A Story of A Mind: The Doomsday Device (986 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 1.67 on 15 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Brandon Fabish <brandino_the_great.at.yahoo.com> (View user info) at 2004-06-15 01:50:06 EDT
THE DOOMSDAY DEVICE
Introduction:
I don't remember how we met, nor when or where, but what I do remember is everything that He's taught me. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for Him, and for that I am forever indebted.
It didn't take a very long time before we found each other. You could say it was just a matter of time, or maybe even luck, but I think it happened for a reason. There's one thing I've been sure of throughout my life of never-ending chaos, and it's that I was born. I was created, I am positive of that, but everything else that has occurred during my life, with Him, has been void of believability. I can't say it wasn't a reality, because what's reality but a word we've come to term an everyday miracle that we live and deem to be true?
I was young and bewildered when I met Him; I was aloof and detached from the realities, the actualities, of life and failed to understand the reasoning behind it all. We've all come into contact with Him one time or another, but some refuse to accept it, while others succumb to His 'Will,' their 'Will,' dutifully and justly.
When I stumbled into Him, or rather when He stumbled into me, it was something we both needed. There was an immediate connection, a mutual one, which I embraced forever. It was at that moment that my life had meaning; for the first time that I can remember, my life finally meant something to me. I had a purpose, now. It wasn't something that He did; it was an inactive event that was spawned from Him.
I had a friend that found Him, sooner than I, and he took Him in, made Him comfortable, and gave Him everything He ever needed, but asked nothing from Him. He's dead now, that friend of mine. I sometimes wonder if his last thought was regret. I know for sure that I have plenty of regrets myself, in this lifetime, but I never look to the past anymore, at least, not since He showed up.
He told me everyone has regretted something at one time or another, but why clinch onto such a lamentable aspect of life, one that we won't ever have the chance to go back and change? I agreed. Time never stopped, and life went on.
When you're young and vulnerable, stupid and trusting, people always tell you that you're special. That's what they told me anyway, that I was unique, and nobody else was like me, but He didn't agree with them. In a sense, they were right, because none of us are exactly the same, but some of those different people, they really are different, not in a one-of-a-kind sort of way, either.
It's more of an exception to what we all consider to be normal. I asked Him what normal was, and He told me it was a customary, average, run-of-the-mill, acceptable concept. He didn't tell me at the time, but I had already come to realize that I wasn't ordinary. I knew it the moment we became one, and accepted it, because I believed it to be the right thing to do.
Ever since we've been together, He's constantly talking to me, reminding of anything and everything that He can in order to improve my life, as well as the life of others, at least that's what I thought. He'd never betrayed me nor led me astray. Not once had He been misleading or gave me a reasonable cause for suspicion. He followed with me, at ease most of the time, but sometimes, if I desired Him to help me, He would.
He would do almost anything that I asked Him, which was never anything extreme. He was my only guide in life, the only one I ever trusted. There was no such word as a secret with us, because we had nothing to hide, nothing of which to be ashamed.
I only had to sacrifice one thing in order to keep Him with me, He never asked me to, but it was something that He forced upon me unintentionally.
Sleep; I don't sleep anymore. It's not that I don't want to, sometimes sleep is reassuring, and it's certainly satisfying, but I rarely find time to rest. It's because of Him, but I don't blame Him for it. He always has insightful things to tell me, so at night, I sit and listen to him. Whenever I'm not busy doing something He talks to me, and I listen. Lately though, things haven't been the same.
Every once in a while, when I get that valuable hour or two of sleep, I wake up with a pulsating headache, and there is always the smell of smoke, like something is burning.
Precursor:
You might be wondering what He talks to me about, or maybe you don't care, because you've already met and ignored Him. He talks to me about love and hate, justice and injustice, morals and impoliteness, admiration and jealousy, politics, sciences, astronomy, weather patterns, sports, reading, anything.
Recently, He has been talking a lot about life and death. He doesn't tell me what purpose I serve, or if anyone of us even has a use, but I never ask. There is no reason, because I don't feel incomplete not knowing if I'm here to accomplish anything.
He told me that in death, everyone wants to be remembered in some way or another, and the truth of the matter remains that nobody lives forever, not even in death. History teaches us to remember those who made the biggest impact, the ones who changed the world. I only remember them because He talks about them; otherwise, they're extinct to me.
