The Release

The ground shook for what he knew to be the final time, leaving craters, ridges, openings all over the world. But only he knew where the biggest crack would be. He’d been waiting for it for months.
And he needed to get there before it was all over. It was a one-way trip. This was his only chance to do it.
Without waiting for authorization, he commandeered the copter and took off. The ground was still shaking.

This was not going to be easy. He had to get there fast and in one peace.

"What are you doing?” came the voice on the copters commlink. It was the chief. “ We’re evacuating this world until it stabilizes.”
He switched it off. Unlike the chief, he knew it wasn’t going to stabilize. If he was right, this world didn’t have much time left.
He swerved right to avoid a large rock that appeared to have been spat out of the ground. Too low. Need to gain some altitude. In the distance, he could see the space cruiser taking off. A knot formed in his stomach. They were leaving without him. Clearly, nobody was going to miss him amidst the chaos.
He didn’t care. All that mattered was reaching the Sinkhole. The point where It would appear.
As he continued piloting, his mind went back to how the entity contacted him. It was through dreams at first and so, he ignored them. As time went on, It began to manifest itself through other means. Strange screensavers on his computer, weird messages on his comms, it even managed to get into his room’s entertainment system.
It was through the last one that It showed him the secret of the world. How it wasn’t just a plain rock in space, but a living organism, trapped in a shell of stone, dust, and air.
It showed him secrets about the universe beyond his imagination and comprehension. The origins. The future. And the key to humanity’s survival. It promised him that it would show humanity the way to survive extinction.
It just wanted one thing in return.
Freedom. Release from its shell. A shell created for reasons he couldn’t understand. But like everything else, he didn’t care.
He wanted to see it.
The Sinkhole came into his view and saw that he would have to reach its edge on foot.
There. He saw a spot on the ground, seemingly unaffected by the tremors. With care, he maneuvered the copter to the ground and shut it down.
He took a deep breath. This was it.
Unbuckling his belt, he got down, thinking how he would make it to the Edge in one piece.
But he needn’t have worried. He saw a path. One that went straight towards the Edge. It was calling to him. He could feel it.
He ran.
Faster than he ever did in his life. His legs screamed, but he ignored them. He was almost there. He could see the purple glow emanating from inside the hole.
Relax. There is still time.
He slowed down. It was the Entity, talking to him straight into his head.
“There is ?” He wasn’t sure whether It could read his thoughts, but decided to ask the question out loud anyway.
Yes. I’m just waiting for you. You want to see what I am, don’t you?
“Yes!”
I’ve waited thousands of cycles. I can wait for a few micro-cycles more.
He walked, cautiously towards the edge of the Sinkhole. The bottom shone with a purple so bright that he had to shield his eyes looking down.
And then It rose.
The Entity rose out of the Sinkhole, sending cracks in the crust in all directions. The world, he knew was going to shatter into millions of tiny rocks.
As he stood in the violet glow of the Entity, it’s gigantic eye, easily the size of his cruise ship, turned to fix its gaze on him.
Thank you, my friend. Are you sure you don’t want to escape too?
“Even if I survive, I am sure the rest of my life would be meaningless compared to this moment. I’m sure. I can rest in peace, knowing that I’ve freed one of the most powerful beings in all of creation.”
The Eye stared at him for what seemed to be a long time.
Very well my friend, if that is what you wish.
The Eye turned towards the sky and departed for the cosmos, just as the world exploded into a million pieces.