UNCUBE

In retrospect, there had been omens and portents.

("We are now approaching the final ocean," said Kurt Mac, "and for all the people back in Taswell, the crew of the Icosahedron has a message that we would like to send to you.")

Squids began spawning in every body of freshwater at random. Every constellation in the zodiac rotated by several degrees. A butchered pig was found to have the word "OMEN" burned on its cooked porkchop in clearly visible letters.

("In the earliest of days, the universe was without form or craft. All was a void ruled by a chaotic and shifting Red Sea whose purpose was to annihilate order.")

Stray Testificates turned into Witches as soon as they stepped out of their homes. Squids began spawning in clouds at random. A quarter of the Middle Face of the world's trees had all their leaves turn grey and fall off; botanists blamed "phytoplankton."

("And in the earliest of days, a Light shone into the void, and Darkness was cast behind the Red Sea. From the Darkness was born spirits cloaked in dark. Nine took the form of men, and one rose to become a mighty dragon.")

A white rabbit hopped through a crowd of Testificates in Phylogotha as the Pontificates gathered to deliver a speech. The rabbit hopped onto the podium, raised its head quizzically, and tore off a Pontificate's nose before hopping away, its face covered in blood.

("And they were called Ender, for they were to bring about the end of chaos," said Magell Tetra, "And the Endermen had the infinite power of the Red Sea that made them, and they sought order, and the Red Sea sought chaos. And so the two forces fought, yet neither could truly win for an eon.")

A colossal squid was found a kilometer inland. Skeletons with the heads of Humans started climbing down from trees at night.

("Yet so it was that order triumphed and the Endermen cast the Red Sea into The Pit, binding it to the form of a Dragon. Yet so it was that the Red Dragon laid a Mark on the Endermen so that the power gained from their primordial birth would fade as the years turned into decades and centuries and millenia, until they were mere Shadows.")

Pieces of paper with the word "OMEN" written on them fell from the clouds. A colossal squid was seen in the night sky. The decapitated heads of hostile mobs, if left unattended, began to slowly, but unmistakably, talk.

("And the Red Dragon was successfully cast into the Pit, and was sealed away by the strongest of foundations, which grew into The Slip, the Land Beyond Time.")

The population of an entire village of Testificates was found to have their heads cut off. Skeletons started appearing with Testificate heads. The locations of the Human heads were never determined.

("The Endermen dreamed of order and stability, and sought the counsel of The Void, the Land Beyond Space, for help," said Pleiades VI, "yet The Void was immature and lacked form. The only creature in The Void, amidst newly-forming dimensions, was an unfathomable Secret that existed since the Dawn Of Time.")

An Ocean Temple was found buried under the rust-red sand of the Seventh Great Mesa. At its geometric center were the corpses of nine Eldritch Guardians. The word "OMEN" was written on the floor with their blood. Geologists blamed "phytoplankton."

("The Secret is so powerful and formidable that it has no Name, only False Names and Secrets to hide behind. Those who know its Name know all. Let it never be spoken or transcribed.")

Entire chunks unloaded and reloaded, with the content inside flipped vertically. Bedrock began replacing grass. The amounts of Emerald in the Vault of Epheme fluctuated wildly every hour on the hour.

("The Nine Endermen who were originally born from the Red Sea ascended under the light of... of -" [sudden burst of static, then silence])

- -

If I had to choose a high point for the history of the Human race thus far, it would be September 1, 1316 A.N.

1316 had been a year of shattered dreams. The tenth Player, Sky, turned from the Quest of the Player and formed a cult to take on the gods, shattering the hopes of millions. The last wild roses had died, meaning the entire species had gone extinct. The port city of Kyoto was burned to the ground in a horrific massacre, and war looked imminent. It felt like each spark of hope for a better world was being snuffed out, methodically, one by one.

Then almost without warning, Taswellians tuned in their redbarrels and learned that a train was riding to the ends of the earth. On August 30, the train sent a live message through Redmond code across all major wire networks, informing viewers that they were about to become the first Humans ever to travel to the world's Final Chunks - a horribly inhospitable region in the Umbral Face's ocean where no life had settled. Communication issues severely limited the message, but the explorers promised a second installment through redbarrel.

On September 1st, 1316, two point seventeen billion Testificates and Humans - more than for any redbarrel broadcast up until that point in history - tuned in for the Icosahedron's short broadcast. The explorers were half-asleep, wrought with fear over the horrors of the deep and the perils of getting a train to ride on water - but their voices were powerful and lucid through the static. Commander Pleiades VI, descended from the great scholar, introduced the other two members of the crew. They described the Final Chunks as seen up close. "The deepest, darkest ocean ever seen." "A very foreboding horizon, where the sun was exceptionally dim, and the clouds heavy and grey."

There were seven minutes left until they reached the 'event horizon,' where no further connection could be made. The explorers decided to do something appropriate.

"In the earliest of days," read Kurt Mac, "the universe was without form or craft. All was a void ruled by a chaotic and shifting Red Sea whose purpose was to annihilate order."

So for seven minutes on Descendants' Day, while two billion people listened, three explorers read the Word of Notch from a screaming metal train at the ends of the earth.

Then, mid-sentence, they crashed into the Far Lands, because it turned out there were even more secrets in Minecraftia and beyond it than the Chosen Few had cared to let in on.