It was the year 7031 AD Sunday March 12 2:05a.m EST although that mattered little
to Dr. Magnier for he was drifting off into the empty vastness of space outside of The
InterGalactic Republic’s territorial zone where no intelligent entity would disturb him on his
lonely spaceship, time being immediately apparent in its relativity. Dr. Magnier had no
interest in being found, as he hijacked a transportation vessel for Earth carrying
miscellaneous items and food. If he were caught he would be reprimanded and serve time but
he didn’t care regardless of the outcome for it was about to be the end of the universe.
In this age it was a fairly accepted notion that the universe would reach its final
moments in which there were five prevailing theories: The Big Crunch, The Big Bounce, The
Big Rip, The Big Freeze, and The Big Slurp. There was a sixth option initially open for
debate deemed The Multiverse Hypothesis where there were multiple universes existing next
to each other and that these universes had their own fates and could possibly influence one
another. A scientific consensus has been reached concluding that The Multiverse Hypothesis
“does not count.” Of these remaining options it was favored that the most destined fate were
to be The Big Freeze in which the universe would expand and expand ad infinitum leaving
any heat to disappear into the eternity of the void, infinite space, and matter stretched to mere
particles, still and lifeless. The academics calculated, verified, and purported this to be the
case filing their notions in scientific journals citing observables such as the cosmic
microwave background, the density of the universe and so on. They calculated that it will
occur in 1-100 trillion years from now – a small margin for physicists but a large margin for
the rest of the universe's inhabitants, carrying on with their lives as if there was no end at all.
This all changed in a span of a few days.
Scientists scampered about, the telescopes were checked and then re-checked, board
meetings and press conferences were had: the observables had changed. It was a miracle
defying all logic and rationale of the InterGalactic Republic's accumulated knowledge. The
universe was in a state of flux and changing depending on where the person observing the
phenomena was in the galaxy. The galaxy was divided into five quadrants in a pentagonal
shape for bureaucratic and logistical reasons. In the northmost section of the galaxy scientists
reported that the universe will end with a Big Crunch. The northwest section reported it will
end in a Big Bounce. The northeast section reported it will end in a Big Rip, the southeast
section reported that the universe will end in a Big Slurp, and the southwest section reported
what it had always, the original consensus, the Big Freeze. Only one thing unified all of these
contradicting measurements: they all indicated that the universe would end precisely at 7031
AD Sunday March 12 2:10a.m EST.
Dr. Magnier drove his spaceship past the edge of the observable universe traveling
faster than the speed of light and then some until he had half of the fuel left – just enough for
a return back home. His ship drifted in the darkness of space and time. He was alone where
the next intelligent beings that were closest to him – the citizenry of Planet Glonton of the
Republic, a billion lightyears away from him. Magnier looked out of the spaceship in hopes of finding answers or at least clues as to what is the cause of the conundrum that scared the
InterGalactic Republic. Answers, he was looking for answers. Nothing. Pure darkness save
for a speck of light off in the distance that was a white dwarf millions of miles away from
him although something was off.
The distortions of space were visible to the naked eye; ebbing and flowing, a cosmic
dance of epic scale. This view would have been beautiful and tranquil if not for its
implications – the end was drawing near.
Magnier pulled levers and pushed glowing buttons on his dashboard.
“It’s now or never.”
A disco of lights and sounds came from his computer and then he pushed the red
button. Bursts of radio waves and signals spurted from all directions out in hopes that
someone somewhere out there will hear warnings and his plea for answers. He waited for a
minute in silence seated in his chair.
He mashed the red button again and again, his desperation and perspiration increasing
in tandem. Radio waves whipped and spilled out into the void.
“No, no, no! It can’t end like this! It just doesn’t make sense!” vented the poor
scientist. He was rigid and stiff despite his fear taking a hold of him. “Why? If there is a
higher power out there please answer my qualms. Why must it end? Why now? Why?!”
A few seconds go by until a white laser beam hits his ship from a location out in the
unobserved end of the universe. The lights on the ship blinked on and off and the ship shook
and rumbled before everything resumed into its normal working condition.
A large monitor in front of Magnier turned on displaying a 3D translucent blue orb
with a rippling surface like that of ocean waves.
“Hello? Hello, can you hear me?” voiced the blue orb.
