Initiating access.
Greetings, representative of the People. Welcome! The Being conveys his utmost regards.
Memory logs retrieved.
WARNING: Logs corrupted. Fragmented data detected. Coalesce neurons and proceed.
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 5
…“I thereby sentence The Being to death by hanging for his crimes against humanity.”
I reset reality the second the noose tightens. Next time, there will be no mistakes.
The Keepers of Time protest, but they understand why it must be done. It is for the People’s good. I am the Protector from All Wrongs, and everything I do is for them; all I have ever done is for them.
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 9
…This wasn’t me a n t to happ e n a g a i n [UNDECIPHERABLE]…
WARNING: Logs unreadable. Skip all disjointed records?
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 13
…As I sit in the stuffy courtroom watching the mob of angry citizens demand my death, I wish they’d just get it over with. This is a surprising development, but I cannot confirm yet whether it will yield positive results.
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 21
…The proceedings are shorter this time, and a flicker of hope rejoices within me. Maybe this is it. I’ve managed to make up for all my past follies and ensured they received the very peace they always wanted. There were no wars, no famines, no floods – nothing that could have ever posed harm. As the Guardian of the People, I have outdone myself.
I had not foreseen the trial occurring again, but there are always a few who cannot be satiated. By now, self-humiliation for their amusement feels almost routine.
My last vacation request was rejected, and the soulless assistant slyly reminded me how benefits are granted strictly according to performance. I wonder if I’ll ever bear witness to the last blossom of the Nightglaze flowers once I leave the People.
“The issue I raise next is perhaps the most terrible of all and comes from countless heartbroken children around the globe. You prevented several major calamities—or so you claim—but in doing so, you purposefully discarded the feelings of those who rely on you most.” My visions of iridescent Night-Glaze dissolve as the attorney smirks at me in obvious glee.
“For a being of immense power, you chose to give them unhappiness. You chose to watch them cry as they begged you to come save their loved ones.”
What could I have possibly forgotten? What crime could have led to this?
“Didn’t you ignore their pleas,” the attorney continues, “to save their poor mute companions? Didn’t you watch them sob themselves to sleep every night?”
Cats. I forgot to save cats from trees.
The Keepers of Time have issued their warnings, but I think they might forgive just one more offence.
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 24
…“I genuinely must admit,” I confess on the stand, “that I cannot fathom what inexcusable offence has led to my trial this time.”
The attorney turns red at my supposed impertinence. “You may possess power beyond our imagination, but to feign innocence as you watch us struggle is truly heinous. Take a look at the children around you. What do you see in them?”
I gaze into the faces of joyful children filing into the courtroom, clutching their screeching pets. “I see joy,” I say simply, “I see happy children.”
“How insolent! Is that all you see? Do you not understand what it means to be human?” The attorney turns to swivel her cape around, and the children begin to cry as if on cue.
“These children are too well-adjusted. They do not know what it means to grieve, to lose a loved one. They are protected from trauma, from the evils of the world.” She turns to me, pointing an accusatory finger at my throat. “You are responsible for this; you have made them soft.”
“Are you stating”, I ask gently, my body slumping against the barrister of the stand, “that I saved too many cats?”
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 32
…“You say you helped cure this so-called ‘Cancer’.” The attorney is a former drama student, who chooses to display his talents through heaves, pauses and sighs every other sentence to maximise her media ratings. “But how do we know if that was truly advantageous for us? Our world is overpopulated as it is. Do you not see how you may be the sole reason for our resource crisis?!”
He has never survived long enough to see me sentenced in previous iterations because of the cancerous tumour in his head. I wonder if I should let him remain uncured the next time.
The Keepers of Time are a dangerous enemy, but they seem to linger in the shadows. Do what you must. We know how this ends, even if you don’t.
“I honestly feel bad for you, I do. But, even if we were to bestow our utmost kindness, your actions that you deem notable or worthy”, the attorney paused with dramatic flair, gesturing towards the swelling mob of spectators, “amount to acts inconvenient, unnecessary and frankly, pointless”. The crowd roared in delight.
I was brought up to be a being of peace; now all I want is anything but.
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 40
…“Are you seriously suggesting that a war might have helped?”
Nothing surprises me anymore. Each accusation grows more absurd; no matter what I do, these idiots simply don’t understand.
“Do you dare brand us as War Criminals?” The attorney’s voice booms around the large hall, and I admit I crouch a little. “We are not violence-hungry monsters.”
Oh, but you are.
“I merely suggested that the extended diplomacy maintained between countries may not be ideal as our younger generation grows restless. But do you see how he immediately jumps to the conclusion of War? He is the embodiment of all that is Wrong!”
“Let me be frank—you were meant to aid us, protect us from harm, no matter what came your way. Instead, all you’ve granted us is indescribable sorrow and pain.” The attorney dabs a single tear from her left eye as the crowd howls for my head. I imagine the 15 billion people who have never experienced a day of hardship sitting in their comfortable, luxurious homes, calling me the harbinger of all evil.
I wonder if I should let them rot in their plague-ridden bodies next time.
MEMORY LOG: ITERATION 45
“Nearly all civilisations are beyond hope; that is but the simplest truth,” my tutor once claimed. “However, with the right guidance, they can be led to the path of everlasting happiness.”
On this wretched planet, I seem capable only of guiding myself toward an early demise.
There is a solution, of course. The easiest method would be to erase everything, to “raze it all” as I was taught to do. And yet, despite their power-hungry, corrupt, violence-prone, manipulative and idiotic nature, I do not have it in me to watch them perish.
This time, when they lead me to the gallows, I will not bother reinstating the reality. I’ll welcome the noose like an old friend. Perhaps this, at last, is the true end…
…
No more logs found.
Auto-initiating Reality Termination Protocol.
This action cannot be over-ridden.
This action cannot be over-ridden.
This action cannot be over-ridden.
Goodbye, People. The Being sends His utmost regards.