a wonderful prize
He walked for miles never seeing another soul.
Where was he going? Only he knew and he wouldn't tell anyone.
Whenever someone stopped him on the side of the road to offer a ride,
he would say nothing and continue on his path.
He drank the water from the scarce desert oasis'
and cooked whatever he found.
It was in a cabin that he found the piece of paper that changed his life.
He wasn't a religious man,
but he believed there was a higher power watching over him.
On this paper written in black and white,
was the thing that gave him hope.
The page was practically empty; only the word “walk” was written on it.
That's it... just “walk”.
He was puzzled as to the meaning of the paper,
but he knew it was meant for him.
He's been on an adventure that begun
when he was first brought into this world.
It was his only purpose to walk with no destination, or so he thought.
When he first made his way to a broken down factory,
he stared at the entrance for several minutes
and contemplated whether or not he should to enter.
He couldn't find a way to enter so he uttered the phrase
“Let me enter my lord.”
Nothing happened for quite some time
but he continued to stare at the doorway anyways.
There was something about it that made him feel happy.
He screamed a second time “LET ME IN MY LORD!”,
this time a symbol appeared over the sealed entrance.
He knew that this was the mark of the creator,
but he knew not of its purpose here.
The doors flew open, unveiling an enormous factory
that appeared to at one time generate power.
He walked through the factory halls looking for something... anything.
He noticed a small box with the words “Agent 20001452”
written on a small sticky note on the top of the box.
He grabbed the scissors he found on the table and began to saw into it.
When he managed to pry off the thin layer of duct tape,
he folded over the sides to reveal a picture frame
with an old picture of a family.
He looked at the woman first.
She had lovely brown hair, a perfect smile,
and the kind of eyes he preferred on a woman.
He then looked closely at the younger woman in the picture.
She looked to be about 14 years of age.
She also had brown but frizzy hair and was sporting
those rusted style braces that everyone wore in the '00's.
His eyes went toward the father of the family.
He did not know why, but he knew this man from somewhere.
He put the picture frame on the table and carefully took the picture out.
He tucked it away in his back pocket and continued through the halls.
He came to a dead end hallway with a door at the end of it.
The mark of the creator was on it too.
He still quivered at the sight of that mark.
He made his way toward the door, shaking more and more with every step. The door swung open he had seen something only few have seen ever.
A massive computer screen at least 10 yards wide sat in front of him.
This was no ordinary factory, this was his factory... the creator's!
On the side of the console was a small CD case with a DVD inside.
He popped open the console and placed the DVD into the center of it.
The man from the picture stood in an open concept dining room.
“Hello Agent 20001452, I'm glad you've finally made it.
My name is Austin, But my friends call me the Creator.
I'm happy to inform you, you're the first to make it this far in the adventure. You are entitled to receive the grand prize... the truth.
You see, you are not human. Well, not exactly.
You're part of a study we've been doing for nearly 50 years now.
Ever since World War 3 ended in 2045,
the United States of America have been trying to produce Super Beings.”
The wall swung open and a mirror shot out from behind the chrome walls.
“Look at yourself in the mirror son.”
He peered over at the wall and saw himself in the mirror.
He'd never seen his reflection before, it was forbidden.
He touched his face and felt the features on his cheek.
“I'm you!” he spoke as he faced the creator.
“I am guessing by now you've figured out that we're the same person.
You are a clone of me. A replica, the first one ever recorded.
I'm afraid that I don't have much more time on this earth.
I'm in my 80's and I'm not getting any younger.
I don't want my legacy to die with me, so I created you,
as well as 1000 more clones of myself to replace me.
As we speak hundreds of people who look just like you are being gunned down.
There are only 650 of you.
The way this works is simple.
Stay in the lead, and don't die.
I kill a little bit less each time.
The prize at the end of this madness?
Life and the chance to proceed my reign of peace and prosperity.
So long as you have this knowledge, you have the ultimate advantage.
I won't keep you much longer but I'll leave you with this;
Fear not what lies in the beyond,
embrace it and become one with it's divine powers.”
The console opened up and spat out the disk. On it was written
“follow the Northern Beacon”.
he tucked the disk into the same pocket as the picture
and made his way toward the exit.
As he was leaving, he noticed that the box he had torn open earlier
was re-sealed and the sticky note read “ Agent 9352”.
He did not let it phase him.
He trudged on through the darkness of the night.
He looked up at the sky, and the North Star twinkled at him.
“Then it is you I shall follow.”
He walked for a long time. Weeks in fact.
Until he came upon a clearing with the same sign as before.
He picked up a stick off the ground and threw it as far as he could.
When it dropped it hit the ground with a ferocious “Bang!”
The ground started to shake and it opened up.
Out came an even bigger structure than the factory before.
He took one look at the massive building that had now completely emerged.“ I'm home” he said...”I found you...”
He walked through the factory halls looking for something... anything.
He noticed a small box with the words “Agent 20001452”
written on a small sticky note on the top of the box.
"Here we go again"
