To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
By Twe Stephens, 15th Feb 2012 | Follow this author
| RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/1zimuc_0/
Posted in WikinutWritingEssays
Ever wonder how the birth of evil started in Heaven - what made Lucifer fall?
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
A small silver craft skimmed across a spectacular blue sunset above a windswept frozen lake on an unnamed ice planet. The mirrored surface reflected the wake of snow bellowing furiously behind it. The craft stopped suddenly, instantly, and silently. Red and blue exterior neon lights blinked stoically in the utter desolation and peered brightly through the blinding whiteness. An electron probe scanned deep, past the snow, past the ice, deep into the liquid silt of the lake's bed. Within the silt, a small, transparent insect-like creature burrowed deeper, almost as if it knew something was wrong. But there was no escape. Instantly it was extracted as the silt filled the void of where it once existed.
"Finally, this is the last one."
Mariah did not move his mouth because it was unnecessary. His thoughts crossed light eons instantly, without effort, communicating with thousands if necessary. Though alone, he was never alone for he was always connected to The One and part of the whole. Mariah was immortal, billions of years old, never sleeping, humanoid, and possessed an intellect thousands of times greater than the human brain.
However, there still remained countless mysteries. He did not know how many galaxies existed, the true expanse of the universes, or even what was out there. He struggled with the concept of universal infinity within the finite universes. After traveling them billions of years, his kind had not even scratched the surface of the known universe.
"Good, get the male and you're out of there."
"Okay, but you're preaching to the Melders. You don't have to tell me twice," Mariah communicated. He paused for a moment, chuckled, and continued, "It'll be good to see you again."
Mariah turned towards the transparent pulsating creature suspended within the force field. He looked at it curiously for a very long moment, drinking in its structure and physiology as he deftly transported it into a stasis vial.
The creature extracted energy from the cold; it was a living heat pump. It had no mouth or digestive system. It was undoubtedly a worthy life form. The biocomputer continued to scan the specimen, downloading structural, chemical information, and environmental needs into a huge database for later analysis and comparison. Four hundred thousand stasis vials were aboard Mariah's craft. It was impossible to categorize every life form in the universes; there were just too many.
"Make sure you get back in time for The Gathering," Allayah said laughing. "Don't be late like the last time."
Mariah smiled. "After hearing your mouth for four long cycles, you can bet it'll never happen again."
The dispatcher paused, changed gears, and communicated softly, "Mariah, something is wrong. Probably this is not the time, but do you sense something different in the Continuum?"
"No, that doesn't make any sense. What are you trying to say?" Mariah received an accidental unknown emotion transmitted, but before it could be analyzed, it vanished leaving no residue. Yet, he felt a lingering strangeness. Allayah's mind was powerfully shielded and large parts were completely inaccessible.
"We'll talk about this when I see you Allayah." Some things are better discussed in person, no matter what powers one may possess.
Mariah activated the scanner to search for the male. He understood the concept of gender with clarity; however, within the numbers of life there were no women or reproduction. The population of the numbers of life remained eternally constant and unchanging.
Nothing could be wrong. It is impossible, Mariah thought. There has never been anything wrong.
As the probe reactivated, he struggled not to be distracted. Nevertheless, the alien thoughts still flooded into his mind. He ruminated about what Allayah inferred, about the changes in the Continuum, the strangeness, the unknown indefinable something.
The probe scanned for a long time. Mariah waited patiently as the silver craft darted across the wind-blown polar expanse crisscrossing the northern regions of the ice planet. Mariah sat in his cushioned captain's chair waiting for the automated extraction process to complete. He had done bio-surveys and collections like these, innumerable times before.
Mariah's craft was a perfect silver disc with blinking lights around its circumference with large dimensional shift storage areas. It was completely smooth on the interior without dials or instruments. A spiritual interface existed between the craft and Mariah. In a sense, this made it a living craft, reacting instantly to the pilot's subtlest command or wish. The interior of the craft was unbelievably luxurious. The floor was covered with plush carpeting, walls of transparent gold, the ceiling emerald and diamond with bright neon infused into it. The craft was peppered with Mariah's personal affects. It possessed fusion-based shields, anti-gravity systems, dimensional warp drives, and stealth features. The craft had no weapon systems; the concept of adversaries or war was something completely alien to Mariah's universe.
Mariah loved The One, who the Creator of everything seen and unseen. Yet, there was much about The One he could not explain or fathom. The One, unlike the numbers of life, existed backwards infinitely and eternally; there was no beginning or birth. Therefore, it was impossible to ask 'How old are you?' The One was incapable of answering such a question, for there truly was no answer. Mariah's mind still struggled to formulate answers though it was an exercise of complete futility. Many questions have no answers - it was an impossible truth to accept.
