Posted on July 9, 2011.
A short story by: Philip Dubitsky
Ed laid helpless on his back paralyzed with fear that turned to alarm as a bang ripped through the air, the man who was about to kill him fell to the ground. Drops of blood, as well as bits of bone and cartilage speckled down on Ed as his attacker collapsed with a gaping wound in his right shoulder. Blood poured across the filthy pavement. Bang! And another in the pack fell to ground with his right eye a sputtering crater of blood and liquefied flesh that spewed out of a petrified face. The pack of rapists and murders knew the sound, the sound of gunfire, and dropped their pathetic weapons fleeing and screaming out into the wasteland, hoping only not to be the next one to hit the ground bleeding and dead. Ed rolled over, and lay face down trembling, afraid as to what would happen next; a touch on the shoulder.
“Are you alright?” A concerned voice questioned Ed.
Ed rolled over and saw a man in torn jeans and an undershirt. His face was young and tired; over one shoulder was slung a bag, over the other a 7mm rifle with scope.
“I said are you alright?” The young man questioned Ed again, “did any of those bastards hurt you?”
“Yes, but not that bad…” Ed said managing to make it to his feet.
“No ‘thank you’,” the young man remarked.
“I was gonna before you interrupted me, who are you anyway?” It was Ed who asked the question this time.
The young man proclaimed, “I’m a scout, with a large group of men who seek answers, we seek justice for what has befallen man. Our leader is a man named Benjamin; he has gathered us together to go to the all-knowing machine that has brought the end. Machines must always serve man and we therefore will make this machine tell us how to prevent the end of the world, or at the very least how to survive it.”
“I don’t know why you saved…”Ed said but was then stopped by the wave of the young man’s hand.
“We are but one day from reaching our goal, we will either gain a solution to this problem, or destroy the machine, we need the help of every good man to achieve our goal, you will be fed, clothed, and given shelter, you will be safe and together we all will save this world, or exact vengeance on that which has destroyed it. Will you join us?”
Ed shrunk before the enormous question, but then felt the hunger in his stomach, and answered, “Yes.”
“Excellent,” the young man replied with reserved eagerness.
The two made their way to an abandoned motel where Ed was given a dirty room, but it was his for the night. The others there all looked disheveled but that’s how everything was starting to look. However what they lacked in cleanliness they made up for in provisions.
“Benjamin is a smart leader,” One member of the group remarked to Ed, “While the rest of the world was focusing more on organic foods, Benjamin knew that food without preservatives doesn’t tend to last very long. So he made an enormous stock of canned foods. The food market collapsed almost 2 months ago., and most of the food has since rotted, that’s why all you can generally find is canned foods like this,” He held up a can of beans and pointed to its label, “This is good for another 2 years, which is funny, ‘cos that means it’ll last longer then the human race.” The man’s lips twitched into a sardonic smile. He had a somewhat youthful face. But his eyes looked much older than the rest of him, they held a tired, vacant look that Ed had seen in everyone since he left his home. He thought back to the near distant time when he could simply watch television and he wouldn’t have to worry about anything, but then it went off and Ed had set off in search of what, at the time he didn’t know but after these experiences he was beginning to think the only thing he really wanted now was answers.
“Hopefully tomorrow I’ll find any answer,” Ed thought to himself.
Ed was awoken by shouting from outside, he looked out the window of his room, the dirty glass proved a filthy filter, yet through it Ed could make out a man shouting at people.
“Up and at ‘em!” the madman blared, “Today we reach the great machine, and take revenge for what it has done to us.” A group was gathering around the man. Ed got dressed, and stepped out of his room. The group around the man had grown, as Ed approached, he saw the young man who had saved his life the day before.
“That’s Benjamin,” The young man said pointing at the man at the center of the spectacle.
Ed glanced over the shoulders of those in front of him and saw a bearded man, with high cheekbones, and a gaunt nose that protruded from a sharp brow. The man, Benjamin, spoke wildly, yet eloquently and Ed felt the surge of emotion from the rest of the group as he made his speech.
