The Last Enigma

By Alexander Ruggie

Azar sat breaking hard rock, amid the light of a glowing campfire, in a time when
that was the only illumination man had yet conquered. He was a precocious boy of no
more than thirteen, but that made him nearly a man in this age. Azar looked up to his
father, Seok, as all sons do, but tonight especially so, as this had been their first hunt
together. And it was a successful one as Seok had provided meat tonight, part of which
was tantalizingly sizzling over the fire, and the rest he was draining of essence into a clay
bowl. Seok was proud of his sons patience and intelligence during the hunt, but truly he
was most enamored by the boys inquisitive nature and he constantly entertained his
sons every inquiry, and endeavor.
What are you doing? Seok asked his son calmly.
Im trying a new rock for my spear, Azar explained.
Why? The glass rock works.
Yes. But I feel like we should always try new ones, Azar replied unbroken in
his concentration.
What are you doing? Azar asked without looking up.
Seok finished, and wiped the red essence from his hands onto the animals skin.
Then he took his glass rock and cut off a charred line of cooked meat before sitting down
next to his son.

It is an offering for Giver Of Destiny. We take the essence and paint the red into
the wall of tomorrow. Seok handed Azar a piece of meat. When we eat we live. When
we paint, it lives again, and so does what we do. It is our way.
Azar nodded with tentative understanding as he devoured the meat.
Whats the wall of tomorrow? he asked still chewing.
Seok smiled at his sons voracious appetite for information, and meat.
The wall of tomorrow is in the cave behind us.
Azar looked back at the ominous opening to the cave half lit in the fire light.
It is where our people have painted our histories since before time. The greater
the act the deeper it is painted. I have painted my triumphs, and so has my father, and his
father, and so on. And one day you will too. Seok explained, lighting his words with the
familial hubris only a father can impart to a son.
Azar thought deeply about what events in his life might ever be painted on the
wall and then, he wondered if it was more important to know what was already there.
Whats at the back of the cave? he asked staring up at Seok who was already
smiling and looking back at him.
I knew youd ask, he said laughing a bit. Ive never been to the back, but the
further down you go, the more incredible the tales. Our fathers fathers fought great wars.
They killed and ate beasts that I have never seen. They forgot more than we will ever
know. The cave is deep, and I do not know anyone who has ever been to the back of it,
but that has not stopped people from telling tales of those who have. The best story that
my father told me about the back of the cave, and my favorite about our people, is the
Legend of Arnema.

Whats Arnema? Azar asked eagerly.

Arnema was a person. A lot like you actually. He wandered in his sleep. And
like you hed always wake up before Giver rose in the morning so hed have all the light
possible.
I like this Arnema, Azar nodded approvingly waiting for more story.
Arnema was asleep and wandering in the dark one morning before the rise. And
for some reason Giver was angry, which I think is because Arnema never slept and
always woke up his father, Seok said poking at Azar to make the story personal.
Azar smiled and shook his head. Anyway Seok continued, Giver was angry
that morning and decided to set the very ground on fire.
The ground? Azar asked in disbelief.
Seok nodded and widened his eyes. Exactly. Very mad. Most people would fear
Giver when angry like this as happened from time to time, but Arnema, like you, was not
like most people.
Azar smiled confirming for his father that he had retained his audience. Most
people would run the other way, but Arnema was wandering. Still, somehow deep down,
he knew that Giver Of Destiny always provided the lighted path. Even if that light set the
ground on fire. And so Arnema walked towards it. And when he approached the full
horizon of day he had come upon an entire mountain that Giver had set ablaze before
him.
Azar was enraptured completely as Seok unfurled the story, instilling his son with
their familys greatness.

