.... Complaining Imps [2]

Among all the superhuman beings -- the gods and the demonic races of humans and gods, the all-powerful ones, the demigods, and other minor celestial entities, the imps were surely the ones who had existential crises in most. They tended to think about their own existence, the duties assigned to them, and options to explore around the most. It wasn't that they were necessarily the wisest [for surely that would go to the great Sages who had access to all the knowledge there ever was], or the most critical of the existing system [that went to certain families of danus who had taken to living within rather restricted means and maintaining a very low profile, for they questioned the validity of existence of their own people as well as the Gods, something that made them rather unpopular and likely to be victims of unfortunate totally natural events], or even the most hardworking [metalsmiths and cobblers of the heavens never so much as got time and energy to breathe in air properly after work]. What made them so interested in the affairs of the celestial-kind -- they were also not the most curious -- was the fact that they were the only ones who understood in total completeness the workings of the entire system. They realized that despite the declarations of the Gods that implied otherwise, there was no one -- they were pretty sure of that, or else that someone or something would have them fix their broken systems too -- who had complete control of fate and destiny. Despite what the Gods wanted everyone to believe, there was no predestined fate, and you could, by and large make your own future -- as long as you didn't catch the interest of micro-managing Gods. The universe followed a set of rules -- bidhan -- set forth by the original system or process, the bidhi, and everything chugged along with that. The Gods were just cogs in the system, the Imps knew, despite claiming-- and perhaps believing-- a privileged access to the inner workings.

That's what made the Imps so different from every other race and kind of being in all the Universes. They were not resigned to preordained fate or destiny, like most, or given up in face of overwhelming absolute monopoly on force by the Gods and demonic races, like all the remaining ones, despite the knowledge that fate and karma and afterlife could be all fixed just by bribing the right entities. No, they were not overwhelmed by the miracles of the Gods, for they understood the underlying secrets, the knew how brittle the foundation for various grandiose creations were. They were just to lazy to do anything else. Rebellion was not an option, because it was too much work. As it were, they had good hours, they were given anything they desired, the realm they lived in was the most peaceful anywhere since everyone understood that any harm to the imps would break down the entire Universe, and they had flourished with their friends and families. They were given respect and admiration by all the celestial beings -- outside work hours anyway -- and the only thing that could potentially be problematic was the fact that the humans could never ever know of their existence. The imps knew of course why that was the case, but didn't spend too much pondering over such  matters because it made their heads hurt. The Universe was an unfair place, they justified, and it was by sheer luck they had made to the right side -- they didn't want to dare it to put them on the other side.

The only thing the Imps could reasonably complain about -- and frequently did -- was their treatment at work hours. The gods and demons and everyone else was almost terrified of coming in to get things fixed-up. They were short-tempered and angry, obviously, but worked really hard to suppress those emotions and made up the most fake-nice faces and voices they could. The imps didn't understand the urgency entirely, and the fear was a little confusing. They had all eternity ahead of themselves,  so it was unclear why they looked like they were always in a hurry to be somewhere else. As for fear -- it was clear that they weren't completely comfortable in the knowledge that the basis of their powers depended on such diminutive creatures with frail bodies, but that shouldn't be a cause for fear. Pity maybe, but fear was completely unwarranted, the Imps thought. It wasn't as if there ever had ever been an Imp rebellion in the entirety of all of history, and none was going to happen in the entire eternity. Even in case their was rebellion, it would be quickly crushed, and they would always find less-restive and almost-as-smart beings looking for the perfect life for their families for the entire eternity to replace them. It would just mean a disruption of a couple of days -- at most -- or so before things got back in order.

What the Imps failed to see was the relationship between order and disorder, and the celestial Universe's attitude towards it. The Gods and the Demons absolutely loathed disruption of any kind good or bad. For disruption meant changing the way you do things, learning and processing new knowledge, failing at new things and realizing you aren't good at something, and slowly getting back to where you were. The gains weren't always clearly or obviously visible. You had to concede that you were not the best, you were still a frail being slave to the rules of the Universe as you failed over and over and figuring things out. Impatience was not an option as being angry didn't oblige the Universe to suddenly change its rules, no matter who you were. There were systems in place, systems that were the basis of the Godly powers, that could result in the rules of the Universe appearing to act differently, but they were jiggered up somewhere, and managed by the imps. They didn't change reality, they simply modified it to work according to one's wish within constraints. The Gods were unwilling to abandon that, even for a very short period. They had mastered within the rules of the existing system, and had no plans to accommodate for a disruption of any kind.