Chapter 38: A Dangerous Question

  ADMINISTRATOR POV

  Orpheus paused, then looked at me carefully. After what seemed like several seconds of thought – but was probably only an instant – she nodded to my chair.

  “Why don’t you have a seat?” she suggested. “This visit may last a little longer than I expected.”

  I felt a minor sense of alarm when she said that… not because it would last longer, but because she told me to take a seat. I didn’t really get tired. The chair was just there so I had something to do other than stand around staring at nothing all the time.

  Nonetheless, I eased into the chair, instinctively tucked my new tail to the side, and propped my feet up. I glanced around and twitched one ear.

  “Would you like a seat as well?” I asked. “I have enough in the budget to just pull one up if you like.”

  Orpheus shook her head and then tapped her clipboard against her bottom lip as if thinking. “No. This visit will take longer, but it shouldn’t take too long.”

  She turned her eyes back to me again and then, without preamble, stated, “The specifics of an external incursion are of more concern for higher-ranked Administrators. As such, I do not feel comfortable giving you all of the details right now, even if I doubt it would truly hurt to do so in this case.”

  That was actually somewhat reassuring. If she thought it wouldn’t hurt for me to know – even if she didn’t tell me – it meant she wasn’t truly worried. On the other hand, it certainly roused my curiosity.

  I swatted my hand down on my tail tip, which was wiggling and giving away that curiosity. The habits of my avatar’s body had been transferring all right, but since the avatar itself was still a child, actual self-control over these minor, innocuous fidgets was a little more difficult, despite my adult mind and the adult appearance of my current state.

  It was possible Orpheus didn’t realize what it meant, because she just kept talking without pause.

  “What I can tell you is that you should not be worrying about them right now. If you were to ever suffer an external incursion, then the situation would be very dire, and it’s doubtful you could do anything about it anyway.”

  She placed her clipboard between both hands and drummed her fingers against the back, considering, before adding a little more detail.

  “You are already aware of the tithe that we require. Some of that is used to protect still-budding universes and Administrators from any external dangers like that.”

  My ears folded downward in a frown equivalent, and I narrowed my eyes.

  “You know, if you had explained that when the tithes first appeared, things might have gone more smoothly.”

  “Possibly,” she agreed. “I know that some of our rules may seem like obstacles for you, but trust me when I say I believe they are necessary. Perhaps if things work out well with you, we may consider changing them for future Administrators. But right now, we are using the protocols that have been established to deal with the current situation.”

  She continued, “That current situation requires you to use your creativity and take approaches that we may not have thought of. Unfortunately, this is a risky move… as you well know, due to the high failure rate.”

  Orpheus lowered her clipboard and gestured at me with it.

  “In fact, you are the most promising candidate of the current batch. That is why I am here. While I am reluctant to interfere with any of your creative solutions, I did feel that it was perhaps best if I could offer you some advice, should you require it. For example, about your avatar situation.”

  “That’s great. I just don’t want to be pulled into some weird war where I have to fight or something. If I’m going to have to do that, I’m going to need to be way more prepared than I am now,” I pointed out.

  Orpheus just tilted her head for a moment, giving me a puzzled look, and then nodded.

  “Oh, I see,” she replied, as if just realizing something. “No, you misunderstand. External incursions are not quite what you’re thinking. Yes, you have an avatar type that is well suited for dealing with them, but it is not meant to do violence as you think of it. Any battles you fight in that avatar will be a matter of tending to your universe or manipulating another. It is more akin to…”

  She trailed off, then consulted her clipboard. “Chess, I believe, would be a close approximation from your original world. Your avatar is used to give you the perspective needed to outwit your opponent. This is not to say that violence will never occur… it’s just not the norm.”

  That was definitely interesting to me, but I didn’t say anything about it. It certainly gave me a new perspective, and it made me realize that I was still thinking in terms of bodies and actions, despite how much work I had been doing in the more abstract.

  I sighed and waved a hand. “Fine. So what kind of advice do you have for me?”

  “Surprisingly little at the moment,” Orpheus answered. “I suppose the most immediate matter is that of your appearance. You do realize that you can make a proxy avatar very cheaply so long as you never take it out of your Sanctuary, and you can have multiple proxy avatars. The maintenance cost is negligible while it is within your Sanctuary. If you wish to avoid this situation in the future, you should make an avatar here, for while you are in your Sanctuary, that has the appearance you wish to maintain.”

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  She tapped her clipboard lightly in one hand. “However, I would avoid doing so now – at least, if you create one very different from your current state. You are still linked with your incarnate avatar. If you had a proxy body to return to from the beginning, everything would have been normalized. If you create one now, it will cause some feedback to the original. Therefore, if you create a different species or something unlike it, it may cause some difficulties for your incarnate avatar, which it will not know how to deal with given the suppression effect.”

  I winced but nodded my head. It was still difficult for me to think of Tastka as an aspect of me – though she really was – and I certainly didn’t want her to have memories of some kind of body dysmorphia. Even the more pragmatic side of me thought that would be a bad idea, let alone the side of me that still had enough emotion to feel pity for her.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied. “Though I’ve been thinking about it, and I may not add humans to this world, so perhaps I shouldn’t even bother making a human avatar. I’ll have to consider what my appearance should be.”

