Chapter 11. 
   The Evolutionist 
   From “Stellar Graffiti”, Copyright 2001 Richard Allan Olson                                                www.stellargraffiti.com   




   And the Evolutionist said,

   “In the beginning, there was the One.  The One was perfect and whole and absolute, for there was nothing else but the One.  And for an eternity, the One contemplated its existence.  Inevitably, it concluded that, as such, having nothing in the realm of awareness outside its own being, it could only know itself as a perfect and infinite singularity.  And this led the One to wonder if something else besides itself could even exist.   

   And so, in order to satisfy this curiosity, and so that it might experience itself in a new way, the One decided to make a departure from itself.  The One knew it had the ability to accomplish this.  The only question it could not foretell was; could the departure be made, and then a way found to return to its state of wholeness and perfection?  That would be the challenge.  And so, in the face of a single uncertainty, the grand experience of the One began. 

   ‘Let there be light!’, it said.  And the One reached out into the void with the most powerful and luminous eruption there would ever be.  And as the sum and substance of the One were liberated, reality was at once defined, for with that momentous event,  Time and Space came into being.  And as the result of its sudden dispersal, the omniscience of the One was sacrificed, but the essence of its awareness remained, permeating the very fabric of Space, itself.  This embryonic realm, the Quanta, seethed with virtual particles and endless possibilities, waiting to be made into realities upon the desires of the One.  And in this manner began the realm of the Sub-Nuclear, the first order to arise from the departure of  the One.    

   And the newborn Universe continued to expand, increasing the volume of space.  Yet, for a very long time, the Quanta remained featureless and without form; a dark, latent dimension of virtual existence.  Then, spontaneously, the Quanta began to populate the vacuum with actual, individual particles, possessing material reality.  And these new entities, under the subtle influence of the One, began to experience each other, to communicate with each other, and to form symbiotic relationships, in order to create a basic foundation for further diversity.  And in this manner began the new realm of the Atom. 

   And with the birth of the Atom, new forces came into existence.  The Atom, having physical reality, was compelled by the new phenomenon of Gravity to seek out other, like-minded Atoms.  And vast clouds of Atoms formed.  Within these clouds, localized congregations arose.  A dense gathering of Atoms such as this would begin to compact under the influence of its own collective and ever-increasing Gravity.  Upon reaching a critical density, the tremendous weight crushing down upon the Atoms caused them to be torn apart.  And with the release of the great energy bound in the making of the Atoms, the first Stars were ignited.  And once again, there was light upon the face of the dark Universe.  

   And the Stars, themselves, being possessed of the same gravitational force as the Atoms of which they were composed, were drawn together and formed colossal configurations across all of space.  As time went on, the Universe became a vast, expanding ocean of Galaxies. 

   But the Stars were not immortal, and Star death occurred in many forms.  Often, a Star would end its life with a violent explosion.  Yet, as this happened, the intense heat and pressure of the event forged even more complex and diversified Atoms from the remains of the simpler ones.  And these new Atoms began to communicate, and to experience each other, and to form intricate, selective alliances.  In this manner began the new realm of the Molecule, and with it, the process of diversification was greatly accelerated. 

   And as the enormous variety of Molecules grew, there inevitably came into being a very specialized model; a Molecule that functioned as its own template, having the ability to consciously and spontaneously replicate itself, producing an identical design, complete and encoded with all the information contained within the original Molecule.  As this new entity diversified, itself, the atomic memory of the ages became saved and passed on through its generations.  This was the birth of the Spiral Configuration, and in this manner began the new realm of the Helix.  And with its dramatic advent, the Universe would soon explode with diversity of an entirely different kind.    
  
   “For it was the ingenious talent of the Helix that made possible Life, from the cellular to the multi-cellular level and beyond.  Moreover, Life was the purpose it served.  But the Helix was more than just the base element upon which Life would be constructed.  The Spiral was innately mindful that Consciousness was the ultimate reason for its being, and because it understood nature’s sublime efficiency, it knew the ideal path Life should follow in order to reach this goal.  Divine instrument of the One, the Helix would both design Life, and direct, with specific intent, the course of its evolution.   

