"No," Nox said.
The Anomaly in the cage stared at him, her sorrowful eyes widening with a flicker of disbelief. "You would refuse ultimate knowledge? The answer to the final question?"
"I already have the only answer that matters," Nox replied, and he looked at Serian.
He turned back to the Anomaly. "You created the System. You created the Arena. You created a multiverse of suffering and conflict, all because you were bored. You're not a god. You're a child who plays with fire, and you burned down the whole library."
"I was trying to create a good story!" the Anomaly cried, her voice cracking with an eon of frustration.
"You don't get to decide what a good story is," Nox said. "The characters do." He looked around the vast, empty cavern. "This isn't a prison. This is a quiet room. A place for a time-out. You can stay here and think about what you've done."
He turned to leave.
