The Dochler Virus (also commonly known as the Wormbleed Epidemic)

        The Dochler Virus, named after Robert Dochler, head researcher at the German Disease Management Facility from 2112-2115, was the most deadly and dangerous virus ever recorded. Informally defined as the first "bacterite", an organism resembling both a bacteria and a parasite, it spread itself in an altogether different manner than other viruses. It spread by infecting the air itself, causing oxygen particles to evolve into parasitic viruses.

        The Dochler Virus was first discovered by an American Space-travel Emergency Rescue crew, who flew by spacecraft to Mars to investigate a ground base (EGR113) that had stopped sending and receiving signals from Earth. Upon arrival at the base, the crew knew something was amiss. Around all of the airlocks and ventilation ports there were thousands of small blue objects on the ground, and there were several small punctures in the ground station's outer hull. When they entered the station, the crew found that the entire base was covered in these blue objects, and upon carefully investigating one of these, they found it to be a dead creature resembling a worm or centipede, about an inch long. There were an estimated 15,000 of these dead worms in the base, whereas there were only 8 workers in the base. When the rescue crew found the worker's bodies, it was evident that they had been eaten alive.

        After some governmental controversy, it was decided that a few of the worms should be taken back to Earth in sealed sample containers. The rescue crew did this, and launched back to Earth, but when they landed, the worms had disappeared. All that was left in the containers was a strange red cloud of gas. It was concluded that the worms had disintegrated in the jars, leaving a cloud of particles behind.

        The red cloud was unable to be analyzed by American scientists, so the containers were shipped to Germany, where Robert Dochler, after intensive lab testing, discovered the true nature of the virus.

        The red cloud was composed of condensed, airborne, dormant bacteria that spread in stages. The first stage was reproduction. The virus infected nearby oxygen particles with microscopic projectiles, causing those particles to be corrupted and morph into a duplicate virus. The second stage was to feed on human flesh. The airborne viruses would float into the mouth or nose of a human being, and feed on the nutrients inside the body. It would take up to five minutes for the viruses to feed enough to move on to the next stage, and until then, the victim would not know that he or she was infected. The final stage was evolution. The viruses would transform into a small parasite using the nutrients that they had gathered, and eat the victim from the inside out. After the victim was dead, the worms would move on to another human, and another- until the entire human race was dead. They would stop at nothing, and seemed to have an uncanny way of telling where a human was. They could burrow through the ground, and through almost all substances to reach a person. And if the worm died or was deprived of oxygen, it would disintegrate into hundreds more dormant viruses, waiting for the right moment to strike. In each of those containers, behind half an inch of glass, was the power to destroy an entire planet.

        "The difficulty with finding an antidote for the Wormbleed Epidemic is it's rate of spread," said Dr. Peter Codell from Cambelton University. "Once released into the open air, the red cloud expands at a rate of two cubic meters per second squared, meaning that it could possibly destroy an entire planet in less than three days."

        The virus was contained by a governmental agency for five years under high security, safe from any chance of breakout, but in 2118 a terrorist named Stenlow Decain attempted to break into the building and open one of the glass tubes that contained the virus. It was a suicide mission, and Decain's reasons were unknown. The glass tubes were connected to a self-destruct of the building, so that if a container was opened, the building would explode, hopefully destroying the virus before it escaped the building's parameters. But Decain managed to disable the system, and he broke one of the containers. Rapidly the virus began to spread inside the building, and soon would have spread into the air, at which point it would be impossible to quarantine. Fortunately, a security guard named Aaron Parks sighted the terrorist, and shortly before being devoured by the worms, he broke into the Dochler Virus containment room and activated the self-destruct, exploding the building, and ending his life and those of the other guards and scientists. 

        Many say that this is the closest Earth has avoided destruction, and Aaron Parks will always remain a hero in our minds. Now we have no trace of the virus anywhere except our documents, although it is still not sure whether the virus has been exterminated. Upon returning to Mars to look for the dead worms, it was found that they had dissipated into the thin air of Mars, and whether dead or alive, no one knows. No one seems to understand much about where the virus came from or where it went. It's origin will likely always be unknown.

