The Last Day of Glitch: Part Two

(Note: This is the second part of a three day Farewell to Glitch. I do not own Glitch or its images. I'm only using them to say goodbye to one of the games I have loved the most in my life.)

As much as I loved the serene and dark   lake area, I knew I couldn't stay. Lem had sent me on a quest to find answers. That is what I would do. Besides, just because the Forehorseman said the world was ending, didn't me it would. Things like that don't happen. The world can be saved. The world can always be saved. People would find a way.

The first thing I needed to do was to find out what was happening. I needed perspective and the observatory in Ix was my best bet. I used my Lem granted powers of travel to move from my lake to the spice lands of Ix.
This place had always troubled me. Or, to be exact, I had always been troubled by the crack in the sky.  If the world was falling apart, it was probably best to start by looking at all the obvious cracks.
The streets were eerily empty as I traveled through the land of spice. No one seemed to be home.
 Even with all my skills, it took some time to make it all the way up to the telescope.  I waited my turn and then, with a deep breath, I began analyze the world around me for problems. As I suspected, it seemed the cracks were getting larger. I stepped back, seized by fear at the idea of this. I had to be imagining bad things.


I jumped 3 stairs at a time, sometimes more, until I could get as close to the crack in reality as I could. Once there, I studied it, trying to remember how it looked last time I was here.
Of course, that had been a long while. Once the Giants opened up the possibility for people to grow their own spice trees, the land of Ix was not a place I often traveled. For a moment, I felt a lot of guilt over that. Lem had always encouraged travel and I'd stopped. How much of this beautiful land had I missed by staying close to home? How many warning signs of this impending doom had gone unnoticed?

 I had delayed long enough. It was time to go to the authorities and explain the problem. Everything seemed peaceful when I arrived at the Bureau of Administrative Affairs Ministry of Departments. Glitchens lived in a state of peaceful anarchy, but everyone needs some bureaucratic help from time to time. Well, okay. I wouldn't really call them HELPFUL.
I walked inside to the usual sound of muzak and smell of burnt coffee and floor cleaner. The ministry lizards were all busy at their . . . well, whatever it is that they do. I was told to wait and wait I did, for at least 45 minutes. After a while, I walked back over to them.
"We're sorry, Miss. But you will have to continue to wait."
"But there is no one else even in here."

They looked at me like I'd said something that clearly did not matter and went back to their work. Or, what served for work. One was playing solitaire on the computer and I think two of them were making paper airplanes.
"Look!" I said. "I think we're in trouble. It seems that the world is about to end."
"Yes."

"I know you won't believe me, but . . . wait, did you just agree with me."

"We did, Miss. We are fully aware the world is about to end. However, we have also decided we can do nothing about it so . . . go on about your business. Enjoy the End of Days. Come back if you need a building permit."

"But--"

"That will be all. Your number is up."

My number was up. My time was up. And very, very soon, my world's time would be up as well. I realized the ministers couldn't help me. I left them, in hope of finding answers in other places.