People have tried almost anything to be remembered, because if no one remembers them, than why bother? He told me that was an outlook that causes Death himself to stalk them. I told Him I viewed life that way before we met, and He said that is why He came to me. I thanked Him for finding me, and He told me it was I who found Him.
Next, He told me about people who were once afraid of being buried alive. In the past, people had catatonic seizures, or they would faint, or maybe even go in a deep coma, and doctors would assume they were dead and bury them alive. If they were unsure as to whether or not a person was still alive, they would hold a mirror up to their mouth and nose to see if it would fog up, to prove that the person was still breathing.
It wasn't a very successful method. Other times people would set toes on fire, or burn noses and in some cases even eyes, because if they were alive, wouldn't they feel pain? Sometimes people thought that a friend or loved one had been buried alive, because before that cherished life was released, they would find a coffin lid split open. He said it was actually gases that built up inside the coffin that caused the top to explode off and splinter the wood.
Eventually, people started taking precautionary methods to ensure that no one was buried alive. They would bury people with strings tied to their fingers and a tube that led from their coffin to the surface. Attached to the top of the tube was a box with a buzzer or a bell in it, so if the person woke up in the coffin they could pull the string, opening the lid to the box, and causing the buzzer or bell to ring. This would alert anyone nearby, and they could dig up that person.
He mocked them for their ignorance, and said that even though they had morticians at that time, they still failed to realize that rigor mortis would set in, and that is what caused most of the incidents to occur. He went on to say that temporary mortuaries were set up to keep dead people in for a few weeks to make sure that no one was buried alive. They would fill the entire place with flowers to overpower the smell of dead, rotting, human flesh.
Once again, strings were tied to their fingers, which led to a set of bells, which looked like a wind-chime, so if the person awoke, a nurse would hear the bells and aid them. This idea was unsanitary and unethical, He said.
I asked Him how people tried to guarantee themselves that they would be remembered. Most people did something that would either affect the world, or a large amount of people in it. Some did it for glory and fame, while others for the better of mankind. He told me about mass suicide, and genocides, the Holocaust, homicidal maniacs, inventors, philosophers, scientists, architects, and anything that a man could do to make him immortal in death, including War, Famine, Pestilence, and even Death itself.
I questioned whether or not those people were actually remembered, and He responded in kind with a question. He asked me if I remembered anybody who fell into any of those categories. I told Him I knew because of Him. We embraced each other, forever trusting. Finally, I asked Him how foolish people could be sometimes and wondered why.
He just replied with a shrug. He told me that someday man just might find out.
Contemporary:
Tonight is just like any other night.I'm sitting in a corner with Him, and we're talking to each other. He's telling me about how man has taken everything they've been given, everything they've created, for granted. Not even He knows why we're so greedy, so neither do I.
It wasn't long before even I became furious and upset at how detestable we are. I asked Him why He bothers to be with me, if He knows I'm just like everyone else, because I too take everything for granted and fail to change my ways. He said it was because it's not He who directs my actions, by rather I who express His.
I thought I understood. I asked Him if we will be punished for our wrong doings, and if not then we should be. He said that certain circumstances take place every day that punish people for wrongful thoughts, but we are allowed the chance to be forgiven, even if we keep committing the same errors throughout history, we will always be allowed another chance.
I wondered if He forgave me. He told me he did. I told Him that I feel bad, because it seems as if I am taking advantage of His kindness. I don't think we should be given so many second chances. If we look to the past in an attempt to never repeat it again in the future, than why are we allowed to repeat the same mistakes and never be taught to learn from them? We need to change the way people act, and there has to be a way to enforce a law onto all of mankind.
He said it was impossible, and such thoughts were absurd. He said I was trying to be restrictive, and simplify a matter that was to complex for me to understand.
No man should have to live under a law brought forth by an unforgiving being. I apologized to Him, and remembered that I am apart of man; apart of the problem I wish to face. Also, I realized that me being just one person in an entire universe, I had no jurisdiction over anyone but myself, nor could I have the power to impact the world in such a way.
Then He asked me if I remembered those who tried to become immortal by death. I nodded my head.
