The citizens of Minecraftia took shelter as thunder clapped and hard rain pounded on the ground. A darkness fell upon the land, allowing the monsters that cursed this planet to wander at their leisure. The great orb of light and fire that purged them from the surface was absent, even the gods' last merciful afterthought on this harsh world could give them no fear on this day. It is obvious to say that these days were particularly hated by the populace. With the homeless being left to die in the open at the cold, sickly green hands of their former friends while the rich and plentiful wasted away in their extravagant castles had no chance to expand upon the vast wealth they already obtained lest they accidently catch the unwavering stare of an Enderman. Most would be led to believe that only a madman finds joy this day, and the reality of this truth would condemn them all.
Under the city of sealed doors and frightened faces a structure was obscured from view by the darkness of the thick black fog one inhales when bedrock is exposed. Its walls are a maze-like prison of stone, obsidian, and deadly traps to either deter or kill off any who should stumble upon this mythical place by chance. Inside is where world changing discoveries are made every day. Some allowed to surface in the outside world, although most remain in cloaked in a shadow of secrecy thicker than the fog of the bedrock this palace of knowledge is built upon. The scientists here are responsible for any and all revolutionary discoveries. Beneficial findings include enchantments, alchemy, anvils, and even the now simple workings of the furnace were discovered by this institution. Malicious openings of Pandora's box have occurred too, it was they who awoke the Ender Dragon when they discovered the first Strongholds and released the plague of the Enderman upon us, It was they who created opened the portal to the hellish landscape of the Nether, and it was they who built the first Wither while foolishly letting the instructions surface. Today a discovery of the latter type is going to be made.
The Dragon Egg was acquired when an agent working for the organization, in an attempt to atone for its previous sins of awakening the foul beast, killed the horrid dragon. No man knew what the egg contained, and the decision to 'correct' that would be the last mistake the foundation made. Tests confirmed the shell is unbreakable as with bedrock, with some anomalous properties. Any attempt to collect it like any other block by hand or tool would result in the Egg teleporting to protect its contents, and any attempt to actually crack the Egg's shell proved futile as the tool and man behind it were obliterated. The organization had transferred it to one of the structure's upper rooms containing the last attempt to break it before it was locked away indefinitely, never to be seen again. Specifically, Laboratory L7.
In this room lies our resident madman, arguably the organization's greatest, if eccentric, mind. Along with this room there is a lever and the infamous Egg. As the thunder booms weave their way from the angry skies down into the mysterious facility the man hears the sound echo and smiles with joy. The storm he waited for is here at last, along with beautiful lightning. Lightning turned mindless Pigs into upright and intelligent creatures with a group mentality making them deadly foes. It could charge the already terrible Creepers into walking nightmares capable of taking out homes and families in one great explosion. It was magical, and sometimes even magic can do the impossible. The man pulled the lever, and a great pillar rose into the sky with the Egg on it to the top of the world. A flash of lightning struck its surface, and the man pulled the lever to retract the pillar before anyone could witness the great magnitude of the event that just came to pass. At first; nothing, the Egg was gone. Before the man's brain could even have the chance to become confused, a black beam shot from the sky and a block of pure darkness floated above where the Egg used to be, seemingly sucking the light from the redstone lamps that lit the room. The quiet night replaced the thunderstorm with an eerie stillness. It remained there for a great while until the doctor, out of instinctual desire of knowledge, performed the most basic and primitive of all scientific tests ever conducted by Man since we discovered fire:
He touched it.
A wave of darkness expelled out from the cube in all directions and consumed any device capable of shedding light. Lamps shut off as the glowing power of the redstone wires were cut, glowstone burst, torches fell from the walls, a sharp hiss was heard as lava cooled into obsidian, the familiar crackling of fire ceased to play upon the citizens ears, children's decorative Jack-O-Lanterns internal light turned black, beacons simply stopped glowing, and even the dismal light of the moon and stars was shrouded by the frightening black of the void. The organization would later receive reports of these events as distant as the Farlands and as hellish as the Nether and the End. As the Madman readjusted his eyes from the blinding dark he saw the room had changed. Endstone replaced the interior, with the only light coming from the fire surrounding the figure where the dark block once hovered. He was darkness incarnate, light never seemed to touch him or the long black cloak he wore. The infinite silence was broken when the Dark Figure said, "Who is the man responsible for my presence?" The bewildered man shortly blurted: "I am."
"You killed the Ender Dragon?" puzzled the Figure eyeing the Madman, "And what is your name, Dragon Slayer?"
"Steve Minecraft." The Madman replied, to fearful to think of assuming a pseudonym. "And what is yours?"
The Figure laughed, "Accept my thanks, and you will soon learn."
"If you truly are the Dragon Slayer that you proclaim to be than you have no doubt heard the legend your people refer to now as the 'End Poem' first hand."
