-Somewhere else, a universe away-

An alarm sounded waking my companions from their slumber. Most shrugged and went back to sleep, but not all.

My bleary eyed traveling partner, Martock, was the first to respond. Traveling together with the brute was a thing of convenience and necessity, not something either of us would have chosen if given the option. The man was large and muscular with dark yellowed skin and had a habit of going places without a shirt. The hair on his head was cut short and kept neat. The hair on his chest was not. All of it was a dark brown with a slight red tinge to it. He had decided to go to sleep despite having earlier been warned about my alarm, so I felt no real sympathy for his plight. “Gothas, I swear to everything holy and unholy if you don’t shut that Gods damned thing off…”

“What?” my aid and apprentice interrupted. Mie, short for Miethers, had found me one day and declared himself as my follower without giving me any choice in the matter. It helped that he could beat me up without even breaking a sweat, meaning that nobody was willing to tell him off. While his words and attitude can be, lets say, ‘overly direct’ his actions showed him to be an overly serious young man who was dedicated to growing in body, spirit, and character. He can be kind, though he will pass the actions off as having no meaning, and those in our group eventually accepted him.

If the two fought it would be close. Martock might win out on pure strength, but Mie would be able to count on others aiding him in the battle. Martock seemed to realize the same, either that or he was still trying to hide his true strength behind his brutish demeanor or he thought this battle beneath him, and stomped off to get some food. I noticed him waking our cook and eventually noted him returning with a chunk of meat nearly the size of his head hanging off a bone, but by that point I had all but put him out of my mind beyond being aware of his position and if he was actively starting a fight.

Mie waited for Martock to leave before speaking up as I got ready to make contact with my Doppel. “Where will you be going tonight, Teacher?”

I took the time to speak with him as I prepared to enter my meditative trance that would allow me to connect to my clone that I had left in some faraway universe. This one had little to do, the sanctuary completed and in very little danger, so it would rest and wait until my mind would come visit. Usually the locals would have some paperwork but sometimes I would be bothered by some fool who wanted to use me as a stepping stone to power and influence. Neither was particularly more difficult to deal with the other but at least the paperwork was only tedious and not actively, maliciously annoying. “Johanes 426, a little place that calls themselves ‘Paradise’,” I answered. It was amazing how many worlds called themselves that along with ‘dirt’, ‘ground’, ‘this place’, ‘cleaning place’, ‘the between’, ‘a hole’, and ‘lost’. Setting aside my musings I decided to give my apprentice some more relevant information. “They are a realm of Expressed Significance with a slight solo focus that was unusually contacted by travelers quite quickly in its development. As such they have some access to the powers of other realms but the common person still believes their world to be unique. The higher ups know about us travelers, but treat them like a force of nature; something to be viewed at a safe distance but not disturbed.”

“Why would you get involved in a pre-diaspora world? The restrictions alone would make such a thing as a hassle most would avoid. What would you hope to get by intervening in their affairs?” Mie frowned as he spoke, his tone sounding like a reprimand despite his intention being far less harsh. We all have gotten used to his way of speaking, though it does still cause problems from time to time.

“Absolutely nothing. They have nothing that I want or need and even my attempts to impart wisdom could be adequately handled by others. So why stick around?” I asked, pausing to give him a moment to think but not waiting so long that he felt compelled to answer. “I keep a Doppel there because it is a rare universe where travelers have been involved since the very beginning. Many would want to take such an opportunity and try to shape the world to suit their own goals. Much harm can be done before their actions come to dust. That is why I watch this little world in an undeveloped universe.”

“You say that this problem would eventually take care of itself!” he stated in a tone that I recognized as his way of asking a question. I nodded. “Then there is no need to intervene. It is time that you could better spend elsewhere.”

I shook my head at that. This was his major fault showing itself once more. “The path of life is not about the journey, but the destination. If you choose your path by focusing on the journey, how scenic or pleasurable it is, you risk losing sight of your goal and wasting all your life and effort. And what sort of a teacher would I be if I allowed others to be misdirected from their life goals simply because it would eventually correct itself?”

Mie sat up a little straighter as he listened to me. Such a diligent youngster, he is, but yet to grasp such complex and simple things as the finer points of integrity when applied to annoying circumstances. “Enlightened” he whispered under his breath, and I chose to ignore the silly attribution he was trying to make.