Mariah looked up from his thoughts; the male was found. It was instantly shielded and teleported directly in front of him. It was much different from the female, opaque, and surrounded by a crackling display of electrical power, used primarily to defend territory and attract females. Mariah transported the specimen into the last empty stasis vial. It would be named and categorized later when he returned home along with the near half million creatures collected during his long mission. He sighed inwardly with excitement; he was finally going home.
The craft responded instantly to his thoughts; seat belts rose silently from behind the command chair restraining him snuggly. A dampening field surrounded him as the engines charged. Light exploded around him; Mariah closed his eyes. The craft veered right and suddenly blinked out of existence. The snow falling in the ice planet's atmosphere suddenly whirled and imploded into a spectacular starburst pattern a half-mile wide, reacting to the dimensional fracture formed by the departing craft.
Mariah reclined back as the plush gelatinous material fully enveloped his body. The craft surged forward at one hundred fifty six million light eons per second. He felt elated as he mentally switched through hundreds of channels. He stopped at a live news program, transferring the streaming images directly into his mind; he closed his eyes. Cezaih was discussing headline news, the upcoming Gathering.
Mariah's home world Terra consisted of seven huge mega-continents, with thousands of cities reaching miles into the atmosphere. There were no oceans for Terra was seventy percent land. There were millions of buildings with thousands of floors. The city streets were paved with gold, and all the buildings, translucent, were built with diamond bricks and other precious gems. Great ruby, onyx, and emerald skyscrapers added vibrant color to the planet's cityscapes. The Great House of The One was carved from a single pyramid-shaped diamond, weighing innumerable tons, and it soared miles into the atmosphere. Its base was seven hundred miles on each side. Yahusalem, the capital and the most beautiful city in the universe, glittered intensely like a city of light, bright even from space.
In the wilderness huge creatures weighing hundreds of tons roamed. Mariah often wondered why The One allowed such suffering within this construction. He felt sorry for the beautiful creatures that consumed each other for sustenance. The numbers knew it as a creation cursed. But The One, in his wisdom, revealed little about this construction of flesh, except the knowledge that this brutal circle of life was a sign, a type, a signpost, and a warning - and it was absolutely necessary.
Luciah was the most powerful entity constructed possessing phenomenal genius and wisdom. While the numbers of life could interface with thousands, Luciah could communicate with millions simultaneously. Luciah was The Light holding the Office of The Light, sitting on the left Throne of The One, residing in The Great House of The One. He did not wear white linen; he wore a spectacular red garment created from light itself, bending, shining, and conforming to his body. It was a symbol of respect, service, and honor given by The One.
Luciah discussed changes affecting the ten nations. He spoke of a newly constructed off-world city called Cydonia that the numbers built as a gift to The One.
Mariah fidgeted in his command chair as the streaming images raced into his mind. Cezaih ended with a story about a new creature discovered in the southern polar region. Mariah marveled, for it was accepted as fact that every circle of life creatures on the home world had already been catalogued. Mariah was amazed. This was his field, acquisitions of creatures for the Laviah Zoo. He rose through the ranks to command his own craft. Promotions were always slow in a world that is eternal.
The Laviah Zoo covered thousands of square miles. The creatures housed in this self-automated zoo were estimated to be over five million trillion. Computers and non-sentient self-sustaining robotic androids performed waste, food, and all operations. The larger exhibits crossed dimensions via static wormholes. Biologically linked living holograms provided access to creatures living miles within soil, solid rock, or other inaccessible environments. The microorganism exhibits were unbelievably massive, utilizing linked micro-holograms that provided number access to the almost infinite microscopic universes. The microscopic zoo was one of the most popular exhibits of the Laviah Zoo. There also were exhibits dealing specifically with creatures living in the vacuum of space.
Only The One knew the total acreage of this zoo due to millions of built-in dimensional shifts. In fact, he designed and built the zoo himself. Billions watched The One create it; he simply spoke it into existence. The creatures Mariah carried aboard his craft would add to the diversity and wonder of the only zoo in Heaven.
Mariah abruptly shifted his mental gears in response to messages received. He commanded the craft to exit the hypermension. A soft shudder reverberated throughout the craft as it exited into normal space streaking past the beautiful ringed planet Uiah. The dampening field terminated, and seat belts released slipping into slots behind the command chair. Mariah was elated. He was in his home solar system.
