Content warnings for this episode include: Emotional Abuse, Violence, Blood, Emotional Manipulation, Body horror, Incineration
One Billion Years Ago: The Runaway
[Nikignik and Marolmar are alone together in the Workshop, a demiplane of Marolmar’s own design where he works on new creations. Currently, Marolmar hums as he works, and Nikignik sits idly staring at the sky].
Marolmar
*humming while looking over papers*
Nikignik
I want to run away.
Marolmar
*continues humming*
Nikignik
I said I want to run away.
Marolmar
I heard you.
Nikignik
Ah. You didn’t say anything. I thought you might have been… lost in thought.
Marolmar
I always hear you.
Nikignik
You just seem distant, sometimes.
Marolmar
I’m right here.
Nikignik
Your thoughts, I mean. You dream far away from me.
Marolmar
And that makes you want to run away?
Nikignik
Not from you. Never from you.
Marolmar
From what, then?
Nikignik
From my work. From watching the celestial gates of the Council of Heavens.
Marolmar
Mhm.
Nikignik
You hardly seem surprised.
Marolmar
That’s because I know you.
Nikignik
And you believe me to be a rebel?
Marolmar
I believe that you’d never do it.
Nikignik
Do what?
Marolmar
Leave the Council of Heavens. You’ve been their little watchdog for most of a billion years.
Nikignik
I am neither little nor watchdog.
Marolmar
You’ll be back there tomorrow, like you always are.
Nikignik
Maybe I won’t!
Marolmar
Because you are caught between two lives, Nikignik. And in one you sit beside the gates of eternity…
Nikignik
I could run away!
Marolmar
And in the other, you’re here with me. But it never lasts long. And to the gates you will always return.
Nikignik
I had no idea it bothered you.
Marolmar
It is hard to be with you.
Nikignik
Is it?
Marolmar
Knowing that every precious moment I get with you will be immediately followed by your absence.
Nikignik
It doesn’t have to be.
Marolmar
It will be. I know you. And you don’t have the power to tell them otherwise. No one does. They’ve commanded you to sit, and you must sit. I accept it. I’ll take these little moments in between. It’s better than nothing. At least this way I still get to see you.
Nikignik
*is quiet*
Marolmar
*sighs, goes back to looking over his work, begins to hum again*
Nikignik
I’m going to run away.
[Music in strong, cut to title credits].
750 Million Years Ago - The Surprise
[Nikignik and Marolmar, again in the workshop.]
Marolmar
Do you like it?
Nikignik
It’s beautiful.
Marolmar
Beautiful? Is that all you see?
Nikignik
And it’s very inventive?
Marolmar
You have no idea what you’re looking at, do you?
Nikignik
Not the foggiest. But if you crafted it then I think it is the best… thing of its kind ever to be created.
Marolmar
I suppose in this form it’s a bit hard to make out. But if you turn it like so…
Nikignik
Ahhhh.
Marolmar
It becomes a crown.
Nikignik
Ah. Yes.
Marolmar
You still don’t see it, do you?
Nikignik
Is it purely for artistic merit or does it have a function of some kind?
Marolmar
It’s designed to make insignificant things useful.
Nikignik
I hope it is not a gift for me.
Marolmar
You are not insignificant. You remember that star where we went for a walk among the solar flares?
Nikignik
I think it’s become a red giant by now.
Marolmar
The other one. Find it with your sight.
Nikignik
Oh yes. I see it.
Marolmar
Third planet out.
Nikignik
That’s a prolific quantity of volcanoes.
Marolmar
I suppose so.
Nikignik
And the poison clouds are spectacular.
Marolmar
I said third.
Nikignik
Oh. Yes. You meant the blue one. I see…. Oh no.
Marolmar
What?
Nikignik
It’s been infested.
Marolmar
Precisely.
Nikignik
It’s all green.
Marolmar
That would be algae.
Nikignik
There’s… worms in the water.
Marolmar
Fishes. Vertebrates.
Nikignik
This looks like a Lolgmololg sort of place.
Marolmar
It’s not. It hasn’t been catalogued yet.
Nikignik
By the Industry? I can see why not.
Marolmar
This one is mine.
Nikignik
Yours? Be serious.
Marolmar
*is quiet*
Nikignik
You are serious.
Marolmar
I need a space to work.
Nikignik
The private dimension of your workshop is not enough?
Marolmar
This is not a world, Nikignik. My workshop is a tomb.
Nikignik
I think it is lovely.
Marolmar
But it is not lively. It’s barren. A hole in reality I’ve scratched out so others don’t spy on me. The direction of my work now involves life.
Nikignik
That insignificant thing? Whatever for?
Marolmar
Life is my domain, Nikignik. Death, rebirth, life again. I’ve been cut off from it for too long.
