There it was. The Place of Enlightenment, the Point of Entry, the Palace of Existence. Albert stood in front of it and looked up at the sign, old and rusted.
"Pieces of Eight."
It was a pirate-themed restaurant. An old pirate-themed restaurant that had shut down at least ten years ago. Nobody had bought or renovated the place since then.
Albert entered the PoE.
The inside looked like it had been ravaged by a fire a long time ago. Black scorch marks still were displayed on the walls, like the liver spots of an old building.
Albert held the Vessel in his hand, the compass made of the bones of his brother, and he looked down at it. It pointed to the center of the room.
The center of the room which would hold the center of all things. Albert was nervous and excited. He was going to see it again. He was going to see all things again.
He could see his parents as they were or as they never were. He could see his brother, as a baby, as a young child, as an adult. He could see himself, all versions of himself, the hims that died of pneumonia or the hims that became lawyers or doctors or accountants.
He would be able to see every single version of himself and his brother. Just like he had before.
Back in the accident, back when he had first seen the Aleph, he had seen his brother across the gulf of time and space. He had seen a brother that had grown up without him.
And they had stayed connected, somehow, after the Aleph had left him. He could always hear his brother's thoughts, his brother urging him not to look for the Aleph, warning him of the Zahir. He could always hear his brother and remember the multitude of memories that moment had caused.
And now he finally found it.
He walked towards the center of the restaurant and waited.
That's where Albert Roth found the Infinite.
That's where Albert Roth died.
