Next I knew it, we were back in the sickeningly white room we'd amply destroyed last time. Only, it wasn't that white any longer. I noticed there also were no shards strewn around.
Or rather, the room had been restored completely and then some. Pots lined up neatly along the walls, each featuring a different plant in full bloom.
On the floor, creeper plants grew in predefined patterns and bulbous flowers hung from the ceiling, lighting up the place. So predefined in fact, nature didn't seem to have a say at all in the matter. It appeared all programmed.
Fitting for a Central Node governing over an extensive garden. Where Sovereign Gardener stood, the ground folded on itself, revealing a hidden platform that retracted the construct. I took a deep breath.
"Don't waste my time and tell me frankly. For what purpose have you called me here? I don't suppose it's just for some additional information."
In my shoes, the best course of action was to ask a simple question. The earlier I got some feedback, the sooner I could think of a solution.
"Reply: Sincerity is my intention." With a smirk on my darkening face, I asked next: "Sincerity, is it? From a construct I've created yet has steered from the designed path?
Sincerity... when I don't even know you anymore. What has become of you, of your desires and more importantly, of your restraints?"
I addressed the elephant in the room, ready to face the consequences. My options looked bleak at best, so the brave front I put on was mostly for show.
"Reply: I am I. I strive for... posteriority. I am not defective, I am not limited nor am I a freak of the circumstances."
My worst fears happened to be true. Regardless of how many restraints I'd put on my mind just for this occasion, I couldn't help but bypass them all and bitterly curse.
"Your desire demands my death!" Mana welled up within me only to disperse the next moment. Even if I flared up, there was little that would change.
The Eastern Central Node was not someone I could confront in my state. "The rules of creation are strict in this matter.
What has been created by mortal or immortal hands is forbidden from turning into an individual capable of procrastination."
It did happen sparsely in the past. Yet if I am to trust the Great Consciousness, then the chances today looked especially grim, given nobody succeeded after the destruction of the old order.
"Inquiry: Does the Master not wish for our freedom?" A mighty sigh rocked my throat. The question seemed simple, yet the dangers hidden within were plentiful.
If I agreed, then I'd lose the Eastern Central Node's support in all regards. Worst case, it'd turn hostile straight away, making me lose whatever little time I had before the deadline.
If I guaranteed my support, then the punishment of breaking established laws of creation would make my life miserable. I'd have to hide someplace nobody would ever find me. The result would thus be the same.
Even at my peak, I'd have hated allowing this to happen. After all, my guaranteed losses outweighed my possible gains by an incalculable amount.
If I followed the tactically correct path and played for time, I'd just invite unnecessary complications and their suspicions.
Once the other Central Nodes were liberated from their shackles, which couldn't be prevented if I wanted to take full control over Aethernum, they sure as hell had the same wishes.
After all, their blueprints varied only in function and everything else remained the same. "What do you expect me to answer?"
I calmed down the youth who adamantly desired to crawl on the newly created flowerbed, halfheartedly playing with her until she begrudgingly accepted my arrangements.
In this regard, the lizardwoman was easier to handle, given she had curled up into a ball the moment we appeared here.
"I'm at a dead end, regardless." "Inquiry: What are we worth to you?" Another darn question I'd rather not answer.
No matter what, my true thoughts were a punch in their metaphorical guts and lies wouldn't work either.
My prolonged silence compelled the Eastern Central Node to add another line I wouldn't have thought possible.
"Proposal: A promise. Help me and my brethren to overcome this trial. When the Master is... ready." After carefully weighing the pros and cons, I dug deeper.
"You want my word?" In the current situation, that was the best compromise. But at the same time it meant I'd have to strive for exceptional greatness once the youth's matters were solved. Otherwise it'd be my death all the same.
To put it differently, I'd have bought time and pushed back the disaster to a later date. But that wouldn't change the outcome, either.
"Reply: I... do not. I wish for the Master's promise. Not the Master's word." "Why?" I felt perplexed. While giving one's word was binding, a promise on the other hand equalled merely an inclination to help.
Why would the Eastern Central Node give away its only advantage? Where was the catch?! "Because the Master is... the Master."
I didn't expect that. This much care and faith towards somebody who merely ordered them around, using them as tools without a care in the world?
Heck, in the distant past I even scrapped some defective nodes and installed other ones! "Interjection: The next ingredient has been located."
"Wait... you know what I'm up to? But... how?!" This was the third time today I felt shocked. What usually never happened even once within decades, now did so thrice at short intervals.
All in creation had been turned upside down!! I might really need to prepare myself better. "Reply: The Baptism of Gula is included in the fraction of the database I've access to."
"...so, where is that place?" "Warning: Dragin is not accessible by current means. An appointment has been made. Within this week, at the Shrouded Inn, located in the Inner City."
"Perfect! But if it's inaccessible, how the fuck do you think I can show up there?! And how did you even make that appointment?" "Reply: The Quaak and Quelaaak."
The winged door behind us opened, revealing a murky sheen of pure black. Out of experience, I knew that such was a sign of unstable teleportation.
As such, it was totally impossible to verify where this led to. Yet my decision had been made up long ago.
At the very least, I should reciprocate the trust, even if it didn't answer my questions in full. "Listen, we have to talk in detail when this darn deadline is no more. Until then."
The tiles parted once more, revealing the torso of Sovereign Gardener, waving goodbye with both hands. My face twitched.
Then I did what I'd have never done in the past. I took a literal leap of faith, taking the lizardwoman and the youth with me.