sëbus was amazed to be woken up by a cat saying “hush!”
sëbus wasn’t scared
though the cat’s face was so close
so big
the cat was pawing sëbus’ chest, staring him right into the eyes
“hush!” the cat articulated, to leave no doubt
“come!”
he jumped off the bed
sëbus sat up
it was all a bit funny
even as a cat, mr bean was making everything funny all the time
and of course it was a little scary
sëbus wasn’t scared but it just was
and sëbus also felt good about it
he knew something was going to happen
an adventure
the second episode!
in the middle of the night
the boy slid off the bed and tiptoed after the cat into the hallway
mr bean disappeared around the corner
sëbus ran after him
the magic started
the corridor suddenly became weirdly long
sëbus was running and running
the cat was galloping ahead
this was still their familiar house, but the corridor just stretched
and sëbus realized why: because he was enjoying the running
the reality was obediently bending space and time for him
and as soon as he stopped enjoying it, his run was over
he ran out to the balcony
their house had several balconies
this one was sëbus’ favorite
he liked to play here
“put on your space suit, it’s chilly” mom would call out of the kitchen
but sëbus disliked the space suit
he loved launching paper planes from the balcony
aiming at stars
in space, a paper plane always flies along a straight line
it never slows down
so all you need to do is take a very careful aim
and then, you can relax
the plane will hit the star
just that it will take it very long to reach it
now, sëbus was standing on his balcony
he was breathing deeply
not from running: from surprise
everything was the same and not the same
not the same at all! even though exactly the same
the stars were the same: immeasurably distant
but sëbus knew: now he can reach any of them
he can literally take any star out of the sky
stretch out his arm and take it
and that star will be happy
happy to be chosen
the stars were looking at him
shy but hopeful
he almost heard them whispering
something like “me!”
and mr bean, he was sitting on the fence, not looking at sëbus
his black fur glinted in the starlight
and there was someone else there on the balcony
it was a she!
sëbus even thought it was the mom, for a moment
but no, it was someone else
someone unknown
some girl
a girl in black
a glintless black dress
black hair
slightly shining face
she was beautiful
sëbus wasn’t entirely sure but she looked like she was
and she approached sëbus
very quietly
and she looked at him in a way he rather liked
and sëbus discovered that he knows her name!
her name was:
noctis
full name:
noctis-without-time
and here’s another thing sëbus discovered:
he is now the ruler of the world
something like a king
a real king, not a pretend king
the maximum king possible
more king than anyone before him, that’s how much king!
so he has total power over everything
and everyone
over space and time and spacetime
over the stars and the void
over the good and the evil
over the existent and nonexistent
over the living and the dead
“— and the minecraft ones too?” sëbus blurted
so he asked
and he got his answer
noctis’ response was direct and immediate
sëbus felt a new power!
a different one
a scary one
now, he could not only stir stars and loop up time:
he could, at the flick of fingers, change the rules of any formal system
such as mathematics
he could just wish and one plus one will no longer be two
[real world parallel: non-euclidean geometry]
he could even introduce contradictions into formal systems
he was not obliged to comply with the no-contradictions rule — or any other rule
why this mattered? because minecraft is just another formal system
it’s a program
and now sëbus could wish it to change
in any way he pleases
he could make minecraft different, instantly, all actoss the universe
for example, he could get rid of the creative mode!
(sëbus disliked creative mode because it’s cheating)
he could just wish, and poof it’s gone no one even remembers it ever existed
no one except sëbus
and then noctis gave her verbal response, too
she said: yes
meaning: yes the minecraft beings too you have power over them too
“and wendy?” sëbus asked again
he wanted absolute clarity on this point
in response, he felt one more power in him
one more!
the third one
“hope it’s the last one” sëbus thought
he was feeling slightly exhausted by omnipotence
“yes this is the last one” noctis was smiling
(by the way: her name meant “night” in latin, genitive form)
she was smiling now
because sëbus felt like it would be nice if she was smiling
and now: she was smiling
because this third power was: the power over all sentient beings
over everyone alive
everyone intelligent
or superintelligent
this was power over the knowers themselves
i now have this power, sëbus realized with a shudder
i can
i just can
“of course you can” noctis was smiling
“you can wish anyone to do anything at all” noctis was sounding very persuasive
“it won’t be like you make them do it, i know you don’t like giving orders” noctis was making it impossible to not understand her
“it will be like they wish it themselves” noctis was entirely reasonable
“for example, your parents, sëbus” noctis was playful
“you can wish them to do anything anything at all” noctis-without-time was infinitely patient
sëbus was silent
and then noctis got really close to him
she kind of floated up close
her face was right in front of his
and her face was, sëbus now saw it plainly, it was —
it was —
it was wendy
not the real one, sëbus realized instantly
this is not wendy
this is noctis
but
and then he was thinking very fast:
“i have the power, i can make it so she’s real, i just need to wish, and she will be here now, the real wendy —”
just to wish!
