mortal is as mortal does

[imeanforever]

Promise is looking for dewdrops. She has just learned to candy them herself - it's not hard, if she does it in her own tree instead of in the field. So she's brushing the droplets into a little wooden cup. They blend together but she can separate them out again later.

Comments

[ending_of]

The administrator also goes into the tree.

[imeanforever]

"If you're comfortable just staying here - do you also not drink water? - I can nip out to the library for books on gating."

[ending_of]

"By preference, I sit in a chair and do not do anything at all," says the administrator. "Including eat or drink or sleep."

[imeanforever]

"Oh, well, then, you'll be right at home. Have a seat."

Promise goes out and shuts the door.

[ending_of]

The administrator sits in the nearest comfortable-looking chair. She finds it acceptable. She closes her eyes and contemplates her muddied perception of this universe.

[imeanforever]

Promise is back several hours later with a bagful of books.

[ending_of]

The administrator opens her eyes to observe Promise's return.

[imeanforever]

Promise has indeed returned. She gets herself a fruit and starts eating it while she reads one of her books.

[ending_of]

She observes this activity also.

[imeanforever]

Promise is pretty diligent in her studying and leaves the admin alone. Over the next several weeks she does that, eating, sleeping, and occasional foraging trips.

And then she says, "I think I can make you a gate now."

[ending_of]

"To which location? Or either?"

[imeanforever]

"Either. Which do you want?"

[ending_of]

"I would prefer to see your mortal world first, to know if I need to connect it to my domain before returning."

[imeanforever]

"And then the mortals in it will get to go on after dying?"

[ending_of]

"Yes. And all of the ones who have previously died will also be collected."

[imeanforever]

"I can do that. Does it matter where it leads?"

[ending_of]

"No."

[imeanforever]

"Okay. It may take a while to settle."

She goes out. She comes back. "It's working on it. I'll check it when I'm out foraging."

[ending_of]

The administrator smiles.

[imeanforever]

"I don't know much about what the mortal world is like and don't have any really safe way to find out," muses Promise. "What's your afterlife like?"

[ending_of]

"It is an infinite plane divided into two sections by an infinite straight cliff. Newcomers who are judged very unlikely to make trouble for one another are sent to the upper half, everyone else to the lower. Every person is supplied with a residence, where new instantiations of destroyed objects periodically appear. I am pleased with the residential and transit systems, and with the rule I formulated to prevent dust from accumulating on surfaces. My domain has existed for a very long time and there would be a considerable amount of dust if it were allowed to accumulate."

[imeanforever]

"Why do you sort people like that?"

[ending_of]

"At the time I implemented that change, it was still possible for people to come to me with complaints, and someone suggested it as a way to separate out a section of the population who would be unlikely to have any complaints to bring. It worked very well for that purpose."

[imeanforever]

"But don't the rest of them still have complaints occasionally?"

[ending_of]

"Yes, but those complaints are dealt with before they reach me."