Phase 1

                                    

                                          
As Lance closed his eyes, he heard a female voice speaking as if it were right beside his ear.  
                          
         
                          
"Welcome to Initiation Phase-1. Here you will experience and know  about the current state of matters and the reason for your experiences  so far. At any point of time, do not feel alarmed as this is essentially  happening in your dream and anything that happens here cannot cause any  physical harm to you." 
                          
         
                          
The voice was bubbly and relaxing, lulling Lance into a  comfortable state. He opened his eyes to see himself lying on his  favorite place to spend time in when he was back in college: in the  middle of the football ground with the vast starry sky above him. 
                          
         
                          
There was no one around him, and Lance had the feeling that this  was the place where he could be his genuine self not caring about  anything. Basically, he was in a perfect dream. 
                          
         
                          
"Identified and placed initiate in optimal setting. Beginning Phase 1." 
                          
         
                          
As the voice faded, it was as if a giant TV had been switched on  in the sky. Occupying half of his entire vision, the TV was showing  images of his daily life. He saw himself wake up, get dressed and go to  class. But there was something horrifying about the image that Lance  couldn't grasp. 
                          
         
                          
As he saw the date on the bedside clock, he finally realized what  was wrong with the images. It showed the date of the day after he had  fallen asleep and woken up in the stone chamber! He was wearing the  clothes he had gone to sleep in, and as usual due to over sleeping he  could only rinse his mouth with cold water before rushing off to class. 
                          
         
                          
Lance watched on as the other Lance proceeded through his day, exactly as he would. 
                          
         
                          
"Am-am I dead?", Lance asked, dreading the answer. 
                          
         
                          
"No. You are alive." 
                          
         
                          
"Then who the hell is that?", asked Lance, pointing at the sky. 
                          
         
                          
"That is a soul imprint driven construct designed to replace you in your day to day life." 
                          
         
                          
As Lance couldn't find words to reply, the voice continued speaking. 
                          
         
                          
"What makes you you? You are basically a set of neurons developed  in a specific way due to the sum total of experiences you have had. We  took a copy of your body to the very last cell and placed it back in the  setting it was in before initiation began. What you see is what  followed after that." 
                          
         
                          
"Testing question 1: At this stage, can you tell me what makes  you unique? How can you say that you are not the copy but the original?" 
                          
         
                          
Lance stopped watching the giant projection in the sky and looked  at the ground to gather his thoughts. He remembered all the data he had  found by days and hours of searching on the internet for every source  possible with information about the paranormal. He knew he had the  answer to this question, and it was also why although he had been  scared, he hadn't felt lost by seeing a copy of him living his life.  
                          
         
                          
"My soul and consciousness. Even if you could make an exact  replica of me, it would only be a zombie unless it was driven by my  soul. The body is the engine, but the soul is the driver. Even in your  explanation, you said that it was soul imprint driven. My guess is that  you somehow made an imprint of my soul which can drive this replica. My  subconscious could be controlling it right now but I wouldn't know of  it. It functions in the same way that you are sometimes controlled by  something else in your dreams. You are actually the one in control, but  you do not feel so because it is your subconscious doing it for you.",  said Lance, with a look of determination on his face. This was where he  belonged after all, felt Lance as he vowed to never again doubt himself  based on anything he sees.  
                          
         
                          
This had been his goal all along. To enter the world beyond the  one he could see, no matter how it was. And he was now reaching that  goal. Lance felt excitement and adrenaline coursing through his veins as  he steeled himself for anything that might come. 
                          
         
                          
"Perfect answer. Score: 120/100."