Chapter Text
□■□~☆^☆~□■□
Many would think an eternity in solitude would be lonely. That having an entire world to oneself would be devestating, isolating even.
Scott disagreed.
Because in the endless, vast universe full of worlds made by Mojang and admins alike, this little unremarkable corner of it all was the only world that was his and his alone.
No sharing with players, no endlessly waiting for someone to return who never will, no chaotic mess of anarchy and griefing. Just him, purely and blissfully alone.
Though it sometimes seemed as though the universe wanted to challenge that statement.
The first time it happened was a long time ago. Like, really long ago. So long ago that poppies were roses and all beds were crying obsidian, that's how long ago it was.
Scott was brewing his morning tea, watching the sun rise through the window. His house was underground, spanning about three hills that formed a C shaped grotto where Scott grew his garden (full of many a flower, including a few Mojang hadn't given to the rest of the worlds yet.) just down the way, a river ran alongside a forest of oak trees. He hadn't explored much beyond that, not seeing any need to continue far from his little bit of paradise.
It was then that for the first time ever, a player join his world.
H̶͍̟̉͑̉͛̎͐ę̵̉̈́̒̀̐͊̂̓̈́͒͠͠ȓ̷͈͔͍̫͈͔̫̰̯̯͈͍̗͊̍͝o̴̝͖̮̰̣͚͓͉̝̮̹̫̙̾͌͊̽̃̏̀̍͋͘͠ḅ̴̡̧̭͓̭̦̟̝̰̜͙̣̟̔͒͌͜ŗ̵̝̜͇͕̙̠̥͗̓̆̔̄͋̋̒͌̾̂̒͛͠͠i̴̱͉̬̭͔̠̻̋̄̀̉̇̏n̸͉̟͍̪̼̭͉̝͔̟͉̖̣̭͗̓̈́̐̈ͅe̷̡̩̝̟͚̗̟͖͓̦̱͓̦͓̊͆̕ͅ joined the world
Huh, that was strange. No one ever joined his world, it was his place of solitude. He better figure out what this player wanted and send them on their way.
The player spawned in the flower gardens, with brown hair and a beard in a teal shirt. Scott would've mistooken them for Steve if it weren't for the glowing eyes.
"Hi there! What brings you to my unremarkable corner of the universe?" He called as he exited his house.
The stranger (because even if he knew this man's name, which he did, fae rules still applied. One does not use the name of a person willy-nilly) looked at him, dumbfounded.
Scott stayed there, watching the stranger for a time. The two seemed to have an impromptu staring contest, something Scott was doomed to lose as the stranger didn't need to blink.
"What shall I call you, stranger?" Scott mused, "how bout Joe?"
"That's not my-" he started.
"I'm gonna stop you right there, because if you're fully willing to give me your name, I'll take it, but I doubt that's what you want."
"Fae," the stranger Joe muttered, "you couldn't even come up with a cool name?"
Scott shrugged, "you get what you get."
Joe groaned.
"Now that we got that out of the way, what brings you to my world?"
"You're surprisingly calm, most people scream in terror when they meet me," Joe muttered.
"Yeah, well, I'm not 'most people' so I ask again, why are you here?" Scott asked calmly.
Joe seemed to ponder for a moment, "just passing through. I was surprised that such an out of the way world had anyone living on it."
"That's kind of the point. But anyways, if you aren't here for a purpose, would you like some tea? I have many flavors, mint, sunflower, lilac, rose, sakura, jasmine and a few others. My favorite is oleander, such a shame it's too poisonous for humans," Scott mused.
Joe just stared at him for a moment before disappearing.
H̶͍̟̉͑̉͛̎͐ę̵̉̈́̒̀̐͊̂̓̈́͒͠͠ȓ̷͈͔͍̫͈͔̫̰̯̯͈͍̗͊̍͝o̴̝͖̮̰̣͚͓͉̝̮̹̫̙̾͌͊̽̃̏̀̍͋͘͠ḅ̴̡̧̭͓̭̦̟̝̰̜͙̣̟̔͒͌͜ŗ̵̝̜͇͕̙̠̥͗̓̆̔̄͋̋̒͌̾̂̒͛͠͠i̴̱͉̬̭͔̠̻̋̄̀̉̇̏n̸͉̟͍̪̼̭͉̝͔̟͉̖̣̭͗̓̈́̐̈ͅe̷̡̩̝̟͚̗̟͖͓̦̱͓̦͓̊͆̕ͅ left the world
Scott shrugged, not too disappointed in having his alone time again. He went back to brewing his tea.
Around a Century Later
□■□~☆^☆~□■□
Scott was in the flower gardens, tending to his orchid fields when someone he never thought he'd see again arrived.
