The Tale of the One

[Glyptus]

(I apologize beforehand for the length of this post. It was an “all or nothing” dilemma. Still, I don’t believe it’s outrageously long, and hopefully it’ll hold your interest well enough that you might not mind the length. It’s an excerpt from chapter 11 of my novel, “Stellar Graffiti”. It requires no set up, as it’s a story within the story, as told by one of the main characters. I’m looking for criticism of any kind, be it relative to grammar or content. And so, without further ado...)



And the Evolutionist said,

“In the beginning, there was the One. The One was perfect and whole and absolute, for there was nothing else but the One. And for an eternity, the One contemplated its existence. Inevitably, it concluded that, as such, having nothing in the realm of awareness outside its own being, it could only know itself as a perfect and infinite singularity. And this led the One to wonder if something else besides itself could even exist.

And so, in order to satisfy this curiosity, and so that it might experience itself in a new way, the One decided to make a departure from itself. The One knew it had the ability to accomplish this. The only question it could not foretell was; could the departure be made, and then a way found to return to its state of wholeness and perfection? That would be the challenge. And so, in the face of a single uncertainty, the grand experience of the One began.

‘Let there be light!’, it said. And the One reached out into the void with the most powerful and luminous eruption there would ever be. And as the sum and substance of the One were liberated, reality was at once defined, for with that momentous event, Time and Space came into being. And as the result of its sudden dispersal, the omniscience of the One was sacrificed, but the essence of its awareness remained, permeating the very fabric of Space, itself. This embryonic realm, the Quanta, seethed with virtual particles and endless possibilities, waiting to be made into realities upon the desires of the One. And in this manner began the realm of the Sub-Nuclear, the first order to arise from the departure of the One.

And the newborn Universe continued to expand, increasing the volume of space. Yet, for a very long time, the Quanta remained featureless and without form; a dark, latent dimension of virtual existence. Then, spontaneously, the Quanta began to populate the vacuum with actual, individual particles, possessing material reality. And these new entities, under the subtle influence of the One, began to experience each other, to communicate with each other, and to form symbiotic relationships, in order to create a basic foundation for further diversity. And in this manner began the new realm of the Atom.

And with the birth of the Atom, new forces came into existence. The Atom, having physical reality, was compelled by the new phenomenon of Gravity to seek out other, like-minded Atoms. And vast clouds of Atoms formed. Within these clouds, localized congregations arose. A dense gathering of Atoms such as this would begin to compact under the influence of its own collective and ever-increasing Gravity. Upon reaching a critical density, the tremendous weight crushing down upon the Atoms caused them to be torn apart. And with the release of the great energy bound in the making of the Atoms, the first Stars were ignited. And once again, there was light upon the face of the dark Universe.

And the Stars, themselves, being possessed of the same gravitational force as the Atoms of which they were composed, were drawn together and formed colossal configurations across all of space. As time went on, the Universe became a vast, expanding ocean of Galaxies.

But the Stars were not immortal, and Star death occurred in many forms. Often, a Star would end its life with a violent explosion. Yet, as this happened, the intense heat and pressure of the event forged even more complex and diversified Atoms from the remains of the simpler ones. And these new Atoms began to communicate, and to experience each other, and to form intricate, selective alliances. In this manner began the new realm of the Molecule, and with it, the process of diversification was greatly accelerated.

And as the enormous variety of Molecules grew, there inevitably came into being a very specialized model; a Molecule that functioned as its own template, having the ability to consciously and spontaneously replicate itself, producing an identical design, complete and encoded with all the information contained within the original Molecule. As this new entity diversified, itself, the atomic memory of the ages became saved and passed on through its generations. This was the birth of the Spiral Configuration, and in this manner began the new realm of the Helix. And with its dramatic advent, the Universe would soon explode with diversity of an entirely different kind.


“For it was the ingenious talent of the Helix that made possible Life, from the cellular to the multi-cellular level and beyond. Moreover, Life was the purpose it served. But the Helix was more than just the base element upon which Life would be constructed. The Spiral was innately mindful that Consciousness was the ultimate reason for its being, and because it understood nature’s sublime efficiency, it knew the ideal path Life should follow in order to reach this goal. Divine instrument of the One, the Helix would both design Life, and direct, with specific intent, the course of its evolution.

