How To Destroy The Universe

The kill

'I can't do this,' I said, putting the hatchet down. 'I just can't. I am sorry.'

Kendara made a noise that sounded as if someone wanted to puke but didn't.

'He is disappointed,' said Stanley. 'He said it in our language. I can't speak it but I can understand some of it.'

'I just feel like this is wrong. You know? I can't kill someone who I respect so much and spent so much time being fond of. I mean, I read all of your books. Like, all of them. And I waited for that interview we did for The New Observer for like a year. Maybe for you it was nothing, but I was super nervous too.'

'A lot of reality is an illusion. Looks can be deceiving. You know that I am not human. You know that I can bring harm to the Universe. You know that you have a real chance to make a difference.'

'Aren't you afraid to die?' I asked.

'Of course I am. But that's the human side of me speaking, I know it. Makians don't die. And don't have diseases. And don't have identities, which saves the trouble of being afraid for yourself. There's just us, you know. And we control the Universe. We always do what's best for the Universe. We're like Earth's bees. One hundred percent clone DNA. And if one dies, what's the big deal?'

I thought about what he said for a moment. 'I wish you could tell me more about your place.'

'You'll know about it, in your own time.'

'Do you have families? Kids? Wives? Husbands?'

Stanley exchanged a glance with Kendara. 'Not really. Not something you would understand. But yeah, we have kids. Kid. But then again, everything is so strange where I come from. We're different, you know? So different, that you wouldn't understand. Humans can't understand, not yet. I mean, we, I mean you, still can't grasp the vastness of space. Your brains are not wired for–'

The hatchet entered his neck at almost a perfect ninety-degree angle. A fountain of blood sprayed all across the room. Stanley Doyle started screaming and fell down on the floor, shaking from pain, terror, and losing blood. A red puddle appeared under him.

I stared as the famed scientist held his neck. I stared at him in terror, as I held the hatchet. Suddenly, I felt a pull on my pants, and saw that Stanley was pulling me closer. His eyes were wide and crazy and he screamed something inconsistent. I tried to pull away but his grip on my pants was too tight.

So I grabbed the hatchet, lifted it up carefully, and hit him three time of the head.

The sound of sharp metal entering a human flesh was like hitting a wet tree.

On the third hit, Stanley Doyle, almost completely covered in blood, lay still.

I dropped the hatchet and started to shake. Tears were now falling out of my eyes like two waterfalls.

'What just happened?' I whispered. 'It felt like I was being possessed.'

'You just saved the Universe,' I heard Kendara's voice from behind. 'And I had nothing to do with it, I promise.'

I looked at the dead body and tried to feel proud of myself. I couldn't. It felt like I did something unnatural and wrong and something that I will never be able to recover from.

'You'll get over it once you see his true form,' said Kendara. 'Let's wait for it to appear.'

And he was right.

In about a minute, the human flesh went away. It just dissappeared, as if it was never there. In fact, everything dissappeared, the whole body, leaving a puddle of red liquid that started to evaporate in the air.

'What's this? Is this boiled blood?' I asked.

'No, it's him. His true state. Now he's dead.'

'Where are his hands, face, legs?'

'There aren't any,' Kendara smiled. 'We're pure consciousness. Gaseous. Or you think that extraterrestrial beings must have eyes, a nose, and a pair of legs?'

'No, but that's weird. Why is he red?'

'His favourite color. The longest wavelength.'

There was a knock on the door.