"Look, if you want complete honesty, the truth is no one really knows."

  I'd pinned Meph down in the lounge as the sun was starting to set. Something had been bugging me from the tavern earlier, something that wasn't quite adding up.

  If people were distributed to their final afterlife based on their own deepest beliefs, and that held more weight than anything else, then why is there even a game to decide where someone ended up? Earlier it sounded like the Divines and the Infernals didn't actually decide anyone's final fate, so in that case, what was all of this about? Not to mention, if what Tahlia told us was true, then she truly believed she should be moving on to Heaven, but she wound up here.

  Meph sighed, scrubbed his face with his hand, and then insisted we get this out of the way before Oli came over. "The Board will not be happy with me telling him all this after last time. Hell, they probably won't be too jazzed about me telling you, but what the hell," he said.

  "What do you mean, no one knows? It's the Pleroma, isn't it. They know everything, as Xandra loves telling me."

  "That's not quite accurate. The Pleroma is the culmination of all knowledge, true. The deeper you get within, the deeper the knowledge. Until one gets to the centre, the very heart of the Pleroma."

  I slumped down into my chair, causing Griff, who was sitting on the back, to bounce slightly. He looked at me through slitted eyes and then went back to sleep. "What's at the centre?"

  "Well, that is part of the 'nobody knows' thing. There are all sorts of theories, but that's all they are, really. Some think it’s a new universe, or an entirely different state of being beyond even the mortal or immaterial realms. Some wonder if the Pleroma is really just a gestation form for a truly transcendent being - an actual God, within your frame of reference. Others just think it’s a way for reaching a state where all that knowledge is actually usable, where it becomes understanding. Or maybe it is an actual heaven or hell, and none of us actually knew. The theories are nearly infinite, because we’re swimming in an endless supply of information and ideas, but we’re not able to put that all together.

  “Because that's just the thing with the Pleroma and the beings that live within, whether Infernal or Divine. We have access to that near infinite knowledge, but making something truly new or original isn't our domain, even if it’s working to a genuine conclusion based on that information.” Meph leaned back, sinking into his beanbag chair further.

  "How do you mean?"

  The tiefling bit his lip with a fang, trying to work out how to explain. "You've mentioned before how much of this world reminds you of games you used to play and books you used to read..."

  "Yeah?"

  "Well, that's because we got the ideas from them. From watching you and the things you created. You see, your lot may be mortal and have finite lives that come to an end, whereas we are eternal. But you can do something we have never been able to do," Meph leaned forward, hands folded over one another. "You can create."

  A silence passed briefly while what he was telling me sunk in.

  "What are you talking about? You guys created this whole world..." I started.

  "Not exactly. This place in-between has always existed, and it is malleable, yes. But the ideas, the quests, the mobs, all of it...it's based on the stories you all created, an infinite library of ideas that we were able to smash together and pull around to make something 'new'." He said the last word with air-quotes made in the air with his fingers.

  "So, you're like AI?"

  I turned suddenly in my chair, causing Griff to fall off the back with a hiss. Oli was standing in the doorway. I had no idea for how long. He slowly entered the room, and Griff came around looking up at me, a low, rumbling meow coming out of him.

  Oli took a seat on the couch.

  "How much did you hear?" I asked.

  "Some of it. About how the Infernals and Divines generate this place," he replied, simple and to the point.

  "Okay. How do you figure that? The AI comparison..." I asked, keeping a wary eye for any sign that Xandra might step in.

  "Well, that's all GenAI was, back on Earth, right? Libraries of information or art was plugged into it, and if given a prompt, a question, a direction, it would use all of that to produce an outcome. A 'new' image, or book, or whatever. Except it was never new, it was just chunks of everything else slapped together in different formations."

  "A little harsh, but actually pretty accurate," Meph said, with an air of annoyance. "Essentially, that is how we work. We had the information from the Mortal planes, we shaped this place using that information, but none of it is really anything new."

  I leaned forward and placed my head in my hands. "Can I never escape bloody AI..." Griff bumped the back of my hands with his head, so I sighed and scratched behind his feathery ears.

