"I don't get it." I admit. I let go of my metal rod and let myself fall down on the rooftop of the tower.

"Get what?" The sphere answers as it retracts its treadmills.

"What was the point of all of this?" I gesture at the empty space around me, "I feel like there's some lesson I don't get, that when I'd reach the top of the tower I'd go, 'ha! So that's what this meant!' but...."

"Maybe there was no lesson, maybe you already knew it and you had nothing new to learn." The sphere says as it rolls aimlessly around the rooftop.

"Sounds like a cop out" I stop the sphere from rolling with my foot. "You're telling me they made this massive tower, with only 4 floors, we had all these philosophical discussion, and it's 'up to my interpretation?' "

"No matter the purpose of this tower, I do appreciate the fact you took me this far."

"Sure, it's no big deal. Now that you're up here, what do you want to do?"

"Could you throw me as high as you can into space?"

"So you want to go even higher, huh? Aren't you the overachiever, why do you want that?"

"Because I do not know what is there. A goal is what I need, and to know what I do not is what my goal will be."

"I thought you hated pointless goals like this?"

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"Beggars can't be choosers. I will take a pointless goal over none at all."

I stand motionless on the rooftop for a little while, soaking up the atmosphere. The tower reached all the way up into space, I already knew that. And by some technology I cannot understand, the gravity still keeps both of us anchored there. But I'm sure if I were to throw anything past the rooftop, it would go flying into space forever.

I can't see all the stars from there because of the freezing oxygen around me, so I can't say I'm experiencing the full tower top experience.

I really want to get it, I want to understand whatever metaphor or meaning this place is supposed to have. But I'm not feeling any catharsis, no revelation is coming to me. What if I really am so wise that I know whatever lesson this tower is trying to teach me? What a terrible, terrifying thought that is. How lucky I am to be an idiot, so that I never have to deal with the horrible possibility of a universe that I have nothing new to learn from.

I awkwardly push myself up and scoop up the sphere awkwardly into my one working arm.

"May you find your purpose in this space." the sphere says.

"A pun, really? Those are your last words to me?" I can't help but smile at the poor attempt at humor.

"Your insufferable attitude is all that I learned from you, I find it a surprisingly practical skill." It emits a bunch of beeps comparable to a high-pitched laugh.

"I taught you well then!" I throw the sphere as far as I can into the great emptiness of space.

Maybe this wasn't my story at all, maybe I wasn't the target audience for the tower. And yet I still feel a little empty as I watch the sphere disappear into the void. I dispel the oxygen bubble and the white fog quickly dissipates to let me appreciate the full beauty of this universe.

I still feel nothing.

I slowly lower my endurance, the cold is starting to be felt, the pain from wounds I had forgotten start making themselves known. Broken bones, bleeding, I even had a huge scar on my face I never noticed until now.

Despite the pain, I still feel sleepy. I don't need to sleep, and yet I still feel the overwhelming need to dream sometimes.

I go to sleep

I die