School in Heaven

The continuation of my mythology, featuring a new god named Zero, and the continuation of Jerms story. Not yet completed but I'm desperate for some feedback

School in Heaven

I’ve been wondering about the earth since the dinosaurs. I’ve suffered through the asteroids, ice age, and have seen humanity destroy itself fifty times over. Watching them waste the gift I provided. In all that time, I haven't forgotten where I’ve come from, and who left me down here. I can’t remember my name, only there's. Fern. All this time I've only wondered; what’s been going on out there, in the void?; Is Fern okay? I might have gotten my answer today.

 I decided to take a trip inside the pyramids. I've turned it into a nice cottage; a resting spot from my travels. Sitting on my coffee table laid a stack of papers. It will take me a while to translate them as I can’t recognize the language. 

If these are what I believe they are, they will be a huge benefit for humanity. Yet another gift they'll waste. They will interpret it as fantasy. 

But I will publish it anyway. People thought the bible was a fantasy when it was first released. Repeated belief, and extra writings, made knowledge of the story permanent. I like seeing stories grow through the centuries, it’s a memory of Fern. So enjoy the story now, and those who believe it, help me to spread its info. 

Lesson one: The one part of humanity you’re allowed to keep 

Introduction: So, you’ve transcended as a scholar, and are ready to contribute to the place you came from. You’ve taken your time here and lessons on earth in order to ascend to godhood. But there is one last step to make sure you are prepared. You only get to keep one piece of info from earth, that you may or may not know, and throw the rest away. It’s a philosophical concept called nihilism, and it’s going to be the main subject of this week

All about me:

Name: Zero

Age: 99999999999999999999997^999339

Experience: Only maintainer of the systems of heaven, hell, and the cosmos. Friend of Ferns, studier of Jerms. Creator of the guardians and warriors.

Basics of Nihilism: Explaining the basic concept of nihilism to a human can be, initially, miserable. It’s the idea that we have no reason to exist in the slightest. As you all used to be humans, this applies to you, and will continue to. The difference is you get the privilege of a purpose in the afterlife from me, unlike a human who has to create their own. 

Earthly Consequences: Philosophy is one of the ways humans dictate their lives. Following this philosophy poorly on earth could lead you to not caring who’s affected by your actions, Including yourself. 

Hurting other people emotionally or physically is the way people end up in hell, so it becomes a kind of trap. Humans avoid this by creating their own meanings, we will eventually do the same.  

Your new purpose: Until then your purpose is to participate in the infinite naturion. It’s a concept I created soon after the slumbering of Fern (Which we’ll go over in a later lesson). 

It’s an alternative to a pantheon, without direct involvement of human affairs. A way each soul on earth can eventually create a lasting impact. By going through this class you will be able to create a specific self-sustaining system on earth. This system results will be based on your beliefs, and your hopes of creating a lasting self. I’ll provide some examples.

A perfect cycle: A perfect cycle I will bring up is the water cycle. The creator, Aqua, held onto a part of his humanity in order to help humans. Things like gardening and hydration wouldn't have been possible without him. These cycles are meant to last forever, with no way of it stopping.

Animal Cycles: If you’re looking to control living things, biosystems are your way to go. The creator of a biosphere is looking to make a lasting impact, but not a permanent one. The cycles can end in a number of ways if a species is killed off or stops producing. But their lives contribute to the circle of life, a perfect cycle invented by Simba. I’ll recommend checking out his, Aqua’s, and all other stories of the students in the library. 

Another benefit arrives from humans' strong attachments to certain animals. So if you’re still looking to hold onto your humanity, you can have an affectionate animal do so for you. 

Natural Disasters: The most temporary of the temporary. Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Floods; the effect is small, but it helps continents move, contributing to the cycle of earth. Destruction is only the side effect. This is when nihilism becomes extremely important. Not caring about others as a side effect of the philosophy, quickly becomes your weapon in this class. 

Conclusion: I’m sure you will want to pick which system to build. But part of giving you a purpose is not giving you any choice, that's a privilege of the human. That’s why I want you to accept basic nihilism as your main philosophy over the course of this first week, and most of your time here. That way, no matter what you end up with, you can’t be devastated. Not all of you will be able to do this. That is at your detriment

Lesson two: Building a system 

Introduction: Now that you have a proper understanding of infinite Naturion, I’m gonna tell you how to craft your own system over this second week. You’ll need your human understanding to make the concept simpler. 

First, there’s one important question that the smart ones have been thinking about for a while: Why not affect humanity? They affect the earth in a massive way, altering their thought processes could be beneficial. 