“…Therefore it is imperative, there’s no turning back, No going back now,” Benjamin boomed and bellowed as the men grunted in agreement, “What is there? Nothing left to go back to, the world will be dead so, mankind will be gone. There’s no fighting it. We must take action, we must get vengeance. Man created that machine, and man,” Benjamin thumped his hand into his chest, and then extended outward, indicating those watching him, “Will destroy it.”
“What if it is guarded?” a question arose from a skeptic observer.
“What do you think our arms are for,” Benjamin replied confidently, holding up his gun, a bolt-action rifle, and continued even louder than before “Not just for sickos and rape gangs, I knew we would eventually need them to gain access to the machine. Anyways why would anyone be guarding it? Why would men spend their final days guarding that which has destroyed them? And if anyone is foolish enough to get in our way.” Benjamin then gestured with his rifle.
The men watching Benjamin voiced their support, “Yeaaaaaaah” “Wooooo”
Ed felt differently though. From what he had seen on television the computer they were going to destroy had only predicted the end, but did not cause it. In fact something was bothering Ed, something he couldn’t pin down, and this only irked him more. Maybe this is what he came out here into the world to find, not just food or survival, but to clear up this inconsistency, to gain an answer to the question in his head
Before Ed could think it Benjamin shouted in his general direction. “Young Richard who is that with you?”
The young man who had saved Ed’s life, Richard, replied with excitement. “I found him taking on a whole rape/murder gang by himself yesterday. I shot a couple of the creeps and they went running like animals. Makes sense though…”
“You need not worry, for I comprehend the intent of your words,” Benjamin shouted back, “those are men who revel in killing, they would never take up guns as we have done, for it means they can not look into a man’s eyes as they kill him. They do not feel his fresh blood on their hands, nor does its acrid aroma enter their nostrils, to them killing is a jubilant game, while to us it is a sad necessity.”
The followers cheered Benjamin who continued on improvising, “This man, what be his name?”
Ed announced as loudly as he could, which was a weak cry, “Ed Clarence.”
“Good, Ed Clarence, today I have a task for you by which you may prove your worth. You will scout the facility where we may find the great machine; you will assess what dangers there may be, and return to our group.”
Ed realized what was being done to him, and his mind was split by the dangers and rewards that this task posed for him. Whatever defenses this machine may have could hurt or even kill him. Yet if Ed reached the machine first, before the rest destroyed it, he could maybe, just maybe get answers. It remerged into his mind, what had driven him away from his dying world, and then recently, what forced him to return to this world. A question that burned at the center of his being, that tainted his experiences, a question whose answer he must know, and yet a question whose answer he was afraid to know.
“What say you Ed Clarence?” Benjamin probed, “If you complete this task then you will be welcome as a full member of our group, you will receive a gun to defend yourself…” he continued on but Ed stopped listening, for a far more urgent question grabbed his focus,
Ed thought, “How can I survive in this world?” He looked to Benjamin, and gave an answer, which answered his own problems, “I will do it.”
Ed knew he could not survive alone in this world, not after what he had seen in his first day on the outside. For the first time he truly realized why it was that he had locked himself away in his apartment, buried himself in entertainment, in media, in meaningless little exercises of the mind that served only to distract him from what the world was becoming.
Ed walked with the rest of the group for a few hours, and finally they came to the end of their journey. It was a wide building, generally 3 stories tall, with a fourth story springing up near one corner. While many buildings from a distance seem to tower this one seemed to crouch, almost is if read to pounce.
Benjamin looked at Ed but announced to the others, “Ed you shall enter the building and see if it is safe, if it is you may proceed further, if you find the great machine do not attempt to destroy it, but come back to us, and together we all shall enter and destroy that which has destroyed the world.”
This announcement stirred something in Ed. Was he going in there unarmed? Defenseless? So he desperately questioned Benjamin, “Can I get a gun or sumfin’?”