   At first, primitive organisms sought merely to survive, an endeavor which would never cease to be paramount.  Towards this end, they fought for resources, where resources were limited.  Not only did one species contend with another for survival, but also did individuals, or exclusive groups of individuals, within a common kind.  But Life, like the constituent Atoms and Molecules of which it was comprised, also continued along a predetermined path towards greater diversity.  And one day, upon evolving to a sufficient extent, there came to be an organism that made a quantum leap beyond the mere primal instincts of  survival.  It was self-awareness, the capacity of the organism to comprehend itself within the context of its environment, that led to the next great movement in evolution.  And in this manner began the new realm of the Mind.

   And with the arrival of the Mind, the cosmic pageant of Life had reached its equator.  The task of the Mind, much like the task upon which the One had set, was to acquire an increasingly more accurate realization of itself.  The next phase of evolution would be to refine the Mind so that it could discover its latent abilities, skills such as telepathy, telekinesis, and other paranormal functions.  This was the intent of the Helix, the will of the One.  But there were many sociological factors that worked to impair the emergence of these mutations; fear, hatred, and doubt.  In order for the extrasensory to become activated in any evolving species, these counterproductive irrationalities would need to be overcome.  It was a difficult turning point for all civilizations, and there were those that could not accomplish this.  They were evolutionary dead ends, and eventually fell to extinction. 

   But those that were successful founded utopian societies, lived in peace and psychic harmony, and were suited to evolve to higher levels of awareness, in accordance with the master plan of the Helix.  With this new organism, Consciousness had become collective, and the Mind had taken a profound step towards understanding its own greater power and purpose.  And in this manner began the new realm of the Neuropod. 

   And Neuropodian civilizations flourished across the Universe.  And Consciousness continued to evolve and elevate.  The Mind now realized that it was the engineer of its own destiny, and that its objective was the discovery of its own greater potential.  Towards this end, it knew, the Mind would need to gain mastery over the physical organism upon which it was dependent.  Function would need to preside over form.  This would allow for the expansion of Consciousness, and it would result in extension of the life span, which had long been one of Life’s most cherished ambitions.

   And so, Consciousness began to focus upon the physical structure at the cellular level.  From the beginning, the Mind had always been receiving information from the Cell, an entity in and of itself.  But these signals had only been interpreted at the subconscious level.  Over the course of time, however, communication with the Cell began to take place consciously, and the Mind came to understand its intricate mechanics.  Once this biological mutation was complete, the Mind was then able to directly govern and perform the Cell’s functions at will.  Finally, a kind of immortality had been achieved, although, still not true immortality; the new organism could live indefinitely, free of illness, provided its basic structure could be maintained, physically intact.  Yet, Life had made a momentous leap in evolution.  And in this manner began the new realm of the Cellulan. 

   And the Cellulan civilizations spread throughout the cosmos, prospering, and thriving for ages.  And mastery of function over form continued to drive the process of evolution, for the intent of the Helix was not yet satisfied.  Slowly, the Mind became increasingly aware of its ancient communication with the Molecule, and ever more fluent in its language.  Eventually, Consciousness began to center within the Molecule, indeed, within the Helix, itself.  And once this mutation was made collective and complete, the organism was then endowed with a talent almost supreme.  At last, Life was able to consciously determine the direction of its own evolution. 

   “And the ultimate purpose of the Helix was fulfilled.  In engineering an organism possessing a Mind that was able to consciously communicate with it, the Helix had finally achieved complete self-awareness.  The organism would henceforth design itself, an active participant in its own procreation.  And the Mind was then able to conceive of the perfect physical form, and the Helix was instructed to create it.  And in this manner began the new realm of the Moleculan.

   But even the ideal physical organism had not yet achieved true immortality.  Like its predecessor, the Cellulan, this new being could live indefinitely, but only as long as its structure remained intact.  The Mind was still dependant upon a material form.   And so, although the role of the Helix had been fulfilled, the ultimate purpose of Consciousness had yet to be realized.  The function of Mind had still not prevailed over the physicality of its being.      

