>>19515744In Star Trek Voyager, episode Coda, Captain Janeway refused to go into the light after death. She figured out the one there to greet her and guide her into the light, who took on the appearance of her dead father was actually from a race of aliens that tricked the dying into going into the light and in exchange for becoming an energy source for them, like a battery, they were given a simulation life where they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Something like op describes.