Prologue: On the Origin of Numbers

What are the Numbers?

That was the question on many a mind at the dawn of the 21st century. On the January of 2012, mankind made a scientific breakthrough like none other. A project in the area of quantum particle physics and spatial dynamics led to the discovery of an unknown and previously unseen energy. The source rested inside their own bodies, another entity in another phase of existence. There was no machine to manipulate them, no method to dissect them; they could simply only be 'known'. But knowing was enough, once they were detected in one man, they could be traced in many more. They knew what to look for now. After a certain point there was no need to continue, it had become an indisputable fact that every child on earth was born with this energy inside them. They were not parasites but symbiotes, living with them since they could remember and dying with them. And now their inner powers could be awakened.. and harnessed.

The Numbers they were called. The reason for this was simple, a 100 different types has been determined and no more. The amount was too specific to overlook. There were slight variations to the energy types, like mutations in a DNA's code. Yet each Number had a specific function, a power connected to its hosts needs and wants. The injured and crippled could rebuild their body with one Number, the insane could heal their mind with another. The applications were endless, yet always resigned to the original 100 types.

With their presence revealed and their designation given, the Numbers could be presented to their host. One man unearthed a way to visualize the Number inside him, to give shape and color to what he thought his Number looked like. All he needed was to look deep into his mind. What he saw there he drew that on a crude painting, and that act alone strengthened his bond with the entity. This process was passed on to the world, evolving into a ritual of sorts. Any human, between the age of 15 and 30, could do the same. Many chose not to, but many more did. It could be painted on a large canvas, printed on a small card, written over several pages even.. as long as it was made to describe how they saw their Number. The only limit seemed to be the third dimension, any representation made had to stay within two dimensions. Anything further resulted in no change to the relationship between the two.

Amusingly enough, the Numbers could even be turned to playing cards. Most who discovered the Numbers were at the time in their life where a certain game was the most popular past-time. Dueling it was called. A surprising amount of Numbers were turned to dueling cards. It had gotten to the point where even the creators of the game gave in and allowed Numbers to be used as official cards. They even made legal imitations for those who wanted them. Just one rule was handed down to duelists and to nonduelists.

Never use your Number as a weapon.

But none desires to. Such an unusual yet replicate-able process became such advantage of all, that all conflicts simply ceased to exist. There was no way to misuse or monopolize them, you could not steal them either. Still, solidified Numbers carried an immense amount of energy with them, more than should theoretically have been possible. Nobody could figure out why, but they could use it. Entire plants were built, dedicated to draining the power from donated Numbers. As their supplies were near infinite, they soon supplanted any other powersource in the world. Along with their ability to weed out disease and catalyze food growth, it seemed like they turned earth into a paradise.

But what were the Numbers? And where did they come from? The scientific world was still utterly baffled by these creatures that could defy the laws of physics. Their devices only got them as far as to conclude that the Numbers existed before mankind and merged with them at some point. Whether they originated from our universe or not was unknown, but they were a part of this universe right now. If they were alive, or even conscious, they could not say. What they really looked like was also impossible to answer. The Numbers existed either as raw power or as flat symbolized images. Neither solution satisfied them. Fifteen years later, studies were still going. Though their word was just a small part. Everyone had their own explanation. Few even said that the Numbers were nothing more than alien invaders who took over their bodies and brainwashed them. Yet such nonsense was quickly silenced.

The Soul.
Part of the world believed it to be the soul, the immortal self and the core of our emotions. They cried out that the Numbers were what made them different from the primal beasts around them. This was somewhat of a theory on the evolutionary side, but the religious side took it to the other extreme. They claimed that their god had granted them these Numbers to survive and thrive. God had given them wisdom, power and empathy. Each religion still worshipped their own version of the lord of course, but they were at peace with that and with others. And while there might have been millions who tried to spin their own mythology around the concept of the Numbers, one story exceeded in esteem. It was told to children as a bedtime story.. a story about the one who unleashed the Numbers on the world.

Once up a time, a long time ago, there were two brothers named Epimetheus and Prometheus. They were good gods. They had good hearts. They were good friends.

One day, Prometheus got in trouble with Zeus. Angry over something or other, Zeus had declared that man did not deserve fire. Because he had a kind heart, and he knew how much man needed fire for food and warmth, Prometheus gave man the secret of fire even though Zeus had told all the gods not to do that. Zeus was furious that his order had been ignored. As punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock for many years.

But that was not enough punishment, not for Zeus. Once Prometheus was chained to a rock, Zeus went after Prometheus' brother, the gentle, kind-hearted Epimetheus. Zeus did not chain Epimetheus to a rock. Zeus had a more sneaky punishment in mind.

First, Zeus ordered the gods' handyman, the maker of things - Hephaestus - to make Zeus a daughter. Hephaestus made a woman out of clay, a beautiful woman. He brought her to life, and then brought her to Zeus. Zeus named his lovely new daughter Pandora.

Zeus knew that Epimetheus was lonely. Zeus told Epimetheus that his brother had to be punished and that's why he was chained to a rock. But Zeus felt sorry that this punishment left Epimetheus without the company of his brother. That's why Zeus had decided to give Pandora in marriage to Epimetheus.

Epimetheus was kind-hearted and gentle and thoughtful, but he was no fool. He knew Zeus was up to something. But he loved Pandora at first sight.

Zeus gave the newlyweds a gift. Some say it was a jar. Some say it was a box. Whatever it was, it was locked. It came with a note. The note said: "DO NOT OPEN." Attached to the note was a key. It was all very curious.

You can guess what happened next. It was Pandora whose curiosity got the better of her. One day, she used the key to open the box. As she raised the lid, out flew all the bad things in the world today - envy, sickness, hate, disease. Pandora slammed the lid closed, but it was too late.

Epimetheus heard her weeping. He came running. Pandora opened the lid to show him it was empty. Quickly, before she could slam the lid shut, one tiny bug flew out. He gave Pandora a big buggy smile in thanks for his freedom and flew away. That tiny bug was named Hope. And Hope made all the difference in the world.

Though she had not meant it, Pandora had given the humans hope. And she was thanked for it. The Numbers were hope. After millennia, they had returned to help mankind fight of the evils unleashed. The old world was no more.. this was her world.