The being enjoyed having friends, and spent all if its time playing and exploring with them. Though they had lost most of their power to create, each of the friends still had some ability to bring their ideas to life. Their favorite thing to do was to create new things that they could show to their creator. Most developed new materials that they could show to the being, working for days by themselves and in groups. One such group pulled the colors from around them, and formed it into a soft, light, shifting substance. Another created a shiny, hard, clear material from the air. But one friend found a different medium in order to create, not material, but abstract. As soon as the friend had realized what they had done, they rushed to the being.

"I speak." Were the first words ever uttered in the world. They rang through with such clarity and power that the being, all the friends, and even the two lights heard them echo through the entirety of the world.

Having heard the friend, the being was dumbfounded, and immediately enraptured with the friend's creation. "I have created words. They are my gift to all of you. With them, we can share with each other. We can share in new, exciting, ways. I give you all the power of names!" The friend spoke to the world. It turned once more to face the being.

"What is your name?" The friend asked.

"My name…" The being spoke for the first time. "Steve?" Though it was perplexed by the thought, Steve? was certain in this revelation. Immediately, all the friends throughout the world rejoiced, having this new gift imparted to them, naming themselves with such vigor and fervor. The storm of names quickly overtook all of them, the cacophony too great to bear. So Steve?, with one single action, froze all the names in the air. "Take your name." Steve? spoke…

"Take it, and keep it with you for eternity as a gift from…" Steve? hesitated. "… my child." All of the friends took their name, placing over themselves to display, with pride, their self-born titles. Steve? turned to face the friend, and asked simply "What is your name?"

"I, am… Chat." The friend spoke with conviction after some thought.

"Very well then, Chat. Seeing as you have created names, I want you to assist me in naming everything in this world. Starting with that." Steve? looked up, Chat following its gaze. Overhead, the light shone brightly, having been witness to the entire scene. Chat looked back to Steve?, and nodded. The two quickly began naming everything they could see, wandering through the world. They named the sun, the moon, the stars, the grass, the dirt, and the cobblestone. Once they had finished naming everything that Steve? had created, they returned to the friends. Steve? gathered them all together, addressing every friend. "Now that we have named everything that I have brought into this world, I feel it is only fair to let you do the same." The friends stood shocked for a moment, surprised at this new freedom they were awarded.

This new boon served to inspire the friends in their endeavors to create. One found the water of the rivers and lakes to be cold and dead, so created a counterpart to it. The friend, assured that the two would be partners, named its creation. "Lava." Another saw that, though there were many trees in the world, there were none in the tunnels and caves below the surface. It sought to remedy that, and took the shape of a tree, shrinking it to better fit its new home. "Mushroom".

A group of friends roamed the world and saw it as unmoving. They found it disheartening to compare all the works of their kin to be unmoving and unchanging while they were themselves alive and energetic. They turned to the sand and gravel and sought to make them more alive. They made them able to move, when commanded they would move downwards. They rejoiced in their creation, and then turned their attention to the water and lava. They grew bold, and sought to make them move in any direction when commanded. But they grew too hasty in their attempt and made the water and the lava uncontrollable. They grew endlessly and overtook everything in their path, stopping only when they came to a wall, as the friends had forgotten to teach them how to climb. The friends turned to each other, both unsure how to control the new forces. They reasoned that the only thing able to stop one was the other, as each would try to spread as much as they could. They pitted the water and the lava against one another, and doomed them to an eternal struggle.

This was a time of inception and invention but, unbeknownst to Steve? and the others, the group of friends who had felt scorned by the loss of their power were watching. They had heard the creation of names, and had watched as the friends created and filled the world with new and interesting sights and experiences. The scorned also began creating, but they did not do it out of wonder and joy like the other friends did, they created out of spite and misery. They felt that they had been cheated by their creator, the one called Steve?, and that the others were foolish to remain loyal. But they did not voice their thoughts, instead remaining in the shadow, and biding their time while they created.

The scorned had been the most powerful of Steve?'s children, able to create things far more complex and inspired than the rest, and thus had lost the most when Steve? had stifled their power, and grew resentful because of it. They knew that – though they had greater power – they were outnumbered by the rest of Steve?'s friends, and if they hoped to seize power, they would need an army. So they created one. The oldest and most powerful among them saw all the friends, and envied the power Steve? had over them. So it decided to copy what Steve? had made. Using the scorned for reference and grass for the raw material, it created a new form of life. But where the friends had been created out of love and a need for companionship, this creature had been born of bitterness and a need for subservience. Its eyes were blank and dark. It had an unfinished and rough appearance to it. The features seemed to meld together and it was a dull sickly green. It moved slowly and with no real direction to its movement, and yet a palpable, unfettered, rage behind every action. It was an abomination, a cruel mockery of the beauty that the friends held. It was crude and horrible. It was perfect. "Zombie."

Another of the scorned stepped forwards, taking stone in-hand for raw material, and sought to do the same. Its actions were overzealous, as its powers were not as great as the first. The result was more horrifying than the last, with a gaunt, unfinished, figure that was too hard and brittle. Its eyes were grim and sunken. With each move the creature cracked and clacked, its many half-formed pieces smashing into one another. Though it was less complete than the first, the two moved in the same slow, uncomprehending, manner and with the same lack of purpose. The second scorned looked on its creation and realized it had less potential than the first, and would be worthless in the battle. It quickly rectified this by bestowing upon its creation two gifts. The first was the ability to grow large, pointed, barbs from its limbs, the point jutting outwards on a long shaft and ending in wide purple patches. The second was a weapon, a terrifying instrument capable of hurling the shards of the creature forwards, to inflict harm on all they touched. The creature was ready and its creator was satisfied. "Skeleton".

Unbeknownst to the friends, war was approaching…