A Solitary God In A Dark Multiverse - 193 Whispers And Greed

“Myzriel.” I said, in response to the refreshingly humble Mi-Go’s warm, for their kind anyway, introduction. I knew its name, and much more about it, thanks to my powers. The creature turned as I spoke, and I was able to gaze into its many eyes.

“I am heartened by the fact that here I am treated with the respect I deserve. It is a welcome change.” I told the odd, alien entity. The creature’s head bowed in delight in response to my words. My empathetic abilities allowed me to easily interpret even the tiniest and oddest gesture it made, and I could sense its genuine delight at my words. It began to buzz again and an instant later my ability to understand any language kicked in once more.

“Of course, lord-god. You are a god, and more than that you are a… Well, perhaps not quite a Great Old One, but something akin to that.” The creature said, in the eerie, buzzing language of the Mi-Gos. There was a momentary hesitation it felt, which was reasonable enough. It was unsure of how to classify me, and that was a sign of intelligence. It was also a fair statement.

The Great Old Ones were nightmarish lesser gods with potent power over the eldritch domain, a domain of madness, abominations, and energies that could warp reality. In the distant past, they had once waged war on mortals and the gods of mortals. Apparently they, and their outer god allies, greater gods with even more influence over the eldritch domain, were defeated in the distant past.

It wasn’t fair to call me a Great Old One, especially since I likely wouldn’t have sided with the abominations against the mortals had I lived during the war. That said I had made the choice to heal abominations as well as mortals when I began performing my world-spanning miracles, an act which caused countless abominations to flock to me and to begin to worship me. I chuckled at Myzriel’s remarks and began to speak once more.

“I have long admired your kind’s thirst for knowledge. Which is why I have come here, today.” I told the creature, which intrigued it. I saw slight twitches of its head as it processed my words.

“Your kind’s unrelenting thirst for knowledge, coupled with my powers gives us… many opportunities. I have recently acquired a group of demons, demons who I conquered in battle. I intend for some of your researchers to come with me, into the Heart of Darkness, and to study demons.” I tell the creature, a dark grin on my face as I speak.

Within me, a number of domains were quietly delighted.

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“So, at last… your thirst for knowledge is finally rearing its pretty, little head.” Whispered one of the domains, rather fittingly was the domain of knowledge. It sounded quite excited.

“I, for one love this. It’s so delightfully dark!” Another domain exclaimed, unsurprisingly the domain of evil.

“Studying the bodies of demons? I must admit, I am quite intrigued by what you all will find.” The domain of biology quietly said, its voice more subdued than others.

“Please, for the love of pain, tell me you’re planning to study them while they’re alive? And, preferably, conscious?” The subdomain of pain softly asked, working to hide the excitement in its voice. It wasn’t working. I was planning to keep the demons alive. Though that could easily change, if circumstances demanded it. After all, I had a number of abilities at my disposal that allowed me the freedom to kill and then resurrect creatures.

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“A chance to study demons… How exciting!” The creature declared, hesitation clearing its head as it spoke, or rather, buzzed.

“This is truly extraordinary! Knocking demons unconscious, without killing them, is quite a feat. It is definitely within the capabilities of even a weaker god, but for us lesser beings it would require incredibly controlled circumstances.” The creature explained, revealing a bit of why it was so excited. Having encountered demons myself, I could understand that. I was infinitely more powerful than they were, but even weaker demons were extremely dangerous to lesser beings like abominations. I knew enough to know that.

“It is good to know that this excites you and will in all likelihood excite your kin. I am quite eager to learn what can be unearthed from the bodies, living and dead alike, of the demons. What… secrets lie, buried within some of the foulest entities native to this universe.” I told the creature, a grin on my face as I spoke. It studied me as I spoke, its eyes filled with admiration even as they glittered, in all sorts of colors.

“Your thirst for knowledge intrigues me. As does your dedication to learning, at all costs. Consider this… a test. I want to learn what your kind is capable of. These demons give you a marvelous opportunity. I have long needed servants who are dedicated to knowledge almost as much as they are dedicated to me.” I told the fungoid creature. This, even more so than the opportunity to study demons surprised and delighted the creature.

It was sincere in its devotion to me. It was an earnest feeling lodged deep within its soul. And me arriving, with an immediate chance for it to prove itself and to prove the worth of its people in my eyes heartened it.

