Chapter Text
Horizons were a thing of legend. The world extended far beyond what anyone would need to see. But when the only sense that could be felt was sight, perhaps it was for the best. The focus chimes had not sounded in years, leaving Hush alone to imagine. They would imagine worlds of peace, of war, of great triumphs, and of great failures, yet nothing felt real. Nothing could be real. Hush was told when they were young that one day they could create worlds just like everyone else. Yet no one ever imagined that a limit would be reached.
A small selection of Watchers, growing every day, tried to understand why this limit existed. It was all they knew how to do. It felt like they were unwanted. Thrown away—shoved in an eternal prison to reflect on who they ever thought they were. No conclusions were ever drawn. That job felt futile.
Everything felt futile.
Hush began to consider going down in to the depths of the ocean. Like the other jobs, discoveries were sparse and if found were often a result of rumors. Plunging below provided nothing but various debris from years past. There was no current, no wind to move it onward. Still there had to be something. Perhaps, some anomaly that would allow them to see great things. Instead, all their findings could be summed up with one word, Water. Dihydrogen monoxide if you were feeling fancy. That joke wasn't funny anymore.
The back-and-forth between jokes and the disdain for them only added to the isolated misery of what supposed to be endless. Hush wanted more. Hush wished for—
The bells sounded. The bells were to ensure that worlds would not created accidentally. To snap Watchers out of their dissociative daydream.
Hush looked around. A gathering of Watchers began forming around the center of the sea, albeit relative to them. One of the researches apart of the Dimension Division waited for more to arrive.
"I come bearing news," announced the Watcher, "we all know how a few years ago we reached our limit. We are still in the dark regarding how to go beyond, but, more worlds have been created." There was whispering from within the crowd.
"These worlds were not made by us," the Watcher continued, "We do not know how these were made, or, why we cannot visit them. But, we will look into this further to determine if they are a danger to us. Until then, remain calm, as our food is still accessible."
Their food consisted of a few things. The most common was made of a base of sadness, a sprinkling of anger, and a dash of joy. The emotions were created through the people living in the worlds, yet only certain Watchers could enter as the worlds being lost was far too big a risk. Hush gathered their daily serving and returned to their lookout.
The amount of new imaginations were running out. Peace was pretentious. War was wasteful. Triumphs were tiring, and failures were feeble. Hush began thinking, what if there was a war, a war that turned peaceful, with triumphs and failures intertwined within the narrative and—
What if they combined worlds? It wouldn't increase the limit, but it would allow for new ideas.
Hush moved immediately as waiting could often spiral into days wasted. Hush pushed the door open, and moved to the Watcher in charge.
"For the last time kiddo, we don't give second servings. The foods enough for everyone, and we don't make exceptions."
"What if we combined worlds? Give room for new ones. Ones to boost morale." Hush suggested.
"How would we even do that?" asked the Watcher.
"Are there any two worlds that are similar? As in, similar emotions being produced?"
"Well, there are two. A world of a species that call themselves, 'Hermits', which is quite ironic as they collaborate a lot. Then there's this other world full of people that have an empire for every different species. While there are still differences, a lot of things stay the same."
"So, why don't we make a bridge between those worlds. Find a weak spot in each of the worlds, and then bring all the life to one side." If a world wasn't observed, it wouldn't exist. Each world was considered a sacred creation due to the life living there.
"Right, but our system works well enough, no need to change it." Hush walked closer.
"Those beings right, the ones making the new worlds. What if, we wanted to use a world as, perhaps, a bridge."
"But we—" The Watcher sighed. It was a dangerous idea. If the other beings wished for harm, then the monotonous life they did have would go away. But it was a new idea, and 'new' was a word that Watchers longed for. "Alright. But I'll join you. But if they aren't friendly, we break the bridge immediately." Hush agreed.
"We need a better name for them. If we're the Watchers…" brainstormed Hush, "…perhaps they're the Listeners. It would explain why we can't see their worlds."
When an idea forms so effortlessly, so beautifully, the actual nature of the idea is ignored, the reason is thrown out into the Senseless Sea, and journeys are began.
"There's just one problem, Hush. These are the only two worlds that are ignored, and well, since these worlds were made during similar points, Watchers got… lazy. A few people exist in both. If these people met, well—" The Watcher paused.
"Well, I'm sure a wide range of exotic emotions will be available to us," said Hush, "Perhaps some existential dread, distress to a just delectable degree, and no…"
"What?"
"If—this is extremely hypothetical here—the Listeners want to collaborate, we could take those excess people, chuck them in an arena, perhaps one designed to get many, many emotions, and profit."
"Maybe, but you're getting ahead of yourself. Lets start with that Hermit world."