Time Enough For Now

They say time happens all at once, all around us, and it's just our limited perception of it that keeps us from seeing it all. That's why we're stuck in the concept of cause and effect, and why we think there has to be a catalyst before events can take place. We think that a war starts because a chancellor is assassinated, or that riots break out in the streets because of injustice, when really, those events have already happened, are happening, and will always happen. They are happening even now, long after our perception of them has faded and we are anticipating the next major turn in our lives. Past, present, and future events are happening simultaneously in one vast foggy ocean of temporal shifts and criss-crossing probabilities, an infinite myriad of experiences bursting to life all around us that we can't witness because our myopic understanding of time won't allow us to see anything past what is happening right in front of our own noses. But I know. I know it all, God help me. And, I'll tell you all about it.

There's no use in telling you when it happened, or how, or why. In a way, it happened in every time, in every place, all at once. It suddenly appeared, a cosmic rent in the fabric of time and space. It was just there, no explanation for it, no chain of events that led up to it. It was just there, and it lifted the fog from that vast ocean of time, opening everyone's perception to it, revealing all eras, all events in history, and everyone in existence, past present and future. For one split instant we were all aware of the entirety of time and space and everything in it. It was a sudden, maddening tsunami of information too grand for any single mind to contain.

The first one to realize it was the Hive-Mind of Callus, marked on the Conglomerate maps as Callais IV. The Hive-Mind, or Hive, as They called Themselves, sensed it in the instant it came to being, and seized upon it immediately. To Them, it was the Renaissance, the moment in their mythos when the Hive would connect the minds of the entire universe into one cosmic collective, uniting all as One Perfect Collective. Eagerly, and with religious fervor, They reached out with Their Mind, and across the Rent connected everyone together, past, present, and future, making everyone that had ever existed or would ever exist a part of the Hive. All separate individuals ceased to be; all became the same. That oneness of mind probably saved countless beings from going completely insane.

In the instant of Oneness, Darvil Rattigan, Fifth Prexelate of Phygos Renim and the greatest mind in all of time and space, recognized the Rent's existence, thanks to the unification of the Hive-Mind, and too, recognized the immense danger it posed to everything that was, is, and would ever be. He (the Rexocolarath of Phygos Renim have no real gender as understood by aliens, so for the purposes of this narrative I call it a "he") knew the tear would engulf and utterly consume the whole of the universe, nullifying the existence of all things in one quick instant, and that they all had just that instant to act to save everything. His mighty brain flew through the calculations and came up with the theory, but the execution eluded him. He knew what he needed to do, but not how to do it, and that vexed him no end.

On Sporus, Marriaillel Oooblumplium, connected to the now Omniversal-Mind, became privy to Darvil Rattigan's calculations, and the answer seemed simple to her (and, again, without a proper reference to the exact gender of Marriaillel Oooblumplium, I will call it a woman). It was a similar problem to one she'd encountered in the slime gardens. It was all a matter of distribution, and making sure that some of the slime didn't receive more moisture than the rest. The whole had to have balance, or the whole would starve. It was that interconnected.

And, so, too, was the omniversal problem with the Rent, and the salvation of reality. It depended on the whole being saved at once, in all points of time and space simultaneously. In the same way that all time and space happened at once, so too did the solution have to be applied. But there was only a micro-instant to save all of reality, and despite the most intriguing science-fiction, time travel was the one barrier that no era was capable of breaking. There was no possible way to come up with a solution, manufacture the mechanisms required, and disperse them through the time stream before the Rent absolutely absorbed the universes like one amoeba engulfing another. And, as Darvil Rattigan came to that sorrowful conclusion, so too did the rest of existance, thanks to the Omniversal-Mind. An unimaginable depression gripped everyone.

It was Mar, a Thogoth of Glorr, half-frozen from his quest through the ice field for the mythic Wise One of Ice, and a sufferer of chronic depression, who inspired the idea. It was a fleeting thought, one that came to those who were about to die, yet it was wise beyond his capabilities. The idea of an ending to the universe's suffering, a final end to life's cruelty and unfairness, spurred him to wish such bliss on everyone, everywhere. To him, such an end was a blessing. To Darvil Rattigan, that thought was inspiration. The Omniversal-Mind connected everyone across time and space. It was the ultimate tool in transmitting the solution to every point everywhere and all at once. All he had to do was translate the information into something they could use to seal the Rent.

Glarrian Tinterriviallen, stopped in mid-strum upon her twelve-stringed lyre by the Rent's infinite instant, lent her philosophy to the conglomeration. The universe was music, and everything in it a note in the cosmic chorus. The theory fit into the vast knowledge of quantum mechanics accessible by Darvil Rattigan, and he knew precisely what had to be done. And, as soon as he knew it, so, too, did all of Creation. Everyone in every nook and cranny of time and space realized that for them to close the Rent, and even to seal it for good, they all had to strike the Universal Chord, everyone in every time and in every place all at once, without deviation or variation, or all was lost.