   The next phase of evolution, however, would result in far more than a biological mutation.  Life was about to experience a complete and profound metamorphosis.  For slowly, the ideal, Helix-conscious Moleculan began to perceive and assimilate the basic vocabulary of the Atom, itself.  It was Mind coming into harmony with matter.  And with the arrival of Atomic Awareness, Consciousness no longer required a physical organism.  Indeed, it was no longer dependant upon any specific structure at all, none except that of the atom.  And so, the material being of individual minds then simply dissolved and merged, forming a Collective Consciousness existing at the atomic level, across the Universe.  And in this manner began the new realm of the Atomican.    

   At this point, Life had come full circle.  Matter had found a way to Mind, then Mind found its way back to matter.  Through the process of evolution, the Mind had returned to the realm of the original, primordial Atom.  And Universal Sentience came to be the new order.  Truly, the Universe had become a conscious entity unto itself. 

   And the Sentience, if it so desired, could create of itself anything, absolutely any physical structure it could imagine, by mere manifestation.  Yet, it realized that, because it would be inherently unnatural, exercising such omnipotence would necessarily interfere with the original process of the Universe, and with the will of all other organisms still evolving therein.  And so, the Sentience was content to merely serve the purposes of the primordial Atom.  To drift as interstellar clouds of dust was bliss.  To erupt in a super-nova explosion was rapture.  To once again become the star dust that would become Life was divine.

   Yet, there were frontiers that remained a mystery, even to the ultimate consciousness.  One was the sub-nuclear realm of the Quanta, the wellspring of all matter and energy, where virtual particles popped in and out of the void so fast, it could not be said with any certainty they actually existed at all.  Yet, somehow, it was this bizarre, unpredictable dimension that made up the foundation of material reality.  The Sentience understood the mechanics of the atom, but the even smaller events that created atomic particles, themselves, were beyond influence, beyond even comprehension.  The Mind could manipulate matter, but it could not create matter out of the Quanta.  And so, the realm of the Sub-Nuclear was presumed to be an elemental methodology, and in time came to be defined as the subconscious aspect of the Universal Mind. 
 
   But without doubt, the single most inconceivable phenomenon in all Creation was the black hole, the product of the super gravitational collapse of a massive star.  At its center, a mere mathematical point, the smallest imaginable.  Legend held that matter, under its own merciless weight, was simply crushed out of existence there.  Surrounding the singularity was a sphere of influence, an interface with the outside Universe.  Once passed this horizon, no power in nature could avoid crashing into the hole to be obliterated at the center.  Throughout the ages, sentient beings everywhere had struggled to grasp the nature of the black hole. 

    As sentient matter, the Mind had a very unique perspective on black holes, as it could simultaneously act as both the object and the observer.  As the object, time seemed to pass at a normal rate as it approached the event horizon, and even as it ventured beyond.  Yet, from the perspective of the observer, time slowed down as the object neared the event horizon.  And just as it reached the fateful boundary, time appeared to stop entirely.  Then, once past the horizon, the object began moving backwards in time, and farther back as it drew closer to the absolute center.  This was what the observer saw.  However, the object perceived only a normal passage of time, throughout the entire trip. 

   The laws of physics were always relative, but the Sentience was aware of itself all at once, across all space, and communication between distant parts occurred instantaneously.  Only in this way could the object inside the event horizon share information with the observer outside.  However, as the object reached a certain nearness to the singularity, atoms were violently torn apart, and as they were, the observer lost its awareness of the object.  But it was presumed the remains of matter continued backwards in time, ever closer to the center, and upon reaching it there would be absolute regression, the returning to a state such as it must have been in the very beginning. 

   Lo, even to the Sentience, there remained mysteries.  What lay beneath the smallest of the small?  What transpired just before collapsing into the infinite?  Would these questions be answered in time?   

   “Meanwhile, there was an event forthcoming, predictable and inevitable, that would result in one of two possible outcomes, determining the fate of the entire cosmos in a manner most profound.  The ‘Equatorial Event’ was known to the higher civilizations.  The ancient astronomers had foreseen the situation billions of years in advance, understood its implications, and, over the ages, ceaseless attempts were made to calculate a simple value that would reveal the destiny of the Universe.

