[ WP ] Two god-like beings , disguised as old men , play a game of chess on a park bench to decide the final fate of humanity . The players , however , are distracted by a couple seated across them ...

“ You know it wasn ’ t supposed to be like this. ” The old man sighed. 
 
 “ What, you again conceding the center to me so quickly. ” The younger man sneered as he placed a knight on d4 and knew it would be a focus point for his upcoming attack. He hit the timer and leaned back in his chair with a look of satisfaction on his face. 
 
 “ No. I mean religion. I never wanted it to end up like all this. Books with rules that you can ’ t break or you burn forever. Hell, what a concept Hell is, who even thought of such a horrible thing? These poor things live so short a time how could anyone condemn them to eternal damnation? ” He moved his queen to the edge seeking a painfully obvious attack on the younger man ’ s castled king. 
 
 “ You condemn them. They all believe you said these things and you don ’ t correct them. You don ’ t lift a finger to change anyone ’ s mind. All you do is let it all play out and get sad at the outcome. ” The younger man sneered. A simple move of a pawn blunted the older man ’ s hope for an attack. 
 
 “ Because it ’ s not for me to order anyone around and to tell them what to do, I only exist for them to aspire to be something more than just a hairless ape that kills and eats and breeds. ” He stared at the board for a beat and then moved a rook to d1, he knew he couldn ’ t waste the rook to rid himself of the knight but he figured with a few moves he could get his poorly placed bishop over there and get an even exchange of pieces. 
 
 “ I ’ m sorry Joe I don ’ t see the backgammon guy. ” A woman shouted to a man who was jogging to meet up with her. She was a beautiful woman in a red pantsuit cut at the knee. 
 
 “ I know my backgammon. ” The old man said to her. “ Got the board in my case right here. ” He smiled as he tapped the case with his metal cane. “ Once me and my good friend here are done I ’ ll give Joe a game. ” 
 
 The woman smiled as she ran her hand through her raven black hair. “ Oh really? That would be so sweet of you. Joe ’ s been complaining about a lack of opponents since we moved here, and I just happened by the park yesterday and saw an old man playing a bunch of people. I hoped he would be here. ” 
 
 “ Might not get your game. ” The younger man said forcefully. She shuddered as his pale blue eyes fixed upon her. “ Think this game is over in about five more moves. ” He said as he brought a rook over to double his rooks on the F file, with the knight ready to protect them the attack on white ’ s king seemed unstoppable. 
 
 “ Well then he ’ ll be able to play Joe quickly. ” The young woman said, she avoided gazing upon the younger man and his unsettling eyes. Joe walked up to the three of them and almost instinctively recoiled in the presence of the younger man. 
 
 “ No. He won ’ t. ” The younger man sneered. “ You talk of men being more than apes that kill and eat and breed. That ’ s all they ever have been and all they ever will be. ” He turned his focus back on the young couple. “ She carries a child inside her and it ’ s not even his. ” He laughed as her jaw dropped in horror. 
 
 “ What? ” Joe asked. “ How could you? ” 
 
 “ How could I what? ” she asked “ This man is crazy. ” 
 
 “ Lies. Beautiful lies. She ’ s been late a week hasn ’ t she? Men know the cycles of their woman. ” The young man smiled, his teeth gleaming white. 
 
 “ How do you know these things? ” Joe asked 
 
 “ I know humanity. In a way you could say I am humanity. This cretin on the other side of this table has held me back for far too long, but now it ’ s almost over, finally there will be no more restraint and finally I will bring humanity to what it ’ s supposed to be. Conflict and strife, survival of the fittest. I will have to find some way to get rid of all those nuclear weapons, they cheapen the game but in the end the great war will come and humanity will purge itself of the weak and infirm and become stronger, better, truer to what it was always meant to be. ” 
 
 The young man glared at the old man, he quickly glanced at the board and the old man ’ s helpless position. “ No more of your painting, your music, your art. Cave men scribbling on a wall and you cherish it. Why? What point does it serve? ” 
 
 “ It connects the people. ” The old man replied. “ Humanity has always done best when at peace, when living in harmony. Religion brought that about for some time, but now that time has passed. I fear it was a tool that was once useful but has now turned into a crutch for the narrow minded to lean upon. ” 
 
 “ It ’ s not a crutch to lean on. ” The younger man said. “ It ’ s a club to beat the other man with, the inquisition, the crusades, 9/11, the whole world has a giant ‘ my God is bigger than your God ’ complex going on and I ’ m going to let them figure it out. Maybe in the end they ’ ll see it was all a lie but then it won ’ t matter. Those that are left standing will be the ones who survived the fires of war. They will truly know what it is to be human. ” 
 
 “ The strong will still love and laugh and cry. They ’ ll still have emotions and feelings and share common bonds. They will mourn their dead and sing songs about their heroes. You believe their base instincts are all they are, but there ’ s so much more to humanity than who can kill the most people. I ’ m so sorry you ’ re so wrong on this issue, but I supposed we ’ ll always be in disagreement won ’ t we? ” The old man said as he leaned back in his chair. 
 
 “ You haven ’ t moved. Your clock has to have run out by now. ” The younger man glanced at the chess clock and saw to his horror that it was his clock that was moving. Just as he noticed what was happening his flag fell, showing he ’ d run out of time. 
 
 “ I moved this pawn over here. ” The older man said. “ Then I hit the clock while you were busy trying to ruin their relationship. It ’ s been a fun game but the rules are the rules and I ’ ve won. Good day to you. ” 
 
 The younger man ’ s body shook with rage. His chest heaved as he stood from his seat. He slapped away the pieces on the board and sent them flying to the ground. 
 
 “ Not going to praise me for using your tactics? ” the old man said. “ I ’ ve learned well from you my good friend. ” 
 
 
 The younger man drove his fists into the board and leaned into the old man ’ s face. “ You can never destroy me. I am humanity. I lurk in every heart. Every soul on this planet hears my voice. You only delay things you worthless old fool. This changes nothing! My time will happen! ” 
 
 The old man dismissively waved his hand at the younger man as he stormed away. After a few moments of silence Joe looked at the old man. “ So, about that game of backgammon? ” he asked. 
 
 “ Oh sure. ” The old man said with a smile. “ Oh and Mary, you ’ re not having a boy. What he said was right about religion, far too controversial, he ’ d get what he ’ d want, it would tear the whole world apart. ” He wiggled his fingers at her stomach. “ There, she ’ s a girl now. Nobody will ever believe that. ” He cheerfully laughed as he said it. 
 
 “ You can ’ t do this. We ’ ve worked over two thousand years to keep the bloodlines right. This was the moment of His return. ” Mary said. 
 
 “ I don ’ t know who you consorted with and what promises were made but I ’ ve unmade them. ” He smiled as he pulled out the backgammon board. Joe sat across from him and glared him, his head shaking in disapproval. 
 
 “ You know what we ’ re playing for. ” Joe said. 
 
 “ Oh I understand, but I must warn you that I while I suck at chess, I ’ m really good at backgammon. ” The old man said as he picked up the dice. 

