[Unitopia, Western Continent]
Unitopia was a peculiar realm in of itself, its Western continent was no exception to this. However, even by its admittedly absurd standards, the Town of Endings was a particular extreme of strange that one could almost taste the tanginess in the air.
Or maybe that was the smog coming from the explosion right in front of them.
"Is this place usually like this?", Ziriothrax asked rhetorically.
"Huh, what's so strange about this?"
"I mean, just look."
He gestured with a foreleg.
"Is that supposed to happen?"
Directly in front of where Ziriothrax and Jeffbob had appeared in a flash of purple light after following the suit of armour calling himself the Mayor, there was a spire tower 3 4 stories tall.
Now this in of itself was nothing too out of the ordinary, basic architectural preferences such as obeying Euclidean geometry aside. What was of note was that the fourth story was currently billowing a cloud of dark grey smoke. And that cloud was embroiled in a heated debate with the mayor who was gripping onto a third story window sill trying not to fall.
A small crowd had begun to gather around the spectacle, though there was not a hint of tension in their faces, as though what they were seeing was more like a visit to the theatre than anything else.
"First time in Town of Endings, I presume?"
"Is it that obvious?", Ziriothrax replied in a scathingly sarcastic tone but before he could continue his tirade, a deep rumbling bass interrupted him.
"Now, now little cricket. As guests we must strive to be polite and obey the customs of the land. This is the way of vegetable-kind. This is the way for all life!"
For a moment there was silence, before the voice replied.
"Now that's something I can get behind. I'm No Body, by the way!"
"Enough of that nonsense, little ghost. No-one's a nobody. We're all somebody and we're all just as important as one another!"
Ziriothrax retched in the back, allergic to righteous exclamations of justice, while the voice replied amused.
"You misunderstand, my four-legged friend. Not Nobody - its No Body"
The voice enunciated the last few words as realisation graced Jeffbob with glacial speed.
"Wow, what a great name. You come up with that yourself?", Ziriothrax spat out between coughs.
"Huh", the voice was taken aback and continued slowly. "My parents named me...like most people."
Ziriothrax did not deign that with a response, though if one looked closely enough, one would see his chest puffed out in pride.
'Heh, I guess they're just not quite on my level. Being named by their parents? How common, mundane, banal and tedious. Nothing like the Great Me, named for my predecessor to forever carry the forth the flickering flame of Cricket-kind in the face of the faithless, fickle firmament! Thus I am Ziriothrax!'
If No Body noticed Ziriothrax extremely conspicuously rubbing his forelegs while muttering and cackling under his breath, he wisely decided not to comment. Jeffbob chose this moment to let out a loud guffaw, startling some of the crowd who were still intensely watching, and betting on the outcome of, the debate between the mayor and the growing cloud of smoke.
"HAHAHA, I UNDERSTAND! NOT NOBODY, BUT NO BODY!"
He then let out a deep sigh, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, and muttered mournfully.
"Truly my burden of knowledge and understanding grows only heavier on my shoulders. Such is the curse of intelligence. To live in ignorance is to live in bliss. Like the mice scurrying about on the abandoned boat, eating away at the supplied unhindered, yet unaware of the slow sinking of their vessel and their inescapable doom.
"Such beings live inside an illusion of reality, constructed by the limited interpretations their senses can afford to them. And they are happier for it. But the capability of higher thought brings with it the ability to see the blinkers on their vision. To see it, and to question it.
"Civilisation is born from that First Question. And with it, those once simple beings have their minds expanded. They grow, they advance, they design technologies to see the unseen, to hear the unheard, to peer past the veil. Akin to peeking through a keyhole to see the painting behind, they catch glimpses of colour, but never the whole picture.
"For a time, this is good. They flourish with the gifts such vision brings to them, whatever form that may take. But it is crucial to understand, that those blinkers were there for a reason. That veil was there for a reason. But the veil of ignorance has been irreparably lifted from their minds. As much as they tout themselves as beyond their savage pasts, the fact remains that they are no different.
