"You're the last one… now, what to do with you? As the final seed I will be planting, I suppose I should make you a little special…"
A middle-aged man sat in an expanse of empty space. As he pondered his current predicament, he glanced down at the object in his hand—an egg. Seemingly ordinary and without the slightest imperfection, it floated in his grasp. He tilted his head from side to side, trying to decide what to do with it.
"Hmm… is there a need to think so hard about it? Let's just—"
Before he could complete his thought, the egg shook violently. The space around it vibrated and began to fracture, sending out waves of chaotic energy that discharged through the void. The man peered down in mild shock, narrowing his eyes at the source of the commotion.
"...How curious. An unborn egg of chaos that already has its own will? Wait, that's impossible… I never gave primordial chaos intellect, let alone an ego. Curious… truly curious indeed."
As the man inspected the egg more closely, his eyes turned golden, illuminating not only the egg but the entirety of the void. Through his gaze, he could see the mass of chaos swirling within the shell. But unlike the previous eggs he had observed, this one gave off something… something he neither expected nor anticipated.
Fear.
Fear of the unknown.
The egg of primordial chaos—the beginning of every reality—was afraid of the situation it was in.
But that's impossible. Primordial chaos is the damn unknown. How can one be afraid of something when it is the origin of all things? the man shouted inwardly. Unless… it's afraid of me? Afraid of the decision I'm about to make?
Pondering once again, the man lifted the egg to eye level and stopped the flow of unknown power to his eyes.
"Hmm… you're an anomaly, kid. Of all the realities I've created, not one of the seeds I left behind awakened an ego like you. Hell, I didn't even think it was possible until now. And that… that makes you dangerous. After all, who likes having unknowns in their house? You'd have to be crazy to invite something you don't understand into your life, right?"
As the man spoke, his face grew more and more indistinct until, by the end, all that remained visible was a golden halo and two sky-blue irises. The void trembled as a massive, mounting aura converged around him. He lifted the egg closer to his face as it struggled. Just before the gathered energy was released—
"Lucky for you, I went crazy eons ago! HEHAHAHAHA! Interesting, how very interesting! Something so fascinating after an eternity of the same boring routine. I've decided—"
As quickly as his threatening mood appeared, it vanished. His face reformed, looking years younger than before. With a wide grin, he pushed the egg away, sending it hurtling into the void.
"You will be my last creation—my masterpiece! You will be my entertainment for however long you remain conscious. I want to see the reality you create, the lives you give birth to. Will they be different from the others? Curious, curious… I am truly curious to see the results of your birth!"
Gleeful, the man pranced in circles, humming an unknown tune before stopping. He looked toward where he had sent the egg and examined it again, noticing yet another strange occurrence.
"Wait… with all the weirdness around you, it could be hundreds, if not thousands, of eons before you are born. The amount of energy you're siphoning from the surrounding void is incredible, yet you still need so much time? Alright then—let's help you out a bit."
Finishing his thoughts, the man inserted his hands into the fabric of the void and tore it apart. He then moved almost instantaneously to the egg's location and placed it beneath the rift he had created.
"Let's see here. I've created around a trillion realities over the last few eons. I'm sure some of them can be used as fuel for this little glutton."
Peering into the swirling rift, rifling through his personal catalog of disposable realities, the egg once again trembled—though this time, the emotion felt different.
"Hm? Oh, are you curious, little one? No… not just curiosity. Excitement?"
The man's smile grew wider and wider.
"I'm going to like you, little one—"
Violent shaking
"—hey, what's with the disgusted emotion you're sending me, huh? I'll have you know I have no gender, so there's nothing wrong with what I said in any context!"
Even more violent shaking
"Okay, okay, relax—you don't have to be so disgusted. You aren't much of a looker yourself, man… wait, how do you even know you're male? How do you have a gender?? You're literally a cosmic gas of nothingness right now! Know what… forget I asked. It's more fun when I don't understand everything."
Ignoring the judgmental cosmic egg, the man turned back to the rift, still searching for realities to destroy.
"This one is too young… this one is too old… this one feels special—hm? Whatever, take that off the list. Know what? Let's just do them all!"
In frustration, he reached into the rift and pulled out a cluster of colossal, glowing orbs of different colors. Within them were galaxies and universes, completely unaware of what was about to happen. The man dragged the orbs—each infinitely larger than himself—toward the tiny egg. Then, in one brutal motion, he clapped his hands together, smashing them all at once and snuffing out an infinite number of lives in the cold silence of the void.
"Andddd done! That was easy—I didn't even have to sweat, haha!"
As he laughed, he looked at what the orbs had left behind: a region of shattered void swirling around a drop of liquid that devoured reality itself. It twisted into different shapes, boiling as if set aflame by primordial fire.
"Ah, pure chaos dew. Just what we need, little one. Now let's add a few things to perfect it. A little order to balance the chaos… a little more primordial fire to make it brighter… and done."
After throwing items of pure madness into the drop, it calmed. No longer raging, it now pulsed with an unknown allure, making the egg shake more violently than ever before. The man pulled the drop toward himself and faced the egg, speaking in a grave tone.
"Three billion realities—an uncountable number of lives—snuffed out with the clap of my hands, all to feed you. I expect great things from you, little one. Entertain me. Show me I wasn't wrong to place the hope of relieving my boredom on you. Show me that your curious nature is worthy of my interest."
He sent the drop into the egg, which absorbed it immediately. The shaking ceased. Reality itself seemed to pause with it. Under the man's gaze, the egg began to pulse at an even rhythm, glowing brighter with each pulse as it devoured the surrounding energy. Faster and faster it pulsed—almost chaotic—until it consumed all energy in the void around them, dimming once more.
"Oh? Curious indeed, hehe… 'til next we meet, little one. I look forward to the story you bring me."
With those parting words, the man vanished without a trace, leaving the egg alone in the abyss. Time passed without measure—perhaps a minute, a day, a thousand years, or a million—but the egg did not change.
Until at last… it expanded to an immeasurable size and pulsed once more.
Then it shrank, smaller than a needle tip.
A crack echoed.
White light filled the void.