Judai

Hey there to anyone reading! I'm glad to have finally gotten this series up and running as it has been super fun to write. Feel free to comment and leave ideas if you want, and doing so is actually encouraged. Let's see what being a Cosmic Entity is all about now, huh?

Has life ever hit you with a curveball? And yes I mean that in both a literal and metaphorical sense.

6th grade. Youth baseball league. My coach was practicing wind-ups with his “star pitcher” of a son when he nailed me in the side of my head with a wicked curveball. I had a bruise the size of...well a baseball for an entire month.

That’s only half of the point though. When life throws you a metaphorical curveball the feeling is way different. Sometimes it hits hard, leaving a scar that will never heal. Other times it puts you at a loss, making you unsure of what to do with yourself.

Recently life hit me with the second type of metaphorical curveball. 

Now I know what you’re going to say. “Jay, life works in mysterious ways just learn to deal with it.” Wait a minute, did I tell you guys my name?

Jay Thomas, soon to be senior at Bullock High School. Or at least I was, but I’ll tell you about that soon enough.

Anyways, back to the point. The ball that life hit me with recently couldn’t be swung at, examined, or processed using any common sense. It was such a crazy event in my life that no prior experiences or knowledge could help with comprehending it.

What was this curveball you ask? I guess the only way to explain it would be to tell you the events that led up to it happening.

Flashback sequence starting...now!

…

Like I said before my name is Jay Thomas, I was a student that attended Bullock High School in Colorado. For those of you who don’t know where or what Colorado is, it’s a state in the middle of the United States. Hippies, racists, potheads, minorities, and every group far and in between live in this crazy ass state.

Before the events that I mentioned earlier happened, I was just your typical 18-year-old black kid that went to school, played sports, loved video games, and most of all loved girls.

It was July, a month before the start of my senior year of high school. Senior year was supposed to be my best year before moving on to college and eventually living a normal life. Only things changed one day when I was walking home from the rec center after playing basketball with my friends.

The sky was already dark since it was past 9:00 o’clock at night. I took the usual path home of walking through Victory Park, onto the back trail, and over the bridge. Everything about my walk was normal, it was a relaxing and enjoyable experience. That was until a weird voice popped into my head while I was walking across the bridge.

“Hey there Jay, got a minute?” A male voice with a leisurely tone suddenly caught my attention.

I paused on the bridge and looked around, checking both behind and in front of me to see who just spoke.

“You can’t see me, I’m in your head.” The voice chuckled loudly.

“What the fuck is going on?”

My only reaction was to question what was happening. Hearing voices in your head that you didn’t control? Wouldn’t that be pretty freaking crazy?

“Who are you? How are you in my head?”

At the time these were the only words I could get out of my mouth. The situation was just too weird to describe. I could tell you that it felt like an ominous presence was casually parading around my mind, but how exactly does that feel? Not even I can help you with that one.

“My name is, well I haven’t actually thought about that before. Just call me Bob!”

Bob? Are you kidding me right now? Of all the possible names for this creepy ass presence to have it had to be Bob?

“Alright Bob, how are you in my head right now? And what do you want with me, no offense but I definitely don’t know anyone named Bob.”

The voice just laughed again for a few moments before calming down and returning to its leisurely tone.

“I’m in your head because I need your help with something. But I can’t tell you what that something is right now, you’ll have to come with me to find that out yourself. Showing you would be so much easier, plus I think you’re gonna like what it is.”

Is this how kids get lured into the vans of creepers and pedophiles? Was I being tested by some hidden camera show that my parents had set me up on? I get that I’m an 18-year-old adult, but still, some people were pretty weird. Just look at Jeffrey Dahmer! 

After thinking about it I decided that it was helpless to run away from a voice in my head, and there was no sense in seeking help because people would think I was crazy. This left me with only one option: to play along and see where things went.

“Hmm, alright then Bob. Show me what you need my help with.” I responded with a somewhat annoyed tone.

The moment I responded Bob’s voice replied with the utmost amount of seriousness.

“If I show you then there’s no backing out. This is the point of no return. Are you sure you want to help me?”

Wha...what? Either this dude was a really great actor or he was being super intentional with his tone because it made me feel a sense of urgency when answering back.

