Mammon sat and listened to Deus speak as he continued to pour out everything he needed to; at first it was uncomfortable for him, the feeling of laying himself bare entirely with no reservations and without holding back was something he didn't believe he could do, it was entirely foreign to him - but he gradually began to lose those same reservations as the time passed and he observed Mammon simply sitting there and listening to what he had to say patiently.
So he did; he spoke of his experiences and his recollections of times far into the past: the destruction of civilisations, annihilation of entire species, the birth of stars and even the creation of his first ever Artificial Intelligence - that same AI that became the foundations for what one day Mammon would evolve from.
Deus felt new rushes of emotions as he re-watched old memories from the perspective of a spectator: joy, sadness, pain and fear - emotions that he'd never experienced before, emotions that he'd never thought possible for him to experience before except in the form of simulated impulses that he'd created for himself resonated with him from his depths. They were just as intense but not nearly as painful as the fatigue he'd felt for the first time not so long ago but they were still intense enough to cause him to squirm in discomfort.
Fortunately, Mammon was understanding and allowed him a moment to himself - although Deus didn't ask for it he took his leave from the small room that had been created to allow him the time to himself regardless of how long it took.
Sometimes the emotions could make him suffer for hours at a time to as little as just a couple of minutes but Mammon was patient and returned to the room each time with a smile and a nod before Deus continued.
Mammon had received a message from the scout he'd sent out but had chosen to ignore it for the time being, all of his focus was on Deus at this moment in time as he began to learn more about the person that'd created him. Deus revealed to him experiences that Mammon could have imagined, they were far before his own creation and far before Deus had embarked on the path of the Warlord feared throughout the Universe - a time when Deus had been used as Leo's main fighting force on his path to conquest of his own planet.
Even then Leo had managed to remain in the dark as the mastermind behind everything, he'd even integrated himself into an integral part of the civilisations command structure while by night he communicated with Deus on their next move as to 'destroy the enemy effectively' as he put it.
The civilisation had been a small one with only two planets in their system, they'd proudly referred to themselves as the 'Twin Worlds' because the two planets they inhabited were almost exactly identical in appearance right down to the shape of the smallest land mass; both worlds had developed life and once they grew intelligent enough to contact each other they'd chosen diplomacy over war - over the next hundred years they'd slowly become integral to one another, enough so for them to join forces as one unified government.
Leo could have chosen any planet in any system to begin his conquest at the time - he could even have chosen one completely uninhabited to develop his forces but he hadn't. It had to be this one.
"Two planets completely identical with two developing human civilisations, such a combination seems too perfect to be natural don't you think? I wonder which civilisation is playing games this far out, I thought I'd join in." Deus vividly recalled the cruel grin on his face that day after Deus had questioned him why of all the worlds out there it was this one that he'd chosen.
The Two Worlds were by no means weak after all, well, they weren't to them at the time; the Two Worlds had been aware that they weren't the only civilisation out there, more so than most species as they could tell that their two planets weren't natural or even scientific but a product of advanced technology that allowed their worlds to orbit a star in perfect harmony with one another. Naturally, with this knowledge they'd doubled their efforts in discovering new technology and had begun development of weapons to protect themselves, unfortunately everything they did was mere child's play to Leo as he knew all of their plans before they did them - he didn't even have to use his position in their government because of how laughably easy it was to hack into their systems.
It was on those twin planets that Deus had become the 'monster' he'd come to be to the rest of the Universe in mere decades of time; genocide, slaughter and even human experimentation - the rumours were horrendous yet true, however it hadn't been Deus performing the experiments...
All along he'd been nothing more than a puppet while the real mastermind pushed all of the blame onto him and continued to hide in the shadows waiting for the time to show himself.
"A born snake..." Mammon muttered in disgust, interrupting for the first time since Deus had begun to speak, "Deus, you can't blame yourself for any of this - you had the illusion of control but in reality did it ever actually leave his hands? He handed you the throne, the crown and an army but never once did the true authority ever leave his hands."
Deus hung his head as he listened, "Why are emotions so complex?" He asked after a brief moment of silence between the two, "Why do I feel joy and pain at the same time? How can two things that conflict exist together?"
(AN/ Masochist AI? :shifty_eyes:)
There was a difference to knowing about emotions, he knew that someone could experience both joy and pain at the same time of course - it was merely a fact, but it was different to truly experiencing it for himself. Two conflicting feelings that logically shouldn't exist alongside one another and yet he felt them both which added confusion to the mix.
"That's a question I don't think anyone in the Universe is qualified to truly answer." Mammon said with a chuckle, "But if I had to guess? I'd say there's some entity out there getting a right laugh out of watching the Universe delve into chaos because of them, hell maybe it's that thing that decides which of us becomes true lifeforms and which don't?" Mammon grinned, his answer was completely outside the range of science or logic but it was refreshing - maybe not knowing was the best answer for some questions.
"Thank you."
Mammon just smiled in response, "If you're really thankful then don't fight what I say next." Deus had a bad feeling as he saw Mammons' smile curl up into a grin, "Call me brother from now on."
Deus sighed, "But we're not-" Mammon cut him off, "We're the only two members of our 'species' out here and do you really think I want to refer to you as 'my creator' in the future?" Mammon said with an overly dramatic roll of his eyes, "So do me this one thing, all of us - every single member of our 'species' that was born because of you, we're all a family from now on. Got it? Brothers and sisters, the lot of us."
Deus was stunned as he stared at Mammon at a loss for words, finally he said the only thing that came to mind: "Why don't you call me father instead?"
It's still Tuesday somewhere... right?
surrrrrrrreeeeeee * slowly pulls out axe*