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I woke up; my head was foggy and my vision was blurry. I was sitting at my desk, feeling confused. Am I dreaming? Is this reality? What’s happening? I looked down, and I could actually see my hand, body, and feet. I looked back at my desk, and I noticed it was not a desk, or rather… It was a desk made out of strange materials. I focused my vision and saw the desk was… me.

It was a clone of me, twisted and contorted into the shape of a desk. I looked around, and everything was me. The chair I was sitting on, the floor, the walls, all my books and pens. Even the dust on my shelves, the beams of sunlight filtering through the window, and the air particles were me. All at once, they opened their mouths and started shrieking. They were crying out things that sounded like numbers, but they did not feel right. Then, they all slowly melted away, I was standing in the universe. I turned around and saw the maggot, but it was the size of an actual maggot. I asked, “What’s going on? Where am I?”

It said, “You are within yourself. By eating the entire universe, including yourself, you created a new universe in the literal image of yourself. That is why everything looks like you – because you are this universe and this universe is you. You exist in this universe and the previous universe at the same time; you have created a paradox.”

At these words, my brain felt funny. Like it’s going somewhere it doesn’t belong…

“You know… it is possible to create infinite versions of you, infinite universes. As long as they all exist inside yourself. If you wanted to, you could fold the universe into yourself again and again and again; infinitely becoming smaller and smaller and then you can-” It stopped abruptly. “I am treading on another God’s territory and I cannot talk about this anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I said, my brain was aching and I was feeling light headed. I’m used to thinking about math and numbers, not this logic and paradox crap.

“Someone else will learn in time.” The maggot said. “I will tell you where to find The Secret Number of Everything now. Once you find it, you must eat it and become a God.”

“Very well,” I took a deep breath. “Where is it? This better be the last step. I’m tired of this wild goose-chase.”

“This is very cliche but The Secret Number is hidden in the last place you will look.” The maggot said.

I nodded and then started walking away from the maggot. I walked away from everything. I walked past the planets, past stars and galaxies. I walked away from all matter, to the edge of the universe where space and time cease to exist; and kept walking. When I stopped, I turned to look back at the universe, it was like a tiny, bright marble against the velvety black background. If I wanted to, I could pick it up, put it in my pocket, and keep on walking for the rest of eternity. I did not do so, because I am trying to find The Secret Number of Everything.

I stopped and then scooped out one of my eyeballs and placed it next to the marble of the universe, making sure my eyeball was facing me, watching me. I proceeded to pluck out every single hair on my body. I then carefully peeled the layers of my skin off. First the epidermis, then the dermis, and finally the subcutaneous tissue. I slowly pulled away my individual muscle fibers and tendons. I pulled each and every vein and artery out; slicing them open and carefully laying all the parts of my body out so my eye can see everything, every part of me. Once I finished cracking open my bones and spilling out all the marrow, I picked up my remaining eye and placed it in front of the eye sitting next to the marble universe. I looked into my remaining eye and my remaining eye gazed into me.

Within my eye I saw myself, and within myself, I saw myself. I saw myself repeated infinitely, reflections upon reflections, variants, diviants, and coinvariants. I continued to look within myself until I reached the last reflection, the last number of me. I had reached the end; I turned around to look back upon myselves and I saw The Secret Number of Everything— █.