A Chronometric Defect

I did what had to be done. Now I'll find out if it worked.

"Dracosect, is everything okay?"

Please. Roh please.

"Better than ever, my god!"

Rhew.

"Are you still partying?"

"Of course not, my god! Temp expanded his array to the whole planet. We've all been enjoying his Mana and Improvement inscriptions without reserve! Chronometric City is completed, so now we're rebuilding the rest! He did say there wasn't enough Mana for the Dragonpower Sigil, but I have no idea what that one does. Temp wouldn't say."

Ruhm. That's not—

"What are you guys doing?"

"Expanding your hoards, my god!"

I'm slightly regretting my philosophies. Ever so slightly.

"Are you having fun at least?"

"My god! What's more fun than building a whole city in a few hours? Didn't you mention those 'city-building simulators' from your past life? We have infinite resources and strength to build with! It's better than the games!"

Apparently my subconscious again. Ragh, I hope that's not caused by the crystals. Lemme look.

I check Dracosect's memories.

Completely crystallized. Damn.

I look for flickering memories.

Nothing. Rehm, yet.

Did me getting stronger make it spread faster? I still don't know what effect this crystallization might have, but it doesn't seem to create a compulsion like the deadly sins or false virtues.

I think back to Unlo.

At least I want to convince myself it doesn't. Based on what I know, the Abyssals' corruption probably can't convert those it infects into more Abyssals. At least, the deity officer didn't seem to think it was possible. They'd always go crazy and commit suicide after a lot of mass murder. 'Call of the abyss' indeed.

As for my corruption? If what happened to Unlo in the end was caused by my corruption... A complete catastrophe may loom on our collective horizon. I don't know how far that stuff can spread.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem I've been communicating subconsciously on the regular. I'm not forcing my Will onto Dracosect or anyone else as best I can tell. At least, according to my memories, and theirs. Which is not perfect since I can edit memories... But it's the best I've got.

I only seem to mentally respond when others express a desire to which I can provide a solution. Specifically, when they desire the answer from 'me.' In this case? How to make his prized cities get built faster. I subconsciously replied 'make it fun, like this game!' I mean, yes, that's a fair point.

I check a few other random dragons who've thought about me. None of them have received any subconscious contacts. They aren't thinking to ask me, and I'm not forcing my Will onto them. Though, I may have to restrict this, so it doesn't become too invasive. I don't want people substituting my thoughts for their own, even voluntarily. Just having a good mindset is plenty.

I next decide to take a look at species other than my dragons.

They seem baffled as to why the dragons are gung-ho about everything. At least I haven't stirred the non-dragons into a city-building frenzy, despite the fact my Origin has infected them. I'm not even gonna look to see how bad it's gotten.

I do look down at my own body.

Was it strange before? Yes. But this? How does it keep... Haah. I was such a cool-looking dragon. Now? Hrem.

Status, Name.

Name: Chronovoid Dragon

At least it didn't eat the Dragon part of my name. Just, the 'metric' part of 'Chronometric.'

I don't measure time anymore? Instead, I exist outside of time. Rehm. I'm a time void? Hra?

I look down at myself again.

I sure do look like it. Whatever 'it' is, I'm definitely that.

The spikes have calmed down slightly. I'm still a weird maw-thing, and my spikes are still huge origin blades. The smaller blades shrunk back down, returning my body to something closer to a dragon. That's good.

Problem is, my body's not Abyssal black anymore. It's entirely transparent. I know Dracosect said people thought I was transparent, but isn't this pushing it a little?

Even my red eyes. They're just, clear. No color. Nada. I sparkle and glint in the sunlight like a huge gemstone. I'm visually identical to a dragon's favorite treasure.

I wave my claws around, again fooling with the sunlight of a blue star. They glint and glow.

Alright. Rokay! You know what? I can dig this.

I grab the blue supergiant with two claws and pop it into my dragon maw. Like the whole thing were but a mote of dust.

SPATIAL NOM! FATALITY!

...

No, that's not a talent. That's just me: I'm ginormous.

To think I had so much trouble with a red giant.

Such is life, I guess?

C'est la guerre.

Whelp, I need to check up on my hoard, maybe show off my new form. They'll probably love it, actually. Dragons positively adore shiny things. Which is why I had to redirect that tendency into more productive behaviors.

I'm not sure what I should do about my temple, though. Aren't those artworks outdated?

Hrem.

Mreh, it's fine. It's all my history. Temples are intended to praise the past so we can build faith in the future. In that respect it does its job perfectly.

I shrink down to a reasonable 50 meters, then locate Dracosect. I cast transference nearby.

"—pete to see who can overhaul their tower the fastest!"

A bunch of dragons roar at once.

"RAAHRR!!!"

They turn around and run toward the city.

Tens of thousands of humans are crowded around, looking at Dracosect's spectacle with both amazement and confusion.

Some... With a tinge of anger.

A few with boiling rage.

Rahhh, damnit all.

Apparently, nobody has noticed me. So, there's that.

"Dracosect, why am I looking at a city covered in giant futuristic skyscrapers? We'll never fill this many buildings."

He looks down. His eyes widen.

"My GOD! You look INCREDIBLE! How could you be worried about THIS?! I want to throw you into my gem hoard RIGHT NOW!"

"Drac-o-seeeect."

*koff*

"Right, right. My god, we figured we'd build more because, why not?"

