And would the camera capture anything at all? If he were definitely dead, cameras in this case should be powerless…
Without thinking long, Noah opened the camera app and took several photos of himself. Looking through them, he sighed with relief—the camera had captured him without any problem. Only the image was very dark, practically black. The only light source in the room was the kerosene lamp, but Noah had never found any matches.
On the other hand, there was the beam of light by the abyss.
He wouldn’t be able to film the room or the corridor properly, but at least he could show the chasm and tell about his situation. If there were more like him on the internet, maybe they would give him advice in the comments?
Having decided, Noah returned to the great grotto and climbed the stairs to the platform at the edge of the abyss. Settling himself in the brightest spot, he photographed himself again. This time, the photos came out almost decent. It seemed he hadn’t changed much after death. Maybe a little paler? Or perhaps the lighting was to blame—who could know?
After quietly considering several different introductions, he pressed the record button.
“Hello,” Noah waved in front of the camera lens. “I don’t know if anyone can see me. In short, I quite recently died and… oh, damn…”
He tapped the screen, stopping the recording.
No, Lithuanian wouldn’t do here. Too few viewers and even fewer will be willing to comment. He needed to speak in English—only that way would it be guaranteed that millions would notice him, and from those millions, at least one might look at his situation seriously. Or almost seriously.
Clearing his throat, he started a new recording, speaking in English this time. No advertising, no humorous introduction, every word straight to the point.
“There isn’t much light in this place, but maybe you can see the abyss behind me.” Noah tilted the tablet, filming the edge of the chasm. “It’s completely dark too. And I’m not going to hold the tablet above the abyss, because if I happen to drop it, it’s over. You’ll just have to take my word for it. A little earlier, I got a message from the ‘administrator,’ and it clearly said—if I lose my items, my existence may be ‘terminated.’ I don’t yet know what that means, but I’m not going to risk it. Right now, I'm recording with this... unbranded tablet. There are also two buckets, which I left on the grotto floor. There’s a pole for carrying them… what else? Ah, there’s also this old water pump sticking out of the cavern floor. I haven’t tried it yet. I’ve spent maybe two or three hours here so far, and I’m neither thirsty nor hungry. I don’t feel cold either. If necessary, I could even stop breathing…”
Noah fell silent, realizing he was beginning to ramble.
“What else… This place… it isn’t very big. You have already seen the abyss. Over there are the stairs leading down to the grotto floor. As you can see, light is streaming from above, but I don’t know if it’s daylight or something else. During all the time I’ve been here, the angle of the beam hasn’t changed at all. And… and this is practically the only place where I can film. Below, there is an exit to the tunnel, with two doors in it. One leads into a small room with a bed, a table, and a chair. I can’t film it, because it’s completely dark there. The other doors are at the very end of the tunnel. For now, it’s impossible to open—as soon as I touch them, my whole hand freezes. I tried wrapping my palm in a T-shirt—it still freezes instantly. As if they were cursed. Later, I’ll try to do something with the pole. Maybe it will work. What else?.. Oh, right— I found two kerosene lamps in the tunnel. Another lamp stands on the table in the room. So, apart from the tablet, the buckets, and the pole, I also have three lamps. But I didn’t find a single match. Otherwise, I would definitely film every corner.”
“When I woke up here, by the abyss, someone calling himself the ‘Afterlife Administrator’ sent me a video, in which the last moments of my life were recorded. I’ll try to find the video in the viewing history and copy the link. I have no clue if I’ll succeed. This tablet is extremely restricted. I was very lucky not to close the YouTube window; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to upload this recording.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Noah paused and sighed deeply. Then he cursed silently—he had just mentioned that he didn’t need to breathe. What would viewers think…
“The... the ‘administrator,’ whom I mentioned earlier, also sent a message,” he continued. “It explained that this place and all the items in it belong to me. But it didn’t say what I should do. There was only a warning not to lose the items. Otherwise, my existence would be terminated.
I am locked somewhere underground, without any clear instructions or directions. There are no other living or dead beings here. I am completely alone. So… if anyone is watching my recording and knows something about such a situation, write to me in the comments what I should do. Share this recording as widely as possible. Maybe among you there will be someone who knows… or someone just as dead as I am. By the way, if anyone is curious, I haven’t met God or devils... yet. This place is... just silent.”
Another pause. Unable to resist, Noah sighed again. And again, he cursed himself for that.
“So… that’s it for now. My name is Noah and… I am dead. Until next time.”
Stopping the recording, he stretched out on the ground and covered his face with his hands:
“What a piece of crap!”
“Piece of crap! Piece of crap! Iece of rap!..” the echoe agreed.
On the other hand... this piece of crap was better than nothing.
Soon, Noah pulled himself together and grabbed the tablet again. After a few minutes, the recording went to YouTube’s servers, and he received confirmation that everything had been processed properly. No violations found in the video.
Is your recording made for children? No, not for children. Do you want to show ads? No ads, please. Does the video contain sensitive, hate-inciting material? Who the hell knows… probably not? Then choose a title and specify keywords.
Noah thought long, but in the end decided not to be modest:
“Attention, dead guy calling for help from the beyond!!!”
Such a title stank from a mile away, but people these days reacted best to exactly that. Noah intended to follow every possible trend that increased his chances.
At last, the form was filled in and confirmed. YouTube did some voodoo magic with the recording for a few minutes. Then the page automatically refreshed, and Noah sighed with relief. Done. His cry for help was on the internet. All that remained was to wait until someone took the bait.
Not daring to stay longer by the abyss, Noah descended the stairs, flipped one of the buckets over, and sat on it. Thanks to the lone beam of light, the grotto was a little brighter—much cozier than the completely dark room.
Remembering his promise, Noah found the earlier video about his death. It was still in its place; no one was in a rush to remove it. Copying the link, he posted it under his created recording and translated the title. Hoped he hadn't forgotten anything else.
Just in case, he rewatched what he had recorded—and almost fell flat on the floor from shame. Yep, a complete pile of poo. Incoherent speech, facial expression ridiculous… On the other hand, Noah had never liked photos of himself. Nothing could be done. Maybe other viewers would see it differently?..
While waiting, he watched several other videos. About the war in Ukraine. About another war in the Gaza Strip. About a third war in Washington, where neo-Nazis had clashed with LGBT activists.
To Noah, it seemed strange that even after death, he was still offered the same trending news.
Unable to bear the endless theme of war, he entered a query: “first day in the afterlife.”
YouTube coughed for a few seconds, then spat out a mountain of animated cartoons.
“This website is hopeless,” Noah thought.
He still hadn’t received a single notification, and the view count of his recording so far reached only a single-digit number. That damned number barely moved at all.
“That's all right. I registered only recently, so no one knows anything about me. The portal pays no attention and certainly won’t shove that recording under everyone’s nose. At this pace, results will appear only after a good month. Or even half a year,” Noah thought.
He was about to turn off the tablet’s screen and look around his territory once again when the light in the grotto dimmed suddenly. Glancing at the lone beam of light, Noah anxiously noticed that it had become very weak and thin.
At the same time, the tablet in his hand beeped sharply. A new, never-before-seen window opened with a creepy red message:
“Attention! You have only 10% charge left!”
“This thing runs out of charge?!” Noah gasped.