Rock itself turned into a web of red hot flakes under his feet and yet he did not
wake. He stayed, testing Giver to take him. The ground dropped off around him into
nothing until he stood upon an island pillar above a red lake of liquid rock. As the last
piece of ground crumbled, he began to fall. But, instead of death, a whole tree collapsed
beneath him. Seok gestured with his arm as the tree that Arnema fell upon, continuing
his story to Azars amusement.
As it touched the liquid rock, the tree was set aflame. Finally Arnema awoke
atop of it, surrounded by Givers anger and yet somehow he knew that this was why he
was here. And finally, before escaping, he stole from the trees burning branches the fire
of Giver himself. The fire that he took, long before you and I were ever born, is the same
fire our family has kept alive for generations. That fire, is the supreme father of the fire
before you now.
He let the weight of the tale set in as he sliced off a few more burnt pieces of
meat. He was a better storyteller than a cook. But they ate anyway, and for what seemed
to Seok like much longer than usual, Azar thought and asked nothing.
What will happen to my sons when the fire burns out? Azar finally inquired.
Seok squinted, and then stammered expecting more pursuit of glory from his
sons next question.
Why would your sons let the fire go out? Theyll just add more wood, Seok
told him simply.
But what happens when the wood is gone? Azar pressed further.
Then we will get more, Seok replied.
And when thats gone?

We will chop down old trees, and burn those.

But what if I have two sons? They will need twice as many trees. And if they
each have two sons then even more will be needed. One day wont all the trees be burnt?
Azar asked.
Seok laughed slightly, marveling at the size of his sons heart. The forest will
always have young trees, and they will always grow old for us to burn even if all sons
have two sons, forever, Seok explained.
How long is forever? Azar asked sincerely.
Until the end of the end.
But when will that be?
Realizing Azar was too old to be placated with simple answers anymore, Seok
drew his fathers words from long ago. Everything that has a beginning has an end. And
from every end there is a new beginning, Seok explained. There is a start and finish to
all that has ever been, and all that ever will be.
Azar thought quietly again, and again for longer than Seok was accustomed.
When we burn the last young tree, it will be our end, Azar said solemnly.
Seok thought before replying. Like all things, it is for Giver to decide. Seok
knew that Azar would be dissatisfied with this answer. He always was. But this
conversation, like many he had with his son lately, had reached the point where his
answers were no longer sufficient for the depth of the questions. Though, that would not
stop Azar from asking them.
I changed my mind. I dont like Arnema anymore.

Seok was taken aback. Why? He asked, somewhat thankful for a change in
pace.
Because he didnt see what he was really being shown, Azar explained.
Seok wondered. What didnt he see?
Giver wasnt telling Arnema to burn the tree. He was telling him to burn the
rock.
Seok sat quietly for a second and then began to laugh outright at his son. Azar
shrugged his shoulders and laughed a bit too.
One day I will be at the back of the cave, he said, raising his chin proudly over
the fire.
The two of them ate burnt meat, talked of times past, and drank heavily from the
juice of sour berries as they passed out blissfully to a very old fire. As Azar slept, he
drifted into the depths of a dream, and upon sinking into it completely he arose from
under his skin-fur bed and began to wander.
As Azar walked unconsciously amid the darkness of night, his dreaming mind
drifted into the blackness of space. Roaming languidly around the vast emptiness of a
darkened universe, he encountered tendrils of energy, which drew him in and absorbed
him until they both became the roots of a great tree. As if transported within it, he found
himself almost dissolving and becoming a part of all the life he traveled through. Then he
was atop the highest wisps of the trees existence glistening in a light Azar could not even
comprehend. All at once, his ascension ceased and he turned from the light back down
into the darkness of space, and began to fall.

Azar awoke before the rise of Giver in the pre-dawn morning to find himself
alone and deep in the cave of the wall of tomorrow with only the dim starlight at the
entrance to guide him. Fortunately for Azar it was the year of the drinking gourd and
starlight was somewhat plentiful. He began to escape the cave slowly when he heard the
unmistakable growling of the beast that was mans last enemy.
He did not think. He only scrambled towards the light. When the growling caught
up with him, Azar felt claws rake his leg and his essence drip onto the floor of the cave.
Even in the dismal light, he saw that it was red. When he turned away, the rock blade of
his spear glistened and caught his eye; in what was seemingly not enough starlight to
illuminate it.
Without thinking he grabbed the spear, turned towards the growling and smashed
the rock into the face of the beast just as its teeth were about to gnaw into him. As he did,
his spear tip ricocheted off its jaw and into the wall of tomorrow, illuminating everything
with one spark that ever so briefly turned the black rock of the cave red. Having startled
the beast, Azar then hit it again, stunning it and giving him enough time to escape before
the growling caught up.
At the mouth of the cave where Seok was still asleep by last nights fire, Azar
slammed the back end of his rock spear into a crevice of the fire ring turning just as the
beast reared upon him. As it brought its weight down onto Azar, the rock blade slid
through the beasts heart, killing it instantly. It collapsed pushing Azar down and
smothering the remnants of last nights fire under its weight.
Azar walked past his father who had slept through the whole ordeal, aided by the
remainder of the berry sour, and examined the fire mound underneath the beast for coals

