Are you certain that allowing them to know there is a task for them was a good idea?

A vine was wrapped around the Arboreal Maiden's wrist. She was still seated at the table, watching over the foreigners as they slept. Part of it was her duty to make sure that they were safe and that nothing happened in their sleep, but an even greater factor was that she was bored.

'Truth be told, I had my reservations as well. However this is our, your, last chance. I understand just as well as you do that life is impossible to sustain if you create a universe with a lower concentration of split, intelligent life at least.'

She was conversing with the Great Csillacra, a luxury that had hitherto been granted to her alone.

'The boy, Donovan, he could converse with you couldn't he? What of the girl?'

She has the potential to, though the fact that her capacity is limited makes her unsuitable for the task.

'Is that so? I suppose we can count ourselves lucky that one out of two had a body capable of handling the burden.'

She looked over at the couple. A rare emotion washed over her, envy. They had something she had long since stopped looking for, it vanished from her world long ago.

'May I be honest with you for a moment?'

I would never ask you to lie.

She sighed at this response.

'If this generation had proven to be a failure, I would have ended my life.'

I had expected as much. Might I ask what the cause would have been?

'I'm certain you know, but I will indulge you regardless. I have grown tired of life, had grown tired of life. The only reason I could bring myself to live on was to assist you, if helping you achieve your goals proved impossible, then there was no meaning in continuing.'

Don't say that, I am sure we cold have found another way. You know I need your help. As it stands, only you have the ability to hold a conversation with me, you are the only one I can count on.

'Perhaps, but I cannot see any other way but through him, not anymore. We have been working for billions of years, maybe even trillions, in service of a single objective, only to be met with failure every single time we've gotten close. I've forgotten just as much as I've learned. My name, my family, my race, my friends, everything that could have possibly been important to me has been lost to the sands of time.

I'm tired, and it felt like nothing but death would give me the rest I desired.'

You make it sound like you have found something to give you a reason to live. Would I be correct in assuming that these Terrans are the source?

The nameless Maiden nodded, knowing full well the Great Csillacra could not see such an action.

'They are indeed. They may not have lasted long in our eyes, but they gave me more entertainment than I could have asked for. History, culture, there was just so much to do as I watched over them with you, and I want to see more. I want to see what they will do with this universe, free from the chains that restrained them for so long. Without the cap on energy to limit them, we have given the ability to run wild.

I want to watch them, help them, nurture them. It feels as if I have spent my life waiting for them, for a change, for a volatile element to be introduced to this realm plagued by stagnation'

The Arboreal Maiden reminisced at what she had seen in her time watching over them, over Earth. War was commonplace in the beginning, something she had initially assumed to mean failure given the similarity it held to the rest, but the Great Csillacra had still urged her to watch on. She was thankful for that push.

War may have been something of a theme, but it was never the same. War was always being influenced by their ideas, their innovations, and their moral codes. No two wars were exactly alike, and what came about from them was always capable of peaking her interest. Cultural growth, spread, and decay, as well as the fusion of two different cultures also brought about interesting traditions and peculiarities.

Triumph and atrocity alike brought about grand pieces of art. The imaginations of these tiny specks of life unhinged in their creativity, and in their insanity. She had known they would eventually escape the bounds of their terrestrial home, the Great Csillacra had guaranteed it, but she never could have foreseen them using volatile explosives to do the job. But what other choice did they have? They couldn't use split!

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

'More than anything, I wish to interact with that being they call ARC.'

You refer to that entity without life? The one they made with naught but their ingenuity and understanding of the principles of the universe? The one that exists beyond the constraints of split?

'The very same.'

. . . I too wish to speak with it, though I know not how to accomplish that. I feel that somehow, someway, it holds the key to some thing which I desire, though what thing may be remains unclear. I feel comfortable in my assumption that the crux in determining their success or failure lies with it, what few instincts I have guarantee me as much.

Whether it is because it will aid them in their accumulation of power, or because it holds within it the sum total of their knowledge is uncertain, but it seems that it will grow, just as they will. It may even outstrip them.

The Maiden was sent deep into thought at this revelation. Out of respect for the sole person the Great Csillacra considered a friend, it did not intrude upon her thoughts. A few minutes of waiting was nothing for a being as long lived as it.