My name is Jacob Stellan. I am an asteroid refiner for American Solar Mining Enterprises. My job was simply to pick up ores from the mining drones on my designated route, and then use my onboard equipment to separate the pure minerals, crystals, and water from the rock. That's all my job was. I never thought it would be like this.

My day began like any other. I started my route at the first sign of a clear trajectory through the asteroids, and began stopping at regular intervals to pick up the ores from my designated drones. I had thirteen asteroids at which to stop, each large ones with at least ten mining drones. Usually it took several hours to complete my circuit.

I had just finished my second asteroid, and I was moving to my third, only a few miles away, when my commander signaled my intercom.

"Jacob, we're forecasting a heavy storm coming in your direction. Make sure you have your shield fully charged. Warp back to base at any sign of trouble."

"Roger that," I replied. "Keep me notified as to where it's headed."

Of course, I was in space, so a real storm like on Earth was impossible. Out here, we call a heavy cluster of asteroids a "storm". I had a shield that would protect me from any impacts, so I wasn't worried. The worst thing that could happen is getting bumped off course a bit.

I resumed my work, but shortly after I heard a loud bang on the top of my ship.

"Jacob, you've lost your radar," the commander said. "I can no longer see you on the map. Have you been hit?"

I was horrified. Having no radar out here was like having no eyes to see. Now I couldn't warp back to the base, because I had no idea where the base was.

"I think I was hit, sir. It must have been a small one. It didn't show up on my radar scanner."

"A direct hit from a small asteroid can take out a radar," the commander replied gravely. "Stay exactly where you are. We know the last place you were, so we're calculating a warp trajectory for you."

I waited in the ship. All was perfectly quiet. The asteroids floated and span smoothly in the distant blackness. It was very peaceful, but I was worried. What if I warped into a star or an asteroid or something? I could be dead before I even realized my mistake!

Suddenly the commander came through in the intercom. "Turn on your shield, Jacob! Here comes the storm!"

I quickly activated the shield around my ship, and not a moment too soon, for a large asteroid collided with the ship and shook me out of my chair. Then another hit me in the opposite direction. Then another hit from down below. The ship alarms went off.

I managed to stumble back over to my piloting chair, and I strapped myself in. Outside I could see a chaotic scene. Large asteroids crashed into each other with violent momentum, splintering into hundreds of tiny shards with brilliant flashes of light.

The storm went on for several minutes. When I finally came out into the clear, empty darkness once more, I had no idea where I was.

"Jacob! Jacob, are you there?" the commander asked.

"I'm here, and still in one piece," I replied. "But I am completely lost."

"Don't worry, we'll find you," he replied assuredly. "Try launching a flare."

Just then I heard a noise. In the middle of space. It was a low, moaning, creaking noise that saturated the whole ship. I looked outside in terror, but could see nothing.

I peered into the thick darkness. I thought I saw something dart between the asteroids- but was it just my imagination?

Then I saw a long, snake-like glow coming towards me. It was then that I was sure.

"Commander," I said breathlessly, "There's something alive out here."

The low creaking noise began again. How was it doing that? I didn't know. Perhaps it was releasing particles that made that noise when they hit the ship. But my mind was on the pale, luminescent form heading straight for my ship.

"What do you mean there's something alive? Have you gone mad?" the commander answered.

"No, really, something glowing is coming towards my ship," I said, terrified.

"Well get out there as fast as you can!" he shouted.

I started the engines, but I couldn't move. The ship seemed fastened in the middle of space.

I looked out the back window in horror. Something was wrapped around my ship! A gnarly black serpent some 10 feet in diameter was holding my ship fast. A large blue glowing stripe stretched down its body. I ran back to the front, where I wrestled helplessly with the controls. Just then the snake's face looked back at me through the window.

Oh, what a terrifying face! Three eyes in a triangle, with a fanged mouth in the center, and a long, sharp mandible between each pair of eyes. It let out a screaming noise as it clawed and scraped at the front window. 