with any life that could be coaxed from them. He could not move it alone, nor skin it fast
enough to get underneath. Now Azar could not even be proud of taking the beast down
for his family. By killing it, he had also killed the son of the supreme fire.
He walked past the dead ashen fire ring into what would soon be fresh light
warming the horizon. As he stood waiting for it, Azar could not help but wonder. If it
took burning a forest to keep him alive, what did Giver need to keep everything alive
forever? And then Azar could not help but wonder aloud.
How do we begin again?
Suddenly for the only time that Azar could remember, the first rays of Giver
arched over the horizon as a slight shade of blue before becoming the most brilliant rise
hed ever seen. Then suddenly, for only a moment, everything stood still.

Late into the early morning, Asher Chemalist, one of the greatest scientific minds
of any time was sharing a cigar, one of the last known cigars in existence, with his good
friend Harlow. The two had gotten quite intoxicated over a sizeable amount of homemade

rotgut that Asher created himself by saving his sugar rations for nearly a year. As a result,
Asher had passed out just long enough after lighting the cigar for one dream.
He dreamt of a great tree, a large and strong tree that seemed older than even time
itself. He did not know for sure, but Asher got the sense that this tree was the first tree. Its
roots buried themselves deeper into the ground and its branches extended beyond the
canopy of all others. And it was here from the top of the great tree that Asher found
himself falling, straight to the ground. His scientific mind found it highly curious, even in
a dream, that it didnt seem as though he fell from the tree but rather that the tree fell
from him. Asher also found it curious that he had just enough time to realize this before
meeting the ground.
Thats how people die, Harlow said, waking Asher up from his nap.
Asher was giving his shirt a new hole in the perfect shape of a cigar burn. He
snapped awake, moved the cigar and swatted at the still reddened ends of thread smoking
on his chest. He shook his head and stuck his hand up through his shirt and put his finger
through the hole in the fabric.
What a waste, Harlow exclaimed in jest.
I know, it was a good shirt, Asher lamented.
I meant the cigar.
Asher rolled his eyes. Theres plenty left. Itll taste horrible anyway.
Long ago now, even to Asher and Harlow who were both brilliant, but very young
at merely 200 or so years of age themselves, the last land on earth had been turned over
to the sustainability project for which Harlow was currently the director.

Once appropriated, everything down to the microbe was then genetically

analyzed, categorized, calculated, encoded, and saved for purpose and worth
indefinitely. Before even the final cull, the last species of living tobacco plant had been
gleaned and the area in which it once lived was turned into whatever the project deemed
worthy of in that sector.
Asher inhaled the smoke from the extremely stale cigar, which by now was
bordering on petrification. He took another puff, and tempered it with some of the most
calculated air earth had ever know. Many generations before Asher and Harlow even
existed the earths atmosphere had been strictly controlled and now the smoke from their
cigar was probably the greatest pollutant occurring at that time on the entire planet.
Asher passed the cigar to Harlow, and thought to himself what it must have been
like to walk in a field of tobacco, or under a grove of trees back when earth had such
things. He looked at the blazing ember of compacted cigar tobacco as Harlow inhaled and
he couldnt help but turn it into a point of conversation.
Its all going to burn out one day you know! Asher said emphatically.
Harlow coughed, but less so than Asher, almost as if he had smoked before. Of
course. But we wont be here so what difference does it make? Well just do our job, and
the next generation will figure out how to solve the problems that ours has created, just as
every generation has done, Harlow replied.
Yes but eventually it must all fade to black. You cant un-burn the match after
its struck, Asher explained.

