MASON WILLIAMS AND THE CELESTIAL SYSTEM

THE BILLION DOLLARS SYSTEM

Mason opened his eyes and was surrounded by immersive bright light. It Took him time before his eyes could adjust to the intensity of his environment.

'Am I dead? Is this heaven?" Mason muttered to himself, constantly turning his head, bewildered by the presence of nothing. The light surrounding him was the same above and below him. It was as if he was floating in the absence of gravity.

"No, stupid, you are not dead yet," a voice echoed. "And this is definitely not heaven." The voice added.

Mason spun in fear, searching for the person who spoke to him, but no one was around. The reverberation of the voice made it difficult to locate its direction.

"Is that you, God?" Mason asked, swallowing hard. It was the only thought that came into his mind.

"No stupid, down here," the voice said, and Mason looked down at who said those words. There was a tiny emoji with a puzzled look staring at Mason.

"What the!" Mason was taken aback. "You're not God; you are an emoji!" Mason muttered.

The Emoji rolled its eyes. "Of course, I'm not God, Mason. You can call me Emoji," it said. "E.M.O.J.I.," it spelled out, stressing the last syllable.

"That's what I said," Mason replied.

There was a frown on Emoji's face. "No, you didn't; that's because the letter I am silent," Emoji replied.

"Where am I then," Mason asked, realizing he was talking to an emoji.

"You are in the Celestial void," Emoji replied.

"A Celestial what?" he asked, overwhelmed with confusion."

"Celestial void," Emoji repeated. "It is a system activated by the chosen one sub-consciousness. It is only activated as a string between life and death. Giving you the option to live or die," Emoji explained, stressing his last word with a bass tone.

Mason swallowed hard as he recalled how the car sent him flying across the street. "I don't want to die!" The words escape his mouth. Even when the world was cruel to him, he wasn't ready to leave his sister at the mercy of its cruelty.

"That's a good choice," Emoji replied. "In other words, you now have the power to rewrite your Celestial destiny," Emoji said.

'I must be dreaming,' Mason muttered to himself. He pinched himself and closed his eyes tight, hoping he might wake up from this dream, but he was only meant with the sarcastic look Emoji wore while watching him.

"This is not a dream, Mason," Emoji deadpan.

It was as if Emoji could read his thoughts. The smile on Emoji's face indicates it could indeed read his thoughts.

"There is some restricted information I can't access, but right now, this is your status," Emoji said, and a hologram appeared before him. "Mason Williams. Age 21. Brother to Helen Williams. Financial status: very, very poor." Emoji read out.

"Was that last part really necessary," Mason asked.

Emoji nodded with a grin. "Necessary for you to understand that you have been given the power to rewrite your destiny," Emoji replied, sliding through the hologram.

Mason was silent as different thoughts ran through his mind. If this wasn't a dream and he was asked to rewrite his destiny, he choose never to be poor again.

"Here is your Celestial point," Emoji said, pulling Mason from his thoughts. "You have 4 Celestial points at the moment, which you can redeem for a reward within the celestial system."

"Redeem for a reward?"

"Correct," Emoji nodded. "One Celestial point is equal to one 10 billion dollars and would take five consecutive hours to reflect in your account, considering your physical account which would require an upgrade."

Mason's mouth dropped at the mention of that figure. "You gotta be kidding me, right?"

"Nope," Emoji shook his tiny head. "And if you click that button, it will convert your Celestial point into money, and it will be in your bank account."

"Really?"

"Yes. Well, there is no use of the money since you're almost dead, so you have to exchange one point to regenerate your existence, which is minus two points." Emoji said, looking at Mason's stunned expression.

"I still can't believe this," Mason ran his hand through his hair, bewildered by the event.

"Click the damn button, Mason," Emoji said. "You need to pay for your sister's treatment."

And in that instance, Mason clicks the exchange button, and his eyes open, revealing his surroundings. The ambulance and people who surrounded his body indicated he had been brought to the hospital.

"Wait a minute, he is alive!" Someone shouted nearby.

"That's impossible. I saw it clearly; he died on the spot. No one could survive such an impact." another voice said.

Mason raised into a sitting position and staggered off the stretcher. He ignored the gaze of the figures who stared at his body like they had seen a ghost—the paramedics who quickly overcame their shock.

"Are you okay?" The female paramedics asked, examining Mason's wounds, which were still fresh but had stopped bleeding.

'That's impossible,' she muttered to herself. His bleeding has stopped!'

"I'm fine," Mason replied in a rasping voice. His thoughts rested in the words of Emoji and the impossible things that occurred to him.

"We need to take you inside the hospital to check for any internal injuries," she said.

Mason shook his head. "I'm fine," he repeated, which was true; it was as if he had never had an accident at all. The only proof to show for the incident was bloodstained on his torn clothes, and pale face of the driver. His wound were slowly healing.

Mason staggered out of the ambulance, brushing past the first responder as he headed Into the hospital to see his sister.