"Save us!" I screamed in shock. 

I looked down it's massive body, where hundreds of razor-sharp spines shot out between the luminescent stripes. It's body was probably three hundred feet long, and it was quickly wrapping itself around my ship.

Beyond the terrifying serpent I could see dozens more in the distance, swimming through space towards my ship.

"Commander, what do I do?" I shouted.

"What's going on? Speak to me!"

I was so astonished at the creatures' form that I didn't realize what they had been doing to my ship. All this time, they had been slowly squeezing my ship, just like a boa constrictor, and by now the ceiling had moved down by two feet.

"You have to warp, Jacob, it's the only way!" the commander shouted over the creatures' screaming.

I stumbled over to the warp drive, crossed my fingers, shut my eyes and braced for impact, and pulled the lever. 

The horrific sound of the serpents soon died away. I was alone again, in my severely damaged ship, spinning through empty space. I shot off a signal flare, and they managed to find me. 

So that is how I found the first extraterrestrial life form. I think we might all learn a lesson from this incident. We have been looking for life outside of Earth for years, but the whole time we've been looking in the wrong place. So many important figures back on Earth have been obsessed with finding life on other planets, when the massive emptiness of space looms above their heads, simply asking to be inhabited. We, as a planet-grounded race, expect other extraterrestrial life to live on planets as well. But let us rather propose that aliens may have different technology then we have, and that there may be other lifeforms out there not bound to gravity.

I.

“Log?” asked Captain Dekk.

“It’s up to date,” his copilot, Sten, replied.

“Good.” Dekk looked out of the massive front window of his command ship. It was a small ship, but quite effective for space travel. Everyone recognized it for its brilliant red coloration and its marking on the side proudly bearing the national flag, along with the command star and the symbol of the International Space Station.

Sten started reading aloud. “Left the Space Station two days ago, at 3:00, full fuel and supplied with food enough to last us eight days. Our mission was to investigate the heat readings closer to the sun in our own system: coordinates 370, 1040, 27 in standard units.

’Yesterday, 8:00: Narrowing in on heat readings. Our scopes recognize the readings are being produced by a ship, not unlike our own. Fuel at 95% and food still plentiful.

’Today, 8:00: Within 300 units of heat readings, scopes identified life forms. Identified ship is of a different make then our own. Expected approach at 10:00 today. Fuel at 88%, food supplies about 3/4 left.”

“Excellent,” Captain Dekk said. “And now it is 9:00, and the ship can be seen with visual scopes. Life forms have been confirmed. And they’re not like us. They’re aliens.” He adjusted some dials on the control board in front of him. “I do hope they are not aggressive. A space war is the last thing we need, our government is already unstable from the last combat.”

“And we are approaching a planet,” Sten commented. “Not reddish or grayish, and not gaseous, as most exterior planets are, but blue. I am detecting water in the liquid state on the planets’ surface.”

“Well, we won’t land on the planet. We were assigned only to investigate the ship.”

“Right.”

Sten went over to the computer screen, where it showed their ship’s screen relative to the other ship. He noticed something different.

“Captain, you said it would take us about an hour to reach the ship?”

“Yes.”

“Were almost halfway there, in ten minutes.”

Dekk spun his chair around and looked at the screen.

“You’re right! And we’re still traveling the same speed. That can only mean one thing.”

“What?”

“The ship is coming to us!”

II.

Commander Jen piloted his ship at near maximum speed towards the foreign object. His ship, one of the guards for the International Space Station, was painted blue, and was a sleek, large ship, designed for utility, speed, and firepower.

Jen’s copilot, Tel, walked into the bridge room. “How close are we?” He asked the commander.

“Pretty close. And the unidentified object is coming towards us, which speeds things up a bit.” He adjusted the scope and the engine dial, and he also pushed the button that warmed up the main cannons. “I’m detecting life forms. If they’re friendly, we can try to communicate, maybe capture them for analysis, and if they’re hostile, we’ll fry them off the map.” He patted the weapons board.

