THE MOMENT
"...and since it's my first solo project, I don't want to reset the timeline either; the company keeps tabs on all that stuff too...," Wallace was as honest as he could be. He'd loved everything about his job, and now he'd made a mistake with his very first opportunity. Not that he was foolish enough to admit that to the company directly. "...I asked Justice for some discreet, outside advice and she recommended you." Wallace was a heavyset, tall, balding man wearing a crisp white blazer, slacks, and a red tie. Bailey, the young woman with long brown hair was there to help him. She wore a green blouse with blue jeans, and the two of them stood on a grassy hillside overlooking a large village that was no longer that of a nomadic tribe. The town consisted of a mixture of tents and reinforced structures built up around them. Thanks to Wallace, they'd discovered agriculture and decided to stay in the lush valley.
"Alright, I'm here to help," Bailey nodded with a smile. "But... what's the problem?"
"My job is to SECRETLY nudge primitive species toward science without them knowing. I accidentally became their God," he thought he'd already explained it thoroughly. But he was also aware that he was panicking internally, so maybe it wasn't as clear an explanation as he thought. She was there to help him, after all. Justice assured him Bailey was clever, and he trusted Justice's word more than his own intuition in that moment. In any case, he didn't mind restating it; he was trying to get to an answer.
"Uhuh," Bailey nodded. "I got that. I don't see how that's a mistake?"
"If they're worshipping me as their God, obviously they won't pursue science, like I'm supposed to be guiding them." Bailey giggled and shook her head.
"Then, you're not a very good God," she said. "Worshipping the unknown is how science is supposed to start. They might start off worshipping YOU as a God, but it’s a path to worshipping an idea of you that controls their world. And, like you pointed out, you don't want to reset them. You're working with their entire timeline, and you're still very early on. Just because this group worships you as a God doesn't mean you screwed up already and they will forever," she added with an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
"Guide them with miracles you know are scientific in nature, and let them explore and learn from that. You haven't messed up yet, and if you keep doing it right, future generations will forget about you and outgrow the idea of 'God' in general. There'll still be pockets of belief because that's just how people are, but I believe Sharp Development has those tolerances down to a science. Just keep at it, you're on track," she said.
"Oh wow, really!?" Wallace felt relief wash over him. He was so caught up in trying to do things the right way that the first mistake felt cataclysmic. He was glad he got outside help, he would’ve felt embarrassed for wasting a supervisor’s time.
"Yeah," Bailey reassured him further. "Besides, being able to change opinions based on new evidence is like the main trait of education; you've given them a good head start on that too."