eclecticmuses: August Prompt #1
This only is denied to God: the power to undo the past. -Agathon
I don't know about God. I never got to meet the big guy, so for all I know, he can do whatever he damn well pleases. You'd think, being God, that would be the case, right?
What I do know (who I do know?) are the Powers That Be. Kind of. More now than I used to, since I work for them a little more directly. And I can tell you that bit about not being able to undo the past? Total crap. They can undo whatever they want. They just usually don't want to. And I get why. You start changing stuff in the past, it messes up the present, and not always in a good way. So if you're going to go asking the Powers to give you a rewind, you'd better have a damn good reason. And even then they'll probably say no. They're real bitches that way.
Weirdly enough, I kind of like them... sometimes.
We had this one guy a couple of weeks ago who wanted them to let him go back and stop his girlfriend from being torn apart by a demon. I felt bad for him, but she didn't have any important purpose in the Grand Scheme, so they said no. Boy, was he pissed. But you know, as sad as it is, these things happen. We can't go around undoing every death, or else things would get really crowded, really fast.
But sometimes they'll grant a do-over, if the circumstances are right. Or they're really bored. I haven't quite figured out their criteria yet. Anyway, you know that earthquake we had here a few weeks ago? That would be one of those cases of undoing the past and screwing up the present. There wasn't supposed to be an earthquake - hadn't been one the first time around. But some bigshot champion type came in all upset over this nest of demons that attacked a children's hospital and killed a whole mess of kids. And I guess it turned out one of the kids was kind of important in the Grand Scheme (though how, I have no clue. They don't share much with us.), so the PTB let him go back and try again. He set up some kind of trap for them and blew up their gathering place, and I guess the explosion was close to a fault line and triggered something. So, kids got saved, but we all got a nice little earthquake instead. You can thank the me for that one, I guess, since I was the oracle that handled it. Not that it was my choice or anything. I just relay the messages.
I don't know about God. I never got to meet the big guy, so for all I know, he can do whatever he damn well pleases. You'd think, being God, that would be the case, right?
What I do know (who I do know?) are the Powers That Be. Kind of. More now than I used to, since I work for them a little more directly. And I can tell you that bit about not being able to undo the past? Total crap. They can undo whatever they want. They just usually don't want to. And I get why. You start changing stuff in the past, it messes up the present, and not always in a good way. So if you're going to go asking the Powers to give you a rewind, you'd better have a damn good reason. And even then they'll probably say no. They're real bitches that way.
Weirdly enough, I kind of like them... sometimes.
We had this one guy a couple of weeks ago who wanted them to let him go back and stop his girlfriend from being torn apart by a demon. I felt bad for him, but she didn't have any important purpose in the Grand Scheme, so they said no. Boy, was he pissed. But you know, as sad as it is, these things happen. We can't go around undoing every death, or else things would get really crowded, really fast.
But sometimes they'll grant a do-over, if the circumstances are right. Or they're really bored. I haven't quite figured out their criteria yet. Anyway, you know that earthquake we had here a few weeks ago? That would be one of those cases of undoing the past and screwing up the present. There wasn't supposed to be an earthquake - hadn't been one the first time around. But some bigshot champion type came in all upset over this nest of demons that attacked a children's hospital and killed a whole mess of kids. And I guess it turned out one of the kids was kind of important in the Grand Scheme (though how, I have no clue. They don't share much with us.), so the PTB let him go back and try again. He set up some kind of trap for them and blew up their gathering place, and I guess the explosion was close to a fault line and triggered something. So, kids got saved, but we all got a nice little earthquake instead. You can thank the me for that one, I guess, since I was the oracle that handled it. Not that it was my choice or anything. I just relay the messages.