Chapter 77 Nothing Else.
“I am curious about what I cannot see.” Ori explained. “Due to this, I will ask you some hypothetical questions.” Isaac nodded in assent. “If you saw a platinum coin fall out of someone’s purse, would you tell them, ignore it, pocket it, or grab it and give it back to them?”
“I’d probably just keep it if I knew no one would notice.” Isaac replied truthfully.
“If there were two burning buildings and one of your friends were inside of one of them and the other held a family of ten would you; save your friend and then the family, save your friend and ignore the family, save the family and then your friend, or let luck decide their fates?” Ori questioned further.
“It depends on the risk to myself.” Isaac told her. “And what the friend means to me.” He expanded on his answer. “If I had the power that I do now then I would save my friend and send Shamesh to save the family. Obviously my friend takes priority but Shamesh is more than capable of stopping a building from collapsing. If I didn’t think that I could save my friend by myself, I would have to bring Shamesh along to help me and then if the family could still be saved I would take care of them afterwards.”
Ori smiled at Isaac. “You are taking these questions seriously. Thank you.” She told him with a slight bow of her head.
“Of course.” Isaac replied. “You want the truth so I will give it to you.”
“What if I wanted a lie?” She asked curiously.
“Then I would lie to your face without a second thought.” Isaac replied calmly. “I could tell you that I am what happens when a black hole falls to Primatia and devours its fill of mana and humans and becomes sentient. I could explain to you that the sky is actually green and the trees are purple and blue, you’ve had your colors mixed up for your entire life. I could tell you that I’ve never killed a man in a fit of rage or that I don’t see those I am not close to as resources to be used when needed.”
“But not at will?” Ori questioned directly.
“Resources should not be wasted.” Isaac stated.
“What about all the things you wasted money on in the past?” Lenna asked before Ori could ask another question.
“They bought something.” Isaac told her. “They bought good will, memories, peace of mind, and resources in the future.”
“How many people would have to die for you to trade their lives for someone you knew?” Ori asked further.
“Who is it?” Isaac replied simply.
“Lady V’Nova.” Ori answered and leaned in slightly.
“All of them would not be enough.” Isaac answered without blinking. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Instead of any kind of negative reaction to Isaac’s answer, Ori leaned back in her chair and smiled contentedly. “That answer is enough for me. It answers my next dozen questions. Thank you for your time Lord Wexler, Lady V’Nova.” She gave each of them a shallow bow. “I will not see you again until after your wedding so I will congratulate you now. As is custom where I am from I will offer each of you one piece of advice. Usually it is advice on maintaining a happy marriage but I do not think that you need it.” She then rose to her feet and it was only then that they realized she had practically licked her plate clean even through the questioning. She looked directly at Lenna. “Do not hold your children to the same standard that you hold yourself. That is something that no mortal can ever hope to achieve, let alone a child.” She then turned to Isaac and locked eyes with him. “And you, do not spoil your children rotten. I do not want to be the one who has to clean up after them.”
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Isaac chuckled at her clearly forced sternness. “Thanks but I have a feeling we’ll see each other before any children arrive.” He told the old demigoddess.
Ori’s stern facade faded away and she smiled grandmotherly at them. “You may be right, but by then I won’t have an excuse to give you unsolicited advice.” She retorted. “We will meet again, and thank you for dinner.” Ori said with a bow.
Isaac felt the tingle of power beyond his comprehension go through his core as Ori turned and then vanished. “Huh.” Isaac said aloud. “This definitely is near the top of the list of strangest divine interactions of my lives.”
Lenna snorted a laugh. “That, that is your take away from this?” She questioned him while chuckling.
Isaac shrugged. “I’ve met…” He started counting on his fingers. “Four, maybe six divinities and at least two demigods. This one and the one an hour before it have to be at least number three and four, maybe even two and three on the list of most weird.”
“Which one is the most weird?” Lenna questioned curiously. She certainly didn’t think any of them were normal.
“Definitely when the Reaper showed up for a chat in the middle of the street.” Isaac confirmed her unspoken guess. “A god accidentally getting me killed, that was pretty normal all things considered, though I’m not really sure if that one should count because I wasn’t really in one piece when we met.” Isaac said as he started listing them off. “The twins? That was a perfectly normal interaction with deities that do what they do.” He continued. “The Reaper dropping by for a quick chat was just so strange that I could only really act casually because I couldn’t think of any other way to act.” Isaac confessed. “Lua stopping by in our bedroom like privacy doesn’t exist was certainly odd but the situation was urgent so I’m not about to complain about it.” He said and took a deep breath before he continued the list. “Pretty much every interaction with Lua has been very personal which is very much on brand for her so none of them have really been odd except maybe when…”
“When she and Dri’El fought over Macken.” Lenna finished for him.
Isaac nodded. “Yeah. Judgment is this dumb mix of blind zealot and robo-” Isaac winced and rubbed the side of his head. “Cold, unthinking, machine, like a clock.” He scrunched his face and then tried to blink away the pain. “So our first meeting with him was probably how it usually goes whenever he goes anywhere, just with a lot more Judgment losing than usual. This most recent time was clearly a first for him as much as it was a first for us to have a demigod as our audience.”
Lenna nodded in agreement. “Having heard every event from your perspective… yes, I think today has been towards the top. It is odd that you can even have a list, I hope you know that.” She told him.
Isaac shrugged. “Most people live lives that might seem strange to others around them, yours is just a bit stranger than most and mine is even more so. Honestly, that is why I try to not learn anyone’s name unless it is actually necessary. It is so much harder to ignore someone I know personally and even harder to purposely throw them to the wolves when necessary.” He explained.
Lenna nodded in understanding. “You know me.” She told him.
“You would regret either choice you made with the pair of burning buildings because you are too good of a person.” Isaac replied. “You would probably end up going after the family unless it was me though.”
Lenna nodded. “Yes.” She agreed.
“How many lives would you trade for mine?” Isaac wondered.
“All of them.” Lenna said with the weight of regret hanging on her voice as if it had already happened. “I would curse myself for not being strong enough to save you and everyone else the entire time, but I would still choose you, every time.”
“Good.” Isaac replied and then casually took another bite of his steak. “Never change that part of you.” He told her around a mouthful of food. He swallowed and then looked directly at her. “One of us has to have emotions that work properly. Gods know I don’t.”
“Because you don’t have a flight response?” Lenna questioned.
“Because all I have to do to not feel bad about something is to tell myself that I shouldn’t. That’s all it takes and any guilt is sealed away. I know it’s not normal but I also know that that is the way that I am. You need to be the one to keep me from doing something drastic under strenuous circumstances.” Isaac told her.
“Like what?” Lenna wondered.
Isaac looked her dead in the eyes without the barest hint of humor or hesitation. “Executing the city of Contantis and everyone in it that I can feel with my Polarity Sense for sending Shamsha after us, for feeding a monster like him. I would drop the mountain on them if it weren’t for two things.”
“What two things?” Lenna asked quietly even though she thought that she already knew the answer.
Isaac calmly answered her: “Those around me would look at me like I was an actual monster, and it would upset you. Nothing else.”