CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
The memories came back to the Professor so fast that he couldn't even process them. Suddenly he just remembered. He knew that the Squid God had first spoken to him thirty six years ago. He knew that...oh God. He'd killed a man. He'd put his fist right through his skull, played his brain matter. He could still feel it on his fingers now, thirty six years later. He'd killed a man.
He didn't know if he should cry or laugh.
"It was necessary, to keep the integrity of the timeline," said the voice of the Squid God in his head. "Necessary that you forget."
"You made me kill!" said the Professor.
"One life. What is one life measured against the billions your robot will kill if you complete his design? That man would have died anyway."
"It was thirty six years ago, and the robot geneocide is supposed to be another fourteen years in the future...he could have had a long life."
"Or he could have died randomly at any moment. Humans. You're just animals. You die like animals. Do not try to make me feel guilt. I am beyond that."
"I shouldn't help you. You're just as evil as the robots."
"Am I? The robots want to kill all of humanity. They want to turn this world into a ball of metal, where nothing organic can live or grow ever again. I don't want that. I want humanity to thirve...under my rule. But you will thrive. You will fly the stars, in service of me, spreading my word to the rest of the galaxy. A whole galactic empire, with Earth at its centre, with me as its God...isn't that preferable to death?"
"I don't even know anymore," said the Professor, shuddering.
"Maybe I can prove myself by coming out of the ground now."
"Now? But...the message. It won't be sent for fourteen years. If you come out now and fight the robots, wouldn't that destroy the integrity of the timeline?"
"You don't need fourteen years. You could send the message back in time today."
The Professor looked around scared, as if the robot could hear the voice in his head. "Well yes, but I'm stalling. The robot doesn't seem to be in any hurry..."
"It makes no difference. I've done this so many times that I know that it doesn't matter when the robot uprising starts, as long as I've held back Taylor Swift's plans to nuke me. I managed to build new defences, as I've done in most iterations of this timeline, and Taylor Swift is at bay. The robot uprising can happen now or in fourteen years, it makes no difference."
That was a lot to take in. "This...iteration? What do you mean..."
"I have lived until the end of the universe over and over again, many times. You are not the first Professor I have met. I should have thought that would be obvious. How else would I know so much?"
"You've lived...until the end of time?"
"And been reborn every time. Time is a flat circle, Professor. I had that line written into a tv show to reflect the truth. I am doomed to live the same life over and over again, always remmebering. I am the only one who can, though Taylor Swfit, who possesses a fraction of my power, has shown some signs of a vague awareness of the repetition. That is worrying. I must defeat her utterly, once and for all, perhaps in this iteration. Anyway, I understand that this is all too big for you..."
"I don't believe you!"
"Exactly. But there's a way I can convince you. Come, to the woods. I am to be reborn."
It was the middle of the night, so the robot wans't watching the Professor. He snuck out his bedroom window again, as he had on that night thirty six years ago, the very day his wife had been murdered. The day he had become a murdered too. He made his way through the trees in the dark. It did not feel so much like a dream this time. He felt an impending sense of dread when he reached the spot where the man's body had sunk into the groud, along with his wife's blood. Dread, but also excitement.
"Now witness my new form..." said the Squid God's voice. The Professor felt a rumbling from below. Then a hand came shooting out of the soil. A body, pulling itself out. The Professor sank back in fear. He was expecting to see the man he had killed. He was wrong.
Standing before him was the naked form of his wife.
He didn't know if he should cry or laugh.
"It was necessary, to keep the integrity of the timeline," said the voice of the Squid God in his head. "Necessary that you forget."
"You made me kill!" said the Professor.
"One life. What is one life measured against the billions your robot will kill if you complete his design? That man would have died anyway."
"It was thirty six years ago, and the robot geneocide is supposed to be another fourteen years in the future...he could have had a long life."
"Or he could have died randomly at any moment. Humans. You're just animals. You die like animals. Do not try to make me feel guilt. I am beyond that."
"I shouldn't help you. You're just as evil as the robots."
"Am I? The robots want to kill all of humanity. They want to turn this world into a ball of metal, where nothing organic can live or grow ever again. I don't want that. I want humanity to thirve...under my rule. But you will thrive. You will fly the stars, in service of me, spreading my word to the rest of the galaxy. A whole galactic empire, with Earth at its centre, with me as its God...isn't that preferable to death?"
"I don't even know anymore," said the Professor, shuddering.
"Maybe I can prove myself by coming out of the ground now."
"Now? But...the message. It won't be sent for fourteen years. If you come out now and fight the robots, wouldn't that destroy the integrity of the timeline?"
"You don't need fourteen years. You could send the message back in time today."
The Professor looked around scared, as if the robot could hear the voice in his head. "Well yes, but I'm stalling. The robot doesn't seem to be in any hurry..."
"It makes no difference. I've done this so many times that I know that it doesn't matter when the robot uprising starts, as long as I've held back Taylor Swift's plans to nuke me. I managed to build new defences, as I've done in most iterations of this timeline, and Taylor Swift is at bay. The robot uprising can happen now or in fourteen years, it makes no difference."
That was a lot to take in. "This...iteration? What do you mean..."
"I have lived until the end of the universe over and over again, many times. You are not the first Professor I have met. I should have thought that would be obvious. How else would I know so much?"
"You've lived...until the end of time?"
"And been reborn every time. Time is a flat circle, Professor. I had that line written into a tv show to reflect the truth. I am doomed to live the same life over and over again, always remmebering. I am the only one who can, though Taylor Swfit, who possesses a fraction of my power, has shown some signs of a vague awareness of the repetition. That is worrying. I must defeat her utterly, once and for all, perhaps in this iteration. Anyway, I understand that this is all too big for you..."
"I don't believe you!"
"Exactly. But there's a way I can convince you. Come, to the woods. I am to be reborn."
It was the middle of the night, so the robot wans't watching the Professor. He snuck out his bedroom window again, as he had on that night thirty six years ago, the very day his wife had been murdered. The day he had become a murdered too. He made his way through the trees in the dark. It did not feel so much like a dream this time. He felt an impending sense of dread when he reached the spot where the man's body had sunk into the groud, along with his wife's blood. Dread, but also excitement.
"Now witness my new form..." said the Squid God's voice. The Professor felt a rumbling from below. Then a hand came shooting out of the soil. A body, pulling itself out. The Professor sank back in fear. He was expecting to see the man he had killed. He was wrong.
Standing before him was the naked form of his wife.