  “See that you do,” Orpheus stated – though not so firmly as to sound strict. I had a feeling the perception filter I had of her was making her seem more clipped than she might otherwise be, but then again, she had never been particularly good at empathizing.

  She looked down at her clipboard again and considered it. “Other than that, you have done something very odd… but I think I see what you’re trying to do. Your earlier suggestion of analysis and then attempting to provide a test solution with a small population is quite normal, and I would have suggested that as well. You may want to consider the difficulties your other species are having as well. It looks like one of them is producing energy far below the norm.”

  She paused. “Actually, two of them. Did you make a species that only has a few dozen individuals?”

  “It’s complicated,” I replied, “but yes, I’m aware of those, and I’m not worried that they aren’t making any energy yet. I have some thoughts on how to change that, but I’m not in a rush there. They’re still very new. I think I should focus on one species at a time.”

  Once again, Orpheus nodded and looked over her clipboard, but this time I interrupted her.

  “The non-interference rules,” I said. “Can I ask you if something would trip them, and what happens if I do?”

  She looked at me and then waved her hand at the air. “Your strange interface, whatever it is, should warn you when something is disallowed, and will also warn you if an action will cause a loss of energy but is still allowed. You may run into this, as you are allowed certain actions which simply reduce the effectiveness of the results.”

  I nodded again and then lifted a finger. “Okay, but what if I gave something to an existing being, like a special power or the like, and this special ability was specifically meant to do something that would encourage them to go out and do such a thing?”

  At this, Orpheus actually smiled. “Now that is a question I can answer.” She folded her arms, tucking her clipboard against her chest, and took a deep breath.

  “What you’re referring to is empowerment and guidance. These are common manners in which Administrators – or their sub-terminals – have influenced beings with free will.” She shook her head, then continued. “However, what you’ve described is something that will net you very little energy, if it is allowed at all. Simply forcing an ability on them is a violation of free will in and of itself, somewhat, unless you are adjusting the entire species, and as you know, that is very expensive.

  “However,” she lifted a finger, “if you should offer them a choice of such a new ability and simply make it tempting enough, and then they choose that ability, then it doesn’t matter that the ability’s only use is to do what you want them to do. In this case, they have exercised their free will, and in taking the offer, they have also taken up whatever it is. So long as this burden does not actively force them to do it, you will not be considered to be interfering.

  “If you, for example, wish for them to dig through a specific rock, and you offer them an ability that can only dig through that rock, and then they choose that ability… well, that is free will. They also have the choice to not use that ability and simply not dig through the rock. But why would they choose it in the first place if they did not intend to do so? Yes, once in a while, you will encounter some very illogical beings that do such a thing… but I believe you understand what I am saying.”

  I’d been listening carefully, and when she addressed me again, my ears perked up.

  “Yes, I’m pretty sure I do. That’s about what I thought, and I intend to do something like that to fix this matter.”

  I paused, then added, “You mentioned sub-terminals. Is that something above my current rank? Is that like what you did with me when you were here for the first couple of epochs?”

  Orpheus lowered her arms and shook her head. “No, that is not a sub-terminal. That was a terminal interface. There is a difference. Terminal interfaces are for interaction between Sanctuaries. A sub-terminal is what your interface seems to be referring to as a deity.”

  She tapped her clipboard again. “They are constructed beings that are not given true free will, merely a very specific purpose. They have what seems to be free will, but they do not generate any energy, and they cannot act against their purpose. Outside of their purpose, they do have some limited ability to make decisions. Inside their purpose, they will operate under the parameters you give them.

  “They are used for delegation of tasks because the natural inertia of belief from your universe’s inhabitants provides most of the power needed to keep them operating.”

  She hesitated then and frowned. “I would not recommend making any yet. While you have some belief energy, according to what I’ve seen here it looks very splintered.”

  I waved my hand again. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing… that I would hold off on that. If I’m going to give my world gods, then I want to be very careful about that.”

  “Good,” Orpheus agreed, nodding her head sharply. “Now, as you know, I am very busy, so unless you have further questions, I will take my leave now.”

  She actually smiled then. “But first… would you be interested in meeting one of your other Administrators next visit? I could bring one over, and you could compare methodologies. You are one of our most promising candidates, and I would like to reassure you that I would like you to be a part of my universe Cluster.”

  She glanced at the door and then added, “I know the sudden debt and the tithing is very difficult, but we do have to keep the cluster operational and safe. Do you have any further questions?”

  I let my tail flick against the side of the chair and sighed. “Yes, bringing another Administrator in would be helpful. But, I suppose I don’t have further questions right now. At least none that you can answer. Besides, I should work on this a little more before I return to bed and let my avatar take over again.”

  “Excellent,” Orpheus said. “Well then, I presume that you are accelerating time while you are in your avatar, so I will expect a relatively prompt response next time I request a visitation, but I will understand if there’s a slight delay.”

  Then she gave another smile, which seemed even more genuine than the last. “Do enjoy experiencing the world you built. I know my emotions and values are very different from yours, but one thing I do remember… seeing what I created in action was one of the greatest joys of the entire task.”

  To Push Beyond