Heti, Camil, and the others received their recent work assignments and soon left the study. The vast room grew quiet, leaving only Gawain seated behind the desk and Veronica/Ophelia standing before it.
Of course, Amber was also present, but she had long since blended into the air and could be ignored.
Gawain looked up at Veronica, who held a platinum scepter, and nodded calmly. "There are some matters regarding this Upper Narrator that we can discuss. Have a seat."
Veronica nodded and sat in a high-backed chair beside the desk. "Your operation this time has provided us with a valuable reference case. This should be the first time we have encountered a god so directly and at such close range—and one in a rational state, at that."
"Strictly speaking, it is still different from the gods of the real world," Gawain said gravely. "We cannot yet determine whether the Upper Narrator brewed within the sandbox world is sufficiently 'complete.' Moreover, it went through the complicated process of madness, death, and division. It is hard to say what changes occurred during that process."
"But it is sufficient as a reference," Veronica said. "At the very least, we can analyze many characteristics unique to gods from it."
"For instance... the purity of divinity and its response to mortal thought," Gawain said slowly. "The Upper Narrator consisted of divinity and humanity. Its human side seemed radical, chaotic, emotional, and insufficiently rational, but it was also cleverer and more cunning. Its divine side was far simpler. I could sense that it held unconditional concern and protectiveness toward its people, and it would act to fulfill the collective thoughts of its believers. Furthermore, in a sense, its human side also acted to fulfill its believers' thoughts—it merely did so differently."
As he spoke, Gawain gradually