JohnHartness.com

“Alright then. Now, how best to begin. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…nah, more like outside of any galaxy, there was a disagreement in Heaven between members of the Host as to how the universe should be run. A certain faction of the Host felt that events should be kick-started and then allowed to run their course, with minimal if any interference on the part of the Father and the permanent residents of Heaven. Another faction felt that things in the universe couldn’t possibly operate effectively without their constant oversight and meddling.

“Well, as you might imagine among strong-willed beings of almost infinite power, the argument quickly grew until it created such a level of discord in Heaven that nothing was being done. The tasks of Creation were being ignored while angels debated philosophy, and the debates raged so long, and so loudly, that Father finally stepped in to settle the matter once and for all.

“It was decided that a world would be created, and populated with beings that had free will. This was a new concept, because never, in all the worlds Father had created, had he given that gift to any of his creatures except for the Host. And these beings would be the experiment upon which the angels found the answer to their argument. If these beings chose chaos over order, chose self-rule over divine guidance, then that would be that. The angels who wanted to start things up and leave them alone would lead the Seraphim, and the ones who disagreed would sit down and shut up for all eternity.

“So the Father took a week off from his other duties, created this world, and put a couple of people on it. That’s where you come in, sunshine. A complex set of rules was devised for the management of the contest, but one of them was that this world would be run hands-off, with little or no divine intervention, while the Father and the Seraphim took a more direct approach with the rest of the universe. Each side was given the option to send an observer to the world to watch the development of the beings, which you know as humans, and that’s where I come in.”

“Wait a minute. You’re here as an observer? You’re not coming here to recruit souls for Hell? And you weren’t thrown out of Heaven for trying to overthrow the Father?” Sidney looked a little green as he vomited out questions from the corner. I suppose that’s what happens when everything you believe is tossed out a window in one night.

“Yes, no and no, in that order. I never tried to overthrow the Father; I just wanted to take over the Seraphim. And there is no Hell. There’s just here. Sartre was a smart guy. Hell really is other people. But don’t interrupt.

“So Michael and I, as our respective team captains, set up the rules of the game, so to speak. Since he had such great faith in the ability of people to desperately want help from above, he had to stay hands-off and trust in the natural order of things to win out. Since I was the agent of chaos, it was within my purview to stir the pot in any way I saw fit, and stir I did. And from time to time, certain numbers of people down through history would be given Choices. If either side won a clear majority of the Choices that humans made, then the game would be over and the winning team would take over Heaven.

“But that didn’t happen. Over and over again, from Eve all the way down to Gutenberg, Oppenheimer and now little Sidney, we’ve been pretty much neck and neck. There has never been a clear winner. So as per the original terms of our agreement, on a date exactly 65,000 years from the beginning of the experiment, the original member of the experiment would make the final decision. Happy Birthday, by the way.”

“What?”

“Today is the your birthday, Adam. I know you were a little lax with record keeping in the early millennia, but by the way you calculate years today, you are 65,000 years old today. So today is the day that the experiment ends.”

“I don’t even get a cake?”

“Maybe later. Depending on how you choose. For my part, if you take my side, I’ll even buy you an ice cream. I know how much you like ice cream with sprinkles.” He was right; I do have a weakness for sprinkles.

“So all this has been to settle a bet? All of human existence is just to settle a disagreement between you and Michael?” I think I was offended by the idea.

“Basically, yes. Father created this world, and everything on it, so that you could stand here and decide which one of us wins an argument. I know that may seem a little out of the ordinary, but that’s kinda how it goes when you’re omnipotent.” I looked over at Michael, who at least had the good graces to look a little chagrined.

“So what do I do?”

“Well, you Choose. You choose chaos or order. Change or status quo. You choose the course of human history from this moment forward, just as Eve chose the course of human history from the moment at which she took the Fruit up until now. Sorry about that, by the way, love. You really have gotten a bad rap because of that whole thing.”

“You’re telling me?” Eve muttered. “But I got a question for you, Mister Take this Fruit, it’s yummy and good for you, too. The whole reason I made your choice was because you said that if I did, Adam didn’t have to.”

“And he didn’t.”

“But now he has to make the final choice? You’re a lying sack of shit, Lucky.”

“While that is unquestionably true, darling, I never said he’d never have to make a Choice. Just that he wouldn’t have to make that Choice. If you had deferred that Choice to Adam, you would be making this one. That was the deal. One of you had to make the first big Choice, and one of you had to make the last one.”

I looked over at Lucypher and said, “Go on.”

“It’s time for you to choose, Adam. Your Choice is simple, do you choose to continue as you have, or do you choose to change?”