|
|
|
The
final fate of the universe Featuring
the last battle between The Realtor® and The Dreamseeker Written
by Damian Hospital And so after all the death, destruction, deceptions, and devastation, the two men who composed and defined humanity’s dreams and reality stand on an asteroid at the edge of the universe -- and at the end of time. With The Traveller now dead after sacrificing himself, they are the last remaining beings in all of Creation; the ‘Last Two Remaining’ before the universe and time itself ceases to exist. Those who associated with him during his stay on earth called him by many names. But he existed before earth was even formed in that solar system. He was born eons ago, and when The Void screamed in agony and ecstasy at the same time, and gave birth to Reality -- he snuck in.
He is the Realtor, and he has been buying and selling realities since the dawn of time. But now, it seems, as if his time has run out. The man standing facing him is the man formerly known as Dace Senoit. He has not been called by that name in billions of years. The man-god, known now as only The Dreamseeker, was not birthed at the beginning of this universe. No, Dace was born a mortal -- unknowingly blessed with a gift bestowed upon him by the ancient gods of mythology and lore. And he died a mortal, after accomplishing his goal, which was helping humanity to awaken by looking deep into their forgotten dreams. Many years after Dace had left the material plane of existence, humanity realized its ultimate dream -- to colonize space and meet other life forms. But thankfully, Dace saw all of this, for the same gods who gave him the ability to rekindle the dreams in others granted him a final gift -- transcendence. Dace had truly become The Dreamseeker, becoming an immortal entity -- unlocking the hidden dreams of all life forms in the myriad of galaxies. For the last few billion years, while The Dreamseeker was inspiring hope, creativity, and altruism throughout the universe, The Realtor was still working at selling false hopes, quick schemes, and hollow ideas to all civilizations. However, his true motivation seems to have been to weaken The Dreamseeker for the ultimate confrontation at the end of space and time. The Realtor’s power grew every time a world, a society, a group, or an individual bought an idea, belief system, perception, stereotype, philosophy, and religion -- just to mention a few of his realities. By using these concepts as commodities, he viewed sentient beings as merely pawns that he could manipulate. As his power base became stronger throughout the universe, The Dreamseeker’s influence had diminished. The Master of Trade, as he was once called, received a part of the being’s spirit when it had bought into a hope he sold. With each transaction, The Realtor simply became an unstoppable force. He had focused his energies into ruining the good work The Dreamseeker had inspired. The genius had constructed calculated plots to hamper The Master of Dreams. Now, as ‘The Last Two Remaining’ stood on the asteroid, they realized that the time had come for one of them to be vanquished. You see, as this universe comes to an end, only one of these iconic entities will be able to exist in the next one. Before the anti-matter erases the small strands of this universe that are left, one of these beings will be at the Dawn of Creation for the new universe. The Realtor hoped to once again sneak in and dominate the next universe, as he did at the beginning of this one. In the previous universe, The Realtor had defeated a being similar to The Dreamseeker, its memory lost as the anti-matter consumed him and its reality. If The Realtor is able to defeat The Dreamseeker, there will be no dreams in the new universe. There will be someone like Dace, a chosen one to stand against The Realtor at the end of time, but that being would not be the Guardian of Dreams. Nay, dreams will never be able to take root in that universe, just as the quality that the previous defeated entity represented never existed in this reality. And there is no guarantee that the new being will survive and meet The Realtor at the end of the next reality. He or she will be tempted by The Realtor’s tricks and sidetracked by his plans. The next carrier of the burning torch of virtue may get swayed off his or her path, buying into one of The Realtor’s finely weaved lies. The Realtor failed to corrupt Dace; the Master of Deceit came close many times, but the bottom line is that The Dreamseeker passed all of the trials that were hurled at him. If The Dreamseeker is able to be victorious now, the next universe would be filled with an uncompromising sense of hope, beauty, and optimism. All dreams would be realized -- it would be a universe never seen before, indescribable to us. The one final detail of this last battle is straightforward: The man who becomes permanently and completely vanquished, the man who is irrevocably defeated, must concede that he is not worthy to herald in the new universe; he must surrender to his opponent, and unconditionally yield. He must admit that the other is his better, and after the victor is safely transported away in a pocket dimension, he will be destroyed as this universe