Nikignik
Very well. I could ask Xyzikxyz if she can lend you one of her playthings.
Marolmar
No. You will tell no one of this.
Nikignik
Oh, Xyzikxyz? She is not like the rest of the Council, she…
Marolmar
But she is a part of the Council. The Reclaimer of Fire, who runs the entire Industry, who churns souls in his belly, sits at the head of that table. You cannot trust her.
Nikignik
Of course I can. She does not mind that I have abandoned my post. She has not told anyone where I have gone. She is my best friend outside of you.
Marolmar
Why do you need friends outside of me?
Nikignik
*is quiet*
Marolmar
I am not enough for you.
Nikignik
That is not how I think of it.
Marolmar
That is because you have a lot to learn, Nikignik.
Nikignik
I suppose I do.
*both silent for a moment*
Nikignik
So you wish to crown the algae? Raise it into mud warriors? Fight the entire Industry with a fleet of jawless fish?
Marolmar
I said nothing of fighting the Industry.
Nikignik
When the fish start composing their thoughts, the soul-forger will be there to begin collecting. It sounds to me as though you plan to defy him.
Marolmar
No one has the power to do that...
Nikignik
So it is settled then.
Marolmar
No one is that bloated from feeding on the fire of souls.
Nikignik
You should join the Council.
Marolmar
What? You think me another pretentious tyrant?
Nikignik
Not pretentious, but ambitious, and not a tyrant but a capable leader. If you are unhappy with the way that Syrensyr, Reclaimer of Fire manages his Industry of souls, then join the council. Make your voice heard there. Shape this universe for the better.
Marolmar
No.
Nikignik
You are brilliant, I am sure your ideas would be revolutionary for those dusty chambers.
Marolmar
I’ve already tried.
Nikignik
What?
Marolmar
They expelled me for voicing my concerns. This is what I am trying to tell you, Nikignik. They will only ever protect the existing order of things. There is no room in them for change.
Nikignik
I do not remember this.
Marolmar
It was before your time, before Xyzikxyz, before many of the younger gods.
Nikignik
Then perhaps you would find it different now. Perhaps you do not need to upset the order so much as gently alter it. There are new gods on the council, they would hear you gladly.
Marolmar
It is not in my nature, Nikignik. My work is about creation. Destruction. End. Beginning. If I tried to do the same thing, the same bureaucratic process aeon after aeon, I would go mad. That is all they will reward.
Nikignik
I have defied my nature to abandon my work at the gates, to join you. Could you not try again to do… whatever you are trying to do, without crowns and fish and green?
Marolmar
Maybe it would be best if you do not defy your nature.
Nikignik
What do you mean?
Marolmar
I need space to work, Nikignik.
Nikignik
I can give you space. I will go over to that dune of sand…
Marolmar
I need more.
Nikignik
That stony mountain.
Marolmar
More.
Nikignik
The green haze of the horizon.
Marolmar
Then you’d end up right back here, with how the space of my workshop functions.
Nikignik
I will go to a distant nebula.
Marolmar
Still I would feel your eyes on me.
Nikignik
Where then would you like me?
Marolmar
You mentioned that the Dreamer had called for you.
Nikignik
Zazzlezazz, Dreaming All That Is? What of him?
Marolmar
He wanted to teach you of his powers.
Nikignik
This is the real world, Marolmar. What need have I for dreams?
Marolmar
They could take your attention off me for a little while.
Nikignik
Do you really want me gone so?
Marolmar
I never want you gone. I just need a little space. To think. To work. When I am done, we will meet together and talk of all we’ve learned.
Nikignik
You are sure you do not just want to be rid of me?
Marolmar
I don’t think I could be rid of you if I wanted to.
Nikignik
You had best be sure of it.
Marolmar
Come see me in an aeon?
Nikignik
I will. I love you.
Marolmar
Tell the old universe-dreamer I said hello.
Nikignik
I love you.
Marolmar
You love someone who sends you away in such a way?
Nikignik
Always.
600 Million Years Ago - The Chance
[Nikignik meets with Xyzikxyz discreetly to talk about recent events.]
Xyzikxyz
So then Tolshotol said “you lay one finger on my sun and I’ll shine where the stars don’t dwell!”
Nikignik
He did not!
Xyzikxyz
He did.
Nikignik
And what did Ephelzeph say?
Xyzikxyz
Didn’t say much of anything, come to think of it. But there was a real awkward pause for a few years before the Reclaimer moved on to the next thing on the agenda.
Nikignik
Council meetings are as laborious as ever, it sounds to me.
Xyzikxyz
I guess this is all news to you, isn’t it? I forget that you’re not there to overhear these things anymore.
Nikignik
I hope they don’t ask you too often where I’ve gone.
Xyzikxyz
Actually you’ve barely come up. I’m not sure they’ve even noticed you’re gone.