The Confederacy of Tyrants detested cooperation. To them, only the strong survived, and only to those survivors did the spoils belong. It grated against their beliefs to lower themselves like that, to give aid to weak alien races and to those that they had conquered, would conquer, and were in the process of conquering, but so, too, did the thought of simply ceasing to exist in an eye-blink grind against them; it was not a warrior's way to die! And so, they resigned themselves to cooperating, rationalizing that if it didn't work, then at least they would go out fighting.

And so it was with other conqueror races. The Th'needi of P'Tal. The Rok of Rok. The (incomprehensible shriek) of (incomprehensible shriek). In that one instant, linked across time and space, everyone agreed that it was in their own best interests to cooperate omniversally with each other to overcome the menace to their existence. And, as one, they turned to Darvil Rattigan for guidance.

But it was Glarrian Tinterriviallen that struck the chord, that single perfect note that represented the universe as she saw it. The note vibrated through her mind, and throughout the Omniversal-Mind, radiating outward through her time, and into others. Everyone heard the note, and everyone was touched by it, because in their hearts, it spoke to them. In Glythee, it bespoke the harmony of nature the Spwee had so carefully cultivated through generations of toil and sacrifice. To the Rok of Rok, it awakened the inner strength of their silicon souls. To Darvil Rattigan, it was the Universal Harmony of the Background Radiation stemming from the Big Bang that created the universe. It meant different things to different people in different times and on different worlds, but it was the same note, that same single note that Glarrian Tinterriviallen plucked on the ninth string of her twelve-stringed lyre, which her grand-progenator had given to her on the ninth anniversary of her hatching. It was that note that sounded through the minds of every thinking being throughout time and space. It was only a matter, now, of putting it to use.

Marriaillel Oooblumplium vibrated it first throughout her gelatinous body, finding it thrilling in a very naughty way. Mar of Glorr tied her in humming it first, if such a concept could be said to exist under the circumstances; he found it oddly soothing in his moment of death. Then, others followed suit, humming or vibrating or in some way manipulating sound to match that exact chord. Those who couldn't make sound concentrated the note in their thoughts, projecting the energy throughout the Omni-Mind to all points of time and space. Even Darvil Rattigan, the worst singer in the cosmos, to balance his enormous brain, joined in, as embarrassing as it was, and together everyone, everywhere, in every time, sang or hummed or deeply contemplated that single note until it was truly a Universal Constant.Then, began the work of using it to repair the damage.

Darvil Rattigan directed the effort, but the note had to funnel through a focal point for fullest effect, much like light needs to focus through a ruby to become a laser. I don't know why they chose me. I don't know why the universe chose me. Maybe I was expendable. I don't know. I became aware of it on my death bed, alone in the nursing home, late at night, just as I felt death's final touch. Suddenly, I was full of music. Suddenly, I was seeing and feeling and tasting and touching and smelling everything in creation that was, is, and ever will be, feeling emotions that weren't mine, thinking thoughts far beyond my comprehension, knowing things I was never meant to know. I saw everything that was, is, and will be; I saw our omniversal danger, held the tool of our salvation, and knew exactly what to do with it. And, I sang with the voice of countless souls, projecting the note right into the heart of the Rent, pulling the jagged edges together again and sealing them shut forever with the vibratory frequency of the universe. All of this I did under the direction of the mind of Darvil Rattigan, the soul of Marriaillel Oooblumplium, the talent of Glarrian Tinterriviallen, and the tenacity of Mar of Glorr. And, when it was done, when the universe was safe once more, I died.

Only five beings out of all time and space remember what happened. Five beings, scattered to the far corners of creation, separated by immeasurable gulfs of space, kept apart by millennia. Five beings, alone, who remember the Rent, the Omni-Mind, and the cooperation of an entire existence. Five beings who alone knew how close everything came to just ceasing to be. Five beings forever changed by the experience, for good or ill. No one else in all of Creation remembers. As soon as the Rent was sealed, the Omni-Mind ceased, and everything returned to normal. It was as if none of it had ever happened. But I know it did. And so do Darvil Rattigan, and Marriaillel Oooblumplium, and Mar of Gorr, and Glarrian Tinterriviallen. We five know, and I wonder if anyone would believe us if we told such a wild, unimaginable tale. I'm afraid to even try.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to them, and if they're alright. I know I'm not. I've been forever changed by the experience. I've felt the cooperation of all existence pour through my soul. I no longer cross the street unexpectedly when I see some stranger in my path. I greet and treat everyone as equals, because I've tasted their experiences, their lives, and I've brushed against their joys and their sorrows. But mostly, my attitude stems from the bond forged in battle, because we all fought as one to save our reality; we are all veterans of that war. And, I've seen the last moment of my life, and even though it was spent saving all of reality, the memory of it haunts me, and I live in constant dread of that night!