire eid\u00e9tique, des g\u00e9nies sans doute, ce que je n\u2019\u00e9tais certainement pas ; bien au contraire. En fait, j\u2019oubliais les visages, et lorsque je croisais quelqu\u2019un de ravi de me revoir, je devais simuler que moi aussi je me souvenais de lui. J\u2019avais d\u00e9velopp\u00e9 une technique pour les inciter \u00e0 me raconter quelque chose que nous avions fait ensemble et, d\u00e8s qu\u2019ils mentionnaient un souvenir, tout me revenait : les conversations, les moments partag\u00e9s, tout. J\u2019avais une excellente m\u00e9moire pour tout sauf les visages. Maintenant, dans mon \u00e9tat immat\u00e9riel, je reconnaissais tout le monde et je me souvenais de tout ce que nous avions dit et fait. C\u2019\u00e9tait limpide.<\/p>\n Combien de temps cela m\u2019a-t-il pris pour revivre les moments importants de ma vie ? Aucune id\u00e9e. \u00c0 un moment, j\u2019ai regard\u00e9 autour de moi et j\u2019ai vu mon corps sans vie, et la carcasse de la voiture sur le bord de la route. J\u2019ai vu les gens arr\u00eater leur voiture et venir m\u2019aider. Puis il y eut l\u2019ambulance et les voitures de patrouille ; je les ai observ\u00e9s me sortir de la voiture et, lorsque l\u2019ambulance est partie avec mon corps, j\u2019ai flott\u00e9 au-dessus d\u2019elle et je l\u2019ai suivie jusqu\u2019\u00e0 l\u2019h\u00f4pital. C\u2019\u00e9tait sans effort, et j\u2019ai compris que je pouvais aller bien plus vite si je le voulais, mais je n\u2019en ressentais pas le besoin ; je me sentais merveilleux, sans souci, calme, heureux. J\u2019ai suivi mon corps jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la chambre froide. Je me doutais qu\u2019ils appelleraient ma femme pour qu\u2019elle vienne remplir les papiers pour la disposition du corps. Nous en avions parl\u00e9 et d\u00e9cid\u00e9 qu\u2019il n\u2019\u00e9tait pas utile de le mettre dans un cercueil au cimeti\u00e8re o\u00f9 personne ne viendrait, sauf peut-\u00eatre pour les premi\u00e8res comm\u00e9morations. Ma femme et moi avions d\u00e9cid\u00e9 que, l\u2019un comme l\u2019autre, nous serions simplement incin\u00e9r\u00e9s et que nos cendres seraient dispers\u00e9es en for\u00eat.<\/p>\n En attendant l\u2019arriv\u00e9e de mon amour, je n\u2019avais rien \u00e0 faire, alors je me promenais et me suis arr\u00eat\u00e9 aux urgences o\u00f9 ils tentaient de sauver cinq personnes. Deux d\u2019entre elles \u00e9taient de jeunes enfants, et deux adultes devaient \u00eatre leurs parents. Le petit gar\u00e7on est mort, et je l\u2019ai vu sortir de son corps. \u00c0 ce moment-l\u00e0, un mur de lumi\u00e8re \u00e9trange et attirant est apparu, et son \u00e2me y a disparu rapidement.<\/p>\n J\u2019\u00e9tais moi aussi tr\u00e8s attir\u00e9 par ce mur de lumi\u00e8re, qui semblait m\u2019attendre, mais j\u2019ai h\u00e9sit\u00e9. J\u2019avais pass\u00e9 beaucoup de temps \u00e0 r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir au sens de la vie et \u00e0 ce que je voudrais faire dans l\u2019au-del\u00e0. J\u2019en avais m\u00eame parl\u00e9 dans le prologue d\u2019une trilogie que j\u2019avais \u00e9crite des ann\u00e9es auparavant : Ghama-2, Une histoire d\u2019apr\u00e8s-vie<\/em>. \u00c0 cette \u00e9poque, je pensais qu\u2019il fallait d\u00e9cider \u00e0 l\u2019avance de ce que nous voulions faire apr\u00e8s la mort, et j\u2019avais l\u2019intuition que la plupart des gens n\u2019y r\u00e9fl\u00e9chissaient jamais. Je pensais aussi que nous \u00e9tions, comme tout dans l\u2019univers, faits d\u2019atomes eux-m\u00eames faits de particules plus petites, jusqu\u2019aux plus indivisibles, que j\u2019appelais les particules de Dieu<\/strong> \u2014 la trame de l\u2019univers.<\/p>\n J\u2019en \u00e9tais venu \u00e0 la conclusion que les \u00e2mes des gens qui ne d\u00e9cidaient pas \u00e0 l\u2019avance de leur sort post-mortem pouvaient \u00eatre simplement reprises par Dieu, assimil\u00e9es ! Ou, si Dieu se d\u00e9sint\u00e9ressait de certaines \u00e2mes, peut-\u00eatre les laissait-il aller o\u00f9 elles voulaient. Moi, je n\u2019\u00e9tais pas pr\u00eat pour Dieu, je n\u2019\u00e9tais pas pr\u00eat \u00e0 passer l\u2019\u00e9ternit\u00e9 dans un lieu merveilleux \u00e0 ne rien faire ; j\u2019avais tant de choses \u00e0 accomplir avant cela.<\/p>\n Pendant que j\u2019h\u00e9sitais, je me suis demand\u00e9 ce qu\u2019il advenait des gens mauvais. Ce gar\u00e7on \u00e9tait manifestement innocent, un bon enfant, et le mur de lumi\u00e8re avait accueilli son \u00e2me. Il m\u2019\u00e9tait offert \u00e0 moi aussi, et j\u2019avais encore le choix. C\u2019\u00e9tait comme si la volont\u00e9 de Dieu me disait : \u00ab Viens \u00e0 moi si tu le souhaites. \u00bb<\/p>\n Mais qu\u2019en est-il des criminels, des abjects, de ceux qui battent leur femme, leur enl\u00e8vent leur libert\u00e9, les r\u00e9duisent \u00e0 un r\u00f4le secondaire et les forcent \u00e0 suivre des r\u00e8gles religieuses sous peine de mort ? Qu\u2019en est-il de ceux qui abusent de leur position pour \u00e9craser les autres ? Et des tueurs vicieux ? Et des fous ?<\/p>\n Les fous, probablement, seraient eux aussi assimil\u00e9s par Dieu, tout comme les enfants et les personnes qui n\u2019ont pas choisi. Les mauvais, eux, ne seraient sans doute pas repris par Dieu ; ils pourraient \u00eatre pris par des d\u00e9mons et projet\u00e9s dans un univers parall\u00e8le chaotique. Je ne voulais pas \u00eatre assimil\u00e9 par Dieu, ni me retrouver assis parmi des gens adorant Dieu pour l\u2019\u00e9ternit\u00e9 dans un \u00e9tat extatique. Je ne voulais pas non plus \u00eatre emport\u00e9 par des d\u00e9mons en enfer.<\/p>\n Toute ma vie, je m\u2019\u00e9tais pr\u00e9par\u00e9 \u00e0 ce moment ; j\u2019avais essay\u00e9 d\u2019\u00eatre une bonne personne et j\u2019avais d\u00e9couvert une r\u00e9compense imm\u00e9diate \u00e0 cela. Tr\u00e8s t\u00f4t, j\u2019avais compris qu\u2019on se sent bien quand on est fier de soi. Je regrettais toujours rapidement mes mauvaises actions et promettais \u00e0 chaque fois de ne plus recommencer. Parfois j\u2019\u00e9chouais, mais je redoublais d\u2019efforts. Gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 cela, je pensais ne rien avoir \u00e0 craindre des d\u00e9mons. Il y avait tant de choses que je voulais faire et que je n\u2019avais pas eu le temps de r\u00e9aliser dans ma courte vie, alors, j\u2019ai r\u00e9sist\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019appel du mur de lumi\u00e8re, et il a disparu.<\/p>\n Les trois autres sont morts \u00e0 leur tour, et \u00e0 chaque fois, la m\u00eame chose : l\u2019\u00e2me sortait du corps, un mur de lumi\u00e8re apparaissait, et l\u2019\u00e2me s\u2019y engouffrait.<\/p>\n Je me suis retrouv\u00e9 seul, comme un fant\u00f4me, dans l\u2019h\u00f4pital. J\u2019y suis rest\u00e9, attendant l\u2019arriv\u00e9e de ma femme pour l\u2019identification. Elle est venue deux jours plus tard, m\u2019a regard\u00e9, et s\u2019est mise \u00e0 pleurer. De la tristesse, du d\u00e9sespoir, de l\u2019anxi\u00e9t\u00e9, de la douleur \u00e9manaient d\u2019elle. J\u2019ai compris alors \u00e0 quel point elle m\u2019aimait. Je l\u2019aimais aussi, et je voulais la consoler, lui dire que j\u2019\u00e9tais l\u00e0. Alors je l\u2019ai enlac\u00e9e. Elle a senti ma pr\u00e9sence, je l\u2019ai vu \u00e0 sa r\u00e9action, m\u00eame si je ne pouvais physiquement la toucher. Je l\u2019ai simplement entour\u00e9e de mon \u00eatre et j\u2019ai essay\u00e9 de lui transmettre paix et r\u00e9confort.<\/p>\n Elle est partie, et je l\u2019ai suivie en voiture, puis jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la maison. Je suis rest\u00e9 l\u00e0 un moment. Les mois ont pass\u00e9 ; je ne comptais pas le temps. Je me sentais bien, d\u00e9tendu, sans besoin urgent. Je flottais dans la maison, regardant la t\u00e9l\u00e9 avec elle, l\u2019\u00e9coutant quand elle recevait des amis ou de la famille. Ma pr\u00e9sence n\u2019\u00e9tait pas pass\u00e9e inaper\u00e7ue ; Lise la ressentait et me parlait parfois. J\u2019aurais voulu qu\u2019elle m\u2019entende lui r\u00e9pondre, tant j\u2019avais de choses \u00e0 lui dire. J\u2019ai essay\u00e9 de lui envoyer des messages t\u00e9l\u00e9pathiques, sans succ\u00e8s ; je ne pouvais que lui transmettre mes \u00e9motions. Cela, elle les captait, mais aucun de mes mots.<\/p>\n Plus tard, elle a rencontr\u00e9 un homme bien, l\u2019a invit\u00e9 chez nous. Elle l\u2019aimait beaucoup, je le voyais, et sa vie prenait un nouveau tournant. Elle avait de nombreux amis, et je pensais qu\u2019elle n\u2019avait plus besoin que je hante la maison.<\/p>\n Au fil des mois, je suis devenu de plus en plus curieux du monde ext\u00e9rieur. Mon \u00e9tat de b\u00e9atitude, de bien-\u00eatre absolu, \u00e9tait toujours pr\u00e9sent, et je ne ressentais aucun besoin physique : ni faim, ni tristesse, ni regret. Je n\u2019\u00e9tais pas nerveux, mais mon esprit voulait s\u2019activer davantage.<\/p>\n J\u2019avais repens\u00e9 \u00e0 chaque moment de ma vie pendant ces premiers mois apr\u00e8s ma mort ; je les avais rev\u00e9cus encore et encore, apprenant et d\u00e9veloppant une philosophie plus riche, un jugement plus affin\u00e9. Maintenant, je voulais faire davantage. Le moment \u00e9tait venu de passer \u00e0 l\u2019action, alors j\u2019ai quitt\u00e9 la maison. J\u2019ai fait quelques petits voyages ; j\u2019ai visit\u00e9 les maisons de mes enfants, de mes fr\u00e8res et s\u0153urs. J\u2019aimais \u00eatre dehors, m\u00eame dans mon \u00e9tat fantomatique. Je pouvais ressentir certaines sensations : le vent quand je me d\u00e9pla\u00e7ais \u00e0 grande vitesse, des odeurs de toutes sortes, avec un odorat bien plus d\u00e9velopp\u00e9 que lorsque j\u2019\u00e9tais vivant. Je pouvais voir la nuit aussi bien que le jour ; je percevais des choses impossibles \u00e0 voir dans mon ancienne forme corporelle.<\/p>\n Je suis all\u00e9 encore plus loin ; j\u2019ai travers\u00e9 l\u2019oc\u00e9an en un instant et me suis retrouv\u00e9 \u00e0 Paris. Je me promenais pr\u00e8s de la tour Eiffel quand j\u2019ai rencontr\u00e9 mon premier fant\u00f4me.<\/p>\n Il avait la silhouette d\u2019un \u00eatre humain flottant au-dessus d\u2019un groupe de personnes, mais sans contours nets. Sa couleur \u00e9tait un m\u00e9lange de jaune doux et de gris bleut\u00e9, avec toutes sortes de nuances ; c\u2019\u00e9tait magnifique. Je me suis approch\u00e9 et lui ai dit bonjour, esp\u00e9rant qu\u2019il capterait mon message. Le fant\u00f4me se retourna vers moi.<\/p>\n \u2014 Bonjour, je suis Madeline, ravie de te rencontrer.<\/p>\n Sa voix \u00e9tait chaleureuse, riche, avec une sensualit\u00e9 certaine.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je m\u2019appelle Richard ; je suis mort il y a quelques mois, \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e2ge de 72 ans dans un accident de voiture ; c\u2019est ma premi\u00e8re sortie hors de chez moi, et tu es le premier fant\u00f4me \u00e0 qui je parle depuis ma mort.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je suis morte d\u2019un cancer il y a douze ans, r\u00e9pondit-elle, \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e2ge de 54 ans. J\u2019ai laiss\u00e9 derri\u00e8re moi mon mari et mes deux enfants. Ils allaient bien, alors j\u2019ai d\u00e9cid\u00e9 de voyager ; j\u2019ai quitt\u00e9 ma maison l\u2019ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re et je vagabonde depuis.<\/p>\n \u00c0 ce moment-l\u00e0, j\u2019ai commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 voir son visage ; un peu flou, mais elle ressemblait \u00e0 une tr\u00e8s belle jeune femme de vingt ans. Son visage changeait sans cesse.<\/p>\n \u2014 Est-ce que tu vois mon visage ? lui demandai-je.<\/p>\n \u2014 Oui, je le vois. Ton visage refl\u00e8te certains traits de ta personnalit\u00e9 et j\u2019aime ce que j\u2019y vois. Il n\u2019y a pas beaucoup de fant\u00f4mes ; la plupart ne durent pas longtemps : ils sautent dans le mur de lumi\u00e8re peu apr\u00e8s leur mort ou perdent leur coh\u00e9sion et se d\u00e9sint\u00e8grent. Comment as-tu fait pour durer ?<\/p>\n \u2014 C\u2019est une longue histoire, r\u00e9pondis-je.