Jerms gift: The simplest answer is to continue respecting our origins. Jerm gave humans free will as a gift, and while it led to the overpopulation issues through the realms, none of us could exist without it. Affecting human free will would be like spitting in Jerms face. That’s not even delving into Fern's efforts in creating this system for us to continue our existence. The second purpose is to avoid potential consequences. 

The Fall of Olga: There’s a story in the library about a Goddess who fell in love with a human; I'd recommend all of you to give it a read when you have a chance. But to sum up the story, she admired a human's resilience. She tried to give him a break from needing to think so hard by providing him everything. 

The human soon became arrogant, prideful, and became one of the biggest rulers in the world. He started a war, which caused this school to stop accepting students for nearly a century because of earth instability. She tried to go down to earth, appeal to the human she once admired so much. She didn’t make it back out.

Creating something requires something: Fern and Jerm didn’t create earth from nothing. They had something called “soul” , a sort of goo that could be molded into whatever they wanted. You are made of it, the floor is made of it, everything you see or touch is made of soul. Fern used up the last of the soul to create the afterlife system. So to make our systems on earth we have to use the leftovers from Fern and Jerm. 

Basic forms: You need something from both Fern and Jerm in order to create a system. Fern is the basic form, an aspect that protects and/or grows whatever you desire. Jem's is the control over your project, what you need in order to make it a functioning system. Last week we covered the water cycle, how it creates rain, and helps humans. But it also has to evaporate water so it can rise back into the cloud. Water + heat = cycle. Creation + destruction = functioning system. 

Creation process: Much like a painting, it’s about taking what materials are around, and creating something that affects the earth. Only instead of emotional effect, where looking to affect the biosphere. After you’ve gotten the outline for what you want to make, you use Jerms creations to fix mistakes or improve certain aspects.  

Conclusion: Over this next week you will be given a specific system to craft and materials from both Fern and Jerm in order to make your mark on the world. Since we used your knowledge of human analogy, we’ll be going over how we’ll make you completely forget everything else about humanity. All it will take is some time.

Time, Time, all I have is time. Might as well review. Not like there’s much, they only give me one lesson a week so, what, a month? 

 So, my name is Jerm. This new god, Zero, is the reason I had to survive through getting my skin burned off by a meteor. I was created from something called a soul, and views of me have been shifted from a destruction god into a god of control. 

Who gives a s**t. They keep teasing Fern’s creation of whatever but haven't explained what it is, nor what happened to her. I'm wasting time. 

Lesson three: Forgetting the rest of humanity 

Introduction: In previous lessons I pointed out students like Aqua and Olga to help you connect deeper with the lessons and inspire extra learning. But this week, the only figures who can help you are me and the warriors. 

I invented the guardians, and you can’t find my story in any library as I’ve never written it down. I've only told it in this room, forgetting my humanity, and time on earth. I’ll tell you why you’re no longer allowed to remember either. But for now, indulge me, and allow me to tell you all this story.

Arriving in heaven: I was one of the first of the saints, a mere test dummy to see if the system would work. Fern went to each of us, holding a clipboard. She asked some questions, wrote some notes, and then arrived. I don’t know why, but she dismissed everyone so that we could talk.

She said that coming into the latter stages of crafting the afterlife had exhausted her. It was noticeable, with her hair in knots, and heavy bags under her eyes. I asked her why she was doing this, and she started sobbing. She told me the story of Jerm and that she wanted to keep humanity alive to keep a part of him in the universe. 

Our partnership: I was moved by the story of Jerm; learning of his contribution to earth, and of his travels. His stories from earth are definitely worth the read as well, but this was the first time I had received the information, and it inspired me to help develop the rest of the afterlife. 

Soon Fern started passing out and accidentally interfering; like throwing multiple asteroids, one of which killed all the dinosaurs. I was desperate to help her and begged her to let me until she finally relented.

I needed to build a place for Fern so she could finally rest. I produced sweat, blood, and tears to craft that tower in the middle of the lake. But now she is able to sleep safely. After I put in place infinite naturion and the city you see in the afterlife. Once she is rested, she will pick up where I left off as a teacher so I might do the same. But there’s a main concept this story explores that is of maximum importance.

Memory: Fern was led into exhaustion by her memory of Jerm. I’ve always realized that humans ability to remember is another gift we receive, a way we can evolve beyond what came before. But Fern's story made me realize forgetting is just as important. If a human remembered everything they did on earth, they would hate themselves. Then I realized the problem is even more pronounced for those in heaven. Once moral people taking the lessons learned on earth, became arrogant as they forget over time. It became necessary to find a way around this complication so we could justify the separation between heaven and hell. Aside from not letting a murder of billions craft another system on earth with the help of other gods.