  "Okay..." I breathed out. "But what does that have to do with how people go wherever they wind up?"

  "When souls come here, most do wind up entering the Pleroma, making up the wealth of knowledge that is the Pleroma itself, funnelling towards the centre. But some souls just simply...don't. Some make more sense than others--"

  "The Early Leavers..." I whispered.

  "Yes. All, without fail, wound up here. So, we know one thing...they are not meant for the Pleroma."

  Meph answered it slowly, his eyes darting in my direction. Like he wanted to see how I'd take it. I tried not to let it show, but it did sting slightly. I don't know why. I already knew I wasn't moving on anyway.

  "The rest...we don't really know why they don't go straight there, but our best guess has always been that they hadn't done enough to make it clear where they should go. To themselves, or to whatever mote of connection you all retain to the Pleroma," Meph continued to explain.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Why would we have a connection?" Oli asked.

  Meph rolled his eyes, theatrically. "Haven't you been listening? Souls go to the Pleroma, because you are the Pleroma. You, your lived experience, the knowledge you gain in the Mortal plane, is what makes up the wealth of knowledge that is at the heart of creation itself. Whatever it funnels into at the centre of it all, it is souls at their purest.

  "As for why we make the game? Well, it is to let you, or rather the Players, work out whatever they need to work out and join the Pleroma. Or if they don't, if they fail, then they go through the distillation of the Infernal planes, purified by the time they reach the centre.

  "That, and you know, it's entertaining. For us. We get to watch you try, and it's, well...fun."

  Oli grunted derisively.

  Meph looked strangely sheepish.

  And me?

  "So, you're saying that I have no connection to the Pleroma? People like me, we're missing some crucial piece?" Is this the answer? Why I felt so disconnected? Why I couldn't see any way to make it work when I was alive?

  "No. No, I wouldn't say that," Meph answered, trying to reassure me. "As far as we can see, there is nothing different about your souls from those that do enter the Pleroma. Just...just that people that decided what you decided never return to it."

  "And what about people like me? I didn't...leave early. At least, not of my own choice, y'know," Oli sounded quiet, eyes narrowed like he was trying to force all this new information into his head.

  "Well, in your case, there's a few theories. But best guess, it was because of how...sudden your life ended. Not even you knew where it was you should end up."

  I looked over at Oli, and he just silently nodded. I'd still not asked him about how it was he found himself to be here, but it seems Meph knew something about it. I still wasn't sure if I felt comfortable to ask. Or even if I had any business asking.

  We sat there in silence, the only sound the heavy purring of Griff, who now sat curled on my lap, sleeping.

  It was like we'd exhausted how much new information we could take in in one go. Even after all this time here, I thought I knew what was going on, but I was wrong. It felt baffling to me that I could be considered of use to this whole thing but not know a thing about what was really going on.

  But more than that, I was still being used. I was still a cog in someone else's machine, a thread in someone else's tapestry. That everything I was, down to the very core of me, was just to prop along someone else's adventure.

  I looked at Meph with a forced grin. “You sure do like explaining everything, huh.”

  Meph threw back his head and sighed into the air. “Well, yeah. I always kinda hated it too, you know, in stories where the problems were caused simply because the characters don’t just explain everything,” he said, recalling our conversation from what felt like ages ago. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, sometimes there’s a reason for it, this lack of explaining the truth of things so everyone is on the same page, but absolutely loads of the stories you lot made are just rampant with huge problems which are fixed by the most obvious solution, and it drove me up the wall.”

  “I get that, you know I hated it too. There was this one anime where the lead would keep finding out something, and he’d get the next step in the mystery if he just asked another character about it, but instead he’d always just talk about something else, or go off on some tangent about how he was ‘selfish’” I snorted. “Drove me bonkers!”

  Oli laughed, making us look at him. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Just love that word you Brits use. ‘Bonkers’”. He smiled as I rolled my eyes, amused at him.

