“Once upon a time there existed a powerful and benevolent god. She watched over a small corner of existence, one which contained mankind.”

  The space on top of the viewing platform stonework shifted, as if Aris was turning her head and the perspective started to change but she hadn’t moved at all. Body was shifted almost to the side as images formed over the stonework. They were flat images, as if some invisible hand were painting them on an invisible surface. A great two story tall outline of a glowing figure formed. Light streamed out from it as if it was made of light and it held its arms out, palms upwards.

  “These men, these mortals, enjoyed her nurturing for many years. Thousands of years. And over the millennia the god grew to love such mortals she watched over due to her benevolence. They flourished under her care and that only encouraged her to love them more.”

  The images shifted to show people who looked like Gaians seemingly worshiping this being of light while being surrounded by the warm glow.

  Body continued. “This god grew to love them so much that she wanted to live among them. She wanted to speak with them, eat with them, and play with them. She wanted to mourn when one of them died and celebrate when one of them was born. This powerful and benevolent god felt too large and needed to experience every microcosmic detail of those she loved so much. She found that the only way she could do that was to divide herself into smaller pieces.”

  “Smaller parts,” Aris murmured.

  Body looked up, startled. It was like he had forgotten she was there. He didn’t look annoyed at the interruption, just a little dazed. “Yes. The Parts. The great and kind god separated herself into different pieces of her body and bade them to take the form of her beloved people, then to go live among them.”

  The image shifted again, showing the glowing god dividing up into smaller lumps and forming to shape like people. To Aris’s surprise, there were many of them formed. The image showed more than thirty separated out from the god. “How many of you were there?” she asked.

  “HOW MANY BODY PARTS DO YOU HAVE?” Mind asked.

  “A lot. Innumerable. Depends on how far you segment the body,” Aris said.

  “THERE YOU GO.”

  “So there were… Parts named after organs?” Aris pressed. “How about muscles? Joints?”

  “ALL OF THEM WERE PARTS.”

  “Are they all still out there?” Aris wondered what a Part named Stomach or Big Toe would look like.

  “NO.”

  “What happened to them?”

  Mind didn’t answer and Body cleared his throat. Aris suspected this was another ‘spoiler.’

  “One by one, Parts of the god separated from her until there was nothing left but the Heart for this was the very center of this benevolent god. The Parts turned to look like humans and they all lived among them. For a long time, the Parts were supposed to hide among them and simply experience life as they do. But humans grew clever. They always were clever.”

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  The image now showed one set of people confronting the other.

  “Try as they might, the Parts never fully looked like humans. They were always different. It made Heart think that there was always something wrong with them. Still she tried harder and harder to look like humans and to be one of them. It was all Heart ever wanted.”

  “A FOOL,” Mind said bitterly. “A COMPLETE AND UTTER FOOL.” Aris was also starting to suspect Mind constantly thought herself smarter than the other Parts.

  “Because the humans were oh so clever, they understood how the Parts felt. And so an unspoken deal was set. While the Parts wanted to be more human, the humans wanted to be more like the Parts. Heart then decided to show the humans the way of the Great Solvent and taught the mortals how to use power wrought from it. Because of this, mortal humans loved the Parts for this.”

  “CAN YOU SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM IS?” Mind asked.

  Body didn’t give her time to answer. “Their love drove Heart to see things at their level. She was quickly convinced that if she wanted Parts and humans to be equal, then they must be equal in power. The more secrets she kept from her beloved people, the less pleased they were with her and her kind. In the name of fairness, she had to tell them about all she knew about the Solvent and how it would interact with the solute.

  “Except as clever as humans were, they were creatures set apart from the Solvent. They would never achieve the same competence in the Great Solvent than those born in it. They are of the material world.”

  “JUST LIKE HOW YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO SWIM, BUT YOU COULD NEVER EXIST IN THE WATER LIKE A FISH,” Mind added.

  “But as much as they are clever, humans were just as stubborn. They demanded more from the Parts. They demanded more than the Heart could ever imagine.”

  “IT WAS NEVER ENOUGH,” Mind said. The image on the platform changed to show a beautiful pond full of fish. The iridescent fish swam leisurely surrounded by lush pond plants.

  “The more humans learned about the Great Solvent, the more they sought to use it. Do you know what happens if everyone uses their abilities all the time, little moon?” Body asked. Aris was startled at the sudden question. “And I’m not talking about abilities such as the paltry ones that commonly exist in people in your world. I’m talking about powerful Solvent manipulators that can cause dramatic phenomena to happen.”

  “I imagine… If we view the Solvent as a finite source, the use of abilities would reduce the Solvent,” she said slowly. “Since abilities happen with the interaction between Solvent and solute.”

  The image on the platform changed so that the water in the pond significantly lowered. The fish were left thrashing around, mouths moving as if they gasped for air. “So what happens when the pond’s run dry?” Body continued his line of questioning. “What should we do?”

  “You add more water.”

  “CORRECT. WE POUR MORE WATER INTO THE POND,” Mind said. “BUT WHERE WOULD SAID WATER COME FROM?”

  Aris didn’t know.

  “From another pond, obviously,” Body said.

  To Aris’s shock, something that looked like a Gate yawned open over the half empty pond and water poured into it, replenishing the water. “From a different pond?” she asked. “Not from… not from the same pond?”

  “Yes, a different pond,” Body said. “Unfortunately, it could be from any number of ponds in existence. An infinite number of ponds. And what pours out from it doesn’t have to be water.”

  “IT COULD BE MUD, IT COULD BE SALT WATER. OR IT COULD BE SOMETHING MUCH, MUCH WORSE,” Mind said. Aris turned to stare at her. “WHY DO YOU THINK ALL PONDS CONTAIN WATER?”

  The image over the platform shifted again and something dark and viscous started pouring out from the ‘Gate’ to stain the pond below it to an inky darkness.