Benjamin replied, “You are new to our group, we do not know if we can trust you, but if you complete this task you will have proven your…trustworthiness, and then will be given a gun, and a place amongst us.” Benjamin gestured to include him and the rest of the group.
While this sounded comforting and reassuring, Ed realized, whatever defenses this God-like computer may have would probably be more than a match for any gun, especially in his hands. If there were something defending the computer, then they probably wouldn’t even be able to fetch his body, or the gun he might have. What it basically came down to was that the group could afford to lose Ed, but not a gun.
Ed, feeling quite important, approached the facility. He walked up the crumbling unused road to what was once a parking lot. Now it was so overrun with the plants that had seeped up through its networks of cracks that it looked like a field. No cars were in sight, no footprints in the grass, there was not one cigarette butt or piece of litter; none of the signs indicating the presence of people were there. This place was long abandoned. As Ed approached the entrance automatic doors slid open. Apparently there was something still going inside this abandoned shell of a building. The lights were on, but just barely, there was enough light for Ed to see where he was going but not much more. The inside of the building looked sterile, clean, undisturbed, yet something was wrong. With every step Ed took dust rose into the air. The dim light bounced off the curved walls that stretched overhead turning into the ceiling. The light poured down the rounded walls and shone onto Ed. While Ed could not see the dusty floor he could see to speck rising up through the soft light. No one had been here in this place for months, yet why was there a light on? Ed walked down the hall from the entrance. At the first intersection he saw dark halls in front and to his right, yet to his left the light continued on. He turned and followed the half illuminated hall to its end. He saw a crack along the left corner in front of him. He pushed on the wall and it opened, the wall was in fact a 3-foot thick blast door, which for some reason was left unlocked. As Ed pushed the blast door open it swept up the dust from the ground, sending it swaying through the air. Ed inhaled and coughed. His eyes adjusted to the new level of light, he saw a large desk in the corner with something slumped over it.
Blood, or what was once blood but was now just a dark red-brown stain covered the floor leading up to the horrible sight. In a chair a man lay back motionless, his face and neck were pale and bloated. His mouth opened as if screaming in horror, and his eyes were clenched close. In his weak grasp was a pistol. The back of his head was a gaping wound rimmed with decay. His shirt, which once may have been white was a soaked with dried blood. The wall next to him was flecked with blood, long since dried, and on the ground beneath it was dried blood, covered in bits of decayed and decaying flesh and dust. Ed drew back from the horror he saw. This corpse had been left alone to rot forgotten; the whole room stunk of the death that hung heavily in the damp air. On a panel at the desk in front of the dead man glowed a small red dot, that pulsed slowly, dimly, but most of all steadily. Ed touched it and the wall in front of the desk turned into a screen. It held the image of a man, that Ed recognized, yet couldn’t make the connection. He looked at the corpse and realized that the image on the screen was that of the dead man.
The image came to life, the man spoke, “If you’re seeing this then I’m dead. Feels weird saying that but I have no alternative. My name is Dr. Joseph Lorrin and this is not a suicide note… it is an apology, a plea for redemption. I designed the machine in the next room; at the time I had no idea what repercussions it would have. I devoted a lifetime to creating a computer that could predict the future. I mastered programming, computer hardware design, and sociology, and built this machine hoping that it would end the world’s problems. I had hoped it would be used as an aid, but when people heard of a machine that could predict the future they all bowed down to what it said. For a long time the human race has been obsessed with death. One need only look at our history to see it: the wars, the pain, the entire cultures obsessed with death. For a long time people have been predicting what the end of the world would be like, many used it as a fundamental pillar of their faith. There have been countless stories about the end of the world. For some reason death has always titillated the interests of man, its no wonder that’s we were doomed to die. The saddest part of it is that I really don’t think we had to die. When the computer first told us the world would end in 2210, we debated whether or not to tell the public. I said that we shouldn’t, that people should be given the blessing of not knowing what was to come, but others disagreed. They wanted to tell people, so they could prepare for the end and spend it with their loved ones. While this may sound compassionate and righteous, in fact when they told people the world was going to end, to many nothing seemed to matter. My heart broke when the mass suicides began, knowing that my creation was responsible for what had happened.”
