With the telescope in hand I went over to the eastern side of the room
and began to closely inspect the savanna in an attempt to get a bird's
eye view of the point of my entrance in Daem. It looked rather the same
from above as it did from below, though the smells and sounds were
missing, and I found that it was rather bland once the initial
excitement, surprise, and respect of its novelty had worn off. Indeed,
it was quite too dull for me, even in my state of boredom as a prisoner,
though I suppose that that isn't a proper description of my feelings,
for I wasn't free from excitement or intriguing events, but rather, I
was in the middle of a campaign of new and anticipated things, but
simply unable to participate. Stuck in a room 800 feet from the ground
with walls of glass that allowed observation of the whole island of
Daem, which I assumed to be the only civilization in the world, while
great events unfolded around me, of which I was supposed to be the
primary actor, was very disconcerting, though I find in retrospect that
fate worked so mysteriously in my situation that it is quite puzzling to
think about, meaning, of course, my relationship with the doom of
humanity as preventer and provoker, as savior and condemner.
My writing of this manuscript may be considered quite a big cheat, as it
details my direct involvement with Onan, the Lord of the Past, and the
general circumstances of the end of life on earth, for the current age
at least, but still I am allowed to write it. Onan told me just a few
moments ago that I could write it and tell all that I want, to which I
was taken aback. When I asked why he would allow me to break the law of
the council of the gods, he replied that there was no rule against a
human agent from detailing his involvement in the actions of the
divines. It was allowed, he told me, because it would never make a mite
of a difference, for even if it were able to survive the bitter ice ages
and all the evolutionary periods in this TAB (Temporal Anomaly Box,
which I will explain later, since I get ahead of myself and have not
told of them yet), and even if it is found by humans, and even if they
are capable of understanding the text contained within it, even then
they will take no gain from it. I was again taken aback when he said
this, for though I know humans to be stubborn and foolish, in general, I
would think that they would at least mind the warning when the
conditions of its completion came to pass. But he dissuaded me, telling
me that my coevals of the next age would no doubt take it as a novel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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