For the moment, yes. Or at least, so I've been told. The... person who told me wasn't terribly interested in unbiased reporting.
[ He breathes in and out and the out comes with a bit of a huff.]
My... superior, both within the Institute and in regards to... our patron is semi-omniscient. And he has used that to somewhat devastating effect before.
[ He turns to look over at Ford.]
But the Entity itself is- well, it's hard to describe and harder to explain. But there is more than enough horror to 'watching' something awful take place and know there's nothing you can do about it.
[ It's difficult, to talk about the Eye. It's like he'd told Iris: he can't really, viscerally, understand being afraid of knowledge. He's not sure if he could before, if he can remember what it'd be like when he was completely human. But now, and every time that he can think of before, all he's ever wanted is to know.]
Wish I'd been that lucky. True, there are some surface similarities. Bill was trapped in the mindscape for billions of years, and from there, all he really could do was watch. He could enter people's dreams, of course, and if someone was foolish enough to invoke him, he could strike a bargain with them in exchange for physical possession. But beyond that, his ability to affect the physical world was limited.
He'd always been planning to get through to it, though. He's been trying to get someone to open a gate between his world and ours since the beginning of human civilization!
Oh, right. You did mention that there were multiple ones.
So, what are the others like?
[There's a note in Ford's tone that says he's not expecting to be impressed. He'd kill for Bill's end goal to be nothing more than passive observation. It'd make everything so much easier.]
There are thirteen others, though even then that's just... it's more of a classification system, in a sense. Like naming colors if colors hated you.
There are major, easily-understandable hues, your blues and greens and such. Some of them clash and others flow into one another.
[ He'll start naming them off. ]
The Desolation, also known as the Lightless Flame; fire with everything good stripped from it, leaving only destruction. It is the fear of loss, of having everything good taken from you, and their avatars can- well- [ which is when he holds up his hand with a tired chuckle ] As I said, I've got my own reasons to avoid a handshake.
The End, obviously. The fear of death. The Dark as well, pretty self-explanatory. The Buried and the Vast are, effectively opposites: fear of being trapped and fear of your meaninglessness, of emptiness, in the face of the expanse. The Lonely, which can manifest just as powerfully in a crowd as on one's own. The Distortion, the fear of madness, of one's perceptions being off, of being unable to properly know reality. The Spider, or the Web, the fear of your actions not being your own, of being used, of being unable to escape another's machinations.
The Stranger, the fear of the unknown, your 'Uncanny Valley', that which is not at all familiar. The Corruption, the fear of rot, decay, putrification and infestation. The Slaughter or the Frenzy, the fear of violence, either directed or directionless.
[ He looks over at Ford.]
The other two are a bit... weird. But that's mostly because they're not really human fears. Their source is animals, and when they interact with people well... things get a bit weird.
[Ford nods, processing all of that. So, a pantheon of primal fears, some related, some opposites, all of whom with agents in the world with powers relating to them.
The earliest fear was the Hunt, one that even man can easily relate to. The other is... well-
[ He can't help but wince.]
The Flesh. The fear of animals put into factory farms, the miasma of emotion around an entire life dedicated to the production of meat. It... it usually expresses itself rather, er, unpleasantly.
So, how does anything in your world get done? With fourteen of these things running around trying to use their agents to bring themselves onto the physical plane, it must be unbelievably chaotic.
My predecessor put most of her efforts to preventing the rituals of the various entities. Apparently, it can take centuries to work towards one of them, and it seems as if she stopped at least two in her career, probably more. She was, however, murdered.
[ He breathes in and out and runs a hand through his hair.]
There's also the fact that the various entities... well, they work against each other at times. It's all very... er, political, in its way.
[Whoof. Fourteen different Weirdmageddons. Fourteen Bills, all with shifting alliances and sabotages. That's a headache Ford's glad he doesn't have. Actually, he should ask--]
And these entities. Do they pose a danger to the multiverse as a whole, or are their activities limited to just your dimension?