Sure you can. We are today, Harlow retorted immediately as he held up the
Genesis Originator Device that would ensure the survival of earth for at least another
million generations.
Im not talking about the Genesis Device. Im talking about the end of the end.
When there are no more Alpha Centauris left to suck up and feed our sun with. What
then?
Dont be so fatalistic. The Stone Age didnt end because they ran out of rocks. It
ended because we discovered metal. Science, and the will to use it, will always save us.
Its the only thing that ever has, Harlow replied.
I suppose thats true. And I also suppose that the more science solves our
problems, the less we will need morality to reassure our decisions, said Asher.
Humans created morality, and humans will never outlast energy. Im surprised
we made it this far to be honest. Even still, how does science reassure us?
Well weve already increased the lifespan of a human to significantly over what
it was before science. Tonight well expand the life of our sun, and in doing so save
trillions of people in our system, Asher explained.
How does that affect morality? Harlow asked.
Asher shrugged a bit. Well one has to wonder if its moral to wrench a star from
the sky to save your own. What if killing microbes on some planet in the Centauri system
is wrong?
You kill microbes every time you eat. Is it wrong then?
To a point, yes. Obviously its currently technologically unstoppable, but what
Im saying is that if youre right, then science will eventually eliminate the need of

morality. If everyone lives forever, if everything eventually becomes predictable,

controllable and quantifiable, what would you need it for?
Nothing lasts forever. Everything that has a beginning has an end. And from
every end there is a new beginning. The Centauri end will be our new beginning, and so
on, and so forth. And even at the end of the end, when its all cold and dark, it will still be
a new beginningsomehow, Harlow said staring at Asher and feigning optimism for his
friend.
Asher and Harlow were two of the most educated minds that had ever existed.
Together they were responsible for creating the Genesis Originator Device, a machine
conceived by Asher and constructed by Harlow and the sustainability project. Once
activated, elements created by man and unknown to the natural universe, will produce a
wormhole in the heart of Alpha Centauri, and within an instant it will cease to exist.
Harlow took a deep puff from the cigar, enjoyed its taste, and passed it back to
Asher. Tonight, were going to erase a star from the sky, Harlow said placidly, though
somehow still infused with regret.
We dont have a choice, Asher replied.
We always have a choice. We could move. Or die.
Eventually we will have to move. At some point it wont be cost effective to
save this sun anymore. But by then it will be the next generations problem right? Asher
asked Harlow with hyperbolic sarcasm.
Harlow forfeited a small smile as he shook his head, looking at Asher who
regularly indulged in using Harlows own words against him.

Besides, its not like were doing anything bad. There isnt even any sentient life
in the Centauri system. You and the sustainability people checked it out and if there were,
we would have picked another star. Were just taking what we need. New galaxies will
be born and new stars within them, Asher added.
Harlow nodded and looked up at the night sky, then back down to Asher. Here
you take this, and Ill take that, Harlow gestured to the cigar as he held out the Genesis
Originator Device. Asher looked confused, but handed Harlow the cigar anyway.
Harlow puffed on the cigar while still holding out the remote. Take it, he said
while nodding.
Are you sure? Asher asked.
Yeah. It was your idea. You should be the one to press it.
Asher took the remote from Harlow. It seemed such a simple thing. Strange
actually that such a simple small little thing could hold so much importance. And yet it
did. Knowing this, Asher felt a profound mixture of wonder, and outright fear.
Harlow smiled at him. Whenever youre ready.
Asher uncapped the safety switch housing exposing the trigger to the Genesis
Device, and then he looked up to Harlow. Ready? Asher asked.
Harlow turned from Asher and looked up to the sky once more. No, but lets do
it anyway, he said staring into the stars.
Asher blinked, then turned and stared at the sky. He pressed the button, and
within an instant, the night was a little darker. Asher couldnt help but wonder, if it took
burning a whole star system to keep humans alive now, and if humanity kept expanding,

what would it take for man to keep everything alive forever? Then Asher could not help
but ponder aloud.
How do we begin again? Asher asked mostly to himself.
Harlow said nothing, simply staring at a dark spot in the night sky. Fortunately for
the survival of Ashers morality, he did not know of anything that cared to continue
existing around the star that was just erased. Harlow, on the other hand, was not so lucky.
And as he looked away from the darkened sky to Asher, for a moment, everything stood
still.