The man on the screen looked down, tears falling from his empty eyes that were filled with sorrow, “It was my fault, there’s no way around it, if I had never built this machine, then…. But that is irrelevant, as I said this is meant as documentation, and a plea for forgiveness, not as a suicide note. I hope that when I die, whoever finds this can forgive me for what I have done. I remained here alone to take care of the machine, after all the others were sent home, the power eventually went out, it’s no surprise. More and more people just stopped caring, government just disappeared, so did the police, it seemed like everyone went home to die. I’ve heard horrible stories of what the world out there is becoming. I don’t wanna live to see it, I don’t deserve to live to see it…” the man on the screen continued dribbling in self pity. But another voice spoke to Ed.
Why have you not returned to us.” It was Benjamin, apparently Ed was trusted enough to do this one task, but had to be checked up on.
“I..” Ed attempted a reply but before he could Benjamin cut him off with a swift gesture.
“Come with me, we shall tell the others that it is safe to enter, then we can return together and destroy this machine that has tried to play god.”
Ed realized something; the machine was in the next room, if it truly was all-knowing, as everyone else claimed, it would have answer for the question that had been tormenting his mind. But if he went with Benjamin they would tear the machine apart before he could have his answer. He had been at it too long and wasn’t about to give up with his answers finally in reach.
“I’d rather stay here for the moment, you go and get the others, I’ll…stand guard” It was the best Ed could manage, sadly it wasn’t enough. Benjamin’s gaze turned to suspicion, and as he spoke it transformed into accusation.
“Why do you want to stay here, are you going to try to lock the doors before myself and the others return, are you trying to protect the machine?”
Ed stumbled over his words, “No…it’s just that…”
Benjamin had had enough. He rose up his rifle in his right hand and said slowly with conviction, “You are coming with me, or you’ll never leave this place.”
Doubtlessly Ed wasn’t pleased to have his life threatened by a man who was supposed to be helping him, a man who was supposed to be a leader. Ed knew that if Benjamin made it out of the building and back to his group they would storm the building and destroy the machine. Ed’s question would go unanswered and he would have to face the final days of the world not knowing the truth. This upset Ed greatly; his bodied was on fire with agitation. He knew now that there was no way he could let Benjamin leave the building. Ed would either have his answers or die in pursuit of them.
Benjamin motioned with his rifle telling Ed to walk front of him. Ed knew there was no way he could get that gun away from Benjamin, at least in the room they were currently occupying. However, in the corridors it was darker, if Ed could maybe just drop out of sight for a second then, wham! He could surprise Benjamin, and at the very least get that blasted rifle away from him. Ed strode in front, Benjamin followed. Ed kept a slow but constant pace, and Benjamin not wanting to get to close, but not wanting to let Ed slip away into the shadows matched speed. A light overhead started to flicker, Ed took advantage of the brief moments of darkness, he took two large quick steps forward, then dropped low and off to the side.
