Worlds Without End

Prologue

Let me tell you a story…

Once upon a time there was a woman.

Sometimes, in the story, her name is Pandora. Sometimes it's Eve. And sometimes it's Lilith.

There are more names for her.

It all depends on who's telling the story.

At any rate, at one time everything in the world was wonderful. Or so you're supposed to believe. There was enough food for everyone to eat. Enough water to drink. No one had to work.

In short: Paradise.

Except for one thing.

The woman.

You see, in this story she's at the root of all the trouble.

Either she can't help opening the box. Or talking to the snake. Or she's just too uppity for her own good.

And she starts poking around in things. Things We Were Not Meant to Know. And as a result, ev- erything goes to hell in a handbasket.

Or so the person telling the tale would have you believe.

Of course, since everything in the world isn't total drek, there has to be some sort of mitigating factor.

Like we're banished from the garden. But, if we work and pray hard enough, we might be let back in. Or we're told that the woman was banished to the edge of time and there she mated with demons. And her offspring come to us in our dreams and torment us.

Seduce us.

Lead us astray.

And then, in some versions of the tale, at the bot- tom of the box is Hope. Which, we're told, is the only way to survive all the other horrors which have already escaped from the box. It is the only thing we have to hold on to.

Or so we're told.

But that's the way it is with stories.

You just don't know who you can trust.