The warriors: The initial design for the warriors was just to keep heaven safe encase hell became too big and started to overpopulate. But they received an even more important role as the only entities who remember their time in heaven. They also take all other residences memories

I want you all to try to remember your time in heaven. Some have a year, a decade, maybe even a century. But none of you will be able to remember anything else. That is because warriors routinely wipe the memories of yours, and everyone else's, time here. They use those barcode scanners hanging on their hips.

What you can remember: The gun allows you the time on earth and orientation week, where we go over which religion was closest to what’s actually happening. On average residences remember up to 110 years out of an eternity. Anything else would have you risk forgetting your time on earth. It’s a little confusing in how it works, but in simple terms it causes long form dementia extremely quickly. Library, take advantage while you’re still here.

Another risk is becoming a mindless blob. Everything being provided to you instantly causes your brain to realize it doesn't need to put effort into anything. So instead it just functions at a minimal level. It doesn't even need to function to keep you alive anymore, so you become similar to a bumbling zombie.

What does this mean for you?: I’m clearly the exception to the rule, one of the few permanent gods alongside Fern, Jerm, and Olga. As I told you before, I don’t remember my time on earth, only the lessons I’ve picked up in heaven. I do this in order to give myself a sense of purpose, in teaching all of you. After this class, your memories will also be afterlife exclusive, making you an official deity. The hope is the time you spend creating your system for earth provides you with an adequate amount of time to develop morals, and a purpose. 

Conclusion: Last week you finished the first draft of your infinite naturion, this week you’ll be making the second draft. I want you to take the lessons on memory you can extract from this paper. I will hand out a copy to each of you after class. 

You’ll slowly forget your memories of earth this week. It’ll start with small things like you’re fun facts and a few vacations. But you’ll notice when you can’t remember your friends' names. Then your own mothers face. But it won’t be devastating, you’ll realize that you don’t remember who they are anymore, and it’ll hurt less.

 I realize this is a terrifying concept for you currently. If any of you need to see me after class, I’ll be staying here for the night. We have sheep that function as beanbags, we’ll all be passed out. But be warned if you do decide to stay, I might force you into some historic readings. Your final lesson will try to alleviate this loss of self, until then let’s get to work.

Lesson four: After you’re done 

Introduction: Last week you finished your second draft of your infinite naturion and have forgotten your memories on earth. This week you’ll officially be a god as you finish the third draft of your work. But only this week. After you’re let out of school, your system will be marketed in the library, and you will become guardian angels, thus losing your position as god. 

Dealing with temporary godhood: Humans, in all reality, accomplish their purpose the moment they are born in growing the population. The rest of their existence is spent trying to create a new purpose; learning, growing, and/or contributing to the earth. As guardian angels you’ll fundamentally be the same way, with your purpose fulfilled, and allowed to observe all the cosmos has to offer. This level of divine freedom with zero previous attachments would leave you with a huge sense of longing, if it wasn't for this class. I will try to provide examples of what I’ve seen guardian angels do during this final lesson, and then allow you to go enjoy your week of being a god.

Protecting humans: You can choose to reconnect with humanity by following the classical Christian archetype. Choose a human you find fascinating, protect them, make sure they have a happy life, and then move onto the next human. Most angles end up feeling a familial bond towards their chosen humans

The city of hell: That’s right, though Ferns' initial gladiator pit designed for redemption and punishment is still present, the surroundings have changed. Angels soon moved down there, not to punish themselves, but to improve their architectural skills. You’ve made a system on earth, now continue to improve in hell. The famous people I’ve brought up in this class (such as Aqua and Simpa) were the first to establish plots of lands, and it’s been growing ever since. 

Miracle workers: They spend their time on earth studying history, religions, and just general life on earth in order to improve their libraries. This gives them a full scope of what humanity is like. If being the guardian of one human doesn't give you enough connection to your past life, this will do more for you. As a bonus you can help groups of humans, performing impossible acts, and making you’re own mark in earthly history.

Conclusion: Over the next week you’ll be a god and have your story added to the afterlife library. I wish all of you luck and I will be excitedly writing each of your stories. Visit me at the end of the week to read your story, and remember to take advantage of the library while you still have it.

Through translating I’ve been able to learn my name, figure out what became of the void (apparently humans were correct theorizing about an afterlife.), and the fate of my friend. I can’t believe Fern drove herself to exhaustion because of me. I’ve spent all this time hating her, when I might never even see her again…

I need to go. I can’t publish this yet, not until I’ve memorized the lessons myself. I’ll leave these papers here and maybe one day I will share them with the world. When we’re both more ready. Or maybe humans will be human and discover this way before me. That’s okay. I’ve had my effect on the world, everyone else will too. Everything is going to be okay.