Hm. Bill would probably know. He's been around a very long time, and if anyone's seen fourteen other entities like him floating around terrorizing the multiverse, it'd be him.
And you think you can trust any answer he'd provide?
[ Sorry, that sounds like literally the worst idea he's ever heard. The continual Escher staircase of trying to figure out which direction of fucking with the little polygon might be coming from is not how he'd like to spend the rest of his time here.]
[Ford turns to look at Jon, and his expression is an odd, wry sort of surprise.]
Huh. You know, it's nice to hear someone take him seriously for a change.
When I first got here, it was all, "oh, of course we can't trust him but it's FINE to listen to him," or "I know but he's my friend!" or "don't worry, I can handle it."
...actually, it was more "don't shoot him on sight," but once I cleared up his initial misinformation campaign, that was the general opinion. Except for Tris, of course, but she'd seen what he was capable of firsthand and wasn't taking any chances.
[ He sucks in a breath and lets it out again, rubbing at the bridge of his nose for a moment before he can even consider letting out words that aren't annoyed snarling at the very idea of some of the things that Ford's said.]
I've heard similar defenses. And while I... I know that people aren't stupid, I think they're so used to seeing him as this neutered little... little annoyance that they can't actually comprehend the fact that whatever he pretends to be, he's something so far outside of the scope of what a person actually is that any sort of relationship he might have is- is ultimately just a- a- a mimed parody performed by something that knows us only well enough to be aware that we let our guard down when we think we can talk to it.
[ Huff.]
Of course I take him seriously. He's almost worse.
[Ford listens to that very quietly. It is a very, very smart approach. Jon has it absolutely right. That's the safest way to treat him.]
There's a number of ways to get a truthful answer out of him. One of the most reliable ones is to get him angry! When he loses his temper, sometimes he says more than he means to.
...but asking him to put on the truth ring is safer. He got it from another passenger, some warden I never met. It lights up when he's telling a lie. I was skeptical at first, of course, but I've seen it work in the kinds of situations where it's, ah, hard to deny its reliability. Of course, if Bill tells you anything, it's because that's what he wants you to know even if it's true, but I don't think the ring can be influenced directly.
[ The mention of the ring... that definitely calls his attention. Definitely, has him wondering. A truth 'ring'. He wonders if it's some manner of artifact of the Beholding.]
Curious.
[ He lets that hang for a moment before-]
I can... there's something I can do that's, er, something like that. I'm not sure it would work on him. With the, that is, given the 'convergent' evolution.
[Jon can detect lies, like agents of the Desolation can generate extreme heat? Oh, that is interesting. It would be convenient if it worked on Bill, wouldn't it. Of course Ford isn't that lucky.]
Yes, he did. I suppose Bill told enough lies that he wanted a way to prove that what he was saying was the truth. Instead of everyone mistrusting anything he says on principle if a flood isn't involved.
[An afterthought:]
You can trust what he says while he's singing, but only if the rest of the barge is doing it, and he isn't doing the accompaniment himself.
If I know anything, Mr. Pines, it is that absolute truth is no guarantee that the information is anything but harmful. And that monsters can wield such things with just as much precision and attempt to harm as one might wield lies.
[ He sucks in a breath and lets it out rather tiredly.]
All the same, I am actually rather glad at making people mad at me, so we'll have to give that a go sometime.
[Ford crosses the floor to the multicolored, glittery smear.]
All right. Let's see what he was up to.
[Ford scans the area. The scanner beeps. He examines the display, then draws his eyebrows together.]
Nothing. At least, nothing that shouldn't be here.
[Ford turns it around to show Jon the display: it's a little flashing admiral's hat, with a bar gauge to the side falling safely between two parallel lines indicating normal. Press a toggle button, and it will run through all the physical substances it detected: nothing but wood and the chemical components of ordinary nail polish.]
[ He watches the meter curiously but he doesn't say anything until Ford is done with his explanation. Then he frowns and looks at the spot on the floor again.]