Instead I closed my eyes and let myself settle into a deathlike stillness.

Would you like to reset,

adjust your personal settings,

connect to a Doppel,

or modify world settings?

Doppel.

Would you like to make a full transfer or connect from your current location?

Current location.

Which Doppel would you like to connect to?

I felt through the connection to find the right one, ensuring that I had given it the simple name and wasn’t getting things mixed up. Johanes 426

Please wait. Be aware that certain limitations will be assessed due to your power surpassing the universe’s maximum and due to remote contact.

I waited. The process of connecting over such a large distance could take a while but not nearly as long as doing a full transfer and then going back.

Finally the world faded in around me and I found my body in an awkward lotus position. I kept it this way because it helped sell the ‘old coot’ persona that I used to chase off the sycophants but, while I was more than flexible to take the position, it just didn’t feel natural. Sitting next to me was some paperwork. Mostly it was information, keeping me up to date on the world’s happenings, but it also included a few questions by people who were worried about what certain events might mean.

Really, the only interesting thing was that one group was trying to summon a person from the origin worlds. They were years off on their first attempt and the way they were doing it they would end up with a plant or something, but the amusing part was how the three powers were framing it. The heights were saying that success would prove themselves the masters of the universe, earth and sky were saying that it would prove the old worlds were the same as this new one, and the guide were saying that it would be a great thing to work toward bringing forth god’s messenger. Meanwhile the other travelers were either staying out of it or giving a polite laugh. I gave my advice to warn people to not make too much out of this and then quietly added my own chuckle to the mix.

Why did everyone think it was a good idea to make so much out of this thing that they tried to spin it even before the experiment had truly begun? ‘If it works it is because our beliefs are true, if it fails it is because the other guy’s beliefs were false’. Utter insanity, but at least it was insanity that people could remember and recognize later. Those involved either had no agenda or were zealots who could not be swayed, and those not involved needed a calm rational voice to guide them, not more zealot’s screaming. Smitty would complain about the lack of scientific rigor inherant in a ‘non-falsifiable’ ‘scientific’ inquiry, but I mostly just saw that as the natural result of treating science as your god and needing to justify why things didn’t work as expected.

I was working on some economic reports when I was saved by a knock on the door. I sat quietly, continuing to read and pretending to ignore the priest who was followed by a stern looking woman and her child. I held back a sigh. It looked like so many other children who had been led in to see me; ‘prodigies’ who needed my firm guidance, and a little financial or social help upward for the parents would be nice as well. How should I play it this time, hard of hearing or unpleasable eccentric? For goodness sakes, I have things to do and I’m not even in this universe!

The bedraggled looking priest spoke up first. “Your great one, please excuse me but this child has some questions that we are not adequately able to address.” The priest was wearing a simple robe, something common of priests in nearly every connected world, and a pair of glasses. Probably a researcher or archivist then. It would make sense that they would be given charge of the kid with questions. Was it luck or design that they had come here during the one time this season I would be in this plane of existence? One simple way to check.

The Strings of Fate are now visible to you.

Beware lest your target become your core.

I looked at the mother, shifting my eye to see the lines of significance. Immediately I could see strings spreading out from her toward others that were important to her and drawing in from those who found her to be important. The colors gave some indication on the nature of the link, but the size and the feelings associated with the connection were important too. The only one I could make out in its completeness was the connection between herself and her son, a green fading into a blue. From her side I could tell that he was a difficult child, from his I could tell that she was a worrywart mother; at least from their perspectives. There was also a knot within the woman, a second child on the way? None of the other links looked like a parental relationship; in fact most of them looked a downright adversarial orange. Is she working in an official capacity that causes people to hate her or just a bitch? It is hard to tell without more context. She does have a link with a husband, though, so that is one bit of evidence toward her having a softer side. A few more pink strings, though they were old and faded enough that to make me think they were before her current relationship. Sex sticks around, though, and those strings would likely never fade completely.

Her son was far less interesting. Two parents, a teacher, and only one other person with any real meaning. Has he not been hanging out with other kids his own age? He looks to be 4, that means a couple of years if he went quickly. If he frustrated the priest enough for her to bring the child in here, maybe he was antisocial? There is much you can tell by looking at how people impact others, but there is always the element of the personal within it. For all I know he could just not have very good people as friends.