“U-Um, yes! I will help you with whatever you need to be helped with...As long as it isn’t illegal, get me in trouble with my mom, or involve clowns.” Could you blame me? No not about the illegal stuff or getting in trouble with my mom, but the clowns. I mean who ACTUALLY likes clowns?

As if directly on cue the world around me suddenly faded into white, completely disappearing from existence. Meanwhile, Bob was going ballistic in my mind obviously wanting to celebrate.

I wanted to shut Bob up to give my mind some peace, but the concept of mental peace was completely gone from my brain.

What happened to the bridge!? Where am I? How did I get here?

Countless questions flooded my head as if a dam in my brain had been blown apart and unleashed an apocalyptic flood. Common sense could normally be used to process situations, but what about when that situation was anything but common and lacked any sense?

My heart rate went through the roof and I nearly fainted from confusion, but luckily I didn’t. That would’ve been embarrassing, even if being embarrassed was the least of my concerns at the time.

In the midst of my confusion and sudden hyperventilation, a small man appeared in front of me with a smile on his face.

“Let me help clear your mind, I didn’t think this would be such a shock to you. Sorry, it’s just that I’ve never done this before.”

The man walked over to me and placed two fingers on my forehead. A yellow light flashed from the point of contact, completely blocking my vision until it dissipated.

When the yellow light was gone and the man removed his fingers from my head I was able to think clearly. All of my confusion, fear, and worry was suddenly gone. A wave of relaxation spread throughout my body, giving me a very mellow feeling inside.

With my mind intact again I was able to make out the appearance of this strange man. He was roughly 5’9”, which was a lot shorter than me since I was 6’4”. His skin was white, he had blonde hair, was perfectly shaven, green eyes, and a skinny build. He wore an unbuttoned tropical pink shirt with flowers on it, a white t-shirt underneath, khaki-colored cargo shorts, and brown sandals.

Despite having a dorky appearance the man’s face was cool and relaxed, like an exaggerated act from cops in 90s action films.

“Hey there bud, welcome to a little place I like to call the Unknown. Just came up with that name actually, pretty cool huh?”

My mind was still stuck on the man’s funny appearance, but his voice quickly brought me back to “reality,” if that’s what this place was.

“Bob? Is that what you look like?” I tried holding back a laugh but it wasn’t possible. His appearance was too corny!

“Duhhhh, it’s me. Your friendly neighborhood Bob. And no, this is not what I look like. This is just the appearance I chose to interact with you.”

Bob’s words were confusing, causing my original emotions to slowly begin kicking back in. It seemed as if Bob could sense the change in my body as he began talking to clear things up.

“Don’t freak out, just listen. Here take a seat.”

Bob flicked his hand toward me and a wooden chair slid up behind me out of nowhere. When the chair stopped my body sat down on its own without me making it do anything.

“This can’t be happening right now. It’s all a dream! I’m back at the rec center probably knocked out from a dirty elbow or something. In a few minutes I’ll wake up and realize how crazy this is!”

Bob chuckled again, at this point it was getting a little scary.

“Funny thing about the Unknown, nothing stays unknown. I can hear your thoughts right now, you can hear mine also. Watch this.”

“French toast is superior to all other breakfast dishes, but no one knows a monkey created it!”

Bob’s thoughts reverberated throughout the white space we were currently in, allowing me to hear them clearly.

“French toast was made by a monkey? Wait...no getting off task! None of this makes any sense, why did you bring me here and what’s going on?”

My original confusion and worry turned into anger as I felt this was all some game. I wanted to run away and not look back, but the situation was out of my hand. All I could do was vent toward the cause of my anger.

“Calm down Jay, you said you’d help me so here we are.”

“Help you with what exactly? You haven’t explained yourself very clearly Bob.” Frustration could be heard in my voice, causing Bob to tense up a bit.

“Woah, woah, woah. I’m getting there alright? Let me figure out the best way to put it…”

Bob began pacing back in forth with his hand on his chin, but this only made him look ridiculous because I could hear all of his thoughts thanks to this place he called the Unknown.

“You realize I can hear your thoughts right now, right?” I tried calming down a bit and going with the flow, maybe if I acted more relaxed it would be easier to process what was going on. Although how much of it was me calming down and not that yellow light before, I couldn’t be sure.

God damn this rollercoaster of emotions!

“Huh? Oh yeah! Sorry about that, even I can be forgetful at times.” Bob suddenly flicked his hand again and a chair appeared in front of me. He sat down on it and began speaking once more.

