EvanTheBØ$$

"Yes, though it seems unfortunate that I cannot hear your true voice; you sound as though your vocal cords have been replaced by robotic synthetics, my friend," the man spoke, his voice sounding much older than his appearance.

You stare at him, puzzled, as you attempt to ask a question you can't quite conjure, "How did you-- but I went back... Where am I-- o-or actually, when am I?"

He suddenly released a loud, hardy chuckle that caused you to jump nearly out of your skin, though he didn't see this as his eyes were shut tight and his face pulled taunt from the wide smile he held on his face. His laugh calmed but his smile remained, a strangely warm and inviting thing.

"This is Before," he said softly, though there was the faintest hint of something remorseful in his voice; he was obviously trying his hardest to be in a good mood just for some stranger.

"What do you mean 'before?' Before what?" You ask with a bit of annoyance in your tone, confused and frustrated by the set of circumstances that led you to this odd predicament. He spoke firmly, "No, not 'before,' The Before."

"I-I don't understand," you say, uncertain still.

"Fancy that, you are the one with the universal translator and you cannot understand what I am saying," he laughed, but it was much softer than before, "Alright, allow me to elaborate:

There was once a man, long ago, who was all alone. He had nothing, no one to talk to, no one to share existence with, no one to care about. But then, from the dark emptiness that surrounded him, came forth a light.

A light in the form of a small, injured black cat with the brightest yellow eyes.

One of the cat's eyes was wounded, bulging out of it's socket and infected. The man took the small innocent creature into his arms and nurtured him back to health. He gave the cat a place to live, things to play with, and a name.

Through a series of circumstances, he was forced to put the cat in a place with many dogs. All seemed fine, so the man went away, but when he returned, the worse had happened. The dogs had devoured him; the man should have known, yet he could not change what had occurred.

Do you understand, my friend?"

You blink, baffled that he could ask you such a question. After a moment of processing and silence, you say, "No, n-no I'm not sure I understood any of that. You were speaking nonsense--" "It is not nonsense!" He suddenly interrupted you, sounding angry. But he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed, "It is not nonsense," he said, calm once again, "It is a story."

"'A story?'" You ask him. "Yes, a story." "Why in the universe would I ever need to hear to that strange story?" He smiled as he looked at you now, the same smile from before, as he patted the ground next to him. You sigh, giving in and sitting next to him as he looked out at the water, the waves becoming more irratic.

"Because," he spoke while still looking at the water, "it is a story about humanity." You turn to look at him; his eyes seemed distant, as if he was eons far away from this place. "But... the story still doesn't make any sense," you say deep in thought, trying to figure this man's whole demeanor out.

As you turn back to the water, you notice that it appears to be bubbling, boiling even. "What's going on?" You ask.

A yellow sphere begins to form around both you and the man as you look around frantically, though it was partially transparent, so you were still able to see around you.

"Do not worry," he said in an oddly calm tone, "You will understand eventually."

The ocean began to boil quickly and the waves shook and crashed harder than they ever had before. The sky faded from it's usual light blue to a dark crimson red. Everything looked heated beyond any humans' compacity for heat, yet you felt nothing but warm inside. The planet appeared to be burning and was falling apart before your eyes. You thought that you should be afraid, or confused, or something, but you felt nothing but a comforting warmth and contentment.

"I wanted to come here, to see my planet Before. I will come here again one day, millenia from now, and I will see you again, just as I always do. I will tell you my story, and you will tell me something, it is different every time, and I always tell you that you will understand. I truly hope that you do every time we meet as it is crucial to the survival of humanity."

"I put this beautiful place in such a poor spot, but I gave you the tools to save yourselves. Luckily, you all made it off this rock Before." You continued to watch as the planet's water completely evaporated and the crust of the earth began to crumble, fire ablaze all around you. The sphere carried you both away from the planet and you watched as the whole thing shook and collapsed on itself before exploding, sending firey rocks in all directions. One rock slammed itself against the sphere but didn't even leave a scratch, breaking into pieces and flying off elsewhere.

"Who are you?" You manage to ask him at last.

He finally turned away from the spectical before you both to look at you, eyes wide with a smirk on his face, "Now that is really new," he said, baffled, "You have never asked me that before." As the dabre of the former planet cleared, the imploding star behind it was now visible. Solar flares and explosions erupted from the star's surface as it began to shrink.

"You do not usually stay this long, either," he said as he turned to look at the sun. You look at the sun as well, despite what older people have told you about staring at stars and the damage it does to your eyes; none of that mattered because the beauty of what was transpiring before you was just something you couldn't afford to not witness. Though you did speak, "Are you going to answer my question?"

"No."

"No, I do not think I will, but you will figure it out... one day," he said wistfully, watching as the star finally exploded and grew rapidly, changing colors from yellow to red.

"Are-- are you God?" You ask with a quiver in your voice for fear of the answer. He chuckled, looking to you again with that warm smile from before, which was only a moment ago but felt like so much longer than that. You began to tear up, suddenly filled with so much uncertainty and terror but somehow comforted by his smile. He opened his arms and you rush in to hug him, it feeling familiar and warm like the hugs of thousands of loved ones wrapped into one mere hug.

"It is going to be okay," he whispered to you. "But how do you know if it will be?" You sobbed shakily. "I don't. No one does. You have to make it okay, you have to take the first steps and every step after because if you don't, you won't ever move forward." The space around them began to settle, the sun now in its new state and the Earth, along with several other planets, were gone. Though, you didn't pay attention to any of that now.

"And I know you're brave enough to take those steps. I believe in you, my friend." He grabbed your wrist and pushed a button on your time travel device, sending you home to the scientists and your loved ones that were eagerly awaiting your safe return.

You tell them of Earth, of the cliffside and the ocean, and you tell them of its state Before its destruction. You tell them you left after that, not wanting to stay on a planet about to collapse. But you never tell anyone who you met that day, as you don't truly know yourself. You keep the memory of that strange being and every word he said logged in a holo-journal locked and kept away from any eyes but your own.