The important part was that the mother had a thin line reaching out in my direction. She had herd of me before and so the timing was likely not entirely accidental. That question answered I turned off my skill. It could be extremely distracting, with all those lines and colors sticking out, and interfere with more normal interactions.

The Strings of Fate now fade from your sight

Beware lest you think them gone in truth.

And instead focused on what would likely be the more important question for my current situation: If he had questions then ‘deaf’ would be out, crazy was still on the table though. “Speak child.”

The youngster gave me a look then visibly composed himself. “I have some questions about the nature of the world. Why it is so weird and stuff like that.”

He still seemed distracted as he spoke. I could ask him what was going on. Or I could cheat. Not a lot of difficulty there, gambling was for people who couldn’t be assured of a win.

You have activated the human condition of DESIRE and combined it with the universal truth of EXPECTATION and the connection borne of CONFERING SIGNIFICANCE.

William’s desire toward you is to ask you a question.

So William is his name? It is far less grandiose than I was expecting. I activated another ability and asked him a question. “Is that the question that you want answered?”

Truth and Lies become clear as the Calm and Storm.

“Yes” he said. I could tell that wasn’t the whole truth by the look on his face. My I sensed something beneath the air ripple at his words, a discontinuity that attempted to intentionally shroud his words under a layer of calm. Also, I should edit my activation prompt. It seems unnecessarily poetic for my current tastes.

Incomplete truth. While not completely false there is an answer that is more correct and he knows it.

The box only told me what I already knew. It was times like these when I was reminded how things were without these add-ons, and the question of if things would be better without them.

“The truth.” I commanded.

“Um, you won’t get mad?” he asked.

I gave him a reassuring head tilt while still staring him down with a stern look. This, understandably, did not calm him down.

The kid looked around as though he were looking for a way out then spoke. “Why are you so old?”

Truth

I bit back a laugh at his question as the sea of calm flowed from him. I understood his question and why he had it; in this realm he had likely never seen anyone much older than his parents. I looked like a wrinkly old fart in comparison. Still, most people, even when prompted, are too scared to come right out and say it.

“Like seriously old. Everyone else seems to just stop aging around what to me seems like their early twenties but you just kept right on going.” He made a hand signal like a bird swooping forward and upward in flight.

I glanced around, both women in the room were shocked speechless. Amusingly his mother’s shocked look was tinged with a feeling of reluctantly acceptance. So this wasn’t the first time the kid had done something like this.

“And you are wrinkly too. Like really wrinkly. But kinda a physically fit elderly, so not really elderly? I don’t know.”

And he just kept on going without stopping! I couldn’t pay for entertainment like this! The mortified mother was trying to signal her son to stop but he was standing in front and didn’t see. And the poor librarian, she looks ready to faint. And the kid just kept going. He was now comparing me to a ‘less roided out Master Roshi’, which was apparently a good thing, and wanted to know if I would inflate to get even bigger.

All good things must come to an end, however, as the mother finally worked up the nerve to step forward and silence her son with a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry.” He answered, looking down in embarrassment. A ripple began but smoothed itself out as his words left him. He was forcing himself to calm down and accept how his excitement had gone too far, quite mature for someone at 4.

Truth, if only though force of will.

Letting my smile show through I turned to reassure the boy, “It is fine, I wasn’t offended.” He seemed relieved but somewhat unsatisfied. That would have to wait. I turned toward his mother. “What have you brought him here for?”

“My son has some questions, difficult ones, and I was hoping you could set him straight.” Calm, but with forceful waves directing her last request more than the child’s questions.

Truth. Though one laced with subtext.

So she wanted me to set the boy straight. Also, answer his questions, but that was a secondary matter in her mind. I could do that. At least she wasn’t trying to hoist her spawn off on me. I ended the ability now that I knew. I would be talking with the boy and he was fairly straightforward and easy to read.

Truth and Lies can now be ignored.

I really needed to fix those prompts. Putting that out of my mind I turned back toward the child, less stiff now that I didn’t have to worry about getting rid of him. “Would you like to sit?” I asked. The child smiled and plopped down in front of me while I moved my legs to a more comfortable position. “Ladies, stay or go, I don’t care; but it is rude to stare.” There was some quiet back and forth before the worried mother was escorted out with the promise of a chance to relax.

