Video for "Ego Death (Ammonia)": www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjz3r6L3fnY

This is the story of a young boy who dreams of becoming an artist, a boy always drawing pictures of stars. As he goes through school he gets good grades, though he barely tries to do so. Many people believed it was due to talent, however he knew that he was simply slipping through the cracks of a broken educational system. Unfortunately he never achieved his real dream. Those around him told him that it simply wasn't profitable, and he couldn't survive pursuing art. They told him he was special, and they filled him up with potential instead of any actual passion.

He grows up to become an astronaut, joining a private space company. In the future, space becomes less of a curiosity and more of another resource to be exploited. There is no glory in crossing galaxies, no glamour. The pioneers and heroes of his field were all long dead, and now all that was left was the menial labor, completely devoid of discovery.

He is tasked with being the first human to leave the solar system. He's to arrive on a distant planet, and would live out the remainder of his years in isolation, maintaining robots that studied the planet's surface. He straps himself into his rocket and blasts off into space. During acceleration, he turns to his right, and sees the hundreds of other rockets being cast away from Earth. At that moment he realizes he is not special, and rather than pursue what would have made him something great, he allowed the world to turn him into another part of a corrupt society.

As he begins to slow down, he turns to face behind him and looks out the rear window of the space ship, and witnesses the Earth unfold before him. In one glance he can see the entire planet. He realizes that borders and boundaries do not matter, that humans are all one species. And even though he had trouble relating to them, he among the greatest lifeforms in the universe. He feels inspired, awe-struck at the sheer weight of human achievement. However, as the Earth begins to get smaller and smaller, the dark parts of humanity come slipping back in.

He remembers the self destructive nature of humanity. How they seek to destroy what they create and are, in the end, the creators of their demise. He remembers how willing they are to allow each other to suffer, and how most of the humans will never truly realize what their lives are worth. He begins to wonder if a pointless existence is worth experiencing. Perhaps the humans know of their own worthlessness and don't see the value in their own creation. They don't see the potential in themselves.

Suddenly he realizes that he was describing himself, and begins to weep for the broken society he'll never suffer in again. He then turns away from the window and back to the stars ahead, knowing he has years before he reaches his goal now. He is cold and alone. Without anyone to share his thoughts with, they begin to stew in his head, turning rancid and rotten and filling him with despair and hopelessness. The walls of his bleak mind echo with nihilistic ideas and cries of mourning, slowly ripping the facade of flesh apart and revealing the cold, metallic chamber he's trapped in. He's flying thousands of miles every second, but his thoughts are going even faster. It feels like everyone he has ever known has died at his feet.

A feeling of anger washes over him. He begins to feel used, exploited, and abandoned. His hatred builds until he loses control. In his passionate rage he takes a broken pipe and destroys the researching equipment, disconnects the communication systems, and turns the engines off. The beeping, the buzzing, the voices of careless humans have all ceased. He is quiet now, and the ringing sound of silent air fills his ears. This is a peace he has not felt in a long time. With nothing left to live for, he decides to explore space for himself, and what he discovers will die with him. After breathing a sigh, he flicks a switch. The engines warm up once more. He is living for himself now, and he feels peaceful.