"Yes." Ah. "Currently, by most standards of 'living'."
"Do you possess documentation on your activities?"
Oh, boy howdy, does he
ever. It's a good thing the Ring has fairly vast long-term storage capabilities and the power to summarise effectively.
"Uh. I don't keep a diary, but I've got my rings' scans and my mission reports, if that's any good?"
"Yes." He holds his book out slightly. "In paper format, if you please."
Heh. That's amusing image. Like he's going to slip bundles in like errata.
Um. Ring, what sort of volume-?
"I'm not sure there's enough… Space up here?"
I mean, the Book probably has some manner of absorptive properties, and limitless space within. It has to hold the collective records of the
entire Universe, no matter how large or small it might be right now.
"Do not concern yourself with that."
Well, he's the superbeing. I systematise my first month's worth of reports and ring scans and start materialising the paper-.
I imagine every single mission is a brick-sized volume...
And as each page is created it flies free of my control and… Into Destiny's book. It just hits the cover and then there's a sort of twist-.
Ow ow ow.
Okay, not looking at that.
Human brains aren't designed to comprehend the multi-dimensional fuckery of a set that contains all other sets.
Since he can clearly deal with it, I start generating paper faster and with more condensed text. I suppose he can… Probably reference anything that wasn't created by me directly.
"Um. Destiny, sir? What exactly is this doing?"
Heck, he's probably checking against the 'original timeline' recorded in his book, and adjusting the records with footnotes...
"And why would you ask that after doing it?"
"Because I'd like to know? I know there are spells which use the information in your book as a reference, so if I'm... In there now, those might start working on me."
Good point. Heck, he saw one of those when Zatanna pinged the Book for his real name.
"Then you need not be concerned. This is merely adjusting my records to reflect reality as it is. It wil not create records for your future or past."
"Huh."
So if someone wanted to look him up, they'd get the cliff's notes of his actions, and that's all.
"Are you not relieved? From what you have written, it seems that you have little regard for the inherent majesty of 'jumped-up elementals'."
"Yes, but I also don't make a point of picking fights with fundamental parts of reality, no matter how much I might prefer a more mechanical universe without them in it. In this case, starting an argument with you, a being whose abilites I can't quantify, would be a bad idea even if I hadn't just broken into your house. And, ah, sorry about that, but I think it was necessary."
Interesting that Destiny is aware of what's in the errata, despite not appearing to read it. Then again, if he had to
actually read everything that happened... That would theoretically take longer than the life of the entire universe.
"That place is not so much my house as it is an immobile part of my body."
"Is that better or worse?"
Ah. That explains that. The Book is as much a part of him as the human form he appears in. So he's always aware of everything that
should be in the Book. This avatar is just for interacting with mortals...
"I do not have to allow mortals to access my book. I do so because it is written that I do. In as much as I have an opinion, I regard it as a good thing that mortal creatures have contact with the higher structure of the universe. I deny neither access to my garden or my home. Though someone who visits at the same time as my brothers and sisters may become changed by the encounter."
As Gamemnae can attest. Heck, as
OL can attest, too.
"Did you do something like this with the Challengers of the Unknown?"
"Yes, though in their case their missions were far smaller in scope than those which you have undertaken."
True, a half-dozen or so plane-crash survivors-turned-adventurers aren't likely to make an impact even on a
national scale.
"And... Er. How do you feel about that?"
"I feel nothing. A slight irregularity is being corrected."
Come now... Surely you aren't a
little satisfied about sorting it out peacefully?
"
No."
"But does this..? Change other things? I mean, I've spoken to people from the future a few times and I've gotten the impression that I didn't manage to have a lasting effect on anything. Is everything I do going to get erased, or..? What?"
"What would you do if it did?"
To be fair, that may be time-travel fuckery at work, with dimensional time-line sidetracking involved... The travellers were confused because they didn't come back to their own
exact past.
"I'd.. try and find a parallel universe which operated on different principles and move there... I guess."
"Do you believe that my existence contradicts the notion of free will? I have heard that said before."
Nor surprising, given the knowledge of a book that contains all that is. Some would naturally assume because it records what has been, it also extends to what will be.
"No. The fact that my reactions are predictable does not mean that they are controlled by someone else. But I want to have an impact, and if you're telling me that that's categorically impossible, I.. might..."
"Or you might try to find a way to change that characteristic."
Heh. He's probably curious as to how that might be achieved, himself.
"Or… That. I thought you'd be against that?"
"I am not precisely for or against anything. It will be a notable revalation should you come to understand the process by which a person can be cut lose from the words in my book, for you and for me both. For a long time I did not realise that deviation from the content of my book was possible. And then there was a plane crash, where the occupants survived when their deaths were written."
Always helps to have stress-testing for a system. Lets you find and reinforce the weaknesses and patch up any holes in the rules.
"Was that.. you..?"
"No. I have no ability to deviate from what is written, nor desire to." The flow of paper stops and he lowers his book. "Some of my brothers and sisters counselled me to destroy them, others to encourage them. For the most part I simply watched them. I neither liked nor disliked the sensation, but I did learn that many of my assumptions concerning my nature were sorely misguided."
I'm betting Death had a 'They come to me sooner or later. Why rush it?' attitude.
"Do you know where I came from?"
"No. My book suggests that it does not have a system of destinies similar to those of this reality, but just as you are unwritten so too is your original home. Similarly, I have no records on how such a place could come to be."
As if some higher power had slipped a separate page into the Book?
"I don't suppose that you've got my full name written down anywhere, have you?"
"No, for what I suspect is the same reason."
Definitely giving OL a bit of a 'what the hell made this all happen?' paranoia.
I nod. "Well, until I hear differently from you, I'm going to keep trying to improve things. Ah. Let me know if I start causing you a headache, because -to reiterate- I do not want to become your enemy at any point. If fact, if you ever need something done? Let me know and I'll do it."
And I assume he'll want some
updates at some point or another. Maybe the
next time something big happens that his Book didn't record correctly.
"That will never happen, but I understand your intent and shall ensure that my brothers and sisters understand it as well."
"Thank you."
To be fair, most of the ones he's met have been taking a hands-off approach already.
Alright, he seems to be as helpful as he can be…
"Just… One last thing. Would you benefit from a recording of what happens when I try writing my name?"
Given that OL couldn't exactly provide anything more than video recordings of the process, that's probably a good idea.
"I would not 'benefit', but it would be noteworthy."
"Alright. Um."
There could be some aspect to it that an Endless might catch that a lesser mage might miss, after all. Whether Destiny would share that, well, that's up to the Book.
I fabricate a blank piece of paper and lay it on his book. No absorption. Then I take a pen out of subspace and draw a-.
And then I pick myself up off the floor, Destiny looking down at me. The sheet of paper is gone, though the book's master is looking as blank as ever.
As if what was visible of his face was carved in stone? Yeah, that fits with depictions.
"I thank you for that record. It may prove illuminating."
"Happy to help. But now I've got a country to put back together."
...Again. At least it shouldn't be too hard to repair Atlantis this time.
"According to my book, it never fell apart. As such, I suppose that I must wish you… Well."
He nods and then vanishes, and I get back to work.
No doubt once he reaches his House, he might well let a tiny smirk at OL's antics slip. Or he may not...
