In a scene that seemed to be out of the Book of Eden, or The Jungle Book, Eric found himself looking up at one very large snake.
"What are you?" he asked, dropping the fruit, and backing away. "The Devil in Serpent form?"
The snake chuckled. "A herpetologist described me as a Titianboa, or something along those lines. As for being the Devil, or some other deity of Evil, far from it. I'm one of the Virtuous."
"Virtuous?" Eric asked, as he tried to keep his eyes on the creature, noting it to be well over forty feet long.
"Lived life the right way, basically," the snake said. "Didn't kill more than I needed to, didn't eat more than I needed to. It's sort of easy to figure things out for one such as myself, as we don't need to worry about morality for the most part. Of course, if you ate way too much or killed way too much, then you're at risk of being marked as Condemned."
"Condemned?" Eric asked.
"They suffer punishments," the snake said. "Condemned Predators cannot catch Virtuous Prey, and Condemned Prey cannot outrun Virtuous Predators. Virtuous ones enjoy the taste of what they eat, while the Condemned taste only blandness."
"What do you mean by that?" Eric asked.
"Try the fruit," said the snake. "It should taste like the best papaya you've ever had, or at least taste delicious to you at any rate. Otherwise, it will taste like tofu."
Eric carefully picked up the fruit, and tried it. It was delicious. "This is good."
The snake chuckled. "Good to know."
"So, just how do things work around here?" Eric asked.
"Not too different from how things should work," said the snake. "Predators hunt for Prey, and Prey try to avoid being caught by Predators. Just to let you know, your sort is both Predator and Prey, meaning that you can always capture Condemned Prey, and outrun Condemned Predators, unless you let them catch you."
"Let them catch me?" Eric asked.
"Sometimes one feels sorry for them, and conveniently trips and doesn't get up in time to escape," the snake said. "Of course, Virtuous Prey don't feel any pain when they get eaten."
"What if say a Virtuous Predator came after me?" Eric asked.
The snake chuckled. "Depends on if you gave the Predator permission to eat you or not. If you gave me permission, I could eat you. If you didn't, I'd have to look for someone else."
"What would happen afterwards?" Eric asked.
"Your body would be recreated," the snake said.
"I see," said Eric. "Um, what's your name?"
The snake chuckled. "I prefer to be called Rosa when folks make use of such things."
Eric's eyes widened. "Okay. My name is Eric, Eric Roberts."
"Pleased to meet you," Rosa said.
"So, what now?" Eric asked.
At this, Rosa said.....
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