“So, I was wondering - what would happen if I said no?” Inside the diner of Xianshi Inn, in front of two candles and under dim lights, Josephine Wong asked as Jianmen was finishing the food in the kitchen.
“Well, then, I will need to find another way to anchor myself in this world.” Jianmen tilted the pan and pushed the stir fry venison onto a meticulous plate: “That is, if I wanted to stay and not drift into the abyss and void, not elemental voice, the true void where even nothingness cannot exist, between worlds. And to do so, I will need to basically accept the offer of taking over the Godhood of Hospitality and Welcoming.”
“Oh, geez, an offer to become a god, how terrifyingly horrible!” Josephine Wong giggled and waved her hands in the air a few times.
“It is, if you take into account the fact that my existence was swallowed by the intense order in that room.” Jianmen emerged from the kitchen and gently placed the plate on the table: “As sentient beings capable of gaining knowledge and power, our own existence became a sort node, or especially dense droplets of order. And gods, aside from the godhoods they hold, are just this kind of order droplets that are exponentially bigger and denser. And the longer they hold godhood, through the very nature of order itself, they lose more and more of their individuality and become essentially an extension of the Will. Sort of like a brain meld, or mind integration.”
“And when your existence itself becomes flakey, you are actually in a very fragile state, order-wise. ” Josephine Wong nodded as she raised her glass and let Jianmen pour wine into it: “And you will lose yourself, you will not be you. You will be a - a ‘robo god’.”
“Exactly.” Jianmen poured himself a glass of wine and sat down before Josephine Wong.
“And I will need to add more to my presents to Lady Ryleen and the Church of Lox.” Josephine Wong smiled: “I assume, when you just got out, you were in a much weaker state, without their spells to lock your existence in a seal, you wouldn’t even be able to appear before me.”
“Yeah.” Jianmen shook his head and chuckled: “Just breaking out of the house took a lot out of me - I had to pull on the anchor you bear, and subsequently spread to the others a few times.”
“So that’s what that was.” Josephine Wong lightly bumped her glass against Jianmen’s.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Jianmen held onto Josephine Wong’s hand on the table: “And sorry, for everything else.”
“Eh, no worries.” Josephine Wong chuckled: “What’s a few years of waiting for people like us? What about the contracts Tze Cha transferred to you?”
“I kept them alive and offered all of them a way out. You’d be surprised how many are willing to get into deals with him.” Jianmen sighed: “And it seems that our paths were more intertwined than we thought, there’s this young woman … ”
“Bang!” “Boss! You gotta come take a look …” The diner door was pushed open like someone just kicked it open, and in came Jason and Caroline in a hurry. But when they saw the dim light, the candles and the wine, they froze for a short moment.
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“Oh - I’m - ” Caroline stuttered: “I’m sorry … we didn’t know…”
“Action starlet Josephine Wong seen on a date with a local real estate mogul.” Jason let out a dry laugh and said: “Paparazzi’s heads are gonna explode.”
“Time and place, Jason.” Jianmen cleared his throat: “What is it?”
“Rash came back.” Caroline said, with a bright smile: “I - I don’t know how.”
“Let’s go.” Josephine Wong put down her glass: “This can wait.”
When Jianmen and Josephine Wong came out from the diner, they saw a small jellyfish creature floating around in the air in the lounge, and Mr. Night Owl, acting like a curious house cat, was following it along and trying to touch the ribbon-like tentacles. Laura was waiting outside, just watching the jellyfish creature and Mr. Night Owl play.
“Oh, god.” Josephine Wong covered her mouth with both her hands.
“Son of a bitch, it worked huh?” Jianmen laughed out loud and walked towards the jellyfish monster to shake “hands” with one of its tentacles: “Remember to remind me, get voidbound mortality scapegoats for everyone.”
The jellyfish creature floated around in the air as if it was excited or happy, or both, and then dived into the empty tank near the entrance. Mr. Night Owl followed it, and started staring at the jellyfish from outside.
“So, voidbound mortality scapegoats are that powerful?” Jason asked.
“Yeah. I suppose so.” Jianmen put his left arm around Josephine Wong’s shoulder and sighed: “Its mechanism isn’t really that difficult to grasp, I’ll teach you when you’ve reached Layer Seven.”
“Spoiler Alert: just don’t sell your names.” Josephine Wong chuckled: “It’s like True Words, but to you as an entity and being and not to a concept.”