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A desk sat in the midst of overwhelming white. Ground, sky, horizon; all an impenetrable, endless white. No gradients, no dirtied color to stain unwanted life. Just, white like an untouched snowfield eaten by clouds; a blinding white that makes lost hikers go mad.
The desk was made of white marble and covered with bone-colored papers. A white spruce chair sat at the desk upholstered with white leather. Upon the chair sat a white-clothed humanoid, shuffling through the papers. Their gold-flecked eyes that looked like constellations read the contents carefully. Ink words slowly emerged on every sheet.
But, to the figure, the contents were anything but pleasing.
With a furrowed brow and resigned sigh, the humanoid tilted the page and allowed the living ink to run off into a container. They held the container over the side of their desk before dropping it. The container managed to float against the downward pull of gravity for a few seconds before it tumbled through the white floor and to the realms below. A small plume of smoke wafted up from below, blown away by a waving of the figure’s hand.
“Another failure.”
A voice filled with a feeling of resignation. The fall of the container occurred so often that the figure wondered if it was defective. But, it was impossible. The box was made by their own hands and never malfunctioned.
But, that did not bring much comfort. It did little to change the disturbing trend that they watched for some time. Was there truly a time where it would rise as regularly as it fell or was that a fabrication of their mind? A deep desire to return to a time that may have never existed.
In this void of white, there was nothing present to assuage the figure’s feelings. Nobody stood by them to relive the moments.
And those that could, the figure didn’t want to meet.
As though they were summoned by the very thought that passed through the figure’s mind, color started to invade the pristine white realm the figure resided in. Red, pink, yellow, light purple, and black stained the world to create a sunset.
A form bearing each color stepped forth from the ether. A powerful figure, a seductive figure, a hunched figure, a child, and a confident figure all surrounded the desk. An array of emotions crossed their faces. Boredom, joy, jealousy, and all manner of emotion intruded into the tranquil realm.
The figure in white sat in stillness and closed their eyes. When they opened them again, these figures would be relegated to specters of memory where they belonged.
But, the colored figures did not return to nothingness and leave the figure in white to feel peace. Taunting smiles crossed their faces.
“How rude,” the pink figure said with a false pout. “We aren’t welcome here.”
“They’ve never been a good host, have they?” Said the light purple child with an eager nod. “Do you remember, last time they didn’t even speak once. How long did we wait for them to acknowledge our presence before we just started talking?”
“Too long,” the hunched yellow figure answered with a sour expression. “We came back and entire generations of the damned had never heard of us. Took at least a century to set everything right again.”
“I left something entertaining to be here,” the red figure spat impatiently. “Control, why is it that we have to be here?”
The figure in black stepped forward. They circled around the figure in white with a predatory look in their eye. The figure in black pressed their hands on the desk. Inky color seeped from their fingers and stained the pages.
“It’s simply a check-in, Passion,” Control stated, removing their hands from the desk and allowing the color to return to the pages. “Something that we agreed on when it started. But, it isn’t a normal check-in. In case you have forgotten, my siblings, it has been almost ten-thousand years since this little experiment began.”
“Ten thousand years,” Nostalgia said with a laugh. “Where has the time gone? I remember when they just discovered how to cook meat.”
“Oh, they used to be so cute back then,” Ecstasy agreed. A salacious grin peering out of a river of light pink hair. “So unrestrained, so vulnerable. Ah, the rush that intoxicates your heart when a predator is stalking you and all you have is a sharp stick.”
The figure in white did not speak. A new page filled with ink. Another disappointment that floated down into the abyss. They could see a few of the Follies smirk. Why did people have to be so incomplete? Why, despite their efforts, did people keep letting them down? Were the influences of others stronger than their own pull?
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say that they hate us,” Want remarked. “Do you no longer feel anything for us?”
“Look at the poor thing,” Ecstasy said with false concern. “All their color is missing. Now I can’t remember if they ever had a color.”
That’s right, the fault lied with the Follies that surrounded them. All they wanted to do was express their dissatisfaction a little; blow off some steam. The figure in white smirked, satisfied with allowing their little tantrum. It was the only act that the powerless was capable of.
If the figure in white continued to be silent, the rest would go back to their holes.
“You may have ignored us last time, but you cannot get away with the silent treatment this time,” Control informed. A scroll materialized in their hand to reveal writing in an ancient language. “Do not forget that your position is due to our consent. We can rescind it if required.”
“If you are willing to pay the price for that reversion. In case you all have forgotten, I have my position because you were incapable of running it when it was your turn to be in charge,” the figure in white stated sardonically.
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“Ah, it speaks!” Passion remarked with a booming voice. “I was beginning to believe that they had ripped their own tongue out.”
“I can speak, Passion. “I have just found your words beneath me.”
A muscle-bound leg smashed into the desk at full force. Paper and ink and containers went flying in every direction, tumbling into unknown space and time. But, after a few seconds, the desk and all of its contents rematerialized as though nothing had happened.
The figure in white clicked their tongue at the childish outburst. However, the futility of the situation hadn’t crossed into Passion’s thick head yet, and the desk took another trip into the stratosphere.
“Passion, enough,” Control advised to the raging figure in red. “We are not here to oust you. Not yet, at least. But, it is important that we impart upon you our deep dissatisfaction with the way that things have progressed as of late.”
“You must understand that margins are getting thin, dear sibling,” Want added. “The days are growing short and I am struggling to figure out what there is to show for it. At this rate, we are going to be empty handed when our real guests arrive to judge our new project.”
“You never behaved like this any of the previous times,” the figure in white remarked, a tinge of defensiveness poking through their thorny exterior. “I was patient every other time we tried. I put my interests aside when we collaborated together and watched our creations go extinct that the hands of others. I sat quietly as each of you had your chance.”