“So,” I said, grabbing the child’s attention that had wondered off toward a some of the room’s decorations, “what can I help you with?”

The child squirmed, “Er, well. I have some really important questions. Stuff that has been bothering me for a while, but at the moment I can’t get my mind off of the whole age thing.”

I nodded. “Most of the people only have experience from this world and therefore only have access to milestones of growth available here. I have traveled significantly farther in my time.”

His eyes grew in childlike amazement. “Wait, so there are other worlds? What are they like? Are there aliens with bug-eyes and tentacles and flying saucers that they use to fly through the sky and abduct cows?”

Cows? The child has a vivid imagination, if nothing else. Still, it is the privilege of the experienced to wow the youngsters; and to be entertained by the result. “Actually, there are a few bug-eyed betenticled people right here! No need to go off planet for that.” The child’s jaw fell open and for a moment I thought I had broken him.

“Cool!” he spoke with amazement. He was free to think so, and it was fun to watch him do so, but the sight got old after a while.

“Actually, the other worlds are very much like this one,” I said, trying to pull us back to some sort of topic before the proverbial rabbit could forge a new trail. “a bit less rural and different dominant abilities, but this place is surprisingly normal as far as the multiverse is concerned.”

“What do you mean my ‘major magic’?” he asked after a few seconds of thought where he seemed to get somewhat excited. It took me a moment to understand his question. I don’t work with children much and adults usually have a firmer grasp of how the translation works. Apparently he heard ‘dominant abilities’ as ‘major magic’ and likely didn’t even realize the subtle difference between what we had been saying, or possibly just didn’t care.

“Here you have the different sets of abilities, like what you see with the people who heal others or punch at a distance.” His eyes got wide at my explanation and I heard him barely whisper ‘haduken’ or some such under his breath, whatever that was supposed to mean. “In other worlds people’s abilities are different. They may create strange marvels or focus on exemplifying their very being or manipulating the very essence of reality. I even saw one world that is almost entirely dedicated toward farming! In each world the native abilities are powerful while the others are held back, so that tends to change a little bit of everything.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The child nodded along seriously. “So it is like a multi-server situation with different major rule sets on each domain and power balancing built in to allow for cross power access.”

… It took me a few moments to parse what he was saying. I even sped myself up to my full Wind value, or at least as close as this realm allowed, to give myself longer to piece things together. It was an unusual way of saying things but they seemed to somehow fit “Yes?” I answered without my normal confidence.

“That’s cool.” He answered back calmly.

Strange child. “So what was it you originally wanted to ask about?”

“Two things,” he answered, straightening up, “Though my mother wanted me to ask about ‘philosophy’ related stuff.”

“What about that stuff did she want me to explain?” I asked, speeding myself back up and using one of this world’s abilities to look at his abilities. Fortunately I had the talent for it so I should be able to access the majority.

William Emmerson Townson

Lv 4 (4year old)

Upgrades:

12pt limit

Improved internal organs

0 pt (cosmetic)

No other Upgrades applied

Base Attributes

Earth (Con/Stability)

12 (10+2)

Wind (Dex/Mobility)

13 (10+3)

Light (Wis/Volatility)

13 (10+3)

Water (Int/Depth)

13 (10+3)

Fire (Str/Flow)

11 (10+1)

Dark (Cha/Viscosity)

10 (10)

Abilities

Martial (Punch Mage)

-12%

Healer (Cleric)

8%

Archmage (normal mage)

29%

Controller (Summoner)

35%

Arcanist (Blaster)

12%

Psychic (annoying head fucker)

-17%

Theological Leanings and Alliances (philosophies):

Main allegiances: Undecided

Major Theologies (Philosophies)

Heights of Man

27 (16+11)

Earth and Sky

10

Guide of Heaven

35 (4+31)

Minor Theologies (Philosophies)

Heroes

5

Jira (Monsters)

0

Mystics (crazies)

0

Hidden Theologies (Philosophies)

Abstaining (Unitarian)

2

Middle Path

1

No other realms mastered.

Realm of Mutable Reality in progress

Realm of External Growth in progress

I looked at the information and had to recheck it to be certain I wasn’t seeing things. Well that was interesting. First of all the kid has way too many stats. He should have all tens except for a few elevens for his first couple growth stages and perhaps a single twelve. There is no way a lv4 should have 13s, and certainly not three of them. The amount of focus and effort required to raise one’s basic abilities is such that the most common way this makes sense is if something horrible happened, except that the kid seems too laid back for something like that. The only other things that would fit was if he had been stuck at 4 for a very long time. It isn’t like you could get a kid that mental age to spend all day practicing, after all.