At first, primitive organisms sought merely to survive, an endeavor which would never cease to be paramount. Towards this end, they fought for resources, where resources were limited. Not only did one species contend with another for survival, but also did individuals, or exclusive groups of individuals, within a common kind. But Life, like the constituent Atoms and Molecules of which it was comprised, also continued along a predetermined path towards greater diversity. And one day, upon evolving to a sufficient extent, there came to be an organism that made a quantum leap beyond the mere primal instincts of survival. It was self-awareness, the capacity of the organism to comprehend itself within the context of its environment, that led to the next great movement in evolution. And in this manner began the new realm of the Mind.

And with the arrival of the Mind, the cosmic pageant of Life had reached its equator. The task of the Mind, much like the task upon which the One had set, was to acquire an increasingly more accurate realization of itself. The next phase of evolution would be to refine the Mind so that it could discover its latent abilities, skills such as telepathy, telekinesis, and other paranormal functions. This was the intent of the Helix, the will of the One. But there were many sociological factors that worked to impair the emergence of these mutations; fear, hatred, and doubt. In order for the extrasensory to become activated in any evolving species, these counterproductive irrationalities would need to be overcome. It was a difficult turning point for all civilizations, and there were those that could not accomplish this. They were evolutionary dead ends, and eventually fell to extinction.

But those that were successful founded utopian societies, lived in peace and psychic harmony, and were suited to evolve to higher levels of awareness, in accordance with the master plan of the Helix. With this new organism, Consciousness had become collective, and the Mind had taken a profound step towards understanding its own greater power and purpose. And in this manner began the new realm of the Neuropod.

And Neuropodian civilizations flourished across the Universe. And Consciousness continued to evolve and elevate. The Mind now realized that it was the engineer of its own destiny, and that its objective was the discovery of its own greater potential. Towards this end, it knew, the Mind would need to gain mastery over the physical organism upon which it was dependent. Function would need to preside over form. This would allow for the expansion of Consciousness, and it would result in extension of the life span, which had long been one of Life’s most cherished ambitions.

And so, Consciousness began to focus upon the physical structure at the cellular level. From the beginning, the Mind had always been receiving information from the Cell, an entity in and of itself. But these signals had only been interpreted at the subconscious level. Over the course of time, however, communication with the Cell began to take place consciously, and the Mind came to understand its intricate mechanics. Once this biological mutation was complete, the Mind was then able to directly govern and perform the Cell’s functions at will. Finally, a kind of immortality had been achieved, although, still not true immortality; the new organism could live indefinitely, free of illness, provided its basic structure could be maintained, physically intact. Yet, Life had made a momentous leap in evolution. And in this manner began the new realm of the Cellulan.

And the Cellulan civilizations spread throughout the cosmos, prospering, and thriving for ages. And mastery of function over form continued to drive the process of evolution, for the intent of the Helix was not yet satisfied. Slowly, the Mind became increasingly aware of its ancient communication with the Molecule, and ever more fluent in its language. Eventually, Consciousness began to center within the Molecule, indeed, within the Helix, itself. And once this mutation was made collective and complete, the organism was then endowed with a talent almost supreme. At last, Life was able to consciously determine the direction of its own evolution.

“And the ultimate purpose of the Helix was fulfilled. In engineering an organism possessing a Mind that was able to consciously communicate with it, the Helix had finally achieved complete self-awareness. The organism would henceforth design itself, an active participant in its own procreation. And the Mind was then able to conceive of the perfect physical form, and the Helix was instructed to create it. And in this manner began the new realm of the Moleculan.

But even the ideal physical organism had not yet achieved true immortality. Like its predecessor, the Cellulan, this new being could live indefinitely, but only as long as its structure remained intact. The Mind was still dependant upon a material form. And so, although the role of the Helix had been fulfilled, the ultimate purpose of Consciousness had yet to be realized. The function of Mind had still not prevailed over the physicality of its being.

The next phase of evolution, however, would result in far more than a biological mutation. Life was about to experience a complete and profound metamorphosis. For slowly, the ideal, Helix-conscious Moleculan began to perceive and assimilate the basic vocabulary of the Atom, itself. It was Mind coming into harmony with matter. And with the arrival of Atomic Awareness, Consciousness no longer required a physical organism. Indeed, it was no longer dependant upon any specific structure at all, none except that of the atom. And so, the material being of individual minds then simply dissolved and merged, forming a Collective Consciousness existing at the atomic level, across the Universe. And in this manner began the new realm of the Atomican.