“Lord-god… We shall not fail you! Please, allow us to learn and to share what we can learn, with you!” The creature asked, buzzing, excitedly. I grinned and motioned for it to calm down.

“Yes, yes Myzriel. Your chance is already yours. You need not rush it. Researching demons… I can only imagine that such an act would be quite difficult.” I told the abomination, urging it to relax and be patient. I had all the time in the universe, and what I wanted to do here was merely set things in motion. I didn’t come here expecting to achieve results tomorrow. My words reassured the creature and it both internally and visibly relaxed. After a few moments, the thing looked back at me and began to buzz once again.

“Lord-god, may I boldly inquire something?” The creature asked. I gazed at it, curiously. I didn’t reply, but after a few moments, it took my silence as tacit acceptance.

“What do you desire?” The creature asked. I chuckled and closed my eyes in response to its question.

“I desire everything. I want to know everything, and I want to rule everything.” I told the creature. This answer shocked the creature into silence. It lowered its head and faced the floor while it considered my words.

“My ultimate goal is nothing less than to be worshipped by the entire multiverse. And an equally important goal of mine is to eventually know everything. I desire omnipotence and omniscience. I know that is a lofty goal, but for gods… Well for gods nothing that isn’t lofty is even considering.” I told the creature, speaking freely for a moment. In a moment of unusual honesty, I had allowed a silver of my godly pride and ambition to leak out of me, in the form of my honest declaration. After a few moments of silence, the Mi-Go began to buzz again, its words becoming intelligible to me a heartbeat later.

“Truly a goal worthy of a god. The sort of goal that only a being who could live forever and who embodies power could dare to dream of.” The creature said, speaking obsequiously. I chuckled again. That said, the creature wasn’t lying to me. It hadn’t wanted too, and even if it had tried it wouldn’t have worked. My powers over the subdomains of lies, truths, and the eldritch domain all quietly collaborated and prevented creatures from lying to me. It was just, to me anyway, a servile creature.

I looked at the being and fell silent. I had said what I really wanted to say to the thing. That said, I knew that non-divine-beings needed more than what I had given the creature, insofar as directions went. I sighed and spoke more.

“I will create a portal in this room that leads to the Heart of Darkness, and to the laboratories I have prepared for your scientists to use to store and study the demons I captured. Once you have selected the scientists who shall lead this effort, welcome them here and take them through the portal. When you do, order them to begin to research the demons.” I commanded, speaking authoritatively. The abomination nodded at my commands, accepting them and filling with a determination to see them fulfilled.

I kept my eyes locked on the entity, and a pair of quiet voices began to whisper to me. Voices from deep within me. Insidious voices. The voices of two particularly hostile, but in distinct ways, subdomains.

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“This creature… It worships you. Why not make it a friend of ours?” One of the sly voices asked. It’s voice was the quieter of the two. It cloaked its intentions in friendly language.

“Think of what you could learn, if you used your powers on this creature. Think of what you could take from it. And you could do it harmlessly!” The other subdomain whispered. It didn’t try to cloak its intentions or whitewash them.

“I think this being would willingly become our friend. It is so intelligent! And it would use its wisdom to make us make even more friends!

The other subdomain whispered, gleefully continuing to use that violence-free language to hide what it was really suggesting I do. And within me, I felt spores begin to circulate throughout me.

“Think of it this way… This morally unbound creature seeks knowledge as aggressively as you do. Don’t you think if your position and its position were reversed it wouldn’t do the same thing? Do you honestly believe it wouldn’t freely use ‘Drain’ on you? On anyone who possessed even a bit of knowledge it desired? What is it’s vice?” The other subdomain asked me. That last question was an interesting one, because the subdomain didn’t know what it’s vice was, but it had evidently come to the conclusion that the creature had a vice which would make it ferocious in what it was willing to do to acquire new knowledge. And the truth was, the subdomain was correct. The Mi-Go’s vice was greed. I didn’t doubt that the Mi-Go would kill for knowledge if it was dangled in front of it.

“There’s an easy way to make Myzriel our friend… Just use my spores on it! It’s already a fungus, this would just tie it to you!” One of the two subdomains whispered, a malicious edge sneaking into its voice. I chuckled, internally at this suggestion. The subdomain of fungus was actively pushing for me to use my spores on the Mi-Go, and in all honesty a part of me wanted to do so.