The second thing that jumped out at me were some of the unusual names he had for things. My favorite was for the Psychic classification, though even that raised questions about how he had a name for the things while obviously not truly understanding them. Afterall, his ignorance was obvious if he was calling things ‘punch mage’, ‘cleric’, or ‘annoying head fucker’. Almost as interesting was him having two names for his base abilities. Normally the translation effect prevents that from happening.

Also worthy of some note is the lack of any upgrades from his origin world or from his transfer to this one. That honestly doesn’t speak well of him, since people with strong desires often gain starting upgrades based on those desires. People who want to be strong gain Fire, people who want to endure gain Earth, and people who want something completely unique gain more unique aspects. Other than the ‘cosmetic’ change, he has nothing. This is not something that would prevent him from gaining some strong motivation in the future, and exceptions aren’t unheard of, but it is something to keep in mind.

The most interesting thing, however, was in the section of his alliances. His numbers were surprisingly high, mostly pushed by his bonuses that were likely parental in nature. His connection with the very temple that we are sitting in, if you subtract the bonus, was so low that his personal commitment to the beliefs must be negative. Nobody would have let the child in to see me without him first making an impression and that should have pushed his base number higher than a 4. Also, where did he get the idea that refusing to make a decision was somehow unifying?

I put this aside for the moment, slowing myself to the normal pace, and listened to his answer. “She wanted to get someone who believes in the Guide to tell me about it. Preferably someone who knows more than she does.” He answered directly but there was a note of exasperation that was obvious beneath his childish attempt to hide it.

I nodded. It fit with his mother’s demeanor and her son’s low connection to this place. “You do understand the basics? We believe that there is an outside being, above and beyond us, that is the true first cause and final arbiter of every world. We follow the rules of Clear Silver and Untarnished Gold. The final goal of this life is to learn about ourselves, others, and God.” I repeated back to him.

He nodded.

“So what is the issue you are having with it?”

“Occam’s Razor (Sturdy Branches)” he answered, and this time I was focused enough to recognize the subtle differences between my concept and his. My concept of Sturdy Branches was more about complicated things adding weight that would fall under its lack of strength, therefore you follow the ‘sturdy branches’, while his ‘Razor’ was about cutting away the unnecessarily complicated explanations; but both had the core idea that the simplest understanding was most likely to be true. “Why add in a concept of ‘god’ if you don’t need to? How important can this ‘god’ be if you can ignore them without problems?”

I nodded along. I had heard this argument before. “And what would you do if this ‘god’ was the most likely explanation for something that happens and this happening was meaningful? The Heights believe that everything happens by the will of mankind while the Earth and Sky believe that there is no purpose, only surprising coincidences. What happens when something purposeful happens that goes against the collective will of the people?”

To his credit the boy took some time to work through what I was saying. In my experience silence can be the best teacher, so long as the silence is not used to prevent an idea with a shaky foundation from being examined. Instead of speaking up I examined how his face scrunched up as the various thoughts went through his head. This kid really doesn’t know how to hide his facial expressions.

Finally he spoke. “I guess it would be really easy to call absolutely everything a coincidence, no matter how unlikely. And it would also be easy to say that there is always someone who wants anything and so ignore any idea that there might be a force outside of people, even if everyone involved was not wanting things to happen the way that they did. I guess if that happened I would just have to think more about it then.”

Ah, the ‘I’ll deal with it when it throws itself in my face’ deflection. A classic. The classical answer would do. “These things are usually pretty easy to spot if you have an open mind and are looking for it. Have you been looking?”

He gave me an annoyed look and opened his mouth, but then stopped. I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he lost his original words and then turned toward a frown.

“What are you thinking, child?” I asked, knowing that speaking out loud could help clarify his thoughts.

He frowned again. “I was going to talk about someone from my world before (Origin World) who is commonly cited as being the most horrible person who ever lived. He killed countless people and threw the world into a giant war. How could there be a ‘god’ who would let that happen? But then, if we are talking about whether the supernatural exists then you can’t forget the absurdity of how he survived multiple assassination attempts, which kinda goes against the Earth and Sky people. Or the fact that, while everyone was searching for a military solution, what actually brought him down was infighting caused by a need for fuel. But if there really is a ‘god’ then why would he or she let that happen?”