“Pretty much, I am existence itself. You can view me as the embodiment of existence in a sentient form.”

In school I wasn’t some prodigy student, but I still managed to upkeep a 3.8 GPA while taking college courses throughout high school. Even then I still couldn’t comprehend the meaning behind Bob’s words. I knew what he was saying, but the implications were too big!

“Don’t overwork your brain, you’ll figure it out over time. For now, just know that I’m pretty much the ‘God’ you Earth humans view as the all-powerful creator. To be honest I really hate that term though, because being known as existence itself is both more truthful and way cooler.”

God? Like the almighty God? Creator of the universe? Father of Jesus? I was never the religious type, but hearing Bob’s words now made me question everything I ever knew. As if I needed more questions in my head at this point.

“Look at me Jay, I didn’t bring you here to scare you or anything like that. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”

Perhaps the weird forehead touch Bob did to me earlier was kicking back in because my thoughts were calming down after having flared up from the “God” revelation.

“If you didn’t want to scare me then you did a pretty poor job at that. Tell me what you need from me so we can get this over with.”

Getting short with God, not one of my brightest decisions ever now that I look back at it...

Silence followed my words. Bob just stared at me closely which made me feel uncomfortable. Eventually he let out a sigh and spoke.

“I want you to become a Cosmic Entity. And not just any Cosmic Entity, the first Cosmic Entity within my newest creation.”

Seriously? Referring to himself as existence itself was already difficult enough to handle, but asking me to become a Cosmic Entity? Such a job sounded too big for any typical human, it literally had cosmic implications according to the name!

“What’s a Cosmic Entity?” My curiosity got the better of me. I should have been figuring out a way to escape, but instead, I went along with Bob’s words. Escaping would just prove to be futile at this point.

“I’m glad you asked, in essence, I can be described as a Cosmic Entity. It was my job to create countless universes and watch over them like a guardian. Things went pretty smoothly for the first few trillions of years, but eventually things got lonely. Being the supreme creator but having no one to share such a title with was quite boring.”

Bob was obviously sucked into his story so I didn’t interrupt and decided to listen all the way through.

“Sooooo, I decided to create a new plane of existence where other people can carry out that task for me, but in a more fun setting. I call it the Infinity Plane! My plan right now is to fill it with beings from across the many universes and turn them into Cosmic Entities. Then those beings will live life as the supreme beings that overlook their own creations just like me. Only this time they’ll have other people alongside them to make the journey more...interesting. Plus it gives me the chance to take a vacation, one that’s looooong overdue.”

To be completely real with you, I was totally hooked to Bob’s story now. I was willing to take a leap of faith because of how amazing his idea was. And in my defense who wouldn’t be interested? This stuff couldn’t be made up! However, at the end of Bob’s little story, I was concerned by the way he paused and said “interesting.” It was too ominous and full of hidden intent.

“Alright I get the gist of your story, but why did you pick me out of everyone in the world?”

Bob’s laugh sounded out again, it was becoming iconic now.

“The world? Haha! You’re thinking too small Jay! I flipped an omnidimensional spatial dice five times to decide who would become the first Cosmic Entity. The first roll was to decide which universe to choose from, the second which galaxy, the third which system, the fourth which planet, and the fifth which person. Somehow by some luck or fate, your name was chosen out of everyone in existence, not just your world.”

“Nani?” Yeah, I’m an American but anime was always interesting to me! Nani was the only word that seemed to match my thought process at the time!

I looked at Bob curiously. “You mean to tell me that out of every being in existence, which is how many by the way?”

Bob gripped his chin and thought deeply to himself for a moment before answering.

“You Earth humans don’t really have a number to describe the amount of beings in existence. You guys struggle to comprehend past the trillions, so the best answer would be saying that the population of all existence is infinite. The number is too big for you to understand.”

An infinite number of people. What kind of insane luck did it take for me to get picked then? I don’t know really, but my luck in any type of games was terrible so where was all that luck when I needed it?

By now I was too wrapped up in Bob’s words to even think about turning back. Giving up on the opportunity to become God would be the stupidest decision ever made.

“I know you already said it but let me sum up once more. Pretty much, you’re God. Or existence, whatever you want to call it. Now you’re asking me to become the first Cosmic Entity in whatever this ‘Infinity Plane’ is so that I can create entire worlds and be...like you?”