collapses upon itself. * * * “I am The Dreamseeker,” the noble one said. “You are so predictable, Realtor. You’re still trying to sell false realities even at the end of time. Do you think I don’t realize you’re trying to manipulate me by calling me by my mortal name?” “Would you think otherwise, Dace? After all, we have so much power; we outlasted the everything -- do you believe this contest will be won at a physical level? You will kneel before me and yield, Dace -- without any violence.” “Is that why you tried to attack me from behind? If The Traveller hadn’t hurled himself in front of that bolt from the blue aimed at my back, I would be incapacitated.” “Again, Dace, why wouldn’t I want to weaken you further by striking you down? To think that you would be so idealistic in your final moments is very disappointing,” the man with the black Armani suit smirked. “Look around us, Dace. The end of everything, but the beginning for me.” “You think you have achieved much, don’t you Realtor? Capitalizing on the desires of people, just so you could make a “profit”. Snuffing out dreams for your own survival. That’s no achievement,” The Dreamseeker spat, as he took down his brown hood from his head. He was wearing a brown shroud. “Dace, your problem has always been that you perceive me to be evil. But you couldn’t be farther from the truth. People have free will. Yes, it was an idea I sold to them countless eons ago, but even before I did, they still had the freedom to chose their fates. I am simply a force of nature, Dace. But I am a necessary force of nature, while you are a novelty.” “I did the impossible, Realtor,” Dace said. “I influenced humanity to realize its dreams. My time on earth created the means for a Golden Age of Enlightenment, while your plan just held people back.” “You are really showing your youth, my friend,” the handsome genius shot back. “My plan for humanity was the same as yours! Think about how many business opportunities landed my way after humanity began to colonize space. That was my intention from the beginning when I sold the idea that man would walk on the moon in the late 1960’s. And even thousands of years before then, I sold those primitive species of man the idea that something better than them existed in the sky. From the beginning, I knew that I would make out like a bandit when mankind would reach the stars!” The Dreamseeker squinted his eyes, trying to discern if the Realtor was lying or not. He looked at his tanned face, still cleaned cut, yet gritty from experience. His black hair was slicked back, and not one hair was out of place. His pearly white teeth were perfectly straight. “Dace, it was totally advantageous to my role for humanity to reach its “dream”, much like the “American Dream” which I allowed you to rekindle.”
The Master of Dreams was speechless.
“Yes…yesss, Dace. You have been deluded for billions of years. Your 'accomplishments' were my objectives. All of the years you struggled trying to invoke the lost dreams of pathetic souls? All of the times my plans to knock you off the path of the ultimate goal “failed”? All my doing. If I did not try to influence you, you would have given up! You would have fallen into a depression when you were a confused teenager, and probably would have committed suicide. But I created the means to make you stronger, Dace. All of the pain and suffering in your mortal life set into motion your willpower to help humanity, which kept my business booming!” The Dreamseeker’s lips tightened. “ I may have sold the reality of space colonization, which expanded my consumers, but I could not have done that without you inspiring humanity with the dreams you had awakened from them. So you see, our goals were the same in terms of what we had in store for humanity. It’s just that you were simply a part of my goals. My vision expanded into the next universe, while your vision was always to help out wretched life forms that were unable to seize the day without your influence. You were focused on the present too much, Dace; I always looked towards the future -- to a universe where I am the one, true master of reality.” The Dreamseeker paused, and then replied, “There are a few holes in your theory. I’ll give you credit -- it’s an interesting story, but I’m not buying. So you’ll excuse me if I don’t put my hand in my cloak and take out my wallet, Mr. Realtor.” The Master of Realties intensely looked at his rival with his penetrating black eyes. “First,” the truth seeker started, “your true motivation has always been your own self-interest and survival. After I died, the old gods told me of why you exist and how you exist. Yes, many of the realities you sold enabled very innovative and productive things in the world…” “Like the gods themselves, Dace…”The Realtor smirked. “…but you are really a parasite, simply manipulating worlds for your own benefit.” “My young friend, why do you think the gods blessed you with your gift to enlighten people?” “… “They said that I was born with the gift to counteract your influence, Realtor. People are more than commodities, they have dreams,” the seeker of dreams replied. “I was necessary.” “And where was ‘The Dreamseeker’ for the billions of years before you were