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nous avons tout le temps du monde, Richard, une \u00e9ternit\u00e9 devant nous\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Tu as raison, Madeline, alors voil\u00e0 : quand j\u2019\u00e9tais jeune, j\u2019\u00e9tais malade et je ne pouvais pas jouer avec les autres enfants, ni plus tard avec les adolescents. J\u2019ai pass\u00e9 beaucoup de temps \u00e0 r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir et \u00e0 lire. J\u2019avais une soif de connaissance. J\u2019ai lu \u00e9norm\u00e9ment de livres sur des sujets tr\u00e8s vari\u00e9s, et plus j\u2019en apprenais, plus je voulais en savoir. Les gens m\u2019int\u00e9ressaient ; je voulais comprendre ce qui les motivait, comment me faire beaucoup d\u2019amis. Mais pour cela, je devais devenir une meilleure personne. En tant que jeune homme, j\u2019\u00e9tais bon, mais col\u00e9rique, et cela ne me plaisait pas. J\u2019ai travaill\u00e9 sur moi-m\u00eame, et je pensais trouver une solution dans le yoga.<\/p>\n \u00c0 19 ans, je suis all\u00e9 dans une librairie d\u2019occasion et j\u2019ai trouv\u00e9 un vieux livre sur la philosophie du yoga. Je l\u2019ai lu plusieurs fois. Il parlait de d\u00e9velopper un sentiment d\u2019admiration et d\u2019amour pour tout ce qui nous entoure. On pouvait regarder un brin d\u2019herbe, une fleur, un insecte, un animal ou une personne et y trouver de la beaut\u00e9. Une fois que je m\u2019y suis entra\u00een\u00e9, c\u2019est devenu automatique : tout et tout le monde \u00e9taient magnifiques. Le livre disait aussi qu\u2019admirer tout autour de nous rechargeait notre \u00e2me et notre corps en \u00e9nergie. Il expliquait que la discipline et les sacrifices construisaient une \u00e2me forte. Je suis devenu adepte de cette philosophie, pensant que cela me pr\u00e9parerait \u00e0 l\u2019apr\u00e8s-vie.<\/p>\n Je croyais que ma culture et ma soif de connaissance seraient un atout pour survivre en tant que fant\u00f4me. Je pensais aussi devoir \u00eatre capable de m\u2019ouvrir aux autres fant\u00f4mes sans honte, alors j\u2019ai travaill\u00e9 dur pour m\u2019am\u00e9liorer. Tu peux regarder en moi si tu veux, je n\u2019ai rien \u00e0 cacher. Je suis maintenant fort et pr\u00eat \u00e0 voyager, \u00e0 tout apprendre sur l\u2019univers, mais j\u2019esp\u00e9rais rencontrer d\u2019autres fant\u00f4mes int\u00e9ressants pour m\u2019accompagner. J\u2019esp\u00e8re, Madeline, que tu feras partie de mes compagnons, car je m\u2019int\u00e9resse beaucoup \u00e0 toi. J\u2019ai beaucoup de questions \u00e0 te poser, mais d\u2019abord, pourrais-tu me dire pourquoi ton visage change sans cesse ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Je suis n\u00e9e pour la premi\u00e8re fois en 1412 \u00e0 Domr\u00e9my, en France. J\u2019\u00e9tais adolescente quand j\u2019ai rejoint l\u2019arm\u00e9e fran\u00e7aise et l\u2019ai men\u00e9e \u00e0 la victoire \u00e0 Orl\u00e9ans \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e2ge de 18 ans. J\u2019ai \u00e9t\u00e9 captur\u00e9e un an plus tard et br\u00fbl\u00e9e vive.<\/p>\n \u2014 Wow ! Tu es la c\u00e9l\u00e8bre Jeanne d\u2019Arc, la Pucelle d\u2019Orl\u00e9ans, une sainte canonis\u00e9e par le pape ! J\u2019ai lu sur toi, sur comment tu as men\u00e9 l\u2019arm\u00e9e fran\u00e7aise \u00e0 plusieurs victoires pendant la guerre de Cent Ans, ce qui a permis le couronnement de Charles VII. Tu as \u00e9t\u00e9 captur\u00e9e par les Bourguignons, livr\u00e9e aux Anglais, jug\u00e9e par l\u2019\u00e9v\u00eaque Pierre Cauchon pour \u00ab insubordination et h\u00e9r\u00e9sie \u00bb, puis br\u00fbl\u00e9e \u00e0 19 ans. Je me suis toujours demand\u00e9 comment tu avais pu accomplir autant si jeune. Mais puisque tu es une sainte, pourquoi n\u2019es-tu pas au Paradis ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Tu en sais beaucoup sur moi, Richard, je suis d\u00e9licieusement surprise.<\/p>\n \u2014 Eh bien Madeline, je me souviens de tout ce que j\u2019ai lu dans ma vie, chaque ligne, chaque page, et heureusement, j\u2019ai beaucoup lu. Je m\u2019en sens enrichi.<\/p>\n \u2014 Moi aussi, dit Madeline, je me souviens de tout ce que j\u2019ai lu, mais je n\u2019ai pas eu le temps ni l\u2019occasion de lire sur une grande vari\u00e9t\u00e9 de sujets ; seulement un roman et la Bible, bien s\u00fbr. J\u2019en suis venue \u00e0 douter de certaines \u00e9critures. Une fois captur\u00e9e et jet\u00e9e dans une minuscule cellule, j\u2019ai eu tout le temps d\u2019y penser. Je savais ce qui m\u2019attendait, Richard ; je savais qu\u2019ils allaient me br\u00fbler vive. J\u2019avais peur, j\u2019\u00e9tais terriblement seule. J\u2019ai eu tout le temps dans cette cellule de r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir \u00e0 ce que je voulais faire dans l\u2019au-del\u00e0, et la derni\u00e8re chose que je voulais, c\u2019\u00e9tait d\u2019aller au paradis \u2014 je parle de celui que les pr\u00eatres d\u00e9crivaient \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9glise depuis mon enfance ; un endroit nuageux o\u00f9 l\u2019on adore Dieu paresseusement pour l\u2019\u00e9ternit\u00e9, dans une b\u00e9atitude forc\u00e9e. J\u2019\u00e9tais une femme d\u2019action. Il me fallait une \u00e2me forte, suffisamment forte pour r\u00e9sister \u00e0 la perte rapide de coh\u00e9sion de mon fant\u00f4me et \u00e0 la fin de mon existence.<\/p>\n On m\u2019avait parl\u00e9 de ces faisceaux de lumi\u00e8re qui attendent les \u00e2mes au moment de leur mort et les capturent comme une lanterne capture les insectes. J\u2019ai pens\u00e9 pouvoir y r\u00e9sister, et je l\u2019ai fait. J\u2019ai err\u00e9 pendant de nombreuses ann\u00e9es ; j\u2019ai parcouru le monde, et un jour, j\u2019ai d\u00e9cid\u00e9 que je voulais une autre vie. J\u2019ai trouv\u00e9 le bon couple, celui que je voulais comme parents, et je suis rest\u00e9e aupr\u00e8s d\u2019eux jusqu\u2019\u00e0 ce que la femme tombe enceinte. Je suis entr\u00e9e dans l\u2019embryon et j\u2019y suis rest\u00e9e jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la naissance. J\u2019ai v\u00e9cu une autre vie, sans aucun souvenir de la pr\u00e9c\u00e9dente. Quand je suis morte \u00e0 nouveau, je me suis rappel\u00e9e mes deux vies. Je l\u2019ai fait encore trois fois. Alors tu vois les cinq visages que j\u2019avais \u00e0 vingt ans.<\/p>\n Nous avons parl\u00e9 tr\u00e8s longtemps et nous nous sommes rapproch\u00e9s \u00e0 mesure que nous nous appr\u00e9cions. Nos masses \u00e9taient presque en contact, et je me demandais ce qu\u2019il se passerait si nous fusionnions.<\/p>\n \u2014 Madeline, nous sommes presque en contact. As-tu d\u00e9j\u00e0 fusionn\u00e9 avec un autre fant\u00f4me ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Non, Richard ; il y a tr\u00e8s peu de fant\u00f4mes, et je n\u2019ai jamais eu l\u2019occasion de discuter longuement avec l\u2019un d\u2019eux. J\u2019ai essay\u00e9 d\u2019engager la conversation avec certains, mais ils retournaient en h\u00e2te aupr\u00e8s de leurs proches. Devons-nous nous laisser aller et fusionner, pour voir ce qui se passe ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Madeline, j\u2019ai toujours eu une forte intuition du danger imminent, et ce sixi\u00e8me sens m\u2019a sauv\u00e9 la vie plusieurs fois. Maintenant, en pensant \u00e0 fusionner avec toi, je ne ressens rien d\u2019autre qu\u2019une grande excitation. Faisons-le.<\/p>\n Nous avons fusionn\u00e9 et imm\u00e9diatement, je suis devenu Madeline, et elle est devenue moi. Je me souvenais de toute sa vie, chaque moment, tout comme elle revivait la mienne en partageant ma m\u00e9moire parfaite. J\u2019ai r\u00e9alis\u00e9 que la m\u00e9moire est affect\u00e9e par notre corps quand nous sommes corporels, mais qu\u2019elle devient eid\u00e9tique, d\u2019une clart\u00e9 absolue, quand nous sommes fant\u00f4mes. Je savais que Madeline revivait aussi mes moments les plus honteux, et je lui ai demand\u00e9 d\u2019\u00eatre indulgente. J\u2019avais eu quelques disputes difficiles avec ma m\u00e8re, puis plus tard avec ma femme ; ce sont les souvenirs les plus embarrassants. \u00c0 mon cr\u00e9dit, j\u2019ai presque toujours fait le premier pas vers la r\u00e9conciliation.<\/p>\n Ma femme et moi nous respections et nous nous aidions mutuellement ; nous avons \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019excellents compagnons. Je l\u2019ai aim\u00e9e chaque jour de notre vie ensemble, et je le lui disais presque tous les jours. Madeline a vu tout cela, elle s\u2019est sentie \u00e0 l\u2019aise en moi, et moi, j\u2019\u00e9tais ravi d\u2019\u00eatre en elle. La sensualit\u00e9 venait d\u2019elle, et j\u2019ai \u00e9t\u00e9 submerg\u00e9 d\u2019excitation \u00e9rotique. Nous nous sommes laiss\u00e9s aller et avons partag\u00e9 un orgasme intense qui a dur\u00e9 tr\u00e8s longtemps. Le plaisir \u00e9tait dix fois plus fort que dans un corps physique, et peut-\u00eatre vingt fois plus long.<\/p>\n Nous nous sommes s\u00e9par\u00e9s et avons d\u00e9riv\u00e9 c\u00f4te \u00e0 c\u00f4te pendant quelques mois, voyageant de ville en ville, observant le monde. Nous \u00e9tions tomb\u00e9s amoureux. Inutile de nous le dire ; nous le savions, nous le percevions dans l\u2019esprit de l\u2019autre. Nous \u00e9tions d\u00e9sormais li\u00e9s t\u00e9l\u00e9pathiquement, partageant nos pens\u00e9es. Nous d\u00e9rivions au-dessus de T\u00e9h\u00e9ran, \u00e0 quelques m\u00e8tres du sol ; des coups de feu \u00e9clataient, un grand soldat des Navy Seals am\u00e9ricains portait un camarade bless\u00e9 sur l\u2019\u00e9paule. Il le jeta dans l\u2019h\u00e9licopt\u00e8re et fut abattu en plein c\u0153ur avant de pouvoir s\u2019\u00e9chapper. Nous l\u2019avons vu mourir et sortir de son corps ; un mur de lumi\u00e8re apparut \u00e0 quelques m\u00e8tres. Il le regarda, recula, puis nous remarqua.<\/p>\n \u2014 Si vous sentez une forte coh\u00e9sion de vos \u00e9l\u00e9ments fantomatiques, Monsieur, je vous conseille de m\u2019\u00e9couter avant de plonger dans ce mur de lumi\u00e8re, lui dis-je. Au fait, je m\u2019appelle Richard.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je m\u2019appelle John, et je suis heureux de voir que je ne suis pas seul. Je me sens incroyablement bien, mieux que jamais.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je suis Madeline, bienvenue dans l\u2019apr\u00e8s-vie.<\/p>\n La forme brumeuse de John \u00e9tait un m\u00e9lange changeant de verts p\u00e2les et de bleus, une brume tournoyante lentement pendant qu\u2019il nous parlait. Il \u00e9tait un magnifique fant\u00f4me, \u00e9nergique dans sa forme immat\u00e9rielle.<\/p>\n Nous avons longuement discut\u00e9, et j\u2019ai vite compris que John avait beaucoup de charme ; cultiv\u00e9, il s\u2019exprimait de fa\u00e7on int\u00e9ressante et m\u00fbre. Il ne faisait aucun doute que Madeline \u00e9tait attir\u00e9e par ce h\u00e9ros. Ils flottaient presque l\u2019un contre l\u2019autre, et j\u2019ai d\u00e9cid\u00e9 de faire partie de ce qui allait suivre. Nous avons fusionn\u00e9 tous les trois et sommes devenus l\u2019un l\u2019autre, revivant chacun les moments des vies des autres. \u00c0 un moment, nous avons partag\u00e9 l\u2019orgasme incroyable provoqu\u00e9 par la sensualit\u00e9 de Madeline. Nous \u00e9tions d\u00e9sormais trois compagnons intimes ; nous avons continu\u00e9 \u00e0 voyager de ville en ville et avons travers\u00e9 l\u2019oc\u00e9an.<\/p>\n Nous avons visit\u00e9 le continent africain. Au fil des ann\u00e9es, notre groupe a grandi jusqu\u2019\u00e0 atteindre vingt membres. Nous aurions pu en accueillir davantage, mais certaines \u00e2mes \u00e9taient ternes, fades, peu attirantes pour nous ; elles avaient peu de conversation et peu d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eats en commun. Nous ne les trouvions pas compatibles et rien au monde ne nous aurait pouss\u00e9s \u00e0 partager nos pens\u00e9es et sentiments les plus profonds avec elles pour l\u2019\u00e9ternit\u00e9. J\u2019ai compris \u00e0 quel point il \u00e9tait important, dans notre vie corporelle, de cultiver notre personnalit\u00e9 et nos qualit\u00e9s. Ceux qui ne l\u2019avaient pas fait, ou qui n\u2019avaient mis qu\u2019un masque, se retrouvaient d\u00e9sesp\u00e9r\u00e9ment seuls comme fant\u00f4mes \u2014 sauf si Dieu leur offrait un mur de lumi\u00e8re \u2014 \u00e0 condition qu\u2019ils conservent leur coh\u00e9sion.<\/p>\n Nous avons vu de nombreuses personnes mourir dont les fant\u00f4mes ne recevaient aucune invitation lumineuse. Ils avaient de la coh\u00e9sion, d\u00e9rivaient autour de nous, mais apr\u00e8s les avoir approch\u00e9s, nous perdions rapidement tout int\u00e9r\u00eat. D\u2019autres \u00e9taient pris par des d\u00e9mons, mais la majorit\u00e9 errait simplement, sans lumi\u00e8re, finissant par se d\u00e9sint\u00e9grer dans le n\u00e9ant.