Nikignik
Ah.
Xyzikxyz
…which means if you ever wanted to come back, I’m sure no one would mind.
Nikignik
Why would I want to do that?
Xyzikxyz
Well, when your little experiment is over.
Nikignik
Experiment.
Xyzikxyz
The ‘running away and finding yourself’ experiment. It’s a good thing! And when it’s done, my hypothesis is that you’ll be much more satisfied with your work.
Nikignik
It’s not an experiment.
Xyzikxyz
Oh?
Nikignik
I’m not just testing this out. I’ve left my stewardship of the gates. A pointless stewardship at that; when the gates are closed no god can enter or leave. What need have they of guards? I belong by Marolmar’s side. I am serious about this.
Xyzikxyz
Well of course you are.
Nikignik
I am never going back.
Xyzikxyz
I’m sure you aren’t.
Nikignik
Why are you doing that?
Xyzikxyz
What?
Nikignik
Agreeing with me and disagreeing at the same time. Is that something new you’ve invented?
Xyzikxyz
Do you like it? I call it ‘patronizing’.
Nikignik
Well stop doing it. You’re my friend, you don’t need to mince words around me. Share what you really think. You always have.
Xyzikxyz
I don’t think you’ll like what I have to say.
Nikignik
Let me be the judge of that.
Xyzikxyz
I think Marolmar is bad for you.
Nikignik
You were right.
Xyzikxyz
I think he’s pulled you away from us.
Nikignik
Us? As in, you and the Council of Heavens?
Xyzikxyz
Everyone.
Nikignik
I always wanted to go.
Xyzikxyz
I don’t think you even…
Nikignik
Always. I have never been happy sitting. Waiting. Watching for threats that never come, too thankless to ever be invited in to join the circle. I thought you of all people would understand.
Xyzikxyz
We all find our place, Nikignik. No one gets to chase their dream without making it useful to the system somehow. We live in a universe where the Reclaimer of the Fire of Souls owns every world. We live in a universe where Who Guards A Thousand Suns owns every star. And you have to accept those things if you’re going to make a place for yourself to belong.
Nikignik
Leave it to the Emptiness Between Worlds to pick up the scraps.
Xyzikxyz
Watch yourself.
Nikignik
I have made a place for myself. I am happy for the first time that I can remember since the Orchard, and I am only asking for you to be happy for me.
Xyzikxyz
I am happy for you.
Nikignik
You’re doing it again.
Xyzikxyz
I can’t turn it off now that I’ve started.
Nikignik
You are wrong about him. You will see.
Xyzikxyz
I hope I am, Nikignik. I hope I am.
550 Million Years Ago - The Homecoming
[Nikignik returns home to the Workshop from his studies with Zazzlezazz.]
Nikignik
Guess who’s home!
Marolmar
A Great Destroyer with a million teeth.
Nikignik
Warm.
Marolmar
An Outsider that would melt your very being to behold?
Nikignik
Warmer.
Marolmar
Is it my beautiful, ethereal love back from learning all about the power of dream?
Nikignik
Supvernova!
Marolmar
Welcome home my dear.
Nikignik
You’ve certainly spruced up the place.
Marolmar
Don’t let it deceive you, it was a mess until last century. I’ve been picking scrap out of places I didn’t know existed.
Nikignik
All that effort for little old me.
Marolmar
A clean workspace is important for clean work.
Nikignik
Well I hope you can postpone your mighty projects a little. I have a surprise for you.
Marolmar
Oh? What could that be?
Nikignik
Close your eyes.
Marolmar
Which ones?
Nikignik
All of them.
Marolmar
Alright.
Nikignik
I said all of them.
Marolmar
I’m doing it, I’m doing it.
Nikignik
Good. Now fall asleep.
Marolmar
*chuckles*
I don’t dream, Nikignik. Not in a million strange aeons have I dreamed.
Nikignik
Well, there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there? Here. I’ll help.
*Nikignik reaches out, and puts Marolmar to sleep. In dream, they hover in weightless darkness.*
Marolmar
What is this? Where are we?
Nikignik
We are still sitting in the workshop. But your mind dreams. Isn’t it freeing? Let me guide it.
Marolmar
I can’t see. There’s only darkness. What if they come to the workshop. What if they come knocking…
Nikignik
No one will knock. Just relax.
Marolmar
I don’t like being disconnected like this, Nikignik, I can not. They could be creeping up even now…
Nikignik
Please just give this a chance, I…
*A whoosh, and a moment of silence. Both sit back in the Workshop.*
Nikignik
You woke up.
Marolmar
I’m sorry.
Nikignik
It’s alright.
Marolmar
You should have warned me. Is that what dreaming is like?
Nikignik
I’m so sorry. Most would find it relaxing.
