Singularity

"What in the name of Grylor's gonads was that?" shouted Tarin-Gazin, rather breaking the mood.

"I don't know," said the Traveler, "but I think I know where we are now." He and Alyssa stood up hesitantly. She still held him in her arms. "Though I don't know why I remember this place, or how I could have been here before... This is a magical singularity."

"The what, now? When will people start saying things that make sense, by Berlin!" said Tarin-Gazin.

Luna, on the other hand, seemed to understand perfectly well what the Traveler was saying, and she was awed. "I've heard of these, but thought it was impossible to actually enter one..."

"What the Hel are you talking about?"

"We are in a point that exists outside of time and space, which is a major nexus through which magical energies from outside the multiverse enter the prime material planes. That's why the Traveler seems to have regained some of his memories, and why Lyndis appears to have briefly merged with her counterpart from a destroyed alternate universe. What we're seeing here is just our minds' attempt to take in completely alien perceptions and doesn't fit the reality of the place at all."

"Never mind," said Tarin. "Why can't we go kill that stupid yellow demon?"

"Because killing it by physical means is impossible," said Luna. "He is a magically created being. There is only one way to kill him. This is written into the very fabric of his being. We have to find the funniest joke in the universe." Tarin just looked at her uncomprehendingly. "The funniest joke in the universe is the secret of the meaning of life. When he heard it, he came face to face with the ultimate principle of being. Learning it gave him near-infinite power over the fabric of reality--and, because he wasn't ready to handle it, drove him mad. Somehow, we will have to not only find the Joke but also find someone who is so dense and uncomprehending that he will be able to read it without going mad himself."

"You could use an elf," said Tarin. "There's no one stupider than an elf."

"I suppose you could do." She turned toward the Traveler. "Somehow, wer'e going to have to navigate our way out of the SIngularity to another universe--preferably one where we might be able to find the Joke. Now Traveler, how were you able to remember this place?"

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe Lyndis was Alyssa's future self rather than her alternate universe counterpart. Since we're outside of time, maybe I'm actually remembering something that's going to happen later--or even what's happening right now. But I think I have some kind of feel for the singularity's structure. Maybe I even am the singularity, in some way. My universe's wasn't just destroyed, its timestream was totally erased. So my essence could be said to be outside of space and time."

"I don't understand any of this," said Alyssa woefully. "If time doesn't exist here, why is it still moving forward for us?"

"Because our own personal timestreams are still intact, and we entered at the same point. We might very well end up touching our own pasts and futures, especially if we use the singularity again at some point. Now Traveler, do you think you will be able to take us out of the singularity?"

1. The Traveler, as if in a trance, wandered off. The others followed him, hoping he would lead them where they needed to go.
2. "I don't know," said the Traveler. "We may be trapped here forever."
3. Suddenly, someone else walked into the singularity.

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