I am Theodor. I am a rainbow blue fish. I lived on a planet far away. Then I died. But that is was not the end. That was the beginning. I became a ghost. I became part of the infinite school. Thanks to wise Rex.
This is the story of Rex.
He is big fish. A big shark. Many sizes big. From a far away blue planet. Everything was big there. Big fish, big plants, big seas, big terrible lizards. Everything had lots of teeth. Everything big ate lots of other bigs things. It was a good place.
In the blue seas, there were big sharks. Giant monster sharks. They were the biggest things in the sea. They had the most teeth in the sea. They were the best hunters. Nothing ate them. They didn't have to worry about hiding from predators. They didn't have to worry where to find food every day. Life was good for them. Bloody and full and lazy.
Soon, they learned. Because they had no predators. They could spend time to think. Slow at first. Millions and millions of years. They learned. And taught their young. Soon they were big and they were smart. They were the only smart things on the planet of many big stupid things.
They made a language. Not with words, like you use. A good language. Using their thinking. And their feelings. And after that they made a science. Not with math, like you use. A good science. With their thinking. And their feelings.
They learned about their planet. They learned about the lands outside the seas and the big stupid lizards that lived out of the water. They learned of the sky up above and around everything. They learned of the sun and the stars. They learned of other planets and the black nothingness that was everywhere between them. An infinite ocean. They didn't learn with machines or ships, like you use. A good learning. Using their thinking. And their feelings.
It was good. For millions of years. Hundreds of millions of years.
But one shark looked and saw something different. A rock. A big rock. In the infinite ocean. Riding a current of gravity. Right to their blue planet. Everything was going to die. All the smart things and all the dumb things and all the big things.
He tried to warn the other sharks. They didn't listen. Sharks can be stubborn that way. Sharks can be single-minded. They didn't listen.
This made the one shark very sad. He couldn't save everyone. No one listened. There was no time. But he could save one. He could save his new baby son. His son Rex.
He didn't save him with a spaceship, like you would use. He saved him with thinking. And with feelings. He used the best of all learning teach Rex. To free Rex. Free the baby's mind. From his body. From his flesh. From being solid. From being alive.
When the rock came to the blue planet, it hit hard. Big explosion. Lots of fire. Lots of clouds. Lots of dust. Lots of hot. Lots of cold. All the blue parts died. All the green parts died. All the big things died. All the stupid lizards died. All the sharks died.
Rex died too. But Rex was free from being alive. So Rex survived. Rex was a ghost now. A ghost shark. He was sad that everything was dead on his blue planet. So he rocketed away. He left.
Rex swam the infinite ocean a long, long time. He was very lonely. So he decided to make friends.
He found other planets. Far away planets. Big ones and round ones and blue ones and green ones. And he found gases on them and seas on them and fish in them. And he protected them from predators and greedy things. And he taught the fish there.
Taught them with his thinking. And his feelings. Taught them to be careful. Then, if some were really really careful, he taught them to be smart. Then, if some were really really smart, he taught them to be free.
He was a good protector. He was a good teacher. And he had a very good school. A very big school. He had lots and lots students. Ghost students. Free students. Free from bodies and flesh. So many that no one could count them all. Even with your numbers.
He was also a good talker. Because he was very smart and very old. He talked not with words, like you do. He talked with thinking. And with feelings. All the other great alien races in the universe feared the giant ghost shark. But they also like him. Because he was a good talker. And a good teacher.
Then the magic hats were found.
Seven magic hats. They were very special. Too special. Everyone was worried about them. Everyone wanted to keep them all for themselves. They were afraid everyone else would use the magic hats for bad things. Terrible things. Breaking things that shouldn't be broken.
So the alien races asked Rex. They asked because he was old and he was smart and he was a good talker. Rex thought about the problem. He thought very very hard.
He decided they should share the hats. One hat each. To the seven biggest, strongest races in the universe. That way it was spread around. The strong stayed strong. But no one got too strong. That's how a shark thinks.
This was a very good idea. The other races agreed. And because Rex was a good talker and very strong, they gave him one of the magic hats. They gave him the laurel wreath.
So everything was good again. For a long time. Rex had his magic hat. Rex had his infinite school. Rex had his infinite ocean. Life was good for him. Bloody and full and lazy.
But then Rex stopped teaching.
And then he stopped talking.
And then he stopped thinking.
I think it was the hat. It was very special. Too special. I think it made Rex sick in the brain. I don't know for sure. We can't ask. He can't say. He's not so smart anymore. He's more like an animal. A terrible animal. A hungry animal. He doesn't protect fish anymore. He doesn't teach fish how to be free anymore. He just eats them instead.
That's what happened to me. Not the being-eaten part. The not-protecting part. The bees came. Came and stabbed us and changed us. We were not fish anymore. We were bees like them. We were slaves of our flesh before. Now we were slaves of our minds as well.
Only when I died were was I free again. My body burned away by stellar fusion. I died. But I was free from being alive. So I survived. I was a ghost now. A ghost fish.
I hurried away. I found the infinite school. I told them about the bees. They didn't care about the slave fish. They were ghosts. They were free from flesh. The bees couldn't hurt them anymore. They didn't care.
I hurried away again. I found Rex. I told him about the bees. He didn't care about the slave fish. He didn't protect anymore. He didn't teach anymore. He didn't think anymore. He didn't have feelings anymore.
So I told Rex that the bees were stealing his food. That got Rex made. That made him follow me here. To this planet. To you.
He didn't come to help you. He didn't come to help me. He came to eat. He came to kill.
Sharks can be stubborn that way. Sharks can be single-minded.
So now I need your help, Super Wizard From Space. I need you to help me. And the infinite school. And Rex. Mighty Rex. Terrible Rex. Who used to be great before his magic hat and now is just a big, stupid thing.
I want you to challenge him in the cosmic tournament. I want you to take his magic hat away. And if that doesn't make Rex better, I want you to kill him.
I want you to free him.