<\/p>\n Nous n\u2019aimions pas ce qui se passait dans le monde. En Am\u00e9rique et en Europe, les nouvelles g\u00e9n\u00e9rations passaient leur temps sur leurs portables et ordinateurs au lieu de faire du sport ou de participer \u00e0 des r\u00e9unions familiales. Les politiciens ne travaillaient pas pour le bien du peuple ; ils ne cherchaient qu\u2019\u00e0 \u00eatre r\u00e9\u00e9lus, promettant ce qu\u2019ils savaient irr\u00e9alisable et discr\u00e9ditant leurs adversaires. Les pays les plus riches et les plus d\u00e9mocratiques r\u00e9duisaient leur budget de d\u00e9fense tout en gaspillant l\u2019argent public dans des subventions offertes \u00e0 leurs amis, dont les entreprises faisaient faillite peu apr\u00e8s s\u2019\u00eatre partag\u00e9 le butin. Al-Qa\u00efda gagnait du terrain, et l\u2019Iran ou le Pakistan \u00e9taient sur le point de leur fournir des bombes nucl\u00e9aires pour d\u00e9truire New York, Chicago et Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nous sommes maintenant assez nombreux pour commencer notre voyage vers d\u2019autres mondes, dis-je \u00e0 un moment.<\/p>\n \u2014 Oui, r\u00e9pondit Gautama le Bouddhiste. Je suis frustr\u00e9 de voir ce qu\u2019il advient de notre monde ; les musulmans croissent rapidement dans les pays d\u00e9mocratiques, entra\u00eenant la naissance de groupes terroristes int\u00e9rieurs et de crimes odieux, d\u2019assassinats de masse. J\u2019ai peur que, d\u00e8s qu\u2019ils auront la bombe nucl\u00e9aire, ils d\u00e9clenchent la destruction du monde libre.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nous ne pouvons rien faire sous notre forme fantomatique, ajouta John. Les politiciens ne font rien pour prot\u00e9ger leur pays. Ils sont aveugles \u00e0 ce qui arrive. Si je ne me sentais pas aussi bien, je serais frustr\u00e9 moi aussi.<\/p>\n \u2014 Puisqu\u2019il est \u00e9vident que notre civilisation s\u2019effondre, autant partir, conclut Madeline. Je ne veux pas \u00eatre l\u00e0 quand le pire commencera.<\/p>\n Personne ne s\u2019opposa \u00e0 quitter la Terre ; nous \u00e9tions tous sereins, calmes, heureux, sans aucun besoin physique, et parfaitement \u00e0 l\u2019aise ensemble. Nous n\u2019avions pas besoin de partir, mais nous \u00e9tions curieux de l\u2019univers. Nous sommes partis pour la Lune en quelques bonds. Nous pouvions voler tr\u00e8s vite dans l\u2019atmosph\u00e8re et sentir le vent sur nos masses immat\u00e9rielles, mais aussi franchir de grandes distances instantan\u00e9ment. Arriv\u00e9s sur la surface lunaire, nous avons ressenti une attirance depuis la Terre, comme un lien d\u2019attachement \u00e0 notre monde d\u2019origine.<\/p>\n La Lune \u00e9tait plut\u00f4t ennuyeuse. Nous avons choisi une \u00e9toile parmi les millions visibles, essayant d\u2019utiliser notre intuition pour en s\u00e9lectionner une ayant des plan\u00e8tes habitables. La plupart d\u2019entre nous ont choisi la m\u00eame \u00e9toile, ce qui m\u2019a surpris : peut-\u00eatre avions-nous un sixi\u00e8me sens. C\u2019\u00e9tait merveilleux. Cette \u00e9toile nous attirait myst\u00e9rieusement. Nous nous sommes concentr\u00e9s dessus pour en \u00e9valuer la distance avant le bond.<\/p>\n Nous avons bondi et y sommes parvenus rapidement. En acc\u00e9l\u00e9rant, nous avons ressenti une sensation \u00e9trange en franchissant la vitesse de la lumi\u00e8re. L\u2019\u00e9toile s\u2019approchait rapidement ; nous avons ralenti et nous sommes arr\u00eat\u00e9s juste \u00e0 temps, \u00e0 quelques millions de kilom\u00e8tres de sa surface enflamm\u00e9e. Nous ne savions pas ce qui se passerait si nous entrions dans l\u2019hydrog\u00e8ne br\u00fblant. Nous nous sommes approch\u00e9s prudemment et avons senti notre essence fantomatique s\u2019agiter sous l\u2019effet des flammes. Il n\u2019y avait pas de douleur, mais nous avons recul\u00e9 prudemment.<\/p>\n Nous avons contourn\u00e9 l\u2019\u00e9toile \u00e0 la recherche de plan\u00e8tes et en avons trouv\u00e9 une \u00e0 bonne distance, avec une surface habitable. Nous avons bondi pr\u00e8s d\u2019elle. Ce monde poss\u00e9dait une atmosph\u00e8re et un climat \u00e9quatorial. Il y avait des for\u00eats, de la faune, des lacs et des oc\u00e9ans, et une sorte de dinosaure semblait dominer la cha\u00eene alimentaire. Nous avons ador\u00e9 d\u00e9couvrir ces nouvelles esp\u00e8ces v\u00e9g\u00e9tales et animales, et avons pris notre temps pour visiter ce premier monde stellaire.<\/p>\n Au sommet de la plus haute montagne se dressait une pyramide entour\u00e9e de grandes pierres dress\u00e9es. Une impulsion \u00e9lectromagn\u00e9tique puissante en \u00e9manait, captant notre attention. Elle \u00e9tait manifestement destin\u00e9e aux humains, accompagn\u00e9e d\u2019une musique de fond magnifique \u2014 je doutais que des extraterrestres partagent notre go\u00fbt pour la musique.<\/p>\n Les constructeurs devaient avoir anticip\u00e9 la venue de vaisseaux humains un jour, et peut-\u00eatre attendaient-ils depuis des mill\u00e9naires.<\/p>\n Peut-\u00eatre \u00e9taient-ils venus sur Terre il y a tr\u00e8s longtemps, peut-\u00eatre \u00e9taient-ils ceux qui avaient amen\u00e9 nos premiers anc\u00eatres ici, avant de repartir en attendant que notre esp\u00e8ce \u00e9volue jusqu\u2019\u00e0 atteindre la technologie des vaisseaux spatiaux.<\/p>\n Nous ne pouvions pas traverser les murs solides sous notre forme de fant\u00f4me, ni plonger dans les eaux d\u2019un lac pour observer la vie sous-marine ; il nous fallait donc trouver une fissure ou une ouverture pour entrer dans la pyramide. En volant autour d\u2019elle, une ouverture apparut sur l\u2019un des murs inclin\u00e9s. Nous sommes entr\u00e9s et nous nous sommes retrouv\u00e9s dans une vaste chambre. Les murs semblaient faits d\u2019or pur.<\/p>\n Il y avait des sculptures et de grandes peintures murales, des meubles somptueux, des tapis, une longue table avec des chaises \u00e0 taille humaine. Un robot \u00e9tait assis sur l\u2019une d\u2019elles. Il ouvrit les yeux d\u00e8s que nous entr\u00e2mes, comme s\u2019il sortait d\u2019un tr\u00e8s long sommeil.<\/p>\n \u2014 Bienvenue, humains, dit le robot en se levant. J\u2019attendais votre visite depuis longtemps.<\/p>\n \u2014 Peux-tu nous voir ? demandai-je.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je ne peux pas vous voir comme des entit\u00e9s corporelles individuelles, mais je peux d\u00e9tecter votre pr\u00e9sence immat\u00e9rielle. Vous \u00eates les \u00e2mes de certains humains d\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9s, et vous \u00eates ceux que nous attendions ici.<\/p>\n \u2014 Peux-tu nous dire pourquoi vous attendiez notre visite et comment tu connais notre esp\u00e8ce ? demandai-je.<\/p>\n \u2014 L\u2019humanit\u00e9 a \u00e9volu\u00e9 jusqu\u2019\u00e0 un niveau technologique tr\u00e8s avanc\u00e9 et s\u2019est r\u00e9pandue dans une galaxie voisine, celle que vous appelez le Grand Nuage de Magellan, \u00e0 environ 160 000 ann\u00e9es-lumi\u00e8re de votre galaxie, la Voie Lact\u00e9e. C\u2019est la troisi\u00e8me galaxie la plus proche d\u2019ici. Les humains nous ont cr\u00e9\u00e9s, nous les robots, pour les servir et pourvoir \u00e0 tous leurs besoins. Nous avons pr\u00e9par\u00e9 pour eux de nombreux mondes, modifi\u00e9 leurs atmosph\u00e8res pour les rendre habitables, et vos semblables ont migr\u00e9 vers ces plan\u00e8tes.<\/p>\n Mais un jour, les mondes humains ont \u00e9t\u00e9 attaqu\u00e9s par les Somorgs<\/strong>. Ces \u00eatres pouvaient changer d\u2019apparence \u00e0 volont\u00e9 et prendre forme humaine. Nous, les robots, ne pouvions pas \u2014 et ne pouvons toujours pas \u2014 tuer ou blesser un \u00eatre qui ressemble \u00e0 un humain. C\u2019est une loi inscrite dans notre cerveau positronique.<\/p>\n Les Somorgs arrivent g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement \u00e0 bord d\u2019un petit vaisseau furtif, qu\u2019ils cachent, puis ils se m\u00ealent \u00e0 la population. Rapidement, ils fondent une religion, se pr\u00e9tendent proph\u00e8tes ayant parl\u00e9 avec Dieu. Beaucoup les croient. Ils construisent des temples, gagnent des fid\u00e8les, font des enfants. Quelques g\u00e9n\u00e9rations plus tard, ils prennent le pouvoir dans un ou plusieurs pays. Une fois au pouvoir, ils d\u00e9clenchent des guerres nucl\u00e9aires ; la population est d\u00e9cim\u00e9e, la plan\u00e8te devient radioactive. C\u2019est probablement ce qu\u2019ils recherchent, car une fois la plan\u00e8te vid\u00e9e de ses habitants, des vaisseaux de colonisation atterrissent et les Somorgs s\u2019installent dans nos cit\u00e9s non d\u00e9truites.<\/p>\n Nous ne pouvions pas les arr\u00eater, alors nous avons construit un immense vaisseau-colonie et quitt\u00e9 notre galaxie pour venir ici, dans la Voie Lact\u00e9e. Nous avons colonis\u00e9 plusieurs plan\u00e8tes, aid\u00e9 des humains \u00e0 d\u00e9velopper des civilisations tr\u00e8s avanc\u00e9es. Ils savent ce qui s\u2019est pass\u00e9 et se pr\u00e9parent au cas o\u00f9 les Somorgs viendraient ici.<\/p>\n Nous avons alors b\u00e2ti, sur cette plan\u00e8te, de nombreux vaisseaux spatiaux et des robots. Une intelligence artificielle supervise les op\u00e9rations. Mais il nous faut des \u00e2mes humaines pour habiter<\/strong> les robots non encore activ\u00e9s.<\/p>\n \u2014 Que veux-tu dire par \u201crobots non encore activ\u00e9s\u201d ? demanda Madeline.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nous croyons que lorsqu\u2019un robot positronique s\u2019\u00e9veille, une \u201c\u00e2me robotique\u201d na\u00eet. Nous ne vous demanderons donc jamais de prendre le contr\u00f4le d\u2019un cerveau d\u00e9j\u00e0 \u00e9veill\u00e9. Ce serait contraire \u00e0 nos lois. Mais si vous prenez place dans un robot avant<\/strong> son activation, alors nous aurons des robots positroniques anim\u00e9s par des \u00e2mes humaines<\/strong>. Ces robots-l\u00e0 ne seraient pas limit\u00e9s par nos lois robotiques et pourraient tuer les Somorgs malgr\u00e9 leur apparence humaine.<\/p>\n Nous avons construit des millions<\/strong> de robots depuis cinq cent mille ans sans jamais les activer. Nous attendions vos \u00e2mes pour les habiter. Vous retournerez alors dans le Grand Nuage de Magellan et d\u00e9truirez les Somorgs o\u00f9 que vous les trouviez.<\/p>\n \u2014 Si nous acceptons\u2026 nous voyagerons \u00e0 bord de ces vaisseaux ? demanda Madeline. Mais \u00e0 la vitesse de la lumi\u00e8re, cela prendrait 160 000 ans ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Nos vaisseaux voyagent beaucoup plus vite que la lumi\u00e8re. Il nous a fallu seulement 500 ans<\/strong> pour venir jusqu\u2019ici.<\/p>\n \u2014 Donc, nous resterons \u00e0 ne rien faire pendant 500 ans dans ces vaisseaux ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Non, plus maintenant. Nous avons une base comme Gargothin<\/strong> dans le Grand Nuage de Magellan, elle aussi dirig\u00e9e par une intelligence artificielle. Les deux IA communiquent presque instantan\u00e9ment \u00e0 travers un trou de ver<\/strong> qu\u2019elles ont cr\u00e9\u00e9. Vos vaisseaux peuvent l\u2019emprunter et s\u2019y rendre en un instant<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Mais qu\u2019en est-il des humains l\u00e0-bas ? demanda John. Ne peuvent-ils pas se d\u00e9fendre contre les Somorgs ? N\u2019avaient-ils pas la technologie n\u00e9cessaire sans les lois robotiques pour les en emp\u00eacher ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Ils pourraient, s\u2019ils d\u00e9tectaient l\u2019approche des vaisseaux Somorgs. Chaque monde humain est prot\u00e9g\u00e9 par des satellites lourdement arm\u00e9s en orbite, et chaque plan\u00e8te poss\u00e8de sa propre flotte militaire. Mais les Somorgs arrivent dans des petits vaisseaux quasi ind\u00e9tectables, qui passent \u00e0 travers les d\u00e9fenses. Une fois au sol et int\u00e9gr\u00e9s \u00e0 la population, les humains ne peuvent plus les identifier. Nous, nous pouvons d\u00e9tecter leur esprit \u00e9tranger gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 nos cerveaux positroniques t\u00e9l\u00e9pathiques. Mais d\u00e8s qu\u2019ils sentent que nous les avons rep\u00e9r\u00e9s, ils changent d\u2019apparence et se perdent dans la foule. Il faudrait les \u00e9liminer imm\u00e9diatement\u2026 ce que nous ne pouvons pas faire.<\/p>\n \u2014 Alors vous voulez cr\u00e9er une arm\u00e9e de robots poss\u00e9d\u00e9s<\/strong> par des \u00e2mes humaines, pour retourner dans votre galaxie et les combattre, commenta John. Mais combien de mondes avez-vous colonis\u00e9s ici, dans la Voie Lact\u00e9e ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Deux cents mondes.