time

Here I stand in the middle of chaos. Surrounded by symbols of a life spent trudging patterns into the earth. I have traveled miles within a square no bigger than twenty feet and I have seen kingdoms rise and fall in the palm of my hand. My own kingdom is now going to fall, not in the palm of my hand but because of it. I am going to die and soon you will too. As you read this, realize I had no intention of bringing about the end of man. I, like many others before me, simply was looking for answers. Generations of living beings had the same questions and doubts. But now, there is no doubt. I am truly sorry for any pain I have and will cause you. Please do not hate me for what I have done, I only did what I thought I was supposed to do.

I stare at a clock hanging on an insignificant wall. I don’t remember ever changing the batteries after all these years, but yet the hands still turn. It does not so much keep time now, but count down to the end of it. It is funny how time actually has different speeds. For some, it goes by too fast and for others, time has a way of taking, well, time. I tend to find myself in the latter group. I seem to be waiting longer and longer, for time to end. I have seen to it, that my time will end before anyone else’s, with a slim hope someone will ask the right question. That is why I leave this letter. I hope you will be able come up with a question that will make things right again. By now you must be wondering what all this babbling is about. Ramblings about questions, answers and end of the world type stuff. I am going to share my story with you. Please read carefully. Somehow, maybe you will see where I went wrong, and know how to fix things.

I will not bore you with stories of beatings or abandonment. My childhood was rough and in turn I buried myself in books. I went through many phases of interest in literature. From my fascination with the Byronesque characters in the romantic period to Stoker’s wonderful subterfuge of British rule in his masterpiece Dracula. Though I must say the work that changed my direction in life was Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Throughout my life I have found myself enthralled with the many different characters in this wonderful masterpiece. The layers of meaning and symbolism in the quest in fact guided me to what became my profession. I decided to go about my own quest. I dove headfirst into studying science and storing everything I could in my mind. I spent years in school, studying varying fields and subject matters. I applauded the gains that computers afforded us in the study of science and chose them as my tool of focus. Unlike in Chaucer’s story, there were no others on my quest with me. I was alone. Others would have only gotten in my way.

Studying, planning and eventually building enveloped my life. I, was enough for me and all I needed. In the room I now stand in, I gathered information and planned to build what was to be the final tool in my goal in life. As I stare at it now, I question my motives. Have I wasted everything for my dream? I heard a comedian once say “don’t bother following your dream. Just ask it where it is going and meet up with it there later.” I chose to build my dream and not take any chances with it.

I stare now at the world’s most powerful computer. Now operational, it has access to every bit of information in the world. It cannot be matched in processing power or ability. It is self powered and will continue gathering information until eternity. Now the computer, you see was not my goal. My goal was to find an answer. An answer to the one single most important question ever uttered. You should have already guessed the question I asked. You have asked it yourself more times than you can count. The answer I received only provoked me to ask another. Maybe I was too greedy, or just too naïve. Suffice to say the answer I received to my second question has led me to write this letter. I can only hope you can ask another question. One that might avert this horrible outcome and fix the damage I have done. To do this you must know what my second question was and the distressing answer I received.

I asked ”What does this mean for all of mankind?”, and the answer was.

“the end”