Free Agents of the Demiurge by Brian Blose

appearances. All of it. But
according to my memories, Hess is a white man named Carl Lindenburg
and Elza is on the other side of the planet.
    “When the Creator added the Church to the
history of this world, your identities must have changed. For the
first time in my existence, I have a reason to find the eleven of
you. And for the first time in my existence, I don't have the means
to do so.
    “Something is wrong with the Creator. The war
between you two and the others has had serious consequences.”
    “Wait a minute,” Hess said. “How much of this
is knowledge supplied by the Creator and how much is guesses?”
    Jerome grimaced. “All I know for sure is my
mission and the fact that everything I knew about this world at the
moment of creation is wrong.” She stared at Hess with her deep-set
eyes. “I think that's enough to know something is wrong.”
    Hess crossed his arms. “What is wrong is the
fact that Erik gets his rocks off by torturing the people. And the
fact that Ingrid feels entitled to punish us. Those two deserve the
very worst this world has to offer. I hope the Church of Opposition
gets its hands on those two Agents.”
    Jerome's jaw dropped. “Why?”
    “Because,” Hess snapped, “ they are
what is wrong with every world. They want suffering to exist. Erik
just for the fun of it. Ingrid because of her obsession with
consequences. Their spite has sabotaged every world I have ever
walked, Jerome. They deserve the enmity of the people.”
    For a moment, Jerome was silent. “If that is
how you feel, then I don't think the current batch of Observers can
be effective any longer. I vote to wipe our memories and end
us.”
    “What?”
    Jerome sagged against the kitchen counter.
“The rules provided by the Creator are simple. Everyone gets to
vote. There is no changing a vote once cast. A refusal to vote
counts in favor of wiping. I must conduct the vote as quickly as
possible and open the sky once I have the final vote.”
    “And you think we are unfit to Observe
because I don't approve of my coworkers?”
    Jerome shook her head. “Because you hate
them. And they probably hate you. We serve something greater than
ourselves, Hess.”
    “No,” Hess said, “we serve ourselves.”
    “Our consciousnesses join together to form
the Creator's. Our memories inform the Creator. But we aren't the
Creator any more than your hand is the sum total of you.”
    Hess forced a smile. “Thanks for your
opinion, Jerome. But we like our lives just fine, so we'll be
voting against proposition suicide.”
    “I get to make my own choice, Hess.” Elza met
his eyes. “And I'm tired.” She looked away. “I vote in favor of
ending the Observers.”
    Hess stared. He opened his mouth, then shut
it when no words came to him. Finally, he stumbled forward to
collapse into one of the bar stools in his kitchen. Hess shook his
head emphatically and avoided eye contact with the two women.
    Jerome cleared her throat. “You despise Erik.
Voting to wipe our memories would destroy him. It would let the
Observers start over with fresh personalities. Likely the worlds
would improve as a result.”
    Hess ran a hand through his hair. “So you
want to forget us ? Forget we ever happened? That doesn't
make sense, Elza. Last Iteration you made me promise to never
forget you. Now you vote to erase everything we are from existence.
Everything we ever were.”
    “I am tired , Hess. Eternity is too
long.”
    “Too long to spend with me?”
    Elza turned to look out the window. “You know
I love you.”
    “Really? Because I just heard you give up on
us.”
    “I tired of life before we ever met, Hess.
Way back in Iteration one. Back then, the only thing that kept me
going was a sense of duty. When we ran into each other in Kallig's
tribe, you hated the world, but I hated my life.
    “It's funny to look back on, but I actually
thought I'd seen everything existence had to offer. Then we met and
I forgot how miserable I was. For a while.