<\/p>\n \u2014 Et combien d\u2019\u00e2mes avez-vous r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 attirer ici ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Quelques milliers seulement. Elles arrivent souvent par vagues, dans les si\u00e8cles suivant l\u2019\u00e9tablissement d\u2019une colonie. Nous en avons re\u00e7u beaucoup venant de la Terre, il y a mille ans. Mais cela fait maintenant plusieurs centaines d\u2019ann\u00e9es qu\u2019aucun nouveau groupe n\u2019est arriv\u00e9. Lorsqu\u2019une personne meurt, elle saute g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement dans un mur de lumi\u00e8re ou d\u2019obscurit\u00e9, ou erre un temps, mais perd bient\u00f4t sa coh\u00e9sion et dispara\u00eet. Les \u00e2mes \u00e9taient bien plus fortes avant l\u2019invention de la t\u00e9l\u00e9vision, de l\u2019ordinateur et du t\u00e9l\u00e9phone portable.<\/p>\n \u2014 Oui, j\u2019ai souvent observ\u00e9 cela, dit Madeline. Je suis surprise que vous, les robots, puissiez le voir aussi.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nos yeux per\u00e7oivent une gamme de longueurs d\u2019onde bien plus large que ceux des humains.<\/p>\n \u2014 Et les \u00e2mes que vous avez envoy\u00e9es dans le Grand Nuage de Magellan\u2026 ont-elles r\u00e9ussi ? Ont-elles sauv\u00e9 des mondes humains ? Ont-elles d\u00e9truit des Somorgs ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Oui. Nous avons re\u00e7u des nouvelles d\u2019Alectra : elles ont sauv\u00e9 une douzaine de mondes et d\u00e9truit les populations Somorgs sur les plan\u00e8tes occup\u00e9es. Mais elles sont encore trop peu nombreuses pour faire une vraie diff\u00e9rence ; il y a un million de mondes humains \u00e0 sauver.<\/p>\n \u2014 Ne pourriez-vous pas dire aux habitants des 200 mondes que vous avez colonis\u00e9s ici qu\u2019ils doivent venir \u00e0 vous lorsqu\u2019ils meurent, plut\u00f4t que d\u2019aller directement au paradis ? demanda John.<\/p>\n \u2014 Une de nos lois robotiques nous interdit de contacter une population qui n\u2019a pas encore atteint notre niveau technologique. Or aucun de ces mondes ne l\u2019a encore atteint.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je comprends, dis-je. J\u2019ai lu beaucoup de romans de science-fiction, notamment Fondation<\/em> d\u2019Isaac Asimov, o\u00f9 il parle de ces lois robotiques. Mais je me demande si cela fonctionnera pour nous tous. Quels sont les risques ? Est-ce que \u00e7a a march\u00e9 pour toutes les \u00e2mes que vous avez attir\u00e9es ? Pourrons-nous continuer \u00e0 communiquer par t\u00e9l\u00e9pathie une fois dans les robots ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Oui. Tous ont conserv\u00e9 la capacit\u00e9 de communiquer entre eux, et avec nous, une fois int\u00e9gr\u00e9s. Toutefois, la port\u00e9e est limit\u00e9e \u00e0 environ un million de kilom\u00e8tres.<\/p>\n \u2014 Que pensez-vous, mes amis ? \u00cates-vous pr\u00eats \u00e0 tenter l\u2019exp\u00e9rience ?<\/p>\n \u2014 J\u2019aimerais retrouver un corps, pouvoir soulever des objets, voyager parmi les \u00e9toiles, combattre les envahisseurs. Apr\u00e8s tout, si nous sommes d\u00e9truits, nous pourrons juste r\u00e9int\u00e9grer un autre robot inactif, r\u00e9pondit John. Nous pourrions emporter avec nous plusieurs de ces robots de secours, les cacher \u00e0 distance des zones de combat.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nous avons des choses \u00e0 r\u00e9gler sur Terre, ajouta Madeline. Si nous avons des corps robotiques impossibles \u00e0 distinguer des humains, nous pourrions retourner sur Terre et la sauver de la menace islamiste.<\/p>\n \u2014 Pourriez-vous nous fournir une nouvelle source d\u2019\u00e9nergie pour remplacer le p\u00e9trole ? demanda John. Je sais que vous ne pouvez pas intervenir directement, mais si vous nous la donnez, nous pourrions aider nos pays libres \u00e0 s\u2019affranchir du p\u00e9trole arabe.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nous influencerons les politiciens pour qu\u2019ils d\u00e9clarent la charia ill\u00e9gale, ajouta Madeline, et qu\u2019ils isolent les pays qui la pratiquent du reste du monde.<\/p>\n \u2014 Ce serait formidable, John, dis-je. Mais nous pouvons faire encore plus. Gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 la haute technologie que vous nous fournissez, \u00e0 notre force physique immense, et \u00e0 nos pouvoirs t\u00e9l\u00e9pathiques, nous pourrons nous faire passer pour des \u00e9missaires de Dieu, fonder une nouvelle religion et former des recrues \u00e0 d\u00e9velopper une \u00e2me forte. Nous leur dirons de ne pas sauter dans le mur de lumi\u00e8re apr\u00e8s leur mort, mais de venir nous rejoindre.<\/p>\n \u2014 On pourrait appeler notre ordre religieux Les Guerriers de Dieu<\/strong>, dit Madeline, avec un sourire.<\/p>\n \u2014 Dans cent ans, vous aurez des centaines de milliers de guerriers, ajoutai-je. Et nous n\u2019aurons m\u00eame pas besoin d\u2019attendre si longtemps avant de repartir vers le Grand Nuage de Magellan. Une fois le mouvement lanc\u00e9, nous pourrons revenir ici et passer \u00e0 travers ce trou de ver pour atteindre les mondes \u00e0 prot\u00e9ger.<\/p>\n \u2014 Excellent, dit le robot. Venez, je vais vous faire visiter notre forteresse.<\/p>\n \u2014 As-tu un nom ? demanda Madeline.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je m\u2019appelle Tron2342345023<\/strong>. Appelez-moi simplement Tron.<\/p>\n Tron appuya sur un bouton, et une porte d\u2019ascenseur s\u2019ouvrit. Il y entra, nous le suiv\u00eemes. Nous visit\u00e2mes toute la forteresse : les chantiers navals o\u00f9 des milliers de robots construisaient des vaisseaux, les usines o\u00f9 d\u2019autres construisaient les corps robotiques. \u00c0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur de chaque robot en construction, de minuscules robots aussi petits que des virus travaillaient sur les cerveaux positroniques. Leur travail \u00e9tait coordonn\u00e9 par l\u2019intelligence artificielle appel\u00e9e Gargothin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Nous f\u00fbmes ensuite conduits sur la plateforme de lancement, un port spatial o\u00f9 nous attendait une flotte de vaisseaux magnifiques, en forme de soucoupe.<\/p>\n Il n\u2019y avait pas d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne, seulement de l\u2019azote, puisque les robots n\u2019avaient pas besoin de respirer. Durant toute la visite, Tron \u00e9tait debout sur une petite plateforme antigravit\u00e9 propuls\u00e9e par des mini-jets. Un manche de 2 m\u00e8tres s\u2019\u00e9levait de la plateforme, muni de leviers pour contr\u00f4ler vitesse et direction. Tron la pilotait avec dext\u00e9rit\u00e9.<\/p>\n Nous sommes entr\u00e9s dans une salle d\u2019environ 1 200 m\u00b3, presque enti\u00e8rement occup\u00e9e par un ordinateur gigantesque.<\/p>\n \u2014 Bonjour et bienvenue dans notre bastion, dit l\u2019intelligence artificielle. Je suis Gargothin<\/strong>, et j\u2019ai donn\u00e9 mon nom \u00e0 cette plan\u00e8te, puisque je suis pr\u00e9sente partout \u2014 sous terre, en surface, et dans tous les syst\u00e8mes de d\u00e9fense autour de notre \u00e9toile. Je suis en communion t\u00e9l\u00e9pathique avec tous les robots. J\u2019ai assist\u00e9 \u00e0 votre entretien avec Tron. Si je pouvais ressentir une \u00e9motion, je dirais que je suis heureuse de votre d\u00e9cision. Mais je n\u2019\u00e9prouve ni joie ni tristesse ; j\u2019enregistre votre d\u00e9cision et l\u2019\u00e9value \u00e0 90 % conforme \u00e0 vos valeurs. Les robots m\u2019ont construite avec un objectif in\u00e9branlable : aider l\u2019humanit\u00e9. Vous \u00eates donc entre de bonnes mains. Nous sommes pr\u00eats \u00e0 proc\u00e9der \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9gration de vos \u00e2mes dans des robots non \u00e9veill\u00e9s. Veuillez suivre Tron jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la salle suivante.<\/p>\n Un mur s\u2019ouvrit au fond de la pi\u00e8ce. Tron nous guida \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur. Vingt robots \u00e9taient allong\u00e9s sur des tables, immobiles. Au-dessus de chaque t\u00eate flottait une bulle translucide, reli\u00e9e \u00e0 la t\u00eate par un petit tube. Une petite ouverture s\u2019ouvrit au sommet de la bulle. Je m\u2019y glissai. Elle se referma, et j\u2019entrai dans la t\u00eate du robot.<\/p>\n \u00c0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur, il y avait des millions de canaux microscopiques. Je tentai de me r\u00e9pandre dans toutes les directions \u00e0 la fois. Puis, la t\u00eate du robot se referma sur moi. J\u2019\u00e9tais en place.<\/p>\n Soudain, le robot s\u2019\u00e9veilla, et je vis \u00e0 travers ses yeux. Je ressentis toutes sortes de sensations : le mouvement des \u00e9lectrons, les connexions \u00e9lectriques. Des millions de champs magn\u00e9tiques se mirent \u00e0 pulser dans mon nouveau corps. Je d\u00e9cidai de me lever : ce fut facile. J\u2019avais un contr\u00f4le parfait sur mes bras, mes jambes, un excellent sens de l\u2019\u00e9quilibre et une puissance immense.<\/p>\n \u2014 Madeline, John, Gautama, tout le monde, comment vous sentez-vous ? transmis-je t\u00e9l\u00e9pathiquement.<\/p>\n \u2014 Je me sens merveilleusement bien, r\u00e9pondit Madeline. Un contr\u00f4le parfait de mon nouveau corps.<\/p>\n \u2014 Fantastique ! s\u2019\u00e9cria John. C\u2019est merveilleux d\u2019\u00eatre \u00e0 nouveau corporel.<\/p>\n Tout le monde \u00e9tait stup\u00e9fait et ravi. Nous nous sentions aussi bien que lorsque nous \u00e9tions fant\u00f4mes, mais avec un corps puissant et stable.<\/p>\n Tron nous conduisit \u00e0 notre vaisseau spatial, fait d\u2019or massif. Nous y entr\u00e2mes, et le corps de Jeanne d\u2019Arc se mat\u00e9rialisa devant nous : c\u2019\u00e9tait un hologramme translucide.<\/p>\n \u2014 Bienvenue \u00e0 bord. Je suis Trina<\/strong>, votre vaisseau. Je partage les cerveaux positroniques de chacun de vous. Je suis presque indestructible. Je peux cr\u00e9er un champ de stase qui nous retire de la ligne temporelle, devenir invisible gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 mon dispositif de camouflage, et je suis si lourdement arm\u00e9e que je peux d\u00e9truire un monde entier si vous me l\u2019ordonnez. Ma source d\u2019\u00e9nergie est illimit\u00e9e, puis\u00e9e dans la trame de l\u2019univers<\/strong>, ou ce que vous appelez les particules de Dieu<\/strong>. Je suis \u00e0 votre service.<\/p>\n \u2014 Vos corps aussi peuvent puiser dans la trame de l\u2019univers, ajouta Tron. Vous \u00eates presque indestructibles. Vous pouvez activer un champ de stase en une fraction de seconde si vous d\u00e9tectez un danger. Je vous sugg\u00e8re de vous entra\u00eener \u00e0 exploiter vos nouvelles capacit\u00e9s avant de retourner sur Terre. Toute notre science est stock\u00e9e dans vos corps. Il suffit de poser une question int\u00e9rieurement, et vous aurez la r\u00e9ponse.<\/p>\n \u2014 Excellent, dis-je. Merci, Tron, et merci \u00e0 toi, Gargothin, pour tout ce que vous avez fait \u2014 et ferez \u2014 pour servir, prot\u00e9ger et sauver notre esp\u00e8ce.<\/p>\n \u2014 Merci ! dirent-nous tous \u00e0 l\u2019unisson.<\/p>\n Ils reconnurent notre gratitude. Ne pouvant ressentir d\u2019\u00e9motion, de longues conversations avec eux seraient inutiles.<\/p>\n Le vaisseau poss\u00e9dait un immense gymnase, une salle de contr\u00f4le avec vingt si\u00e8ges inclinables, d\u2019\u00e9normes soutes et une salle de stase capable d\u2019accueillir vingt mille personnes. Une fois dans la salle, une fois le champ activ\u00e9, on sortait du flux temporel. Des si\u00e8cles, voire des mill\u00e9naires, pouvaient passer. Quand le champ \u00e9tait d\u00e9sactiv\u00e9 et les portes ouvertes, on n\u2019avait v\u00e9cu que quelques secondes.<\/p>\n Nous pass\u00e2mes quelques jours \u00e0 nous familiariser avec nos nouveaux corps et nos cerveaux positroniques. Puis, nous quitt\u00e2mes Gargothin.<\/p>\n Je demandai \u00e0 Trina de faire une halte autour de Jupiter, sur Europe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Pourquoi veux-tu t\u2019arr\u00eater l\u00e0 ? demanda John.<\/p>\n \u2014 Pour observer l\u2019un des plus grands spectacles du syst\u00e8me solaire. Jupiter est plus massive que toutes les autres plan\u00e8tes r\u00e9unies. Ses bandes nuageuses sont magnifiques, et la Grande Tache Rouge \u2014 une temp\u00eate g\u00e9ante \u2014 existe depuis au moins le XVIIe si\u00e8cle. Je veux m\u2019asseoir sur Europe et l\u2019observer.