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Dec. 11th, 2008
Ficlet--The Necessary Thing
Dec. 11th, 2008 03:02 pmThey will never know. No-one will ever know.
The thing about a Time War is, you see, it doesn't actually have a beginning as such. We chased them, they chased us, all the way back to Event One or very nearly, and all the way to the end as well. And whenever we went we found them, and whenever they went they found us, and soon all of history was full of blood and death and agony. Whatever had actually sparked it off was lost in the mists of--well. Yes.
And it doesn't have an end either. Till one side or the other is totally wiped out of existence, out of history. Nothing else to be done.
We couldn't do that to them. We fought them to a standstill, we nearly wiped them out a thousand times, but we couldn't take that last decisive step. Because we were--who we were. We had that power, and we dared not use it, because we were who we were. And of course they couldn't do it to us, because they didn't have that power. We kept it from them. In all our retreats, all our rearguard actions, we achieved that much.
But the war had to end. Before it consumed all of creation. One side had to go. The logic was inescapable.
So I did the necessary thing. I made sure they were reduced, brought as close to nothingness as conventional weapons could bring them--I thought it would take them a long time to crawl back from that.
And I did. The necessary thing. I stopped the war. I saved the universe. The only way it could be saved.
They'll never know. All those bright faces, looking to me for answers, laughing at me when I pretend to be stupid for their amusement. If they knew I couldn't bear it. As long as I'm the only one who knows, I can deal with it.
And maybe some day I'll be able to forget it.
But not today.
The thing about a Time War is, you see, it doesn't actually have a beginning as such. We chased them, they chased us, all the way back to Event One or very nearly, and all the way to the end as well. And whenever we went we found them, and whenever they went they found us, and soon all of history was full of blood and death and agony. Whatever had actually sparked it off was lost in the mists of--well. Yes.
And it doesn't have an end either. Till one side or the other is totally wiped out of existence, out of history. Nothing else to be done.
We couldn't do that to them. We fought them to a standstill, we nearly wiped them out a thousand times, but we couldn't take that last decisive step. Because we were--who we were. We had that power, and we dared not use it, because we were who we were. And of course they couldn't do it to us, because they didn't have that power. We kept it from them. In all our retreats, all our rearguard actions, we achieved that much.
But the war had to end. Before it consumed all of creation. One side had to go. The logic was inescapable.
So I did the necessary thing. I made sure they were reduced, brought as close to nothingness as conventional weapons could bring them--I thought it would take them a long time to crawl back from that.
And I did. The necessary thing. I stopped the war. I saved the universe. The only way it could be saved.
They'll never know. All those bright faces, looking to me for answers, laughing at me when I pretend to be stupid for their amusement. If they knew I couldn't bear it. As long as I'm the only one who knows, I can deal with it.
And maybe some day I'll be able to forget it.
But not today.