“You are doing this on purpose,” Neveah stated the obvious, her skin prickling as she allowed the realization to sink into her body. The influence the force might have the people here was awkward and almost indirect, guiding from the edges, but in her mind it became a much more reprehensible action if it was taken purposefully.
The force she had experienced on the journey here pressed against Neveah’s face, exploding in predictable waves out of Mae Myrna. The woman at the center of this warped area remained still at the map, fingers steepled and eyes hard as she considered Neveah. Whatever she witnessed in her face was enough for the Patron of Truth to part her lips in a smile like a barred blade. “Your voice drips judgment. Yet in the end, I am providing a much-needed modicum of predictability and equity to the world.”
“I don’t wish to get into a philosophical debate with you,” Neveah began. She already felt unnerved by being submerged in the world-state image, even if it couldn’t affect her. It was like allowing a swarm of long-legged insects crawl over her body and just doing nothing. “However, your actions-”
“Why, does your heart palpitate as it sees the world I have created? Perhaps you feel envious of the idyllic scenes made possible.” Mae Myrna smirked. “For the longest time, I have been lost. The world seemed listless and confused. Yet with a nudge, forces fall into beautiful synchronicity. Can you not see how this is better than the chaos we previously endured?”
What seemed to have been a launching pad for a larger monologue paused as another small door at the back of the map chamber swung open. A shadow loomed in the opening, with a wide mouth and neon yellow eyes. Mae waved a hand. “No need to act, Duo. For now, we are just discussing philosophy. Aren’t we, friend of Nether King Hungry Eye?”
Neveah cracked her knuckles at the casualness of the other woman’s tone and the sense of superiority. Now that she saw the source of the invisible pressure, it felt much easier to ignore. In her chest, the stitched-together dragon of fear shifted and snorted in displeasure but she kept her image restrained. “If you insist on this discussion, I will eviscerate you.”
Mae Myrna waved a hand and the shadow of Duo receded. “I don’t believe I have ever seen an attempted evisceration of truth. But be my guest, I suppose. For all that I am proud of the piece of safety I have crafted, the upkeep can be draining. The amusement of a discussion can alleviate my tension.”
Her words strummed the essence of the invisible force, giving it shape. At first, Neveah had been confused by how she pivoted so clearly into a debate, but now she began to get an inkling; to force a world to follow her truth like this, a certain amount of clear expression was necessary. Neveah just ended up being a convenient foil.
“You’ve made a fake world, Mae,” Neveah sighed. Now that she paid attention, when she spoke the force responded as well. Perhaps it was possible to inflict actual damage on this world-state image, freeing all the people of Sanctuary from its strange effects. Her desire to cut quickly to the core problems of this place rose.
However, she didn’t do so immediately. One, because significance had begun to swirl directly above them, seeping through the massive canopy of the tree and creating a dense wall around their position, the sort of wall that made even her connection to Randidly haze with its density. An important event in the memory approached. And because Neveah could look at Mae and see the good intentions buried under the stubbornness. More than a budding cult leader, she resembled a child that didn’t know any better. “Yet you don’t even have the slightest bit of regret, despite your effect on others.”
“Of course not. My actions had a greater purpose. I set out to find a better way or life to be lead for all. This is the path I have chosen. A path where the farmer’s daughters and merchant’s sons won’t just be slaughtered on sight by maurading Nether Warriors.” Mae lifted her head and rapid eye movement revealed more doubt than her monologue. But around her body, the force sang and thickened. “They can flee, escape, survive. Should they have an upright character, there will be opportunities to thrive.”
“...you honestly believe that.” Neveah blinked. Already the significance gathered more closely; she couldn’t decide how best to reach the innocent inner child.
Mae flicked her hand. “Sure, all this infrastructure requires a great deal of upkeep. But in the end, it is worth it. This is a revolution, a shift to emphasize the role fulfilled by the average soul. The ones with just as much of a right to life as one such as you, strange friend of Nether King Hungry Eye.”
The force pressed closer, forming itself into ridges and rubbing against Neveah’s skin. She could feel it trying to infiltrate into her body with greater cohesion, yet the smooth texture meant it couldn’t make any headway. Resisting didn’t require even a thought; the strange energy was all about projecting a false structure into life. You needed to accept it or believe in it for it to influence you. Which is why even directly in front of Mae Myrna, Neveah felt very little pressure. Even a person of average strength like Smart could witness the strangeness if he wanted to dig in his heels.
But the bright eyes, unknowing eyes of youth in Sanctuary? They would invite such a mild and hopeful message into their lives without a thought.
Neveah’s jaw clenched. She wanted to be sure, but she felt almost compelled to tear this all down. Before whatever vicious event hinted at by the significance arrived. And to do that… she would need to target the weakness of the force: the Patron of Truth herself. “And what will happen to individuals like Nether King Hungry Eye, those with the power to achieve what they want?”
“I am not stripping from hard workers the fruits of their labor, I am giving similar opportunities to those less blessed,” Mae Myrna said with a practiced tone. “I have no doubt that, even under the full boost from my world-state’s emphasis on justice and fairness, Nether King Hungry Eye could live a quality life. However, his… victims would not be forced to choose between death or capitulation to his whims. They could find other paths, ones worthy of respect.”
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Neveah shook her head. It was very easy to forget they sat opposite each other at the table, suspended in philosophy and the world-state image. “You speak in ambiguities. But this power? Have you not seen it in action?”