<\/p>\n Mais Europe m\u2019intrigue aussi : c\u2019est une lune plus petite que celle de la Terre, faite principalement de roche silicat\u00e9e, probablement dot\u00e9e d\u2019un noyau de fer. Son atmosph\u00e8re est compos\u00e9e surtout d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne. Sa surface de glace d\u2019eau est l\u2019une des plus lisses du syst\u00e8me solaire. Elle est stri\u00e9e de fissures, avec peu de crat\u00e8res. On pense qu\u2019un oc\u00e9an liquide existerait sous la glace, propice \u00e0 la vie.<\/p>\n Je veux que Trina fore un trou dans la glace et qu\u2019on regarde dans cet oc\u00e9an. Qui sait ce que nous pourrions y d\u00e9couvrir ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Tr\u00e8s int\u00e9ressant, commenta Gautama.<\/p>\n \u2014 Vous savez, mes amis, l\u2019une des plus grandes joies que nous offre l\u2019\u00e9ternit\u00e9, c\u2019est la d\u00e9couverte des merveilles que chaque syst\u00e8me solaire r\u00e9serve aux voyageurs. Une fois notre ordre spirituel fond\u00e9 sur Terre et la plan\u00e8te sauv\u00e9e de sa menace nucl\u00e9aire, ce sera fantastique de visiter les 200 syst\u00e8mes stellaires habit\u00e9s par l\u2019homme. Nous y \u00e9tablirons les Guerriers de Dieu, puis nous explorerons. Quand nous aurons termin\u00e9, nous reviendrons \u00e0 Gargothin, sauterons dans le trou de ver, et rejoindrons le Grand Nuage de Magellan pour commencer notre guerre contre les Somorgs.<\/p>\n \u2014 Gargothin ne s\u2019attend pas \u00e0 ce que nous prenions notre temps \u00e0 explorer la galaxie, dit Madeline.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elle ne ressent rien, r\u00e9pondis-je. Elle nous pousse \u00e0 agir vite parce qu\u2019elle a \u00e9t\u00e9 con\u00e7ue pour cela. Mais nous, nous avons l\u2019\u00e9ternit\u00e9. Trina conna\u00eet d\u00e9j\u00e0 les coordonn\u00e9es de tous les mondes habit\u00e9s, n\u2019est-ce pas ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Oui, r\u00e9pondit Trina. J\u2019ai les coordonn\u00e9es du million de mondes habit\u00e9s par l\u2019humanit\u00e9<\/strong> dans le Grand Nuage de Magellan.<\/p>\n \u2014 Tu as raison, Richard, dit Madeline. Je ne me sens pas press\u00e9e, je n\u2019ai pas peur. Profitons pleinement de notre apr\u00e8s-vie dans ces merveilleux corps robotiques\u2026 et \u00e0 bord de ce vaisseau fabuleux.<\/p>\n Dans ce r\u00e9cit, je d\u00e9cris la paix<\/strong> et le bonheur profond<\/strong> que j\u2019ai ressentis lors d\u2019une exp\u00e9rience de mort imminente<\/strong>. Je crois fermement \u00e0 la vie apr\u00e8s la mort. Je crois aussi en Dieu, j\u2019ai \u00e9t\u00e9 t\u00e9moin de nombreux miracles dans ma vie. Je crois au paradis \u2014 m\u00eame si je pr\u00e9f\u00e9rerais ne pas aller tout de suite dans celui d\u00e9crit par les pr\u00eatres. Je crois en la r\u00e9incarnation<\/strong>, ce qui explique l\u2019inclusion de Jeanne d\u2019Arc, ou Madeline dans sa derni\u00e8re vie. Je crois aussi en la r\u00e9surrection<\/strong>, et dans cette histoire, nous sommes ressuscit\u00e9s dans des corps robotiques presque indestructibles, qui ne mangent pas, ne dorment pas, ne respirent pas, et ont une source d\u2019\u00e9nergie in\u00e9puisable.<\/p>\n Dieu a offert \u00e0 notre petit groupe ce que nous voulions : un paradis<\/strong>, l\u2019un des innombrables que Dieu a peut-\u00eatre pr\u00e9par\u00e9s pour nous.<\/p>\n Dans ce r\u00e9cit, je propose aussi que Dieu est partout<\/strong>, dans chaque particule de l\u2019univers \u2014 les atomes, les protons, les \u00e9lectrons\u2026 et que la plus petite particule indivisible est une particule de Dieu<\/strong>, la trame m\u00eame de l\u2019univers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Je crois \u00e9galement \u00e0 une guerre entre les forces du mal et celles de Dieu. Et notre petit groupe, lui, \u00e9tait heureux de se joindre \u00e0 la bataille<\/strong>, contre les Somorgs.<\/p>\n Un jour, j\u2019\u00e9crirai peut-\u00eatre les aventures extraordinaires<\/strong> de notre groupe\u2026 Adieu.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00c7a y est ! C\u2019est en train d\u2019arriver\u2026 je suis en train de mourir, pensai-je alors que la douleur s\u2019arr\u00eata. \u00c0 cet instant, tout me revint ; toute une vie de souvenirs, clairs comme de l\u2019eau de roche. Il n\u2019y avait plus de temps, et m\u00eame s\u2019il y en avait, ce n\u2019\u00e9tait plus important ; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
Observe et apprends !<\/strong> C\u2019\u00e9tait comme un message t\u00e9l\u00e9pathique. Je flottais au-dessus de moi-m\u00eame, au-dessus des gens, de mani\u00e8re invisible. J\u2019observais les moments importants de ma vie ; je me regardais, j\u2019entendais ce que je disais, je voyais ce que je faisais, mes interactions avec les autres.<\/p>\n
Je me sentais bien ; jamais de ma vie je ne m\u2019\u00e9tais senti aussi bien. Quelle chance de mourir rapidement dans un accident de voiture. J\u2019aurais pu mourir d\u2019une maladie longue et douloureuse…<\/p>\n
\n
\n
En attendant, je vous sugg\u00e8re ceci :
Pr\u00e9parez-vous pour votre apr\u00e8s-vie.<\/strong>
Construisez-vous une \u00e2me forte.<\/strong>
Ne plongez pas dans le mur de lumi\u00e8re trop vite.<\/strong>
Trouvez des compagnons int\u00e9ressants.<\/strong>
Et entamez un voyage de plusieurs millions d\u2019ann\u00e9es \u00e0 travers l\u2019univers.<\/strong><\/p>\n| HISTOIRE EN ANGLAIS |<\/strong><\/h6>\r\nThat\u2019s it! It is happening; I am dying, I thought as the pain stop. At that moment everything came back; a whole life of souvenirs came back, crystal clear.\r\nThere was no time and if there was time it wasn\u2019t important anymore, time was unnoticeable. I was living my life again as an observer. A thought came to my mind:\r\nWatch and learn! \u00a0It was like a telepathic message. I was floating unnoticeable over us, over me and the people. I watched myself through those important moments of my life; I saw myself and heard what I said and watch what I did and the people I was interacting with as well. Their faces, their bodies, the clothes they were wearing, everything was crystal clear; no fuzziness.\r\nI had heard that some people have an eidetic memory, some geniuses probably and I wasn\u2019t one of them for sure; quite the contrary. In fact I was forgetting faces and when I was meeting someone who was all happy to see me again, I had to simulate that I too remembered him or her. I had developed a technique to make them relate something and as soon as they would tell me one thing we did together; I would remember everything; the whole conversations; the moments we shared together, everything. I had a great memory for everything except the faces.\r\nHow long does it take to live again the important moments of your life? I had no idea but at one point, I look around me and I saw my dead body and the car wreck on the side of the road.\r\nI felt great; never in my life had I felt that good. How lucky I am to have died quickly in a car accident, I thought, I could have died of a long and painful sickness\u2026\r\nI watched the people stopping their cars and coming over to help me. Then there was the ambulance and the patrol cars; I watched them pulling me out of the car and when the ambulance left with my body, I floated over the ambulance and followed it to the hospital.\r\nIt was effortless and I realized that I could go much faster if I wished to but there was no urge to do it; I just felt wonderful, worriless, calm, happy.\r\nI followed my body to the cold room.\r\nI could well guess that they will call my wife and ask her to come over for filling up some forms for the disposition of my body. We had talked about it and decided that there was no point putting it in a gasket and place it in a cemetery where no one will ever come with the exception of the first one or two death anniversaries. We decided to just get it cremated and put the ashes in the woods.\r\nIn the mean time, I had nothing to do, so I wandered around and stop at the emergency where they were trying to save the life of five people. Two of them were young children and two of the adults were probably their parents.\r\nThe young boy died and I saw him coming out of his body; at that moment a very strange and attracting wall of light took form and the young boy soul quickly disappeared in it.\r\nI was also very attracted by this wall of light and it was still there waiting for me but I hesitated.\r\nI had spend a lot of time thinking about the purpose of life and what I would like to do in my afterlife when I was alive. I even wrote about it in the prologue of a trilogy I wrote many years before: Ghama-2, An Afterlife Story. \u00a0At that time, I thought that we should decide in advance what we want do when we die and I had the intuition that most people were not spending any time thinking about it.\r\nI also thought that we, like everything else in the universe, are made out of atoms that are made out of very small particles, made themselves of even smaller particles and the smallest ones, the ones that were indivisible, the fabric of the universe, were particles of God.\r\nSo I had come to the conclusion that the souls of most people who did not decide in advance what they want to do in their afterlife might just be taken back by God; they might be assimilated!!!! Or if God did not care too much about some souls, He might just let them go wherever they want to go instead of taking them back. I was not ready for God yet, I was not ready to spend the eternity in a wonderful place doing nothing; there was so much I wanted to do before that.\r\nAs I hesitated, I wondered what happen to the evil people. That young boy was obviously innocent and a good person and the wall of light took his soul. It was offered to him and he still had the freedom of choosing. It was like God would say Come to me if you wish.\r\nBut what about the criminals, I thought, the abject ones, the ones beating their wives, taking away their freedom, reducing them to a secondary role in life and or forcing them to follow a set of rules made by their religious leaders and punishing them by death if they disobey their religious leaders\u2019 rules; what about those who use their situation to abuse the ones underneath them; what about the vicious killers? What about the insane ones?\r\nThe insane ones would probably be assimilated by God just like the children and all the people who did not decide in advance what they wanted to do in their afterlife. The bad people would probably not be taken back by God; they might be taken by demons to a chaotic parallel universe.\r\nI did not want to be assimilated by God or even worse, find myself sitting amongst a group of good people who would adore God for the eternity in an endless state of bliss. I did not want to be taken by Demons to Hell either. All my life I prepared myself for this moment; I tried to be a good person and there was an immediate reward in doing so; I realized very early in my life that you feel good when you are proud of whom you are and the good actions you do. I always quickly regretted every one of my bad actions soon after I did one and promised myself each time I did one that I would never do it again.\r\nI missed some of those promises but I tried even harder to keep my promises every time after I failed. \u00a0Because of that I thought I had nothing to fear from the demons.\r\nThere were so many things I wanted to do and could not do in the short life I was awarded at birth, so I finally resisted to the attraction of that wall of light and it disappeared.\r\nThe three others died in turn and each time the same thing happened, the souls came out of the dead bodies, there was the apparition of the wall of light and the souls plunged in it.\r\nI was left alone as a ghost in the hospital.\r\nI stayed there and waited for my wife to come over for identification.\r\nShe arrived two days later, looked at me and started to cry. There was sadness, also desperation, anxieties and pain coming from her. I realized at that moment how much she loved me. I loved her too and I wanted to console her and tell her that I was there; so I hugged her. She felt my presence, I saw it in her reaction, \u00a0even though I could not really hug her, being immaterial. I just embraced her and tried to communicate peace and comfort to my sweetheart.\r\nShe left and I followed her in the car and then at home. I stayed there for a while.