The Hell Of Justice [FICTOID]

In the place beyond all possible places, in the time outside all possible times, the god-beyond-all-gods (to use the simplest explanation of the concept) we shall refer to as Diagonal Spin communicated with the god-beyond-all-gods we shall refer to as Perpendicular Drift.

Of course, “communicated with” implies they were two separate entities when in truth they were not even entities in the manner humans understand the term, but that’s neither here nor there (a woefully binary way of expressing their glorious complexity).  Let us stick with that and regard them as two separate characters in our story.

Diagonal Spin said, “The Problem is at it again.”  (Actually, it / they / wuz “said” something more along the lines of “The Problem will have been done doing it soon again” but this story is already taxing enough so let’s keep it simple, hmm?)

Perpendicular Drift replied, “The Problem was banished from all planes of existence / reality / possibility an infinite infinity of eternities ago, how can The Problem still be The Problem?”

“We isolated it / they / wuz in a purely abstract realm, without any possibilities to play with,” Diagonal Spin said.

Perpendicular Drift knew this, of course.  The gods-beyond-all-gods created the fractal realities that enabled the uber-gods, and the uber-gods created fractal sub-realities where mere gods created fractal sub-sub-realties. 

(Needless to say, just as there existed an infinite number of sub-divinities and fractal realities receding from the gods-beyond-all-gods, there also existed an infinite ascending number of over-divinities and fractal realities to the gods-beyond-all-gods, and in an infinite number of those fractal realities the ascending and receding lines met full circle in a structure that could best be described as a moebius strip with a googleplex of dimensions instead of merely the single one of human design, but that is neither here nor there, now nor then.)

“The Problem did not play well with others in its / their / wurz reality,” said Perpendicular Drift.  “Wanted to be the supreme god above all others.”

“An infinite number of other divine beings desire that,” said Diagonal Spin.  “And ordinarily that isn’t an issue.  But The Problem created discord in the fractals of others, and that cannot be tolerated.”

That went without saying, of course (and equally of course, Diagonal Spin didn’t actually “say” it, but you get the idea.)  Each divine entity spent an infinite number of eternities subtly guiding a never-ending series of fractal expansions.

And while an infinite number of these divine entities opted to create consciousness among their various fractal patterns, an even larger number of divine entities -- an infinite infinity, or perhaps infinity-cubed -- opted to keep consciousness out of its / their / wurz realities, existence being so much easier that way.

Consciousness to these divine beings is much like a cat or goldfish or elephant or some other pet to a human; one must constantly be aware of its welfare and take adequate steps to guarantee it not merely survives but thrives.

The Problem was the divine realm equivalent of a negligent cat lady, bordering on abuse.  Coupled with its / their / wurz inability to peacefully co-exist with any other divine entities in its plane of existence meant perpetually isolating it / them / wuz from the rest of all possible realities in a realm all its own.

The equivalent human experience would be like shoving Helen Keller in a large chromium steel safe stuffed with soundproof foam then dropping her into the Mariana Trench at midnight.

In short, not a fun experience.

“So what is The Problem in the process of having been done doing?” Perpendicular Drift asked.

“Despite being isolated, it / they / wuz managed to create fractal realities on its / their / wurz own,” said Diagonal Spin.

“Hold on an eon,” said Perpendicular Drift.  “Are you saying it / they / wuz created fractal realities with no supervision from the uber-gods?”

“Precisely,” said Diagonal Spin.  “No divine entity with a superior sense of ethics or aesthetics to provide guidance.  An infinite number of damaged fractal realities, spinning off and mutating on their own.”

“And these realities, they have consciousness?”

“That would be terrible enough, but no, far worse.  Among the various fractal elements are sub-elements that possess individual consciousness, each a grotesque parody of The Problem.”

“That…is unthinkable,” Perpendicular Drift said.

“Except is has been thought of,” said Diagonal Spin.  “The question is, what is to be done about it?”

“Shut down the fractalization, of course!” said Perpendicular Drift.

“What of the individual consciousnesses within?”

The question stopped Perpendicular Drift short; for a split second from one point of view, for sixteen trillion years from another.  “We can’t just snuff out all those conscious entities.  That violates the only commandment:  Treat others as you wish to be treated.”

“But we can’t let them continue to suffer from The Problem either,” said Diagonal Spin.  “When a god lets a fractal reality start spinning out of control, it’s only right to step in and end it before it harms itself.”

“Yes, but those fractal realities aren’t aware of their own existence,” said Perpendicular Drift.  “It’s a mercy nullification.  These consciousnesses…they may be inferior forms, but they have identities.  There’s no harm in snuffing out something that isn’t even aware of itself and never will be, but annihilating consciousness…?”

“And yet that is what The Problems allows to happen.  Trapped in isolation, The Problem began dreaming a nightmare.”  (This is a grotesque oversimplification of what Diagonal Spin actually said, but it’s close enough to get the point across to the meat puppets out there.)

“Then wake The Problem up!”

“And what happens to all those consciousnesses at that point?  They cease to exist.  They become nothing.  And divine entities abhor nothingness; that’s our whole purpose of existence, to create.”

“Clearly this is above our paygrade,” said Perpendicular Drift.  (Another grotesque oversimplification and nothing at all like what was actually said but, hey, you do the best with what you got, right?)

“It is,” said Diagonal Spin.  “That’s why the uber-gods kicked it up to us instead of handling it itselves / themselves / wuzselves.”

Perpendicular Drift did the equivalent of sighing.  “Fill out the forms.”  (That is an accurate translation; in all realms of reality, there are forms.)  “Send it to the other-gods-beyond-all-gods.”

“And if the other-gods-beyond-all-gods can’t handle it?”

“They can pass it further along.  Who knows, maybe at some point it will circle all the way around and come back to us.”

And so it did, again and again and again and again…

© Buzz Dixon