“Listen… You don’t have to subjugate the creature if you just listen to my suggestion. You’ve already used ‘Drain’ on creatures before. It’s a harmless ability. Just think of what sort of eldritch secrets and mysterious wisdom you could acquire just by snatching the memories, thoughts, and secrets of this one scientist?” Whispered the subdomain of vermin, one of my original subdomains. And the truth was, the subdomain wasn’t wrong. The truth was, the suggestions of both subdomains appealed to me.

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I often did a physical gesture to indicate that I was aiming a power. These gestures were purely theatrical and entirely unnecessary. I mentally took aim at the Mi-Go who led the colony and put the creature to an abrupt sleep. My powers, honed by a slowly increasing amount of experience, radiated out of me and washed over the creature. In a matter of seconds the being slumped over, unconscious.

I gazed at the entity, silently, and then without a moment of hesitation began to parasitize the creature. My parasitic ability, “Drain”, effortlessly struck the still entity, and I grinned as I fed on the thing’s ideas, thoughts, memories, and secrets. Its mind was a delicious buffet to me, one replete with tantalizing discoveries, amazing memories, and all manner of ideas.

I felt my powers steal all manner of things from the Mi-Go leader of the colony, and the more I stole from it the wider my grin grew. I had never before truly appreciated my dreadful powers over vermin, but now as I stood in the middle of a colony filled with incredible scientists and all manner of forbidden knowledge I was incredibly excited by the frightening powers over vermin and parasites that were an essential part of me.

I felt my knowledge of the universe, as well as my knowledge of Myzriel, growing as my powers continued to rake the body of the fungoid entity that I had made my target. I closed my eyes and began to quietly keep track of time. My powers over time gave me an incredibly handy tool with which I could restore what I had taken from the Mi-Go without undoing my parasitic power, but I had an annoying restriction: I could only do it if I did it before two minutes had passed.

Seconds passed as my “Drain” power continued to assail the head scientist of the Mi-Go colony. Seconds turned into a minute, and then a minute and a half before my powers finally sucked the last of the knowledge, emotions, thoughts, memories, and secrets from the creature in front of me. When I was done taking from it, I mentally activated another of my powers, one called “Rewind”. As I did I kept my eyes locked on Myzriel.

A faint, silvery air fell on the abomination. As it did I was able to feel the creature’s mind begin to fill again. It was a slow process, at first anyway, but after a few seconds it began to rapidly speed up. In less than three minutes the creature’s mind was fully restored and all of its contents restored.

Now, unknown to it, we shared all of the knowledge it had accrued over the course of its life. I knew Myzriel better than the thing knew itself now, and thanks to the frightening potency of my power I had acquired this knowledge in less than two minutes. The creature was still unconscious, but I sensed it beginning to awaken for a moment before putting it back to sleep, utilizing my powers over sloth to ensure the creature stayed unconscious. It was only when I was sure that my worshiper would stay asleep that I turned around and effortlessly created a portal to the laboratories I had created for the sake of studying demons. As I did that, I began to mull over the knowledge I had acquired through abrupt, though ultimately victimless, theft.

That said, for now I wouldn’t sick my parasitic spores on the creature. If I wanted to do that I’d need to safely experiment on lesser creatures first to see how they reacted to the spores, before I tested them on something like as maddening as a Mi-Go. I was ambitious, but not foolish. And I had all the time in the world.

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“Robots, spaceships, biology and anatomy lessons, and foul technologies no sane mind would ever dream of… What a pleasant and worthwhile haul! This knowledge will serve me well in the days to come. I will need a place with which I could fiddle with this knowledge in unbothered safety. In the Heart of Darkness perhaps? Or in an uninhabited corner of my dimension? Otherwise, this knowledge will merely sit in my mind, unused and useless. And that would be an unmitigated tragedy.” I thought, a quiet, perpetually scheming part of my mind beginning to mull over where best to begin to act on the knowledge I had just acquired.

Meanwhile, I quietly returned to the Heart of Darkness. It was time for me to steal even more memories, and more thoroughly evil knowledge than what I had taken to date. It was time for me to extract knowledge from the demons I had captured. After all I had the power to do so. It wouldn’t even be a challenge for someone like me.