A man walked into a vortex where time and space had no meaning.
The vortextender, a sentient cactus, asked:
- What can I get you, partner?
The man replied:
- I'll have a glass of your finest Möbius wine.
As the cactus poured the drink, it thought of an imaginary 12th-century monk in it's head. > Manuscript Fragment
> Author: Brother Cacticus
> Date: 1187 A.D.
> Subject: The Art of Mixology
> "And lo, as the Möbius wine doth flow, so too shall the stream of time twist and turn upon itself.
> For it is said that he who imbibes the Möbius wine shall find his spirit wandering in the realms of the eternal,
> forever entwined with the essence of infinity.
> As the man took a sip of the wine, he felt an odd sensation, as if his very being was looping around itself. He looked up at the vortextender, and with a wry grin, he said:
> - You know, they say drinking Möbius wine can make one feel like they're stuck in a never-ending loop..." The man said:
- I never said that. Your monk's a liar, and I'm tired of "never-ending" loops. This time, the loop ends.
The vortextender raised an eyebrow and responded:
- Well, partner, I reckon it's all about the journey, not the destination. But if you insist on breakin' the loop, perhaps you'd fancy a try at our famous Unparadox Punch?
The man, intrigued, nodded and watched as the cactus prepared the enigmatic concoction. As he took a sip, he suddenly felt a strange sense of balance between the eternal and the temporal. > Manuscript Fragment
> Author: Brother Cacticus
> Date: 1187 A.D.
> Subject: The Art of Mixology
> "The Unparadox Punch, a beverage of great renown, doth bring equilibrium to those who find themselves caught in the ebb and flow of time's relentless march. By imbibing this elixir, the drinker shall experience a moment of clarity, where the past and the future become one,
> and the present is but a fleeting instant." Taking a deep breath, the man realized that he had, indeed, broken free from the loop, and now stood at the precipice of a new adventure. He toasted the vortextender, saying:
- Here's to new beginnings and the end of never-ending loops. Cheers, my friend!
The man stood in the middle of a grass field. There was no vortextender.
The man looked around, and shrugged.