"Because those people up there—"

I point to the humans.

"— want to get back to their lives. You can't improve their homes so endlessly that they never get to live in them."

"AH...!"

I shake my sparkling dragon head.

"You now have extra buildings. Improve the empty ones and let people move out of their original homes if they so choose. If they want to stay? You can't bulldoze their whole lives. Sentiment may be bothersome for a city planner, but sentiment is also the lifeblood of a city. If nobody cares about your city, then ask yourself: why are you building it? And for whom?"

"My god, I... I..."

"You were thinking of what's better for them. That's good. However, you need to remember that you don't know what they consider 'better.'"

"I'm so sorry my god! What can we do?!"

"We'll have to compensate anyone who's unhappy by rebuilding their home to their specifications. Even if their demands are unreasonable. Don't you think making many unique homes is an even more worthy challenge than giant unwieldy skyscrapers?"

His eyes widen, then sparkle with excitement.

"Yes, my god! Let's do it!"

He turns to the dragons, thousands of whom are swarming over the buildings like ants.

"Everyone! Once we finish these, we're going to ask the city's people what they want us to build! No matter what it is, we have to build it! It might be even harder!"

They all stop for a moment to yell back.

"YEAHHHHHHH!"

Roh, jeez. Are they workaholics or sadists?

I look over at the humans. Many of them are already discussing what Dracosect just said. Most of the enraged ones are less angry, now mostly suspicious. A few remain pretty pissed, though. They still haven't noticed me.

I use my power to magically construct a large dragon-inspired stage with beautiful ornate stairs in front of them.

Dracosect eyes my construction ability with both admiration and hope. No, Dracosect. I'm not doing that for the whole city. It's not that I can't, it's more that I'd rebuild the entire planet within a fraction of a second.

I just ate a huge chunk of the universe. If I use my power— forget risks; you all would have nothing to do.

...

After waiting for a bit, almost everyone has noticed the stage I built from nothing but Mana. I have their attention.

I walk up onto the stage. Many of them point, gasp, or look at me with confusion. A few eye me with excitement, fear, worry, or anticipation. Reah, those ones figured it out.

"Hello, I am Chronovoid. Formerly, Chronomet."

Murmurs from the crowd.

"I first want to apologize for what my followers have done. They were trying to make your lives better—"

Several people in the crowd ain't havin' it.

"BOOO!" "Boooo!"

"Boooo!" "BOOooo!"

"Yes, boo indeed. I understand. You're right to boo us. If rebuilding your former homes or rebuilding a new house to your specifications is not something you're willing to accept, please let Dracosect here know what it is you desire. If it's possible for him, he'll do it, and if not, I'll decide whether I can carry it out."

Silence. I decide to address them.

"Any questions?"

A random guy yells from the crowd.

"Yeah! I want my mother's ashes back!"

Not a question, but sure. Easy.

Pathfinder, find this man's mother's ashes.

It highlights a huge area, some outside the city limits.

My dragons really blew up this guy's house. Sheesh! That's horrible.

I Will Causal Decoherence to make the ashes fly back to me, then beautifully spin into a clump.

"Do you want me to reconstruct the original container or make you a new one?"

"I— is that really mother?"

"I promise it is. Remember, I'm a real god. Doing this much is nothing difficult; I have no need to deceive you."

"Then, yes. Make me a new one."

I look at his clothes. He's not flashy; he's wearing mostly demure colors. His pants have a spooling, elegant brown pattern while his shirt is a clean and tidy dark green. He's wearing a small gold necklace that has a symbol on it. I recognize it as a prize given in a national competition, prior to this nation's annexation. Perhaps he and his mother worked on his project together.

I create the shape of an urn, which spins together with earthy tones. Then, I place a golden emblem on the side and top similar to the necklace he's wearing, but surrounded by a subtle swooshing and looping pattern. The subtle part of the pattern then turns into a blueish-teal while retaining a few flecks of gold.

I pass the urn over to him.

"Is this acceptable?"

He hugs the urn tightly.

"Mother... Mother. Thank you, so... So much... It's more than I could've ever hoped for..."

We live for many things in life. In death, our memories live on solely for comforting others.

I need to make him happy; not mirror his beloved mother's every nuance. He's the only one who can fill those blanks with his memories. If he wanted to honor her colors or symbols, I would've of course oblige: it's all for him.

"She. Haah. She died after the rest of our family. I thought you all were taking her from me a second time."

I freeze.

She must've passed from the sheer stress of losing so many. Otherwise, he couldn't have her ashes.

I... Ate the rest.

"I'm so, so sorry."

He shakes his head sadly.

Then turns and walks away.

The crowd looks broken up.

Several are silently crying.

"Any other personal requests?"

"Uhm, can you get my family's image album?"

I return the guy's many image inscriptions. They weren't damaged by the construction, thankfully. Reinscribing them might've been difficult, especially if the images were gone. Though, I'd recover them anyway. Gods can do that.

"Anyone else?"

I receive numerous requests and carry them all out to the best of my ability. Only one person, who asked me to find his beloved dog, can't be helped. Not because I couldn't retrieve it. I can't find any proof it exists— alive or dead.

I don't think this man has ever owned a dog in his entire life.

"So! WON'T fulfill an easy request, huh?! Look at this joker, everyone! Thinks he's all that!"

Reh? Now he's inciting? Hrem. I raise my left index claw.

"One moment, please."