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When he opened his eyes, he woke up, he was in a world beyond a normal person's comprehension. But Morty Prime was no normal Morty, let alone a normal human.
The world was a simple forest. He awoke in a pathway. To the normal human eyes, it would seem as though he was in a swirl of blue, yellow, and magenta.
He felt as though he was free yet burdened. Like the entire world was just beyond his reach, his chains keeping him from reaching his goal.
He felt burdened with the secrets of the unknown. Burdened with knowing things beyond comprehension.
He couldn't get up.
He groaned, covering his eyes with his arm. When he opened them again, he saw himself, with his palm open towards him, silently offering to help him up.
He took his own hand. It felt cold. Smooth yet he knew without a doubt that it had seen more than anyone could ever see. He knew from just a touch that it was him; his very inner being.
"I had been expecting you for..." Inner chuckled, "...quite some time now. I'm surprised it took you this long to contact me."
Prime smiled softly in apology, "Sorry dude, it's been a chaotic year."
Prime stood up successfully, and patted his back.
They walked further until the trees opened up to a clearing. A checkered blanket lay perfectly flat on the grass. Two plates and two glasses sat waiting as if set for guests who were already expected. They sat opposite one another, knees almost touching in the quiet space.
Prime looked at the food though he felt no hunger. His gaze drifted back to the face across from him. It was his own face yet sharper. The eyes held depths that usually remained hidden behind a mask of stuttering confusion.
"We need to talk about what's happening," Prime said, his voice steady and lacking the usual tremor. "I can feel it. Every day it gets stronger. The lines are blurring and I'm starting to understand things I shouldn't."
Inner poured a drink into a glass without looking, movements fluid and precise. "You are finally waking up. The process has already begun. We are becoming one single entity."
Prime nodded slowly. He had noticed the changes. Calculations happened instantly in his mind now. Patterns revealed themselves in seconds. Complex theories that would take scholars years to decode appeared as simple logic to him now. He was growing sharp. He was becoming dangerous.
"I suppressed it for so long," Prime admitted, staring at his own hands. "I... Didn't know how different I'd feel when we merged. I didn't know how much I actually suppressed."
He thought about the reason behind the wall he had built. Rick Prime had forced knowledge into him like water into a reservoir. He was the original. He was the template. He was made to absorb everything, every fact, every history, every secret that existed across every dimension. It was similar to the weight carried by those who saw the King in Yellow, a burden that drove others to madness instantly. Yet he did not break. He merely stored it all away, waiting for the day his mind could expand enough to contain it all without shattering.
"You think too small about what you are" Inner replied, leaning forward. "You are not just flesh and bone. You are a vessel created to hold infinity. The Old Man filled you up until you were overflowing. He made sure you could carry the weight because you are special. You are his first. You are the one who started it all."
Prime felt the pressure inside his skull. It was not pain anymore. It was simply presence. Millions of voices and facts and truths swirling together in perfect order. He realized he was not going insane. He was simply evolving into something that could process it all.
"Unfortunately, it is not the only reason we are merging," Inner said, his tone dropping an octave. "The clock is ticking. The world as you know it is going to end soon. You are going to need every bit of that suppressed knowledge just to keep standing. You need to remember how to stop it."
The words hung heavy in the air. Prime absorbed them instantly, understanding the gravity without needing further explanation.
"Will we... be whole when I go back?" Prime asked, though he already suspected the answer.
"Not yet" Inner shook his head. "The merge is not complete. We are still two parts of a whole for now. Meeting here has merely accelerated the process."
Inner looked directly into his eyes, his expression serious.
"The deadline is your sixteenth birthday. That is when the transition becomes absolute. Until then you have to learn. You have to grow. You have to prepare for what is coming."
Prime felt a strange mix of relief and anxiety. He had more time but the end of that time was fixed. There was no way to extend it. There was no way to avoid it.
"I think I get it now" Prime whispered. "It's inevitable. We're gonna become one whether I want it or not."
"Exactly" Inner smiled, and it was a smile that held the weight of eternity. "You just forgot for a little while. But you are remembering fast now.
Good luck, Prime. You are going to need it."
The world around them began to fade. The colors bleached out. The trees dissolved into static. The picnic vanished like smoke in the wind.
He opened his eyes.
He was sitting in a hard chair. The surface in front of him was smooth and reflective. He was looking directly at his own reflection. The boy staring back looked the same on the outside. The hair was messy. The clothes were ordinary. But the eyes were different now. They were old. They were full of stars and silence.
He sat there motionless, watching the image in the glass. The realization settled into his bones like cold water. The process was moving forward. The intelligence was surfacing. The merge was inevitable.
He breathed out slowly, the thought forming clearly in his mind without any sound needed.
I guess some things just never change.