The gods' memory machine

The gods were tired. They had done all they could. Perhaps there was something beyond, perhaps they were themselves minions in a larger creation where more powerful infinite beings ruled. Perhaps the universe was truly the empty pointless and aimless blob of mass the nihilists claimed and they were just like humans but somehow more privileged and more powerful.They had finally started questioning their history, and what they discovered they did not like.

The gods were aware of the human interest in their own history, how they meticulously kept records of each and every incident that had occurred, how they manipulated those to suit their needs, destroyed them when it made sense to, even ignored them or looked at them with great suspicion. Despite their attitude towards certain aspects history, the humans always had a certain amount of respect and pride towards what their ancestors had done, and knew the importance of keeping records for the future.

The gods realized nothing similar had existed in their realms. There were stories, tales, fables and  myths. And there were memories. Each god lived for effectively an infinity, they figured there was no point in recording things you were there for. The mere possibility of the fallibility of their memories offended them -- they were the ultimate beings who were in complete control of matter and energy, they didn't have to worry about what happened inside their minds. Time took its toll though. Matter disintegrates, molecules and atoms drift apart, shit happens. The vast and infinitely complicated machinery that worked as memory for gods creaked through the ages, working as always designed. It dropped an atom here, a molecule there, it began wearing down. The owners believed it was indestructible, they never considered the possibility they would be subject to the same physical laws humans faced. And therefore, gaps in memories started arising. The old fables branched off, stories that were remembered by all took different shapes since  no one was willing to admit that their versions might be off. As time went on, the differences only grew apart, this time not just because of the memories themselves but also due to the suspicion that others were influencing and modifying their memories to suit them. It became acceptable to modify your memory if it fit the existing narrative. And thus, any reliable record of the past was lost.

That is how the need for a universal, reliable, well-maintained source of historical truth, a factual interpretation of what had happened in eras gone by, outside the control of any individual God or faction, arose. A way to remember their glory, losses, victories and celebrations. To keep the lessons learnt from the past alive and relevant, to avoid modifying the past for the sake of the convenience of the presence. They got the imps to work on this large system that would keep record of every event -- major or minor -- in great detail, to be able to play it back in the future. Or relive those memories. It would be a compendium of all heavenly knowledge there was, much like the books of the past, except this time it would be much much larger, and be unmodifiable for all of eternity.