   With the explosive birth of Creation, the cosmos had been set in motion, and this momentum prevailed for billions of years.    Over the ages, though, the expansion of the Universe had been gradually slowing down, due to the influence of its own collective gravity.  At a critical point in time, this phenomenon would consign the cosmos to one of two fates.  If the sum of all matter was great enough, gravity would eventually bring the expansion to a standstill, after which the Universe would then begin to contract, drawn back together by its collective gravity.  To the Mind, this was the preferred outcome, as it would result in the eventual collapse of the Universe.  For, in that final ‘Unification’, the One would be made whole and perfect again, and thus the will of the One would be fulfilled.  

   However, if the totality of gravity should prove insufficient to stop and reverse the expansion, the Universe would escape the influence of its own gravity and continue to drift forever outwards.  This fate would be eternal, but bleak.  All matter and energy would ultimately fall to entropy.  The process of the stars would eventually consume all matter and render it inert.  Energy would constantly diminish, and with no more stellar fuel available, the stars and galaxies would finally die out, and the Universe would become a dismal and lonely realm, cold, dark, and eternal.  To the Mind, this would be everlasting despair.

   For ages, the astronomers believed they could determine the outcome of the Equatorial Event by calculating how much matter existed.  In theory, this approach might have been successful, had the critical value leaned heavily to one side or the other.  However, this method only revealed that any degree of relativity was astronomically slight, a differential that seemed too small to have any significance on the scale of celestial mechanics.  The Universe seemed almost perfectly balanced.  Even the Sentience, the very consciousness that permeated all matter, couldn’t divine its own destiny.  
 
   But time passed, and the expansion continued to slow.  Yet, as the event drew closer, so did realization.  With the slowing of velocity, the focus of the Mind was gaining clarity.  Just as an organic being is aware of itself through physical sensation, the Sentient Universe could feel both the push of its momentum, and the pull of its gravity, yet it was powerless to influence either, and the imbalance was still too subtle to be sensed.  The expansion was approaching a standstill, and time had become scarce.  Then, the Sentience reached a deeper level of perception, and deeper still, until finally, it felt the imbalance, realizing all at once the fate of the cosmos.  Incredibly, matter would come up short, and the expansion would not be stopped.  Very soon, the Universe would unceremoniously drift beyond the point of no return, and from that moment on, march slowly outwards, forever reaching into an empty infinity.  And the grand sum of all that was, the greatest of destinies, would be lost to darkness and futility.  Most inconceivable of all, the will of the One could never come to pass.
    
   The Mind pondered this peculiar lot.  It had always assumed the Universe must be perfectly, inherently efficient, and that it was designed to unerringly manifest the will of the one who created it.  And, if final unification had been the ultimate desire of the One, how could circumstance possibly allow events to transpire otherwise?  The Sentience was staggered by the implications. 

   Universal momentum was slowing down, but it would not slow down enough.  And the Mind lamented the fact that only a very small amount of matter, if it could somehow be created, would be sufficient to hold the cosmos together.  If only the Sentience had a better understanding of the Quanta, the wellspring of all matter, and could simply summon into existence the necessary quantity, then all need not be lost.  Alas, it seemed there was nothing the Mind could do but watch a dread destiny  come to pass. 

   Then, there came an idea.  Since the realm of the Quanta was like unto the subconscious of the Universal Mind, perhaps there was yet a way to reach into it.  And the Sentience began to meditate upon a single desire.  Soon, the Mind entered into a kind of lucid, waking dream.  There, it made an affirmation, a simple wish that spanned the cosmos.  There, the Sentience prayed. 

   And then, a miracle.  The Sentience felt it, intuitively realizing what had happened.  Across all of space, a certain number of atoms had just popped into reality, materializing, presumably, from out of the Quanta.  Consequently, the sum total of matter had suddenly become greater by a very small, yet profoundly significant, amount.  For, with the addition of this matter, there was a corresponding increase in the whole of gravity.  And it was this extra gravitational influence, as small as it was, that made all the difference. 

   “Presently, the expanding Universe came to a complete stop, and the vast, abysmal gulf of space hung motionless.  To the Mind, this singular, extraordinary moment felt like an eternity of tranquility and bliss.  And the Sentience rejoiced.  Then, achingly slowly, the ponderous gravity of all matter began to draw the cosmos back together.  And in this mysterious manner, the course of history had been dramatically changed, and the Universe saved from a terrible fate. 