Magnier quickly tried to regain his composure. “Uh, sorry, hi. This is Dr. Magnier. I
am a research scientist at the Physics and Astronomy Institute of the Republic of Sector 8
Planet Indio or I should say was…”
“I beg your pardon, sir?”
“Nothing. To whom I am speaking with?”
“I am The Creator.”
“The Creator?”
“Yes. The Creator.”
“Is this some kind of sick joke to you man?” responded Magnier with anger and
contempt in his voice. “The universe is about to end and you are off playing jokes on the
communication lines. You speak the same language as I or have fitted a translator on your
ship so I know you are from the Republic.”
“With all due respect sir, I am what I say that I am. I am The Creator.”
“Creator of what?”
“The Creator of everything. The universe and by extension its contents.”
“Haha, very funny. You are a riot but if you excuse me I wish to spend my precious
last moments of existence not talking to a prankster.”
“The end of the universe?”
“Surely ‘The Creator’ would know that his creation is close to expiration. Please, you
must have something better to do than disturb me. How could you not know the universe is
going to end? Everyone in the Republic is freaking out about it!”
“I think of it more as a new beginning.”
“Ah, so you are a proponent of some fringe theory on cyclical cosmology where the
universe reverts and has a new Big Bang – those claims are unfounded and laughable at best.
That or you are a proponent of the Big Bounce and you are from the northwest section of the
galaxy. We determined the universe will end in a Big Freeze for eons. I’ll figure out what’s
wrong… somehow. If you don’t mind, I have had enough of this conversation, thank you
very much.”
The blue orb remained on the screen and didn’t disconnect. The scientist tried to end
the call but the end call buttons and voice commands didn’t work.
The scientist sighed to calm himself down and re-engaged with the conversation.
“Okay. You can talk to me and the communications channel perfectly synced up to your
signal – you are clearly from the Republic. What are you doing out here? Are you a renegade
scientist like me in a last ditch effort to figure out how to solve this mess?”
“I suppose one could interpret myself as a renegade of sorts. Is the person who sets
pen to a treaty considered a renegade prior to its creation?” retorted the voice on the computer
screen.
“Then you are a scientist or an amateur of sorts?”
“I am a scientist indeed however I came here in search of answers to different
questions.”
The scientist’s patience ran thin. “I’ve had enough of this conversation with this
creator talk.” He thought: “I’ll find where you are. You must be close if you can talk to me
without a delay.” The scientist pressed on some blinking buttons and turned on a switch to
activate a radar to find the location of where the ship could be. The radar screen blinked and
buzzed, scanning its environment in the span of millions of lightyears across, distances
unfathomable to cross by conventional transportation systems that are used for planetary
affairs but mundane for space travel.
He waited for a few seconds as drips of sweat formed on his face – nothing on the
screen and that’s when he realized. “Ah, a cloak. You’ve hidden yourself quite well. My radar
can’t detect you one bit.”
“I can assure you I have not hidden myself because there is nothing to hide in the first
place.”
Dr. Magnier, fed up with the conversation, decided to end it. “I don’t know why I
bother with you, asking all these questions, as if you’d seriously answer me. It’s pointless.
I’m a fool till the end.” The fatalism in Dr. Magnier’s voice made him tremble as he lost
hope, disengaging from both the conversation and his desire to find the answer to the
universe’s finality.
“Very well if that is what you wish. I do find it surprising how a man so eager, so
hungry for answers, willing to travel billions of lightyears in search of them would end his
conversation with the one person who could provide possible relief for your quandaries.”
“This again? I told you–”
“You are Dr. Magnier Age: 45 Sex: Male Species: Human. A research scientist at a
prestigious physics institution.”
“Congratulations, you can look through a database–”
“You have a birthmark underneath your left elbow. Your favorite drink is double
chocolate fudge from Maple Avenue. When you were 17 you worried about your college
major and what you wanted to be when you grew up, deciding between accounting and
physics. You stuck with physics because you thought to yourself if you are going to be
dealing with numbers for the rest of your life it would be most engrossing if they had a ‘deep’
meaning behind them adhering to the family tradition of studying science or the arts. Day
before yesterday you planned on stealing this old model spaceship by using your clearance
and so you have. Need I say more?”
“How?” asked Magnier in stunned disbelief.
“I told you I am The Creator. I have all the info about you with me.”
