Beginning

The moon ushered in the New Year, and the first of the four sacred months. People would have celebrated, but many had lost the old traditions. Few knew that it was a new year, few cared, and even fewer celebrated. The Beings sat atop their pedestals and waited for the signal. 

In the Toy Room, he could not split atoms anymore. He flicked his fingers, he locked them together, nothing. It was as if the atoms had turned into stone, and were no longer malleable. He looked up, and around, at the heavens all around him, and saw the sign.

In the Clock Room, he yawned as he glanced at the clocks all around him, time spread out in its many forms and shapes, non-linear. The clocks rang at the same time, and his vision shut down. He could only see around him, and what was happening in the present moment in the universe. Time had changed course, had become linear for him. He saw the sign.

In the Library, pages rustled as she read. She was weary. Millenia of waiting had lead to the moment that would come very soon. The signs were all there, the dice had been rolled. Everything was ready. She heard a sizzling. Her heart sank. The papers all around her started to burn. She did not bother putting them out. This was the sign, she would not be able to. She got up wearily and made her way to the rendezvous.

They nodded at one another, siblings finally reunited. Three times they had met since inception. The first was when they were brought forth into existence, screaming and wailing. The second in the time the last messenger came. The third was now. This would be the last.

Stars twinkled all around them as they met in the darkness of space. In this corner of the universe, there was nothing but stars galaxies away. The three of them waited, and a door opened in the darkness. Light forming at the edges, forming into the shape of a door, and then bleeding into it, forming designs. The three watched with interest. One by one, they began to gasp, first the Author, then the Atomist, then the Watcher. They recognized those designs. They could still do something. But it was too late. They were not meant to interfere. The door began to open. Inside was nothing but light. White, bland, blank light. The three stepped in. For the next ten days, they would wait. Until it was over. She hesitated but she walked in. After they had stepped inside, the door closed, the light around the edges vanishing, leaving nothing but darkness. Time here was not the same as time on the Omega Planet.

On earth, the soundless war drums began to sound. The three old men who had started the process heard them. The chess players heard them. Somewhere on the planet, the dice heard them. It began to hum and vibrate in tune with the drums. The game was afoot. Very soon, everything would begin.