Alpha at the Omega

A short play in one act by
Frank R Sjodin

Sjodin/Alpha Omega/2

Setting: The Exact Center of the Universe, 20 minutes before the
End of the Universe.(as the audience enters, A sits center stage in
a pose of meditation, on a rug or mat. Eyes closed, chanting perhaps, with the sound
of a clock ticking clearly audible, even if there is some sort of preshow
music. There is no curtain to close or open. There are six clear exits on the stage,
they could be six doors, six “pods,” perhaps six ladders going upwards or even six
pits. Ask a set designer. When the show starts, after announcements and such, the
lights should start to dim slowly and spot on A. The music fades
out and all that can be heard is the sound of the chanting and clock ticking, then
the chanting fades out as if A is becoming aware of the audience.
When chanting and music have both faded out completely, these things happen at once:

A opens his or her eyes; the ticking of the clock reaches it's

climax then cuts out abruptly; the other characters enter at once.)

A: (without turning around) All of you?

X: I was going to come alone, but the others wanted to give you a chance to change your mind before
the end.

A: (standing and reviewing all the others) Even you? (to Z)

Z: I have nothing left to say to you. My presence re-communicates all I have said before, and my offer
still stands.

A: My rejection still stands as well. (Z begins to exit, the same way he entered.)

Y: Wait, he will listen to you more than any of us! Where are you going?

Z: Isn't it obvious? I'm going home. I already said “I have nothing more to say.”

Y: Well if you can't convince him, how are the rest of us supposed to get through to him?

Z: I don't know. But if you stay here much longer, you're guaranteed to meet the end. And unlike you,
I have someone more important waiting to meet me in another time and place. (Z exits, same way he
entered)

W: Is she more important than The End?! Why are you leaving when we need you most? (Z ignores W,
who addresses A) You should be ashamed! It pained him much to come here, a time-place so close to
his own time of birth. Why did you not listen to him?

Y: He would not listen before, why would he now? We've been trying to convince him for centuries.
Speaking of which, this is the closest to the End Time I've even been, and I'd feel a lot safer if we went
back a few years just to stay on the safe side of things.

X: That's a good point, we don't have much time to waste. Our last debate on this subject endured over

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several months, need I remind you, we should really travel back a ways to make time to argue.

A: I'm done traveling backwards, forward in time is the only way left to go!

W: But there is no time left ahead, that's why this is called The End!

Y: You would stay here to see The End, even if it means risking a break in the cycle of time?

A: I mean to see The End, it is the only way we will even know if we can break the confines of
eternity!

W: But my friend, eternity does not confine you! Time is infinite, though it may end, there is enough
time for everyone! Who would dare risk breaking the cycle, destroying time for everyone?
Y: Only those who are foolish enough to believe that the Circle cannot be broken.

X: And those who care only for their own ambitions.

A: And those who dare what all others fear!

X: I'm not afraid, but I'm just no fool, like you!

W: Please, for once it seems that we haven't much time -

Y: We have less than 25 umins.

A: If you couldn't talk me out of this over 6 universal centuries, what makes you think you can talk me
out of it in 25 universal minutes?
(W, X, and Y look at each other)

W: My friend, we're not here to talk any longer. The time for talk has passed, our existence here is
ending and you know the rules! Never to the Beginning, Never to The End! The further back you go,
the more you can distort the flow of time, and by going too far forward...

X: You risk ending up at the Beginning, and from that point destroying everything.

Y: As a member of our order, having mastered life everlasting and the sciences of traveling space-time,
you know we cannot allow you to take this risk.

X: We've come prepared to kill you if need be. I'm prepared to kill you even with no need.

A: Yes, I'm sure the moral preparation took seconds for you.

W: (casting a stern look at X) That is our last resort. I don't want to lose you forever, your talents and
knowledge are useful! Time is infinite, there is no end to the number of beings who still need our aid as
masters of time. Beings who need you. You have proven your courage by traveling closer to The End

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than we dared, but this childish game is over.

Y: Think of your responsibility! The knowledge in you that will be lost when you die at The End!

A: If I die at The End. If I survive I may learn of not just the end of time, but also the Beginning!