\r\nMany months went through but I never checked about the passing time. I was just feeling wonderful and relaxed without any urge to do anything. I was hovering around the house, watching TV with her and watching and listening when she had visitors, friends or family.\r\nMy presence in the house didn\u2019t go unnoticed; my sweetheart felt it and sometimes talked to me. I wished she could hear me when I replied; there were so many things I wanted to tell her, I tried very hard to send her a telepathic message but it did not work; I could only comfort her with my emotions. She could catch those but none of my words.\r\nLater on, she met a nice guy and invited him to come over to our house. She liked him a lot, I could tell, and her life was taking an interesting direction. She also had many friends and I thought that she did not need me wandering around anymore.\r\nOver those few months, I became increasingly curious about the world outside our house; my state of bliss, my state of incredible well being, was still there; I felt none of the body needs; I felt no hunger, no sadness, no regret, and no nervousness but my mind wanted to be more active. I had thought about every moment of my life over these first few months following my death; I lived over and over every moment of it, learning and developing a richer philosophy and judgment; but now I wanted to do more.\r\nThe time had come to do more and I ventured outside my house. I made little trips around; I visited my children homes, my brother and sisters\u2019 homes.\r\nI enjoyed being outside; even in my ghost state. I could have some sensations; I could feel the wind as I went at high speed; I could smell all kind of aromas; my sense of smell was way more acute than when I was alive. I could see in the night as well as in daytime; I could see things that were impossible to see in my old corporeal form.\r\nI went further away; I crossed the ocean in a fleeting moment and found Paris. I was wandering around the Eiffel tower when I met my first ghost.\r\nThere was the overall shape of a person floating over a group of people but it was diffuse without any sharp limits. The ghost color was a blend of soft yellow and bluish grey with all kind of shades; it was beautiful. \u00a0I went closer and said hello hoping the ghost would catch my message.\r\nThe ghost turned around facing me.\r\n- Hello, I am Madeline and I am happy to meet you.\r\nHer voice was warm and rich with a definite sexiness.\r\n- My name is Richard; I died a few months ago at the age of 72 in a car accident; it is my first trip out of my house and you are the first ghost I talked to since I died.\r\n- I died of cancer twelve years ago, she replied, at the age of 54 and I left behind my husband and two children. They were doing fine and I decided to visit the world; I left my house last year and I have been wandering around since.\r\nAt that point, I started to see her face; it was a little diffuse but she looked like a very beautiful twenty years old. The face changed and changed again.\r\n- Do you see my face? I asked her\r\n- Yes I do, she said, your face shows some elements of your personality and I like what I see. There are not many ghosts around; they usually don\u2019t last long; they jump in the light wall soon after their death or they lose cohesion after a while and disintegrate to nothing. How did you manage to last?\r\n- It is a long story, I said.\r\n- We have plenty of time, Richard, an eternity of time\u2026\r\n- You are right about that Madeline so here it is; when I was young I was sick and I could not play with the other kids and later on the teenagers. \u00a0I spent much time thinking and reading. I had a thirst for knowledge. I read a lot of books on all kind of subjects and the more I learned the more I wanted know about everything. People interested me; I wanted to find what motivate them and how to make a lot of friends. But for that I needed to become a better person myself. As a young man, I was a good person but inclined to lose my temper and I did not like it. I had to work on that and I thought I would find a solution in yoga.\r\nI was 19 years old when I went to a used book store and found an old book on yoga philosophy. I read it a few times. It was talking about developing a feeling of admiration and love for everything around us. We could look at a blade of grass, a flower, an insect, an animal or a person and find beauty in it. Once I practiced it, it became automatic, everything and everyone were beautiful. The book also told that admiring everything around us was charging our soul and body with energy. It told about discipline, sacrifices that would build up a strong soul. I became an adept of that yoga philosophy and I thought that doing so would prepare me for my afterlife.\r\nI thought that my culture and thirst for knowledge would be an element of survival as a ghost when I died. I also thought that I needed to be able to open up to the other ghosts without shame so I worked hard at improving me. You can look inside of me if you wish, I have nothing to hide. Now I am strong and ready travel and learn everything about the universe but I was hoping to meet some interesting ghosts that would become my travelling companions.\r\nI hope Madeline that you will be one of my companions and I am very interested in you. I have many questions for you but first, would you tell me why your face keeps changing?\r\n- I was first born in 1412 in Domremy, Bar, France. I was a teenager when I joined the French army and led it to victory at Orleans at the age of 18. I was captured one year later and burned alive.\r\n- Wow! You are the famous Joan of Arc, the maid of Orleans, a saint, duly canonized by the pope. I read about you, you led the French army to several important victories during the one hundred years war, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles V11 of France. You were captured by the Burgandians and transferred to the English in exchange for money and put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon on charges of \"insubordination and heterodoxy\" and you were burned at the stake for heresy when you were 19 years old. I wondered how you could have done so much at such an earlier age. But since you are a saint, how come you are not sitting in Heaven?\r\n- You know a lot about me Richard, I am deliciously surprised.\r\n- Well Madeline, I remember everything I read in my life, every line of every page and fortunately I read a lot of books. I feel enriched by it.\r\n- I too, Madeline said, remember everything I read but I did not have the time and opportunity to read much about a variety of subjects; only one novel and the bible of course. I came to doubt some of the scriptures. Once I was captured, brought to a prison and thrown into a tiny cell, I had a lot of time to think about it; I knew what was coming Richard; I knew they will burn me alive and I was scared and very lonely. I had a lot of time in my cell to think about what I wanted to do in my afterlife and the last thing I wanted to do was to go to heaven; I mean the Heaven the priests had been describing in churches since I was very young; a cloudy place where I would lazily adore God and be drugged to bliss for the rest of eternity.\r\nI was a woman of action. I thought I had to build me a strong soul, strong enough to resist a quick loss of cohesion of my ghost and a final end of me. I had been told about the beams of light that await the people souls as they die and catch them like a lantern catches flies. I thought I could resist it and I did. I wandered around for many years; I wandered around the world and one day I decided that I wanted another life.\r\nI found the right couple, the ones I wanted as parent and stayed with them until she got pregnant. \u00a0I went inside the embryo and stayed there until birth and\r\nI lived another life not remembering any of my past one. When I died again, I remembered both lives and I did it again three more times. So you are seeing the five faces of me when I was twenty.\r\nWe talked for a very long time and got closer as we increasingly liked each other. Our masses were almost touching and I wondered what would happen if we merged.\r\n- Madeline, we are almost touching; have you ever merged with another ghost?\r\n- No Richard; there are very few ghosts and I never had the opportunity to talk at length with one. I tried to have conversations with some but they were rushing back home to their loved ones. Should we let go and merge and see what happened?\r\n- Madeline, I always had a strong premonition of impending danger and that sixth sense saved my life a few times. Now, I am thinking about merging with you and I sense nothing except a great excitement; let\u2019s do it.\r\nWe merged and immediately I was Madeline and she was me; I remembered all her lives, every moment of it as she lived my life sharing my perfect memory of every instant. I realized that the memory is affected by our body when we are corporeal but as a ghost it is eidetic, it is crystal clear.\r\nI knew that Madeline also remember through my mind my shameful moments and I asked her to be indulgent. \u00a0I had a few hard talks with my mother and later on with my wife; these were the most shameful of my souvenirs. To my credit, I had almost always done the first steps for reconciliation.\r\nMy wife and I respected and helped each other and we have been very good companions. I loved her very much every day we lived together and I told her almost every day. \u00a0Madeline saw all that and she felt comfortable in me and I felt excited to be in her. Sexiness came from her and I was suddenly submerged with erotic excitement, we both let go and shared a very intense orgasm that lasted for a very long time. The pleasure was tenfold the corporeal pleasure and possibly lasted for twenty times longer.\r\nWe came apart and drifted side by side for a few months; we moved from cities to cities and looked at what was happening in the world, companionably. We had fallen in love.\r\nWe did not have to tell each other; we knew it, we were seeing it in each other mind; we were now linked in a telepathic way and we were sharing each other thoughts.\r\nWe were now drifting over Teheran, a dozen feet over ground; there were gun shots and a tall American navy seal was carrying another one on his shoulder. He threw him in the helicopter and was shot in the heart before he could escape.\r\nWe watched him die and come out of his body; the wall of light took shape a few yards away; he looked at it, backed up and noticed us.\r\n- If you sense a strong cohesion of your ghost elements Sir I would advise you to hear me out before plunging in this wall of light, I told him; by the way, my name is Richard.\r\n- My name is John and I am happy to find out that I have company and that I feel great, I feel better than ever.\r\n- My name is Madeline and welcome to our afterlife.\r\nJohn misty form was a changing mix of pale greens and blues and the mist was slowly swirling as he addressed us. He was a gorgeous ghost and he seemed very energetic in his ghost form.\r\nWe talked for a long time and I realized that John was a charmer; he had culture and expressed himself in a very interesting and mature way. No doubt that Madeline was attracted by the hero. They were now almost touching each other and I decided to be part of what would happen.\r\nWe merged and became each other, we lived again all the moments of our lives and at one point, we shared the incredible orgasm when Madeline induced sexiness.\r\nWe were now three companions as we visited the African continent.\r\nIn the following few years our group increased to twenty. We could have recruited more but some of those souls were colorless, bland and not particularly attractive to us; they had a very limited conversation and showed very little common interest. \u00a0We did not find them highly compatible and nothing in the world would make us share our intimate thoughts and feelings with them for eternity.\r\nI realized thinking about that how important it was in our corporeal life to cultivate our personality and qualities. Those who did not or just put a fa\u00e7ade would find themselves utterly alone as a ghost if God do not offer them the wall of light.\r\nWe had now seen many people die whose ghosts had not been offered it. They had cohesion, they were drifting around when we addressed them; we talked with them and soon lose interest and we left. We also saw many ghosts taken by demons and in the greatest number were those that just wandered around, no light wall being offered to them, disintegrating into nothingness in an instant.