At this point, Life had come full circle. Matter had found a way to Mind, then Mind found its way back to matter. Through the process of evolution, the Mind had returned to the realm of the original, primordial Atom. And Universal Sentience came to be the new order. Truly, the Universe had become a conscious entity unto itself.

And the Sentience, if it so desired, could create of itself anything, absolutely any physical structure it could imagine, by mere manifestation. Yet, it realized that, because it would be inherently unnatural, exercising such omnipotence would necessarily interfere with the original process of the Universe, and with the will of all other organisms still evolving therein. And so, the Sentience was content to merely serve the purposes of the primordial Atom. To drift as interstellar clouds of dust was bliss. To erupt in a super-nova explosion was rapture. To once again become the star dust that would become Life was divine..."

[Saeltari]

This was enjoyable. It is written well and is quite interesting. The only criticism I could give off the top of my head is that about a third of the way in I started to skim. I found it very interesting so I am not sure why I did this, if I figure out what caused me to do that I will let you know. I think it was around gravity where I caught myself skimming because I was going to ask you where that came from but I went back and saw that you had already given us that information. The latter paragraphs drew me in fairly well, though. It is good.

[Paradox 99]

Fascinating! (possibly influenced by your choice of Avatar! )

I have mixed feelings about this piece.

1) Horror!
Oh no! Somebody else has had a very similar idea to me! I guess this happens quite a lot though. I've written something in my own novel which has distinct echoes of the concept you've presented here. Mine takes on a different direction though, so I'm not overly concerned.

2) It shoudn't work, but it does.
What you've done here is present us with a lecture on the process and purpose of evolution from start to completion, with our current condition resting somewhere in the middle. Usually, lectures in novels or stories is a dangerous direction to take because you run the risk of boring the reader and not drawing them in with an emotional attachment to a character.

However, this piece really works. And I guess it's largely because you've already warned us it actually is a lecture by some evolutionist. Under normal circumstances I would have suggested making this into a conversation and inject questions from a pupil in there, but in this case I think it would be a distraction. Nice work!

3) (and this was where I eventually rested) Excellent piece.
Very well written, no grammar issues that I could see, and a well defined worldview. All in all, an engrossing read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I apologise that there isn't much here by the way of criticism, so instead, you'll just have to take this as a few words of encouragement. Great stuff Glyptus. I hope you continue to submit more here (I've already checked out your site and like what I see, btw)

Thanks!

[Glyptus]

Originally Posted by Paradox 99

Fascinating! (possibly influenced by your choice of Avatar! )

1) Horror!
Oh no! Somebody else has had a very similar idea to me! I guess this happens quite a lot though. I've written something in my own novel which has distinct echoes of the concept you've presented here. Mine takes on a different direction though, so I'm not overly concerned.

Don't worry- I, myself, have taken concepts already expressed by Prof. Timothy Leary (his "Eight circuit model of consciousness"). This part of chapter 11 is my attempt to summarize and expand upon Leary's ideas, in a science fiction context, and in a manner that applies directly to life in the universe. Also, I'm sure that Leary, himself, based his ideas on pre-existing concepts.

You have intrigued me, though, by pointing out that you have already written something similar to my excerpt. I'd love to read it. Can you direct me to it?

Thanks very much for reading, and for your comments. As writers, we all know that readers are our life's blood, and that feedback is golden.

[Paradox 99]

Originally Posted by Glyptus

You have intrigued me, though, by pointing out that you have already written something similar to my excerpt. I'd love to read it. Can you direct me to it?

I haven't posted it anywhere for general viewing as I'm just about to start going through the whole submissions process. Anything more than the first 3 chapters I've posted on this forum (which doesn't include my thoughts on the universe the characters live in) and I might endanger the possibilities for publication.

However, I'm quite happy to send the relevant parts to you in a PM if you like? As you've done something similar, I'd quite like to see what you think of it.

[Glyptus]

Originally Posted by Paradox 99

However, I'm quite happy to send the relevant parts to you in a PM if you like? As you've done something similar, I'd quite like to see what you think of it.

Yes, please. Will do.