Solipsism
"I suppose a compromise will work," said the other voice.
"Glad to hear it," I said. I briefly pondered what effect my meddling might have on society, or if any of them had even managed to achieve enough magical prowess to notice. Regardless, I placed clear boundaries in the amount of power that they could wield. Their innovative spirit didn't seem to be affected too much, although some of their more ambitious projects would now be doomed to failure.
"It probably is better this way," I admitted. "They'll still be able to cook, craft, and create... but now they can't create huge boulders or summon large floods. And I bet if they use teamwork, they can still figure out the benefits of steam."
"I'm glad you're happy," said the other voice. "I'm sure this will end very well for you. Say, what's that down there?"
I paused. What was he talking about about? He had no physical hand to point with, but I soon noticed what he was referring to. There was a crevice in the ground below the city, which was beginning to widen.
"What did you do?" I asked, trying to remain calm.
"Me?" replied the other voice, feigning innocence. "Why, I didn't do anything. But there appears to be a volcano forming underneath your city. Gosh, what are the odds?"
A volcano? It was just a fissure, how could it possibly... I tried to seal it, but my powers had no effect. The other voice was obviously behind it, or else I could have fixed it. Since I couldn't undo his powers, I tried to move the city to safety instead. I was too late. A huge column of solid lava erupted from the ground, bathing the city and turning everything to ash in a matter of seconds.
"Volcanoes don't even look like that," I cried, as the torrent of liquid fire kept erupting from the crack in the ground. "They're supposed to be conical mountains, you idiot!" I could do nothing but watch as the lava fell to the earth, burning the farmland and killing the last few survivors who had chanced to be away from the city when the other voice struck.
"Gosh, what a disaster," said the other voice. "If only there had been other cities, this disaster might not have been so thorough."
I was too angry to speak. My work had been reduced to a field of ash, and a sky of soot. There was nothing left for me to do, and little point in trying to work around such a disaster. Better to simply wipe the slate clean.
"Glad to hear it," I said. I briefly pondered what effect my meddling might have on society, or if any of them had even managed to achieve enough magical prowess to notice. Regardless, I placed clear boundaries in the amount of power that they could wield. Their innovative spirit didn't seem to be affected too much, although some of their more ambitious projects would now be doomed to failure.
"It probably is better this way," I admitted. "They'll still be able to cook, craft, and create... but now they can't create huge boulders or summon large floods. And I bet if they use teamwork, they can still figure out the benefits of steam."
"I'm glad you're happy," said the other voice. "I'm sure this will end very well for you. Say, what's that down there?"
I paused. What was he talking about about? He had no physical hand to point with, but I soon noticed what he was referring to. There was a crevice in the ground below the city, which was beginning to widen.
"What did you do?" I asked, trying to remain calm.
"Me?" replied the other voice, feigning innocence. "Why, I didn't do anything. But there appears to be a volcano forming underneath your city. Gosh, what are the odds?"
A volcano? It was just a fissure, how could it possibly... I tried to seal it, but my powers had no effect. The other voice was obviously behind it, or else I could have fixed it. Since I couldn't undo his powers, I tried to move the city to safety instead. I was too late. A huge column of solid lava erupted from the ground, bathing the city and turning everything to ash in a matter of seconds.
"Volcanoes don't even look like that," I cried, as the torrent of liquid fire kept erupting from the crack in the ground. "They're supposed to be conical mountains, you idiot!" I could do nothing but watch as the lava fell to the earth, burning the farmland and killing the last few survivors who had chanced to be away from the city when the other voice struck.
"Gosh, what a disaster," said the other voice. "If only there had been other cities, this disaster might not have been so thorough."
I was too angry to speak. My work had been reduced to a field of ash, and a sky of soot. There was nothing left for me to do, and little point in trying to work around such a disaster. Better to simply wipe the slate clean.