Narrowing the rules down.

"So... Have a seat..." Eris gestured towards a small table which had sat nearby the entire time but I hadn't noticed in the confusion. On it sat a couple of cups of coffee and pastries that looked freshly made. "Love our craft service guy, by the way. Thanks Heph, I love you!" Eris suddenly shouted into the fog.

"Love you too, Eris! Still waiting on that date!" A loud male voice shouted back.

"Fuck off, Heph, You had your shot and you blew it on coke and being respectable! That last minute conversion didn't fool ANYBODY!" Eris shouted back.

"I'll take a rain check," The voice called back to a general titter.

"Turn off the fucking laugh track, dude. Not funny." Eris shouted again into the fog, which brought a return to the silence. "Sorry, hate it when they get unprofessional. But, you know, I did call time out, so... guess they're fucking around too. Have a pastry. Ambrosia. Best stuff in the world. Or at least tastes exactly like what you think the best taste in the world is. "

She was right, as I nibbled on a corner of the perfectly baked cinnamon roll. The cream cheese was nice, and the cinnamon had just the right level of spice to be totally tolerable. I admitted it, I loved these things.

"You know an awful lot about me," I commented dryly.

"Because you're hard wired, Brent. There's stuff that you have no control over, stuff that's been stuck in your brain that will cause you to think in a certain way automatically. Don't believe? Watch... " She began to hum a soft tune... "Bum pah, bum pah, bum pah, bum pah, life is like a huricaaaaane..."

"Here in... Duckberg..."

"Racecars, lasers, Aeroplanes..."

"It's a... ok, wow, that's kinda creepy."

'Yep, didn't even mention more than two lines, and now that entire song will be stuck in your head for hours..."

I tried very hard to bite down the "Whoo-hoo" that wanted to emanate from my lips.

"Yeah, bad news and good news Brent. You're a projection. A envisioning of what... well, the actions of one world onto another. Bad news is that when you were created you were really fucking boring. I mean REALLY boring. But... it took a long time, seventeen years in fact, before you got interesting. Speaking of which, want some music because I could seriously use some music here?"

A soft dramatic chorus began up, sounding of heavenly angels and soft enlightenment.

"No, no, FUCK that shit, seriously. You either play something that rocks or I'm going to kick your ass. I'm thinking hard rock."

"Seriously, Hard Rock?" I laughed.

"Yeah, they tried to call it classic rock some time after the first draft was written, but It never felt right, so it stays in. Maybe some Pirate metal. Got into that for a while and it's fun, so might as well have it."

"You... are like, mentioning everything I like," I laughed as some rather heavy bass started up. It absolutely fell on the side of rock when black leather was cool instead of corporate definition of cool.

"Look, if I'm going to play the evil temptress, I have to at least be appealing. Seriously, what kind of woman doesn't at least research her target before trying to seduce him? I know you like honesty, so I'm being straightforward about it. I think it'll be fun to be around you, and I want you to include me more often. I want more. Want to be here more." Eris stretched her legs out, allowing the long dark skirt she had been wearing to swish about her legs. Her long legs were perfectly proportioned, soft creamy skin that was just as rapidly concealed by the skirt in an interesting contrast of light and dark.

"Well, I much say you're good at it," I allowed my gaze to roam over her leather vest which showed off the expanse of her gorgeous shoulders as they sloped into her neck. She leaned back in the soft recliner and took a sip of her coffee.

"So, I THINK your creator's a woman," Eris stretched her legs out comfortably. "I mean, let's be honest, you hit all the woman's fantasy characteristics. Nice, probably military but you don't bother the women with it, protective, loving, trusting, and best of all, loyal. Even after you get screwed over, you're forgiving and caring. So... I figure a woman, hiding behind a man's name because she's scared that people will figure it out. Scared that folks will realize that she actually has totally socially unacceptable fantasies about being in a harem and loving other women. So, she created a male character that dreams of that, and even IS a woman in some endings... and lets her fuck around on him. Honestly... only reason the kid was at the gas station was to make you jealous. Wanted you to think that you'd lose Charlotte if you DIDN'T make a pass at her. Simple, and most logical solution."

She smiled at me a bit more gently.

"But of course, I'm just warning you about what Sparky's little Frankenstein is going to throw at you in a bit. I know, it technically changes things, but it's already accounted for me telling you this, so... whoopie, I get to give spoilers. What I just said is complete social justice bullshit that relies on preconceptions. Who's to know? Ok, so... thanks for the notepad by the way," She commented picking up a pad that had always been on the desk. "I think you're getting it. Don't think about it, just... do it."

Her hands quickly began to sketch a flowchart.

"See this... it's called... well, it's called a story map... best I can tell. We're here..." she sketched a quick set of boxes which led from point to point. "At every point, every point here, you made a choice, you made decisions. Even if the decision was to let somebody else make the decision. To let somebody else take control of your actions and guide you down a particular path. To bring you to this point. And from here... this here... " She continued to jot, her wings gently quivering with excitement and her face brightly shining. "Sorry, this is just fun, I never get to explain something NEW to somebody. Kinda like being a mom again. But I won't demand that you worship me for explaining this. Just... you know, a thank you and inclusion would be nice. It also would give you an excuse to be a dick occasionally, you know. Blame it on me. I'll be a nice nemesis if you want to go that route."