H̶͍̟̉͑̉͛̎͐ę̵̉̈́̒̀̐͊̂̓̈́͒͠͠ȓ̷͈͔͍̫͈͔̫̰̯̯͈͍̗͊̍͝o̴̝͖̮̰̣͚͓͉̝̮̹̫̙̾͌͊̽̃̏̀̍͋͘͠ḅ̴̡̧̭͓̭̦̟̝̰̜͙̣̟̔͒͌͜ŗ̵̝̜͇͕̙̠̥͗̓̆̔̄͋̋̒͌̾̂̒͛͠͠i̴̱͉̬̭͔̠̻̋̄̀̉̇̏n̸͉̟͍̪̼̭͉̝͔̟͉̖̣̭͗̓̈́̐̈ͅe̷̡̩̝̟͚̗̟͖͓̦̱͓̦͓̊͆̕ͅ joined the world
Scott stood up, turning to find Joe exactly where he had disappeared so long ago.
"Joe! Long time, no see, finally accept that offer of tea I gave you?" Scott called.
"No, I came here for a reason."
"And that is?" Scott asked.
"Answers."
"Ah, answers. The one through line of the universe, a player's quest to understand," Scott smiled.
"I'm not a play-" Joe started.
"I know, but the principles are the same," he waved him off, "what do you want to know?"
"I'm confused… I was on another server, and I met a guy, with your same face and voice, but he didn't call me Joe, and clearly wasn't a fae, yet still seemed to sorta recognize me. Beyond how most people recognize me."
"Ah," Scott said, a smile on his face, "that, I can explain, but not in the middle of a garden when night's coming. Things like this are best discussed over tea, come inside!"
Joe frowned, clearly seeming to ponder things before he came inside.
"If I had known you were coming, I'd have put the kettle on by now," Scott was saying, flitting about his kitchen to start boiling water, "which will it be? Jasmine? Sunflower? Oleander? I wouldn't recommend poppy unless you want to fall asleep…"
"Do you have wither rose tea?" Joe asked.
"Ooo, going for the dangerous one, I like it! Yeah, I have a few. Not a lot, since I'm not the biggest fan of its kick and they tend to sap nutrients out the soil, but I do keep a small supply on hand."
He finished with the water, pouring a couple cups and putting the flowers in to steep.
"So, how to explain… myself," Scott started, sitting down and gesturing for Joe to do the same (he did not) "I guess I should just rip the bandage off and get to the traditional words. Hi, my name is Scott, I'm the physical embodiment of this world, and there's one of me for every world out there."
Joe looked dumbstruck, opening his mouth, then closing it, then opening it again.
"How does that even work?" Was what he eventually got out.
Scott hummed a bit before answering, "it doesn't, at least, not on paper. But that's because paper doesn't include all the mistakes Mojang makes and pretends to be a feature before any player realizes it. And there are many of those, creepers, quasi connectivity, the nether roof, void- even the split between Java and Bedrock was mistake, I'm just one of the more stark ones."
"So… are you all different people, or…?"
Scott mused on that for a bit, "that's… complicated, but I'd say no. We are different in some manors, like species, and personality, but we all look the same, share a name, and are connected to each other."
Joe blinked, "That makes it sound as though you were different people, though."
Scott shrugged, "Told you, it's complicated."
Joe sighed, "Well, this has been confusing."
"Nothing in life isn't!" Scott replied.
Scott finished his mug of tea, placing it back on the table, "You should come around for tea again sometime!" He offered, cheerily.
Joe just stared at him, and then, he was gone.
H̶͍̟̉͑̉͛̎͐ę̵̉̈́̒̀̐͊̂̓̈́͒͠͠ȓ̷͈͔͍̫͈͔̫̰̯̯͈͍̗͊̍͝o̴̝͖̮̰̣͚͓͉̝̮̹̫̙̾͌͊̽̃̏̀̍͋͘͠ḅ̴̡̧̭͓̭̦̟̝̰̜͙̣̟̔͒͌͜ŗ̵̝̜͇͕̙̠̥͗̓̆̔̄͋̋̒͌̾̂̒͛͠͠i̴̱͉̬̭͔̠̻̋̄̀̉̇̏n̸͉̟͍̪̼̭͉̝͔̟͉̖̣̭͗̓̈́̐̈ͅe̷̡̩̝̟͚̗̟͖͓̦̱͓̦͓̊͆̕ͅ left the world
Around 3 Decades Later
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"I've met another one of you recently," Joe said without preamble as Scott worked in his flower garden, pulling weeds.
"I know, it was quite the encounter," Scott said, attacking a particulary stubborn one by his amaryllis.
"You sir, are terrifying," Joe said.
Scott snorted, he knew exactly why Joe had said that. The man(? cryptid? monster? legend?) had been on one of his griefing sprees, and had certainly chosen the wrong world to do it on.
The MCC project was one that had been worked on for around 5 decades now, and Scott was sure would take about 4 more before it was able to be debued, done by a group of (mostly diferent kinds of fae) admins who had been messing around with the world so much that they had accidentally found their Scott.
