CHAPTER 16 So, what's the answer?   The One-armed-bandit was waiting for us again. It winked and we both shivered. "Come on boys, give me a whirl," it purred seductively. We turned and ran as fast as we could. But when we stopped to rest, kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath, we heard the Fortune-Blaster whistling amusedly behind us. I stumbled to my feet, ready to try to flee again. "Ah, just pull the darn thing," Bo wheezed, holding my leg with one sweaty hand. The other was clasped to his chest. "But..." I argued. "Maybe you'll strike it rich this time." "Yeah, right," I snickered. "Anyway, one thing's for sure," Bo panted. "We'll never get away from it." The Fortune-Blaster wheeled over beside me and flashed a huge smile. "Come on, Jack. Pull it already!" Bo pleaded in agony; the thing's wheels were resting on his toe. I sighed and closed my eyes, expecting the worst when I pulled the lever. I yanked it down, and then jumped back. I expected an explosion. I expected an earthquake. I expected something. But, except for the fact that it rolled off Bo's toe, nothing happened. I leaned over and looked at the four windows. The first one had stopped, but the other three were still spinning. In the first window there was a bowl of cherry pits, and under it was some writing. I leaned even closer to make out the fine print. "From a Singularity of Love an infinite number of Universes were created, each with varying intensities of the Force of Love. The purpose of life is to nurture the force of love to help evolve one's Universe towards a higher level of consciousness. When one universe has been transformed to its highest potential it will have a ripple effect, transforming all of the universes into a singularity of love." I was ecstatic. "I just knew it was true, Bo. Oh I'm so happy…" "Uh Jack," Bo coughed as he jabbed me in the ribs and pointed. The second window had stopped and there was another bowl of cherry pits with some more writing. "God is an amoral consciousness which created us to experience itself! When we die, either our spirit lives on to become One with the Universe and the soul (that is the inner us that we think of as ourselves) is lost forever, or our souls are reincarnated over and over until we reach Enlightenment or Perfection, at which point we become One with Everything." For a second I felt kind of disappointed. But the inner peace I'd felt after seeing the first window was still there. Mostly. I hardly even noticed Bo moaning as he rubbed his toe and waved his fist at the One armed bandit. But as I stared at the Answer, I felt that peaceful feeling flushing down the toilet of my soul. "Hmm..." I sighed. "You know, I knew that, rationally, that was the only explanation of 'God' that made sense. I just knew it. I suppose it's comforting in a way, but then what happens to that inner part of us? Do we survive after we die, or don't we? I guess that's the part we can never know...It is true that I'd much rather believe that ultimate consciousness is Love, like that idiot Id said, rather than just an amoral everythingness... but, of course, then you've got the same problems as that good God scenario...there's no way Love could have created all this misery..." Bo was grumbling again and I followed his rolling-eyed gaze back to the Fortune Blaster. The third window had now stopped. Bo leaned forward and started reading the inscription beneath the cherry pits. "There is no god. We are all a part of Nature and the eternal cycle of Life. When we die, we die. It's all over. Our atoms are recycled over and over throughout time." He stepped back, and while he rubbed his foot some more, he gave me a smug, smirking "I told you so." "Oh, I forgot about that possibility," I admitted. But then Bo was rolling his eyes and pointing back to the Fortune Blaster yet another time. The fourth window had stopped. A wave of panic swept over me as I leaned closer to see what it said. I couldn't tear my eyes away. It was another bowl of cherry pits. And underneath it declared, "God is evil!" I shuddered, and could barely whisper the rest. "Life is a joke to torment us. When we die we either burn in hell, or worse yet, we have to do it all over again!" "We definitely proved that one wrong!" I gasped as I jumped away. "Yeah!" Bo agreed. He was shaking too. "Well, what the heck is this supposed to mean, then, Bo?" I demanded from my Bodisatva. "How the hell do I know?" he groaned. "But, you're supposed to be my guide. You've got to know something." "Well. It sounds like the conclusion to me." "Yeah," I agreed. "But it's four conclusions. Which one is right? Am I supposed to choose, or is it telling me that it's one of these three, but I'll never know which one?" "Probably." "What do you mean? Probably I'm supposed to choose, or probably we'll never know?" "I don't know, Jack!" Bo yelled. "Just pull it again. Maybe it'll choose the right one, or... heck...I'll pull the darn thing." He grabbed it, and tugged. The handle broke off. Lights flashed and glared. Sirens roared at us. The Four Conclusions blared at us, and bolts of electric current leaped out and zapped us. The world was hazier than usual. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs, and peered at the three windows. Inside I saw faces looking out at us. They weren't happy faces. They weren't happy at all. Nervously, we backed away as the One-armed-bandit's jackpot slot opened, and the angry faces, attached to angry people, started to slide out. They were tiny at first, like little prizes from a gumball machine. But as they fell to the ground, they grew to life size. More than life size. They were giants -- angry giants -- and the place was soon filling up with much too many of them. We looked around frantically, but a humongous TV screen was blocking our escape. Bo grabbed my hand and we jumped through the glass, and into the next Chapter. Table of Contents | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter