CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
"You were with them, on their spaceship," the Eath said to the Time Demon.
"Of course," it said. "They freed me so I saved their lives. Took them back in time to be swallowed by the Starwhale and they waited inside...for revenge. They built suits that make them immune to your ink, built rayguns that can wipe out your slaves. They hunger to kill you, Squid God."
"I'm not the Squid God, not anymore," said the Earth.
"No, I see little of him in you," agreed the Time Demon.
"Revenge...because I destroyed their cities," said the Earth, understanding. "But I only did that after I was attacked."
"After from your point of view," said the Time Demon. "It's the chicken and the egg! To them you attacked first, to you it was they who struck the first blow. What is the truth of it? It does not matter. You would have killed each other eventually. You, the Starwhale, you were destined for this, right from when you were the Squid God. There can be only one. But now...there is neither."
"I still live," said the Earth. "My ink-eyes still fight...I can hold them off."
"Yes, you probably can," said the Time Demon. "But then what? You can't move anymore. You are dead in space. And so is the Starwhale. Both of you, stranded out here."
"In time I'll learn to move again," said the Earth, but he was not convinced. It was the collective will of his billions of slaves that had moved him before...but so many had died. More than ninety percent."
"Time," said the Time Demon. "I know all about that. I could show you a vision of the future."
"How would I know it isn't lies?" asked the Earth. It remembered the Time Demon being a trickster.
"I have lived a lie for so long," said the Time Demon, sadly. "Trapped in a prison which I thought I could not escape from...it was just a box! It was all in my mind, you see! The Starwhale made me believe the box existed outside of time, that if I travelled back or forward in time I would always end up back in the box. But it was not so! I merely SAW the box in my mind at all time. But when the remaining humans opened the box and begged for my help in killing you, the illusion was finally laid bare. The Starwhale is crippled now and has no more power over me. I can see the future again. I am the master of time. Belive me or not, but I have no reason to lie to you. What I will show you is the truth."
"Fine," said the Earth. "Show me my future..." And the Time Demon touched the Earth's mind...
Visions. Images. So much at first, so hard to makes sense of it. He saw his ink-slaves and the remaining spacemen laying down their arms. He let the spacemen, the only remaining humans, live on Earth. Grow gardens again. But they were not human anymore. Time had twisted them as they had adapted their bodies to withstand the ink. They were hideous twisted creatures now. And their gardens did not grow. Yet they lived, a horrible life but they lived. Meanwhile there were twisted ink-eyes living on the Starwhale. The Starwhale itself had fallen into a deep coma, its mind rotting from ink. But still those remainign ink-eyes clawed and fought their way through life, clinging on. The Earth could not speak to them, the connection was severed. Eventually the Earth constructed a spacehsip to travel to the Starwhale. Its envoys met the strange creatures living there who had evolved from ink-eyes and humans...and were slaughtered. War was declared between the Earth and the Starwhale. Both could no longer move, but those remaining creatures that live on them fought each other, launched nuclear weapons at each other...and all was pain. For a million million years there was nothing but death...
"Enough," said the Earth. "Enough."
"You know it to be true," said the Time Demon. And he did.
"Why show me this? To hurt me?" asked the Earth.
"No," said the Time Demon. "So that you can see the future and accept that there is another way. The ONLY way."
"What other way," asked the Earth.
"And so you come to me for help..." said the Time Demon, smugly.
"If you are offering me this you must want it to," said the Earth.
"Well, possibly," said the Time Demon. "Or perhaps I genuinely care about you." Then it laughed, cruelly.
"Tell me this other way," said the Earth.
"I can travel forward in time, yes. But I can only also travel back in time. And I can take you with me. I can make it so none of this ever happened. I can give you a second chance. You can do your life all over again."
And at this, Chloe finally looked up.
"Of course," it said. "They freed me so I saved their lives. Took them back in time to be swallowed by the Starwhale and they waited inside...for revenge. They built suits that make them immune to your ink, built rayguns that can wipe out your slaves. They hunger to kill you, Squid God."
"I'm not the Squid God, not anymore," said the Earth.
"No, I see little of him in you," agreed the Time Demon.
"Revenge...because I destroyed their cities," said the Earth, understanding. "But I only did that after I was attacked."
"After from your point of view," said the Time Demon. "It's the chicken and the egg! To them you attacked first, to you it was they who struck the first blow. What is the truth of it? It does not matter. You would have killed each other eventually. You, the Starwhale, you were destined for this, right from when you were the Squid God. There can be only one. But now...there is neither."
"I still live," said the Earth. "My ink-eyes still fight...I can hold them off."
"Yes, you probably can," said the Time Demon. "But then what? You can't move anymore. You are dead in space. And so is the Starwhale. Both of you, stranded out here."
"In time I'll learn to move again," said the Earth, but he was not convinced. It was the collective will of his billions of slaves that had moved him before...but so many had died. More than ninety percent."
"Time," said the Time Demon. "I know all about that. I could show you a vision of the future."
"How would I know it isn't lies?" asked the Earth. It remembered the Time Demon being a trickster.
"I have lived a lie for so long," said the Time Demon, sadly. "Trapped in a prison which I thought I could not escape from...it was just a box! It was all in my mind, you see! The Starwhale made me believe the box existed outside of time, that if I travelled back or forward in time I would always end up back in the box. But it was not so! I merely SAW the box in my mind at all time. But when the remaining humans opened the box and begged for my help in killing you, the illusion was finally laid bare. The Starwhale is crippled now and has no more power over me. I can see the future again. I am the master of time. Belive me or not, but I have no reason to lie to you. What I will show you is the truth."
"Fine," said the Earth. "Show me my future..." And the Time Demon touched the Earth's mind...
Visions. Images. So much at first, so hard to makes sense of it. He saw his ink-slaves and the remaining spacemen laying down their arms. He let the spacemen, the only remaining humans, live on Earth. Grow gardens again. But they were not human anymore. Time had twisted them as they had adapted their bodies to withstand the ink. They were hideous twisted creatures now. And their gardens did not grow. Yet they lived, a horrible life but they lived. Meanwhile there were twisted ink-eyes living on the Starwhale. The Starwhale itself had fallen into a deep coma, its mind rotting from ink. But still those remainign ink-eyes clawed and fought their way through life, clinging on. The Earth could not speak to them, the connection was severed. Eventually the Earth constructed a spacehsip to travel to the Starwhale. Its envoys met the strange creatures living there who had evolved from ink-eyes and humans...and were slaughtered. War was declared between the Earth and the Starwhale. Both could no longer move, but those remaining creatures that live on them fought each other, launched nuclear weapons at each other...and all was pain. For a million million years there was nothing but death...
"Enough," said the Earth. "Enough."
"You know it to be true," said the Time Demon. And he did.
"Why show me this? To hurt me?" asked the Earth.
"No," said the Time Demon. "So that you can see the future and accept that there is another way. The ONLY way."
"What other way," asked the Earth.
"And so you come to me for help..." said the Time Demon, smugly.
"If you are offering me this you must want it to," said the Earth.
"Well, possibly," said the Time Demon. "Or perhaps I genuinely care about you." Then it laughed, cruelly.
"Tell me this other way," said the Earth.
"I can travel forward in time, yes. But I can only also travel back in time. And I can take you with me. I can make it so none of this ever happened. I can give you a second chance. You can do your life all over again."
And at this, Chloe finally looked up.