It was in the year twenty-thousand nine-hundred by the measurement of the quasar drift, and the universe was a very small place. The discovery of the Fold had been the greatest achievement of the human race, and the greatest disappointment. Free of the solid-matter bonds of previous generations, the new humans were formed of tight collections of orbiting energy fields. In this advanced state, the nature of the universe could finally be quantized.
When the discovery group reached the point where there was nothing, there was no dramatic pause or emotional climax; the very nature of the advanced human-being did not permit that. Upon reaching the end of the universe, the group had entered the nothing-- and had emerged instantly on the exact opposite side of the universe. At every discernible point along the nothing was the Fold tested, and there were no "holes." After there simply was no other explanation, the group decided that the Fold had been placed to protect its occupants from that which occupied the outside-- nothing.
The greatest, most arranged mind-sections had theorized that the Fold had been constructed by an even greater life-energy group, a group that wished to protect and sustain the life inside. But when this news was spread among the humans inside the Fold, a state of discontent had arisen. Despite the natural evolution of the human organism, the basic instinctual need for freedom still pulsed from inside the body-clusters and mind-sections. After all of the challenges had been overcome-- the time dilemma, the space loops and singularity conduits, and the fabrication of advanced body structures to allow the total exploration of the universe-- there was yet another challenge. And this one seemed impossible to overcome.
For a time, the Human Beings had wandered, endlessly testing the Fold with newer and more extravagant methods. One group even tried to throw a time gate at it, which the Fold had obediently re-entered on the other side of the universe. A waiting group of Humans displaced it with emotionless direction. All methods and hypotheses were exhausted. True also to Human Nature, the exploration groups did not give up; they retested and restimulated the Fold-- but to no end. The picture was set: the Human Organism was the only intelligent form of life in the universe. And it was trapped.
The Final Experiment was planned, and every mind-section was in agreement. The only possible route for escape was to escape time. No one was not completely involved in the Final Experiment. It was the last hope for all Humankind.
The plan was drawn in exquisite detail, and no contingency was overlooked. Even so, a central coordinator was appointed to make sure that all went well. The life energy was collected, the pattern set. There was no delay. The plan was executed.
Each Human began to propel itself, using the constant matter of the universe to provide the energy. The Humans' speed increased, and the matter was consumed. They travelled along the Fold and began to blur with time. When they reached the speed of light, their energy became infinite within the Fold. A time later, the Fold collapsed and dissipated.
And then there was nothing.
---
Only the coordinator, located at the center of the universe, continued to exist. When the time-infinite was accomplished, and the Fold was gone, only the exact center of the universe was spared the effects of that final moment. And that is where I am now. Or, rather, was. I am in the nothing now, and I have discovered that there are others here. I think that they are meant to be my friends.
Anyway, this new realm is not nothing as we had thought. It is a whole new universe. I am starting over again, but I do so not with feelings of dispair but with hope. I have been given a planet, and a galaxy to run.
The Human Race had unknowingly beat the Final Challenge, and allowed me to start anew. As for them, I do not know. I speculate with eagerness that they are beyond another Fold, a Fold that surrounds this Nothing. And I will meet with them soon. But first I have work to do. There is a planet below with new life. I must keep them safe. Because, eventually, they must meet their Final Challenge. And, although I have not done this before, I think that they, too, will succeed.
My friends tell me that I will be born anew on the blue planet, and they will usher in my birth with a terrific white bloom in the sky. And people will remember it forever. I believe my friends. I will do as they wish.
I must begin now. See you tomorrow.
8/24/93 Copyright 1993 by Todd Guilmette.