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Day 7: Core/Limitless
"Could they really have done it?" asked Danny. It was the first thing out of his mouth the second he saw Clockwork. Normally, he was a little more polite than that, but he was upset, and he needed to know.
Clockwork arched an eyebrow. "Could who really have done what?"
"The Guys in White. Could they really have destroyed the Ghost Zone? I mean, that's impossible, right? The Ghost Zone is huge. Its called the Infinite Realms, for goodness' sake. That missile couldn't have really hurt it. Right?"
"I'm afraid it could have, Daniel."
Danny could feel all the blood drain from his face, and he flopped down on a suspiciously convenient sofa. "Oh my gosh. How?"
In answer, Clockwork waved his hand, and one of his time screens appeared in mid-air. In the center of the screen floated something that looked like a bright green star. Danny could see the tiny rectangles of doors and jagged shapes islands orbiting it, though, so he knew it was something in the Zone.
"Much like the ghosts that inhabit them," said Clockwork, "the Infinite Realms have a core. This is it."
Danny's hand traced upwards, to where his own core was located, just below his heart, behind his sternum. A ghost's core was vital to their existence. It was in some ways analogous both to a human brain and a human heart. The philosophical implications of the Ghost Zone having one were a bit more than Danny wanted to contemplate at the moment. "But wouldn't that imply that the Ghost Zone has a center?" he asked, sitting up, even floating a little bit.
"Why, yes," said Clockwork, sounding pleased. "It does indeed imply that."
Danny frowned, leaning forward. "Then it can't actually be infinite. If it was infinite it wouldn't have a center."
"That is also true, in a physical sense," agreed Clockwork. "But we are speaking of the Infinite Realms. The Ghost Zone. The Spirit World. The physical aspects of things are still important, but less so." The old ghost then tilted his head towards Danny, as if expecting him to come to a conclusion.
"Okay, so... The core is at the spiritual center of the Zone?"
"Very good, Daniel."
"But it could still be anywhere, right? The missile wouldn't have reached it."
Clockwork's smile vanished. "It very well could have, Daniel. Don't you think it strange that both I and the former King of All Ghosts made our homes here, in space that corresponds to the Earth's location in the material universe?"
"I- I guess I never really thought about it," admitted Danny. "So the core is somewhere near the space that corresponds to Earth?" he asked, carefully using Clockwork's terminology.
Clockwork shook his head. "It is in the space that corresponds to Earth's. Even on worlds which have produced life, sentience is rare. Sapience is rarer still. Earth is far from unique, but it is an oddity. What is more, Earth produces more ghosts, and stronger ghosts, than any other, similar planet. The GIW could very well have destroyed the Ghost Zone, Daniel, and with it, all of reality."
"Then- then why didn't you do something? I mean, I almost didn't stop it, and I'd been acting crazy all week. I almost didn't even find out what they were doing. If I had screwed up one more time then-"
"Daniel. Please. I did not step in because I did not need to." The smile came back. "Regardless of what could have happened, you did stop it."
Danny took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. "I guess you're right," he said, looking back up at the time screen, and the green star that was the core of the Ghost Zone. "It's pretty."
"That it is," said Clockwork. "Now, I believe that I had promised you a history lesson the last time you were here?"
Danny grimaced, but it was more on principle than anything else. He liked Clockwork's lessons. "I guess."
Clockwork waved his hand, and the view on the time screen changed. "Then let us begin with Imperial China..."