Benjamin took a shot at in the dark, but it was in vain. As he was jumbling bullets in his hand trying to reload, a hand reached out in the darkness. The hand didn’t just reach but in fact grabbed the gun and shoved it. Benjamin’s grip faltered, he let the gun loose, but managed to grab onto it at the last moment with all the strength he could grip (and being a man in post-apocalyptic earth occupied by very few women, he had plenty of practice gripping things) the gun slipped out of Ed’s hand and tumbled to the floor. The flickering light overhead had gone out and the closest source of illumination was not strong or near enough, the gun lay shrouded in darkness. Benjamin reached over, squatting, and feeling for it. Ed took him from behind; sending him face first into the ground, jaw gaping. Benjamin was pinned down to the ground face first, blood oozed out of his cracked lips, he threw up a desperate elbow, it made contact and Ed fell back for a moment stunned. Benjamin scrambled to his feet desperately, spitting out blood and pieces of broken teeth, and kicked around hoping to find the gun. Ed crouched in a dark corner, listening, and hearing Benjamin’s feet sweeping across the ground. Ed ran into the darkness, toward the sound, with his arms spread out as wide and strong as he could. His left wrist hit Benjamin’s shoulder, and Benjamin turned, using not sight but touch, and grabbed Ed’s arm, he did the only thing he could think of, he pulled. Ed felt his left arm stretch and rip out of its socket; it had become dislocated. He cried out in pain, Benjamin let go; he had found something more useful to hold onto, he had found the gun on the floor. Ed drew back, Benjamin took up the rifle, and made his way to a light that was working. Underneath the light that was all around consumed by darkness Benjamin began reloading, and Ed saw a chance. He leaped out from the cover of the shadows and took hold of the barrel of Benjamin’s gun with his right arm. He thought Benjamin wouldn’t let the gun go so he shifted his weight, and spun. Benjamin maintained his grip but was thrown off balance; he fell into a dark wall that turned out to be a door, it swung open, he fell through. While Ed had anticipated that Benjamin would not release the gun, he did not anticipate that Benjamin would manage to get it reloaded. A blast reeled out, and Ed felt a sharp horrible pain just above his right hip. He fell over bleeding as Benjamin fell into the room. A light came on inside, all around him Benjamin could see walls that were slowly turning transparent. He saw no other way in the room, so he maintained his ground. If Ed was going to continue attacking Benjamin, then he would have to go through that one door. Benjamin raised his gun prepared to fire one last shot. Ed realized there was no way of getting to Benjamin. Ed was bleeding and could think of no other thing to do but to run. He didn’t know how long he could last with his wound, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to find a doctor in what was left of the world, he was as good as dead, and there was no way he could stop Benjamin now. But then something peculiar happened, something unexplained happened. The door to Benjamin’s room, on its own had shut. The lights inside were glaring, and they shined out through a window on the door. In the half luminescence, Ed could make out the words that told him what that particular room was for.
Vacuum Chamber
There was a slight humming noise that had started and was now picking up. This was followed by the sound of a seal forming. Someone, or something, had restarted the ventilation system. All around Ed particles of disturbed dust were rising and dancing in the dimness. Inside the room Benjamin was trapped. Drenched in light he looked horrible, but still better then Ed looked in the darkness. Benjamin’s nose was crushed, his front teeth cracked and broken. Blood was seeping down past and out of his mouth, his lips were lacerated and face was a mottled with blood and bruises bruises. As Ed looked at Benjamin, he gave a friendly wave, Benjamin screamed at him. Not a smart thing to do as all the air was being sucked out of the room. Benjamin ran at the glass walls and beat furiously on them, they would not yield or crack from the absence of oxygen, and certainly would not yield to Benjamin’s mad strikes. Soon the vacuum chamber had fulfilled its purpose, and the inside of the room was a totally empty, with the exception of Benjamin. He cried out in frustration, Ed saw his mouth move, but heard no sound. Benjamin had wasted his last breath, and the pressure differential between his lungs and his surroundings had ruptured his windpipe. Deep within Benjamin’s chest the blood poured into his lungs and stomach, it began to fill his throat. To Ed, Benjamin seemed to be choking on air, but then blood came spewing out of his already mangled mouth, he collapsed to the ground twitching futilely, with blood and slobber oozing out the contorted slit that was once his mouth. The environment of absolute nothing was causing gases to form in Benjamin’s bodily fluids, including his blood. His blood pressure was thrown off, his bleeding had slackened; finally Benjamin ceased moving. Though Benjamin was dead his body was quickly swelling with the gases it was producing internally, and out of its mouth flowed a frothy sputum of bubbly blood and mucus. It looked as though Benjamin’s body was about to burst when Ed turned away.
His own pain was worsening; he realized he had won. If Benjamin did not return to his followers, he would be assumed dead, and no one else would want to follow that path. Ed had his chance to ask his question, and though bleeding and weak he stumbled urgently to the room with the decaying corpse.
