Chereads / Vague Ends, Distinct Means / Chapter 6 - Rolls and Roles

Chapter 6 - Rolls and Roles

"So where are we now?" said Danke. Turning to the porcelain woman at his side after hours of walking in amiable silence.

"We are currently on the 127th Layer of Abwickeln, in the plains of Vogel." said Wis.

"Cool. Anything neat for me to check out while we're here?" said Danke.

"Vogel is home to a number of life forms with the largest segment of the population being airborne." said Wis.

"Huh? Airborne? What do you mean airb-...Oh…" said Danke. Looking upwards and seeing the sky was clouded over with a vast array of birds. Some of them the size of hummingbirds, others looking more like feathered whales.

"Due to its vast array of feathered inhabitants and the feather-green grass that grows throughout most of the layer, Vogel is also known as the plain of birds."

"Ah...Cool. Cool. Cool. But doesn't answer what we're supposed to be doing here." said Danke.

"Hm...I'm not quite sure, master. I am merely an assistant. I do not give orders. Nor was I created with an overall goal for you to follow. Ordinarily, I would suggest you consume the animals and or plant life within this plain to promote your further evolution but you have already evolved into a being that does not need to feed on physical matter to evolve."

"Uh...So what does that mean, Wis?" said Danke.

"It means I have no advice to give beyond to suggest we find somewhere safe for you to resume consume more magical energy and dreams." said the porcelain woman.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." said Danke.

With that said, the two resumed their walk. Danke killed time by seeing how far his spiritual sense would extend. He'd realized that the perceptions the sense gave him were much more acute. Allowing Danke to piece the striations and magical fluctuations on each individual blade of grass that they were passing by.

Now Danke wanted to know how far he could extend sense. He was excited to find that after extending the sense many dozen metres ahead of his physical form he'd yet to feel a hard limit and even at the furthest tip of the sense the acuity of his spiritual perceptions still remained razor sharp.

At some point, Danke turned his sense on Wis. Focusing on the porcelain woman. He realized that she felt a lot more substantial than she'd been before. A lot more real. A lot more...alive.

"Hey, Wis?"

"Yes, master?" said the puppe.

"Do you mind quitting it with the 'master' stuff? It makes me uncomfortable." said Danke.

The puppe gazed down at the figment. Then she shook her head.

"No, master. I'm afraid I can't do that."

"What? Why not?!" said Danke. Surprised that Wis would deny such a simple request.

"Because you 'are' a master. Do you feel I am belittling myself by calling you such? If so then you have yet to understand what a figment is master. You have yet to comprehend what your role in this world is. Abwickeln is home to countless immigrant races. Its layers and sublayers connected to countless worlds. The figments are this world's true inheritors. Its true children and future rulers. I call you master because you 'are' a master, a future sovereign of this world. It is my duty to guide you and watch over you as you rise to prominence." said Wis.

Danke stared up at the puppe. If his eyes had possessed eyelids, he would have blinked at her dully.

"So...uh...let me get this straight, you won't stop calling 'master'?"

"Yes." said Wis.

"What if ordered you not to?" asked Danke. Tilting his head to the side.

"Master, I think you're misunderstanding something.

"Huh? What am I misunderstanding now?"

"Puppes aren't under their figments command. We are creatures born of living data. Following prerogatives created by the world's will."

"Eh? Eh?! Really? Is that how it works?"

"Yes,...master."

"Wait, then what was all that talk about you being my assistant?"

"I am your assistant and I shall try to answer any questions and requests you have, to the best of my abilities. Just know that this mitigated by my own will and the will of the world."

"Ah…So I can't get you stop calling me 'master'. Even if I give you puppy eyes and say pretty please with sugar and cherries on top?"

"Alas, I am bound by my own beliefs. If you can't get used to this much, then what will you do when it comes time for people to call you king."

"Wait, why the hell would people start calling me 'king'?" said Danke. Shuddering as he imagined it. His wool-like skin crawling as he pictured such a thing happening.

"You're scaring me, Wis." said Danke.

"...Good. It means you're starting to understand a little." said the porcelain woman.

A dejected Danke walked with his head hanging low as he tried to puzzle out the meaning of Wis' words. He wasn't sure why but they'd sounded quite ominous. As Danke considered the true meaning of figment existence, he heard a harsh cry from the sky.

Danke looked up and saw a colossal eagle bearing down on him. The bird's wings so massive they seemed to block out the sky. Its feathers seemed to shine with a metal flow.

Not wanting to know what it'd be like to be torn apart and eaten even if he couldn't really die, Danke responded reflexively. His tiny arm lashing out. Releasing a strength that was beyond surprising for his diminutive form.

Lightning tore its way free from Danke's arm. The air shook with the sound of thunder and he realized that he'd just used the thunder-saint's fist art that a certain monk he'd dreamt about had used often. A fist art that the old monk had cultivated for most of his life.

As blood and feathers rained down from the sky, Danke gazed at the eagles corpse and his hand with a look of wonder.

Then something inside Danke's mind shifted around and he had a notion. Danke's inherited memories filled the gap between his unfinished thoughts and the notion became a drive.

The little dream hopper walked over to the corpse and then with a single gentle touch the body vanished becoming a hazy mist that flowed into the little figment's body.

"The hell?!" said Danke.

Wis watched this all happen and was privately glad that her current face was incapable of emoting because if it could then she would have had to pick her jaw off of the floor.

After considering a few things and looking up towards the sky once more, Wis eyes glowed with a hungry malevolence and the fires of ambition. She looked down at her figment with duty and pride in her eyes and then took a moment to gather herself before speaking.

"Master…?" said Wis.

"Y-, Yeah?" said Danke.

"I think I have a suggestion for what we can do today and the next several days." said Wis.

Danke chuckled. His mind slowly filling up with various ideas as he dealt with the realization that altering real things into dreams and consumable data was a very real possibility.

"Wis...I'm way ahead of you, buddy."