“I let her die.”
It was all that was in his head. He didn’t understand, was that world even real? What did it even mean for a world to be real? Why would he be compelled to put out a burning building but couldn’t save a single girl from being beheaded? Did he believe that she had done wrong? Had she done wrong? How could he know? Would it have been right to save her regardless? Why would the truth matter? Would he feel better if he knew she was evil?
Reese wouldn’t care. She was evil. Why did he care? She was awful, horrible, malicious, nefarious. She died. But Miko couldn’t stop his tears. And he didn’t know why.
And then, as if their minds were connected, he came in a time of need.
Reese entered the dark room, illuminating the doorway with a faint orange glow. The shadows behind him seemed to sway.
“I felt it”
“In this room, it was here. Did you see it?” Reese asked, calmly as usual.
“Yes,” Miko responded, holding back his bursting emotions.
“What did it do?”
“It hurt.”
“I see you’re in pain.”
“I let someone die, I killed.”
“Why let it bother you?”
“She was… innocent”
“Why let her die?”
“She was… guilty”
“So she was both?”
“I think… she was neither…”
“That isn’t possible, you’re mistaken”
“But she was…”
“You must trust your instincts, her words were lies”
“But she didn’t…”
“When you hold the power, it is up to you to judge”
“But I don’t…”
“But you do. You have the power. And now you have gained understanding. Don’t you realize what that means? You’re complete.”
“I didn’t understand…either of them”
“I will warn you, cease to doubt yourself. Your actions are the will of the world. Your morals are correct. Your doubt is proof of that. But doubt only serves to hinder decisive action.”
“I don’t know if I’ll choose correctly again.”
“You will.”
With that statement, Reese exited the room, returning it to its darkened state. Miko was glad to have discussed his terrors but felt no less uncomfortable. But his confidence rose. Maybe this was what it felt like to recognize good, to be good.
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Reese lingered around the building after having a few words with Miko. He sought to analyze the strange energy which lurked within the hallways of the dilapidated apartment complex.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The walls seemed to echo with a noise that felt unlistenable to his physically constrained, human ears. Their existence was only evidenced by the tiny vibrations on the surface of the now peeling wallpaper.
Reese studied these walls carefully. He knew that the source was Miko’s room, but while in there, he couldn’t identify the object which could conceivably act as the source. There was no conclusive evidence of the source being Miko himself either. However, since he was only observing echoes, the source could be long gone by now.
Reese once again turned to these vibrations, which seemed to push and pull the energy within him. He created a fire in the palm of his hand. It seemed to flicker left and right, up and down, in and out. When he accepted some of the energy from the echo into the fire, it turned bright green.
Quickly, sensing danger, Reese put out the fire. This energy, it was from another dimension. Strangely, there was one other thing that Reese had encountered, which only now had he noticed seemed to vibrate in the same way, although a lot fainter.
Reese pulled out a few pieces of paper from his pocket. They instantly flung towards the wall, lying so flat they almost looked like part of the dull wallpaper. Reese pulled the papers off the wall and with some difficulty, placed them back in his pocket. He finally understood. And if he were right, it was time to act.
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What Miko was looking at was what he dreaded the most. Another strange object draped in all green but with a different physical form.
This one was crescent-shaped, lying flat on the ground. The inner side of the crescent tapered to form an edge, while the other side was perfectly rounded and looked to be incredibly smooth. This object shined brilliantly, the surface copying the rhythmic flickering of the cheap incandescent light above. Upon closer inspection, the object seemed to slowly rotate on the ground.
Miko, the all-powerful being, was utterly terrified. With every fiber of his being he wished to run out into the street and call back Reese for help, but he could not. He was frozen, and his gaze was fixed on the object.
He could not touch it, that was the feeling it gave off. He wanted nothing to do with it or the portals it seemed to manifest. They were made of pure pain, objects more powerful than bullets. The only bullets which seemed to pierce his thick skin.
A whole day had passed. And Miko had still not moved. His mind turned blank to avoid any stimuli. He stayed there for longer, and he would continue to do so for as long as he could until it disappeared.
He had been analyzing its form for all that time. And from what he gathered, the object could not be destroyed. It was ingrained within the fabric of reality, like a stain that doesn’t wash off. So he just stared.
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The Butterfly stared at a blank wall in a large empty room. This was his meditation room, a small part of his large underground compound. He used it whenever he felt he needed to concentrate, especially on matters of the infinite multiverse.
This room acted like an antenna for his countless copies, amplifying his power and casting an inescapable net over all of existence. The blank walls were designed to project what was, what could be, and what will be. And now, the chain of events that would lead to his eventual demise was underway.
Although, with the culprit under his thumb, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge. All he had to do was squeeze. But he decided to wait, to watch. Because things had yet to fully add up.
What caused the 50% measurement, which in fact still appears to this day? After all, now that he knew the root cause, there was more than a likely chance that he would snuff it out. And assuming that was the right choice, it would lead to his survival. Did that mean it wasn’t the trigger? But that was impossible. His research confirmed that its existence was correlated with the occurrence of his death. So he decided to wait and ponder, eager to press down on the metaphorical trigger.
While waiting, he decided to tour his enormous compound. It contained everything he ever wanted and more.
When he first gained his powers, he went mad with desire. Without a pause for reflection, he procured the most extravagant items and prepared the most expansive place to put them.
He built and built until he could build no more. And that was when he realized that those things had no meaning. They existed, that was true, but his existence was beyond simply existing. For something to exist, it must be created. And for something to exist, it must be able to be destroyed.
If he was beyond existence, he must be beyond destruction. All that mattered was life and death, and control of those made him a god. What good was a couple of trinkets which would come and go, rot in the endless chasm of eternity?
But the home theater was quite nice, as often he would get bored and watch some new movies he pirated. He had nearly burnt the place to the ground but stopped when he remembered it existed.
When he first created this place, he thought it would be the start of a new city, a utopia. Filled with those under his protection, and simultaneously under his thumb. A city of puppets is what he imagined when he first built the vast shopping centers and housing districts. But now, it all lay empty, barren. Dare he say, lonely. He looked at this place in anger, for it reminded him of his frivolous past, which seemed devoid of reasonable ambition. Now, his mind was the greatest palace of all. Utterly dwarfing the small city with the immensity of infinity. It was his greatest asset, himself.