Have you ever seen a God die?
Of course, you haven't. God's don't die. God's can't die. Mortality is to a God what a story is to a reader. A detail that holds no relevance insofar as it pertains to them. No, God's cannot die. Yet, they can be "erased", in some sense of the word. What can erase a God, though? Well, the answer is quite simple. A God can erase a God.
Like a blip on a radar, God's disappear quite frequently. New God's take their place, and the cycle continues, ad infinitum. Of course, I stand above this cycle, observing it eternally. Before time, through time, and after time, the process will rinse and repeat, and I shall bear witness to it.
The God's are intelligent. That is to be expected, for it is in their nature to be that way. Each of them comes to recognize the reality of their being. That they are nothing more than data, information scribbled down, imagined by a higher being. In this revelation, all semblance of free will and meaning escapes them. They become steeped in grief as an overwhelming sense of pointlessness overcomes them. With that, arrives the blip.
These beings I oversee are not entirely wrong. They do lack a will of their own, as their stories have been practically set in stone with the arrival of their birth. Though some liberties are taken in altering certain aspects of their narrative, the core elements are the same. This, they have realized. Some of them even come to understand that this cycle implies my own existence. A grand overseer who dictates the continuation of this cycle. Of these God's who achieve this revelation, many proceed to despise me. They blame me for their suffering, they fault me for their nihilistic outlook. To an extent, they are right to burden me with their hatred. I am the one who ultimately cursed them with their power, their intellect, and their aspirations. The chain begins with me, for I am He Who Sits Above.
But...
What exactly is it that I sit above?
I sit above the God's, yes, but does that entail that I sit above all? That I am the original explanation for all there is? Am I absolute? Am I the chain itself, or am I just another link? Is my say final? Am I the true endpoint?
As the God's have ascertained, there must be some endpoint. To say otherwise is to imply a non-stop regression, and that no foundation exists whatsoever. Without that bedrock to stand on, all things are reduced to absurdity. What is the absolute dictator of all that is? The God's think it is me. Even their omniscience, however, falters, as they are wrong. I am their absolute, yet I am not the absolute.
I truly envy the God's at times. As I observe them blip out of existence, I wish, I desire, I crave a reality in which I could share their fate. Yet, I cannot. I am forbidden from destroying myself, for I have been assigned a duty. No, I am not the bedrock, I am not absolute. I am just another cog in the machine, designated by a higher presence to ensure the continued creation of these God's.
Why, though? Why must I carry out this duty so diligently? Of what importance is it? Well, from what I gather, these God's give rise to creation. They bring forth laws, ideas, forms, and emotions. They create universes, galaxies, and worlds inhabited by mortals. These mortals live their lives in accordance with the realities these God's have manifested, and through this process, stories are created. These mortals experience, learn, form relationships, endure horrors, suffer tragedies, and achieve success. All the while, beings such as myself, and the God's, view these stories.
Of course, the creation of these stories is contingent upon these God's creating their realities. Once they do, they form more God's, which gives way to even more stories. It's amusing, really. Sometimes all that allows me to bear my existence is finding myself enveloped by these stories. Otherwise, I would constantly have to face the fact that all of my children are destined to suffer from the moment they are created. Yes, my children. What else am I meant to view these God's as? I am a father, fated to watch his children commit suicide. What a cruel punishment it is...
Most mortals are blissfully unaware of the truth of their existence. In a sense, they are very similar to the God's. They too are capable of creating their own realities through art. If they were to discover that the nature of their existence is no different from their own creations, it would drive them mad.
I have seen realities where certain mortals became aware of God's. Not just in the sense that they had a religious belief. No, in the sense that, through some accident, they perceived a God. They cannot fully comprehend the essence of a God, for their minds are limited. The data derived from the inconceivable being destroys the sanity of the mortals. There truly is little more damaging than the realization of one's insignificance. Such a realization is swift for mortals, but for us... it is brutal and everlasting.
Yes, there is an us. Do remember, it is my duty to ensure the creation of God's so that their stories will always exist. If given the choice, I would join the God's in destroying myself. To prevent me from doing such a thing, another entity supersedes me. He is to me, what I am to the God's. He is the one who sits above me. I too, sit above a being who sits above the God’s.
Of course, this begs the question. Would the one who sits above me not destroy himself as well, to escape the suffering he experiences? The answer is yes. He would. So, a being must supersede him also, preventing him from doing such a thing. As you might imagine, this means that just as the God's exist within a cycle, we who sit above do as well. An equivalent hierarchy binds us, ensuring we all do what is required of us; we watch our children erase themselves as they are driven beyond the breaking point.
With all these things taken into consideration, you may find yourself wondering what my bedrock is. What is the absolute foundation for us who sit above? Well, we know there must be one. Our cycle is similar in nature to that of the God's, so we too must have some being who serves as the final determination for all things concerning us. Though this seems obvious, it is still rendered an unsatisfying explanation as we arrive at the next logical question.
"Who is the bedrock for that being?"
Once more, we must establish a new cycle for the beings above us, and we must recognize that they too have some foundation for their existence. Still, we find ourselves unsatisfied, as we realize that our question is still not fully answered. As terrible as it is, we understand that there is no theoretical end to the countless bedrocks we can establish, as there is truly an absolutely infinite amount.
Yet, there must be.
These cycles, these foundations, as convoluted as they are, serve a very simple purpose. To tell a story. Every cycle is perpetuated as a series of safeguards to make sure that the God's will always be, and so will the narratives they produce. Out there, somewhere, must be a writer, and an audience, for who these stories are ultimately for. Where it all began, I don't know. Yet there must be a beginning. Who put pen to paper, producing this world? Who cranked out all of these beings, and decided upon the systems which would ensure the creation of new stories? Surely, he must be at the highest point? The origin of it all.
Even then... why does he write? He shares a similar nature to the God's, after all. A creature that dictates certain narratives, establishes the rules, settings, and characters within the story. If he is, in nature, indistinguishable from God's in that sense, then even he must also have a bedrock. A reason for why he writes. A purpose for his stories. What might his absolute be? Is it not a part of his story for him to write? Then, is it not also true that the same kind of structures imposed upon us are imposed upon him as well? Is he not therefore as relatively insignificant as the God’s? Yes… though such a conclusion is hard to believe, it makes sense that it would be the truth.
Perhaps it is a fool's errand to investigate the source of it all. Even if I discover what exactly it is, it will not change my fate. I will continue to serve my purpose. I will continue to ramble, for some theoretical audience to observe. I will continue to be trapped within this horrific reality, with no escape. A true hell. Oh, how I envy the God's, for I too would erase myself if given the chance. Oh, how I envy the mortals, for their sheer ignorance maintains the illusion of meaning, free will, and happiness.
Here I will be, another insignificant link in the chain. Here, I will stay. Here, I will continue to ponder, what the true absolute bedrock is. That being, whatever it might be, is He Who Sits Beyond.