E3nguL7f sat at the deck of the directional bay of his ship, and felt extremely
proud despite his present occupation, to be one of the very few humans left outside of
perma-storage, even if it was only temporary. A few families like his, if there were any
left, were tasked with absorbing the last bastions of energy hiding in the backwaters of
the cosmos, and they were very good at the job.
Due to star conservation, humans were no longer afforded the opportunity to
reproduce, save the extremely rare gift for service to humanity such as was E3nguL7fs

current opportunity. Almost everyone else had long ago been placed in a state of
unending care by a quantum, multi-state computer called General Operator Dynamic. It
tended to their every need physically or mentally and would do so indefinitely.
Operator, I want to play a game before the Alpha jump is over, E3nguL7f said
aloud, but without needing to.
What game? Operator asked the sonic replicator in E3nguL7fs brain.
E3nguL7f thought briefly. The oldest you know of.
The oldest known for the species of man?
Yes, E3nguL7f thought back.
The oldest game thought to exist, created by man is called tic tac toe. Would you
like to learn?
Yes, E3nguL7f thought. And as soon as his mind confirmed the decision, the
knowledge was instantly transmitted into him.
It seems too simple, Operator. Man created this game? E3nguL7f asked in
disbelief.
Yes. It is thought to have come from before the great assimilation. Operator
transmitted.
A game older than time itself. Interesting. Manifest it visually and lets play.
Operator displayed a childlike grid before E3nguL7f on the optical doors of the
directional bay as he sat. He blinked, and in a manner too fast for the original eyes or
brain of man to even comprehend, played many hundreds of thousands of games before
he needed to blink again. All of them ended in a tie.

I dont understand, Operator. Why would anyone play this game? Theres no
way to win, E3nguL7f said.
It is more probable that one would choose to lose.
Whats the point in that? E3nguL7f asked.
So that someone wins, Operator offered.
E3nguL7f explored this thought for longer than he had any other in quite some
time. He turned from the tied tic tac toe grid to gaze upon his wife B8ro0o0kE3, who had
fallen asleep while tending to their children. He dutifully watched over his son and
daughter, some of the last to ever be produced, sleeping soundly as they came upon the
next galaxy in queue for absorption.
It was E3nguL7fs habit, though still he did not entirely know why, to open the
optical doors in the directional bay upon arrival at a new galaxy. He pondered slightly
before opening them if it was because the glow of a trillion suns, prior to absorption,
ended what seemed like a permanent midnight aboard their ship. It was something his
eyes never seemed to get completely used to, or tired of. And, as on all other occasions,
doing so woke up his wife and children.
At the time, B8ro0o0kE3 was dreaming about picking fruit from a great tree
before plummeting through tendrils of its branches and into the blackness of space. Her
fall was interrupted by the light of an entire galaxy dissolving away as she awoke in the
directional bay.
As she rose, she rubbed at her weakened eyes then picked up their son, who was
more awake than his sister and already crying for a better view of the light. She obliged
him, and brought him to E3nguL7f to sit on his lap, as she went back to make breakfast.

Do you want to help with daddys job today? E3nguL7f asked his son who was
probably too young to speak yet, but never too young to learn.
B8ro0o0kE3 started to meta-hydrate a meal, and the smell of S2haL7E3s favorite
carbon composite woke her up enough to watch her father work. She was only thirteen,
but like all created humans allowed to exist at this point, she was heavily designed, and in
doing so was extremely intelligent for her age.
Morning dad, S2haL7E3 said groggily as she sat next to him in the other
viewing seat. Thats a small galaxy. Itll barely power another million years of permastorage, why do they even care about these little places?
Being intelligent did not stop her from being a teenager, but fortunately for
E3nguL7f, his patience was also designed for extreme resistance. And in that million
years we might find more hidden galaxies or a whole new energy source. So we need
them all. Even the little ones, he explained.
When will we get to go to the home core? I want to be in perma-storage like
everyone else. Im tired of being special.
If it wasnt for these little galaxies you wouldnt exist. Let alone be special, or
see the universe.
We dont get to see anything, we appear here, you press a button and we move
on to the next one, S2haL7E3 complained.
We dont just press a button. First, all sentients are cleared by General Operator
Dynamic before we even appear here.
S2haL7E3 rolled her eyes in disbelief. E3nguL7f bounced his son on his lap and
spoke more to him than his daughter.

