I let out a shuddering breath and hung my head. “Thank fuck,” I groaned.
Methol just popping away like that damn near gave me a heart attack. Hearing that she was alright was a boulder lifted off my chest.
“And what’s the bad news?” I asked once I found my voice again.
“Methol plans to rip your tongue out and shove it up your ass the moment she gets her hands on you,” Eternity deadpanned. “She is cross with you.”
Yeah, no surprise there.
I pressed my palms to my face and groaned. “How was I supposed to know you don’t have any sense of humour? Nobody explains the rules to me.” I waved a hand as Eternity got ready to protest. “Not you you. You, the big you. You get it.”
Eternity let out its usual puff of indignant smoke. “The fault lies with Methol, not you. Her own intervention is what triggered the protocol in the first place, and her rule skirting is what led to this point. Had she departed after exploring the node, she would not have been forcefully ejected.”
And then I would’ve been alone to deal with that Nobody business. That struck me as profoundly sadistic on Eternity’s part.
Or cold. Absolute zero cold.
“You don’t really care if I live or die, do you?”
I felt a pang of bitterness then. Part of me was angry that I hadn’t thought to connect with Methol. In the future, that’d be the first thing I’d do with anyone of interest.
Another part was that I was starting to understand Eternity’s calculations. Worse, I was starting to get why they were that way.
“I do care,” the dragon said. “Life must continue.”
Exactly that, the Prime Directive. And, like with a lot of other little nuggets of information, I sensed the undercurrent of what Eternity wasn’t actually saying.
Life must continue.
But for life to be life, life must grow. Growth happens through adversity and adaptation, at least in some general sense of the word.
Ever’s warnings. Eternity’s words. Methol’s comments about the protocol and Eternity’s methods. I was beginning to grasp at the shape of what lay at the heart of all this secretive nonsense.
Observing an effect changes that effect. I’m no physicist and never was good at the more abstract parts of physics, but this little truism stuck with me from my college classes.
With Eternity’s prime directive being to preserve life, it meant having to use a hands-off approach for better or worse. At the same time, the very existence of the interface was pure contradiction of its non-interventionism. While it was a tool to facilitate growth, it also meant Eternity had, for whatever reason of its own, made the choice to intervene.
I replayed what I said to Methol, that I’d choose to go with her. I couldn’t have chosen to do that if she hadn’t come along.
Methol had altered my path up to the point of me wanting to make a change based on her. Eternity separated us. A tad late, to close the gate after the hens have all rushed out, but I could understand the logic, if not really the timing.
Eternity couldn’t, or didn’t want to, influence my path, but also couldn’t have anyone else doing it, even if my choices were ultimately mine alone. Somewhere, a logic matrix was glowing red-hot trying to reconcile the contradictions.
At the same time, while Eternity could mute people to protect its protocol, it couldn’t do so with forewarning, which at least supported the idea that it couldn’t read my mind or anyone else’s. Or, rather, it chose not to, else it couldn’t have perfectly mimicked the Heroes dragon sprite so accurately.
This was going to tie me in a knot of assumption and suspicion. Getting sleep that night was out of the question, especially after this newest wrinkle in my plans. I’d wanted to try and get more information out of Methol somehow, but it seemed I’d saved myself the trouble with a single badly-timed joke.
Oh well.
"Methol would like to send you some instructions,” Eternity said as I picked up one of the dried fish by the fire and munched on it. “Since this development interferes with her goals in the area, she’d like to assign the mission to you.”
My eyebrows rose. “Doesn’t that contradict the whole protocol thing you lot have going on? How’s Ever agreeing to the idea?”
Bloody damn chaos.
“We agree together that receiving a quest from a third party does not, in fact, constitute a breach of protocol.”
Mental gymnastics worthy of the Olympics. Eternity, the Nadia Com?neci of absurdist nonsense.
