The Only One

The next installment of The ShambElla Saga has us eavesdropping. Don't worry... I won't tell!

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The Only One

Before the apocalypse, two divine feminine entities, who exist beyond the perception of humanity, but are very much involved in humanity’s fate, are having a conversation.

“It can’t be. Please. Say it ain’t so.”

“It is so. Very so.”

“Not him. Literally, anyone but him.”

“He is literally the only one that can do it.”

“Dammit.”

“Yes.”

Esmerelda sighed and threw up her hands. “How is it that in an existence this infinitely vast, with countless entities on a spectrum of power and ability that is immeasurable, there is only one man—a mere man!—who can correct this particular wrong, make this particular adjustment, fight this particular battle? It’s like the plot of a bad action comedy! Dammit! Dammit all to Hell!”

“Well, again, yes,” Pantima replied. “He’s the only one for precisely that reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, on our level of dimensional triangulation, we understand that what exists is a consensus reality determined by an ever-shifting interdimensional interplay, and that’s why we do what we do, which is influence the lower dimensional beings to make choices that will create a greater interlocking harmony for all.”

“Well, yes, I am aware of our mission; but that’s precisely why it makes no sense. The man of whom you speak is derelict, debauched, and depraved. Everywhere he goes, Chaos ensues. How can he possibly be the only being in all the planes and dimensions of existence that can correct this imbalance?”

“Okay… okay, I know why this is frustrating, but listen. The nature of this interdimensional existence, though amorphous with regard to those ever-shifting interrelations, is still fixed by the fact of those interrelations. Every part of the whole exists and cannot be undone. Every element can only change form, but some elements develop what we think of as free will. We have free will, or else we wouldn’t be able to act as we do on behalf of all. But men like him have it too, while many of the lower-level entities that we must work the hardest to keep in check lack free will. But the only way for us to check those lower-level entities is through our influence on the ones just above them, the humans with free will… like him.”

“Yes,” Esmerelda said, “and we’ve done a marvelous job, though there have been many setbacks. But again, why him? There are so many amazing humans who are perfect soldiers in our war with the lower-level entities!”

“Yes… but it seems that their compliant natures make them just as easy to manipulate for our enemy. Where the enemy can easily drag most dissident elements down to death through—what was it you said, dereliction, debauchery, and depravity?”

“Yes, yes, the base animal drives.”

“Well, those base animal drives are the same ones we manipulate for good, and the enemy has discovered a way to manipulate them for evil while making it look good. Except him. He alone has succeeded in rejecting both sides. Spiritually speaking anyway. I mean, the only person he ever really abuses is himself, and, depraved though his actions may be, he never harms the innocent, only those who… well, those who deserve it.”

“But he doesn’t do it with forethought!”

“No, but that’s what makes it so conspicuous, isn’t it? Like… he’s literally the only one. Literally the only being in all of existence that is not susceptible to conditioning from either lower or higher-level entities. I think he may be the embodiment of—”

“No! Don’t say it! It can’t be so! Besides, that’s a fairy tale, isn’t it? I mean… we program that stuff! We make it up!”

“Well… even we don’t completely understand the whole. We understand more than anyone else, but there’s still that one mystery of how we got here in the first place.”

“Yes, yes, but… oh, I just don’t want it to be true!”

“But I suspect it is.”

“Okay. Okay, fine. But how will we convince him?”

“By directly telling him the whole truth and hoping he decides to do it. No games. The second he catches a whiff of a mind game he just shuts off and gives up. It’s the reason why he’s the only one who can do it. He can’t be manipulated. He can’t be swayed by reward or punishment. He does what he chooses and nothing else.”

Esmerelda took a deep breath and let out another long sigh. “Okay. Fine. Do it then, Pantima. Go to Doose the Ghost and ask him to save the world.”

***** * *****

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