Pranshu suddenly became aware of the fact that he was just a Character. That every Emotion he experienced up till now was fake. Someone was trying to make him feel a certain way so that he did what they wanted him to do. Just to write their Story. But now he was going to write his own Story. He took his thumb off the red button of the detonation device and called out to Pran.
"Hey Pran! You are the only One common between me, PranShoe and Pranshul, right? I need to talk to you. Wait, no. Not just you. 'S' and 'H' too. Go look for them and bring them here." Pranshu shouted in his Space helmet.
Pran complied and went off skipping, avoiding any craters. Meanwhile, Pranshu looked around him, trying to absorb the realisation he had just had. But what he looked most curiously at were the people around him. His loved ones. "Could they all be fake too?" he thought to himself. In the first instant after the realisation settled, his glance fell on Ragini who was sitting beside him. She looked back at him with an expression of innocent inquiry as she tilted her head a little upwards and raised her eyebrows, and then brought them both back down together. His heart was about to melt looking at her face, when Pran appeared, along with 'S' and 'H'.
"Yeah, so what do you guys know about the Twenty-Six characters scene? And are you all fake? Is that what it is? Have you known it all this while? Even when we fought The First Global Election, Ten years ago? Even when we were in our twenties, getting wasted?" Pranshu asked, getting a bit emotional.
Ragini did not even as much as blink her eyes and continued to look in front towards the half- illuminated Earth.
"Some of us knew ever since the first day. But most of us are still unaware. Some still believe that all this talk of multiple characters and One Creator, it is all just a rumour Being spread to create division amongst us and distract us from our purpose of restoring balance in the Universe." replied S in a neutral tone, with a stoic face.
"So, I'm guessing you are One of those who have known since the first day?" H quipped.
"No. I read it in a book a few months ago but I didn't believe it immediately. It happened slowly, over a period of few weeks. I started to see everything from that perspective and it was almost like a sixth sense emerged from within me and suddenly I could connect all the dots and everything started to make sense." S replied with an expressionless face.
"What dots?" Pran asked.
"Not exactly dots. But more like a grid. Each One of us had always been similar in some ways while others were completely different. That's what made us choose who we hung out with. But there was something more to it. Almost, like it was written somewhere that whatever happened, whoever we chose to be with, however we are, will be this way itself. The grid explains all this. We all have underlying traits individually. We align with those with similar traits. The ones we choose to follow are those who are a combination of all those traits. They are more advanced, more superior, more evolved than us. Like a few of us combined to make them who they are. And at the same time there is a complimenting power that makes us Question everything. A power that wants us to not settle in what we know to be certain, wants us to break the structures and to keep exploring. That power forms the other end of the grid. Like a magnetic force pulling us from the other side. We choose whether we climb vertically upwards to become the One we follow or spread horizontally to explore more ground on which these tall columns are made. None of the options is right or wrong. But they influence us just the same." explained S and then turned around and went off.
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"He's quite a Character in himself. Far away from Reality" said H.
"What do you mean?" Pran asked out of curiosity to know more about what H thought.
"S believes anything anyone says. Almost immerses himself into it. He likes to Experience things deeply. It's in his nature. He lives in a fictional world, connecting random dots, like he mentioned and then makes up any imaginary Story in his head and starts believing it too. Like living a Character while creating it." elaborated H.
"And you are the One to be believed, is it?" asked Pran.
"Well, that's up to you but I like to believe I'm a realist, not at all gullible. Not too experimental either; that I give facts less importance and observations more. I know about this multiple characters' theory that has been doing rounds but I see no point in paying any attention to it. It is all based on a gut feeling that even I have experienced. But to abandon all that we have stood for all these years, just on the basis of a sixth sense premonition which has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it doesn't make sense to me. I would rather continue with our plot and destroy the Earth, so that new, more pure life can inhabit it again and the cycle of life can thus continue. We have come a long way to reach this point. Turning back now just because everybody feels that this is someone else's Story that we are living, it's absurd. Isn't it the same reason why people with different mindsets were fighting on Earth? The war of religions. All of them thinking that their religion is the only true religion. All of them believing that their God is the One while we fought for our belief that all the Gods were in fact One. Then how come now it is becoming a factor in stopping us from doing what we want. Even if there is someone who is writing this Story, why can't we consider him as the One we had been talking about and just continue to do what we were supposed to do? That's my argument and I would be willing to listen to yours, like a realist." explained H and waited to get a response.
After a while, when no One said anything to him, H saw no point in presenting more of his thoughts when the others were not willing to share theirs. As soon as this thought overpowered his willingness to explain more, he immediately turned around and went in the same direction as S did a little while ago.
"So, what do you think?" Pranshu asked Pran.
"I think the answer to what to do next lies in how each One of us feels at this point and once we know that, we can collectively take a decision. There is no point in declaring anyone as fake. It would only mean you are just as fake as everyone else. So, Question yourself first." reasoned Pran with an aura of peaceful self-reflection around him.
"Which letter in the English alphabet do you represent Pran?" asked Pranshu reluctantly almost distracted by something.
"A." Pran replied sincerely.
"Very well. You may now leave." Pranshu ordered and Pran complied.
"What do you think?" Pranshu asked turning towards Ragini.
"Just what you are thinking!" exclaimed Ragini with a smile on her face.
She then tilted her head sideways, leaned her Space helmet against Pranshu's shoulder, took the detonating device from his hand and pressed the red button.