CHAPTER 9

RETURN

SCRIPT:

I wondered at what I had seen and heard. The weight of this thing settled in on me, threatening to overwhelm and consume me. It was far greater in scope than what I’d felt when we had first found the White Cube.

But at it’s center, there was a different kind of strength. No more was I simply guided by forces I didn’t understand, but now there was a certainty bred of knowing for myself. I saw the vision of both messengers, each representing a very different kind of future. I had seen the nature of mankind. Everything I had known, was small in comparison. Now I stood at the crossroads, no longer a pawn, but a participant.

On the one hand, an empire, and immortality. On the other hand, the stewards of creation, and serving all life. Yet, no promise of avoiding death.

But something, something deep in my soul, came to my mind. It was not thunderous, it didn’t come with a surge of emotion, it was calm, peaceful, and I knew, I knew, it was true.

Facing death, was part of the test.

Neither of the Cubes, nor the creator that had spoken to me, had told me this, but in my soul, I knew it was true.

And knowing that, the immortality offered by the black cube, suddenly felt bitter to me. A life of endless greed and avarice. One consumed by cruelty upon my lessors, by the ever burning need to have more, get more, and to survive at all costs. A race driven by that, had no business living forever.

A race driven by that, who would never die, would consume the whole universe.

And just like that, I had my choice.

I knew what I would choose.

But I also knew, others would not.

What would happen to those who chose to align with the Black Cube? What would happen to it and it’s people asleep on it’s great arc? I didn’t know. I couldn’t know, not unless I chose to align with them and become tied to their fate.

I thought on the Black Cube, saying that those doomed to destruction were left to their fate, left to perish by the creators, to go extinct and disappear from the universe. But I couldn’t reconcile that with the message of the Creator, that every people would have a place, and every place have a people.

I couldn’t.

Selflessness had drawn us to this point. We had been serving a greater purpose. I would not stop now, not at the very end of this journey.

I didn’t know how the White Cube would make everyone face the choice, but I knew they had to be given the chance.

I felt the presence of the White Cube in my mind as it reached out through my connection with the Black Cube and began to struggle with it. I felt as it reached out among the lines of connection that that Black Cube had with people, and unfolded it’s same vision upon them. One by one, I felt the reeling and shock as person after person saw what I had seen, both visions on full display.

Some had already accepted what the Black Cube had offered, and turned away from this new vision. Others were in shock, only now seeing the Black Cube for the first time, its influence having been previously unknown.

The vision moved across the globe in a great wave. The effects of it ripped through the consciousness of mankind like a fire, burning away old notions and beliefs. It tore through us like a sword, driving asunder the fragile assumptions that held together our society. No more could people assume that life was meaningless, no more could they hide behind the thought that everything just came to be by chance.

So much was taken from us that day. So much baggage. So much stability. As I watched it, as I felt it unfold before me, I knew that the world we had made would die that very day. It would be impossible to just go back to our old lives without some kind of reckoning.

The Black Cube had been molding us, guiding us, trying to shape us into what it wanted, and yet, even with all its time, all its power, it had not managed to fully carry it out its goal.

There had still been light within us.

We had still had our moments of selflessness, our moments of kindness, sparks of a great light left within us by the creators. The Black Cube had tried to snuff that out, to extinguish it forever, but it had been within us all. It had succeed with some, starving them of goodness and hope, until their sparks went dark, but in others it still smoldered.

Now, with the Black Cube’s influence on full display, with it’s smothering effect removed, we could, if we chose, fan those sparks into a flame.

The vision spread, out from those whom the Black Cube had been connected with, to every human being on earth, until all had seen, all had witnessed.

None were left without excuses.

The time to choose was upon us.

I felt the collective weight of the choice, the aching maw left behind by the burning truth of our situation.

Then, with a flicker of warmth, I felt the White Cube begin to fade away.

It had latched onto the Black Cube with all of it’s energy, and pulled it away from us all, severing the links each Cube had on our race. With it’s influence fading, it left me with a final message.

‘Goodbye my friend, and may you find your way on the path,’ it said as it disappeared from my mind for the final time.

With the cubes no longer in my mind, I was able to pull my hand away from the Black Cube.

It sat inert before me, I felt nothing coming from it.

Chavan was looking at me, his face a mix of rage and terror. My companions looked at me with conviction, they had seen it too, they had felt it too, I had simply been the conduit. Chavan’s gun waved between us as he backed away from the now dead cube.

For a moment, I feared lest he would gun us all down, but my fear was short lived. Death was part of the test. Which meant there had to be something beyond this mortal life. My fear came from an instinctual place, but my conviction was able to calm that part of me, and felt a peace settle over me. For once, I did not have to question if it came from me or the Cube.

My choice had been made, and the cube was gone.

I would choose the path of the creators.

I would fan the sparks into a flame.

Chavan started to breath rapidly, and his arm was shaking, panic was visible on his face. His grip loosened and the gun clattered to the ground, he fell down on his knees, a ragged scream escaped his lips. He slumped forward, resting his head on the floor, and began to whimper.

‘It’s over…’ I heard him moan.

I walked over next to him, and kicked the gun away. He looked up at me, his face one of agony and fear.

I knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

‘It’s not too late to choose,’ I told him.

He shook his head and said that his people had chosen a long time ago. That they couldn’t change their path now.

I told him that I thought he was wrong, that his people could stop running, and join us.