\r\nWe did not like what was happening on the world. In America and Europe, the new generations were spending their time on their laptops and cell phones instead of doing sports or participating in family reunions and outings.\r\nThe politicians were not working for the good sake of the people they represented; they were just trying to be re-elected promising things they knew they could not deliver and bashing their opponents. The wealthiest and strongest democratic countries were cutting on defense while wasting the people money in grants to their friends\u2019 and supporters\u2019 businesses that were going bankrupt soon after they had share between them the people money their government leaders had granted them.\r\nAl-Qaeda was getting stronger in many countries and Iran and Pakistan were just about to hand them some nuclear bombs to destroy New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.\r\n- We are now numerous enough to start our voyage and go to other worlds. I said at one point.\r\n- Yes, Gautama the Buddhist replied, I am almost frustrated to see what is happening to our world; the Muslims are rapidly increasing their presence in the democratic countries and that leads to the birth of inside terrorist groups and odious crimes, mass assassination. I too am afraid that as soon as they put their hands on some nuclear devices, they will start the destruction of the free world.\r\n- And we can do nothing about it in our ghost form, added John. The politicians do nothing to protect their countries; they are blind to what is coming. If I\r\nwould not feel so great I would also be frustrated.\r\n- Since it is evident that our civilization is sinking we might as well leave, Madeline said, I don\u2019t want to be here when the worst starts happening.\r\nNobody objected to depart from Earth; we were all very calm, serene, and happy without any urge or body needs and we felt very comfortable altogether. We did not need to move away but we all had an interest in learning what we could of our universe.\r\nWe left for the moon and got there in a few jumps. We could fly very fast inside the atmosphere and feel the wind on our insubstantial masses but we could also jump to great distance almost instantly. As we got to the moon surface, we sensed a pull from Earth like some kind of attach to our home world.\r\nThe moon was a bit boring after a while so we chose a star amongst the millions visible. We tried to use our intuition to select one that would have some life sustaining planets gravitating around it. A majority of us chose the same one and I found that surprising; perhaps we had a sixth sense, and that would be wonderful.\r\nThat star attracted us in some mysterious way. We looked deeply at that star trying to evaluate in some inexplicable way the distance for our next jump.\r\nWe got there very quickly; we accelerated and felt the oddest sensation when we crossed the speed of light. The star was coming towards us rapidly and we decelerated and stop short of the terrible flames, just a few million miles from its surface. We did not know what would happen if we get into the burning hydrogen so we approached slowly and got increasingly perturbed by the rapid movement of our ghost elements as we touched the flames. There was no pain but we cautiously\r\nbacked up.\r\nWe flew around the star and looked everywhere for the planets and finally found one at just the right distance to have a livable surface. That world had an atmosphere and an equatorial climate. There were forests, wild life, lakes and oceans and a kind of dinosaur seemed to be at the top of the food chain. \u00a0We enjoyed discovering all those new species of plants and animals and we took our time visiting our first star world.\r\nOn the tallest mountain stood a pyramid with a grouping of tall stones standing erect around it. There was a strong electromagnetic pulse coming out of the pyramid that caught our attention. It was obviously broadcasted for humans\u2019 attention since it had some beautiful background music and I doubted that aliens would share our human taste for music. The builders probably expected the visit of some of our starships one day and may have been waiting for millenniums.\r\nThey may have come on Earth a long time ago, perhaps they were the ones that brought our first ancestors and left awaiting our species to evolve to a starship technology level.\r\nWe could not go through hard walls in our ghost form or plunge through the water of a lake to watch the submarine life; so we had to find a crack or an opening to get inside the pyramid.\r\nAs we flew around it, a hole took shape on one of the inclined walls. We flew inside and found ourselves in a large chamber. The walls of that chamber were of pure gold or seemed to be; there were sculptures and large size paintings on the walls; some rich looking furniture and carpets. There was a long table with human size chairs and a robot was sitting on one of the chairs.\r\nThe robot opened its eyes as we drifted inside the room, probably waking up from a very long stasis.\r\n- Welcome humans to Gargothin, the robot said as it stood up, I have been waiting a long time for your visit.\r\n- Can you see us? I asked\r\n- I can\u2019t see you as individual corporeal units but I can detect your insubstantial presence and you are definitively humans; you are the souls of some deceased humans; and you are the ones we are waiting for here.\r\n- Can you tell us why you wanted our visit and how come you know our species? I asked\r\n- Mankind evolved to a very high technology level and spread out through a nearby galaxy, what you call the Large Magellanic Cloud located at 160,000 light years from the Milky Way. It is the third closest galaxy from here.\r\nMankind created us the robots to serve and provide all of their needs. We prepared for them a great number of the worlds, transforming their atmosphere and making them livable and your people migrated to those worlds.\r\nThere came a time when the human worlds were attacked by the Somorgs; these beings could change their appearance at will and take the humans\u2019 shape. We could not and still cannot kill or hurt a being that look like a human. We are prevented to do it by one of the robotic laws that were set in our positronic brain. \u00a0The\r\nSomorgs come in a small spaceship, land on the planet they want to invade and hide it. Then they mixed with the population.\r\nThey soon start a religion on the worlds they invade by telling the people they are prophets and have been contacted by God. Many believe them and they start having meetings in buildings they call temples.\r\nThe followers grow in number having many children and a few generations later, the leaders are elected in one or two of the countries. Once they have taken over the control of one of the main governments , they start nuclear wars, the population is totally decimated and the planet become radioactive. The Somorgs probably need that radioactivity since as soon as the planet population is destroyed, large number of their colony ships soon land on the decimated world and the Somorgs settle in some of our undestroyed cities.\r\nWe could not resist their invasion so we built a large colony ship and left our galaxy to come here in the Milky Way galaxy where we landed some of the people on a number of worlds. We then came here and built inside this planet a large number of spaceships and robots and a sentient computer runs the operations.\r\nWe need human souls to take over unborn robots.\r\n- What do you mean by unborn robots? \u00a0Madeline asked.\r\n- \u00a0We believe that when a positronic robot is awoken, a robot soul is born and we would not ask you to haunt or take over its positronic brain; we think it would be contrary to one of the robotic laws but if you take over the brain of one that has not been awoken before we wake it up, we would get when we wake it up, a human run positronic robot that would not be stop by the robotic laws and would be able to kill the human look alike Somorgs.\r\nSo we built millions of robots over the last five hundred thousand years and never woke them up. We need human souls to settle inside the positronic brains of these robots that have not yet been awoken. These would then return to the Large Magellanic Cloud, attack and destroy the Somorgs everywhere they can find them.\r\n- If we accept your offer, we will travel to that galaxy in the spaceships awaiting us? Right? Madeline asked. If so, how long will it take to get there? At the speed of light, it would take 160,000 years???\r\n- Our spaceships can travel at a much faster speed that light speed; it took us only 500 years to get here.\r\n- So we will have to do nothing for 500 years, just sitting in the spaceships to get there. But once we reach the Large Magellanic Cloud, most human worlds will probably be already decimated.\r\n- We have a base similar to Gargothin in that galaxy also run by an artificial intelligence. The two Artificial Intelligences can communicate almost instantly through a\r\nwormhole they created between Gargothin and Alectra, our base there. The spaceships can get there in no time now through that wormhole. As for getting there in\r\ntime to save humanity from Armageddon, it is not too late; there are a million human worlds in the Magellanic Cloud and the invasion is very slow.\r\n- But what about the humans there; could they not fight the invaders? Didn\u2019t they have the technology to defend themselves without the robotic laws to stop them?\r\nJohn asked.\r\n- They would if they could detect the Somorgs\u2019 spaceships approach. \u00a0Each human world is guarded by heavily armed satellites orbiting around, and each world had its own warship fleet. \u00a0But the Somorgs come in a small almost undetectable ship that can go through the defense net. Once they have landed and mixed with the population, the humans can\u2019t identify them. We can detect their alien mind; our positronic brain has telepathic power but as soon as we detect them they sense it and quickly change their appearance as they get lost in the population. We need to kill them instantly and we can\u2019t.\r\n- So you wish to build up an army of robots haunted by human souls to go back to your galaxy and fight them; John commented but tell me how many worlds have you colonized here in the Milky Way?\r\n- Two hundred worlds were colonized.\r\n- How many souls did you attract here so far?\r\n- We recruited a few thousands of you only. They come in greater number in the centuries following the start of their colony. We got many from Earth one millennium ago but it has now been many hundred years since the arrival of a new group. When people die, they either jump in a wall of light or a wall of darkness or they wander around but soon lose cohesion and disappear into nothingness. Their souls were stronger before the Television, computer and cell phones invention.\r\n- Yes I saw that so often. Madeline said. I am surprised that you robots could see it too.\r\n- Our eyes can see and detect through a much wider range of wavelength than human eyes.\r\n- What happened to those thousands of souls that traveled to the Large Magellanic Cloud, asked John, did they succeed to save some of the human worlds? Did they fight the Somorgs and destroy them?\r\n- Yes; we got news from Alectra; they were very successful; not only did they save a dozen worlds but they also destroyed entire Somorgs population on the occupied worlds. They are not numerous enough to make much of a difference though; we have a million human worlds to save from invasion and destruction.\r\n- Could you not tell the people of those two hundred worlds you colonized in the Milky Way that you need them? That they should postpone Heaven and come here when they die to fight for a better human destiny? John asked.\r\n- One of the robotic laws prevents us to contact a population that has not yet reached our technology level and none of the two hundred settled worlds have.\r\n- I understand. I said, I have read a lot of science fiction novels including the Foundation series of Isaac Asimov and he was describing those robotic laws. But I wonder if it will work for every one of us; what are the risks? Did it work for every one of the few thousand souls you attracted here? Will I still be able to communicate telepathically with my friends once I am inside a robot?