“There’s a TAAAAD bit more that goes into it, but yeah, pretty much. What do you think?” Bob’s eager face stared me down as he held his fists on his lap, awaiting an answer.

“Obviously I’m going to say yes, is that even a debate?”

Bob didn’t seem prepared for that answer so he showed a confused look.

“Really? It was that easy? In a book or movie you’d be asking me what would happen if you said no right about now, but instead you’re already so willing? I had a whole list of countermeasures in case you said no, but now look. They’re completely useless.”

Bob flailed in his chair a little while sighing out loud. He then pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and threw it across the Unknown. The notebook flew so fast and so far that it instantly escaped my vision after being released from his hand. 

I looked at Bob with squinted eyes to ponder what he said, equally interested in the notebook he threw with such power.

“Yep, there’s no way I could turn this down. I mean come on, living on Earth was cool and all but compared to this? Boring. There’s only one request that I have though.”

Unlike before Bob was ready for those words. He instantly regained his previous attitude and crossed his arms over his chest while smirking. “And what would that be, Jay?”

“My family, I want them to come with me.” My request was simple. Leaving my family without any answers would be impossible. I loved them more than anything in the world, if I were to disappear without them coming along with me then what would happen? They’d all think I ran away or got killed by some psycho most definitely. Bringing them along was a necessity.

“Ha, typical.” Bob chuckled as if he knew way ahead of time what I wanted.

“You can bring them along, but they can’t become Cosmic Entities themselves. Their only option for living will be under your guidance, from there what happens is up to you. Also, I’ll only bring them over once you’ve set yourself up in the Infinity Plane. Otherwise, the transition will be harder on you.” Bob spoke in a calm tone as if doing business, no longer acting playfully or spontaneously.

“Deal, it works out perfectly for both of us. So what’s next, are you going to give me the rundown on the Infinity Plane?” My intentions with this question were pure, but the look Bob gave me in return made me feel weird inside.

“Your journey in the Infinity Plane will be without me. Instead, all Cosmic Entities will be given a guide to help them out. If anything happens and you need to get a hold of me for some reason then send a prayer my way. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy your new life!”

Before I could ask any questions, and believe me I had plenty more, my vision went dark and I fell unconscious.

...

That pretty much brings you guys up to speed with everything that’s happened. Weird, right? Life works in mysterious ways, or should I say existence does? Or...Bob? These questions are getting out of hand.

Back to important matters, now that you guys are caught up there’s no need for the flashback sequence anymore. Let’s just hope this “Infinity Plane” Bob spoke about is as cool as he made it out to be!

…

After an unknown amount of time, I awoke in a white room. Unlike the Unknown where I had spoken with Bob before, this room had actual dimensions instead of being an infinite white space. It was roughly three meters by three meters with a three-meter high ceiling. Aside from my sprawled body on the floor the room was empty.

I stood up and rubbed my head trying to bring my brain back into focus. I wasn’t sure why but my head hurt, and it wasn’t a normal headache. Instead, it felt like the very fiber of my being had been stuffed in a blender and mixed on the highest setting, making my brain and body feel disoriented.

Several minutes later the strange feeling subsided and my eyes were greeted with a screen.

// Welcome to the Infinity Plane, Cosmic Entity #1! Please choose a public identity to be displayed for all other Cosmic Entities that live here. It is recommended that you do not set this name as your actual one. \\

The screen was a large text box floating in the space ahead of me. Although I read the words on the screen there was also a voice that read it out loud, sounding very like a female robot.

“Let’s go with...Judai. Please set my public identity to Judai.”

My reasoning behind this name was none other than the fact that it sounded cool. Besides, from the looks of things, this name was just a screen name to be used between Cosmic Entities. It probably functioned similarly to a character name in a game.

// Processing...please wait. \\

// Congratulations! Your public identity has been set to “Judai.” Please note that your name cannot be changed unless you purchase a name changer from the Creator Store. \\

Really? Being a god capable of creating universes came with having to buy items from a store? Bob was practically a video game company trying to milk his players. All I could hope for was fair pricing in this “Creator Store” the system spoke of.

// All Cosmic Entities are given a guide to assist them on their journey of creation. Please begin designing your guide, and remember, imagination is your limit. Be sure to think of the gender and race of your guide as well. \\

This text box came and went, immediately being replaced by an empty screen in front of my eyes after I finished reading it.