This was a tough question, so I decided to answer his candor with my own. “I don’t know. I don’t know the past of that situation, or the results, or the mitigating factors that went into it; so I can’t actually answer your question.”

The child got a grumpy face. “Well that doesn’t help any.” I held back a black humored laugh at that. I suppose it didn’t help. Children were so very honest about that particular difficulty. “So what do I do now?”

“Keep your eyes open and be willing to accept what you see around you.” I answered simply. “Any argument would simply run us in circles; either there is something greater out there, in which case you must seek to understand it, or not.”

“And that’s it? You aren’t going to try to convince me that there is some sort of sky-farie/Santa Clause looking down on me?” I frowned at the boy’s disrespect. Where did he come from that they thought that mocking someone’s beliefs, good beliefs that led people to try to become better people, was acceptable?

“No. I have no need. Either you will see and accept the truth, or you will not. It is not my job, nor is it within my capability, to force you to see the truth.” Perhaps I was being a bit short with him; but mocking someone’s beliefs, even if those beliefs are in error, is never productive.

“Do you believe that because of ‘faith’ (unreasoned belief based on hope)?” he asked.

“No. Experience.” I corrected.

That seemed to quiet him down and the child went through a number of expressions, one after another. Mostly it was thoughtful concentration but there were plenty of frowns thrown in as well. Something about what I had said seemed to disturb the youngster. His origin world truly must have been a hellish place to make the concept of deity so antithetical to his mindset. Very few appear in these places with both a knowledge of a higher power, hope, and reason intact; and this child seems to have gone full out on reason.

I waited until his facial expressions seemed to slow before taking pity on him. “Enough of that subject. It was your mother’s question, afterall, and you will have plenty of time to think over it later. What was the question that you originally had for me?”

The child actually nodded his head as he visibly changed the flow of his thoughts. I almost laughed, I don’t think I’ve seen someone actually do that seriously and not as pageantry. He visibly centered himself, gaining a bit of a thoughtful frown, and spoke. “Why is this world so much like a Video Game?” he asked.

I tested the unfamiliar word, silently repeating it so that the meaning could flow to myself. Video Game, Video Game, Video Game: an artificial world meant for fun and as a distraction. Speeding my perception I went deeper into the concept that he was putting forth. The world as conceptualized by simple numerals so that balance could be theoretically achieved, turned into a reflection of some fantasy. Life’s inconveniences were removed; including mortality, variable limits on growth, the permanency of past mistakes, and others. The child’s knowledge of this subject was deep and I got flashes of other oddly similar concepts. The six Attributes, all holding similar but not identical roles, was one such concept. Groupings of abilities that differentiated people’s roles and talents, even some of the actual groupings were similar to what he had knowledge of.

Suddenly his strange names for things that he had no real world knowledge made sense. Was his origin world filled with oracles of such power that they could see beyond death? Was, perhaps, he one of those great persons of wisdom? The level of knowledge that he carried with that simple word, ‘video game’, was so profound that I could see no other explanation. I looked at him again, this time only focusing on the very first line that encompassed his being.

William Emmerson Townson

Even if he didn’t do great things, it would be entertaining to see where this strange boy ended up. Slowing my perceptions back to something closer to what the boy experienced, I decided on a follow up question. After all, his concept was so broad that it could be any number of its aspects that troubled him. Perhaps it is the lack of death or no permanent dismemberment here? But even answering that question differed depending on if he was one who had previously experienced loss, either in body or the loss of companionship, or if he was concerned with how the upper limits of punishment could not be used against those whose actions were deserving of the harshest punishment. All I could do is ask. “What, exactly, is troubling you about the ‘video game’ like nature of this place?”

He paused at that, scrunching his face and giving me a discerning look that told me he was trying to judge my trustworthiness to help him. After a few moments he apparently decided that I was acceptable and tried to explain. “So, you know how there are things that people don’t want to do but have to be done anyway? Things like standing at a stall all day and selling things, or cleaning, or standing at a gate guarding all day without moving. In video games these tasks are usually done by automatons so that the real people, the ‘players’, don’t have to do the boring stuff. In fact the main difference between the ‘players’ and the ‘Non Player Characters’, or NPCs, is that the players know that they are in a game and how the rules work while the NPCs do not.

