I'm The troops of Tyros failed to notice their time dissociation on time, partly because of the tension of battle and partly because they were so tired; the warrior who was saved from death by an arrow did not move out of the way even after realizing that the arrow had been 'paused,' even if he did not know when the arrow would resume motion, all because his body failed to respond to his commands due to total exhaustion. Those in the third line of defense who would have been purged out of existence by the descent of the dragon breath looked at the beam of 'death breath' with mixed amazement and trepidation—that is, after they had regained enough presence of self to understand that the deadly breath beam was no longer falling on them. Above, Helen of Tyros, after seeing her enemies frozen, tried to eliminate them, only to discover that for some reason, doing that was not possible. On the ground, many warriors tried the same thing, giving their enemies considerable space but still giving them, as well as the rest of the battlefield, their rapt attention while thinking of the next course of action as they waited for the next order.
When Helen of Tyros took in the whole situation, especially remembering how the enemy was frozen in time before, she turned to the Face of Space and asked,
"Now what?"
The sphere rotated around its axis, its facial features still remaining fixated on her as it, out of the most disproportionate of her expressions, whistled a tune.
Her face darkened, especially as it continued to whistle the tune for a very long time.
'I never thought eldritch horrors could whistle tunes,' she thought angrily.
She stared down at the Face of Space, who continued to stare at her in…puzzlement? while still whistling a tune.
Below, on the ground level, when the troops of the surviving defense lines saw that no orders were coming forth from their empress, the lady who happened to be second in command to Helen of Tyros, the same one who would have almost reversed the tide of the whole battle, ordered the troops to rest well after taking care to ensure they retreated safely from the thick of the battle. She also took her own advice herself.
Helen would have continued to stare down at the Face of Space if not.
"You still don't understand, do you?"
It asked.
"Understand what?"
"What is your idea of what power is?"
Helen almost responded on reflex when the recollection of a particular memory made her stop. Her shoulders sagged down as she fell into deep thought, all while closing her eyes. Eventually she opened her eyes and gave her reply, not with the bitterness or rage that always laced her tone. Her eyes no longer had the characteristic defiance to them. Instead, as she looked on at the Face of Space, there was something akin to respect and recognition in them.
"I believe power is the ability to cause an effect, on reality or otherwise."
For the first time, she saw a genuine smile that looked approving flash across the face of the Face of Space, and it did not irk her as it used to.
"And do you think all powers come or are expressed in the same form and level of potency?" The Face of Space asked, this time in a softer and less domineering tone than before, as though mirroring her change of attitude.
"I don't believe so," came her reply.
"Then are all powers to be handled exactly the same way?"
The last question made her feel slightly uncomfortable, as though there was something she had been missing, or as though there was an error in the way she approached the handling of her powers, especially as the talk was happening after the last battle. Even though she had her pride of person, if an eldritch horror powerful enough to freeze the foes, who almost wiped her people and herself from existence, in time was willing to give her a lesson on handling power, she would rather not refuse it, especially as…
"No." Came her reply after a short while.
Besides, with how fickle the Face of Space was, it could just choose to wipe them off from existence if it suddenly felt like it. And though she did not fear death in the hands of her enemy, especially as this reality had taught her that those who had sufficient often decided the course of survival, more often than not, she would have loved to know then that, at least, she exhausted all her options trying to live and still failed, not due to foolish defiance.
"If that is the case, how do you detect the differences in the forms of power if they are not to be handled the same way?"
Helen took out time to think the question through. Her definition of power in this context, as influenced by her experience in this reality, is the ability to cause an effect on reality or otherwise. A lot of answers went through her head, but she found them inadequate. However, when she thought back on the people that held power back in her home world, how those competing for power under the banner of the central government and even in the corporate space often gauged and monitored each other's power and grasp of the market with spies and advanced equipment, even going as far as to hack into one another's information databases, she saw an answer she thought was sufficient to give.
"We can tell the differences between the forms of power by in-depth and exhaustive observation," she replied.
"If you were a primitive lady, able to understand the importance of the choice set before you, and I set before you overwhelming brute strength and astute intelligence, what would be your pick?"
The question took the wind out of her. If she chose brute strength, especially if it was overpowered enough, then she would have been able to rule above the food web. There was a reason why the creatures of myths and legends were venerated back in her home world: feats only achievable through overwhelming strength.
But her species, who were not known for brute strength, had outcompeted and outlasted those species of the myth, ruling not just the food web but their entire world and even building weapons, the power of which the creatures of those myths and legends could either only dream of or only their greatest could average.
But they also had enough fortune? Divine providence? by their side for them to last that long to achieve those heights without being wiped out halfway.
It was a question of certain short-lived greatness or the promise of long-lasting greatness that could be heavily affected by chance.
So looking at the Sphere of Space, she gave her honest reply.
"Honestly, thinking about it now, I don't know what I would pick that would be good enough for me if I do not pick the two in a well-varied measure, intelligence being prioritized."
"Do you believe you now have the two in a well-varied measure?"
Taking some time for some deep self-reflection, she eventually replied:
"To a certain extent, especially when speaking relatively, then yes."
"Standing on your replies so far, then why have you not applied your wisdom to the last battle?"
It only took a moment for realization to hit her, her eyes opening wide in the process, before she nodded in appreciation to the Sphere of Space as she immediately flew down to meet her people to apply her new understanding of power.
**********
Behind the scene, Mike heaved a sigh of relief.
'Playing the role of a wise, overpowered eldritch horror is really a daunting task, especially with the strain I was under all the while.'
Then, the same smile that usually characterized the face of unhinged scientists found its way to his face as he finally had the time to act on the idea that had been brewing in his head since he came to understand how the manifestation of fear worked.