Y: Science, in fact some of your own research has proven, that when Time ends, existence as we know
it ends! There will be nothing left for this universe, this dimension, this method of existence, call it
what you may! The statistical chance of surviving after the Great End are inquantifiably miniscule, and
those statistics are only based on theoretical calculations!

W: We have already tried that argument! He will not be persuaded with logic! Your faith leads you to
this end, but you must consider the sin you commit, the moral implications of your actions! If you do
live past The End, you may not be living as we know it, you will be simply existing in a different flow
of time, in eras that none of our divine order have influenced! You might not return to the Beginning
but slip off the wheel and get caught in another cog! You are not wise enough to be the only one with
the power you wield! What will you do in a universe reborn? What will you do with a universe of
nothing, should you arrive at The Beginning that is not The Beginning as we understand it? (A does not
respond, but looks away)

Y: He would try to create his own universe, a new reality. That would be my hypothesis.

A: Yes. My intentions are impossible to conceal from you. I believe that after The End, I will be
transported to another Cycle of Time, placed right at The Beginning, but a Beginning in the truest
sense. A Beginning that has never been before! Tabula rasa. I will create a perfect universe.

X: There, heresy! He wishes to become God. Can we kill him now? We have killed gods before.

A: Yes, we killed the gods because they were not god-like! Not in the truest sense! They did not create
this universe, they merely shaped it more than other beings. When their shaping became malignant, we
had them destroyed, some even completely removed from all living memory, all time! They were not
truly immortal.

X: Neither are we, and don't forget it.

W: Yet it is possible for us to claim infinite life, so long as we stay within infinity, a small price to ask!
Our universe has potential to create an enduring period of time that is perfect, and that is what we strive
for! That is why we travel time, to ensure that history does not repeat a cycle of pain forever.

A: You have been striving for that idea for eons longer than I have, before I was conceived! By the
time you inducted me into your order, our universe was so critically, continually, and infinitely flawed
that we could not make it perfect even if we spent all of it's infinite time repairing it's flaws.

Y: What flaws do you speak of? Humankind can control the flow of time! We live forever, we have
mastered our genes, we create each other by design, we even re-create ourselves! We have perfected
sex, harnessed our subconscious emotions and animal instincts, eliminated hunger, disease, malignant
mutation,

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A: There is still hate.

W: There will always be hate where injustice is allowed to exist, and though we are all ashamed of it,
all of the advances we have gained has been through injustices, exploitation of the hard work of others.
The knowledge and power we wield to prevent injustices in our universe were learned through more
ancient injustices. It is tragic but true, even your own knowledge of time travel is only thanks to the
thousands who died before you, researching and testing the rules of the universe so that future
generations might benefit from their sacrifices. Many of those who made the crucial discoveries of
history were forced to do so by the injustices of the times and situations they lived in!

A: Scientific research and labor can be freely given, knowledge need not be acquired through injustice!

X: At a certain point in time, that might be true. But when things were just getting started, that wasn't
the case. If we go back to stop ourselves from learning to go back, we'll lose all the work we've done by
traveling time! In primitive times, a few eggs had to be cracked, and some even stolen from somebody
else's nest and eaten. We're not savages, but we can't be concerned over the fact that our ancestors were.

Y: The injustices and atrocities of the past were necessary to learn what we know now, or for the
survival of the species. Otherwise those injustices would have been corrected through time travel. You
know that and accepted it when you were initiated into -

A: Did you know that when you were initiated? Did you know the sins of humanity when you lead the
revolt against the Gods? Will it be necessary to continue to kill (overlap with lines from Y and X) those
whose ways we cannot comprehend?

Y: Is has been necessary to kill, for survival, in the past, though our ancestors were not as evolved as
we are now. They also had not the resources and knowledge available to us.

X: It will always be necessary to kill.

W: There is a larger moral issue. The theory of non-existence! When one is killed, one still exists in
another time! Death is not Non-Existence, and in theory you could bring Non-Existence to us all!

A: In theory, not in fact.

Y: But there is a calculated chance that it might be fact, and we cannot allow you to take that risk.

