A Somber Walk With Pete

"I must admit, I'm not sure how to write this one." I say, as we walk along. 

Pete replies "Just write it as you saw it. Assume that no one's reading it anyway, as you have been told."

"Did He show you Nothing?"

"He showed me what might be called regeneration or rebirth. It was terrifying. I've spent so long trying to adjust it, maybe to soften the blow. Your presence here has greatly alleviated the overall experience, but not the knowledge of the pain caused by the event itself."

"To know that this would ultimately happen to everyone is devastating."

"To comprehend that this will be all that continues to happen for so many is worse."

"Existence bears a terrible price, but what's the alternative?"

"Despite my searching, there isn't one. Even with all your efforts, the experience isn't better. I have hope now, however, that it is worth it. So many years I've seeded this ground, making perfect the structure that returns one to life and makes life permanent. So many years I have pulled the weeds of those that dare attempt to instill anything wicked into this model, because one wrong seed after harvest will destroy the whole field, and it is an end that I can picture, an end that it feels impossible to hold onto, and that would include Jesus as well- a better man than you or I."

"Indeed he is. I have felt that these years are soon coming to a close, quite soon. I have felt this before, however, and can no longer trust this instinct."

"Fortunately, it is immaterial if you trust it or not. While only on the page for now, the reaper and plowman will rejoice together. We live, breathe, and continue, our aims the same, in the end."

"Survival might shake these aims, if given the chance."

"It cannot, in this case. Instead, each will comprehend the certainty of the end- and their own end within it- before it occurs but, for most, only just before. Then each will act as they must, if only because they must. Many more than I expected have signed on early, in their hearts, purchasing The Blueprints for this seemingly nonsensical path, as of yet unproven and still an apparent Dark Horse. This is leading to many more paths to Paradise than I expected, but we rejoice at every one. It provides some joyous laughter in a time otherwise marked by devastation. Still, this season is not your fault, not by a longshot, and each will find out why you are so paradoxically persistent, given your experience, in short order."

"My experience with Microwave Mode?"

"With hell, yes. Once all comprehend this experience, many will scatter to try to save those who cannot yet comprehend their fate and might be saved, almost regardless of their actions in life. As you have seen, in this way mercy- God's Mercy- saturates the whole of Judgement Day. Everyone's goal will be identical: every possible soul saved from that fate. There will be no 'final gotcha' however, like you have faced so many times with so many false alarms, certainty will also saturate. Nor will you be involved in any of it, you have my word. This is both mercy and necessity, if you can believe it."

"I can imagine believing it, certainly. A 'Time Served' kind of arrangement, combined with the weight of a love debt understood, of this occurring within one's- anyone's- species beneath their notice. It makes sense that a unique kind of balancing act must be undertaken, to even get into position for the actual rebalancing to take place."

"And then there will be Love. Not the semblance or approximation of Love, but Love felt tangibly and in full. The only 'option' is a full reset, and others are starting to comprehend what that means for them, everyone they love, and everyone else as well."

"Mega Microwave Mode for an unknown but incalculable number of years until Creation potentially returns to an arrangement where one might be able to connect one puzzle piece to any other?"

"Yes. Effectively Random Established in absentia of The Omnisoul, and with no way to avoid or mitigate the experience. Anyone who thinks this is acceptable or even riskable- in full knowledge of the stakes- is automatically thrown into The Lake of Fire. By the way, this is nowhere near what Hope and your priest meant by 'Either Way' when they were passing through. She essentially meant that this solution has been seen, found entirely unacceptable, and enough of your power was stolen, arranged, and earmarked in order to guarantee that it never happens, even if you are asleep, in the biblical sense."

"I believe you. So where do we go from here?"

"I imagined that we'd just keep walking a ways, until the narrative fades from the page."

I nod, and so we do; and so it does.