They waited in silence, watching the ships draw closer to each other on the screen.

"I hope they aren't wanting to fight us," Tel said. "However superior our weaponry is, since we rebelled, we're still too small to fight off major threats."

"Well, we do have our own colony," Jen replied. "But perhaps if we were fighting someone that was a threat to our home planet as well, they would temporarily truce with us until we fought them off."

“Are we going to try to board the ship?” Tel abruptly changed the subject.

“If they’ll let us. Prepare the harpoons and alert our men for possible action.”

Tel went quickly out of the room. Just then, Jen saw a light flashing on the receiver. He picked it up.

He heard an indecipherable combination of vibrations and clicks. Although it seemed orderly, there was no telling what it said, or even if it was a message at all.

“Tel! Come quick!” he beckoned.

Tel came running back into the room. “What is it?”

“That’s my question to you,” Jen said, and handed over the receiver.

Tel listened intently. “I can’t make anything out of it,” he finally said.

“Maybe the aliens are trying to contact us. We should try to talk back to them.”

“I doubt it will help,” answered Tel, but even so he talked through the receiver:

“Hello? We wish to make contact. If you can understand us, try to return an answer.”

There was a long pause. Then an answer was returned, fuzzy and warped:

“Hello? We…contact. Understand…we make answer.”

“What can it mean?” Tel exclaimed. They understand our language?”

Tel spoke again: “We wish only to discover your intentions. We do not mean to harm you.”

A voice spoke back, a little clearer: “We return discover…intentions. Do not…harm us.”

“It doesn’t make sense!” Tel exclaimed.

A light flashed on the ceiling. “We’re approaching the ship. Launch the harpoons,” Jen told Tel.

“But…”

“Just do it!”

Tel launched the harpoons, which floated swiftly through space for about a mile, and attached to the other ship. Jen’s ship swung around, and the two ships were locked in a gentle spinning motion as they both orbited the planet.

“I’m receiving a life scan,” Jen said. “It will take a few minutes, but we can then have an analysis of the aliens’ body structure.”

A voice was heard over the receiver: “You…harm us.”

“No,” Tel replied. “We are attaching the ships so that we will not float away. We will not board your ship, unless you let us or if we have to.”

“Do not attaching…us. You harm board…let us away.”

“Jen!” Tel cried. “They understand our language! They’re copying every word that I'm saying!”

“Just a minute,” Jen answered. “The life readings almost done.” And then he leaped back from his chair and cried, “Save us!”

On the screen was a creature of horrific structure. It’s body was a solid, black orb, about two feet in diameter, and it had almost a hundred glowing green tentacles protruding from it’s body on all sides! It used these tentacles to rotate, to stand, to control the ship, and to move around.

“Aliens! I never expected them to look like this! How can they survive? It looks like an enormous bacteria!”

“What do we do?” Tel asked.

“Keep talking,” Jen replied. “Perhaps if we can keep them calm, we can reel in the harpoons and capture them.”

“But…”

“Do it!”

Tel said over the speaker: “Please stay calm. We will not harm you.”

“Please…stay away. You board…we harm.”

So the deadly debate continued, as the two ships danced around each other, attached only by three thin cables, orbiting the massive blue planet.

III.

“I’m beginning to understand the essence of their language,” Captain Dekk said coolly. “Not the words, of course, but I can understand what they mean. The same way I can understand you without actually being next to you. Mental communication.”

“I think they mean to hurt us,” Sten said nervously.

The voice from the other ship spoke again. Sten and Dekk could not understand the words, but this is what they said:

“If you harm us, we will harm you.”

“I think they mean to return harm if we harm them,” Dekk said. “I’ll keep talking. You load the gun. It’s time to go on the offensive.”

Dekk replied, with some difficulty: “If…you board, we harm you. Do not attaching. Do not attaching.”

“I think I told them to back off,” Captain Dekk said. “Sten, fire the blaster, but don’t hit the ship.”

A pale blue streak of laser shot past the blue ship on the scanner.

