Repost from
The Great Machine by Calash
The caverns of eternity, well named for I have wandered them for what feels like ages. My footfalls the only sound to greet me upon my travels. However I must not falter, must not lose my resolve. Even if I did I doubt I could find my way out, for the path home seems distant, a memory of life lost in the mist.
How did I end up here? Oh yes, the rumor. How could I forget the rumor. A place hidden from the eyes of man, a thousand miles from any life. A chamber of knowledge, and of destiny. The answer to all questions lies there.
At first I was skeptical, as anyone would be. However the story seemed to linger in my mind, clawing at my thoughts. It was an itch at first, but soon I could not ignore the need, the desire to learn more.
Countless hours in libraries, reading scrolls by dim candle light. I can see now why my wife left me, but something inside me kept me going. I had to learn more, to see if such a place existed. Could there be a place where destiny started, where all questions would be answered? Slowly I began to piece the bits of lost knowledge together. An explorer, not unlike myself, once went in search of the “Center of all things”. His journey took him to the caverns of eternity where he was convinced that this place was.
I followed his footsteps, piecing together the last moments of his life. My own life seemed to be lost, not worthy of my attention as I tried to become this man, to follow his path. Sleep where he slept, eat where he ate, see what he saw.
But then it ended.
The last records, his last steps took him into a cave deep in the northern mountains. He believed, beyond all doubt, that this was the entrance. So I found myself at this same cave, peering into the darkness before me. I no longer had his footsteps to follow, and for the first time in years I took a step of my own and entered the caverns.
That was 2 years ago.
Two years if time has any meaning in this place, for it seems as though time slows the farther I go. I hunger less and less, sleep does not come as often. Even my hair seems to have all but stopped growing, though this may be malnutrition rather than an effect from this place.
No sounds, no sights, only darkness in all directions and the cold walls and floor. I am not even really sure how long it has been, except my torches have long since expired and my food is nearly ready to do the same. Perhaps this is hell, my penance for the sins of my life, or it could be the insanity of losing my own life in pursuit of a dream, a obsession of a man who died hundreds of years ago. I lost myself in this quest, and here is my payment. Eternity alone, with nothing but myself to keep my company. The irony is not lost on me, and perhaps it is what keeps me going, moving forward through the darkness.
Upon the brink of madness it came to me, a flicker of light in the distance. I ran with all my strength, not caring if it was the way out or a way to death. Release is all I cared about, freedom from this devils trap.
The light stung my eyes as I entered the room, my body going limp and falling as I tried to shield myself. The pain was unbearable, but at least it was something different. For too long I had been lost in the darkness. As painful as it was the light brought joy to my heart.
Eventually the blur faded and slowly the magnificent room came into focus. Towering white marble reached into the air hundreds of feet. Statues of angels, devils, and creatures I can hardly describe line the walls, all of them gazing at the center with a look of respect. Above it seemed as though the very stars had been plucked from the sky and dropped into the room, orbs of light effortlessly floated in a soft mist, providing the light I so desperately craved.
My eyes darted downward and were greeted with what could only be the object of my journey, the answer to all questions. Before my eyes sat the machine, the driving force of all things. Each gear was a life, each movement a event. I watched in fascination as one small gear caused all those around it to turn, changing the very fate of the lives it touched. Yet it was also changed, effected by the things around it. A master plan of chaos where fate is written not by the gods, but by men yet destiny held it all together.
I sat upon the cold marble for hours watching the device churn. It had no stable shape, but seemed to flex and move as it saw fit. Each life, no matter how small, helped the device to work, drove the very machine.
Instead of answers all I had were questions. Who built this machine? What was it’s purpose? Did it drive destiny or did destiny drive it? Was our free will nothing more than illusion to keep the machine running?
A lone gear caught my eye, drawing me away from the flood of thoughts. It sat away from the others, locked with another solitary gear. My attention focused upon these two, as if I knew there purpose. Of course I knew, one does not look in the mirror and forget your own reflection. I watched with a mix of fascination and horror as the two gears spun together, alone. The man I followed, the life I tried to embrace my only companion now.
I was right….this is hell, my own hell. My own personal hell, forged by my obsession to find this place. Or was it the life of the man I followed that drove me here, fate having already carved my fate into stone centuries ago?
This is not a place of answers, it is a place of questions. Infinite questions.
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