I'm curious how... lingering the power in your world is. Where I'm from, we've never noticed any particular- once the item is no longer there, the energy is gone too.
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[Ford sounds a little surprised, like he's less impressed than he expected to be.]
All it does is watch?
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[ He breathes in and out and the out comes with a bit of a huff.]
My... superior, both within the Institute and in regards to... our patron is semi-omniscient. And he has used that to somewhat devastating effect before.
[ He turns to look over at Ford.]
But the Entity itself is- well, it's hard to describe and harder to explain. But there is more than enough horror to 'watching' something awful take place and know there's nothing you can do about it.
[ It's difficult, to talk about the Eye. It's like he'd told Iris: he can't really, viscerally, understand being afraid of knowledge. He's not sure if he could before, if he can remember what it'd be like when he was completely human. But now, and every time that he can think of before, all he's ever wanted is to know.]
I... may not be the best person to speak on it.
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Wish I'd been that lucky. True, there are some surface similarities. Bill was trapped in the mindscape for billions of years, and from there, all he really could do was watch. He could enter people's dreams, of course, and if someone was foolish enough to invoke him, he could strike a bargain with them in exchange for physical possession. But beyond that, his ability to affect the physical world was limited.
He'd always been planning to get through to it, though. He's been trying to get someone to open a gate between his world and ours since the beginning of human civilization!
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[ That comes with a very tired sigh and a sip of the tea in the thermos.]
I'm actually in the midst of interrupting one such ritual, or I was before I came here. I'll be handling it once my work is done.
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So, what are the others like?
[There's a note in Ford's tone that says he's not expecting to be impressed. He'd kill for Bill's end goal to be nothing more than passive observation. It'd make everything so much easier.]
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There are major, easily-understandable hues, your blues and greens and such. Some of them clash and others flow into one another.
[ He'll start naming them off. ]
The Desolation, also known as the Lightless Flame; fire with everything good stripped from it, leaving only destruction. It is the fear of loss, of having everything good taken from you, and their avatars can- well- [ which is when he holds up his hand with a tired chuckle ] As I said, I've got my own reasons to avoid a handshake.
The End, obviously. The fear of death. The Dark as well, pretty self-explanatory. The Buried and the Vast are, effectively opposites: fear of being trapped and fear of your meaninglessness, of emptiness, in the face of the expanse. The Lonely, which can manifest just as powerfully in a crowd as on one's own. The Distortion, the fear of madness, of one's perceptions being off, of being unable to properly know reality. The Spider, or the Web, the fear of your actions not being your own, of being used, of being unable to escape another's machinations.
The Stranger, the fear of the unknown, your 'Uncanny Valley', that which is not at all familiar. The Corruption, the fear of rot, decay, putrification and infestation. The Slaughter or the Frenzy, the fear of violence, either directed or directionless.
[ He looks over at Ford.]
The other two are a bit... weird. But that's mostly because they're not really human fears. Their source is animals, and when they interact with people well... things get a bit weird.
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He follows so far.]
Animal fears? What are animals afraid of?
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[ He can't help but wince.]
The Flesh. The fear of animals put into factory farms, the miasma of emotion around an entire life dedicated to the production of meat. It... it usually expresses itself rather, er, unpleasantly.
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Yes, I can imagine how that would get...messy.
So, how does anything in your world get done? With fourteen of these things running around trying to use their agents to bring themselves onto the physical plane, it must be unbelievably chaotic.
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My predecessor put most of her efforts to preventing the rituals of the various entities. Apparently, it can take centuries to work towards one of them, and it seems as if she stopped at least two in her career, probably more. She was, however, murdered.
[ He breathes in and out and runs a hand through his hair.]
There's also the fact that the various entities... well, they work against each other at times. It's all very... er, political, in its way.
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And these entities. Do they pose a danger to the multiverse as a whole, or are their activities limited to just your dimension?
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[ He spreads his hands earnestly. ]
Before this place, I was unfamiliar with the 'multiverse'.
