After the End: Serenity

“No.” Gabriel shook his head and frowned. “I’m sure you’re trying to help, but I’m not going to let anyone else choose for me. I wouldn’t let my family pick, I wouldn’t let Daryl pick, and I’m certainly not going to let someone I don’t know pick my future. I know I’m not choosing the well-known Paths, but I’m choosing my Paths and that’s all there is to it.”

Serenity grinned. That wasn’t the answer he’d expected and it certainly wasn’t a wise answer, but it was a good one. “Good.” Gabriel looked confused by Serenity’s response, so Serenity explained. “You know what you want, you know who you are and where you’re going. That’s more important than always taking the best choices. The best choices are only the best if you can predict the future, and even those who can do so only imperfectly. You’re taking it farther than I would, but I’m old enough to be confident in my choices. Sometimes confidently wrong, but it’s always my choice.”

Indeed, for a moment, Serenity was afraid he’d just been confidently wrong. He’d accidentally invited Gabriel to ask how old he was. That was a question he didn’t want to answer.

“That’s not what I’ve been told,” Naomi objected. “Choosing the known Path is safe, it’ll take you to the known endpoint reliably. Choosing your own Path risks a dead end before that.”

Serenity shrugged. “And then you have to make your own Path or be at a dead end. A dead end later is still a dead end, and if you’re no longer sure who you are, how do you choose?”

“It’s a problem we’ll all have to face at some point. My Path doesn’t end until Tier Fifteen, so I’ll have plenty of time to figure it out,” Daryl claimed. “When does yours end?”

Serenity shrugged. “Who knows? It’s not like I’m on a known Path.”

Daryl snorted at that. “See? Clearly worse. You don’t even know when you’ll start having trouble. How long did it take you to break into Tier Four? Decades?”

Serenity bared his teeth at Daryl. He hated being talked down to like that. “I had a Tier Four available as soon as I finished my first Tier Three. I’ll have a Tier Nine when I finish my first Tier Eight. It doesn’t work that way for everyone; you have to have a Path that goes higher. Making someone else’s Path yours … well, it can work if you’re similar enough.” Serenity didn’t like the practice, but a lot of people liked the surety it gave them. “On the other hand, as you said, you’ll be Tier Fifteen. Maybe that’s enough.”

Serenity flicked his Status open. He had a ways to go before he reached the next Tier, but - wait, when had he advanced his Path that far?

He stared at it dumbly for a moment before Aide reminded him of the vision-altering spell. It must have counted as appropriate for a magitech Abomination.