He shook his head again, and started to get up. I stood up and helped him to his feet. He looked at all of us, and shook his head again. He said it was too late for them. He started to run for the door. We didn’t move to stop him.

We made our way slowly to the surface, our minds calm and our bodies tired.

As we returned to the city above, we saw people standing, leaning, and sitting all around us. Some spoke quickly to those next to them, others stood mutely, starting at nothing. Everywhere, the world had ground to a halt. People stopped their cars, dropped whatever they were doing, and just reacted to what had happened. The whole world seemed to grow still. In the distance we heard a rumbling noise, and turned our heads to try and see it. A pillar of smoke rising into the sky showed something flying away.

It was probably the race that had been hiding among us, fleeing our world, now that their greatest method of control was removed.

Eventually, people had to continue moving. People in the middle of dangerous things didn’t have the luxury of stopping for long. Naturally there were still some accidents, nothing like this would happen without some chaos, but the White Cube had done it’s best to only show people the vision when it was as safe as it could be.

We made our way to a park and sat. So much had happened, and now, now we didn’t know what was next. No one did. Not really. After we had rested for a time, and had a chance to digest everything, we tried to get back to mission control.

After the influence of the Black Cube had been ended, the director had reappeared. After making a phone call, which we had to borrow a phone for, and waiting for a pick up, we were back there and getting ready to return to our homes.

It seemed as though the director, when finally freed of the influence of the white cube, had gone into hiding, at the instruction of the cube. Now that the danger was gone, he was free to return.

The message of the cubes had been delivered. Whether anyone would listen, would be their own call. For me and my crew, we would return to our families, and do our part to ready the world for what was coming. When the creators arrived, everything would be different.

It’s been years now, since this all happened. There were those, humans who were part of the black cube’s plans, who fought to keep power and maintain their status quo. People still had to make their choices, between the comfortable old, and a unfamiliar new.

I wish I could say it had all gone smoothly, but I can’t. Those who did not want what was coming were bitter in their opposition. Most even resorted to violence and tyranny.

A final, grand conflict, the likes of which had never been seen, rippled across the globe. It was only through great effort and sacrifice that destruction was avoided. There were no clear battle lines, no nation or state on one side, and others opposed. It was simply everyone, everywhere, making their choice, and fighting to protect their decision.

But in the end, those of us who chose the path of the White Cube, came off the victors. The Black Cube’s followers were finally stopped in their mad attempt to hold onto a crumbling empire.

When the creators came, and come they did, they found a world wearing its fresh wounds. We were battered, and bruised.

In a way, that last war helped us to shrug off the last vestiges of the system that the Black Cube and it’s people had been laying. With the Creators help, we could close this chapter of our history, and start on a new one, embracing the work that we were made for.

Those last survivors of the Black Cube’s faction were given a final choice, to either abandon their goals and join with us, or they would be given a ship and sent to follow after the arc of the builders of the Black Cube. The creators knew where it was headed, and where it was. For the purpose of the great work, and the testing necessary for it, their continued freedom was beneficial, and if some of our race wanted so badly to be like them, they would be allowed to.

It was difficult to comprehend that they had always known where the Arc was. The Black Cube and it’s people had been convinced that the Creators had no knowledge of the Arc, but it seems they always had. Letting them use it, and letting them escape, added an element to the test that would serve some greater purpose.

I do not know if at some certain future date, that particular lose end will be tied up, the creators were not quick to say either way. The great work would continue far after the story of our world came to a close.

Everything worked in a great round, a cycle of testing and the results of those tests, followed by yet more as those who were elevated to new station helped those following to do the same.

That was to be our fate, as it was the fate of our creators before us, as it was the fate of the ones who came before them, for our race, and countless others within the great cosmos.

I sometimes think of the White Cube, alive, though not as we are. When the creators finally came, they went to it in an effort to repair it.

I had been there. I looked on that alabaster box, it’s carved sides still vibrant with the story they told, and knew that whatever within it had been alive, was long gone. It had spent itself to keep the Black Cube out of our lives forever. It had succeeded.

I spent some time working with our benefactors in constructing our own messenger to be sent to those who would follow us. It was curious, living through the same sort of events that I had only seen the vision given by the Cube. Our world is a much different place now, a happier one. There are still challenges, we are only human after all, but by and by, we are working toward a common goal and a common good, and we care, genuinely care, about each other. I would tell you more details, but that… (Wryly) that would go against the principles of the test.

It’s amazing to think that we had this potential within us this whole time, fighting against the influence of an unknown interloper and his avarice filled makers.

So what of me?

My time is coming to an end. I face that final test, the end of this mortal life that all living must face. It is the final test I will face in this mortal existence. What awaits me beyond, I do not truly know. The Creators have said much about what they believe awaits me, but no man can know until he faces it himself.

All I know is the Creators have followed those who came before, and that is all I am doing now. It is as it has always been.

Elis, my dear friend, he passed through this final test before me. The effects of his first contact with the cube did have an effect on him, and it did shorten his life, but he lived long enough to see the end of the troubles, and the arrival of the creators. He got to see that his sacrifice was worth it.

I hope, in my heart, that whatever waits for me beyond the last horizon, he is there too. I have much to tell him.

And you?

Well, you hear my tale as it has been embedded within our own messenger. May you find value in it, as we did in the messenger given to us.

The great work continues. As it always has.

May we meet one day, when your test is completed.

THE END