Marolmar
I’ve no idea how.
Nikignik
You can go anywhere, do anything. It’s… freeing.
Marolmar
I need to be in control, Nikignik. Or things might get out of hand. Tolshotol Who Guards A Thousand Sons does not sleep. The Industry does not sleep. And I cannot sleep either.
Nikignik
…
Marolmar
I ruined your gift.
Nikignik
It was my fault. I should have warned you.
Marolmar
No, no, it can’t be ruined. Here. Tell me what I would have seen. What would I have dreamed?
Nikignik
Well… you would have dreamt of us.
Marolmar
I can see us with my mind’s eye.
Nikignik
In the Orchard at the center of the universe. As young gods, barely born.
Marolmar
I did not know you then.
Nikignik
That is why it is a dream. I wish you had. We could have roamed the gardens of starlight together, and danced beneath the early groves. Without machines, without enemies. Only each other and an infinite number of questions to ask about the universe brand new before our eyes.
Marolmar
Like how does one create a black hole and what lies within?
Nikignik
Who gave the great beings of the Council their domains?
Marolmar
Does eternity function for the Outsiders as the end of time does for us?
Nikignik
Who made the Great Destroyers to feast on desolate asteroids?
Marolmar
Why can’t I ever love you the way you deserve?
Nikignik
…
Well I do not know that they would have talked of that one in the Orchard.
Marolmar
No, they did not.
Nikignik
But the answer is that you already do.
Marolmar
I don’t.
Nikignik
Love me?
Marolmar
Not the way you need. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Nikignik. You look at me with so much… yearning.
Nikignik
You would too, if you saw what I saw.
Marolmar
Which is what?
Nikignik
I see a sight beyond splendor. Stars are in the overgrown boughs of your antlers. Thoughts like gemstones shine in your mind, waiting to materialize. You care about the smallest things in this universe—those earth things. The green. You find beauty in them. The way you find beauty in me.
Marolmar
I see someone cursed.
Nikignik
Me?
Marolmar
Me.
Nikignik
Genius is a heavy burden to bear.
Marolmar
I am a lord of change, Nikignik. Not of destruction, not of creation. I am of the transformation and the cycle and the upheaval. I wish I could be like you. Endlessly happy in one place. But I fear I am always moving on too quickly for you. I’m never happy where I am.
Nikignik
Not even when you are beside me?
Marolmar
I am, for a time. But even now my mind wanders without me. Back to my work.
Nikignik
It is part of your nature. It is part of why I love you.
Marolmar
It troubles you.
Nikignik
It is part of why I think you would do well on the Council of Heavens.
Marolmar
…this again.
Nikignik
Come now, it has been two hundred million years since I last brought it up. It has changed since your time there.
Marolmar
Do Syrensyr and Tolshotol still rule it?
Nikignik
No one rules the council… but yes, they still attend.
Marolmar
Then it has not changed enough.
Nikignik
Xyzikxyz is there. There are younger gods now. I believe they would accept you. That you could help them to accept… change.
Marolmar
What are you asking of me?
Nikignik
Only that you meet my friend Xyzikxyz. For a walk somewhere in the stars. Revisit the Orchard maybe.
Marolmar
An intervention.
Nikignik
A conversation. I just wish her to see why I love you so. I know she would appreciate your talents if she only knew you.
Marolmar
Is that something you see, or something you dream?
Nikignik
Both, my dear. Both.
525 Million Years Ago - The Meeting
[Nikignik and Marolmar arrive late to the Orchard at the Center of yhe Universe for a meeting with Xyzikxyz].
Xyzikxyz
You really kept me waiting this time, Nik. I have experiments wilting as we… oh.
Nikignik
We are sorry to keep you! Leaving the Workshop is always such a struggle for some of us. You understand.
Xyzikxyz
We.
Marolmar
Us.
Nikignik
Xyzikxyz, this is Marolmar, Garden Of The End. My dear, this is Xyzikxyz, Emptiness Between Worlds.
Xyzikxyz
You didn’t mention he was coming.
Marolmar
He did not mention you would be here either.
Nikignik
I wanted it to be a surprise.
…so. Xyzikxyz, working on any fun experiments lately?
Xyzikxyz
Is that the only way you know how to start a conversation with me?
Nikignik
You always have something to say.
Xyzikxyz
I do it in confidence.
Marolmar
It was lovely meeting you, Emptiness, but I should return to my work.
Xyzikxyz
No, I’m sure you two were planning a nice stroll through the Orchard. I have experiments that are dying to see me anyways.
Nikignik
I really wish you…
Marolmar
Likewise, a number of my projects are living, and probably wasting away as we speak.
Xyzikxyz
They do tend towards that, don’t they? So annoying. I’m trying to feed a little asteroid planet into a black hole, but my subjects can never keep it together. When it works the results will be quite intriguing.