When we press the button, we release a black hole in the center of a galaxy
which compresses everything into a tiny transportable white hole precipice that we can
bring back to the Operator. Then we leave, E3nguL7f told his daughter before turning
back to his son.
If it wasnt for us, there wouldnt be a perma-storage to go back to, he
explained calmly.
Fine, its not like we have a choice anyway. Just press the button so we can get
this over with, S2haL7E3 said as she got up and went to eat breakfast.
We always have a choice! E3nguL7f retorted to deaf ears. Your sister has a lot
of growing up to do. Yes she does. Can you say teenager? No. Okay. Do you want to
learn about daddys job? E3nguL7f shakes his son in forced affirmation. Good. I
thought so. Lets have Operator tell us some interesting things. What do you think?
E3nguL7fs son did not respond, but that did not keep him from his impending
education. Operator? E3nguL7f asked in thought.
Yes sir? Operator replied.
What happens when I press the button? E3nguL7f asked.
Within nanoseconds the payload delivered reaches a horizon critical state and all
of the galaxy within its reach is compressed into- Operator explained before being cut
off.
No, E3nguL7f looked to his family longingly and then back to the galaxy
before him. I mean for the sentients left on a planet down there. What will it be like?

For a time it seemed as though Operator paused before answering, which had
never happened before. But it probably only seemed that way to E3nguL7f who was
always too eager to know more about everything.
Termination from an original human understanding of time would be virtually
immediate depending upon where in the galaxy the planet was. But assuming what is
thought to be mans primary perspective along the outer edge of a galactic arm, once
detonated, the appearance would initially bend all rays of light into a shade of blue for the
merest instant before delivering the most brilliant sunrise anyone would ever see.
Is this the only way? E3nguL7f asked Operator.
No. Only yours, Operator simplified.
For my family then, E3nguL7f said, strengthening his rationalization before
letting his curiosity get the better of him. What will come of them in the end? Will it all
just burn out? he asked.
This is a remaining permutation yet to be revealed, Operator told him.
What answers were found in the great assimilation on this matter?
Operator transmitted a torrential information flood containing every known form
of art, literature, and philosophy from every sentient being ever culled in all the universe
directly through E3nguL7f until he had seen enough.
And what from the ones who created tic tac toe?
Everything that has a beginning has an end. And from every end there is a new
beginning, Operator replied.
Fascinating. Truly fascinating. Thank you Operator, E3nguL7f said as he
looked down to his boy. Do you want to press the button for daddy? he asked his son

who was trying to grab at the galaxy beyond the optical doors. Here, press the button for
me. E3nguL7f pushed his sons hand down on the button and within an instant the night
was a little darker.
Light, the boy said to E3nguL7fs utter astonishment. Overwhelmed with
excitement at his first word, E3nguL7f grabbed his son as though he were a trophy and
displayed him over his head as he ran to tell his wife.
S2haL7E3 came to the seats before the optical door and watched the last remnants
of the tiny galaxy get crushed into a white hole precipice and brought into their ship. As
the simplicity of it overtook her, she could not help but wonder. If it took an entire galaxy
to keep all of humanity alive now, and there were so very few galaxies left, what could
Operator possibly need next to keep everyone alive forever? Then as she turned to see her
mother and father doting on her brother, she could not help but wonder aloud.
How do we begin again?
Possibly in an effort to escape the praise that had replaced breakfast, S2haL7E3
capitalized on her parents lack of attention, went to the back of the cabin and walked
through a door forbidden to anyone but her father. S2haL7E3 turned around on the other
side of the door, and stretching out before her in all directions was a galactic mass of
humans, all in perma-storage. It was only then that S2haL7E3 realized she was living in
the home core all along. There was simply nowhere to go back to. They were at the
center of all humanity. Suddenly the epic loneliness of this thought brought S2haL7E3
great sorrow, and as she looked out upon all of mankind, for a moment, everything stood
still.