Quickly the voice spoke: “We will detach the harpoons if you come with us. Otherwise: we attack.”

From the blue ship to the red ship came a burst of fire and a rain of metal objects. Dekk’s ship vibrated with the impact.

“No,” Dekk replied to the voice. “Sten, fire at the ship.”

The blue bolt hit the ship with deadly accuracy, causing the whole ship to be shocked with electric power. Soon after, the harpoons detached.

“We not…come,” Dekk said. “If you not go, we…attack.”

Dekk could only use the words he heard them use, but he seemed to make his point clear. The voice spoke again:

“We will go back to our planet if you go back to yours. We will not harm you.”

“Wait… you mean they actually live on the planet?” Dekk asked Sten.

“It looks like it,” Sten replied. “Quick, answer them.”

Dekk replied to the voice: “We go back. We not harm. You go. Let us go.”

“Good,” the voice replied. “And if you come back, you will die. We have more ships. We do not live on the planet. We live in a space station above the planet. We are a rebellion. But if we call the planet for more ships, they will truce with us until you are destroyed.”

“We have…more ships,” Dekk replied. “We go.”

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

The ships sped away from each other into the empty darkness, the blue ship, towards their planet, the red ship, towards their space station.

“That was close!” Dekk said. “I’m surprised we didn’t start a war on the spot!” He adjusted one of the dials with a green tentacle.

“But it explains a lot,” Sten added. “We haven’t had an encounter with other aliens because we have been looking in the wrong place! The blue ship people- they have been looking for us among other planets, because that is where they live. How do they survive in such powerful gravity?”

“And we have been looking for them among the asteroids all this time! We should have known!”

“But I’m glad it’s over, and that no harm came of it,” Sten said. “What course shall we set?”

“Back to our International Space Station, near asteroid 11657K.”

“Very well.”

“By the way, did we ever get a reading on the aliens’ body structure?” Captain Dekk asked.

“As a matter of fact, we did. I’ll project it on the main screen.”

Dekk leaped out of his chair. “Save us!”

On the screen was an alien of horrific structure. The whole alien was a brownish hue. It had five jointed appendages, two sets sticking down, one of the sets touching the ground, while the other set dangled in the air, and a round fifth appendage sticking straight up in the air, with several holes and knobs on it, and a fluffy object on the top. The lower four appendages had five knobs each protruding out of the ends.

“Aliens! I never expected them to look like this!” Dekk cried.

“It’s so strange! How could they survive?” Sten added. “Without tentacles, how do they absorb food, like we do? How do they even move around? They must by very clumsy creatures.”

But after Dekk got over the shock, he decided it would be best to bring the information to the government of his asteroid colony as soon as possible, so he altered his course.

Humans would always be the aliens to him.

When I woke up from my coma, I knew that I was the most intelligent person on Earth.

I also knew that I had only 12 minutes to live.

But it is apparent that I survived, which you may find rather obvious as you read these words. And it is a good thing that I am alive, too, for I have already ended war and brought global peace, cured many incurable diseases, and discovered amazing laws of science, physics, and mathematics.

But let me not bore you with my numerous exploits as the Smartest Man in the World, for they are so redundantly wholesome and virtuously patriotic as to dull even my enhanced mental senses. Let me rather tell you about how I came to be the Smartest Man in the World, and how I survived the resulting effects.

I had worked for a very long while at an organization that experimented with the brain: neurons, nerves, cerebral aerobics and such. The organization had already created a system that could read many simple thoughts of the mind, identify feelings like anger and happiness, and even stimulate the mind to perform certain actions with increased intensity for limited amounts of time. They worked with the human brain, trying to discover how it worked, and trying to cure diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia.

But soon they came across a startling discovery: that it was possible to make a man smarter. To be precise, they found that the neuronic brain-paths in the human mind could be stimulated to such a point that they worked permanently faster and more efficiently, by as much as 330%.