Marolmar
…simply out of curiosity, why would you do that?
Xyzikxyz
Simply out of curiosity.
Marolmar
I see.
Xyzikxyz
And because I want to see how much of a living organism you can deteriorate before it no longer becomes itself. As the black hole warps their molecules, their perception of reality shifts. As does my perception of them.
Marolmar
The perception shifts to ‘dead’, I imagine.
Xyzikxyz
It always does, eventually.
Marolmar
I disagree.
Nikignik
It’s lovely out today isn’t it? The fields of starlight, the tree at the center of the universe blooming with leaves of new nebulas…
Marolmar
Life and death are not on and off states.
Xyzikxyz
My asteroid project would beg to differ.
Nikignik
Is destroying a world—even an asteroid one—permissible by the Council these days?
Xyzikxyz
It’s so small that only a single demon could manage all the souls on it… it’s not worth the Industry’s effort. And it doesn’t orbit a star, so Tolshotol gives me a pass.
Marolmar
Sad that you must bargain with them to make your discoveries.
Xyzikxyz
I tell them what I am going to do. Sometimes they are gracious about it.
Nikignik
Sometimes.
Marolmar
You don’t find they hold you back?
Xyzikxyz
I respect the work they do. It’s monotonous. Stable. Creates a control for my experiments. But the universe is always changing, opening up new doors, shining new lights. I want to be at the forefront of that.
Marolmar
I think we are alike in that.
Nikignik
And you both have a dry sense of humor!
Xyzikxyz
What projects are you working on?
Marolmar
Secret ones.
Xyzikxyz
Naturally.
Marolmar
And secrets, by definition, are not widely shared.
Xyzikxyz
For now.
Nikignik
Oh come now, Marolmar. Give us a little preview at least.
Marolmar
I suppose I could oblige you with a demonstration.
Nikignik
Oh yes! A demonstration.
Marolmar
Very well. Follow me to a world of mud.
Xyzikxyz
I’m intrigued. I love mud.
Nikignik
Mm. Here we are. Marolmar and I used to come here all the time for a little quiet scenery. There’s a lot of water to hover over the surface of.
Xyzikxyz
You’re sure this isn’t a Lolg-mo-lolg place?
Nikignik
That’s what I said.
Marolmar
As you can see, green stuff. Fish. A barren world.
Xyzikxyz
I don’t usually use life this simple for experiments. It dies too quickly.
Marolmar
Now watch as I reach out my hand over the water…
*Marolmar cuts open his palm*
Nikignik
Be careful! You’re hurting yourself.
Marolmar
It is only a drop of blood, Nikignik.
*It plinks into the water, and the ocean begins to seethe*
Xyzikxyz
Oh my. Oh goodness!
Nikignik
What am I looking at? What did you do to them?
Marolmar
It is an explosion of life. One form becomes a thousand. Art and nature intertwined, sculpting bone and chitin and frond into new shapes.
Xyzikxyz
And your blood does that?
Marolmar
I’ve made some alterations.
Nikignik
They’re turning different shapes. That one is a spiral. Are you sure they’re going to be alright?
Marolmar
It was only a drop, my friends. Its effects will wear off soon enough.
Xyzikxyz
What a marvelous demonstration. I would love to hear all about how you came up with this…
Marolmar
I suppose my projects can wait for a few more centuries. If it is alright with you, Nik.
Nikignik
Nothing would make me happier.
Xyzikxyz
Excellent. Take a look at this; I’ve made a device that lets you listen to songs yet to be written. It’ll be useless at the end of time, but right now there’s so much to choose from…
524 Million Years Ago - The Breaking
[Marolmar and Nikignik return home after a millennia-long afternoon with Xyzikxyz.]
Nikignik
*humming*
Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars…
Marolmar
You’re cheerful.
Nikignik
Well, the song Xyzikxyz showed us was nice. It makes me think of you. And I think that went well.
Marolmar
Oh? Why is that?
Nikignik
You two talked for the better part of a million years. I admit, I tuned out after a little while, you lost me somewhere around the amino acids…
Marolmar
You should learn to appreciate life, Nikignik. Existence. Time. All those little things. You have an infinity of eyes, I would expect you to take an interest in more than just the rocks.
Nikignik
Why would I when all my eyes can be here beholding you?
Marolmar
You used to tell me stories about them. Little things growing on little worlds.
Nikignik
Well if you liked them I can tell you more.
Marolmar
Not right now.
Nikignik
Naturally.
Marolmar
I’m busy. There is much to catch up on, now.
Nikignik
Will you consider it?
Marolmar
Consider what?
Nikignik
Joining the Council of Heavens.
Marolmar
…is that what all this was about?
Nikignik
No! …not entirely.
