Six Elements
06.23.11
Maath looked up from his work in surprise when the Architect burst into the room. A personal visit like this would normally be arranged days in advance. Maath rose from his chair and started to bow but straightened at the Architect’s impatient gesture.
“Craftsman Maath, I finally have the answer!”
“Sire?”
“The problem with the model – I have found the solution!”
“So we can fix the model?” Maath smiled and felt relief pour over him. “That’s wonderful news!”
“Oh no – I’m afraid we can’t fix that one. We will create a new one – and this one will be perfect.”
Maath’s heart sank. The old model had been the bane of his very existence since building had begun. He had set it up to the Architect’s specifications with great precision, but something had never been quite right. He had tweaked it, then tweaked it again, following his master’s suggestions, but everything they did seemed to make matters worse. The constant failure and its implications were taking their toll on him; he had been tempted numerous times to destroy the wretched thing. Of course the implications of going against the Architect’s wishes in any way were unthinkable. A sudden thought hit him, and he tried to keep the excitement from his voice.
“Sire, does this mean we can now destroy the old model?”
“No, we most certainly cannot – the very problem element in the old model is necessary for the success of the new one.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand, Sire.”
“Look.” The Architect wandered over to Maath’s desk, where the plans for the old model were laid out. “The trouble started when we introduced the six elements here,” he said, pointing to an area of the diagram. “Including, of course, the problem element. So, in theory, all we need to do is create the new model without introducing the problem element.”
“But Sire, you said at the time that the introduction of all the elements was paramount – that without it the creation would have no…no… How did you put it?”
“No essence. Yes. But we could never have known how the elements were going to behave once we released them into the structure. You saw for yourself how the problem element grew out of control. Not only did it reproduce at an alarming rate, but it was also created as a by-product of the other elements.”
“So that means we can create the new model without introducing that element?”
“No, not at all – we can’t stop it being created from the other elements, as I said, and then it will reproduce and grow out of control again. We need to introduce its anti-element, so that the two cancel each other out.”
“But I thought each of the six elements already had its counterpart in one of the others?”
“Its counterpart, my dear fellow, not its antithesis.”
“I think I see now, Sire – but where are we to find this anti-element?”
“This is what I have been working on since our last meeting. I have built a device that will create it,” the Architect said, with a triumphant look on his face.
“And what will you create it from , Sire?” Maath asked, although deep down he knew the answer already.
“From the problem element itself, of course. We will harvest it from the failed model. Now, as I’m sure you can guess, I will need you to prime the old model so that its production of the problem element is at a maximum.”
“But…but Sire – hasn’t that world suffered enough already?”
“It can’t be helped,” the Architect said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “If we want to build a perfect world, we’re going to have to sacrifice something. We have to create more Sorrow there, so that we can introduce Anti-sorrow into the new model. Hope and Fear we won’t need to tinker with; they are both created and destroyed at a reasonable rate. Love and Hatred also, and they have the added advantage of crossover points that keep them in check. Joy is, of course, too short-lived to warrant much consideration. Sorrow on the other hand – well, who would have expected it to breed quite so aggressively. And then it has that half life…”
Maath nodded; he didn’t trust himself to speak. It seemed like the bane of his existence was still exactly that.
“So, Sire, how do you wish me to create all this extra Sorrow?”
“Oh, I’m not fussed about the details, my dear fellow. A war, a plague, an earthquake or two – I’ll leave the particulars up to you.” Maath watched the Architect dash out of the room in much the same way as he’d entered it, and put his head in his hands. The problem element, it would appear, was not confined to models.
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Tags: Architect, Creation, Flash Fiction, fridayflash, Six Elements, Writing
Ingenious. It’s odd but I was working this week on a piece about contrary dyads like happy/sad, but it needs more work. This is smooth and crystal clear writing.
Poor guy. Forced to create wars, plagues, an earthquakes and other calamities. Well done!
Why does it feel like they’re talking about writing?
I love your dynamic dialogues, good job:)
Brilliant as always. Great to have you back!
Great pacing here, it unfolded at just the right speed and delivered at the end. Poor Maath, having to create Sorrow and more Sorrow.
I was waiting for the problem element to turn out to be a gag. You tease it out like it’ll be something hilarious. I tend to enjoy these dialogues that haul you along to the point.
Very clever piece! There always room for sorrow 🙁 I liked this sentence “Joy is, of course, too short-lived to warrant much consideration. ” Now if only they could created joy out of sorrow, that would be something…..
Love the dialogue, kept the piece moving at just the right pace.
Seems to me the Architect is not very good at Maath. [sorry]
Really enjoy the complete originality of your work, I am always intrigued and brought along but never quite expecting your denouements! Strong stuff.
“The problem element, it would appear, was not confined to models.”
Yes!
I feel sad for residents of the old model. And I feel like I know what it is. Alas.
As always, this was just perfect. Absolutely killer stuff.
Nicely done.
You seem to be in a metaphysical / allegorical frame of mind these days.
Not that I mind…
Mazz, you create such carefully sculpted mythologies, embracing and questioning the metaphysical through the allegorical. It’s quite haunting.
Adam B @revhappiness
Ingenious. I”m probably going to be thinking about this one all day now… 🙂
Clever. I like the mad-scientist distraction and goal-oriented attitude of the architect and poor Maath who has the unfortunate ‘curse’ of a conscience…
There does often seem to be an imbalance of Sorrow over Joy, in this world at least. I wonder if there would be, at least briefly, a moment of reprieve when the Sorrow was harvested from the old model.
It explains so much…
A very interesting and clever piece of writing, very nicely put together.
I have a feeling poor Maath is going to find the new model just as big a headache as the old one, after all, no one is perfect, are they?
Temporal and Enternal. Yin and Yang. Day and Night. Love and Fear.
Bliss.
Great work, Maria!
You’re in a world/universe building phase, aren’t you? Loved this other take, Maria. Spotless writing as usual. 🙂
So that’s why the world is the way it is – can we find the Architect and thrash him a few times?
This story is a great analogy for life in general, but especially the writing life. Crystal clear and well thought out. Great story!:-)
Drew me in from the first line. The juxtaposition of joy being too short lived to warrant consideration with the extreme spread of sorrow was both powerful and depressing at the same time.
My technical side was drawn immediately into these characters and the problem. Particularly the difficulty of modifying old models can be much more difficult than building from fresh.
I really liked this point: “But…but Sire – hasn’t that world suffered enough already?”, where the story takes on more depth as we discover what they’ve been discussing and the closing line is a nice zinger.
I wonder if he’ll use the ‘I’m just following orders’ excuse…
Loving the pace of this and the characters – well done
Always room for more sorrow in the world. Poor Maath. I love the conceptualization of this. Mourning for the old model and fear (gulp) the Architect’s plans for the new model. Wonder what the antithesis of Sorrow is?
Nice take on the creation myth. Knowing we are all the result of trial and error experimentation explains a lot. 😉
~jon