"They are simply not designed to withstand the deluge of information they are now blasted with. And so the gift of knowledge, once sought so fervently, is now cursed. They know too much and that scares them. They have seen their place in the hierarchy and they are afraid. They hide, they destroy their machines, they rebuild that veil and they return to the warm and homely embrace of simplicity. Of tranquility. Of ignorance.
"These creatures, these mice, may seem pitiful to us."
Jeffbob's eyes flashed with colours unseen, his black orb-like eyes twisting into vortexes that warped meaning into insanity. He tilted his head backwards, his eyes fixing onto a point far past the blue sky and for a split-second, all those watching felt an illusion of a phantom gaze staring back.
"We are no different, children. We are all mice in this world. And so do not belittle the weight of knowledge, for it is the heaviest burden of all. Do not pity the lesser minds, for pity presumes you are not one of them. And do not mock those who seek the safety of ignorance, for they are far wiser than most."
The silence left in the wake of Jeffbob's speech was hollow, yet none could bring themselves to fill it. At some point, the mayor and the cloud of smoke had ceased their quarrel and the crowd had returned to silence.
Even Ziriothrax seemed to subtly ponder some of what Jeffbob stated.
'We are all mice...Heh, how pathetically cheesy. A boulder may be no different to a pebble from the perspective of a mountain. But it will still crush it all the same. Empty words and sophistry have no place in a fight for survival. I will flatten the boulder, flatten the mountain and thus the pebble shall reign supreme. This is the way of the Dread Ziriothrax!'
"Well said, man! Well said I say!", No Body's voice sounded out and like a break in a dam, the entire crowd followed with cheers and applause. Jeffbob looked back down, his eyes back to their blank idleness, and drooled out of the corner of his mouth.
During that long standing ovation, the mayor and the cloud of smoke seemed to have reached some sort of agreement, the latter returning back into the spire and the former dropping down to the ground in an unseemly heap as his hands slipped off the precarious window ledge.
Dusting himself off to not much avail, the sooty and now dusty armour turned to Jeffbob and Ziriothrax.
"I must extend my warmest gratitude", a metallic voice spoke from behind its visor. "And my sincerest apologies. It is admittedly quite embarrassing to show esteemed guests as yourselves such a kerfuffle so soon on your first visit. Please, let me treat you to tea in my office and I can show you our true hospitality."
He moved to the side and bowed, extending an arm as the large double doors on the bottom floor opened inwards.
"Then we shall kindly take you up on your offer, young Mayor Shade, if that is no trouble", Jeffbob replied.
"No, trouble at all. It is my duty, and more importantly, my pleasure."
Jeffbob inclined his head as he passed the mayor, though Ziriothrax ignored him lost in his own thoughts/ delusions of grandeur.
The suit of armour then turned to the crowd who were still loitering about in a daze, and addressed them, shocking them from their reverie.
"Don't you all have some work to be doing? If you all have this much free time then I could use an assistant in my next - "
He didn't even have to finish the sentence before the entire crowd dispersed like a school of fish encountering an orca. A lone paper recording a few wagers was left floating to the ground, before being snatched away by a fast moving blur that retreated off into the distance.
The mayor merely sighed, before turning to address the empty space to his side.
"That means you too, No Body. I've got plenty of things I could use your incorporeal help in.", his metallic voice warned.
"Aww, man", No Body replied sounding slightly deflated. "It was worth a try at least. Tell me how it goes, coz that's all the town's gonna be talking about for the next few days. Until Ent's Day, anyways".
No Body's voice tapered away into silence as he drifted away and the spire was finally returned to its previous, quiet state. At least until the next thing goes wrong.
"I know", the mayor sighed, massaging his helmeted face with gauntleted fingers. He turned back to look at the retreating figures of Jeffbob and Ziriothrax in the hallway inside. "How it goes is something I wish I could know myself".
With that, he walked inside with a purposeful stride, the double doors slamming shut behind him with strong finality.