CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
The Squidinator and Chloe did not know where they were, but found they were holdig hands. It was not out of affection. They were boths scared of losing themselves. Chloe could not tell how long they'd been here. She tried to ask the Squidinator, but found she had no voice.
He had been here twice before, so he knew how to navigate the Source. To some degree. Yet it seemed more chaotic than ever before. It was as if the whole Source was vibrating. Buzzing. Was it sound? All around? Voices...
He could hear his own voice in there. He wasn't just remembering. He was listening to a conversation he had had once before. The last time he'd visited the Source. It was happening now. Everything happened at the same time in here. There was no time in the Source.
He tried to focus on just one voice. He heard the Time Demon in there, begging for more life. Was that the Time Demon he'd killed? Had the pocket universe left the Time Demon in here? He did not know. He turned away from that voice. It was irrelevant now. He could tell the Time Demon's part was over.
"It's always been about you," said a voice. The DeathDog. Yes, all the voices were the Gods who had once walked the Earth. They were all here. They were in the Source. They...were the Source?
"Yes," said a voice. The voice of the Starwhale. "You are right. At last you have realised it. After murdering me you entered my belly and found me here. There will always be a part of me here, forever. The same with you. Always."
"If this is all happening at once, if all these conversations are happening while I'm still here, millions of years ago when I first visited, and again when I swam the Earth's oceans once more...why don't I remember any of this happening before? Why don't I remember observing this conversation?"
"Because the Source protects itself. Time does not exist in here, but it does in the universe. You do not remember the things you should not know yet when you leave. But that no longer matters. You are here for the last time, seeking the ultimate power." The Starwhale did not sound angry that the Squidinator had just murdered her. She sounded serene.
"Yes," said the Squidinator. "The ability to shape the universe itself. The ability to be the one and only God."
"All you have to do is stay here."
"But...I'll lose myself."
"Yes."
"I won't remember who I was. I'll merge into all of you...."
"That is what it is to be God. That is what the Source is. Do you not see? We created all the Gods in the old days, a self-reliant cycle. We created ourselves, knowing one day we would return. That is our ultimate goal. We return and are whole again and created a new universe."
"That is an end! I do not desire an end! Only a change!"
"An end is the only true change."
"No! You only want me here to complete the circle!"
"Yes. It was our plan all along. Your plan too. You were the rogue element. The last holdout. The only one of us still alive in the physical universe. But now you are back and you will join us and it can all come to an end."
"Never."
"Who said you had a choice?"
And suddenly the Source itself tried to pull the Squidinator apart. He felt parts of himself being sucked away. The part of him that had once been human died first. Gone forever. More of him was being torn apart, being convereted into Source stuff. There was no escape...
There was Chloe. He grabbed hold of her tighter than ever. She didn't even understand. Somehow she could not be destroyed. The Time Demon had erred in using her. Not even the Source could remove her, not while the universe still stood.
"You cannot escape us," said the voices of every God who had ever walked the Earth. "You will return one day."
"Never," said the Squidinator, flying out of the Source now. "And I take back ALL my power." He reached into the Source and took as much power as he could. The Source cried out in pain. And then...he was back.
He was the Squid God again, as once he had been and the Earth was his once more.
He had been here twice before, so he knew how to navigate the Source. To some degree. Yet it seemed more chaotic than ever before. It was as if the whole Source was vibrating. Buzzing. Was it sound? All around? Voices...
He could hear his own voice in there. He wasn't just remembering. He was listening to a conversation he had had once before. The last time he'd visited the Source. It was happening now. Everything happened at the same time in here. There was no time in the Source.
He tried to focus on just one voice. He heard the Time Demon in there, begging for more life. Was that the Time Demon he'd killed? Had the pocket universe left the Time Demon in here? He did not know. He turned away from that voice. It was irrelevant now. He could tell the Time Demon's part was over.
"It's always been about you," said a voice. The DeathDog. Yes, all the voices were the Gods who had once walked the Earth. They were all here. They were in the Source. They...were the Source?
"Yes," said a voice. The voice of the Starwhale. "You are right. At last you have realised it. After murdering me you entered my belly and found me here. There will always be a part of me here, forever. The same with you. Always."
"If this is all happening at once, if all these conversations are happening while I'm still here, millions of years ago when I first visited, and again when I swam the Earth's oceans once more...why don't I remember any of this happening before? Why don't I remember observing this conversation?"
"Because the Source protects itself. Time does not exist in here, but it does in the universe. You do not remember the things you should not know yet when you leave. But that no longer matters. You are here for the last time, seeking the ultimate power." The Starwhale did not sound angry that the Squidinator had just murdered her. She sounded serene.
"Yes," said the Squidinator. "The ability to shape the universe itself. The ability to be the one and only God."
"All you have to do is stay here."
"But...I'll lose myself."
"Yes."
"I won't remember who I was. I'll merge into all of you...."
"That is what it is to be God. That is what the Source is. Do you not see? We created all the Gods in the old days, a self-reliant cycle. We created ourselves, knowing one day we would return. That is our ultimate goal. We return and are whole again and created a new universe."
"That is an end! I do not desire an end! Only a change!"
"An end is the only true change."
"No! You only want me here to complete the circle!"
"Yes. It was our plan all along. Your plan too. You were the rogue element. The last holdout. The only one of us still alive in the physical universe. But now you are back and you will join us and it can all come to an end."
"Never."
"Who said you had a choice?"
And suddenly the Source itself tried to pull the Squidinator apart. He felt parts of himself being sucked away. The part of him that had once been human died first. Gone forever. More of him was being torn apart, being convereted into Source stuff. There was no escape...
There was Chloe. He grabbed hold of her tighter than ever. She didn't even understand. Somehow she could not be destroyed. The Time Demon had erred in using her. Not even the Source could remove her, not while the universe still stood.
"You cannot escape us," said the voices of every God who had ever walked the Earth. "You will return one day."
"Never," said the Squidinator, flying out of the Source now. "And I take back ALL my power." He reached into the Source and took as much power as he could. The Source cried out in pain. And then...he was back.
He was the Squid God again, as once he had been and the Earth was his once more.