A Multiplicity

 

Francesco, Jose, and Honorio stood together, shoulder to shoulder at the floor to ceiling window that looked out upon the city that twitched and pulsed seventy floors below them. “Gentlemen,” Francesco said, “we need to take action for the millions of foolish and petty humans that fill up the city below as they continue to descend into wider and deeper insanity. At this point, I’ve lost track of how many overlords claim to be the sole ruler of the entire city.”

The three men stood in silence for a few moments, continuing their gaze out across a city engulfed in violence, chaos, hatred, and corruption until Honorio lifted the glass of Merlot from Jose' hand, swallowing about half of its contents. He returned the glass, cleared his throat and posed a question upon which all three of them were certainly ruminating. “Even though we all know the answer, do we expect any actual success from the messages you’ve been delivering to that small group of our people on the outer edge of the city?”

“We’ve been at this for a very long time,” Francesco said, “and it seems like no matter how lucid or pointed I am in delivering these messages, they continue to rebel, confuse, and muddle up the meaning. Every time I think I find a good person among them, they do well for a short time, then fall down, which inevitably becomes the pattern that the rest of them follow.”

“That seems to be their nature,” Jose said, “no matter what we communicate, they cannot seem to grasp the entirety or importance of the message. If I can make a suggestion, I would like to go live among them, communicate the message in person, and hopefully turn this seemingly inevitable car crash around. I need to be one of them if this is going to succeed.”

The three men parted ways, walking away from the window and pacing around the massive open space, each deep in thought, working to fabricate a means to bring Jose’ plan to fruition, for they all knew that continuing the delivering of messages through small minded, simplistic and misaligned messengers would only continue to fail.

“This will need to be very carefully planned, constructed, and clearly explained once you actually take your place among them. They need to know that you truly are one of them, not to mention the literal thousands and thousands of other overlords each vying for the position of ultimate leadership,” Honorio said. “Once you clearly communicate the message, you’ll need to find others who will take over for you and continue the work you’ll begin. I can step in and provide guidance over the next many generations after you return.”

Jose snapped his fingers, grabbed a notepad and quickly wrote down his ideas, sharing the plan with Honorio and Francesco, receiving two robust affirmations that would make this radical change of approach a certain success. Within the year, Jose lived among the small minded simpletons that exemplified the majority of these small creatures with so much potential yet with so little motivation or desire to achieve greatness.

Eventually developing a strong following of faithful students, he could see what they could not, recognizing the so-called overlords, their carefully crafted deception, and their aspirations to be the one true leader of all. Like a yawning black abyss, he could see these men drift further and further from reality, like playing hide and seek while wearing a blindfold, they led themselves and those they deceived in the opposite direction of life and freedom.

With every interaction, with every conversation, and with every social setting, Jose carefully documented and memorized the errors made by these false leaders, crafting stories to communicate truth and expose deception, building up and preparing his students to continue his work. After becoming a fully functional adult and accomplishing the communication of his message, he returned to Francesco and Honorio, handing over the responsibility of discreet and articulate direction to Honorio. He and Francesco watched from the massive window as Honorio’s work was a raging success, slowly crushing and overpowering the thousands of false leaders, revealing an ever-growing number of followers who faithfully carried forward the original message until it reached every corner of the city.

While it was certainly not a project that would see rapid completion, he and Francesco knew that eventually the work that Jose started and that Honorio was pressing toward completion would continue to grow and succeed. Surprised but not surprised, all three men watched as other groups tried to continue their attempts at controlling mankind, at being lords over all creation, and, disappointingly, small men with large aspirations broke away from the work that Jose started, taking the same name but manipulating, mutating, and misaligning the original message.

Like the rise and fall of nations, of military strengths, and confused men working to confuse others with their inherently contradictory messages, the twisted and confused small groups would rise, succeed for a time, and then disappear, only to be replaced by others, painfully ignorant of history and reason. Honorio kept his eyes and heart focused on those who remained faithful to the original message and plan, frequently returning to Jose and Francesco, to review the long-term goal.

The following centuries and millennia that followed seemed to the small and simple masses to be simply more of the same mistakes, confusions, and failures. From their high-level perspective, Francesco, Jose, and Honorio could see the big picture, could see the long line of history, and knowing that men such as these would continue to make the same mistakes, often ignoring and malforming the original message but also knowing that those who remained faithful would eventually become the foundation for the coming and certain success.

Delusional men in ridiculous hats rose and fell, to be replaced by other men with the same delusions, all of them hoping for ultimate power, seeking unending life through the manipulation of science and medicine. The three men continued to watch, intervening when necessary, reaching out through the faithful that remained on the fringes of society, to bring the occasional encouraging and instructive message, knowing that so many of these, like children, needed the occasional nudge in the right direction.

Like watching a pot of water on the stove, the appearance of small bubbles appeared first, communicating the idea that something great was beginning, that would eventually lead to overall life, energy, and activity, bringing the entire city into a place of success and domination. “This is a matter of patience, gentlemen,” Francesco said, “despite their shortcomings, their failures, and their foolishness, we know that the original message given by Jose, like yeast will spread through them all, and bring about life and growth.”

When the time finally arrived, Francesco, Jose, and Honorio all descended into a city of beauty, trust, safety, organization, and wonder, to live among the majority that relished their arrival and presence. While the high majority found joy and peace in their company, there were still some who revolted at their mere presence, hiding in caves and in darkness, preferring shadows and distance, for the radiance of Francesco, Jose, and Honorio was overwhelming.

The city had transformed over the millennia into a place of beauty and goodness, with the exception of those who hated everything good, right, and beautiful, bringing their own suffering upon themselves, for failing to embrace the good, preferring instead the ugly, the profane, and the perverse, making their lives a hell of their own creation.