I spoke slowly, making sure there was no misunderstanding this time, “So… me joking about joining Methol on her mission got her moved to a different part of the world. But her openly handing off her mission to me… is perfectly fine?!”
“It is acceptable.” Eternity almost sounded pleased with itself. “She will extend to you an organisation’s invitation as you fulfil the requirements for joining. Moreover, this is a publicly listed quest in many larger cities, so this mention does satisfy protocol. It is shaky, but acceptable.”
Psychotic. Fucking psychotic.
If a dragon could blush, I hoped Eternity would. Because it should’ve felt embarrassed with itself if it thought flimsy rationalisation was enough to hold water. But, whatever, I’d be getting what I actually wanted so no skin off my nose. Not like I had much more to do with my time, and some structure to my wandering would help keep me motivated.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Sure. Lay it on me.” I even opened up my goals list to mark this down next to the Crystal goals.
With a sound that might’ve been clearing its throat, Eternity quoted from Ever’s message, “We are investigating mana shards being extracted from nodes. We do not yet understand by what means this is accomplished, but it is of great concern that it happens. Pure node mana is highly unstable and can lead to widespread devastation if in the wrong hands. You have no skin in this, monkey, but I believe you will not be indifferent to the danger—”
“Is that what Protectors do?” I interrupted Eternity. “Go around and deal with issues? Keep people safe? Hero business and the like?”
It was in the title, right? Protector. But of what?
Eternity ignored my question and went on, “Please provide to us any information you might uncover on this matter. Any clue as to the who, the how, and the why of this matter would be greatly appreciated. This situation has been emerging in your current region. Three settlements near your location have been wiped out. You will be rewarded for your time and trouble as I’m recruiting you, through a dew drop contract, into the Order of the Rose’s Grace. You can deliver your findings to grandmaster Talik. He is stationed at the Order’s local chapter in Dragon’s Tear.”
“Don’t ignore the question.” I scowled, finished the fish, then set about picking my teeth with its bones. “I’m not doing anything unless you give me some information. And this seems important enough.”
“It is of absolutely no relevance to me,” Eternity said without missing a beat. “I have no opinion on the matter and no particular interest in seeing it cleared up. My goal is to provide support to you, nothing more.”
I, of course, had expected that. “You might not be invested in this, but Ever sure is. Else it wouldn’t have agreed to this, right?” I worked at a stubborn molar with the fish bone, enjoying the slight squirm from Eternity. “Are you looking forward to Ever badgering you on the subject? Because I am.”
As established, I am not above some casual pettiness. And I had plenty to be petty about. I understood the gravity of what Methol investigated. But I wasn’t going to solve it in the middle of the night in the middle of the Brightleaf, so the next best use of my time was bullying Eternity into revealing some stuff.
Eternity growled softly before answering. I felt a wave of frustration emanating from it. “Protectors can be heroic if they choose. It is not a requirement.”
“What the fuck do they protect then? I mean, it’s in the name.”
Again that stab of frustration and a moment of hesitation.
“What do you believe, Klaus?” it asked.
Ah, now this was a new approach. I was braced for the usual. So I gave the idea some thought.
We—for I may as well consider myself part of the whole shebang by now—had access to dungeons and a direct relationship with fragments of Eternity. Also, we were all from other worlds.
There was one crucial bit of information missing for me, now that I thought about it, and I think in that there would be all the answers I needed.
“Why do the dungeons exist?” I asked.
“I cannot say,” came the immediate answer. No thinking about it. No assessing. Just a smug assurance that said a lot.
“The dungeons are the key,” I repeated, mostly to myself. “You’re tied to them. Else why couldn’t you go in?”
“I cannot say,” Eternity repeated.
It was rhetorical, but it knew that.
“Protectors deal with dungeons. We clear out corruption from them. Maintenance work.”
Melenith’s words rattled around in my head now. If I ever saw Earth again, that would mean Eternity would have found it. Was Eternity travelling then?
