Sacris Solemniis

[collector]

[Teapot before him, a plate of pastries beside it, Braxiatel sits at the kitchen table with Strindberg's Ett drömspel open in front of him. Braxiatel stirs sugar into his tea, and a faint smile crosses his face as his eyes flicker to something in the seat to his left.]

[He leans forwards and pours a second cup of tea, then lifts it up to hand it over, the smile widening.] I don't know what you mean by 'ulterior motives,' Comman—

[Braxiatel's fingers tighten on the cup before he can let it go. For a moment, it hangs there, hoping for a hand that cannot take it.]

Ah.

[It is a quiet realization.]

[Braxiatel sets the cup down, away from him. He leans back in his chair and picks up a scone to eat.]

Comments

[oliverplus]

[snorts] I'm sure whoever you were talking to did, too.

[collector]

It really is a terrible loss.

[oliverplus]

Yeah, 'course. [takes another sip of tea, still amused]

Hey, Irving? What would you choose? Thoughts or feelings?

[collector]

I think it's asking for trouble to answer a question like that after all this.

[oliverplus]

...you asked me!

[collector]

[dunking his scone into his tea] Very careless of me.

[oliverplus]

[snorts, taking a knife to cut himself some pie] Well, if anybody in this place is listening, it wasn't a real answer anyway.

[collector]

[Braxiatel takes a slice of the pie] Back to business, though: what do we know of Ezra and Nicolai? Hopi boy and likely a former slave to the Spanish in Ezra's case, somewhere from southern Russia for Nicolai. Both know Shay.

[oliverplus]

[frowns] That's about it, isn't it? Except that Ezra isn't happy that this is happening. And probably likes pie.

[collector]

We also know that Elonen knows Death. You know how he talked about Death. This is a job descriptions, not a personification.

[oliverplus]

[blinks, a little startled] What do you mean by that?

[collector]

[Braxiatel leans forwards, partially so he can lower his voice as he talks (he knows it doesn't matter, but humans seem more willing to accept the urgency of his comments when he does it), partially because he wants a crumpet.] I mean that when Elonen spoke to me about the God in the Machine, he talked about it like you could pick one. Like God could be replaced by another candidate. Of course, he only found that out after he shot the first one.

[oliverplus]

[leans forward to meet him, also whispering] He told me that, too, but what's that got to do with Death?

[collector]

Death, War, and all the rest are very likely the same. Positions. Pestilence had a hand in the last little adventure like this. Who says one or more of the Horsemen haven't put their fingers in this one?

[oliverplus]

[his eyes widen in realisation] Those are their jobs in the Machine! [sorry, Brax, it took him a minute] Okay, that makes sense. But why are the Horsemen doing this? The Twins told me they want to stop Kaizer putting a God in the Machine.

[collector]

Which, I note, means that they and Mr Elonen have identical goals. But the God can be replaced. I assume Kaizer picked someone out, Elonen had that individual killed, and then Kaizer picked out another individual. Based on that data, analysing the strategies becomes simple. Only one individual can become God, and one can't prevent a God from being put in. So, Kaizer will attempt to select a candidate that he can control. If he gets his in, he wins. Elonen and, one assumes, the Horsemen, have an identical strategy. Get their God in and they win. It doesn't even matter if they control the God, though they'd be fools to pass up that chance of power; they just need to get someone in and the game is theirs. I don't think you can replace a God once they get inside the Machine, or the game would be too challenging to play. Considering the sort of power that comes with the position, it seems like it death isn't a problem once you have the God in.

[oliverplus]

...you think this is all just to make somebody God!?

[collector]

I really don't think 'just' is a particularly fair word when we're talking about God. Well. This God. The Worldsphere's God has occasionally taken action to warrant it.

[oliverplus]

But what's that got to--oh god. The choices! They're trying to pick one of us, aren't they?

[collector]

It's a possibility.

[oliverplus]

Then we've gotta find a way to stop this as soon as we can!

[collector]

It's not a certainty, though. I don't want you leaping into anything dangerous just because it might be a motivation.

[oliverplus]

[Oliver, leap into danger without thinking? never!] Well, yeah, but the Plane's getting worse all the time even if it isn't. If these hallucinations get worse...or the monsters...!

[collector]

Then getting yourself killed will be even more likely and even less helpful.

[oliverplus]

I'm not gonna get myself killed! We've just...we've gotta find out more about these choices. That's not that dangerous!