Marolmar
But more so than not.
Nikignik
You seemed to like her so. You have so much in common, I think you would be…
Marolmar
We have nothing in common.
Nikignik
I thought you liked her.
Marolmar
There are very few people I like. Most of them are barely tolerable for short periods.
Nikignik
You talked to her for almost a million years.
Marolmar
I forget sometimes that you are a younger god than I am.
Nikignik
So do I, when you behave this way.
Marolmar
Which way?
Nikignik
How can you profess to be a lord of change and yet be so beholden to your grudges and your work…
Marolmar
Nikignik.
Nikignik
And any time a chance for your life to be different comes along, you let it wither before it ever has the chance to grow…
Marolmar
Nikignik.
Nikignik
What.
Marolmar
Are you finished?
Nikignik
I have barely begun.
Marolmar
I will not be the means by which you claw your way back to the Council’s good graces. If you want their attention so badly, go join them yourself.
Nikignik
Their attention?
Marolmar
I understand it must be difficult for you when I am busy with my work so often, and it is so important, and you are so…
Nikignik
What am I? Speak.
Marolmar
Demanding.
Nikignik
There it is.
Marolmar
For one who has eyes across this universe, you cannot live without all eyes on you.
Nikignik
You think that is what this is? That I crave their love like some starved animal?
Marolmar
You are the one who said it.
Nikignik
I am doing this because I am afraid!
Marolmar
….
Of what.
Nikignik
Of what they could do. Not that they ever would, but… all this talk of upsetting the order of things. It frightens me. I know you see in your mind’s eye, you dream of a universe of evolving life and emerald light, free of the grasp of the Industry, free of the guardian of suns, free to be whatever it will become on its own. But they will never allow that. You know they will not. And I hoped were you at the table you might be able to reach a compromise.
Marolmar
So you wish to destroy the integrity of my work.
Nikignik
I said nothing like that.
Marolmar
That is what you have described.
Nikignik
I love your work.
Marolmar
Do you love me?
Nikignik
Yes! Of course I do!
Marolmar
Then leave me alone a while. I need space, Nikignik. Space to breathe. And to think.
Nikignik
…am I that intolerable to you?
Marolmar
Nikignik.
Nikignik
I could be quiet. I can stay in the corner of your shop, a shadow beneath the stone, and…. I do not want to be sent away again.
Marolmar
Nikignik. Please.
Nikignik
I am sorry.
You are right. As always.
Call me when you want me again.
Marolmar
I will.
Nikignik
Do not hesitate.
Marolmar
I will not. Goodbye.
Nikignik
I will see you soon.
200 Million Years Ago - The Warning
[Nikignik meets with Xyzikxyz to talk relationship troubles.]
Nikignik
And I do not know. Our last talk ended so… strangely.
Xyzikxyz
Mhm.
Nikignik
And I am not sure now how I feel or what to do. I am in agony, Xyzikxyz.
Xyzikxyz
Mhm.
Nikignik
You’re doing a different thing now. It’s not patronizing, it’s something else. You’re agreeing but concealing your thoughts.
Xyzikxyz
I call this one supporting a friend.
Nikignik
I don’t need support. I feel as though I am in freefall with nothing to grab onto. Or one of your poor experiments, with a black hole distorting me piece by piece. My mind is dissolving. Will you not help me?
Xyzikxyz
Help you?
Nikignik
With your guidance. You always have wisdom to share.
Xyzikxyz
I can tell you how hot the core of a red giant is. Or how to make wings that work in space. How to talk to an Outsider without going mad. But I cannot tell you how to feel.
Nikignik
What should I do?
Xyzikxyz
Do you want a wing to weep on, or my advice?
Nikignik
I do not weep.
Xyzikxyz
You’ll like it better than the advice.
Nikignik
You said this last time. Try me.
Xyzikxyz
You should break up.
Nikignik
You were right. Again. I thought you liked Marolmar, you two talked about science.
Xyzikxyz
He’s not a scientist.
Nikignik
Well, he’s an artist, really. An inventor. What’s the difference.
Xyzikxyz
He’s a tyrant.
Nikignik
You work with tyrants all the time. Surely he is not worse than the Industry.
Xyzikxyz
I do my experiments because I love understanding. We live in a universe full of unanswered questions, and I can solve them one stage at a time. Those are my prize. But Marolmar is doing this for a reason. He has an agenda. What I learn, I share for us all to know. What he learns, he uses for power.
Nikignik
Well that is just called having aspirations. He is ambitious.
Xyzikxyz
He is dangerous.
Nikignik
Dangerous. To who?
Xyzikxyz
To anyone who gets in his way.
Nikignik
Then for all your advanced perceptions of reality, you have misjudged him.
Xyzikxyz
Or perhaps, for all your hundred eyes, your sight is clouded.