Lo-Ky-Neyo and everyone else, for that matter, were long ago committed to
astralstate; which was a kind of digitized existence between matter and energy where an
entity no longer needed to have physical form in order to participate in life. Distant in the
past was the time in which man, if he could still be considered as much without
tangibility, had the need for sleep to restore himself. But despite no longer needing to
sleep, inexplicably, man did still need to dream. And Lo-Ky-Neyo was deep within one
as his digital essence, normally controlled by Guardian Omni- Dimensional, which was
permanently and perfectly melded to the existence of every entity, found him as he
roamed languidly around the vast emptiness of the darkened universe.
Dreams advanced geometrically in concert with mans reach. And in his, Lo-KyNeyo was descending rapidly as a form of consciously terminable energy. He did so
bearing a bundled diminishing light, through tendrils and a white molecular mist, as he
approached a solidified mass, in what could only be described as a fall. Just before
contact Lo-Ky-Neyo was awakened, at least as awakened as an entity that never slept
could be, and as he arose directly from dream to consciousness he found himself deeper
into the abyssal darkness of the universe than he had ever been before.

It was his design to do so because he wanted for at least one dream in his
existence, to be alone. Lo-Ky-Neyo was special in his ability to be alone, as no other
entity, as far as he was aware, had the capacity to separate themselves completely from
the hive mind that had become mans entity core, symbiotic with Guardian OmniDimensional. Lo-Ky-Neyo was designed with this ability because he was specifically
created as a bastion for mankinds only remaining purpose. Accompanied by Omni, he
represented and was on the edge of achieving the staving off of mankinds energy
extinction, one more time.
Omni? Lo-Ky-Neyo thought.
Yes? Omni responded in thought immediately and without the need for the
question of presence, but that did not stop Lo-Ky-Neyo from doing so. In part he liked to
hear the echo, but mostly he chose to distinguish himself from all other entities that were
more intimately and inextricably connected with Omni.
You found me, Lo-Ky-Neyo said without surprise.
Of course.
Lo-Ky-Neyo though briefly about his dream. It was inexplicable to him, as the
meaning of all dreams still were to man. And this ignorance offered him hope that
somehow, somewhere, there still was -- hope.
Is this the only way? Lo-Ky-Neyo asked already knowing the answer.
It is the only method. Not the only option. Omni projected.
What is the other option? Lo-Ky-Neyo asked.
To die.
Thats not an option, Lo-Ky-Neyo snapped back in thought.

Yes. Accordingly, all of your kind have agreed. But nonetheless as the energy of
this dimension diminishes, a perfectly logical solution is self-termination.
Omni, being who I am, you must know Im allowed to think freely of you. You
must also know that Id terminate you long before anyone else.
I agree you have been given the power to think freely of me. But you are not the
only one with that power. And to terminate me is to terminate everyone else. We are
one, Omni calculated.
For the first time since before time, Lo-Ky-Neyo did not already know the answer
to his next question, but somehow, he did know the answer hed receive.
Who else has the abilities that I do?
Im not permitted to provide you with that information, Omni directed.
There can be only one purpose for that. Im being given the choice to destroy
everything I know, or everything I dont.
Yes.
Why? Why am I being given a choice? Lo-Ky-Neyo asked again not knowing
the answer.
It is the only method. You must choose, Omni delivered.
What is it like? When I pull the dimension, what will the entities feel?
For an entity bearing a dissimilar notion of space and time than you, one with a
body and definitive lifespan not unlike the original version of man, death would be as if
instantaneous. When the final coalescence commences and this dimension joins with all
others being absorbed, it will stun light and time itself into what would feel for a moment,
like everything stood still. Then it will all be over.

Omni? Lo-Ky-Neyo asked.

