Setting Limits

The Invigilator, real name redacted, looked over his minion’s handiwork. He was mildly impressed. The human had exceeded his expectation. He had been creative, innovative, and most importantly, successful. It had all been a test, one in which he hadn’t allowed the man to study for, and he had passed in spite of his inexperience. He was surprised that in at least two of his objectives the human had managed to have a peaceful resolution prior to destroying the planet and its inhabitants.

In spite of the agent’s success, the Invigilator had decided to handicap the boy to a certain extent for an undetermined period of time. It had to be done. This was meant to force him to grow, and think even further beyond the paradigms that he knew. He did not know when he would decide to give the human back full use of his abilities, but when the time came he would unshackle him once more. For now, however, he had to temper the agent’s powers until he garnered a better understanding of them. Success aside, he was admittedly disappointed that the Decimator had not employed a single one of his powers that’d he’d been given, and had instead relied on primitive weapons to see him through times of difficulty.

He had given this agent more power than he had any other. His powers would be almost limitless at their peak. Once he had mastered his skills he would be unstoppable compared to the beings of the worlds he would be going to. Not even his vaunted Horseman could compare to his Revelator. He had looked into the man’s soul, and he had found fortitude, patience, and a strength of character than none of his variants had come close to possessing. Mason had been chosen for his combination of physical skills, mental fortitude, and intelligence. The man was creative and successful in all of his iterations, but only this man had built a substantive character. There were nine others that he could have chosen, but they would not have been able to handle the upcoming trials, and if the multiverse was going to survive then he needed the man that he had now. This version would also bring his wayward son, the Horseman, back into play and if he was able to read all of the variables then it would take the two of them working together to stop what was coming. His hands, as big as they were, were metaphorically tied. He was not permitted to interfere, but he could call upon others to do his work. They needed to discover what was happening, and figure things out before the others broke free.

He stroked his chin guard absentmindedly. He would use the artificial intelligence known as Mother to implant a thought into his head. He would think that he had come up with it on his own, and he would investigate in the proper places. He had to make sure that his intermediary moved quickly and did not waste time. Time was a commodity that they did not have. He could already hear the others beating on the veil between worlds. They had come so close to getting a foothold here too many times, and once that happened the continuous cosmos would cease to be. He had to help in small subtle ways. Anything overt would cause his superiors to come down on him hard. This was just a small section of reality, and they could care less whether it was obliterated or grew unfettered. They just wanted it tended to.

He sent his commands to Mother and then lined up several more worlds for the agent to destroy. He would be generous this time around, and he would give him some time to come up with a plan of success. It was time to see how well he played the long game. The fact that he was hobbled with meaningless things such as a point system made it all the more interesting. Declan Mason was facing numerous hurdles in the foreseeable future. The Invigilator wondered if he would be able to jump them all while his legs were shackled. It was time to really push his boundaries. There would now be a system in place that would force him to adapt and evolve, and hopefully, prepare him for the horrors to come.