“I remember when I got to go first,” Nostalgia said with a dreamy expression.
A light purple projection of a creature rose from the ground. It was a mammal the size of a medium sized dog. It was coated in thick layers of fur. It raised its hands out to Nostalgia for an embrace.
“Didn’t your people commit mass suicide?” Passion asked with a quizzical expression.
“That wasn’t my fault. Blame time for not allowing people to constantly live in times gone by. Blame hardship for making people crave what they no longer possessed. The breach of their bubble, the sudden awareness of the finality of death killed them. They preferred to meet death head on than wait for the sword over their head to drop. Isn't that something praiseworthy?”
“Nearly at the cost of our existence, need I remind,” Want snipped snidely. “They barely even reached the starting line. At least my attempt got bought us another attempt. Their hands got into every single piece of treasure that they could set their eyes on.”
The fuzzy purple beast fell into the ether to be replaced by a bipedal bird-human hybrid. Its beady eyes looked around the room hungrily for any loose baubles that it could snatch in its covetous hands.
“And got ostracized and butchered for being known as serial traitors,” Ecstasy interjected. “They’d sell the wombs they crawled out of if it would make them a copper piece. At least mine were popular.”
An ethereal pink being with long limbs and sharp claws replaced the bird. Powder floated off of a mass of tentacles on its head, showing anything that set eyes on it what it was most attracted to.
“Without a single sense of self-preservation,” Passion pointed out. “They would go out of their way to fight stronger creatures to get as close to death as possible without experiencing it. Too bad they too often faced beasts beyond their means. Mine, on the other hand, had the strength to back it up.”
A muscle-bound beast replaced Ecstasy’s creation. It wielded a heavy hammer and bellowed loudly.
“It was passionate, prone to violence, and often had to travel alone,” Control analyzed. “But, it was our best effort so far. It is shame that all of that energy is going to be squandered by our insolent sibling.”
“Squandered?” The figure in white spat. They slapped the table and stood at full height to be eye level with the rest of the Follies. “I watched all of the previous attempts go extinct. I took components from all of them and imparted them the species here. A strong shade of all of you were in each and every one of them. I thought you’d be happy, but all I see is that they are completely stained by your auras. When did we ever interfere to that extent before? You barely let me have a chance to mold them the way I wanted!”
“You’re not serious, are you?” Want said with a tilt of the head. “You gave us a door into their hearts and it wasn’t your intention to have us whisper?”
“What?”
“That is why we are upset,” Control added. “It is our opinion that your current creation has been our best so far, but you keep discarding the ones we have influenced. Do you know how many souls were destroyed before we had to step in? What an absolute waste.”
“Don’t you see, sibling?” Ecstasy demanded. “These creations have emotional complexity that we haven’t achieved since our first efforts. No, they are even more refined. That is why we have become the Stewards of those that you have discarded. Even if they do not fit your personal ideals, there are lovely things about each and every one of them.”
“And you made a realm of punishment and gave them a system you stole!” The figure in white screamed. “A system! They were meant to be obliterated. Why do you need to show the remnants of the dead a thing that they have no use for?”
“Because you refuse to give it over to the living ones!” Control snapped. “You don’t even give the souls you reserved a copy. How are we going to make any progress if you refuse to give the living a leg up before the arrival? I am choosing to experiment with the System to benefit us when it is no longer your turn to rule.”
“It has done us no good in the past to make them aware of the future,” the figure in white explained.
"But they can do something about it this time!" Control barked back.
“I will provide it to the proper ones when the time is right, under the guidance of counselors that I believe have lived lives in a proper fashion,” the figure said calmly.
Laughter erupted around the figure in white, taking them slightly aback.
“Proper fashion,” Ecstasy cackled. “We’ve seen your rejects and we know that you are simply discarding the ones that don’t possess enough of your core essence. The degree of the cruelties that people inflict are irrelevant to you nor does their innocence mean anything. Where are the children in your utopia? Where are the ones that did nothing wrong but are powerless? You just want strong souls that feel terrible about everything that they do. Isn’t that right, Remorse?”
“I realized that all of our failures previously was due to my own lack of interference,” Remorse announced. “When it was your turns and you slyly tried to slip your powers into the creations, I sat by and waited, for it was not the right thing to do. However, I realize that it was wrong. All of your creations lacked remorse. Those who do not feel any negative emotion when doing wrong cannot survive long. Those who do not feel negative emotion when doing wrong is the reason why this planet and its people suffer so much. It is by your hands that my world is in such a state.”
A couple scoffs and impatient looks greeted Remorse at their statements. But, it was something that they were well accustomed to. They couldn’t even find blame in their siblings anymore. The concept of remorse was foreign to them. They would do what they wanted when they wanted however they wanted without concern nor care for whatever was annihilated in the process. Such a mindset in those creations would not take them far into the future.
It would not bring them to their goal.
“We saw it with Want’s reviled creations,” Remorse, continued. “We saw it with Passion’s violent progeny. We even saw it with Ecstasy’s. While loved due to their ability, once the stupor faded, they are just as hated for dragging their partners into death with them. For us to succeed, it is not enough to build a creation that will conquer. We must build something that has the potential to integrate.”
It seemed that the others had something to say, but Control raised his hands and stole the conversation for themselves.
“Alright, Remorse,” Control said firmly. “You will have your chance. We will reconvene before the arrival and see how well prepared your experiment is.”
“Goodbye, siblings,” Remorse said.
The colors disappeared without more argument, leaving Remorse alone at their desk with a large stack of papers that had been dropping through the floor four times out of every five. As another paper started to descend, Remorse watched it go down.
“They’re plotting something.”