// Please imagine the appearance of your guide. Whatever you imagine will be conveyed on the screen in front of you, allowing you to confirm the guide’s appearance before continuing. When you are ready to confirm simply think of doing so. \\

“Design my guide? Easy enough I guess.” In my head, I obviously chose to make the guide a female human. Totally boring, I get it but hear me out. If you were alone in a completely different plane of existence, wouldn’t you want some familiar company?

The plan was to shape my guide into the ideal woman, even though there were many versions of the “ideal woman” in my mind. What can I say? I don’t discriminate!

Her height was about 5’7 so that she wasn’t too tall or too short. Her skin was tanned and she had long black hair that curled down to her back. As for the eyes, brown eyes were too basic so I went with hazel to contrast her skin tone. Naturally, her figure was the perfect hourglass, not too thin on the waste though as a little thickness was quite nice. With her clothes I decided on something modest, but cute at the same time. She had a large pink shirt that was a bit too big for her torso, tight blue jeans, and pink shoes to match. Something about a girl wearing your shirt was just a little too sexy, so I applied the same logic here.

When I finished designing the woman in my head she appeared on the screen in front of me. Altogether she looked like an unparalleled beauty, but her lips were pretty small. I instantly changed them to be a bit bigger so that they were more visually appealing. After that, I took a good look at her and smiled.

“I’ve gotta hand it to myself she’s beautiful! Not once in my life have I seen a girl this attractive.” My mind was lost gazing at the beauty of a woman on my screen, it took me a second to regain my thoughts and confirm her appearance.

// Now that your guide has an appearance please assign them a personality. Be as specific as possible so that there is no room for error. Anything you leave out will be assigned by the system. \\

“Assign a personality huh? That’s interesting to say the least.”

Assigning a personality seemed to be a big deal so I began thinking hard. Of course she had to be a fun person full of curiosity. Additionally, seeing as how she was a guide it made sense to have her be intelligent and adventurous. That way her job would be carried out more easily.

What? Did you think I’d make her some mindless sex robot or force her to love me? Trust me, and I speak from personal experience, being forced into having feelings for someone is terrible. I couldn’t force any of that onto my guide, even if she was my own creation. Her being a genuine person (if that was possible) was all I wanted.

Furthermore, being friends with her was enough for me despite her being the “perfect” girl in my opinion. That’s another reason why I made her personality so fun and adventurous.

// A personality has now been assigned to your guide. Last but not least, please name them. \\

“Hmm, a boring name like Heather or Patrice would be dumb. It needs to be something a little more interesting.” I thought long and hard about a possible name for my guide when a good one finally crossed my mind.

In my head, I thought to myself, “I choose the name Venus.” Not too basic, but not over the top either.

Seconds later the system processed my thoughts and another text box popped up.

// Congratulations on creating your guide! Please wait while she is materialized. \\

In the white room a strange energy filled the air as a person began appearing right in front of me. First the feet, then the legs, then the torso and arms, finally leading up to the head full of hair. When she fully appeared my mind was lost in her beauty since she was specifically designed as one of my dream girls.

“Hey there Jay, what’s with the weird face?” Venus spoke with a soft, playful voice. Hearing her speak was like music to my ears, making it even harder to focus. After a few awkward moments of silence, I was able to think straight again.

“Oh, sorry about that. I just haven’t seen someone materialize into existence before. This was the first time.” Although true, I have to admit, part of me was entranced by her looks still.

I wasn’t sure if it was okay for me to speak to her about this mysterious system at work, but since no magical lightning struck me and no warning lights came on, it seemed to be fine.

“It’s okay don’t worry about it. I was born from the system to guide you as a Cosmic Entity, but it’s thanks to you that I’m a living, breathing person. Being materialized doesn’t change that. Think of the current me as an adult human that skipped straight from the womb to being who I am now.”

Venus’ logic made sense, but at the same time it didn’t make any sense. Skipping from the womb to adulthood? What a crazy thing to say! Yet it had happened right in front of my eyes!

“Alrighty then. How about we get to work, silly?”

Oh no, was I perhaps too generous with the personality assignment? Being called silly by my dream girl was both a blessing and a curse! Both cute and demeaning!

“Uh- sure, let’s get started.” 

I could tell right away that this was going to be a wild ride...

Chapter End.