“i just need to wish” was the broken record playing in his head
but he couldn’t wish
all he could do was keep saying this phrase
he wanted it!
he just couldn’t wish
he wanted wendy to be here
to grab her, to have her, to make things fair, to undo the unfairness of her going away from him
but the want didn’t crystallize into wish
sëbus was mentally stuttering
and then something changed in him
the want was gone, too
not that something scared him no
sëbus is not afraid of anything
it’s just
he no longer wanted to grab and have and make it fair
he no longer wanted to want
even if, as noctis claimed, wendy would want it herself!
sëbus did not want to have powers anymore
the powers were not real
just like wendy
even if this stupid noctis would stop nudging him
the happiness from powers was just gone
if it even was there
Chapter 9: The Three Powers
“hush!”
sëbus was amazed to be woken up by a cat saying “hush!”
sëbus wasn’t scared
though the cat’s face was so close
so big
the cat was pawing sëbus’ chest, staring him right into the eyes
“hush!” the cat articulated, to leave no doubt
“come!”
he jumped off the bed
sëbus sat up
it was all a bit funny
even as a cat, mr bean was making everything funny all the time
and of course it was a little scary
sëbus wasn’t scared but it just was
and sëbus also felt good about it
he knew something was going to happen
an adventure
the second episode!
in the middle of the night
the boy slid off the bed and tiptoed after the cat into the hallway
mr bean disappeared around the corner
sëbus ran after him
the magic started
the corridor suddenly became weirdly long
sëbus was running and running
the cat was galloping ahead
this was still their familiar house, but the corridor just stretched
and sëbus realized why: because he was enjoying the running
the reality was obediently bending space and time for him
and as soon as he stopped enjoying it, his run was over
he ran out to the balcony
their house had several balconies
this one was sëbus’ favorite
he liked to play here
“put on your space suit, it’s chilly” mom would call out of the kitchen
but sëbus disliked the space suit
he loved launching paper planes from the balcony
aiming at stars
in space, a paper plane always flies along a straight line
it never slows down
so all you need to do is take a very careful aim
and then, you can relax
the plane will hit the star
just that it will take it very long to reach it
now, sëbus was standing on his balcony
he was breathing deeply
not from running: from surprise
everything was the same and not the same
not the same at all! even though exactly the same
the stars were the same: immeasurably distant
but sëbus knew: now he can reach any of them
he can literally take any star out of the sky
stretch out his arm and take it
and that star will be happy
happy to be chosen
the stars were looking at him
shy but hopeful
he almost heard them whispering
something like “me!”
and mr bean, he was sitting on the fence, not looking at sëbus
his black fur glinted in the starlight
and there was someone else there on the balcony
it was a she!
sëbus even thought it was the mom, for a moment
but no, it was someone else
someone unknown
some girl
a girl in black
a glintless black dress
black hair
slightly shining face
she was beautiful
sëbus wasn’t entirely sure but she looked like she was
and she approached sëbus
very quietly
and she looked at him in a way he rather liked
and sëbus discovered that he knows her name!
her name was:
noctis
full name:
noctis-without-time
and here’s another thing sëbus discovered:
he is now the ruler of the world
something like a king
a real king, not a pretend king
the maximum king possible
more king than anyone before him, that’s how much king!
so he has total power over everything
and everyone
over space and time and spacetime
over the stars and the void
over the good and the evil
over the existent and nonexistent
over the living and the dead
“— and the minecraft ones too?” sëbus blurted
so he asked
and he got his answer
noctis’ response was direct and immediate
sëbus felt a new power!
a different one
a scary one
now, he could not only stir stars and loop up time:
he could, at the flick of fingers, change the rules of any formal system
such as mathematics
he could just wish and one plus one will no longer be two
[real world parallel: non-euclidean geometry]
he could even introduce contradictions into formal systems
he was not obliged to comply with the no-contradictions rule — or any other rule
why this mattered? because minecraft is just another formal system
it’s a program
and now sëbus could wish it to change
in any way he pleases
he could make minecraft different, instantly, all actoss the universe
for example, he could get rid of the creative mode!
(sëbus disliked creative mode because it’s cheating)
he could just wish, and poof it’s gone no one even remembers it ever existed
no one except sëbus
and then noctis gave her verbal response, too
she said: yes
meaning: yes the minecraft beings too you have power over them too
“and wendy?” sëbus asked again
he wanted absolute clarity on this point
in response, he felt one more power in him
one more!
the third one
“hope it’s the last one” sëbus thought
he was feeling slightly exhausted by omnipotence
“yes this is the last one” noctis was smiling
(by the way: her name meant “night” in latin, genitive form)
she was smiling now
because sëbus felt like it would be nice if she was smiling
and now: she was smiling
because this third power was: the power over all sentient beings
over everyone alive
everyone intelligent
or superintelligent
this was power over the knowers themselves
i now have this power, sëbus realized with a shudder
i can
i just can
“of course you can” noctis was smiling
“you can wish anyone to do anything at all” noctis was sounding very persuasive
“it won’t be like you make them do it, i know you don’t like giving orders” noctis was making it impossible to not understand her
“it will be like they wish it themselves” noctis was entirely reasonable
“for example, your parents, sëbus” noctis was playful
“you can wish them to do anything anything at all” noctis-without-time was infinitely patient
sëbus was silent
and then noctis got really close to him
she kind of floated up close
her face was right in front of his
and her face was, sëbus now saw it plainly, it was —
it was —
it was wendy
not the real one, sëbus realized instantly
this is not wendy
this is noctis
but
and then he was thinking very fast:
“i have the power, i can make it so she’s real, i just need to wish, and she will be here now, the real wendy —”
just to wish!
“i just need to wish” was the broken record playing in his head
but he couldn’t wish
all he could do was keep saying this phrase
he wanted it!
he just couldn’t wish
he wanted wendy to be here
to grab her, to have her, to make things fair, to undo the unfairness of her going away from him
but the want didn’t crystallize into wish
sëbus was mentally stuttering
and then something changed in him
the want was gone, too
not that something scared him no
sëbus is not afraid of anything
it’s just
he no longer wanted to grab and have and make it fair
he no longer wanted to want
even if, as noctis claimed, wendy would want it herself!
sëbus did not want to have powers anymore
the powers were not real
just like wendy
even if this stupid noctis would stop nudging him
the happiness from powers was just gone
if it even was there
sëbus made a face right into noctis
sëbus turned away from her
sëbus went back home