Oracle sat as they did every day: in front of a white canvas, colored and covered so many times that the layers of paint were almost as thick as the frame the fabric was stretched upon. The painting on the easel was one of many just like it, sitting in stacks around the painter- moved there when the thin layers eventually piled up too close to allow for free movement of their arms.
As their body frantically painted, their mind peacefully wandered within their memories. Both the physical and mental motions were idle distractions as they waited for the world to settle onto a firm course they could plot. Being the first recorded and government supported MG on earth, they had experienced the luxury of perks, cheap from lack of other buyers- and gorged themself on every manner of magic. The few who knew of their current state theorized that they could nearly obliterate every demon and Breach left open on the planet. But even if Oracle could be convinced to do so, the cost would be too great for that plan to be anything outside of a last ditch effort.
Of course, Oracle already knew as much- it was the role they had focused into after trying almost every other. While the future couldn’t be seen, it could be modeled and predicted with sometimes simple- but more often very complicated- math. The accuracy of one’s predictions depended on how long they spent calculating and how many factors were taken into account. Oracle had an almost insurmountable advantage in both aspects, utilizing massive time dilation and millions of invisible eyes allowed them to identify recurring trends in world events and how they might be changed this time around.
Even without fighting, this ability could prove an invaluable asset in the fight against demons. Could- if Oracle could be bothered, or if someone decided to scan the thousands of layers within each painting and piece together coherent images. That actually had been tried for the first year after they entered this state, but proved to be too resource intensive to be worth it. A different attempt using a camera to record as they painted proved equally fruitless as the bubble of distressingly distorted time made using the newest high-speed cameras necessary- and those would burn out if left running for more than a few seconds.
Now, it wasn’t that they didn’t care, but more so that they had lost the ability to understand themself as an entity that was capable of anything but watching and painting outside of the brief moments of lucidity that sporadically happened about once a week in real time- or countless lifetimes to them.
Hand stopping midway through depicting what could have either been a marriage or murder, Oracle blinked a couple times and stretched their arms hard. Putting down the brush, they stood up and worked muscles that hadn’t moved for who knows how long- but never atrophied in spite of that. After a long yawning and coughing fit, they dispelled the bubble surrounding their easel and stool- brain flushing the results of the calculations done while not themself in preparation for a day of simply just living and enjoying the moment.
Moving over to the only other piece of furniture in the room- a dresser- they brushed off the dust of the dust of the dust of the clothes they had been wearing before they started dreaming into a small container. Material scientists would be clamoring to analyze it so they could figure out how long this round of polymers lasted.
As soon as they were dressed, their handler opened the door. Pleasantries were exchanged and Oracle was informed that there was a party this evening for a new MG that had arrived recently. Perhaps this was why they woke up, Oracle thought as they nodded to familiar faces over breakfast.
If they didn’t focus, time slipped away or piled up- causing them to jitter between sudden bursts of speed or near complete stagnation until they could reorient with how long a second was- a process more difficult than one would think.
Still lethargic from many waking periods of nothing new, Oracle skipped ahead to the evening after a quick debrief of what little they could remember- looking like a very realistic statue to outside observers. Used to this sort of thing, their handler had marked the room they were in as ‘occupied’ and left out a suit for them to wear to the party- knowing that despite their abilities, they were forgetful.
Oracle arrived at the venue a few measly hours before the event was set to start so that they could avoid the press or anyone else that wanted interviews. To their surprise, there was already someone there. The constant passive calculations of the habits of everyone on the island told Oracle that no one was likely to be here- which meant that this person was new. A short dilation of time allowed them to work backwards and conclude that this was the new MG- named Silvia. The calculations were revised and told Oracle that the fact they were wearing a mask and not hiding their horns and tail meant they would prefer to go by Devil right now.
And what a mask it was- not because of complexity, but because it was so simple, yet so disturbing. Or was intended to be if the calculations were correct. The calculations usually were.
All the mask consisted of was a slight and even curve covering the whole face, with the shiny finish of porcelain flecked by nearly imperceptible cracks. Even with Oracle’s time accelerated, these cracks appeared to wriggle with a mind of their own- refusing to stay in place long enough for one’s brain to be certain that they actually existed. A clever phantasm borne of surface geometry. Infinitely intriguing and plain.
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Stepping forwards and canceling the bubble, Oracle could feel the field that passed for this figure’s sight snap onto them as they spoke, “good to meet you, Devil. Are you here so early to avoid the media as well?”
