The Final Question

[Strazio Rockwell]

No.

A simple word that released the weight of Isaac's regret onto his burdened shoulders. He wondered if it was all a waste? His search for Omni, his precious hope was all pointless. He met a dead end, an end that was all too real.

“So that's it then?” he asked the white figure. Isaac's voice carried the weight of life wasted, the ferocity of a man who had lost everything and had no more to lose.

“That's it? You bring people here against their will? You create this damndable universe of violence and conflict, filled to the brim with things that are less people and more akin to weapons of mass destruction?”

Isaac's fist clenched tight, turning his old hand bony white. He looked upon god and found nothing but a child who treated innocent lives as nothing more than toys. He found no god, only a monster.

“You spirit innocent loving people away so that they can be ground to dust against the violence of this forsaken world!? And you can't send them back home! You can't give an innocent soul the life that she deserves?! Why not! Why can't you!?”

Spikes of blood pointed themselves at Omni, Isaac's fought the urge to strike against Omni – against the absurdity of it all. The spears of blood quivered and slipped back into the old man's shaking form. He fell to the ground a punched the white floor with his only hand. Tears crawled forth from the corners of his pale blue eyes.

“Please... please I'll do anything.”

[Omni]

Omni stood. And he walked. Around the gathering of secondaries, each taking a step back as the silhouette passed, diminutive in size but not presence.

He turned to Isaac.

"Anything, you say?"

[Strazio Rockwell]

A glimmer of hope was offered by the god-like creature and Isaac latched onto it with the ferocity of a dying animal. He looked up at Omni, with tears still in his eyes he responded.

“Anything."

[Omni]

Omni stood across the room, now standing behind the secondaries with Isaac the furthest from himself. He seemingly had to think, himself, for a moment about the words he spoke.

"Then do your part. Become a prime. Increase your power. Do the impossible.

"Take my power for yourself."

His presence now weighed down upon Isaac like a crushing force. He was not smiling.

"How deep does your conviction burn? Enough for that?"

The pressure relaxed and the smile bloomed once again on Omni's features.

"Or take my offer, bring Melanie here, and protect her yourself like you couldn't then. Make this Omniverse a better place with your own power. If you have the will."

[Zack Fair]

Abner savored his cigarette, embracing the relief he felt from inhaling it. Pondering the moment, the situation he was in, was almost overpowering. He had greeted countless Primes to the Omniverse as a part of his regular job as a Stormtrooper in the Nexus. However, here was an opportunity to become a Prime, himself. What would he do? Hell, what would the Empire say when he marched back into his post, with the ability to summon and control raw Omnilium? And an even better question was simply would he even bother returning to the Empire?

He turned looked at all of his companions, listening to each one of their questions. Despite it all, he was unimpressed by the answers they received. The response Isaac received caused him to shake his head and let out a sigh. He'd lost track of how many secondaries he'd seen killed, and yet the Primes could come back? Not only that, Omni was asking them to fix it? The world weary Stormtrooper had enough.

"What's the point?" Abner's question was a stark contrast to his previous one. "Why let us secondaries exist at all, in this world that favors the Primes so much?"

[Omni]

"What's the point of anything, when you put it that way?"

[Gildarts]

Christa had thought she had made her decision. She nearly opened her lips. But then the words were taken from her and she heard Isaac’s familiar voice.

You spirit innocent, loving people away so that they can be ground to dust against the violence of this forsaken world!? And you can't send them back home!

Her eyes fell to her hands once more, this time, involuntarily. She was once innocent, loving, and always cared for her sister. Now she had changed into a murderous, regretful person. Christa had been aware of the change, of course, even her ability to shoot on target had even taken a large turn for the better.

"How deep does your conviction burn? Enough for that?... Or take my offer, bring Melanie here, and protect her yourself like you couldn't then. Make this Omniverse a better place with your own power. If you have the will."

Christa looked at both Abner and Isaac as she ruminated over it all.

[Guu]

Raw Onion overheard the others conversing with the smiling one. After hearing Isaac talk for a while, she felt she needed to step in. She give Grob one last smile and a pat on the shoulder and left him to his thoughts.

She approached the distraught man and patted a hoof on his pant leg, gaining his attention.

"Excuse me Isaac. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Omni is giving us a huge chance. The Omniverse is a violent place, but only because violent people keep getting their way. This is our chance to change things. I know when I'm a prime, I'll use that to free my people from the generals that keep running them into the ground. I'm certain you can make a peaceful place for you and your beloved. We'll have the power to do so, after all."

[Gildarts]

Christa tasted the disappointment on her tongue. It was all so hopeless! What could she possibly change? Now wasn't the moment for self-doubt, even Raw Onion was intervening.

The secondary's icy eyes blazed with fire, Christa had to know before she chose whether she would even be a factor in the fight against this world. “Why would you agree to trap us here, unless you yourself can’t leave?”

Christa had it in her mind, that Omni was turning out to be nothing she imagined, except for the god-like monster she had expected to meet before she had even embarked on this journey. Omni was nothing like she had hoped, because she could no longer blame him for what she had become.

[Omni]

Omni sighed. "You're asking complicated questions."

[Zack Fair]

A long exhale from his cigarette, and Abner listened to Omni's responses. A question answered with a question didn't answer much, but still, he had to try. After all, if anyone could make sense of this reality it would have to be the deity that was right there, in his very eyesight.

