Part 1 | Part 2
But does that make it any less real?
The man walked and I followed. After a while it started to feel... hypnotizing. Was this because I had lost all sense of space and time or because I really was into a trance - I do not know. It felt.. dry. Clean. Sterile. The whole place. Also damp. Unearthly.
Well, of course it is unearthly, you moron! One more, this is the last time!
Suddenly we stopped. I shook my head and the veil of unconsciousness started to lift, replaced by the cold brooding reality. Or what passed as reality around here. We have reached a clearing amidst the dense forest - a misty green meadow, an obstacle in our path. In the middle of it there was a pit. It didn't look as it had been dug, it just felt the pit was... perpetual. Does that sound strange? Maybe. If you'd been there, you'd know. Its the same as the forest, isn't it? Some things must me felt, not explained. The naked man with the dead eye - my companion - made an inviting gesture and I obeyed. I stepped closer to the edge and looked down: it was deep, about 2 or 3 human heights and at the bottom of it there was a dead corpse, or so I thought for a moment. After that moment has passed the corpse opened his eyes and smiled reluctantly.
My companion was keeping himself a bit backwards - whether he wanted to remain unseen or was trying to protect my sanity was unclear.
'Hello' the "corpse" said.
'Oh, that is so cliched' my reply followed.
'Yes, but necessary nevertheless, isn't it?' he raised his body and now he was sitting on the fresh, moist soil. There was something awfully familiar about that soil... 'Where I am, who are you, what is it place - will we go through the usual routine?'
'No.'
'Why?'
'Because until now you've spoken nothing but questions. I don't trust that you have any answers.'
He looked down, let out a long drawn-out sigh and then focuses his eyes up, back at me.
'And you are absolutely sure that there are answers?'
'Of course there are. There always are.'
'True. But I think you'll find some rather hard to believe. You see, your mind is finite. Some answers aren't.' he smiled 'As are some questions.'
'And what is your purpose here then, goddamn you!' I shouted, losing my calmness. Almost immediately I felt that rage is not suited for this place and pulled the reins of my nerves.
'No god has damned me. As to my purpose - it is simple.' he said 'I am here to give you a choice.'
'A choice?'
'Yes.'
'And what that choice might be?'
'Knowledge versus life.'
'Isn't being alive idiot better than a dead scholar?'
'That is for you to decide. Remember however, that life and death are a relativity, at best. Senses can lie, your mind lies to you too. It has limits. The universe doesn't. It has no bonds or borders. The idea of infinity - you can't grasp it. How about infinite numbers of infinities? It's all a matter if size, really. And size is something you give far too much attention.' He stood up. His face was colorless, but only if you count white as a color too. It seemed to blend with the pit. It was the no-color of the rain and dust. He continued:
'Therefore, knowledge is infinite. The world you inhabit has three dimensions. Some argue that the fourth dimension is time, and that is true, but not for your minds, for you can move freely, back and forth, through the three dimensions and passage through the fourth is denied to you. That is what makes you mortal. If you chose to stay here and take my place in the pit you will experience what you'd call an "afterlife", which will give you the ability to move freely between all dimensions. And if you continue your walk, then I cannot tell you what will happen, for I do not know.'
'I choose to continue.'
'Why?'
'Need I answer?'
'No one tolerates blind decisions. Or at least, no one should.'
'Very well. You give me a choice, you say. Stay here or continue. Life or knowledge. You speak of afterlife. Universe. Multiverse, if you'd like. You give me a choice between knowledge and life. You never outlined which decision is which. You say knowledge is infinite, and yet the one you posses is not. Therefore I chose to continue, which is both life and knowledge.'
His face turned into what might have been the very definition of hatred.
'Go away and tease me no more then'
I turned to the man and I nodded. He turned and continued to lead. As I continued to follow.
The man walked and I followed. After a while it started to feel... hypnotizing. Was this because I had lost all sense of space and time or because I really was into a trance - I do not know. It felt.. dry. Clean. Sterile. The whole place. Also damp. Unearthly.
Well, of course it is unearthly, you moron! One more, this is the last time!
Suddenly we stopped. I shook my head and the veil of unconsciousness started to lift, replaced by the cold brooding reality. Or what passed as reality around here. We have reached a clearing amidst the dense forest - a misty green meadow, an obstacle in our path. In the middle of it there was a pit. It didn't look as it had been dug, it just felt the pit was... perpetual. Does that sound strange? Maybe. If you'd been there, you'd know. Its the same as the forest, isn't it? Some things must me felt, not explained. The naked man with the dead eye - my companion - made an inviting gesture and I obeyed. I stepped closer to the edge and looked down: it was deep, about 2 or 3 human heights and at the bottom of it there was a dead corpse, or so I thought for a moment. After that moment has passed the corpse opened his eyes and smiled reluctantly.
My companion was keeping himself a bit backwards - whether he wanted to remain unseen or was trying to protect my sanity was unclear.
'Hello' the "corpse" said.
'Oh, that is so cliched' my reply followed.
'Yes, but necessary nevertheless, isn't it?' he raised his body and now he was sitting on the fresh, moist soil. There was something awfully familiar about that soil... 'Where I am, who are you, what is it place - will we go through the usual routine?'
'No.'
'Why?'
'Because until now you've spoken nothing but questions. I don't trust that you have any answers.'
He looked down, let out a long drawn-out sigh and then focuses his eyes up, back at me.
'And you are absolutely sure that there are answers?'
'Of course there are. There always are.'
'True. But I think you'll find some rather hard to believe. You see, your mind is finite. Some answers aren't.' he smiled 'As are some questions.'
'And what is your purpose here then, goddamn you!' I shouted, losing my calmness. Almost immediately I felt that rage is not suited for this place and pulled the reins of my nerves.
'No god has damned me. As to my purpose - it is simple.' he said 'I am here to give you a choice.'
'A choice?'
'Yes.'
'And what that choice might be?'
'Knowledge versus life.'
'Isn't being alive idiot better than a dead scholar?'
'That is for you to decide. Remember however, that life and death are a relativity, at best. Senses can lie, your mind lies to you too. It has limits. The universe doesn't. It has no bonds or borders. The idea of infinity - you can't grasp it. How about infinite numbers of infinities? It's all a matter if size, really. And size is something you give far too much attention.' He stood up. His face was colorless, but only if you count white as a color too. It seemed to blend with the pit. It was the no-color of the rain and dust. He continued:
'Therefore, knowledge is infinite. The world you inhabit has three dimensions. Some argue that the fourth dimension is time, and that is true, but not for your minds, for you can move freely, back and forth, through the three dimensions and passage through the fourth is denied to you. That is what makes you mortal. If you chose to stay here and take my place in the pit you will experience what you'd call an "afterlife", which will give you the ability to move freely between all dimensions. And if you continue your walk, then I cannot tell you what will happen, for I do not know.'
'I choose to continue.'
'Why?'
'Need I answer?'
'No one tolerates blind decisions. Or at least, no one should.'
'Very well. You give me a choice, you say. Stay here or continue. Life or knowledge. You speak of afterlife. Universe. Multiverse, if you'd like. You give me a choice between knowledge and life. You never outlined which decision is which. You say knowledge is infinite, and yet the one you posses is not. Therefore I chose to continue, which is both life and knowledge.'
His face turned into what might have been the very definition of hatred.
'Go away and tease me no more then'
I turned to the man and I nodded. He turned and continued to lead. As I continued to follow.
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