Year 2030. The whole world has had one government for the last one thousand years. In this world the First World War never happened, and neither did the Second. Your dream of a perfect world has come true: the atomic bomb was never made to attack any country. No one now for a thousand years has forged guns; swords and the weapons used a thousand years ago are only for history. In this world, Hitler became a great artist in the 1800s. Napoleon became a traveler who saw the whole world. No generals of war remained—there were never religious wars; all nations are friends. Technology advanced far ahead: very strong AIs and robots live beside humans, and even aliens live on Earth. There is no single world military; there is no single tyrant. Each nation has its own leader who represents their people, and all these leaders from every nation speak with one another when a problem comes and find a way to solve it. One man—chosen by all the leaders—acts as the single Judge. This is how the world works.
A man was walking toward the Great Hall, a notebook held in his hand. The hall had been created for the meetings of the leaders of all nations. He walked there and spoke to himself: "My name is Alexander Anderson. I was born in Europe. My dad was from Japan and my mom is from England. All my life I always tried to make people happy. I was once a small teacher, but now I am the Great Judge of all nations. Everything in my life was good, but today I feel it will be the worst day of my life."
He walked on and entered the Great Hall. Flags of every country hung along the walls. Old statues of judges stood before him as silent witnesses. He climbed the steps to the top and took his seat at the Judge's table. He wore his judge's robes and sat with the heavy weight of responsibility on his shoulders.
Alexander spoke clearly: "Now invite all leaders."
At once, the digital displays and holographic screens came alive. Leaders began to appear on the screens and to fill the thousand chairs in the hall. The room was full of people—leaders of nations from every part of the world.
"Great leaders of all countries, my beloved brothers," Alexander said, "today we are here for a very big reason." The lights dimmed as a digital image appeared before the assembly: an enormous mountain range with golden doors carved into the stone.
All the leaders leaned forward and began whispering among themselves. "What is this place?" they asked. "What does it mean?"
Alexander answered, "We don't know exactly what this is. But from the ancient art on those doors, we believe it belongs to a lost history from one thousand years ago. This place lies between the mountains of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and Tajikistan. We found this place, but we have gathered here to decide whether we should go there or not."
The debate took a long time. Voices rose and fell as the national leaders discussed risk, heritage, and responsibility. Alexander watched them all, his hands clenched tightly together from the tension. After a long time he spoke again: "Now that the national leaders have spoken to each other, can you tell me what we should do?"
Two digital buttons appeared on the large screens in front of everyone—one green, one red. The green button meant: go and explore. The red button meant: this is too dangerous—do not go.
After votes were cast, the result split the assembly: five hundred leaders voted to go and see, and five hundred leaders voted not to go.
All eyes then turned to Alexander. He had not yet said what he wanted. Alexander thought, then stepped forward and pressed the green button.
The decision was made. They would go to Afghanistan to learn the lost history.
---
Alexander was on a plane. The plane was flying to Badakhshan in Afghanistan, a province that sits between Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. Alexander was seated in the plane. He looked out the window and held a glass of water in his hand. He thought silently to himself.
A man sitting in front of him asked, "What are you thinking about?" Alexander looked at him—it was his friend Ahmad Allah.
Alexander answered, "I was thinking if what I know about history is right. We should not—"
Ahmad interrupted, "Then why did you agree to come here?"
Alexander confessed, "I don't know. When I wanted to refuse, I lost control of myself and agreed to come here."
Ahmad grabbed the glass of water from Alexander and splashed some on him. "You do what you want now. Stop complaining and let's go to work," he said.
Alexander's face was soaked with water. He smiled, wiped his face clean, and said, "You are still a kid, Ahmad, but you need to pay back for the water." He took a glass of water and threw it at Ahmad, but Ahmad jumped from his seat and saved himself from the splash.
"Ahmadddddddd!" Alexander called, but Ahmad ran away laughing. Ahmad and Alexander had been friends since they were children—Ahmad was always funny and the person who could make Alexander laugh when he needed it most.
After a few hours, Alexander reached Badakhshan province. He looked up at the great mountain with its golden doors. A few days earlier, earthquakes around the mountain had disturbed the ground. Some workers who had been searching the mountain for iron discovered this place. They informed government officials, and now the world's attention was focused here.
Alexander was now inside the great mountain.
The golden doors behind him had closed. He started walking ahead. Then, the sound of the door came again and said, "Go ahead, and in the last room, you will see my creator."
Alexander was scared of the place he was in, but he was still trying to stay calm. He kept walking deeper inside. Soon he entered a great hall — a hall made from golden stone, and everything inside was shining with light. Everything was so bright that he could see every corner clearly.
Alexander looked around. There were paintings of old fighters, statues of kings, and some statues that looked like monsters. Alexander couldn't understand what was going on there.
"This place looks like it's a thousand years old," he whispered. "How could someone build something like this?"
Then Alexander saw a big golden book on a table. Again, the same voice came and said, "Go ahead and touch the book."
Alexander stepped forward and reached for it. But as soon as his hand touched the book, it opened its mouth and bit his hand! Alexander quickly pulled his hand back, saving himself, but blood started dripping from his palm.
Then the book began floating in the air, and suddenly a storm filled the mountain. Winds roared, light flickered everywhere.
Alexander shouted, "What the hell is this!?"
After a few moments, everything became calm again. The book floated in front of him and spoke in a tired, deep voice.
"It's been such a long time since I've slept… I think it's been a thousand years."
Alexander, still frightened, tried to stand again after falling to the ground during the storm. Before he could speak, he saw that the book now had a face — like a man's face drawn into its cover.
The book said, "So, you are the man who is the king of the world."
Alexander replied, "I don't know if I'm a king or not, but people follow me and believe in me."
The book said, "Fine. Now that I am free because of your blood, I will tell you about the dark age of history. This is why you are here."
Alexander, surprised, asked, "How do you know what I'm looking for?"
The book answered, "I am the Book of Knowledge. I am five thousand years old. My power is to know everything and to understand everything. This is who I am."
The book's eyes glowed like golden fire.
"Now tell me, Alexander," it said. "Do you want to know the lost history of this world?"
Alexander smiled and said, "I want to know why this world is like this. Who is the one who brought peace to this world? I want to know everything."
The book slowly floated closer and said,
"You are welcome, Alexander."