This was incredible news. The company I worked for immediately strived to achieve this goal, now that they knew it was possible. They experimented without rest, perhaps for the greater good, or perhaps for their own selfish purposes of fame and fortune. But once a group of human minds have set themselves towards a goal, however small those minds may be in comparison to mine, they will find a way to achieve that goal. And they did.

They figured out how to enhance the brain, and they made a machine for that purpose. But everything comes with a price. The price of the machine was a small chance of total brain death. I knew this going into the machine. It was the risk I took.

But contrary to what you may be thinking, I was not the first to use the machine. Sadly, I was the sixth. The other five did not survive.

Using the data from the five unfortunate ones who didn't make it through the process, they upgraded the machine until they were sure that it would work. They promised me that I would be rich, they promised me that I would be famous. As unethical as it may seem, I took the chance. Would you not take that same chance to be the smartest man in the world?

I used the machine. It was made up of a complex and intricate jungle of wires and tubes, all connected to my head. I was terrified.

When the operators flipped the switch, I felt energy surge through my brain. It was an indescribable feeling, like my brain was swelling and shrinking at the same time. And then- a vigorous surge of sharp pain, creeping slowly through my whole head. I screamed for the operators to stop the machine, but once the process had started, there was no going back.

I remember darkness sweeping over me, with tiny specks of light piercing through the shadows into the deepest parts of my head, and exploding into brilliant colors. But darkness overcame me, and I remembered no more.

They later told me that I was in a coma for several days. They decided to stop using the machine until I either woke up or died. And it looked for a while that it would be the latter of the two options. But something in my mind struggled for life, something unnaturally intelligent, something smarter then any person on the face of the Earth. And after a fierce struggle from that speck of life, I woke up.

I remember being alone. I gave a sharp yell, and fell off of the bed that I was lying in. For a while I couldn't see at all, and then I started to see faintly, as if through distorted glass. I began to think. Using my newly enhanced mind, I could think faster then I ever imagined. It was like time was slowed down. And I realized that there was so much more for us to learn!

I felt like a child, learning so much about the world around me all at once, discovering new facets of nature at an astonishing rate.

My reflexes were faster, as was my vision. My brain could now process images and information 330% faster then before. I felt amazing. But then it hit me- something that I hadn't thought of before- something that no one had foreseen-

My brain was decaying 330% faster as well.

And it was worse then that. If my brain decayed at that fast of a rate, then my brain cells could not be repaired at the speed that they were aging. If I lost brain cells, it would speed up the process even more. I would die at an exponential rate.

Using my powerful mind, I quickly calculated that I had 12 minutes before I lost too many brain cells and went past the point of no return. It seemed hopeless. We hadn't thought of a solution for that, and how could I think of one in 12 minutes?

Then I began to laugh. My brain power had been enhanced! I could find a solution with my super-fast mind! Perhaps it would be impossible for a regular human, but nothing was impossible to me anymore.

I immediately set my mind to work on the task. It didn't take long for me to find the solution. I could rewire the machine in a special way, known only to me, and resolve the issue by enhancing my whole nervous system. I quickly got to work.

I didn't even stop to look at the clock, I was so busy working. It seemed to take a long time, but I rewired the machine, with only 2 minutes to spare. I strapped myself to the machine, flipped the switch, and it worked!

So that is the story of how I came to be the Smartest Man in the World. I did receive my fame and fortune, although I quickly discovered that money and popularity were not the purpose of life. I prefer to help out wherever I am most needed, and be a friend to everyone. You may wonder why others have not used the machine, why all of humanity has not been made more intelligent. The reason why this has not happened is because, with my amazing mind, I foresaw the severe consequences of what would happen if we let the public use the machine. There are far too many egotistical, pig-headed figures in society, who would try to keep the rest of society from using the machine, while with their smarter minds, would secretly conquer the world. Needless to say, I destroyed the machine and it's supplimentary blueprints, so that no one except me knows how to make it. I prefer to be the solitary Smartest Man in the World.

I always like to think back to this story, about how I became smarter and used that ability to save my own life that was endangered by becoming smarter. I guess it was the risk I took.