A: The chance that my presence at the end of the universe will cause all other existence throughout
time to end is even less than the chance that I will survive to create my own universe! The chances of
either event are near infinitely small,

Y: But not infinitely small. I hate to say it this way, but the difference between “infinite” and “near
infinite” is infinite.

W: Use your personal dream dimension to create your own universe if you want. We will build you a
perpetual-motion machine to keep you alive while you sleep forever, and if you are on board my ship

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you will sail through all of time in you own universe. Everything you want but at no risk to the rest of
us. You have no right to risk all other existing beings because you are the only one powerful and
willing enough to be here at The End.

A: I would know that my own dream would not be real, that fact would forever taint my subconscious,
then how could I dream?

X: At least you wouldn't be risking us all! We don't agree with your action, the risk isn't worth it to us!

A: But the risk is worth it! Not just for me, but for everyone! Think if I do create the perfect universe, I
will travel back to before the new universe existed, back to your time! I can find you and bring all of
old creation into my new, perfect universe.

Y: Or you could undo all of reality for everyone else, without the consent of any other living being. If
even one being disagrees with your risk, you can not make the choice and be free of guilt. You are
breaking your own rules, choosing for others is injustice by nature! Even if the risk is worth it, you do
not have the moral right to take that risk for everyone.

X: And by refusing to leave this Time-Place before The End, you give us the moral right to terminate
your existence. Look on the bright side, you'll still get to go somewhere no immortal has ever gone, be
it Heaven, Hell, or any of the other dimensions our order has yet to explore!

W: No. You must not forget that we were all mortal once, and still are from a certain point of view.
Death is still possible for us, we may die violently. The ability to potentially live forever does not make
us true immortals. We are but humans with power, and all humans eventually visit death. Just because
no being has ever returned from death does not mean that none of us have gone there.

A: I will make a man that can return from death, with memories of the events on the other side.

X: But since it won't be necessary to kill in your universe, he'll never die, at least not by the hands of
your creations, so I guess you'll just have to kill him yourself if you want to know what happens to
someone after they die. If you're so brave and interested in what happens after death, I know a way that
you can find out for yourself, right now!

Y: So by yourself, you will create a being that can come back to life after death, regenerate it's body,
and maintain all of it's memory? Without any aide from your former teachers? Without our combined
knowledge of dimensional travel? Surely, you can't believe yourself to be that talented. You need us as
much as we do you to uncover that secret. Stay with us, we can continue to research the subject,
eventually we will discover a way!

W: There is wisdom in these words. You are younger than us, but we all may live forever by moving
backwards and forwards in time, with new bodies, new minds, over time we will discover a way to visit
the dead and return to life. We will discover the ultimate truth of existence, what happens to the soul
after death. We will prove or disprove the theories, Heaven and Hell, reincarnation, shade theory, and
all the rest!

A: But with the knowledge we have now, every theory, in one way or another breaks the rules of

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existence. If I create a universe with a new set of rules, new people, I could make a man who could die
and return, body and soul. I believe it will be easier to start from scratch than work with the dirty, sandfilled
clay we have in this universe. Then men I make will be crafted of sterner stuff.

W: These new men you speak of, how would you make them, in your own image?

A: (reluctantly) Since none of you agreed to come with me, yes, I would have to use myself as a
physical and psychiatric model.

Y: Then you will create a race of beings exactly like humanity as you know it here! You are as hateful,
stubborn, and hypocritical as the rest of us. You would build a race of people claiming to work for
peace who thrive only off of each others' suffering!

A: No, I will let them learn over time, I will not force knowledge upon them! I will make the world
provide everything they need, it will not be so harsh as the frozen rock our ancestors scraped out life
upon!

W: Without hardships they will become weak.

A: They will not need to be strong, for they will not need to compete with one another for survival!

X: Then they will compete for status, for pride, and for glory. For immortality in memory, as our
ancestors did. They will compete in any sense, and it the most brutal and terminal sense.

Y: If you make yourself known to them, they will envy you and hate you, no matter your generosity.
Inevitably, a certain percentage of the population will always detest you.

A: I will love them, and they will know it!

W: No matter how you love them, some will turn away no matter what and it will pain you. You will be
the only one with knowledge of the true nature of space, time, and life! You are too feeble to bare that
burden alone!