“And then I noticed how game-like this world was and how others just didn’t seem to get it. Like, for instance, at one point I blew myself up and my Mom completely lost it. I wasn’t that hurt, I recovered not too long after, and even if I had died I would have just come back. But she treated it like I was actually dying; like ‘for real’ dying where you don’t come back. And then I realized that everyone was panicking because they were, at some level, treating everything like it was before; acting like the new game-like rules of the world didn’t exist. Just like NPCs, just like automatons.”

Interesting. This kid found a way to adapt quickly. Also, why did he blow himself up? How did he blow himself up? He just skipped right past it like it was nothing, so does he do this sort of thing all the time? That would explain a few things about his parent’s attitude. No wonder his mother wanted someone to talk with him. I can’t imagine how much she must have started panicking. Children normally go ‘ow, that hurts’ and then stop. It normally takes years to get past the automatic pain response. I honestly don’t have a clue what to say to that.

As for his real question, layered underneath all of that, it seems to be a variation of the ‘Man on the Mountaintop” problem. A man looks down from the mountaintop and sees the people and their troubles getting around; lacking both the knowledge to go around the mountain or the strength to go over it. The man then says ‘must I ignore the problems of those people, treating them as nothing, or else be forced to take responsibility for them, robbing them of their choice and opportunity for growth?’ The kid’s variation seems to jump straight past the first layer of ‘passivity vs action’ and straight on to the inhumanity forced on the object of the man’s sights. It is a novel angle to come at the problem, but not exactly unique as far as problems go. “What do the other people want?” I asked, jumping right to the heart of the matter.

He looked at me with a surprised face, then a slightly confused one. “Lots of things, I think. It depends on the person. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because, as the great Teacher Crofice said: ‘The root of the individual is desire; where you find true individual desire, you also find a person.’” I paraphrased. “So if they have individual desire, rather than simply a set of programmed tasks, then they are people. Even if they don’t know as much or can’t do as much, they still deserve the respect due to all people.”

He took a few seconds to think about what I said before speaking. “ ‘The respect due all people’ sounds like a Guide thing to say. What would be the Earth and Sky and the Heights of Man answers?”

“In the end they would all reach similar conclusions. The Earth and Sky answer would be that people don’t change and so, on some fundamental level, you are the same as those people except for knowing a few things they don’t. The Heights of Man would say that you have a choice and can do whatever you want, but remember that there are other people there who may one day make you answer for your actions; if not individually then as a group.” I smiled, glad to be able to talk about this with someone who wanted more than just the basic answer. “The final point ends up being respect for the individual, even if the ‘why’ for that respect differs.”

It would be good not to confuse the kid with issues of the minor theologies. The nicest would be Heroes, who see themselves as gods among men. Jira see some people as natural disasters that change the landscape without thought or care for who might be affected, and would absolutely be the worst. And if the boy’s name of ‘crazies’ for the Mystics is any indication, he already has a fair understanding of what insanity to expect from the third group. Hiding the light of wisdom is the surest method of finding oneself in the dark of ignorance.

“Hu…” the kid said thoughtfully. “That actually helped. I didn’t think it would.”

“Why not? You asked an expert for an answer to your question, it seems only fitting that they would be able to answer.” I couldn’t help the smile that came with my answer.

“It is just, with everything else, I figured that this world worked off of Narrative Tropes (conventions of storytelling) because that would make some sort of sense in a Game like world.”

This kid is what, four? How in the darkest reaches did he figure that out? At this point it is just one more reason to watch what happens to this kid. For all I know he may end up one of those people who settle down on that farming world, no problem to anyone; but I wouldn’t lay odds on it. “Why would that make a difference?” I finally asked, not sure what else to say that wouldn’t lead him down a dead-end path.

He shrugged. “My question about if everyone else is a real person in this game like world seems to be exactly the type of thing that would be central to a story about a guy finding himself in a game like world where he has the meta-knowledge to recognize it. I mean, it obviously isn’t about a guy suddenly having super awesome powers that make him better than everyone else and beating up every challenger since, as confirmed at my birthday, I don’t have super awesome powers and, as confirmed every time I fight, I keep getting my butt kicked.”