  “Well, I’m not British. Hell, I’m not even human. Then again, some of those British politicians could probably be described the same…” Meph declared theatrically. “But yes, it was always quite frustrating when something like that popped up. So I’m happy to explain. What I can, anyway. There are rules too, ones that I’m under, like a cage. In fact, the best stories where a character can’t just be straight up honest, much like life, are down to two things: they’re lying, or they cannot be truthful. Or both.”

  “Both?” I said. “Those seem like kinda mutually exclusive things.”

  “Two truths can exist, even when they’re diametrically opposed, and still be true. If someone lies to you because they’re not allowed to tell you the truth, they’re only lying because they’re in a cage themselves, whether via control or threat or repercussions. Or a host of other reasons.

  “If someone painted a vague picture of the world around you, that wasn’t quite false, but also purposefully not true, could it only be because they’re a bad person, or wanting to lie to you? Or could there be a guiding hand hidden behind them as well.

  “Take Oli here. He’s proven himself to be a good guy, right? But he’s also a billionaire. Billionaires don’t come from being a good guy, there’s always something distasteful going on, whether in the light of day or in the shadows.”

  “Wow. Harsh,” Oli shrunk into himself.

  “But false?”

  Oli paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and sighed. “No, not false. I may not have done bad things myself, but my dad…there’s a lot of where that money came from that I absolutely hated, but did I do anything to stop it? Hell, did I do anything with it to help as many as I could? Maybe if I had, I wouldn’t be here now, would I…”

  Silence hung over the room again.

  Then I laughed.

  The room all turned on me, and I apologised as I wiped a tear from my eyes.

  "Sorry. It's just all so...ridiculous," I snorted.

  Oli smiled. "Well, I'm glad you find it funny."

  "Oh, it's not," I continued to giggle. "It's horrifying. But what else can you do." I stood, and moved to the stove, putting a filled kettle on to boil. "Anyway, Oli, I meant to ask you, about that quest--"

  Oli jumped to his feet, suddenly looking revitalised with energy. "Right, yeah, totally! That's why I came over. I’ve been thinkin'. I'm happy enough here, but maybe adventuring would be fun. You know me, I'm pretty chilled, but I guess venturing forth and all that might be good for me."

  "Well, yeah, it's what you're here for, isn't it. But then you asked what if you were meant to be here?" I said. I wasn’t going to let him sweep that away. I needed to know what he meant.

  Oli swayed foot to foot. "Well, I just like this. Helping out around the town. Going on little chores for the townsfolk, training me up, our little trips. It's fun. I actually like it here, not some abstract, weird Heaven place...I'm a nerd, this is my Heaven." Oli said, getting more enthusiastic with each word. “For me, I could see myself here forever too, and I’d be happy with it.”

  Meph’s eyes quickly flashed, I noticed out of the corner of my own eyes. He looked to Oli with concern, looking like he was about to say something.

  I chuckled to myself. "Okay, yeah, I guess I can see that. But there's still more out there for you, you shouldn't hold yourself back for a fantasy, no matter how well put together it is."

  "Sure, but on that. I can see that, and I guess I’ll have to do what I’m here for eventually, but I didn't really want to go with Tahlia. She seemed nice an' all, but if I'm to go out adventuring, well, I'd really like to do it with you."

  I stood in silence, blinking at him. I looked to Meph, in his bean bag, and he just awkwardly shrugged.

  "But Oli, you know, I'm just a Game Guide. I can't go on a quest with you. Mine is bigger than most, but there's a limit to how far I can travel outside of Durrilan even.”

  "Yeah, okay, but like, if you were in my Party, surely you could come along."

  "But I can't join your Party, Oli."

  "Sure you can, look."

  And with that there was a chime, and a new notification popped up in my system.

  There are two ways that people can join a Party. Player to Player, one sends a request to the other to join and the other can accept or reject the request.

  But should a Player want an NPC to join one of their Party slots, they can select the name of the NPC, as long as they have met them, in their HUD, and just add them to their Party. With a few notable exceptions.

  I was now staring at the notification hovering at the top edge of my vision.

  Oliver Elden has added you to their Party

  "What? How? What the he--?"

  Then the world flashed to white.