Tensing up in response to being caught off guard, Devil replied, “I am… Excuse me, are you one of Kay’s friends? Although, she doesn’t seem the type to ruin a surprise.”
Chuckling slightly to themself, Oracle admitted, “she isn’t. I just have a bad habit of finding things out. Or maybe calling it a side effect of using too much magic would be more accurate.”
“Is losing control like that a common side effect from getting too many perks?”
Oracle was pleased with how clever Devil was: they picked up on the implication within that statement quite quickly. More relaxed people might have missed that. Taking a soothing tone of voice, they answered, “only with a few orders of magnitude more perks than you have. I’m actually much worse most of the time. Either the vast majority or only six-sevenths, depending on who you ask.”
Suddenly flashing with realization after screwing up their face behind the mask, Devil met expectation by once again catching the real meaning of Oracles sentence. “So you mess with time?”
“Among many, many other things. Even restricted to real time, I have been in this business for a very long time.” After another brief chuckle, Oracle continued, “some even tell me I started it. Now let me ask, why do you hide so many of your capabilities? If my guess is correct, you have only told our hosts eight perks of the sixteen you have- although you just recently acquired four.” Seeing Devil tense up more, Oracle added, “no need to worry about me spilling the secrets, I promise I won’t tell or record it anywhere.”
The magic in the last sentence wrapped around Oracle’s throat like so many others- holding them to the promise. Despite not having the ability to directly notice what happened, Devil would know instinctively that Oracle was bound, and loosen up a little. The perk doing so not having been activated since the tense times when MGs fought both demons and each other- a bad sign if Oracle’s calculations were correct.
With a sigh, Devil said, “it might be paranoid of me, but I’m more worried about other people than demons.” Lips freed by subtle magic that slipped under their alarm, Devil continued, “with demons, you know that they want to kill you- and are very direct with it. People hide their intentions under half-truths and false selflessness, or in the corners of their minds they aren’t aware of. I’m no exception.” Slightly unfocusing from the conversation as Oracle's instinctive magic worked, Devil started rambling things she might not even be aware were on her mind to her rapt audience of one, “that’s why I try my best not to directly lie. Misdirection and omissions are fair game- but I don’t like actual lies…” after a long pause simply staring at nothing, she continued in a quiet voice, “I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t fit in here. Why would the Semiseelie choose someone who loves fucking with people, who revels in chaos, who… who… who…”
Letting Devil trail off for a few seconds, Oracle pushed their magic a little harder when she didn’t start up again. It was risky- only 99.9998% likely not to trigger her tripwire- but their curiosity was peaked. Soon after their slight exertion, Oracle felt something break
Oops.
Devil continued as if they hadn’t stopped- fully oblivious to the world around them. “Who could so coldly… execute someone. Even if the other person had threatened to kill them. Even if they probably deserved it. .Even if I later learned they definitely deserved it. Why didn’t I hesitate- even slightly? Why didn’t I feel anything afterwards?”
Devil’s rambling trickled off into choked crying as they lowered their face to their hands. As their body shook and burnt-out eyes streamed tears from the sudden release or repressed memories and slow mental decay they were experiencing, Oracle leaned over and took them into a hug. They stayed like that for many minutes- until Devil’s brain fully died to be exact- before Oracle made things right. They hadn’t had enough data to know that pushing Devil would leave them like that, so they used a sizable portion of their power to go back.
While time slowly unwound around them, Oracle considered why they were feeling nostalgic. The other firsts had been like Devil. Not that great of people- but the perfect choice for the time. When it was necessary for MGs to be able to kill each other. When it was important to be comfortable manipulating others for personal gain. Between then and now, the Semiseelie had been able to choose those who would be caring, act as leaders, inclined to heal, or whatever else the current situation required.
Now it looked like it was time for people who could do whatever needed to be done once again. And that made Oracle scared.
Back to a previous point in time, Oracle heard Devil sigh and say, “it might be paranoid of me, but I’m more worried about other people than demons.” This time she stopped and looked over to Oracle. “But I’ll probably get over it.”
Smiling sincerely, Oracle stood up and replied, “only time will tell.”
They would find somewhere else to observe the evening from. This was to be a celebration after all. The time they had erased for everyone but themself could be considered later, when it was proper to explore the path they now knew the world was set upon- and when it was time to get to work. Oracle might be retired officially, but when the calculations of fate were laid bare to you, it was impossible to sit around when a few steps could help contain an inevitable fire.
But again, that was a long time coming. All that was left was to wait until the time to act truly arrived and not preemptively rush the ending.