Unconstrained:
For as long as mankind has roamed the earth, there has been war. I asked Him what caused man to want to fight each other. He told me it was usually for power, and that power is corruption. Corruption...I echoed; such is man, He agreed.
It was then I decided to make mankind pay for the deeds that were ignored and went unnoticed. He told me of every war. He showed me every tactic and strategy. He reminded me of every past mistake made in history. He brought forth for me War.
War was immense, unstoppable. He executed an attack on mankind so ferocious that mountains crumbled, seas flooded, the earth burned, and the sky melted. War was relentless in his efforts to defeat mankind. For the first time in accounted history, every man, every providence, every country, and every nation, joined forces to fight War. In this, man had unknowingly defeated War.
War stumbled to the ground, a mighty reign had fallen, and as War had slowly been defeated, man was slowly getting stronger. He didn't tell me that unity could defeat War, because it had never happened before. He did not accept War as the only option; failure would not come.
He looked up to the sky to summon another demon, an abomination, which disgusted even myself. Famine's horrible drought swept over the earth ruining the lands. Man could no longer till for food. The seas turned to fire, and War rose once again. War, with its gargantuan metallic body, unsurpassed brutality, and unending hatred for man, roamed it domain, destroying all in its path. I then reminded Him that man is greedy and admires beauty, so He created Pestilence.
Famine, with its wrought form morphed and dripped into every earthly delight leaving in its path a wake of turmoil and decay. He thought of one last thing, something He told me man would never defeat, and released Death upon mankind.
Pestilence, with her beautiful guise devoured man, delivering disease that spread all over the world, conquering all.
Death appeared, with an absolute gratification for man, and brought with him a friend ---
Then He gave in, corrupt with power, unable to control Himself; I had intervened and stopped Him. I blinked, and all was normal again - the world, the people, all was well. My brain was thumping and my head wanted to erupt.
I knew what I was doing, He told me. I know, I replied, that's why I stopped You. He asked if I remembered who He was; if all the pieces finally fell together. I told my Conscience to continue His rage.
I closed my eyes, and Hell followed with Him.
User Reviews
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2004-12-19 12:29:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Godamn man, you need to start posting again! This was kickass in every way.
Submitted by DonovanMD (user info) at 2004-12-05 19:53:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Socialist_Joe (user info) at 2004-09-26 07:33:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
wooooooooooooo fabish woooooooooooo
Submitted by earth_collapse (user info) at 2004-09-20 23:07:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Holy Shit... This was awesome.
Submitted by heater (user info) at 2004-08-20 12:40:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Well, I thought all this was covered in Algebra. -(+2) = -2 ; +(-2) = -2 ; +(+2) = +2 ; -(-2)=+2
Get Heat!
Submitted by Socialist_Joe (user info) at 2004-08-10 14:12:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by wazzawazzayo (user info) at 2004-06-21 15:41:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Like Cambell's, this is mmm...mmm good!
what?
Submitted by Lisa (user info) at 2004-06-19 16:26:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked this a lot, Fabish.
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2004-06-15 08:45:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Damn good.
Submitted by Fabish (user info) at 2004-06-15 08:29:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Pittdude, it wasn't so much research as a combination of previous information I had already read or known to be true. I used that to help set the basis for my story.
Zoidberg, the referencing to the Bible was merely an allusion. The last few sentences are important, and should be reflected back to the title of the story.
Submitted by Pittdude (user info) at 2004-06-15 08:07:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great Job....sounds like you researched this a little?
Submitted by Zoidberg (user info) at 2004-06-15 07:37:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
and he who sat on him was death
so you've either been reading the bible or listening to Johnny Cash
Submitted by Siren (user info) at 2004-06-15 03:46:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Whoa. Very cool. I read about the Victorian finger, string, and bell thing once. What if a bird pecked the bell to death or something? The idea of being burried alive is oh, so scary- as perfectly illustrated in Kill Bill Vol.2. Great post. Now I can't concentrate on my work.
Submitted by dakingisdead (user info) at 2004-06-15 03:08:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Holy moly I read all that.
Shit I didn't get it!
Was it in Chinese or am I missing something?
Submitted by poIyamorousaj (user info) at 2004-06-15 02:08:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'M GAY!! I'M COMING OUT!!!
I'M A HUGE FLAMER!