“I’ve lived it,” Mae responded. “Obviously, I am also functioning under its dictums. I’ve wanted to live it for even longer, to provide an opportunity for all to transform effort into results, no matter their starting situation..”
“Yet calling your current regime justice seems quite premature. There can be no equality, not with the feeble justification you have chosen. What is ‘right’? It’s a fickle measuring stick, the most contested truth in the world: Justice. How can you think you can achieve equity on such a shallow foundation?”
Mae leaned back. “I do not claim my methods are perfect, but they are simply the best we have. Even you can agree that the crimes committed by both sides during the course of the war should not be allowed. We need a new way. Perhaps this is simply the first attempt of a greater revolution, but I’m proud to have taken this first step.”
Neveah paused in the discussion and spread out her senses to get a better impression of Sanctuary, despite the way the force spun off of Mae Myrna in triumphant glorification of her most recent words. The significance condensed itself into a dark cloud, but she ignored it. Neveah felt her way through the city, watching the patterns playing amount among the population. The self-righteous guards prowled the city, training less to hone their skills and more to prove their dedication and discipline to the force.
A whole contingent in Sanctuary had adopted a weird hybrid religion, emphasizing restraint, purity, and good intentions. Several groups of nuns walked sedately around the monastery and repeating bland beatitudes to each other. It didn’t take more than a cursory investigation of these individuals to sense some doubt or sadness resulting from embracing the world-state of Mae without knowing the result.
She could still find Smart, a strange sticking point in the pattern, the force seeking to reward him for his dedication in pushing through his exhaustion and temptation. When he then refused repeatedly, the force interpreted his actions as rewardable modesty, simply renewing its desire to see him rewarded. Because that was the process of this flow the Patron of Truth had embraced: righteousness should be rewarded.
As for the women compelled to find him dazzling… currently, not as many ill effects as she expected. They almost seemed to forget their obsession when he left, proving that ignorance can be a tainted bliss.
Neveah’s expression soured further. As Smart continues to refuse to settle into the familiar pattern, what will you do Mae? Allow the entire shape to warp based on one individual who refuses to be a part of the structure, or hammer down the nail that gets in the way?
“This is unsustainable,” Neveah said lightly. With the significance continuing to gather, she needed to reach Mae. She leaned forward, studying the minute movements of the force, aware of her resistance. It sloshed against her, detecting a problem but having no solutions but trying to drown her. “I suppose the biggest structure issue seems to be power. Do you plan on fueling the entire thing yourself? You are the engine beating in the heart of this justice?”
Mae Myrna smiled. “Actually, no. I don’t quite understand the source, but the methodology given to me by Nether King Hungry Eye builds its own momentum. I provided the spark, yes but since then the area covered by this has gradually expanded all on its own. In the end… I am happy just to be one more individual walking on a path to morality.”
“Oh, you fool,” Neveah felt genuine pity for Mae Myrna. A child, truly. “If Nether King Hungry Eye made the pattern, don’t you worry he could encounter it in the future and manipulate it even while its active? And even if he is genius in some ways with patterns… do you think that once they understand what is happening, other powerful Nether individuals wouldn’t be able to do the same?”
For the first time, the flow of energy ceased. Mae’s face creased. “That… with enough individuals embracing the Path of Equity, the sheer weight of their observance-”
“Do you think the sort of figures who knew how to manipulate patterns wouldn’t want to cause the change slowly, one subtle aspect at a time?” Neveah shook her head. The force around her trembled, infected by her words and Mae’s sudden doubt. At the weakness, Neveah made another strike. She hammered the faltering energy as best as she could. “However, you have a bigger problem than possible saboteurs in the future; the base premise is impossible. You cannot be fair. Not when your motivating force is justice.”
“What do you mean?” Mae Myrna refocused. The invisible force began to swirl again, forcing its way past the sudden knowledge of a possible weakness. In the end, the force was Mae. Or the world she believed in. “All can survive and thrive in this manner of living if they deserve to.”
“Ah, that’s the problem. Deserve. That’s the aspect I’ve sensed that feels so out of place.” With a simple term, the strange behavior of the force began to make sense to Neveah. She couldn’t help but smile. She had done nothing to earn the force’s ire broadly; denying it was not considered justification. Therefore, she remained impervious to it. “Because in the end, only one person can be the most deserving.”
“But everyone has a clear path.” Mae countered. “That is the important aspect. Access-”
“Maybe right now, that’s what seems most important. As your population only follows the precepts unconsciously, you can survive that way for a time. But a purposeful, concerted effort by one individual could destabilize the entire framework. Hell, it doesn’t even need to be purposeful. You could simply be a naturally honest person. Will two individuals, one honest and one purposefully seeking to be deserving, both be viewed equally by your force?”
“Of course,” Mae spoke full of conviction. Yet the strange undulations in the natural force revealed a more honest answer.
She didn’t know.
She had stumbled across this world… but she didn’t quite understand it.
Neveah shook her head. “Well, we don’t even need to consider whether intention should affect what you deserve. Because, Mae Myrna, the real problem with your force is that it fails on its basic premise. The weakest individuals have no escape. You are just as oppressive as those you attempt to escape.”
Mae slammed her fists against the table hard enough to crack the map. “How dare you say that to me. Show me who in Sanctuary cannot-”
“You really are a fool. What about the Nether Warriors you’ve puppetted in your farce, Patron of Truth?” Neveah’s eyes blazed. You haven’t even tried to understand your force, have you Mae? Because the answers you find at the bottom… might be more damning than you want to accept.