born? Hmmm?” “… “…” “Gotcha! Those foolish gods -- I hate to break this to you -- were simply illusions. Where did you say these ‘gods’ were?” “After I died, I was walking in a white, cloudy mist. When the clouds cleared, I saw the largest temple in all of Creation. The heads of the pantheons of all religions and mythologies were there. They told me the origin of all things, and the stories of who I was, and who I was to be. They also said that you no longer were selling their realties anymore, that they were replaced by science and technology. They wanted people to dream again, so that they may live in the hearts of men once more.” “Dace, after you ‘died’ I had technicians from Alpha Centauri transfer your conscious to a virtual reality program -- a pretty advanced program for its time. We created the ‘ancient god’ scenario, which in turn, inspired you so much that you transcended reality by your own will! You see, I realized how much you have helped me make so many transactions and so much profit, and I benefited from you being an icon, similar to myself. You owe your second life to me, Dreamseeker. “You’re like a son to me, Dreamseeker. I’ll admit to you now, I have always respected your talent to tap into the realm of dreams. Quite honestly, I have no conception of relating to people like you did. You are my greatest achievement.” The Dreamseeker, with glazed eyes, put his palms up as a sign of resignation. “That’s right, Dace … you never had a father, Dace … but I watched over you all of the time. You were the only being in this universe that I truly loved.” The Realtor outstretched his arms and motioned for The Dreamseeker to embrace him. The universe was rapidly collapsing all around them. The chaos was consuming all of reality. The end was moments away now. The two hugged each other, and The Dreamseeker began to weep. “Yield, my son. Yield, so I can build a better universe.” “I yield,” he whispered. Then anti-matter immediately consumed his body, breaking down his atoms and molecules into nothingness, and erased him. The anti-matter wiped out all of space and time. That reality no longer existed, and dreams were lost beyond eternity. The Realtor disappeared, going into the pocket dimension where he will wait for this universe to end, and for the next one to begin. Like he did billions of years ago, he will enter the new universe as it begins. Unlike the universe that just ended, however, there will be no dreams. * * * Twenty-First
Century Suzuki-Masato
Towers Tokyo, Japan The Realtor sat at the head of a long, wooden varnished conference table. Investors, scientists, and computer technicians surrounded him. There was a 52-inch flat screen monitor behind him. “Mr. Lyons,” one of the men respectfully said to The Realtor, “is the final product to your liking?”
“Faaaaantastic, Mr. Yakamanchi! I couldn’t have done it better myself! Well, actually I could have, but I’m a very busy man! Ha, ha!” The men began to laugh after sensing that they were allowed to. “If there is one thing, though, Mr. Rosenberg -- could we edit out one of the last lines?” “Uhm … wh-which one, sir?” Rosenberg nervously asked. “The one where I, I mean The Realtor, says, ‘Quite honestly, I have no conception of relating to people like you did.’” “Oh ...uhm ... sure, sir … I could actually do that right now….” Rosenberg said as he was typing away on his laptop. “We are sorry, sir,” Yakamanchi said, “But our writers thought that it added to the realism, based upon what you had told us.” “Sure, no problem,” Mr. Lyons replied. The Realtor’s cell phone rang. “Excuse me one moment,” he said. The man nodded, and looked nervously at the other businessmen in the room. After The Realtor finished his quick conversation, he asked Rosenberg if he was finished yet. “Yes, and I even cut a new disk.” “May I have the disk?” The Realtor asked. “Yes, Mr. Lyons,” Rosenberg said as he handed it to him. The label of the disk read, “The Big Lie”. “Gentlemen, with this disk,” The Realtor said as he held it in the air with his right hand, “I will totally shake the confidence of Dace Senoit -- not to mention confuse the hell out of him. One of my best agents out of New York has designed a dream enhancer, which will display the computer simulation that we just saw into Dace’s mind. After he has this ‘dream’ he will abandon his foolish quest, and stray off the path. There is no way he will continue his mission to help humanity if he knows that, in the end, he will lose. This will prevent him from further getting in my way of buying, selling, and trading realities; the hope he gives people takes away from my market! In time, he will become even more of a danger to my enterprises.” The men sitting at the conference table all looked at each other with confused faces. They all were hired to design this virtual reality simulation, but they had believed it was for promoting a high-tech movie and video game. “And the reason I am telling you all this,” The Realtor said as he got out of his chair and headed towards the door, “is because you’re all dead.” He turned around, smiled, and then disappeared. The businessmen didn’t even have time to mutter a word before the entire top floor of Suzuki-Masato Towers exploded. * * * |