"I mean, it's just..." Abner paused briefly, choosing his words. "This is the Omniverse. It's made of Omnilium. And you're Omni." Abner outstretched an arm, gesturing to the scenery of the Oververse. "Why don't you just wave your hand and make it all sunshine and rainbows like this place?"

[Omni]

"Because that would be no fun."

[Zack Fair]

Abner lowered his cigarette, his face not changing or showing much emotion. He didn't show it too much, but he was taken aback and utterly surprised by that response. For all that he had seen, the word "fun" didn't quite capture it from his perspective.

"You ought to get up and stroll through the verses, one day," Abner suggested. "Might not seem as fun, when you're in the middle of it."

[Omni]

"How do you know I haven't?"

[Gamzee Makara]

A ‘personal question.’

Of course that is the answer I receive. Why would I not be waved away, as if I my words did not matter?

Oh wait, they don’t!

I bark a short string of hysterical laughs, and the mousey creature on my head clings tighter to me. There is no hope. No point in being here, or there, or anywhere. This time, I let gravity catch me. I fall backwards into a sitting position, a hand covering my face. Logic, science, knowledge; these things do not aid me here.

Once again, the fuzzy yellow creature continues to astound me with its innocence. It bats a paw at my head, scratching and snuffling around gently. I sigh, staring at this exchange between Isaac and Omni.

Sie würden es nicht wagen, einen Pakt mit dem Teufel...?

I can’t help but to laugh again, louder this time. This beast’s words are confounding. If there was any way that I could further express that I have lost all willpower in this situation, I would certainly do so.

I don’t exactly know how the thought manifested in our thick heads that this being would be any form of helpful, cryptic or not.

Words are exchanged between the flying horse and Isaac, the strange old man that seeks redemption for his transgressions. She talks of an effort to make this Omniverse a better place. But it can’t be a better place! Such a thing is nigh impossible. We can try all we might to make it better, but such a thing is…

It is not…

I feel compelled to speak, finding the strength to stand and turn to face the horse and Isaac.

“You tell that man lies! You tell him that we will be granted the power to change things but you are wrong! We become primes, jah? What then? Eh?! We go about together, waving a banner in the name of making this bastard’s playground a better place? What happens when we are set upon by the evils of this universe and the ones you seek to protect die?”

With every word, every sentence, my conviction grows. My voice is raised; not at Onion or Isaac or even Omni. I am distraught at the unfairness of it all, because truthfully, it is all I have ever known.

“In fact, I would even go as far as to say that the only reason this white monstrum is willing to make us Primes in the first place is not a reward, not a charity, but simply for his own entertainment. So, going off of this logic, say we DO manage to bring a peace to the Omniversum. You think that he will just let us live happily? You think that he will just let us be? No! He will either grow bored, destroy us all and start anew, or he will send some wrench, some unmentionable evil into our lives to destroy our peace.”

I spit the word out as if it was a curse. Standing there, my chest rises and falls heavily with each passing moment.

“There is no happy ending here. That would be boring. No riding off into the verdammt sunset, no saving our loved ones, just constant pain for his entertainment.”

I finish my tirade, finger pointing at the only person smiling here.

Translations:
Sie würden es nicht wagen einen Pakt mit dem Teufel...? = You would dare make a deal with the devil?
verdammt = fucking
monstrum = freak/monster

[Proto Man]

Emotions were very high in the throne room.

Top Man, who had stepped back to watch a few of the other secondaries air their feelings, took a step forward and looked up at Omni. "Hey, I wanted to know if we could get a picture?" The Robot Master glanced at the others and saw that most of them were thinking of other things or discussing their situation with a peer. With Pinocchio dead, Top Man really didn't have anyone he felt the need to shoot the breeze with. "You're not busy, right?"

[Omni]

"Of course, no problem," Omni said with a smile.

[Strazio Rockwell]

Isaac frowned and looked down at the pony. She did bring up a good point, he could use newfound power for good. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, but before he could speak the scientist launched into a diatribe. Richtofen was right, the Omniverse was just a sick playground for a bored god. Bringing balance to the Omniverse was nothing short of Sisyphean task, one that would never be completed due to Omni’s intervention. If this meeting with Omni was supposed to be a reward, then why did it feel like such a punishment. Tight knots twisted themselves taut in Isaac’s gut.

“I don’t want to play your game Omni. I don’t want to become another cog in this vicious cycle of the Omniverse. Even if I could make it a better place, it would just be putting a bandaid over a wound that will never heal.”

Isaac glared at the god, he cared not for the repercussions for his actions. The Bloodlance did not fear the god, for what could a man fear when he has nothing left to lose?

“What if I destroy you? What happens to your playground? What happens to your toys?”

[Omni]

"Hypothetically… without an Omni, there is no Omniverse."

[Proto Man]

Shifting past Isaac, who seemed to be dealing with more less than pleasant emotions, the Robot Master held up the phone. The deity nodded his head and gestured him over.

With a wide grin, Top Man approached the all-white entity. Leaning in next to Omni, he held out his cellphone with one hand and glanced at the pseudo-faceless god. "All right, this one's fer serious." He said as he glanced back up at his camera. Once he had it centered, he clicked the button and waited for the flash to fade. "Okay, a silly one." Top Man instructed as he held up a pair of bunny ears behind Omni's head. The god stuck out his tongue as the camera went off a second time.

"Thank you," Top Man said as he pocketed the camera and took a few steps away. The Robot Master had a wide grin on his face.

This was a good good day to (soon) be (forever) alive.