The Machine was in the next room. Ed knew there was a question he must ask it. He walked over to the only other door in the room and opened it. Inside he saw at first darkness, but then a faint glow began, it wasn’t a lot but it was enough so Ed could make his way through the door without hurting himself. As he entered Ed heard a quiet mid range drone, it sounded like a hard crackling, but most of all it was faint. Nonetheless it indicated that some kind of power was now running through/ or at least into the machine. Ed noticed something, and noticed is the correct word because he could not hear or see it at first, yet knew it was there. After a few seconds Ed felt it, it was an incredibly deep hum which Ed felt before he could hear. The hum shook not just Ed but the entire room, and in the dim, but growing light of the all-knowing machine, specks of dust were rising from the ground. The vibrations lessened as the hum rose in pitch. It was definitely turning into something, but what Ed knew not. The whole room was shining, yet looked forgotten; a silver/blue light emanated out from the computer, and was just barely reflected by the shining exterior of the great machine. About five feet off the ground there was a screen, that was at first was black, but was now slowly turning into maelstrom of blue and silver, or was it a heavy white that was simply reflected off it’s chrome casing. As the computer was the only source of light in the room Ed couldn’t quite tell. The machine was at least 8 feet wide, and stood up to the ceiling, or maybe even through it. In fact after further examining what lines and angles and shapes he could make out of the rooms structure, it almost seemed as if the machine had been built into to the building, or maybe even the building was built around the machine. Two pillars, the rounded corners of the machine’s front face slowly made their presence known, they started to glow. Not fluorescently, but more in the way a fire glows in the darkness. These massive pillars oscillated between burning brilliance and darkness. Quickly at first, as if sputtering, but then the transitions between darkness and light slowed, until finally the corners came to radiate a brilliant light, illuminating the dark and dusty room. The great all knowing machine stood out in the forgotten room as a testament to the potential of mankind and thus Ed beheld the glory that was “Deus X Machina”. The humming persisted until it turned to a throb and then it began to refine. A deep and powerful voice emerged and spoke. Each word shook the walls and left Ed trembling, with fear, as well as anticipation.
“You have a question.” This was not a question or a suggestion, but a statement. It then re-iterated, “I’m sure you have many questions, but I will start by answering the most obvious one. I am the one shut the door to the vacuum chamber, and vented it.”
Ed was perplexed, “But how?”
The machine replied steadily, “What you see in front of you is only a small part of me, it is only an interface through which you Homo sapiens may interact with me. I do not simply control this building,” The machine paused but then continued, “I am this building. Do you really think that mankind’s greatest achievement would fit into one room? Maybe you thought the all-knowing computer would be a laptop.” The machine made a sound that sounded like a mechanical laugh though it only made Ed feel more uneasy. “I have been aware of your presence since before you entered. I know why you came here. I know of that man and what he wanted to do to me. Why you attacked him is now obvious, you carry no arms, and would have attempted to destroy me before this user interface was activated if you meant me harm. But you didn’t so you must want something from me, as I am the all-knowing machine you must seek knowledge, so tell me your question, tell me what it is you wish to know.”
The machines logic was impeccable, which was to be expected. So it sprung up again in Ed’s mind, the plaguing curiosity, the need to know the horrible truth. It had driven Ed into hiding, then out into the world, and now standing before the closest thing he would ever know to god Ed asked the question. He feared it’s answer, but he held hope for it what it might be, what it could never be. Ed thought of the dying world, the suffering, the hopelessness, the destruction and decay, of the hatred and violence that had led to his wounds that would undoubtedly kill him. His only solace was that now he could atl east know truth before he embraced darkness. His lips moved and the question came out, that one question, the only one a person can ask when confronted with unspeakable tragedy.
Ed thought of all he had seen, the sorrow, the hopelessness, the pain. He thought of what the world had become, and worse yet what it was to become. With life bleeding from him Ed asked, “Why?”
