Broken gears of the heavens

Please repeat your problem, the short imp said to the angry hunk with fiery eyes and a golden crown on his head.  

A boon I gave to a follower is not working properly, and he thinks I'm tricking him, he said, in a rather irritated voice.

Thank you for your co-operation, Mr...err..Lord..., the imp said, straightening himself, and checking the credentials. Thank you Agni dev for your cooperation. Let me pull up your boon profile just now, and see if everything's working fine, he said, in an annoyingly restrained voice.

It appears, the Imp began, that you gave the boon to one Bidhvansak, of the Earthly realm, over two years ago, is that correct, he said, looking into a blackish polyhedron with 33 faces. It glowed red and blue and green as the imp moved its hands about the polyhedron in complex patterns.

That is correct, my follower Bidhvansak meditated for a thousand years with no food or sleep or water, doing nothing but chanting my name, praying for me. It was then that I decided to give him the boon of setting anything that he wishes to on fire, barring obvious exceptions such as water. Now that he has the boon, he has been trying to make use of it, but it appears it often doesn't work as it should, so he's been complaining. His complaints have hurt me greatly as the earthly beliefs in my powers are diminishing, since he's been telling people I'm not a reliable protector or a good giver of boons, said Agni dev, trying to maintain his composure.

Thank you. Let me check what the problem could be, the imp said distractedly, as he played around with the polyhedron. It was now floating above his head, making a high-pitch noise, as he made several more complex motions. It looked as if he was dancing to the cacophonic pitch of the device and its disco-like lights. It paused. And beeped. "Ahhh," said the imp. "It appears that Mr. Bidhvansak has unknowingly been trying to use the powers on beings and objects that lie on the exception zone. Two months ago, he tried turning a being made of 99.98% water into a ball of fire. Since the non-water substance was so little and well-hidden, he couldn't get too far away with it. Then a week after, he tried to burn a -- hmm let me make sure I got this right -- he tried burning a water hippopotamus, which had just finished drinking a bellyful of water. It appears he barely singed it, and then used his powers to turn a swarm of bees into a crisp. Interesting, interesting. I'm seeing a lot of interesting facts here. It seems that the longer he has had this power, the more he has been encountering water-based beings. Hmmm...," the Imp said, speaking to himself at this point. He was furiously manipulating the polyhedric orb now, touching its various faces and poking and pushing the various ends. At one point, he blew his breath into one of the faces, and wiped it with his sleeves.

"Ohh, I see, I see," said Agni dev, unsure how to react. "Would you know what the solution to this would be, or how I can fix this," he said, in his most positive tone. Maintaining your composure was the most important in situations like these. Lose your temper once and these Imps would make sure you had to go through the most bureaucratic process to get the simplest of things done. Cajole them, bribe them, or even flatter them, but never ever anger them, he had learned.

"Ahhh, it all makes sense now, yes, yes, perfect. Good, good, now I can help you, " the Imp finally said, looking away from the orb to Agni dev. The polyhedron slowly grew dim and landed in front of the Imp's legs. "So this isn't anyone's fault, but it might be a little difficult for you going forward. As it appears, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the boon you gave, or the powers that Vidhvansak has and his abilities to use those, within the given constraints. It's just that... as he has been abus-- I mean... making use of his powers, his enemies and contemporaries appear to be learning the weaknesses and limits. As you know, the type of boon you gave has severe limitations under certain circumstances, particularly in the presence of water. So he has been encountering more and more water-based entities lately because they know that's one weakness of his, " the Imp said, informing Agni dev in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I see, I see," he said, rather annoyed, "is there anything I can do to fix this, or help with this," he asked, in his most neutral voice.

"As far as I can see, within the limits of your boon, absolutely not. Either you can upgrade your boon -- we'll need to have your details and his consent and assorted materials for that -- so it can work more effectively against water. Or you can grant a modifier boon to somehow undermine the water -- and again I would need to check your credentials and privileges for that. As of right now, without using any powers or resources, there's not much you can do, except perhaps letting him know why it's not working, " the Imp said, quickly moving through the various options given to him by the orb. He had other patrons waiting, he was trying to hurry through the conversation at this point.

"No, no. No modifier or upgrades for the boon, " he said, adding "not that I have privileges to undermine water anyway," under his breath. "Is there absolutely any other way you can get me out of this bind," Agni dev said, in a rather dejected tone for a god of his stature.

"Well -- I can arrange for a celestial announcement that goes out only to him every time his power fails, explaining to him why it's not working. Or make a one-time announcement and wait for his acknowledgement. In either case though, we need his pre-approval -- we can't just go around announcing anything we want all the time unless there is something that involves immediate response or some kind of emergency. And this one's not it. Do you want me to arrange for his approval and work on either of the announcement options?" the Imp said, in a definitive tone, hoping to clear out the conversation.

"No, no it's fine. I'll take care of that issue," said Agni dev, rather disappointed. "Thank you for your help," he said.

"It was my pleasure and honor serving you O lord of heat and light, let me know if I can help you with anything else for matters of celestial operation. If you will allow me, I will now have the opportunity to serve other celestial beings," the Imp said, hoping to end the conversation.

"Yes, yes, Okay, fine, I'm done," he said, looking around. This wasn't very helpful. He was afraid of precisely this. Now he would have to go down to Earth and just play some drama or create a complex scenario so that Vindvansak's effects would be reduced. Might even have to take him out, and make it look like he was looking out for the realm. It would need some serious planning and thought. As if he didn't already have enough going on. He sighed in resignation.