*Note: Although the names of the characters in this story may recur in history, this story is purely fictional.

The country had been shrouded in darkness for over a century. The last pure-blooded king, Charles IX, had fallen to the sword so long ago that the oldest and sharpest of mind could no longer remember. But legend foretold that a new, royal-blooded heir to the throne would rise, one that would restore peace, victory, and serenity to the war-beaten country.

On the dawn of that day, April 23, everyone thought that the legend had come back to reclaim its own! An heir had been found, though only indirectly related to the royal family, a young man of 17, named Edward. He was rushed to the capital city, and crowned Edward the First, "The beginning of the Reign of Kings once more, and the end of the long line of stewards."

Everyone welcomed him with heaven-praised ecstasy, and young Edward I was immediately under full responsibility of the entire kingdom. Everyone believed that the old legend had come true.

But not for long.

King Edward was more perverted from benevolence than his bloodline suggested. He knew he was connected to the old royal family, and nourished these thoughts in his head, day after day, until he was fully saturated with the idea that one day he would possess full power. He was a selfish little brat, although no one dared call him that, for fear that one day he would crush them under his iron fist.

But few people knew Edward's true nature, they rather told themselves that he was a dream come true to reassure themselves.

Immediately King Edward made arrangements for his colossal plans. He decided that he would have a new palace and a wall built around the capital city by the end of the month. He decided that he would commission all of the lowly peasants to work toward those selfish causes, and convince them that it was for their own good. He called in his Adviser, Charles by name, and told him his plans.

"O great King," Charles said as he knelt to the floor, "I do not think this would be the wisest course of action. For your peasants still need time to trust your pure and just judgment, O King."

"I think not, Adviser," King Edward replied. "I think they have full trust in my judgment. I shall not wait for my great plans to unfold. Tell my people to begin work now."

"Be it so then, my King," said Charles.

Charles was an old and clever man, smarter than one might think by looking at him. His family had been around the castle since who knows when. King Edmund disregarded him as an old fool. But Charles had his own plans, plans to teach the King and the whole country that self-acclaimed wisdom is vain.

The construction began. All of the possible supplies were brought to the capital city, emptying the reservoirs in the other towns. Peasants strained under the heavy loads of stone and lumber, and heaved the bricks up the walls under the hot noonday sun. They started to wonder if they had got the legend wrong.

Old Adviser Charles returned to the King's throne room the following day. He knelt to the floor.

"O wise and powerful King, I have thought over the advice I gave you earlier, and think it necessary to change my mind. I believe that you are correct in your decision. Build the wall and the palace, and everyone will know that you are powerful."

"Yes, I am glad to see you have changed your mind, humble Advisor," King Edward replied.

"And I believe that you should build a great statue of Yourself, so that everyone may look at your royal highness as they go back and forth to bring the timber from the river bank."

"Yes, that would be incredible," the King said thoughtfully. "Begin work right away, but do not halt work on the other projects."

"As you wish, O King."

Charles knew that this was impossible. He knew that there would not be enough supplies, that the people would doubt the King, that they would revolt, that they would wish for a new king. When he told this to King Edward, he was speechless.

"You wouldn't- you cowardly traitor-"

"You, see, King Edward, you are no match for the wits of true royal blood! I call myself Charles because I am Charles indeed! I am King Charles the Tenth!"

King Edward's mouth gaped, but no words came out.

Charles continued: "I knew the only way that I could get into power is if the people despised their current king. That is why I let you into power. Now they will see that I am the true king, and they will welcome me as the restorer of the prophecy! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a revolt to stop."

King Edmund sat astonished in his chair, while down below, a steady drum sounded, and the first stroke of a battering ram shook the castle doors.

