Prologue
Imagine a world populated by gods. Not just any gods. These gods have the extraordinary ability to create universes. You’re probably asking yourself, why would anyone want to build a universe? Isn’t it a lot of work? Heck, yes! It’s a huge undertaking, but it’s important to them, and they take their world-building very seriously. For them, becoming a builder is the highest career to which one can aspire. And, of course, if you’re a builder, then you work for The Business.
It’s true you don’t need a degree in Building Science or Building Arts to build universes. Many talented amateurs, along with a few not-so-talented amateurs, try their hand at building, although, if they haven’t had the training, their work rarely amounts to much. Some can create stars and planets and moons, but life forms and ecological systems are very complicated, and it takes advanced training to master such things.
Universe building is important to the gods because their entire economy depends on these universes. You see, the small plateau where they live is too small to grow food or manufacture products. So, everything they need — their whole standard of living — comes from importing goods from the worlds they create.
And when a world fails to provide the product for which it was created, there is naturally some concern.
And therein lies our story…
***