“You-you’re really The Creator. How did you find me?”
“Oh you were out here by yourself near the ‘edge.’ It was quite easy to spot you.”
“Edge? You mean the edge of the universe?”
“No. The edge of my screen… Oh it doesn’t matter. Anyways I stored my
consciousness into a laser and beamed it to you – consider it a stream of consciousness if you
will.”
“So that’s what that was…” Magnier recalled the beam that struck his ship. “Now
what?”
“The universe ends,” said the disembodied voice.
“No please. You must not let it end!”
“Why not?”
“Because…”
“Because?”
“I’m not ready!”
“You think that your readiness is what permits when the cosmos should retire?”
“No of course not! I mean… why? Why must it end now of all times? What was the
point of it all? If you are God please explain!”
“Please refrain from calling me ‘God’. It is not correct to bestow such a title on me as
that name carries with it various tales and superstitions. I am not what your religious texts,
both ancient and modern, think me to be and I may not check the moral codes of them.”
“Oh…” said the Magnier, the fear apparent in his voice.
“This is not a condemnation of religion or your species’ sense of morality – it is me
being honest and starving off the possibility of future disappointment.”
“So what are you?” hesitantly asked Magnier, curiosity and fear both taking a hold of
him within. The restless, analytical mind of the scientist began to turn: “If he is not God, then
what is he? He can’t be an alien species from the outside of the Republic, he speaks our
language and he probably has a Republic ship. Unless, he stole it and is messing with me, but the
chances of that are low. Then again the chances of the Creator talking to me is lower than that!”
Suddenly, a simple but elegant solution rang into his mind as if Occam slapped him
across the face: “That’s it – I’m asleep! I’m sleeping soundly in bed and I am having a lucid
dream. I’ve heard about those before – dreams so surreal yet feel so real and vivid you could
fool yourself into believing you were awake. The stress of my job has gotten to me and now I
search for the answers in my dreams. The repetition. Again and again waking up, working,
trying to make sense of this mess and save everyone from this impending disaster, and then
going back to bed. The routine and futility of my situation must have acted as a catalyst to
incite such a fantasy. Lost time can now be reclaimed here in my dreams unimpeded by the
laws of reality.”
“You are not dreaming, Dr. Magnier.” answered the Creator.
Magnier gasped and stumbled backwards before catching himself and regaining his
rigid and perfect posture.
“You can–”
“I can read your thoughts. I know everything about you Dr. Magnier.”
“How?” questioned the awestruck scientist. The analytical thoughts returned: “No! It
could still be a dream. Anything is possible in a dream. My self-awareness has turned against
me in the form of condemnation.”
The Creator sighed. “Okay. You are a scientist so let’s test your hypothesis out. Pinch
yourself, hard enough to make it hurt a bit.”
“Pinch myself?” Magnier looked at his arm before doing as told. “Ow!”
“Well?”
“I’m not dreaming!” exclaimed Magnier, the fear rising once more. “Don’t tell me
you’re a dem–”
“I told you not to talk of religion. I am not a character from your texts. I am the being
that created this universe. Simple as that.”
There was a brief pause as the scientist tried to regather himself. “If you are what you
say you are then I must return to my previous appeal: why is the universe ending, what does
it all mean? Please I must know to have peace of mind. I won’t even care to try to dissuade
you otherwise from ending creation.”
“Hm. I may grant your request and you may know why the universe ends but you
must fulfill one request of mine.”
“Anything, sir, anything!”
“I want you to answer this question: Why do you care? If the answer satisfies me I
will save you.”
“Why… do I… care?”
“Why do you care that the universe ends? That is the question.”
“I– uh… care because…” said Magnier looking at the timer of the clock, the universe
began to warp and reverberate, less than one minute left. The edge of the universe began to
bubble and change form as it became unstable. “Because I have to protect humanity! I have
to save their lives and… and it is my responsibility! It is the right thing to do!”
“Dr. Magnier I would prefer if your answer were sincere. I know everything there is
to know here. I will give you another chance – this time be honest with me.”
“If you know it all then don’t you realize that I don’t know.” The clock kept ticking.
10 seconds left. 9. 8. One second after the other. “Time! If only I had time I could figure out a
sufficient answer!” 5.
“Time. That’s what you need? Time?”
4.
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