PROLOGUE

“A gnome, a bandit, and a praliv . . .”

“Why?”

“Why not? You’ve seen the probable outcome.”

“It’s too risky.”

“You’re right . . . they don’t know a single thing about one another.”

“Well . . . a few things.”

“If we isolate them, they will learn.”

“And after that?”

“Didn’t think that far yet.”

“The problem is we can see the problem and the solution . . .”

“. . . but what stabilizes it all?”

“Even we can’t see that.”

“So it’s decided then?”

“What’s decided?”

“These three.”

“I guess.”

“That’s all we can really work with . . .”

“. . . A guess.”

The two walked off over a black sky . . . leaving a trail of smoke behind. Glitter painted the night portrait, which hung high above the small world below. A pair of old men sat there in the desert, looking up at the dark scenery.

“It’s so beautiful”, sighed the eldest.

The other man looked over at his friend, smiling and said, “The stars?”

“No, the darkness”

“But it’s so empty!”

“I know . . . what’s after all that?”

“More emptiness . . . I guess . . .”

“Could it be as empty here as it is in the dark above?”

“It is.”

“I’m here with you, always.”

“Thanks . . . but we have to go soon.”

“I know . . . can’t we just watch the sunset though?”

“Sure.” A sun that never came rose deep in the hearts of the dead that night. The two old men passed away together, side by side, under a field of stars profuse.