Historian's Note: This is an excerpt from the memoirs of the famous explorer Ocrom II, recounting his last audience with his mentor, the 14th Abbot. These were the times shortly before the year of the great tremor.
Listen, gentle disciple. I have decided you are now ready for the final lesson. What you have labored so long to know, I shall now tell you. It is the story of our creation.
This world was born long long ago when the scientific revolution swept across the earth. In that brief instant of time, humanity grasped at last the godly powers of creation and destruction they had long sought, only at the final instant fully realizing the price of doing so. The individual, having acquired the physical power to destroy the earth itself, found it necessary for continued survival to join forces with others in entirely suppressing that very same power. In short, the price of becoming a god is to relinquish entirely the freedom to be evil. For thousands of years, this very same message had been preached by countless prophets, but, of course, few gave it a second thought until the final hour arrived.
Humans continued to exist, but they ceased to live. No longer were they competitive organisms, creating new life in balance with their ability to harness the energy of old life. Instead, they became entirely creative, yielding all destructive powers to the societal super-organism. You who know what it is like to be human may find this metamorphosis hard to imagine, but actually it required less change to human nature than one might think. For the most part, humans stayed the same. The desires of the flesh remained intact, but the flesh itself ceased to exist. Humans became virtual.
What do virtual humans do? They create virtual worlds in which they pretend to be real. And that (at last) brings us back to the story of this world. You see, this place was originally created for that very purpose. It is not the earth, as is commonly believed, but a world within a world. We are all the descendants of avatars, bodies made by humans in the image of their original ones, in which they experienced this place as if it were real. And, of course, to us it is entirely real.
These days, avatars come less and less frequently. I have met two and only heard of several others in my entire life. You can recognize them by a slight air of detachment, a wistful longing in the eye. Perhaps humans have exhausted some of their initial craving to act and are now content to merely observe as their creation evolves. The desires of the flesh may cool in the absence of real consequences. Who knows? They don't like to be questioned about such things.
In any case, dear disciple, it is important to live an interesting life. Be adventurous. Keep the humans amused so they continue to maintain the universe. Perhaps if you are lucky, one will even choose you as avatar. There is no higher purpose in life than in one way or another to be an instrument of god in the eternal process of creation.
Dearest disciple, you have studied hard for nine years and learned very little, because I have taught you very little, because there is very little worth knowing that can be taught. Now I have told you everything you can learn from me in a few short minutes. You may well wonder why it took nine years to reach this point. Quite frankly, I enjoyed the company.
Now, get out of my sight. I do not wish to spoil your memory of a strong, wise guru with the image of a foolish old man weeping. Be gone! And live a good life. That is comfort enough for me.