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[ Sorry, that sounds like literally the worst idea he's ever heard. The continual Escher staircase of trying to figure out which direction of fucking with the little polygon might be coming from is not how he'd like to spend the rest of his time here.]
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Huh. You know, it's nice to hear someone take him seriously for a change.
When I first got here, it was all, "oh, of course we can't trust him but it's FINE to listen to him," or "I know but he's my friend!" or "don't worry, I can handle it."
...actually, it was more "don't shoot him on sight," but once I cleared up his initial misinformation campaign, that was the general opinion. Except for Tris, of course, but she'd seen what he was capable of firsthand and wasn't taking any chances.
[Smart girl.]
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[ He sucks in a breath and lets it out again, rubbing at the bridge of his nose for a moment before he can even consider letting out words that aren't annoyed snarling at the very idea of some of the things that Ford's said.]
I've heard similar defenses. And while I... I know that people aren't stupid, I think they're so used to seeing him as this neutered little... little annoyance that they can't actually comprehend the fact that whatever he pretends to be, he's something so far outside of the scope of what a person actually is that any sort of relationship he might have is- is ultimately just a- a- a mimed parody performed by something that knows us only well enough to be aware that we let our guard down when we think we can talk to it.
[ Huff.]
Of course I take him seriously. He's almost worse.
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There's a number of ways to get a truthful answer out of him. One of the most reliable ones is to get him angry! When he loses his temper, sometimes he says more than he means to.
...but asking him to put on the truth ring is safer. He got it from another passenger, some warden I never met. It lights up when he's telling a lie. I was skeptical at first, of course, but I've seen it work in the kinds of situations where it's, ah, hard to deny its reliability. Of course, if Bill tells you anything, it's because that's what he wants you to know even if it's true, but I don't think the ring can be influenced directly.
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Definitely, has him wondering. A truth 'ring'. He wonders if it's some manner of artifact of the Beholding.]
Curious.
[ He lets that hang for a moment before-]
I can... there's something I can do that's, er, something like that. I'm not sure it would work on him. With the, that is, given the 'convergent' evolution.
[ But wait a minute-]
A warden gave it to him?
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Yes, he did. I suppose Bill told enough lies that he wanted a way to prove that what he was saying was the truth. Instead of everyone mistrusting anything he says on principle if a flood isn't involved.
[An afterthought:]
You can trust what he says while he's singing, but only if the rest of the barge is doing it, and he isn't doing the accompaniment himself.
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[ He sucks in a breath and lets it out rather tiredly.]
All the same, I am actually rather glad at making people mad at me, so we'll have to give that a go sometime.
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Still...given the choice, he'd rather have the truth.]
Be my guest! This would be the best place to do it, since none of us can die permanently here.
[Ford pushes open the door to the spa, scanner out and ready.]
On the Barge, I mean. I don't believe this spa can bring you back to life, though I admit I haven't tried it.
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I'd prefer if we had a purpose, of course. I don't actually enjoy being stabbed. Or... whatever else he might do.
[ He does remember the spot rather exactly, and he points towards where it is was/is on the floor.]
He was working there.
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All right. Let's see what he was up to.
[Ford scans the area. The scanner beeps. He examines the display, then draws his eyebrows together.]
Nothing. At least, nothing that shouldn't be here.
[Ford turns it around to show Jon the display: it's a little flashing admiral's hat, with a bar gauge to the side falling safely between two parallel lines indicating normal. Press a toggle button, and it will run through all the physical substances it detected: nothing but wood and the chemical components of ordinary nail polish.]
Just ambient Barge energy at normal levels.
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I'm curious how... lingering the power in your world is. Where I'm from, we've never noticed any particular- once the item is no longer there, the energy is gone too.
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It depends. I've found that there are many different kinds of magic, each with its own unique, and often confusing, rules. It's usually worth a shot.
[Ford looks back at the readout.]
Either whatever it was Bill was casting vanished without a trace, or no magic happened here at all.
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