A: Then come with me! Stay here until The End, and help me build my world! Am I the only one who
is brave enough?

W: Courage is a virtue, but as often a vice. Like any tool or weapon, it is often used best when
considered, but not used at all.

Y: We haven't much time left for this debate, The End is upon us! This is your last chance, are you
coming with us or not?

A: I told you my decision once, and it has not changed since then.

X: Ok then. Mind if I do the honors? (draws some sort of gun, and clicks the safety off, and begins to
point it at A. As X does this, Y and W draw guns as well, and A takes a tube-like necklace from
beneath his shirt and clicks it, which causes a humming sound.)

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A: As it was written, in my own words, I'm not going down alone, and not without a fight.

Y: Wait, is that what I think it is? A mutually-assured-destruction trap? That's the best you can come up
with?
(X tosses down gun, and begins to laugh)

A: Go ahead. I knew you'd take the easy way and bring guns. Fire your anti-matter at me, the
successive reaction will end all of our lives, and all of our collective knowledge will be lost forever.

W: So that's why he didn't stay with us, he knew.

Y: I assume you came prepared for this contingency? I'm not the only one with a less sophisticated
weapon on my person?

X: Of course I prepared. (draws a sword that was previously concealed beneath clothing.) Here, you'll
need this more than I will. (hands sword to W) I prefer to fight with my hands and feet anyways. (Xcracks knuckles, Y drops gun and draws a knife. W holds the sword in one hand and gun in the other.)

A: Don't think I haven't prepared for this course of action you are taking! I had an eternity to train!
(draws a small rod from behind his cloak, spins it and it extends out into a bo staff, then he takes a
fighting pose) I will have my world as a reality, no matter what I have to do for it!

W: (clicking the safety of gun and aiming it at A) You are making the mistakes you wish to erase. I am
so sorry I have to do this (points gun at A while X and Y shout in shock – then A knocks the gun out of W's hand with his staff, before W can fire. Begin fight sequence)
(The fight should be elaborate, and long. All four should fight very carefully and calculated, except at
then end where noted. Specific movements or styles can vary, ask a fight choreographer about it. W, X,
and Y should at first attack A one at a time, then all at once. At all times A should also be aware of
where the guns in the room are, so that W never has an opportunity to pick one up. W, X, and Y should
occasionally be disarmed or swap weapons, X should at one point injure A with the knife or the sword.
After being wounded, A should be infused with extra fury, fight wildly and emotionally, finally beating
back all three attackers, wounding X and killing W. As W dies, watches on the wrists of W, X, and Y
begin to beep. Y should drop weapon and make a desperate attempt to get a gun at this point, but X gets
to it first and throws it away. During this dialogue, the wounded A loses his energy, but staggers to
collect another dropped gun )

X: We can't kill him, and if we leave now there's still an overwhelming chance he'll die and neither
unmake reality nor remake his own!

Y: True, yet if we shoot him and die together here and now, we insure that he will never take the risk!
We will die but we will take no gambles with existence.

X: Statistically he's throwing his life away and most likely won't negate all of our existence! I let you
pull this trigger and I'm guaranteed to die. Call me selfish, but I want a chance to survive. (X exits, with
the gun same way X originally entered)

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Y: Even if the chance is infinitely small, I can't let you risk all of reality! I am obligated to stop you
even at the cost of my own life. (reaching for the last gun, but A gets to it first, but a mere second)

A: (picking up a gun, and clicking his little tube-necklace off) You don't have a gun to activate my
MAD trap with, so you can't even kill yourself to stop me. You don't have a choice. Leave now or I
will kill you, and your life will be wasted for no reason at all.

Y: May your new universe flourish, if you do live to create it. (Y exits as Y originally entered)

A: (setting down the gun, checks his watch one last time, still alert that someone may enter) 5 seconds
left. (to corpse of W) How did it come to this? Of all my teachers, and of all my equals, I always loved
you best, you know.
(Sounds of impending implosion. A stands with back to audience, and the lights slowly fade down on
him as the sounds increase)

A: Implosion? So the world shall not end in fire...no, let there not be darkness. Let no more darkness
be! Let there be no darkness!

SILENCE

BLACKOUT

THE END