Or… was it growing?
Life must continue.
The answer probably stared me right in the face, but I was likely too tired and wired up to recognise it. I wrote down my theory and decided I’d deal with it at the right time. Which wasn’t now.
Note #68
#Start
The dungeons perform some function for Eternity. Or, more likely, are a part of it in some way. Protectors protect Eternity by way of clearing corruption from dungeons.
Is corruption caused by Nemera?
Is Nobody connected to Nemera?
If there is an actual job to be had, why not outright state it? Constraints on Eternity? Self-imposed?
What are Eternity’s primary constraints?
#End
That was plenty to think on.
Crystal snored loudly and turned over on her pile of pilfered riches. Tusk echoed the same snoring. Both of them seemed like they could sleep through the end of the world and not feel like they’ve missed much.
To my relief, the forest remained silent and dark. The wind had died down and the river flowed peacefully, providing just the minimum background noise.
“Tell Methol I’ll deal with her mission,” I said, decided she wouldn’t have offered if she didn’t think it was worth my time.
Not that she likely thought I’d be any good at solving the problem. More like this was another little rule break that was meant to help me along, for which I was grateful.
I added it to what I was starting to think of as my quest log. If it rewarded me, then all the more reason to do it. Right?
A flash of inspiration rose to the surface as I waited for Eternity to finish its chat to Ever.
What if I was thinking of everything backwards?
Note #69
#Start
What if I should take Eternity at face value? What if I’m actually not being tested?
Theory:
Eternity won’t state any hard request because I need to figure out if I want to be a part of whatever this whole situation is. Whatever the final answer, I need to find out for myself if it’s something I’ll pursue or not.
It’s why Methol was actually removed. It wasn’t because she helped me. She was removed because she was drawing me to her side, maybe inadvertently. I lack the insight into Eternity’s mind to make an informed decision.
#End
Eternity stared at me for a moment from where it sat perched on the lamp. A thin tendril of smoke drifted up from its nostrils. It looked slightly ridiculous.
“Did I hit a nerve?” I asked when it didn’t say anything.
“I cannot say,” it answered, voice lower than usual.
Was as good as full blown confirmation.
I stabbed at the fire with my sword and blew into the red-hot coals to wake them back to life. The night was still pretty young and I could probably get some sleep if I really tried. But I didn’t want to sleep.
What would I do and what would I see if I were God’s personal service technician?
What challenges would this path take me on? How much of the world would I travel to do the job? How far would I go? What would I learn?
The possibilities felt endless now that I had a workable theory. Maybe I was wrong. I doubted I was, but maybe…
I still planned on following the path. I didn’t have another, and trying to figure one out on my own would probably give me choice paralysis.
And there was no fucking way I’d be sleeping. I thought I could settle down, but everything about the night had gotten me on edge, antsy to do and move. If I tried to lie down next to the fire, my mind flooded with more theories and obsessions.
So I got up and walked over to where Crystal snored peacefully, and kicked her pile of trash. She came awake in a flurry of kicks and punches that landed on nothing and only served to topple her off the junk.
“What human want?” she asked when she glared up at me, eyes sticky with sleep.
“Human bored,” I answered and thumbed towards the warding light. “I want to trade you for a lamp like that.”
Crystal stared up at me along the length of her beaky nose. “No,” she said simply. “Lamp not for trade. Lamp unique. No have another.” A slow grin spread across her face before I thought of what to entice her with. “Human make lamp. I teach. You make. You pay. Five verdant hearts. Deal? Yes.”
What a fucking coincidence! I grinned right back at her.
“Sure,” I said, heart starting to pump hard against my ribs. “I was just thinking I’d like nothing more than to kill some more tree fathers. Let’s find some.”
“Now?” Crystal frowned. “Now night. Hard to find.”
“Now,” I said. “I’m itching to hit level ten, and you’re going to help me do it. May as well farm some stuff while I’m at it.”