"Welcome back to civilization," Allayah crooned. "The Laviah Zoo welcomes you and your cargo."
Mariah laughed aloud, sensing his grin - "Keep one cold for me!"
As the craft passed the red planet, The One engaged the automatic pilot and greeted him. Instantly Mariah fell forward onto his face. The One simply smiled and left. Mariah sat up euphorically as the entire craft defocused and rapidly accelerated towards Terra.
With billions of arriving and departing crafts, the Continuum was the controller for Sector Zero. Mariah reclined back in the command chair becoming receptive, his mind overflowing with a thousand voices of greetings and friendship. He activated the screens, seeing millions of luminous crafts of all sizes around him, above, and below with blinking red and blue neon lights silhouetted in front of the beautiful blue planet. Mariah conversed with a thousand numbers concurrently, effortlessly, and exchanged vast amounts of information. Mariah's capacity for intellect was almost immeasurable, for he knew the names of every number of life. He could retain thirteen billion different names effortlessly in his memory.
His craft banked steeply approaching the planet, plunging into the firmament of Terra. The firmament was a massive watery envelope surrounding the entire planet many miles deep; enabling the planet from pole to pole to remain temperate and warm. For a second, the craft's dampening fields activated as it navigated forcefully through the liquid. The pressure released as millions exited the firmament. Exterior shields de-activated as they entered the upper partition of the atmosphere. Mariah couldn't stop smiling as his craft plunged towards the Ashelli State, towards the gigantic Laviah Zoo Complex.
At t
Cont'd
hat exact moment in The Great House of The One, above the city on a high plateau called the Mount of Olives, Aarel walked down a dazzling crystalline hallway miles above the planet. He gazed through the clouds as he passed the window and marveled at the thousands of crafts arriving continuously for The Gathering.
Aarel was the High Governor of the Ashelli State, one of the ten nations of Terra. All the numbers of life bowed ceremoniously in Luciah's presence. The full frontal bow, prostrate to the ground, was reserved only for The One. On Luciah's chest, molded seamlessly into his garment of light, was a breastplate embossed with his symbols of leadership and authority, twelve glowing pulsating jewels. The Seal of The One was stamped into Luciah's forehead, and The One's name was permanently branded on his right inner thigh: Yahaveh.
Aarel's internal clock informed him he was late. With so many voices and internal distractions, the passages of time in an eternal world where time had no meaning were a weakness prominent in all the numbers of life. He barely noticed the ever-abiding lights dancing off the crystal matrix of the hallway walls. He walked faster towards the Luciah's office and stepped into the sanctuary. Luciah already knew he was there. He slowly rose from his throne.
Aarel ambulated vigorously, drinking the exquisite richness, and the beautiful architecture surrounding him communicating respect, and characterized greetings to Luciah. He knelt to one knee kissing the Ring of Life on the index finger of his right hand. Luciah gently raised Aarel back to his feet. They simultaneously activated their privacy shields. This enabled numbers to link without distraction or sharing information inadvertently with the whole.
"It is a great honor."
"The honor is mine," Luciah said humbly. After a brief pause, he continued, "Sit with me. Let's talk for a moment."
Luciah and Aarel walked slowly across the solid ruby floor. They went through an arched doorway into a richly furnished alcove and sat on a beautifully stitched gelatinous sofa. The alcove consisted of three walls of highly polished transparent gold. The whole room was situated miles above the planet; it was like sitting in the middle of the sky. The passing of millions of congested gleaming crafts slowly arriving for The Gathering provided a surreal backdrop. As they sat down, the couch conformed to their bodies, molding and supporting them comfortably.
"Aarel, I have chosen you above the billions on this planet, for I've found you are supremely worthy. You are destined to join an elite society of numbers almost a hundred million strong. I am not a number of life anymore, but am of The One now. The left-side smaller throne, where I sat before is now like Yahshua's, the same size and coequal."
He paused a moment, and Aarel nodded, speechless.
"Aarel, have you ever wondered why we are all male? In the circle of life, though there is death and pain they remain complete because of their female counterparts. Why do you think it is Aarel we do not have a counterpart?" Luciah continued, whispering softly, “a female number of life. Do you believe The One forgot? That is impossible - he wanted us to discover this. He wanted us to find our completeness and to become what he created us to be. The One has says the circle of life is a signpost and a type. Aren't we then supposed to learn and glean something from them? And this newly gained knowledge I will reveal to you is the first step. For if we strive for all knowledge throughout the promised eternities, internal and external, in the fullness of time we can be as The One."