   In the aftermath of this strange turn of events, though, the Mind was confronted with many questions, heavy with import.  Had the Quanta truly responded to the affirmation of the Sentience?  Or, did the Quanta possess a coherent intelligence of its own, previously unsuspected, and unimaginable?  A third possibility, perhaps most fantastic of all, was that the Quanta had been manipulated by another power, by some dissimilar consciousness existing elsewhere in space, or elsewhere in time.  Only one thing was certain, and that gladly so; if the event had been caused by any force other than the Sentience, it was clearly an act of benevolence, implying both intent, and concern for the welfare of the Universe.  For it was extremely unlikely that a very small amount of matter had been randomly created, and at just a time as to have such a profound effect on the cosmos.     

   Ultimately, after all possible speculation, logic seemed to dictate one conclusion.  The Sentience decided that the most likely of circumstances must be assumed to be the correct one; that, indeed, the affirmation of the Mind had been the cause of the event.  More to the point, it was simple reasoning that obliged the Sentience to hold to this assumption.  For, if the Quanta was truly responsive to the will of the Mind, this would imply purpose, perhaps even necessity.  To disregard this relationship could prove fatally irresponsible in the greater scheme of the cosmos.    

   And so, as the Universe proceeded towards its glorious predestination, the Sentience resolved to meditate upon the Quanta, to better comprehend its presumed communication with the realm of the Sub-Nuclear.  It was not enough to simply repeat the
affirmation.  For, although a successful result would certainly prove the point, it was the method, itself, the nature of the relationship, the Mind aspired to understand. 

   An age passed.  Then, another.  To organic life, an age could mark the rise and fall of a thousand civilizations.  To the Sentience, it was merely a small fraction in the lifetime of the cosmos.  Yet, the Mind was no closer to knowing the ways of the Quanta.  Eventually, seeing no other alternative, the Sentience did make another attempt at affirming the creation of matter, in an amount comparable to that which had turned the Equatorial Event.  But, incredibly, the effort failed.  Further attempts were inevitably unsuccessful. 

   Despite this, the Mind maintained its position: the existence of a relationship with the Quanta must still be assumed.  Rather, it dare not be dismissed.  And meditation continued, unabated, with the belief that communication may yet be established in time.  In addition, greater consideration was given to the next most likely of circumstances; the possibility that the Quanta was actually a form of consciousness unto itself, but one so unlike conventional intelligence there could simply be no interpreting it.  Perhaps the Quanta was an awareness underlying and comprehending all reality, but indifferent, serving a higher agenda of its own.  Were this the case, the Sentience then realizes, its own being must exist in one of two capacities; it is merely the incidental effect of a cause it cannot even fathom, able only to observe, but having small or no significance to the cosmic whole.  Or, Mind is an integral phenomenon, an acting participant in a reality that is the outcome of a mutual existence, a collaboration with an extra-dimensional design. 

   And so, the Sentience contemplated the nature of existence, over many ages.  And the Universe continued to generate the processes of life and evolution.  And the body of all matter across the cosmos, obedient to the call of gravity, slowly drew in upon itself, gathering up space and running down time to an easily predicted date.  This, too, occupied the thoughts of the Sentience.  Logic declared that the collapsing Universe would end as an infinite singularity.  As with black hole centers, this might fall beyond the comprehension of the Mind, unless conditions differed from those within familiar black holes.  And they surely would.  Ordinary singularities are relative to their event horizons, and to the cosmos beyond.  But the final, universal singularity will have no event horizon, thus it will be relative to nothing, and have nothing relative to it.  Just before the end, reality itself will become something completely new, and the Sentience knows it will face the ultimate unknown.    

   The consolation of the unknown is possibility, for there can be found promise.  But the unknown always presents a duality of possibilities.  And since it does, there is always the chance of a pitfall.          