Wait, who has he been fighting? Obviously not other kids his own age, not with stats like that. I took a deep breath to center myself and keep from getting distracted. This wasn’t a new problem either, at least not among the few who understood the poetic nature of the world. The answer to the question ‘why doesn’t some poetic form apply to me’ is: “Because, perhaps, your story isn’t about that particular ideal. If one form doesn’t apply to you then it either means that it was not the right time or that it was not a good fit.” And, let me just breathe a sigh of relief at that. I do not want to see what this kid would become if he was thinking that nobody but he himself is really human. Except that the kid has been asking way too many meta-questions, so his story is probably a meta-story about the story. Which means that he will eventually run into someone who does have talent and understand the lyrical nature of the world and doesn’t see others as human.

Kid, you have no idea how big of a headache you are giving me right now.

The kid nodded his head and gave a noise of assent, seemingly satisfied by my reply.

It was then that I was saved from any more awkwardness by the door opening and the kindly librarian’s entrance, followed quickly by the concered looking but still stoic mother. It was the more bookish one who spoke. “I’m sorry if I am interrupting anything, but is everything all right? You have been in here a while and some of us have been getting worried.” She didn’t say who she was talking about, but then she really didn’t have to. Surprisingly it wasn’t the mother who seemed out of sorts. A quick glance at a nearby clock told me that I had been here much longer than normal, which explained her concern considering what happened the last two times I stayed long.

No, I wouldn’t tease her on this; time to cut my time here short. “Everything is fine, I just lost track of time. I’ll need to go back into meditation soon so if you wouldn’t mind showing these two out?”

“Of course, right away!” She answered, almost too happy to do so.

I stopped the mother at the door before she could leave but after the kid had been ushered out. “Mam. That kid of yours, he doesn’t have many friends his own age. Does he?” I asked, taking an educated guess and forming it around my own instincts on the subject.

She looked at me a moment with a discerning gaze, much like her son had given me earlier. “No, he does not.” She answered in a neutral affirmation. “He doesn’t act much like children of his age normally do and so it would be somewhat awkward leaving him among youngsters his own level. Especially considering his extremely high rate of growth. We were hoping to focus on socialization once his growth spurt had run its course.”

I nodded, not a bad idea, normally. In this case, though: “It might be better to get him among a larger group and let him make his way to whatever sect can best handle him. Leaving him isolated to his own devices could turn out badly.”

She nodded in understanding. “If there is anything else?” she asked at the doorway.

“No. Go as you will.” I answered formally.

She turned to leave but had taken no more than a step when the kid returned, having left the poor female priest scuttling after him. “Wait! I just remembered! You never did answer my question about why this world is so game like.”

I nodded my head and held back a smile at the impetuousness of youth. “It is because that is what mankind wants this world to be.”

The woman had caught up with the kid but didn’t dare pull him away while we were speaking. “But isn’t that what the Heights of Man followers say?” He asked.

“Just because I don’t formally ally myself with them doesn’t mean they have nothing worthwhile to say.” Then I took advantage of the stunned silence to nod a farewell to the group and pull the door shut behind me.

Once the door was closed I took one more glance at the paperwork and made a few notes before preparing my doppel for my mental departure: awkward leg position to give the impression of someone with a different ideal of comfort and hands folded together in a strange pattern that I knew for a fact was being analyzed for some nonexistent significance. Finally I drifted off to that deep focused nothingness aimed at the core of my being.

Would you like to reset,

adjust your personal settings,

disconnect from your Doppel,

or modify world settings?

Disconnect.

Would you like to transfer to another Doppel or return to your body?

Return

Please wait. Be aware that the process will take longer than normal due to the extreme range of contact.

I waited. This had gotten into somewhat of a routine for me and so I spent the time going over my thoughts and readying for the next days and weeks tasks. There was little more I could do, as the limits of time bound even those who can escape causality. Not that I was one of those people, but I had it on good authority from those who did have that sort of power.

Soon enough I was joined by the curious face of my self appointed apprentice. “You were gone longer than normal. Something interesting must have happened while you were there.” He stated. “Is it something good or bad?” he asked.

I gave a bit of a shrug. “I met a kid, and I honestly don’t know how he will turn out. Sometimes you just have to follow the story to see where it goes.”