Interview With The Universe

Sue Storm says, "Greetings, great Eternity. If you are the true owner of the stones, if they ARE you, what is the drawback if we merely turn them over to you, for safekeeping?

"And, while we are at it, what is the drawback, cost, or curse, if we use them to cure Galactus of his eternal hunger, allow the Silver Surfer to return to outer space and find his long lost true love, allow Ben Grimm to return to his human form at will, cure Alicia Masters of blindness, and free the evil Reed Richards from a parallel dimension from the utopian existence trapped inside this soul gem? 

"Also, our Landlord in the Baxter Building, Mr. Collins, has been really grouchy lately, so he might have some personal problems we can fix, and Willy Lumpkins our mailman has a bad back, and I think one of our neighbors is a Skrull in disguise. And then there is the Wingless Wizard, the Mad Thinker, and Dr. Curtis Conners who all have things wrong with them, either mentally or physically..."

Her voice trails off. Sue Storm is beginning to see the problem that Reed often mentioned, about absolute power, even used for a good purpose, getting out of control. 

"... Anyway, I was just curious, if you are the universe, why there is so much pain and turmoil inflicted on the innocent."

THERE IS FREE WILL, Eternity advises. AND MATTER IS OFTEN INCONVENIENT TO THE MINDS WHICH INHABIT IT.

IF YOU TURN THE STONES OVER TO ME, IT MAY WELL BE THAT I WILL HAVE MORE AWARENESS THAN I PRESENTLY DO. AS YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SUFFERING THE UNIVERSE CONTAINS, YOU MAY NOT WISH TO GIVE ME MORE SELF-CONTROL, MORE SELF-AWARENESS. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

UNLIKE THE WATCHER, I DO NOT INTERFERE. HOWEVER, THE WATCHER IS PERFECTLY ABLE TO DO THE THINGS YOU ASK, ALL BUT THE FIRST AND THE LAST. HE CANNOT CURE GALACTUS OF HIS ETERNAL HUNGER, AND HE CANNOT CURE THE PAIN AND TURMOIL SUFFERED BY THE INNOCENT.

Uatu the Watcher takes a step back.

"But I am pledged not to interfere ... in cases of extreme emergency, I have occasionally lapsed ..."

TO A MAN WHO BECOMES A MONSTER, WHAT IS A MORE EXTREME EMERGENCY? PERHAPS YOU HAVE WATCHED TOO MUCH, AT THE COST OF UNDERSTANDING.

"Perhaps ... I have," agrees the Watcher.

He extends his right hand in a benedictory gesture, and ten complex snowflakes of cosmic energy form in his palm. With a wave, he releases them, nine to flash to various corners of the Earth, one to shoot straight up toward the Sun, making a last-minute swerve to go around it.

"Are you now prepared to render the stones to Eternity?" the Watcher inquires.

"NAY!" shouts Thor, suddenly. "For 'tis foretold that in the End of Days, Garm the monster shall swallow the Moon, and only the power of the Tesseract shall save the last man and woman from death! Surely thou canst not wish to condemn all mankind to the doom which awaiteth the Gods themselves! The Blue Space Stone men call the Blue Space Stone, but which the gods call the Tesseract, must abide until that day, safe where we can reach it in extremity, not given o'er to the vagaries of Fate!"

"Give me now the Space Stone, Man of Ant. For the sake of that race which bore you, and which shall surely perish without!"