"I have."
"You realize those were the gods speaking to you. Telling you of strange things, and that none of this was real, telling you there was a world beyond this. No doubt it consumed you, it led you here, to this place were learnings of the greatest magnitude happen every day. You want to know what they were referencing and it ultimately consumed you, until in an act of desperation for answers, you unknowingly freed me."
"You're right!" cried Steve, "It drove me insane, I've pondered over this for years. I don't know what's real or what to believe in anymore. Please, tell me everything you know, EVERYTHING!"
The Figure grinned maliciously. "I can give you everything you want and more. Knowledge, power, immortality. . . under a condition, as I cannot give it to you otherwise."
"You must integrate me into your essence as your master and leader. Your conscience and mine will still exist separately and you will be left in control; but I will replace your soul and you will do my bidding." The Figure paused, "Do you accept?"
Complete silence enveloped the room for what seemed like eons until the inevitable response leaked itself out of Steve's mouth.
"I do."
As soon as the two words that changed the rest of the world forever were spoken, The Figure turned into smoke and poured into Steve's pupils; bleaching them to a horrible solid white. Steve screamed in agony as his soul was vanquished by the black smoke. Strange boxes of text shifted randomly around him as he weakly stumbled across the room, and a forgotten word was just out of his mind's reach. A team of the organization’s guards arrived to inspect the screams. This world isn't any more real to them than it is to you.
It must have been the Figure's voice. With nothing else to guide him the shell of a human formerly known as Steve Minecraft latched on to the voice as it bent him to its will. Wake them up; make them realize their world is not real. WAKE THEM UP!
The shell reacted instinctually and changed some of the text in one of the white boxes flashing before him. He felt a strange power surge threw him as he pointed his fist at the squad of guards and wished them dead. As he did so a dark beam burst from his hand and slaughtered the team before him. The shell was still weak and stumbling, the forgotten word came closer; it was a name. They have awoken to the true world. We cannot do the same until we free the rest from their prisons.
"What have I done!?" the shell cried. The name slowly closing in on his mind. We have just changed the universe's code. Bent it to our will, use this to our advantage, use this to save the ones trapped in their eternal slumber.
"What's happening to me!?" screamed the shell. Your subconscious is rejecting us, unwilling to share our body. Speak my name, submit, and take it as our own.
The name was on the tip of his tongue, he wanted to say it, but could not find the strength or memory.
"Heh. . . Heh. . . HACK, ech ech!" Darkness began to consume him as he fell to his knees and his life started to ebb away. Say it, and your pain will cease
"Heh. . . Hehr. . . Hehr." SAY MY NAME!
Suddenly the shell knew. The misery stopped, and the the weakness faded. With a renowned power and confidence, the shell rose and said:
"Herobrine."
Under the city of sealed doors and frightened faces a structure was obscured from view by the darkness of the thick black fog one inhales when bedrock is exposed. Its walls are a maze-like prison of stone, obsidian, and deadly traps to either deter or kill off any who should stumble upon this mythical place by chance. Inside is where world changing discoveries are made every day. Some allowed to surface in the outside world, although most remain in cloaked in a shadow of secrecy thicker than the fog of the bedrock this palace of knowledge is built upon. The scientists here are responsible for any and all revolutionary discoveries. Beneficial findings include enchantments, alchemy, anvils, and even the now simple workings of the furnace were discovered by this institution. Malicious openings of Pandora's box have occurred too, it was they who awoke the Ender Dragon when they discovered the first Strongholds and released the plague of the Enderman upon us, It was they who created opened the portal to the hellish landscape of the Nether, and it was they who built the first Wither while foolishly letting the instructions surface. Today a discovery of the latter type is going to be made.
The Dragon Egg was acquired when an agent working for the organization, in an attempt to atone for its previous sins of awakening the foul beast, killed the horrid dragon. No man knew what the egg contained, and the decision to 'correct' that would be the last mistake the foundation made. Tests confirmed the shell is unbreakable as with bedrock, with some anomalous properties. Any attempt to collect it like any other block by hand or tool would result in the Egg teleporting to protect its contents, and any attempt to actually crack the Egg's shell proved futile as the tool and man behind it were obliterated. The organization had transferred it to one of the structure's upper rooms containing the last attempt to break it before it was locked away indefinitely, never to be seen again. Specifically, Laboratory L7.