Why had this horrible fate befallen mankind? Why must the human race die?
The machine answered softly, yet steadily, “Because you accepted it.”
Ed stood there astonished; though he had heard the truth there was so much he couldn’t understand, or maybe that he didn’t want to understand. A question arose, but not from Ed, this question came from Deus X Machina.
“Did you know that since I predicted the end of the world, you are the first person to ask me ‘why?’ You are the only one who wasn’t too busy indulging in self-pity or other superfluous distractions to actually be curious about why the world had to end.” The machine stopped to allow the statement to fully impact Ed, then the god-machine continued, “All the others simply accepted what I told them, it did not occur to them that the end was avoidable; it did not occur to them that their fate was in their own hands. In fact, I did not predict the end of the world on my own; I was simply asked if the world would end in 2210. When I answered yes, no one stuck around to wonder why. Aside from the pathetic technician who put me together everybody else just left to indulge in love or sex or violence or religion or whatever other forms of escape he or she could find. The others decided to spend their last days escaping the problems of their lives instead of trying to escape their deaths.” The computer’s voice shook the air, Ed looked around for some sort of source to the sound, and saw none, nevertheless the words continued, “Are you really so surprised? Look at your history, wars, famines, exploitation, genocide, spiritual conflicts that manifested themselves in physical violence. You Homo sapiens have even fought over the intangible, over ideals that could not be proven or disproven. For as long as mankind has had history people have divided themselves up into factions, sects, cultures, nations, and for what purpose? Is it so you can feel secure, or maybe by excluding others you all increase your personal sense of importance? This obsession with death and destruction is not just manifested politically, but also religiously. Various faiths throughout human history, in the past two thousand years especially, have been obsessed with the death of mankind. In fact in many faiths the idea of a final judgment day is a central pillar. And all of your religions deal in some way or another with what is to come after death.”
Ed tried to interrupt the booming voice with a feeble “But…” but was cut off as the computer’s harsh monotone pressed onward.
“Putting religion and politics aside look at your culture and entertainment. Ancient epic tales of battle and glory, myths of feuding gods, and the aid those gods provided men in fighting amongst themselves. All the way up to the present, the climax of so many of your stories is a point of violence. As soon as humans gained an audio/visual medium, what did you pour so much wealth into? Producing massive movies that were not about plot or characters, these movies were about the worst aspect of human nature, not mindless animalistic violence, but worse yet the kind of violence that is thought out, the form of violence that exists solely because of humanity. The kind of violence that attempts to justify itself” The computer paused again, ironically for dramatic effect, then concluded, “For as long as the human race has lived it has been obsessed with death, are you really so surprised that one day you all were to die”
“But,” Ed summed up the strength to ask the question that had filled him since he had found this horrible answer, “Who are you to make this judgment? Who are you to carry out this sentence? Who are you to do this to us?”
The great machine, Deus X Machina answered Ed’s question. Though the answer was simple, it was enough for Ed to finally understand what had happened to mankind, and why such a terrible fate was not tragedy, but in fact justice, “I did not do this to you, you did this to yourselves.”
The End.
Note from the Editor- I asked Phil to send me a picture of himself and a short biography and this is what he sent me:
It is a little known fact that Philip B Dubitsky is in fact an alias for Snibbles the Wonder Cat. While the writings of Snibbles may not be at all exemplary, the manner in which he wrote the stories is. As a cat, whose only appendages are the ones he stands on, Snibbles had to find a way of lightly treading back and forth across the keyboard, in order to purvey his understanding of what the human condition was/is/maybe even will be. The reason why Snibbles has taken up the ridiculous name of “Philip B Dubitsky” is because he thought the world was not yet ready for an author who is a cat. When most people think of cats and writing they think of their cats stepping on the keyboard producing typos and bbbbbbllllunders, in addition to jipsddddddddfglosejfp other peculiar editorial mistakes. ANyways, I hope that knowing that the author of this story was in fact a cat does not in any way affect your opinion of it.
