[o] The Descending Battle (Tick. Tock.)

[docfoul]

I wish to make something perfectly clear.

I have never altered the natural progression of events, and I never will. I do not bug or fuss or meddle. All I do is nudge certain events in my world towards a more favorable outcome - as any good first guardian should, in fact. I never interfere to a degree where the future would be inevitably doomed, and I never would.

Neither should you.
That, for those of you not gifted with expansive knowledge or even basic reading comprehension, for there are those among you, is where my point lies.

If you forget that simple fact, I may be forced to do similar nudging outside of my world until balance is restored.
Are we clear?

[Locked to Birkin:]
[Once the event that prompted our deal comes to pass, I will send you the subject.
You will keep her for one of your Earth days, and then I will come pick her up.
You agree, yes?]

Comments

[timey_wimey]

Yes, I knew all that, but it's more than that, isn't it? It's got to be, or all this wouldn't be so important.

Lies of omission are hard 8(

[docfoul]

If one universe's timeline is disrupted, the other will follow, and both universes would be doomed.
The trolls have already lost the chance to claim their reward, but would you want to deny the human children's possible victory?

you do so well at them, though, I'd be completely stumped!

[timey_wimey]

So it's a matter of the timelines of the separate universes being linked as well... and the actual fabric of them too, I would imagine. Probably partially as a result of the trolls and the human kids being able to interact with each other across universes, acting both as a symptom of how tightly woven together they are and as part of what tangles them up even further...

"Possible" victory? Oh, come on, Doc Scratch, you and I both know you can do better than that. You already know perfectly well whether or not those children are going to succeed. You're just being coy about it.

I just emulate what Scratch does, ffff

[docfoul]

You got me, Doctor. Here is the truth:
The children's session is unwinnable in the proper sense of the word, but they have a chance to fix it.
That is where their chance for victory lies.

oh hush, you're still very good at it. c:

[timey_wimey]

And how exactly would they go about fixing it?

[docfoul]

They will have to reset their session.

[timey_wimey]

Reset their session, what do you mean, reset--

... oh. You're - you're talking about a reset of reality! That game, the Medium, paradox space, it's connected to the rest of their universe, it's a part of it, they wouldn't be able to exist physically within it otherwise, so resetting the game session has to mean resetting reality in some way. Am I on the right track?

[docfoul]

Yes. Very good, Doctor.

[timey_wimey]

I do try, yeah.

Do the kids know about this yet?

[docfoul]

No, not yet. However, very soon, I will begin instructing the Seer on how to bring about this reset.

[timey_wimey]

And how much of that instruction is going to involve lying without actually lying?

[docfoul]

She and I will be cooperating. Lying is cheap, underhanded and something I do not do.

[timey_wimey]

Because lies of omission aren't lies?

[docfoul]

Because lies of omission do not exist.

[timey_wimey]

There's plenty people in several universes who would disagree with you on that one.

[docfoul]

They are wrong, and it is none of my concern. I speak the truth, and the truth only, save for momentary exceptions to achieve humorous results. Any misinterpretation is the listener's fault.

[timey_wimey]

See, you say that, but surely there's an onus on the persons speaking to make sure their words can't be misinterpreted too badly.

[docfoul]

[Nope, Doctor, YOU ARE ON TO SCRATCH'S METHOD.]

I don't believe I am to blame at all if the hypothetical listener crafts a mistaken story out of my words.