Chapter Text
The Beginning.
A chaotic maelstrom in the heart of the abyss, the depths of the void churning and bubbling like some form of stardust stew, the first irregularities to hint at the universe to come.
And over the aeons and explosions to follow since the creation of time and space, we would return to another dark bubbling elixir of elements.
The spark of genesis would strike a second time, and from the depths of infinite possibility the first life would evolve. Nurtured by the primordial soup, the children of stardust would rise up, all alone on their precious pearl floating in the sea of the void.
Just like the great galactic gas clouds or burning fusions reactors twinkling in the sky, they would combine and clash, each fresh ingredient in the mix brining out something new. Something novel. Something more than just the sum of its parts.
Intelligent life.
Was there a creator at work, carefully designing each concoction, some cosmic alchemist touched by divine inspiration following a recipe to life, the universe and everything?
We may never know.
But the pressure continued to build somewhere in the fabric of our reality and the inky waters of creation would once more vibrate with arcane energy, ripples in time removing all other alternatives until only one future remained.
A future with a third such upheaval. Chaos in a realm of pure mathematics, bending every known law, every constraint thought to exist. Act three would perhaps be the grandest of them all, a masterpiece without equal, elegant in its unassuming nature and bold in a way that would defy all reason.
Once is a coincidence. Twice is chance. And the third time?
A pull of the ring, a satisfying hiss, a desperate gulp and hearty sigh.
Pepsi.
Not that it was called that yet. Nor had the preferred cylindrical vessel come existence. Brad's Drink was a start, the introduction before the catchy chorus, the first crack of dawn before everyone had truly woken up.
But humanity, those determined souls that blended the harsh lessons of evolution with the whimsy of the stars and the love of Mother Gaia's embrace? They found a way.
Accident or act of god, the world would grow to know and love the bubbling liquid whose impenetrable shadows concealed the future to come. The drink with no equal, with a light sweet touch to make even those shadows seem as bright as the sun, a reminder to man while at their worst that their hands were no longer for waging war, for throwing spears and brandishing technological weapons.
Nay, they were meant to create. To hold each other close. To point in awe, to wave to friends and loved ones, to climb beyond the tallest mountain and grasp the very heavens themselves.
It was not yet time. Many had tasted the message of destiny's herald, but few yet understood it.
For the third era to truly begin, for Earth to become utopia and for the trio of fate's inheritors to transform the rest of the galaxy into something truly wondrous...
An avatar was needed.
Mankind would bring Pepsi to other worlds. And so Pepsi would come to them in the form of a man.
Faceless, for he represented everyone and nobody, his head a curved mirror to the souls he had come to save.
The richest businessman, the poorest beggar, the starving and the helpless, the children and the damned, the oppressed and their oppressors: all would see the Truth of themselves in his visage and in that moment be enlightened.
Muscular, tall, a paragon of the human male ideal.
The image many desired, and one that would command respect and awe, but not the final metamorphosis of his form.
No, as the people of Earth grew and released the shackles of their own preconceptions, so too would their ideal chance toward something more mercurial and adaptable, countless alternate flavours and rebrandings to reflect the full range of life.
Metallic, hardy and clad in the colours of the Brand.
Not just for association with the Source, not just a reminder of his Duty, but a promise of the future to come. Iron, copper, steel, aluminium and gold...metal had always been a sign of progress, of strength, of transforming knowledge into greater triumphs over nature.
Unbending, uncompromising in his resolve and able to endure any hardship. A perfect companion to those who'd bit and clawed and hunted and outran and invented their way out of the constant fight for survival and through sheer stubbornness made their home on this rock hurtling through space.
Speed, a sign of urgency, of care, of commitment to his service.
And another aspect of the modern world, of the incredible change wrought in such a short span compared to how long it took life and stardust and planets and beasts to come this far, to be people, to be ushering in a new era themselves.
He had no need to limit himself to moving in just three spatial dimensions of course, and could easily warp space-time to be exactly where he was needed, but the sight of him running brought about a primal reaction. Perhaps it was some lost remnant of Homo Sapiens' hunter-gather past of endurance runner or some deep need to go fast, to break barriers, to go beyond.
A sense of pain, of empathy.
To be a companion to them, he must do more than take their shape.
For them to understand him and his message, he must first know them and share their crushing defeats, their hopeful wishes, their fond memories, the loss and frustration, of love and joy.
By caring he knows who to prioritise, who needs his delivery the most, who are parched in a desert of despair and need to be refreshed on who they truly are, to return to the path they once walked.
And with these illogical, contradictory, chaotic and compulsive emotions, the agent of forces beyond becomes flawed, mortal, able to clumsily run into obstacles and trip.
Humour. Slapstick.
Another connection, to break the ice before giving them the ice-cold good news.
The secret formula is complete and awaiting final quality-assurance.
The avatar, the herald, our messenger, the bringer of the next age, saviour of the future and a friend to us all.
One drop is all it takes. It erases all doubt. He is perfectly suited to the task.
How could he not be? For all that Fate interfered, for all the deities above and beyond may have puppeteered their Grand Design, he is in OUR image. His changing design was penned by mortals.
His potential may have been engineered by forces beyond our comprehension, but our ability to make him real, to set off that FIZZ, the cosmic bottle cap or ring-pull of change?
Pure. Full-sugar. Unadulterated. Human. Genius. No artificial additives or flavourings, accept not substitutes.
With the choice of a new generation locked in, we truly had something for everyone.
A hero to refresh the world, to change the script of our dull day-to-day drudgery.
A new way to play the game, a taste for life, a bolt from the blue.
Our child and messiah had a name,
Things would never be the same,
Pepsi for Pizza and TV Game:
The one called Pepsiman finally came.