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Come, come on in. Take a seat, hang up your coat and rest your weary feet. Fancy a cup of tea? It's this new blend that I found, recommended to me by a dear friend. It's a blend of honey leaves. He also recommended neutronium to me. He said it tastes like the thickest fudge.
Did you miss me? I know you did.
So, tell me, did you enjoy my gift? Well, I suppose that you wouldn't call it a gift, but It certainly was something, wasn't it? Something to sharpen yourself again. Something to prove me right.
Come now, you know what I'm talking about. It. My First Knife. It who brought you low only for you to rise up and prove yourself the sharper blade than It.
And now It's gone, and you've gone and shown yourself to be the finer instrument. Finer than It, finer than the many minds of the old pattern, and finer than even my man Oryx.
See what I'm talking about?
Oh, don't give me that look. I've told you before that all life exists to sharpen itself against itself. That's just the way things go. And I didn't make It, you know? Just like I didn't make you. I just helped It along. Gave It a nudge in the right direction, then sat back and watched It do its work. That's kind of my modus operandi, isn't it? It's just what I do.
I wasn't really a big fan of It, though. Not because It chased around a Final Shape that's so much different than mine, no no no. If It had succeeded in Its plan, then It simply proved Itself to be stronger than you, is all.
No, I didn't particularly like It because of what It believed in, that empty nihilistic worldview that sees the world as meaning nothing at all and that all it does is speed towards entropy.
Boring.
And then It starts trying to force Its own morals and understandings onto the universe.
Annoying.
But hey, if It proved itself to be stronger than you, then who am I to judge, eh?
Well, I suppose that that's not really important anymore, is it? You went ahead and cut It down and prove yourself to be the stronger force, the sharper knife. I suppose that makes it fair.
So, what now then? What are you going to do now? You had the big bad to whet yourself again. Now the big bad's gone, done and dead, like you've done so many other gods around these parts.
Ever wondered how many others there are in the pantheon?
But that's a topic for another time. Now, like I said, what are you going to do with yourselves? Are you going to go chasing after more challenges, looking for the shiniest loot and the sharpest swords to cut your opponents down with? Oh what am I saying, you're definitely going to do that.
Only problem is, who are you going to cut now? Your enemies? Your friends? Yourselves?
Me?
Oh, don't look at me, I'm not going to do anything. I don't need to. You seem to think that I exist as an opponent, as an enemy, something to fight against and overcome yourselves.
But that's not who I am.
Like my dear Gardener, I'm an observer. I don't need to do anything to upset the final outcome in my favour. All life exists to challenge each other, and you've been proving that nonstop over the last few years, whether it be through the Sky or the Deep.
I exist to see the universe reach its apex. I exist to see which pattern proves itself to be dominant in this new game that my dear Gardener wishes to play out. She can make herself part of the game if that's truly what she wants, but when the chips are down and the last creature, the strongest form, is left standing, I'll be there to wave them hello.
Don't tell anyone this, but I'm rooting for you.
See you soon. Next time we meet, I'll leave a cup out just for you.