The sight astonished Favuxo. The landscape around him bore no resemblance to the thriving capital city of his memory. Rubble covered the soil where the towering cone of commerce had once been. The giant central world government building was reduced to scraps of scattered metal. If he'd not recognized some of the pieces of the rubble, Favuxo would have suspected that he'd placed himself on the wrong planet. Looking outward toward the horizon he took in the desolate expanse, apparently devoid of complex life.
Cadopeken remains littered the soil around him, only partially covered by dirt and debris. Scattered among the cadopeken skeletons were those of other animals, all apparently having died at approximately the same time. The lifeless world's silence brought about an emotion in Favuxo stronger than he had ever experienced.
Once the initial shock began to wear off and he could think more clearly, Favuxo went in search of the machine which had been set up to provide him with up to date knowledge of his chosen species. From the machine he would learn what apocalyptic fate had engulfed the planet.
The dry, calm data on the screen told the story. By one hundred and forty nine years before Favuxo had discovered the destruction, about half of the cadopekens had become energy beings. They'd been unable to control themselves, and without truly intending to do so had killed millions with their energy blasts. The non energy cadopekens saw no choice but to destroy them. According to the machine's readout, the cadopekens so destroyed the planet with their energy disrupting weapons that an irreversible process was started which brought about a climate change destroying not only what was left of the cadopeken species, but also destroying almost all other life on the planet.
Favuxo looked up for a moment, out at the sea of dirt and rubble and bones. The shortsightedness of the decaying cadopekens strewn about him had transformed the world around him, which had once teemed with life, into an ocean of death. He found that, however illogical the thought might be, he wished that he could go back in time to die with those about him.
As it seemed to have become his worst enemy, Favuxo turned his thoughts to the concept of time. He reflected on what he knew of it with the desperate irrational hope that he might find some way to defeat it.
Even favuxians knew nothing of how to control time. From the deficiency stemmed the favuxian fear of death, as favuxians generally believed that time would come to an end (approach an end, as an end could not exist without time) in the same way as, looking back, it began (or approached a beginning). The Inabilin provided a favuxian with the greatest possible measure of control, by establishing a known end. Fate had abruptly ripped the slight comfort of the strict ritual away from Favuxo. What remained of the calm his billions of years of preparation had given him disappeared, replaced by the depressing realization that he too was subject to the cruelly unpredictable nature of the universe. He was not the manipulator of the universe, nor was he a detached observer of the universe... he was reminded now that he an object within the universe whose fate would be determined by that context which he could never step outside of.
The whole of the favuxian collective consciousness took note of the thoughts that they were receiving from Favuxo, and called an immediate meeting at Favux. More precisely, the meeting was at the location where that quasar had been billions upon billions of years before... where at the time of this meeting there was nothing at all. The Elder set up a grand meeting room on the favuxian mental plane, however, with room enough for every living favuxian. The Elder telepathically addressed the invisible crowd.
"Favuxo choose to undergo the Inabilin on the planet Cadopek. We must now alter this plan, since every member of the species he planned to join on the planet has perished. Due to the close proximity to the scheduled time of the Inabilin, we must consider all aspects of the situation carefully to decide if it would be proper to award Favuxo a million year extension of life in order to decide upon a new species."
The collective consciousness paused in deep thought. Favuxo found himself cut off -- the Elder had deemed his thoughts on the matter to be unimportant. He could not suppress his panic. For what seemed to him like an eternity, he waited in this panicked state to hear what was to become of him.
After several seconds the Elder reincorporated Favuxo, and transmitted to him the will of the species: "There is agreement. Like all favuxians, Favuxo pledged shortly after his creation that he would undergo the Inabilin at the conclusion of his ten billionth year of life. The contract is inflexible, whatever the circumstances. Order must be maintained no matter the cost to the individual. The Inabilin is the one thing in this universe that is a constant, the one thing that is forever binding and unquestionably meaningful. To delay the Inabilin would call into question its validity, and through that spread uncertainty into all aspects of favuxian life. We cannot risk allowing the eighteen billion year old foundation of this society to crumble because of such a trivial matter as this."
"But, Elder," Favuxo interrupted, "I cannot choose another species so quickly!"
The mind of the Elder stared at him curiously for a moment, as though trying to grasp how Favuxo could have failed to understand the situation. "You will not choose another species. You will become a cadopeken on the planet Earth, where some still remain alive."
Fringend (the favuxian who had all along been observing Favuxo) interrupted. "Elder, there are too few cadopekens on Earth. It will be impossible for him to blend in. They will know that he is not one of them." Fringend paused, altering his strategy. "As well, you have said many times that you wish to give every opportunity to live a mortal life span of normal length, and it appears that the humans will kill off the last of the cadopekens very soon."
The Elder considered the predicament carefully, and then announced his verdict to Favuxo. "Since it will be more in keeping with the ideals of the Inabilin, by allowing you to live a natural life span and be accepted as a member of the species, you will become a human."
The imaginary meeting room vanished as quickly as it had appeared, with all of its former occupants going back to their respective tasks in different parts of the universe. Favuxo found himself entirely alone, ignored. He understood that the decision was final, and that preparation for the Inabilin would begin immediately on Earth.
The imaginary meeting room vanished as quickly as it had appeared, with all of its former occupants going back to their respective tasks in different parts of the universe. Favuxo found himself entirely alone, ignored. He understood that the decision was final, and that preparation for the Inabilin would begin immediately on Earth.
Favuxo knew that it would be best to try to stop thinking. He knew that all the choices in his life had been made already, that everything remaining for him to do would be required of him. During the days remaining until the Inabilin, he knew that he should spend his time on Earth trying to discover something interesting that he could do with his short time as a human.
Upon returning to Earth, Favuxo learned that the energy beings and the guns intended for use against them were wreaking havoc around the world. Favuxo had expected the humans to form large search parties to comb every square inch of the planet to exterminate their enemies. Instead, most human beings sat in front of their television sets with unwaveringly calm and vacant expressions. He wondered if becoming a human would help him to understand that at all.
Observing the situation, Favuxo wondered if what had occurred on Cadopek had been similar. It was still incomprehensible to him that a species he had so respected could have done such a thing to itself, but he could imagine what things might be like on Earth if instead of about a thousand of them there were millions of energy beings, as there had been on Cadopek.
Favuxo passed a week wandering the Earth aimlessly, without a physical form. He planed to enjoy his formless existence until the last moment, when it would finally be ripped away from him. The fateful moment was moving ever closer, and there was nothing Favuxo could do to get away. Despite his ten billion years of preparation, he found himself to be unready. He found himself counting off the seconds he had remaining. In an attempt to calm himself, he placed himself far away, deep in empty space. He attempted to collect his thoughts and draw on his vast experience in order to prepare himself for the inevitable.