Aarel froze, not knowing how to answer. In all the eternities he could remember, this question had never been asked much less explored. He was amazed. It was so deceptively simple, like all truth. He tried nervously to clear his throat, but Luciah continued smoothly.
"We are all male, and there must be a reason for that. The One often lets us discover things on our own. It would be boring if there were nothing to do, nothing to discover, and nothing to live or strive for. And I believe I've uncovered what he intended us to discover, as we matured and evolved towards his greatness and power. We have explored an endless universe finding wonders beyond our imaginations; we are always learning and growing. We never looked at our own bodies to understand the true intent of The One in this area. We were static and blind looking outward instead of inward. This is a glorious body. It doesn't die or get sick as the circle of life. It cannot be burned, broken, or destroyed. We are indestructible. We swim in the plasma of the stars. But the curious thing overlooked is why numbers of life are functionally male? Seems sort of unusual, doesn't it?"
Aarel broke Luciah's gaze. He studied the thousands of arriving crafts passing in the background. He desperately tried to think of something to say. Nothing would come. He sat mentally numb and speechless looking at Luciah in awe at the absolute unbelievable.
"Our bodies are treated as vessels that hold the immortal. We communicate, eat, have friendships, family life, and special hobbies or sports. But there is no real pleasure in this body. This shell is only a mechanism to move, talk, and exist, though we are full of emotions. Although we experience much that is pleasurable, there is not one pleasure that originates directly from our bodies. You'd be amazed at what I've uncovered, other pleasures that are derived solely from the body. And they are most exquisite, Aarel.
"We are wondrously and miraculously designed, possessing sensations we never thought to explore or experience. We accepted The One would tell us, or even hint to something that basic; we as a people undeniably assumed wrong. He wanted us to discover the joy of self, for it is our last frontier. We had to find out on our own the discovery of delights that the joy of self brings."
Aarel struggled to keep his privacy shields intact because he truly wanted to shout this discovery to the whole. Instead, he fell to his knees, emotionally overwhelmed, kissing Luciah's hand as he fell to his face. Luciah achieved the unthinkable, equality with The One - able to create life and speak universes into existence. Aarel's voice cracked with heavy emotion, almost inaudible, he whispered, "How can one find this joy of self?"
"I want you to seek Cezaih; he will mentor you." Luciah stood slowly bringing Aarel up to his own level, and whispered softly, "There's a great deal more to discover, than this." He caressed Aarel's face fondly, and then kissed him deeply.
On the other side of Terra, in the great hanger of the Laviah Zoo Complex, Allayah watched the docking of Mariah's craft while waiting by the transporter array. robotic entities swarmed over hundreds of thousands of crafts in the colossal complex cataloguing and disbursing stasis vials. Mariah materialized in a flash of light. They embraced warmly laughing with joy. Allayah handed him 'a cold one', a chilled vessel of wine made from The One's vineyards. His vineyards produced all the wine consumed in the universe. No number was allowed to make wine.
Mariah opened it and took a long drink, smacking his lips. "Man I missed this! This is so good!"
He smiled. "I'll meet you when I get off. There are still a lot of crafts out, but they should be here by tomorrow. Elias might be the only one late. He's still two days away. He should get his clock fixed."
They both burst out laughing. "Elias is only as good as yesterday in this job," Mariah voiced, grinning from ear to ear.
He gently probed his best friend, something was different; large parts of his mind were heavily shielded. He felt strangeness. Allayah saw the troubling changes in Mariah's face, and changed the subject quickly.
"We'll talk later when you get off," Allayah said as they walked out of the hanger. "I have to get back to work. I just wanted to see my best friend again. It has been a long time." Machinery buzzed softly in the background as they hugged and parted.
Mariah transported to his personal craft in the parking complex, ruminating anew about what Allayah had said on the ice planet. The door closed vertically behind him. The craft rose silently into the air, creating a whirlwind below it. He sped eastward joining thousands of silver crafts in the air. Minutes later, Mariah parked his craft in the landing area. He decided to walk to his apartment. Mariah talked for hours with his neighbors and friends whom he had not seen for many cycles.
The Gathering was truly a joyous season, the entire planet electrically charged and festival in nature. Mariah lived in vertically sprawling complex rising thousands of floors into the atmosphere. All apartments had dimensional shifts causing interior spaces to be greater than the physical exterior. Mariah's apartment was on the hundred and forty-fourth floor. The total living area was three hundred and fifty luxurious acres with massive inlays of gold, silver, and walls composed of large blocks of precious jewels.
