In response to Waste by Duncan Sabien.

I swallowed. “I have thought of something,” I said, with unsteadiness in my voice.

A few seconds passed. The God-Emperor did not show up, nor did I notice any other sign of anyone listening.

“I will hear” were his words. Continue.

“I have thought of something”, I restarted, “for how we both could be better off.”

Still nothing.

If I were the God-Emperor, this wouldn’t be enough to buy my attention either. Continue.

“You said you were concerned that I could,” I swallowed, “kill you. I cannot do that now. Very few can,” otherwise the God-Emperor would have bigger problems than me, “and doing so requires things few people have. Skills and knowledge and preparation.”

He said that he would hear, not that he would respond–

“I don’t know how you think I could do it or what you think I will be able to do. But there must be some use you see for me, instead of me–” I froze.

“Instead of that going to waste.”

A few seconds later the God-Emperor had arrived. “Go on,” the God-Emperor said, settling into the same beanbag as three days before.

I became just as nervous as on the first time. The words didn’t come out as easily.

I should have written down–

“As you said, there are great endeavors that are truly individual. Few people can undertake those, and yet they have large effects on the Empire. Sometimes for the worse, but often for the better.”

The God-Emperor stared blankly at me, revealing nothing.

“I would want to work on something you deem beneficial. I would focus my practice and skills on that. You would be assured I’m not doing something you’d rather I didn’t.”

I stopped.

Please say something.

The God-Emperor’s mouth opened slowly. “No doubt there are a great number of challenges the Empire has not, to our detriment, yet solved. Not for the lack of trying, but for the lack of the right heroes fit for the mission. You are right that you have something the Empire needs and something we are short of.”

“Sadly, that same something is why we are having these conversations. I wish it were otherwise, but in your case your… power is not something so confined to a single endeavor. The reason you could do great service to the Empire is the very same one that makes you dangerous. The saying ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ is truer than you’d imagine.”

Something that cannot be isolated.

“But now I’m neither!”, I protested. “There must be some sign you see beforehand, before which I am both useless and not a threat.”

The God-Emperor’s gaze grew sadder. “There are signs, yes, but it is not so clear-cut. There will not be a day on which it changes, but rather it will simply get worse over time. I have to draw the line somewhere. That is, again, what brings me here.”

Of course the God-Emperor had thought of that. Of course that’s why he’s here.

But–

“But being cautious as you are, the line is drawn low. You know that I can’t harm you now; you are cautious because you expect it to get worse.” It will likely get worse, because, again, he wouldn’t otherwise be here. “I don’t doubt I will learn as I grow. I understand that is a reason for caution. But there must be a way of steering my learning towards less dangerous endeavors. There is clearly knowledge that is more dangerous, and some that is less.”

The same sadness stayed in the God-Emperor’s eyes. “Alas, even knowledge that does not appear dangerous, on the surface, might find surprising uses in the right hands. You know how I know.”

Too obvious. Too slow.

Think.

The God-Emperor said that exile hadn’t worked. Steering learning hadn’t worked. Redacting textbooks hadn’t worked. Still there were people like me who have passed the test.

It must not have been because the God-Emperor thought they were too powerless. There must have been some other reason.

Wait.

Many of those let through still stand up against the Empire. The God-Emperor has tried all of my ideas and they’ve failed.

Or so he claims.

Three thousand conversations like this.

“Are you here to kill me?”

“Almost certainly.”

There are not many who have passed. A hundred. How many fight?

“But if I left a hundred of you alone, one or two of you would not be so content.”

Only a couple. But the God-Emperor claims that nothing has worked. Honesty, prison, exile, oaths, truth serums, brainwashing, bribery, hostages. That’s eight. Information control, ninth.

The God-Emperor calmly spoke: “I truly don’t want to be cruel or to give a sense of false hope. It brings me no joy to tell you that your ideas have already been tried, to no avail. I only gave you the opportunity in the hope that there is something I have overlooked. But I recommended, for good reason, to not dwell on it too much.”

The numbers don’t match.

But what does it mean?

Is the God-Emperor lying? Why? Is he not going to kill me after all? No, that doesn’t make sense, who would do this for some stupid test.

Is he lying about whether something worked? That doesn’t make sense either: why not just do that? “I am sorry.” The God-Emperor does this only because he sees no other way.

What if it’s not lying?

That means there are more than a hundred who have passed. The bar has been lower. Still at most three thousand. If one or two in a hundred fight, at most some dozens have passed and fought. It barely fits.

But I asked about nine. There must be many times more I haven’t asked about. Or…

“If that’s it,” the God-Emperor spoke, slowly and measuredly, “then I’ll be gone, and come back again when it’s time.”

I didn’t react. The God-Emperor rose, slowly making his way to the portal.

Did I just get unlucky?

The God-Emperor is asking me for ideas. Like from those before me.

Did I ask the same ones as them? Prison. Exile. Oaths. Hostages. Those all seem so obvious.

Maybe I’m just that predictable.

Is that all it takes? To have a promising idea that hasn’t been tried before?

The God-Emperor does this only because he sees no other way. He has run out of ideas. He’s desperate for other ways out.

“I still have a suggestion,” I said, more excitedly than I intended.

The God-Emperor turned back to look at me. I explained my thought. The God-Emperor listened quietly, eventually nodding with a slight smile.

“Very well,” the God-Emperor responded. “I agree.”

And the God-Emperor stepped through the portal.