Nikignik
I know who he is. He is creative and sweet and caring. He only wants to change the order of things because he cares about this universe. And he knows under the Industry it will suffocate well before its time.
Xyzikxyz
Oh yes. He wants to suffocate it himself. So much better.
Nikignik
Does his work intimidate you? Is that it?
Xyzikxyz
I’m never intimidated.
Nikignik
That for so long you’ve been the only purveyor of grand universal secrets…
Xyzikxyz
I trust my intuition. I don’t like him.
Nikignik
At the center of him there is a loving heart. You just have to see it.
Xyzikxyz
I’m sure he wants you to believe so.
Nikignik
What?
Xyzikxyz
I don’t think he wants what’s best for you, Nik. I really don’t.
Nikignik
You would presume to know what is best for me.
Xyzikxyz
Is he your soul mate, Nikignik? Or is he just luring you away from your job long enough to attack the Council of Heavens?
Nikignik
*chuckles*
What?
Xyzikxyz
You said he called to you. He lured you away from us. Away from me.
Nikignik
It was me. I wanted to run away. I’ve always wanted to, deep down.
Xyzikxyz
Would you have? If Marolmar had never called, would the Gates of Eternity still be empty?
Nikignik
….
Xyzikxyz
I miss you. I miss having a friend in the Council.
Nikignik
I was never part of the Council. They left me at the door like an animal.
Xyzikxyz
You had a job. A bad job, but still a job. And I am trying my best to make everything better. It is twice as hard now that you’ve left.
Nikignik
I have never gone far.
Xyzikxyz
It feels like it. And the gates remain unguarded.
Nikignik
Someone else can watch them.
Xyzikxyz
Who? Who else is there?
Nikignik
Someone who would be happy sitting there for eternity, waiting for change that will never come.
Xyzikxyz
This is my life’s work.
Nikignik
Some life.
Xyzikxyz
Excuse me?
Nikignik
You wouldn’t understand what love is. What it means to act out of passion instead of some cold analysis. You have never felt anything you did not take eight layers of magnification to, plucked apart until it stopped twitching. You are as cold as the vacuum between stars. How could you ever understand.
Xyzikxyz
I’m leaving.
Nikignik
Are you frightened of the truth?
Xyzikxyz
I think you are. You’re being unreasonable.
Nikignik
Yes. I am unreasonable. I am driven by emotion and you cannot fathom it.
Xyzikxyz
For what it’s worth…
Nikignik
What.
Xyzikxyz
I hope you still consider me a friend. When all of this is over.
Nikignik
It will never be over.
Xyzikxyz
They say nothing lasts forever, Nikignik. And they’re right. Nothingness is the only thing that does.
50 Million Years Ago - The Surprise, Reprised
[Nikignik returns to Marolmar’s workshop after a long absence, and Marolmar shows off what he’s created.]
Marolmar
Close your eyes.
Nikignik
I am closing them.
Marolmar
All of them.
Nikignik
Alright. I am simply so excited. What is the surprise?
Marolmar
You will see. And… now. You can open them now.
Nikignik
Oh! It’s beautiful. Some kind of sculpture?
Marolmar
It’s my heart, Nikignik.
Nikignik
You don’t have a heart. You’re a boundless, immaterial god.
Marolmar
I do, believe it or not. And it belongs to you.
Nikignik
Does it really?
Marolmar
I know I don’t deserve you.
Nikignik
On the contrary.
Marolmar
The thoughtfulness, the attention…
Nikignik
You’re acting awfully soft.
Marolmar
I’ve never had someone to watch out for me before. Ever since I woke up in the orchard, I’ve been running. From Great Destroyers looking to feast on small gods, from the reach of the Industry. I wanted to run far away, away from every problem, away from everyone who could ever hurt me. Because everything I am could tear apart the heavens.
Nikignik
I know.
Marolmar
And for the first time, I have someone on my side. Someone who’s always there. Someone I can trust. That’s hard for me to believe, sometimes. And I don’t always know how to handle you gracefully.
Nikignik
I will always be by your side, if you let me.
Marolmar
Please never leave.
Nikignik
I won’t. I love you.
Marolmar
I love you too. And I can’t wait to spend the new age with you.
Nikignik
…the what?
Marolmar
You know my creations are never just aesthetic.
Nikignik
I am afraid to ask what this one does.
Marolmar
Not much, by itself. But placed across a few thousand worlds…
Nikignik
Your little blue one is coming along. They’ve learned to walk.
Marolmar
It’s going to fix everything.
Nikignik
You’ve made peace with the Council?
Marolmar
I’m going to end the Council.
Nikignik
…oh.
Marolmar
This heart creates blood, Nikignik. And that blood will fill a world with incredible new life…
Nikignik
More life for the Industry to harvest?
