The Emperor of the World

In October of 2019, the unthinkable happened.

The world finally united under the Utopian ideal of a unified Global Understanding.

The economic and social tensions of the countries comprising the United Nations underwent a final implosion, as the realization that life existed outside of Earth became painfully obvious.

On that day in October, the people of Earth looked into the sky to see something that had never before been glimpsed by humanity - 'The Tear'.

'The Tear' was a hole in the fabric of space-time; an artifact of a major upheaval in the physics of our Universe.

It showed us what was on the 'other side' of the sky.

The reality of 'The Tear' caused the world's leaders and inhabitants to question long-held beliefs and dogma.

There would no longer be doubt that there was indeed another force manipulating the lives of everyone on Earth.

One could plainly confirm this, merely by looking up.

The governments of the world briefly tried to motivate their citizens to some manner of action, but anyone could easily discern that there was no point to any aggressive activity.

One needed only to look at 'The Tear' to really see what the Truth was.

The religious leaders tried to work it into their ways of worship, futilely realizing within a few weeks just how ridiculous and outrageous it would be to try to form yet another theatre of the absurd, in the name of something large and mysterious.

Because, of course, 'The Tear' was right there, overhead.

Real. Tangible. Immutable and true.

Those who tried to convince others that it was just a trick, an illusion or mass hysteria were laughed at and ridiculed, and finally stopped any further attempts to manipulate their fellows, sensing their ruse of exclusivity was over.

The governments of the world similarly unraveled, as the new reality took hold.

People simply refused to do anything to further societies or civilizations that were obviously more attempts at controlling humanity.

Soldiers abandoned their posts; warships stood unmanned and floated in the seas, aimlessly.

Businesses simply ceased operating.

The airports of the world had stopped functioning.

The only thing that mattered was food, and even that was eventually discovered to be mere illusion.

As the real truth of Existence penetrated even the most dim of consciousness, everyone just stopped caring.

What was the point of going anywhere, now?

People looked up, and then either went home, or just sat down where they were.

It was evident.

Nothing was real; nothing mattered.

The ideas that Mankind had developed over the millenia were patently incorrect.

All the world's cultures had been so far off the mark, that the combined shame and embarrassment felt by everyone created a new respect for the individual.

Murderers were finally understood, the insane pardoned, and the mentally ill absolved by the understanding of how the Universe -really- worked, at last.

One hundred years later, the Earth still spun on its axis.

The Solar System rolled on to its entropic end.

The people of Earth simply waited for the inevitable.

Everyone could see through 'The Tear', as the finger of the Emperor of the World slowly pressed the giant RESET button in the sky.