17

"What are you doing?" cookie asked Dr. Qworm. "Working," answered the latter. Once again, the Mad Scientist was busy experimenting. "Working?" cookie made a face. As usual, Dr. Qworm's experiment didn't seem to be a very necessary one. "Yes, working," asserted Dr. Qworm. Somehow he felt he had to justify himself, so he added, "The most useful activity there is. Working is, actually, participating in the creation of the universe!" he stated boldly. "How's that?" wondered cookie, who usually was just playing, and who didn't have the feeling one had to work to create one's universe. "Well," Dr. Qworm started lecturing with a stern look, "maybe we don't know what happened at the beginning, a few billion years ago. We do know, however, what happens now. Except for the mechanical changes regulated by the physical laws, the only thing that's changing the universe right now, adding new creations and destroying old ones daily, that's us. For we are not only looking at the world, feeling it with our five senses, but working at it, too, for TV and writing and computers have not been discovered but created by people who tinkered with the basic limits and constraints of the universe to turn it into something different, something more interesting. What we have to realize is that right now, obviously," and Dr. Qworm took a deep breath, "we are in charge of the universe's ongoing creation!" "Are we?" cookie wondered innocently. "Assuredly," confirmed Dr. Qworm. "A big responsibility." "If this is the case..." cookie started dreaming aloud, "we could try to do something beautiful with it. We could try to do something surprising with it. We could try to do something inspiring with it - well it already is all of this, but there's always room for improvement. But then, we could also smear it with radioactive paint like spoiled children." "We do with it whatever we want," emphasized Dr. Qworm, unaware of cookie's mild sarcasm about his usual kind of experiments. "But we have to remember that we are part of it," cookie added. "Which is great, for what's cooler for an artist to be part of his own work of art?" "Work of art? What do you mean?" asked Dr. Qworm, puzzled. "I'll let you be the worker then," cookie laughed at Dr. Qworm's bewilderment. "I'll be the artist." If you want to see what Dr. Qworm's work and cookie's art could produce, check at 10. If you'd rather let Dr. Qworm be the worker too, accompany cookie to 19. Finally, if you'd be neither the worker nor the artist but the player, move to 21.