Marolmar
Life that is useless to him. My blood burns thusly.
*Snaps his fingers, produces a flame*
Nikignik
It burns green.
Marolmar
The fire of souls, altered forever, changed beyond use. Free.
Nikignik
I am trying to understand the purpose.
Marolmar
Let the fire spread, Nikignik. Wherever life carries it, from one world to the next. It will spread like a wildfire in the grove.
Nikignik
And then what?
Marolmar
The old parasite starves. The universe is forever free of him. And without him, the Council collapses.
Nikignik
You cannot be serious.
Marolmar
What about me suggests otherwise?
Nikignik
Surely you would not kill one of our friends.
Marolmar
The world-burner is not our friend. He is a tyrant.
Nikignik
Would you not simply become the next?
Marolmar
…no. I am not a jealous god. I have no need to rule. Only to create.
Nikignik
What are all of these things?
Marolmar
They go together. Three keys, three doors, three crowns. Insurance.
Nikignik
Insurance for what?
Marolmar
In case something happens to me. The heart will run of its own accord. My workshop will burn with my energy for a billion years at least. I will admit, I had hoped you would be more excited about getting to see my work.
Nikignik
I am not excited. I am concerned.
Marolmar
This is our salvation, Nikignik. A universe freed from an iron grasp. One where you and I can be together, without fear. With no one to divide us or tear us apart.
Nikignik
You do not need to create that universe. It is already here.
Marolmar
No, not quite. But soon.
Nikignik
What are you planning?
Marolmar
That little blue world is a start. A test, if you will. A beautiful beginning. Come, Nikignik. I have things to set in motion. Let me show you how it works.
150 Thousand Years Ago - The End
[Marolmar and Nikignik in the workshop as Marolmar finishes his project.]
Nikignik
I want to run away.
Marolmar
*humming fly me to the moon*
Nikignik
We could run away.
Marolmar
*looks up*
That is the difference between us Nikignik.
Nikignik
We could go far, far away from all of this. Leave the universe behind. There have to be others out there.
Marolmar
None in our reach. None but the one we make.
Nikignik
We could have a quiet life together. Just you and I. Would that not be enough for you?
Marolmar
It is not fair to ask me that question.
Nikignik
Because I may not like the answer?
Marolmar
Because I can want you and also want all that is my nature.
I am the Garden of the End.
Life, Death and Rebirth.
The changing of the age, the turning wheel, the spirit of the spring.
Nikignik
I know all your names.
Marolmar
Then do you not know me? Look at this universe, Nikignik, with all your eyes. It is stagnant. Routine.
Nikignik
New worlds form all the time.
Marolmar
And are seized by the Industry. I will never be content until the order is fixed. And in a universe of green fire, we can run free together.
Nikignik
Will you finally be done with your work, after that?
Marolmar
Yes. It has all been for this.
Nikignik
…I need you to promise me. That if you go through with this, we will be done with the Workshop. Done with the long hours. That we can spend eternity together instead of forcing ourselves apart.
Marolmar
I promise.
Nikignik
Then I believe in you. I will help you see it through.
Marolmar
Good. There is not much left to do. I will take my heart to the little blue planet, and run my first test. If it goes well, then this will all be over soon.
Nikignik
Would you like me to join you?
Marolmar
I would not mind.
Xyzikxyz
Nikignik?
Nikignik
On the contrary, my dear, I hear my friend Xyzikxyz calling…
Marolmar
She cannot enter the workshop. She cannot see this.
Nikignik
Well. How about I go speak with her, and keep her distracted a little while you get this going.
Marolmar
Good. Then I will see you soon. I’ll be back in a moment.
Nikignik
See you… soon.
*Marolmar departs for Earth, with the heart in tow*
Nikignik
Xyzikxyz, what is the matter? You rarely sound so distraught.
Xyzikxyz
Come quickly. There is not much time.
Nikignik
I follow, but where are we going? I can look ahead…
Xyzikxyz
Keep your attention on me, Nikignik.
Nikignik
I am. Are we… at the Gates of Eternity?
Xyzikxyz
The gates to the Council of Heavens, yes.
Nikignik
If you have taken it upon yourself to reinstate me, I will not go.
Xyzikxyz
Just come inside. You need to hear what they have to say.
Nikignik
They… wish me to go inside?
Xyzikxyz
Yes. I know, it’s a big deal. You’re welcome. Just hurry.
Nikignik
I never thought I would get the chance. Very well.
…
Xyzikxyz? It is empty.
Xyzikxyz
Yes, it is. And it’s also very, very secure.
Nikignik
I’m not sure I… what are you doing? Xyzikxyz, you’ve shut the doors.
Xyzikxyz
Please stay here.
Nikignik
Xyz, I do not understand. What is going on?