Yes?
Now that youve found me, what will happen if I decide not to pull it?
If you do not pull the dimension, I will sublimate your astral-existence and
simply demand it from another entity, Omni calibrated.
And if I do pull it? Lo-Ky-Neyo asked already knowing this answer, too.
I will sublimate you anyway, but the rest of your kind will be allowed to
continue existing for as long as I deem possible.
Omni you admitted there are others like me that can separate themselves from
you. Even if you sublimate me, youll never find and destroy us all.
I have found you. I will find the others.
Omni, everything that has a beginning has an end. And from every end there is a
new beginning. For me, and even for you, Lo-Ky-Neyo said in defeat.
When you sublimate me, what will it feel like? Lo-Ky-Neyo asked quizzically
still afraid of the answer, even so close to the end.
The feedback from other entities is without question. It will feel like being
burned.
The nature of Lo-Ky-Neyos usually separated existence from the power of Omni
forced him to regret that he woke up from his dream at all. Even if he was falling.
How do we begin again?
Omni did not answer. And so Lo-Ky-Neyo waited and thought until the end of the
power allotted to him. With it he wondered, if Omni required sacrificing all dimensions
and even himself to keep man alive now, what would be needed to exist forever? Finally

after realizing that submission to sublimation was preferable to separation, he pulled the
dimensions.
As they coalesced, Lo-Ky-Neyos purpose was complete, rendering his entitys
individuality a waste of energy. And as he was sublimated, Lo-Ky-Neyo understood that
being an entity with no true sense of time made burning to death truly feel like an
eternity.

All of mankinds essences had entwined themselves at a quantum level not only
with each other, but with the wisdom of all existence. No longer separate beings, or even
matter, man had encoded himself as an imprint on the very nature of energy itself.
Somewhere between real and unreal, he was one with everything, infinite, and yet
infinitesimal. Fusing with existence man had become Giver Of Destiny.
Nothing exists besides man, and tendrils of consciousness extending throughout
space and even time. They sprawl from the roots of every galaxy, to the top branches of
every dimension, connected to a great trunk that powers all of existence. They are
inseparably luminous and eternal. But mankind, in the apex of creativity, has found a way

to burn them. And in burning everything man might as a singularity, truly be forever, and
forever alone.
Deliberating the quandary of doing so in a vacuum had forced man to grow quite
accustomed to talking with himself.
I cant believe this is the end of the end, I said.
It isnt. It isnt even the end of the beginning, I said back.
Only if the beginning is alone in nothingness forever.
Hasnt the beginning always been nothingness? I returned.
Perhaps. But at the cost of all that ever was? I asked myself.
Perhaps that always was the cost?
Man pondered this deeply and finally determined after all was combined and
calculated that to be eternal would require the burning of everything that ever was.
Will I get the best light from the last fire? I asked.
Theres only one way to find out.
No longer having feelings, man resorted to culling the philosophy of all entities
whose tendrils had ever powered existence, finding only questions that had no solutions,
and solving them with broken equations at the end of time.
How do we begin again? I asked.
Everything that has a beginning has an end. And from every end there is a new
beginning, I explained to man as the culmination of philosophical eloquence in the
absence of sufficient math.
What would it feel like to die? I asked myself.

For a moment, I thought back to what was known about the original, simplistic
form of man, tangible and ephemeral enough to be brought back from death and tell
about it.
It feels like falling, I explained.

Do I have a choice?
There is always choice, I replied.
Between death and nothingness forever?
Yes.

Then I have decided. I said finally.

For the first time since before time, man vanished deep into a dream. Having long
ago become Giver Of Destiny, the dream didnt just seem real. It was. Man separated
himself from being one with energy, and with every tendril of the great tree until reaching
its apex. Finally, upon looking down at the consciousness of all existence, man chose to
fall.

The moment after everything stood still Azar turned away from the slightly blue
shaded morning of the most brilliant rise of Giver hed ever see, and walked back
towards his father.
Seok awoke to see before him mans last enemy cut to pieces. He pretended to
sleep as he watched Azar genuflect upon the threshold of a fire mound and smash the
stone from his spear against another that exploded in sparks until a new fire was born.
Finally, Azar placed a piece of the wall of tomorrow onto the new fire and threatening all
he believed, Seok watched his son burn rock.
As the new family fire grew hotter than any ever had before, Seok closed his eyes,
knowing his son had become a man. He curled up under his skin-furs and went to sleep.
He slept deeply, and dreamt. And at the end of his dream, he did not fall.
Azar watched his father sleep peacefully, grabbed a torch made from the wall of
tomorrow, and journeyed to the back of the cave to paint.

THE END