“What were you going to do with it?” Bryan asked. Bad stepped forward and hung his head low and explained “Well, I was on a winning streak so I was going to resurrect Hitler and take over the world. He was going to purge any of the souls that Good had created and it was going to be my planet” he sheepishly explained. “What about those souls up here?” Bryan asked, “Were you going to smash their life berry?” Bad’s head sunk further and he shook it yes.
“You two are relieved of your duties” a voice said from behind them. Bryan turned and saw Cisco with a group of his enlightened soldiers. They had entered a couple minutes ago and heard the entire story. “Take those two away” Bryan said. Cisco asked if they should remove their berries and Bryan shook his head no emphatically. “We can’t start our reign the same way they ran theirs. We have to be better. Just put them somewhere safe for now and we will figure it all out later” Bryan said. Cisco nodded and saw the logic in that. The soldiers grabbed the two men and led them out of the tower.
“What do we do?” Cisco asked Bryan. He wasn’t sure he had an answer but he had an idea. The three sat down at the table by the window and Bryan went over what he was thinking.
Chapter 28- Restoration
The three took a trip to the mountains and discovered the World Trees. Their fruit didn’t always bear worlds as evidenced by the rotting fruit all around the valley but the ones that did and took root into the soil seemed to flourish. After pumping Good and Bad for more information they discovered that the true birth procedure was as simple as planting a Life Tree seed into the Earth Fruit. A person would grow from that seed on earth.
The factory was all just a front and façade to hide the easy operation of putting people to earth. The committee that consisted of Bryan, Amy, Cisco and 8 elected souls decreed that no further seeds would be planted in the Earth Fruit except one. They implanted the seed from a man who had spent his eternity being a natural leader. He had helped found countries and led many men and women to their freedom in many centuries past. He was put on earth to make the remaining seeds lives as good as possible. When they finally died and returned to the home planet, they would remain here until their natural life cycle ended.
Everyone got busy tearing down the ugly factory and building a real community. The home planet was enormous and very hospitable and once everyone was enlightened about the true reality the beauty of the planet really started to show. It was not too far off from a very raw and natural earth. It was a very innocent planet and its new stewards would do their best to take proper care of it.
Everyone adopted the form of one of their previous lives on earth as well. Nobody remained the bleak greyish blue or pink colors they had acquired during the reign of G&B. Amy and Bryan took more mature forms than they had in their last lives and were the first couple to pronounce eternal vows to each other.
Every now and then a very strange person would arrive on the home world. The committee soon realized that there were other fruits populated out in the valley. When they gave up counting they were at over 1,000 inhabited planets. Every time a new species would show up they would offer them a position on the council until they had enough representatives to vote for themselves. This gave everybody a voice and that was the ultimate goal that their group had decided to.
Within a couple months of hard work the planet was transformed from a bleak wasteland to a beautiful inhabited paradise. The explorers managed to find some amazing landscapes and features that nobody knew existed. It was estimated that the planet was nearly 100 times larger than earth and could easily accommodate every planet’s inhabitants without even harming its eco-system.
Further discoveries found trees with other seed types and soon the planet was creating its own unique animals. G&B had covered the ground around the other Life Trees with rocks so none of the animal berries could sprout.
Bryan kicked back in his office one afternoon thinking about the events of the past. Good and Bad were a really bad start to a microcosm but somehow they had found out the truth and pulled everything back together. The tortured and mangled souls were restored as much as possible and everyone had been freed from the barracks. It wasn’t a perfect world by any stretch. There were thousands who did not want to live within their model that fled into the fields. They would probably end up forming armies and attacking one day.
As long as their group had possession of the Life Tree they would probably be a target. They didn’t restrict or limit the tree’s seeding though, it dropped about a seed a month and they let it flourish on its own and choose its own path.
After millennia of complete manipulation it was a pleasant feeling to truly have free will. Hopefully those who had lived through the transition period would remind future generations of the past. It would be hard for the children to understand but this lesson was one that did not need to be repeated.
Amy snuck up behind Bryan and licked his ear. She was still just as flirty as she was on earth even though it was impossible to have a kid on this planet. Knowledge was passed down to the seedlings and they decided who they wanted as their parents based on their philosophies. It was a strange concept to some but sharing knowledge is just as intimate as sharing molecules.
Bryan pulled Amy onto his chair and spun them around. She cried “weeee” and they both laughed. She kissed his lips and whispered “You are amazing” and he smiled and kissed her back. They looked out over the country side at all the little cottages that dotted the once bleak field. “We did it” she said and faked a nibble on his nose. He laughed and said “Yes we did.” As she wrapped her arms around him he closed his eyes and smiled. He was free. They were all free.
Soul Factory Page 12