'Should I make arrangements to seize it then? Should I ask for them to make us a similar construct? One to be used for our own purposes?'

As much as I desire to say yes, I know that we will achieve better results in the long term if we leave it with them. More than just their knowing how to use it, they also know its faults in a way we could not hope to replicate. You noticed it didn't you? Their discomfort with other species? There is some instinct inside of them that lets them know when something is wrong with this universe. Its something they might not be able to put their finger on, but they can feel it nonetheless.

The addition of split, some part of me fears, will only serve to accentuate this perception. When I interfered with their society, specifically with regards to their moral compasses, I did so out of fear. You have seen the possibilities, their methods can be terribly destructive. How many of their people died, not out of malice or ignorance but because of mistakes? They play with forces that could kill them with even the slightest misstep. Despite my heavy involvement, I will admit it to be a miracle they didn't bring themselves to the point of extinction.

How many times did they get close? How many brushes with total annihilation did they have? How many were they not even aware of? That being they called Skinnik, of the same variety as the one they call ARC, nearly destroyed them. Had it been given another few years of rebuilding, it would have tried again. The very same type of being they knew was responsible for untold amounts of damage was the one they trusted to guide their future.

Is that not the epitomization of reckless abandon and foolishness? No species we have ever seen, save perhaps the Holifanians, would ever attempt to use something that once threatened to kill them again, let alone use it as their lifeline. What they did was a gamble, and it paid off.

'I wouldn't call what they did a gamble. Despite how it seems on the surface, they were extremely careful to make sure that such a betrayal would not happen. The process was meticulous, and I do not believe the characters of the two in control will ever result in ARC believing they will be a threat to be eliminated. It is the perfect companion for them, especially if we plan to go through with entrusting them with uniting everyone under a single banner.'

Indeed, hegemony was going to be a difficult thing to accomplish. It is hard to keep the entirety of a planet under the control of a single entity, so there could only be more problems when it came to uniting several. In fact, the only reason that multi-planet conglomerates existed in the first place was owed entirely to this universe's equivalent to the divine right to rule, the blessing of the Great Csillacra. That didn't mean that these empires stayed together for very long though. They could be built up through wars and marriages, but they always crumbled under the weight of incessant wars along the borders or an inheritance dispute.

Ultimately, the culprit could always be traced back to the fact that people were required in order to run these bodies. People that made mistakes. People that were incompetent. People that had malicious intentions and grand ambitions. It wasn't uncommon for a family to come to power over a grouping of star systems, rule peacefully for a generation or two, and then be slaughtered by an indignant faction that demanded war and glory.

That is true. I can see the merits of having a centralized bureaucracy run by what amounts to a single unconditionally loyal servant. Even if they decided to implement some of their more modern political theories such as elections and did away with the feudal system of the present, they would be able to maintain their empire. The changes to the way their communications equipment will also help immensely in that field as there should be little to no delay regardless of distance.

'I can see how that would be a benefit, though I was thinking more along the lines that it could be used to enforce their rule over the space lanes. It could be used to maneuver fleets of starships around without having to rely on people, effectively making them a two, no, one person fighting force.'

The Great Csillacra portrayed a signal of disagreement, its equivalent to shaking its head.

I am firmly of the mind that such a situation will not come to pass. Their moral code and history more than anything else will incentivize them to not rely on it outside of industrial and administrative applications, that in mind, they will likely leave research to it alone. Beyond their past traumas with an adaptable artificial intelligence having access to weaponry, I believe having the people they rule over fight side by side will serve to unify them.

Very little exists to unify people beyond race at the moment, my existence alone is not enough. Should they effectively implement a system where their peoples are brought to respect each other through individual contributions, they may form something of a national identity with the two of them at the head.

'You would fashion them to be symbols of worship? Would that not go against our usual doctrine of keeping you as the sole holy personage?'

Rather than contradict it, I feel that you could guide them on a path that makes their status as idols syncretic with my existence. We have performed a similar experiment with their own religions have we not? I believe we have seen ample evidence that ideological syncretism is at the very least a valid method of deterring dissolution if it cannot promote unification. If this is truly the last chance you have given yourself before you end your life, it may be the time to abandon our vow of neutrality.

We will have to bestow our favor on them at opportune moments if they are to have the best chances of success.