There was nothing better than finally being home. He deftly kicked off his sandals feeling the luxurious rug between his toes. He took another sip of the wine Allayah gave him, before flopping down onto the couch and activating a huge theater-sized holographic screen on an immense bricked translucent stage. Mariah shuffled through thousands of channels trying to find an interesting show.
Later Allayah walked into Mariah's apartment. There were no locks in Heaven - they were not necessary. Allayah sat in the grand living room and opened his wine. He handed his friend one, crossed his legs, and began to talk intently to Mariah.
"Put your privacy shields on," Allayah said. "And drink some wine. You'll need it."
Mariah took another sip waiting expectantly. The wine was incapable of producing drunkenness; it was a beverage of contentment.
"There has been a change in the Continuum. There's been a closing of one hundred million minds. And I don't understand why. More and more numbers are shielded continuously. No one can reach some numbers. They are not on hold but they are totally unreachable, almost as if they didn't exist."
"Like who?" Mariah interrupted.
"Luciah, Aarel, Zillah, Lamecah, Freiel, Esuaah, and...” Allayah abruptly switched from the verbal to the Continuum modus, and downloaded over a hundred million names directly into Mariah's mind.
Mariah stood up suddenly, understanding with clarity the horror of what Allayah was saying. For the first time since his construction, tears slipped from his eyes. He brushed the annoyance away, impatiently waiting for Allayah to continue, not understanding fully what was wetting his cheeks or why it had happened.
"All these numbers hold high office; they run the government. That doesn't make sense. How can they be missing?"
Allayah ignored Mariah's statement and continued, "They just are. If you don't believe that, wait till you hear this; Yahshua will lead The Gathering."
"He's not a number. He cannot lead his own melding. He's of The One. And how in the world can Luciah be missing! He's The Potentate High Melder and our Light Bearer."
"Slow down, Let me finish. I don't know for sure about Yahshua, but Luciah was summoned before The One. This information came, supposedly, from an inadvertent privacy shield leak. That means the Continuum is either cutting off millions of number communications, or the numbers are separating themselves from us. But it doesn't make any sense either way. No one has any definitive answers, but there is something horribly wrong, for daily the missing continues to rise." Allayah paused thoughtfully. "The Continuum is The One, so nothing can be wrong there. Therefore there must be something wrong with us."
"Has anyone asked The One?" Mariah asked, but he instantly knew it was a stupid question.
Allayah answered anyway. "Yahshua answers for The One, and he's not discussing any of this. He says all will be revealed at The Gathering. Get this, can you believe the entire Throne Room was emptied. Over a billion numbers were dismissed from The Great House of The One for the first time ever. I can't say why so don't even ask. All I know is something horrible is happening."
"That's absolutely crazy; the Throne Room is never ever empty! What is happening? Do you think the numbers are dying, or are cursed like the circle of life?"
"I don't know, but The One would never allow us to die." Allayah emphatically stated. "You know he has promised everyone eternal life!"
Mariah was distraught. "If they are not dead then where are they? We are family; we all love each other. How can they be missing? What happened to them? How can the whole government be missing and no one knows this?"
"I don't know," Allayah repeated. "But I do know this; believe it or not, most don't know what's going on. The Continuum suppressed this knowledge probably because it creates waters in the eyes. But I am not sure. Only two hundred million of us know - the rest of the billions have no clue, as far as I know. I'm not even sure if the media is aware of it yet. No one is discussing any of this publicly.
"There is also unusual activity in The Great House of The One. I don't believe The One is doing this, but somehow the numbers themselves. I tell you this because we are the closest friends, and I have a deep love for you. I wet my cheeks when I first became aware. And numbers across the Continuum created a new word for this emotion that brings forth new water from the body; it is called sorrow."
"Sorrow," Mariah repeated slowly. It sounded like two separate words. He paused and said softly, stuttering on the words, his voice raspy, the greatest truth any number could utter, "There is no universe without The One. There is no Continuum without The One and there is no life without The One." For the first time ever, Mariah wept bitterly.
Allayah held Mariah tightly as waves of sorrow overtook all of him. Throughout this transitive process, out of the deepest love for the whole, Mariah activated his privacy shields regarding this troubling information. A part of his mind would always be shielded. This realization increased his sorrow, for he instinctively knew this was not the way it was supposed to be. From this day, forth he knew nothing would ever be the same. Mariah wept uncontrollably, and Allayah held him for many hours comforting him, as he was comforted not so many cycles ago.
Comments