The trouble with befriending an omnipotent being, Fin reflected as he neared his third or fourth millennia, was that they weren’t really aware of what they were doing sometimes. He wasn’t omnipotent, but he knew better than most that having even a good relationship with such beings presented certain difficulties. Take his situation: he’d never wanted to be immortal. His condition was by no means intentional. It had taken Fin several centuries to accept that conclusion. If it had been on purpose, Fin could be furious as he watched friends be born, live, and die; only to have the cycle repeat. As nice as it would be to be angry, it was much better to accept that mistakes happen and, apparently, not even the omnipotent were perfect.
Fin had been a simple crewmember on an unimportant merchant ship, the Trade Winds. He was there out of a love for travel more than anything else. The Trade Winds took him off world, to planets he never could have dreamed of. The ship encountered some difficulties with a mischievous entity. That was actually severely downplaying the harrowing experience. The being that he came to know as Eleven had very little empathy for them back then. The ship survived because the crew had risen enough beyond Eleven’s expectations for her (or maybe him) to deem them “not boring”. She let them go for the next time she was bored.
Eleven reappeared several times after that. It was a strange evolution to witness; Eleven actually came to care about them. Not that she said that. It was her actions that spoke volumes. The most obvious was the time that she had been angry, truly furious. The ship was shielded from her rage. It was the only thing that was for farther than their sensors could reach. They managed to catch a trace of her energy signature and traveled through a dozen dead systems (ships floating around the planets like scum on water) before they found her. The captain convinced her to put things right. Fin hadn’t been part of that, but it did reveal what could happen if Eleven lost control of her emotions. It made Fin grateful that beings like Eleven were, for the most part, indifferent and bored.
Eleven wasn’t fully aware of what she did when she felt a strong emotion. It was a subconscious response, like a smile or a clenched fist. Most omnipotent individuals could be made aware of it, but they generally tried to just suppress it and ignore the consequence if their control slipped. Obviously, anger was a powerful emotion when expressed. Sadness was probably one of those bad ones that omnipotent beings should have a firm handle on too… No one talked about the need to control joy though.
Once, Fin made Eleven laugh. It had startled her far more than him. Fin didn’t know if she’d ever laughed before. If she had, it was many years before his species even evolved. Eleven smiled at him fondly afterward and said, in a moment of true happiness, “Never change, Fin.” It was a decade before he realized he wasn’t aging or scarring. It was centuries before he accepted he never would.
All because an omnipotent being had been happy and didn’t realize what she’d done.
Fin had been a simple crewmember on an unimportant merchant ship, the Trade Winds. He was there out of a love for travel more than anything else. The Trade Winds took him off world, to planets he never could have dreamed of. The ship encountered some difficulties with a mischievous entity. That was actually severely downplaying the harrowing experience. The being that he came to know as Eleven had very little empathy for them back then. The ship survived because the crew had risen enough beyond Eleven’s expectations for her (or maybe him) to deem them “not boring”. She let them go for the next time she was bored.
Eleven reappeared several times after that. It was a strange evolution to witness; Eleven actually came to care about them. Not that she said that. It was her actions that spoke volumes. The most obvious was the time that she had been angry, truly furious. The ship was shielded from her rage. It was the only thing that was for farther than their sensors could reach. They managed to catch a trace of her energy signature and traveled through a dozen dead systems (ships floating around the planets like scum on water) before they found her. The captain convinced her to put things right. Fin hadn’t been part of that, but it did reveal what could happen if Eleven lost control of her emotions. It made Fin grateful that beings like Eleven were, for the most part, indifferent and bored.
Eleven wasn’t fully aware of what she did when she felt a strong emotion. It was a subconscious response, like a smile or a clenched fist. Most omnipotent individuals could be made aware of it, but they generally tried to just suppress it and ignore the consequence if their control slipped. Obviously, anger was a powerful emotion when expressed. Sadness was probably one of those bad ones that omnipotent beings should have a firm handle on too… No one talked about the need to control joy though.
Once, Fin made Eleven laugh. It had startled her far more than him. Fin didn’t know if she’d ever laughed before. If she had, it was many years before his species even evolved. Eleven smiled at him fondly afterward and said, in a moment of true happiness, “Never change, Fin.” It was a decade before he realized he wasn’t aging or scarring. It was centuries before he accepted he never would.
All because an omnipotent being had been happy and didn’t realize what she’d done.
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