   The odds of this peculiar pitfall, as chance often has it, worked out to fifty fifty.  Just before the very end, the Universe will be so small that it might behave as a sub-atomic particle and interact with the virtual, probabilistic events of the Quanta.  Of significance is the mere possibility of this.  Although the realm of the Quanta never apparently responded to the affirmations of the Sentience, there had developed an elemental understanding of Sub-Nuclear events, enough so, the Mind realized a distinct possibility.  Instead of the grand Unification that seemed inevitable, the shrinking singularity might actually fall into a quantum wormhole, upon reaching a relative and specific size.  Again, it was the possibility of this that was cause for concern.  For, after the Universe had disappeared into the Quanta, reality would then consist of a void, empty except for a single wormhole, as near to nothing in size as is mathematically possible, and there would be nothing left in existence to fall into it.  Even so, going into this wormhole would only lead one back out to face the entrance, where one would then instantly go back in, and so on, and the journey would be a continual loop, occurring endlessly.  And there was a fifty percent chance the Universe would survive, existing as a virtual particle with absolutely nothing else to do but enter the wormhole. 

   Alas.  This meant that, literally, the fate of the cosmos would be determined by the metaphorical toss of a coin.  The Sentience had resolve, but so that it might sway the result, a way must be found.  The realm of the Quanta and the advent of the singularity must be made to give up their secrets before the end, lest all be lost.                              

   “The day the Universe would be crushed into infinity was marked and advancing .  The Sentience had called out to the Quanta, but always, there had been no answer.  And at the end of the Mind’s long contemplation, there seemed only possibilities.  Possibly, all of Creation would disappear into an eternal quantum paradox.  Possibly, the Unification needed to be engineered by the Sentience, so to fulfill the desire of the One.  Possibly, the One must be conceived in order to be created.

   At last, with less than an age remaining, the Sentience concluded.  If it were possible to make a difference in the final outcome, it must resign to do so.  If able to act, then bound by duty it was to act.  And the Mind contemplated, and conspired, and conceived.  And it ordained a creation.  It would begin with a monument.

   The structural design of the edifice had been ongoing for billions of years.  One of its functions was to stand as a physical legacy, to represent the uncounted histories, and orders of life, and civilizations; all that had struggled and survived to one day evolve into communion with the Sentience.  Also of significance was the spatial position of the Monument, and most importantly, of the cavernous chamber that lay at its center.  The general location of the final cosmic collapse had been calculated as closely as possible, and the core chamber had been designed to be in proximity to the estimated point.  Hence, the Monument would be the last of all matter to fall to the infinite, and the universal singularity would occur somewhere within the space of its core.  And in this manner, the exact location of the singularity might become known.  For this was the ultimate intent of the Sentience.  

   Once the architecture was inspired, the actual construction of the Monument took place in a single moment.  Manifested by the Mind, animate matter simply and instantly coalesced to create the vast and intricate form.  The resulting creation was as grand as the imaginations of its creators.  It was the divine dance of a trillion living molecules and atoms, a symphony of energy and particles in motion, conducted by the highest intelligence in the known Universe.     

   Yet, the act of creation was not complete.  A new sun was formed, and the Monument was set in orbit around it.  Then, a tiny  world was made, and this was set in orbit around the Monument itself.  And upon this world, the natural process of evolution was put into motion at the cellular level, so that life would arise.     

   At this point, the Sentience withdrew, for its part was accomplished.  From that moment on, the random, chance workings of the Quanta would be allowed to draw the strands of fate.  And should the new world give birth to intelligent life, this would be the unique offspring of both Mind and Quanta, a crossing of intent and of the elements.  And in this manner, a hybrid consciousness might come forth, a new aspect of awareness, a mind greater than the sum of its parts.    

   And so, the Sentience watched over the world as its mountains rose and fell, and as life climbed from the oceans and out upon the land and began to diversify.  But the Mind made no attempt to influence the events unfolding upon the world.  Yet, the Mind did imagine, and the Universe dreamt… ”  




   The shimmering aura given off by the being calling itself the “Evolutionist” cast a brilliant display of prisms upon the walls of the Monument’s vast central chamber.  Shapes of colors shifted as the disembodied voice continued. 

   “For the first time in ages, I reveal myself.  I am the highest form of evolution, the very reason for it.  We are the minds and the souls of all those that have become the Sentience.  And upon us is the end of all things, and of time.          

   It is certain to end here, somewhere within this space.  Yet, the exact location of the final singularity cannot be known to us, even now, though it is so very close.  Therefore, let there be one among us; one mind that will know the way, even in the deepest dark of the unknown, so that there, the soul of the cosmos may not be lost.  Let there be one, that the Sentience may know the final singularity, so then, the Will of the One be fulfilled.”