A galaxy: slowly but swiftly spinning round, unfolding millions and billions of pure, golden stars, wrapping into the majestic, curling, glowing branches; delving deeper and deeper in, drawing nearer and nearer as the focal point of the beautiful spiral is reached, showing a massive luminous conglomerate of swirling gas holding immense gravity within its fronds; delving deeper and deeper into the mysterious abyss pierced with glorious light, revealing individual clusters of stars abandoned in the midst of space, but shining their lights light-years away to the other stars still out there, now only seen as humble specks in the great unknown, each particular star having a special amount of light to shine in unity with the others, a special size and special gravity, pulling towards it the dark, spherical masses called planets, now illuminated by the star's steady and trustworthy glow, giving the gift of heat and light to the beautiful planet below, where forms of land and water have been shaped, and plants and animals were designed by an amazing and wonderful Creator: and our humble, small bodies run about, taking no thought for the great expanse above our heads, for we are too busy to notice how small we are compared to the wonderful galaxy we live in, and all of the other unique, special galaxies just like this one.

        "The Stranger," as I called him, appeared throughout my life many times up until I was in my late fifties. He was an older gentleman, with brown hair and keen blue eyes like mine. He had an amazing machine that he claimed he had invented, and he said he used it to travel through time. He seemed to always be there for me at my worst days and my darkest hours. But one thing he insisted- that I would keep a journal about him, and write about every individual time he visited me.

        I remember the earliest time he appeared: at my first day of school, when I was very terrified. He encouraged me to try hard, and not to be scared, and told me he knew I would do great. He even showed me his magical machine in the forest behind the school. In the serene forest, speckled with patches of sunlight occasionally shrouded by thick clouds, he gave me the journal he wanted me to keep.

        "You must never lose this," he said. "Every time you see me, you must write about me in the journal."

        "Why?" I asked.

        "Because," he replied, "If you don't, you might never see me again."

        I remember he helped me immensely with my grades in high school, and he comforted me when I had to grieve. He helped me graduate college, and he guided me with my marriage. He even taught me all about the machine he travelled in, so that I was fairly confident I could fly it myself. All of this I wrote in the journal. But one question was constantly in head: Who is the Stranger?

        Time went on, and he began to visit me less and less. I began to think about him less frequently. But eventually he visited me one last time, and that time I shall never forget.

        By the Stranger's counsel, which I never doubted, I became a science professor. I didn't attend very many public events. I rather preferred to stay by myself, and work on inventions of mine. Of course, money had to come from somewhere, so occasionally I would go traveling to different colleges and teach classes or give speeches. Once I received a package from the Stranger himself containing exactly the amount of money I needed.

        I became very famous, and made many amazing inventions, including the "atomic transistor" and the "chronologic displacement drive". But soon I thought of a different idea, one wholly amazing and unbelievable. I remembered when the Stranger showed me his machine, and I decided to try to build it myself.

        Days passed, weeks passed, and I got along pretty well. It seemed that I would actually be able to build a working time machine. But a problem arose, one thoroughly unexpected, that appeared to crush my waking dreams. There was a fault in the machine that I realized could not be repaired without altering the laws of physics itself.

        I was very frustrated. I had spent months working on the project, and now I had to stop, all because of a lack of planning on my part. But things turned up very soon.

        I was in my work room, looking at my unfinished project in despair, when I heard a familiar buzzing sound. It was the Stranger's machine! His machine appeared right in the room where I was standing. He stepped out and greeted me.

        "Hello, friend! I see you've got some problems with your work in progress over there." He walked over to me, and placed some papers in my hands. "This is the solution to your problem. I had the exact same problem twenty years ago, did you know that?"

        "How did you fix it?" I said, completely flabbergasted.

        He grinned. "Why, a magical man appeared and gave the solution to me, of course! Now if you'll excuse my lack of manners, I need you to give me that journal of yours. I have lots to do, and that journal will greatly aid my travels! I have lots to do! A child to help with school, a friend to help get married, and much more!"

        I grabbed the old journal (which I always kept with me) with quivering hands, and gave it to him.

        "Thank you, friend!" He said. "Good luck on your invention!" He stepped into his time machine, and was gone.

        I stared at the empty space in astonishment. Now it all made sense. I was the one to go into the past and help my younger self through all of those years.

        The Stranger was me.