\r\n- Yes, it worked for every one of them and they kept the ability to communicate telepathically with their friends and with us once they did it but only over a limited distance like inside a one million miles radius.\r\n- What do you think friends? Are you all willing to do it?\r\n- I wouldn\u2019t mind being able to lift objects again, to have a body for a while and travel to the stars in spaceships and fight the invaders; after all if we are killed, we just get inside another unawake robot and come back to the fight. We would take with us a number of unawake robots as replacement and secure some a safe distance away from a fight zone. John commented.\r\n- We have some business to do on Earth, Madeline added, if we have positronic robot bodies that are impossible to differentiate from normal people, we can return to Earth and save it from the Muslim menace.\r\n- Would you give us a new source of energy to replace petroleum, John asked to the robot. I know that you can\u2019t help our people directly but if you give it to us, we will use it to help our free countries to get by without the Arab petroleum.\r\n- We will influence the politicians to declare the practice of the Charia law illegal, added Madeline, and close the countries that allow it from the rest of the world.\r\n- Yes that would be great John, I said, but we can do more, much more, with the high technology the robots will supply us and our robotic body tremendous physical powers, with our telepathic power, we can tell to some easy to influence people that we are God emissaries and start a new religion and train the recruits to build themselves a strong soul and tell them that they should postpone Heaven when they die and join our forces.\r\n- We could call our religious group \u201cThe God Warriors\u201d, Madeline said slightly excitedly.\r\n- In one hundred years, we would be able to supply you robots, hundreds of thousands of warriors. I said. But we would not have to wait that long to go to the Great\r\nMagellanic Cloud; once the movement is started, we can come back here and get through that worm hole to our galaxy of origin and to the planets you want us to protect.\r\n- Excellent the robot said; let me take you down for a visit of our fortress.\r\n- Do you have a name, Madeline asked.\r\n- My name is Tron2342345023, please call me Tron.\r\nTron touched a button and an elevator door opened up. It walked inside and we followed it.\r\nWe visited the entire fortress, with the spaceship building yards where thousands of robots were working on a number of unfinished spaceships; then we went to the robot manufacturing facilities.\r\nThere were thousands of small robots, spider like, working on the robot bodies. Thousands of bodies were being built in front of our eyes. Inside of those robots under construction were even smaller robots, as small as viruses and their work were coordinated by the Artificial Intelligence running Gargothin. These nano size builders were working on the positronic brains; they were the specialists in the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale.\r\nWe were then brought to the launching pad, the spaceport were thousands of beautiful spaceships, saucer like, were awaiting us and the soon to come God Warriors.\r\nThere was no oxygen, only nitrogen, since the robots did not need to breathe. For the whole visit of the facilities, Tron was standing on a small anti-gravity platform propelled by small jets. There was a 6 feet shaft jetting out of the platform with a few levers to control the speed and direction and\r\nTron was driving it expertly.\r\nWe went inside a 40,000 cubic feet room almost filled up to capacity by an enormous computer.\r\n- Hi and welcome to our stronghole, our fortress, the artificial intelligence said. My name is Gargothin and I gave my name to this planet since I am present\r\neverywhere, underground as well as in many places ground side and in all the defense system set around our star.\r\nI am in telepathic communion with all the robots so I was present in your meeting with Tron.\r\nIf I could, I would say I am happy about your decision, but I experience neither happiness nor sadness so I acknowledge your decision and evaluate it at 90% commendable according to what I know of your values.\r\nThe robots built me and gave me the unbreakable desire to help mankind. So you are in good hands here. We are ready to proceed with the incorporation of your souls in unawake robots; please follow Tron to the next room.\r\nA wall opened up at the far end of the computer room and Tron walked us in. There were twenty robots lying motionless on tables with what looked like a crystal clear water bubble suspended over each robot head and connected by a tiny tube to the head. A small opening on the top of the bubble let me in. The bubble opening closed and I went inside the robot head. There were millions of very small arteries I could go through and I tried to spread myself in all directions at once. Then the robot head closed up on me and I was stuck inside.\r\nI tried to settle comfortably and wait for what would come next.\r\nSuddenly the robot awoke and I could see through its eyes. I experienced all kind of sensations as I felt the movement of electrons and electrical connections. Millions of magnetic fields started to pulse in my new body. I decided to stand up and did it easily. I had perfect control of my hands and legs and a great sense of balance and power.\r\nMadeline, John, Gautama, everyone, how are you doing? I broadcasted telepathically.\r\n- I feel wonderful and in perfect control of my new body, Madeline replied\r\n- Fantastic, John said. It is wonderful to be corporeal again.\r\nEveryone was amazed and pleased and we felt just as great and relaxed as when we were ghosts.\r\nTron took us to our solid gold spaceship, we walked inside and the body of Joan of Arc materialised in front of us. It was a hologram since I could see through it.\r\n- Welcome inside, I am Trina, your ship and I am sharing the positronic brains of each and every one of you. I am almost indestructible being able to create a stasis field around the ship that take us out of the time line. I can also make myself invisible with my cloaking device and I am so heavily armed that I can destroy a whole world if you order me to do it. My power source is unlimited since I can tap the universe fabric or what you can call the particles of God.\r\nI am at your service.\r\n- Your bodies also have the ability to tap the fabric of the universe, commented Tron; you are almost indestructible since you too can create a stasis field in a fraction of a second if you sense incoming danger. I suggest you to work out with your new bodies and develop fully all of your abilities before going back to Earth. Our high technology, our science is all stored in your bodies; you just need to ask yourself a question and you get the answer.\r\n- Excellent, I said, thank you Tron and you Gargothin for all you have done and will do to serve, save and protect our species.\r\n- Thank you, the whole twenty of us added.\r\nThey acknowledged our thanks. They were unable to feel emotions so for us to have lengthy conversations with them was pointless.\r\nThe spaceship had a large gymnasium and a control room with twenty reclining seats. There were huge cargo rooms and a stasis room big enough to hold twenty thousand people. Once you are in the room and the stasis field is turned on, you are outside the time line; centuries could pass, millenniums could pass and if the stasis field is turned off and the doors open up, you have lived just the few moments it took to get in and out.\r\nWe spent a few days getting the knack of our robot bodies and brains and we left Gargothin.\r\nI asked Trina to stop by Jupiter and land on Europa.\r\n- Why do you want to stop there? John asked.\r\n- We will have an opportunity to look closely at one of the great wonder of the solar system. Jupiter is much bigger than all the planets of our solar system combines.\r\nIt has beautiful bands in its large atmosphere and the great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the\r\n17th century when it was first seen by telescope. I would like to sit on Europa and look at it.\r\nBut Europa intrigue me too, it is slightly smaller than Earth's moon and is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of water ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and streaks, while cratering is relatively infrequent. The apparent youth and smoothness of the surface have led to the hypothesis that a water ocean exists beneath it, which could conceivably serve as an abode for extraterrestrial life.\r\nWhat I want to do is ask Trina our spaceship to drill a hole through that ice and have a look in that ocean. Who knows what we might discover there.\r\n- That sounds very interesting, Gautama commented.\r\n- You know my friends, one of the greatest sources of pleasure the eternity offers us is the discovery of some of the wonders that each solar system offers to the voyagers. Once we have started our religious group on Earth and saved it from its immediate menace, a potential nuclear war, it will be fantastic to visit each of the 200 solar systems inhabited by men. We will start the Warriors of God religion on each one and leave for the next one. But we will also explore these solar systems. Once we have done it all, we will come back to Gargothin and plunge into that worm hole, the hole through the fabric of our universe to resurface in the\r\nGreat Magellanic Clouds and start our war against the Somorgs.\r\n- Gargothin is not expecting us to take our time exploring some of our galaxy, Madeline said.\r\n- She does not have any emotion, I replied, she is just pushing us to rush to the Great Magellanic Clouds because she was built with that objective in mind. Besides, we will save a lot of time getting to the people worlds since Trina has all the coordinates in her spaceship brain; right Trina?\r\n- Yes I do, Trina replied, and the coordinates of the million worlds inhabited by man in the Great Magellanic Clouds.\r\n- You are right Richard, Madeline said, I don\u2019t feel nervous and I don\u2019t want to rush. Let\u2019s enjoy fully our afterlife in those wonderful robot bodies and that wonderful spaceship....\r\n----------------------\r\nIn that short story, I describe the incredible feeling of peace and happiness I felt when I nearly drowned and lived an out of body, near death experience.\r\nSo, for sure, I believe in life after death. I also believe in God and witness many miracles in my lifetime. I believe in Heaven even though I would rather not go in the one our priest described immediately. I believe in reincarnation since there are ample evidences of people remembering a previous life and this is why I put the Joan of Arc character or Madeline in her last reincarnation. I believe in resurrection and in this story we are being resurrected in fantastic robot bodies, almost indestructible, bodies that do not need to eat, drink, breathe and have an inexhaustible source of energy.\r\nSo God gave our little group what we wanted and we were in fact living in Heaven, one of the many kinds of Heaven that perhaps God has in store for us.\r\nIn the story I offer the theory that God is everywhere and anywhere, that in fact all the universe is made of molecules and atoms and these are made of smaller particles, protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos and once you can\u2019t divide the smallest of the particles they are made of, you get particles of God; the smallest of particles, the universe fabric.\r\nI also believe in a war between the forces of evil and God and our little group were happy to join in the battle and fight the Somorgs.\r\n----------------------------------------------------------\r\nOne day I might write about the extraordinary adventures of our group; in the mean time I suggest that you prepare yourself for your afterlife. Build yourself a strong soul and don\u2019t plunge in the light wall; find yourself some interesting companions and start a multimillion years voyage through the universe.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nFarewell.","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-histoires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1437"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5185,"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions\/5185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriesaintpaul.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}