In this room lies our resident madman, arguably the organization's greatest, if eccentric, mind. Along with this room there is a lever and the infamous Egg. As the thunder booms weave their way from the angry skies down into the mysterious facility the man hears the sound echo and smiles with joy. The storm he waited for is here at last, along with beautiful lightning. Lightning turned mindless Pigs into upright and intelligent creatures with a group mentality making them deadly foes. It could charge the already terrible Creepers into walking nightmares capable of taking out homes and families in one great explosion. It was magical, and sometimes even magic can do the impossible. The man pulled the lever, and a great pillar rose into the sky with the Egg on it to the top of the world. A flash of lightning struck its surface, and the man pulled the lever to retract the pillar before anyone could witness the great magnitude of the event that just came to pass. At first; nothing, the Egg was gone. Before the man's brain could even have the chance to become confused, a black beam shot from the sky and a block of pure darkness floated above where the Egg used to be, seemingly sucking the light from the redstone lamps that lit the room. The quiet night replaced the thunderstorm with an eerie stillness. It remained there for a great while until the doctor, out of instinctual desire of knowledge, performed the most basic and primitive of all scientific tests ever conducted by Man since we discovered fire:
He touched it.
A wave of darkness expelled out from the cube in all directions and consumed any device capable of shedding light. Lamps shut off as the glowing power of the redstone wires were cut, glowstone burst, torches fell from the walls, a sharp hiss was heard as lava cooled into obsidian, the familiar crackling of fire ceased to play upon the citizens ears, children's decorative Jack-O-Lanterns internal light turned black, beacons simply stopped glowing, and even the dismal light of the moon and stars was shrouded by the frightening black of the void. The organization would later receive reports of these events as distant as the Farlands and as hellish as the Nether and the End. As the Madman readjusted his eyes from the blinding dark he saw the room had changed. Endstone replaced the interior, with the only light coming from the fire surrounding the figure where the dark block once hovered. He was darkness incarnate, light never seemed to touch him or the long black cloak he wore. The infinite silence was broken when the Dark Figure said, "Who is the man responsible for my presence?" The bewildered man shortly blurted: "I am."
"You killed the Ender Dragon?" puzzled the Figure eyeing the Madman, "And what is your name, Dragon Slayer?"
"Steve Minecraft." The Madman replied, to fearful to think of assuming a pseudonym. "And what is yours?"
The Figure laughed, "Accept my thanks, and you will soon learn."
"If you truly are the Dragon Slayer that you proclaim to be than you have no doubt heard the legend your people refer to now as the 'End Poem' first hand."
"I have."
"You realize those were the gods speaking to you. Telling you of strange things, and that none of this was real, telling you there was a world beyond this. No doubt it consumed you, it led you here, to this place were learnings of the greatest magnitude happen every day. You want to know what they were referencing and it ultimately consumed you, until in an act of desperation for answers, you unknowingly freed me."
"You're right!" cried Steve, "It drove me insane, I've pondered over this for years. I don't know what's real or what to believe in anymore. Please, tell me everything you know, EVERYTHING!"
The Figure grinned maliciously. "I can give you everything you want and more. Knowledge, power, immortality. . . under a condition, as I cannot give it to you otherwise."
"You must integrate me into your essence as your master and leader. Your conscience and mine will still exist separately and you will be left in control; but I will replace your soul and you will do my bidding." The Figure paused, "Do you accept?"
Complete silence enveloped the room for what seemed like eons until the inevitable response leaked itself out of Steve's mouth.
"I do."
As soon as the two words that changed the rest of the world forever were spoken, The Figure turned into smoke and poured into Steve's pupils; bleaching them to a horrible solid white. Steve screamed in agony as his soul was vanquished by the black smoke. Strange boxes of text shifted randomly around him as he weakly stumbled across the room, and a forgotten word was just out of his mind's reach. A team of the organization’s guards arrived to inspect the screams.
This world isn't any more real to them than it is to you.
It must have been the Figure's voice. With nothing else to guide him the shell of a human formerly known as Steve Minecraft latched on to the voice as it bent him to its will.
Wake them up; make them realize their world is not real. WAKE THEM UP!
The shell reacted instinctually and changed some of the text in one of the white boxes flashing before him. He felt a strange power surge threw him as he pointed his fist at the squad of guards and wished them dead. As he did so a dark beam burst from his hand and slaughtered the team before him. The shell was still weak and stumbling, the forgotten word came closer; it was a name.
They have awoken to the true world. We cannot do the same until we free the rest from their prisons.
"What have I done!?" the shell cried. The name slowly closing in on his mind.
We have just changed the universe's code. Bent it to our will, use this to our advantage, use this to save the ones trapped in their eternal slumber.
"What's happening to me!?" screamed the shell.
Your subconscious is rejecting us, unwilling to share our body. Speak my name, submit, and take it as our own.
The name was on the tip of his tongue, he wanted to say it, but could not find the strength or memory.
"Heh. . . Heh. . . HACK, ech ech!" Darkness began to consume him as he fell to his knees and his life started to ebb away.
Say it, and your pain will cease
"Heh. . . Hehr. . . Hehr."
SAY MY NAME!
Suddenly the shell knew. The misery stopped, and the the weakness faded. With a renowned power and confidence, the shell rose and said:
"Herobrine."