And after an embarassing introduction, they had decided to work on the project together, and while MCC was not the first ever minigame based server (Hypixle had been a thing for what? two centuries now?) it was the first to be (knowingly) working with a Scott. And while he had pulled some strings in the Hypixle firewall about 2 decades after it opened to keep Joe out (or more accurately, Herobrine) MCC had no such precations.
So, Joe had decided to mess around, and it had ended badly. It was a general rule of thumb that the players, especially the admins, dictated the Scott (to an extent) And as the admins of MCC are very protective of their work, well…
Let's just say that Joe learned why not even Mojang could get rid of him.
"Maybe don't mess with me next time," Scott said, "can you hand me the trash bag? After I'm done with the amaryllis I can brew you some tea."
Joe opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, "You are one of the most confusing people I've ever met."
Scott shrugged, "I get that a lot, or, well, the other me's do. What specifically has you confused?"
"You fought me! Kicked me out a server! Did things to my code I'd never dream of! And now you're… offering me tea?" He said, bewildered as he handed Scott the bag.
Scott grinned, "One, different Scott, different personality. Two, you learned your lesson. Three, you are my guest, and I'd rather not be a poor host. So, no hard feelings, wither rose again?" he asked, done with the weeds and brushing the dirt off his pants.
"That's another thing. You are powerful, I've seen it myself! You could bend the world to your will! Create things fantastical and awe inspiring with a flick of the wrist! You could code these flowers to grow in full bloom and make it so weeds do not grow here! And yet, you use none of that, instead spending your time gardening by hand, it makes no sense!"
"Why would I bend the world to my will? What would I get out of that? Why would I flick my wrist to make flowers grow in an instant? What would I get out of that?" He slung the bag of weeds over his shoulder, ready to add to the composter.
"Flowers! Perfect, brillaint, magnificent flowers that never wilt or die!"
"Oh Joe, I don't garden for the flowers. I garden so I can wake up in the morning and see rows upon rows of thriving things that I put blood and sweat into and know that my hard work paid off. I garden for the satisfaction of gardening, not the flowers in the end. They're just a bonus. Besides, it's something to do each day in my unreamarkable corner of the universe. Now about that tea?"
Joe looked confused for the rest of the visit, which was normal for Joe.
Around 2 Decades Later
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H̶͍̟̉͑̉͛̎͐ę̵̉̈́̒̀̐͊̂̓̈́͒͠͠ȓ̷͈͔͍̫͈͔̫̰̯̯͈͍̗͊̍͝o̴̝͖̮̰̣͚͓͉̝̮̹̫̙̾͌͊̽̃̏̀̍͋͘͠ḅ̴̡̧̭͓̭̦̟̝̰̜͙̣̟̔͒͌͜ŗ̵̝̜͇͕̙̠̥͗̓̆̔̄͋̋̒͌̾̂̒͛͠͠i̴̱͉̬̭͔̠̻̋̄̀̉̇̏n̸͉̟͍̪̼̭͉̝͔̟͉̖̣̭͗̓̈́̐̈ͅe̷̡̩̝̟͚̗̟͖͓̦̱͓̦͓̊͆̕ͅ joined the world
Scott smiled, already getting the kettle ready, "Joe! Welcome back, here for a friendly visit?"
Joe shook his head, "I'm here for advice."
"Well, we could all use a little advice every now and then, what ails you?" Scott replied.
"I have a… well, I'm not sure friend is the right term. He's one of Mojang's oldest players, older than Steve and Alex, even, though he was more… limited, than the Originals. Brilliant miner, but he isn't real interested in anything else…"
"So the beta forms are still around. That's interesting, I thought they would be dead by now given that they can't respawn. I haven't been able to find them, which means they've somehow hidden themselves from me all these years," Scott mused.
"I didn't know they were called beta forms, I didn't know there were more than him," Joe muttered.
Scott shrugged, "they were Mojang's second drafts, of course there were more than one of them. Each had a different job to do, like mining, building, crafting, redstone, hunting, farming, fighting, exploration and fishing. They could learn the other jobs, but didn't fully want to, being so optimised for their specific roles. Steve and Alex were made after them when Mojang decided they wanted players to be jack-of-all-trades. The beta forms taught the Originals all they knew then dispersed, leaving Steve and Alex to teach the first generation of players and get all the glory."
"How do you know all this?"
Scott smiled, "There's a Scott for every world out there, including the first. Now tell me, what's going on between you and TFC?"
□■□~☆^☆~□■□
Turns out, Joe had been chatting with TFC for years, but had pranked him and griefed his mines for the first few months of knowing him (something that was normal for him to do, apparently he hadn't done anything to Scott because when they first met, he had done a quick once over of Scott's code and found it quite abnormal, but couldn't look further because he wasn't an expert at using his code abilities and the server firewall blocked him from seeing much of Scott's code beyond the parts that could be mistaken for a normal elf.) These pranks had included traps, which had just so happened to be placed in a section of the mines that TFC had been mining in recently when a cave in happened. TFC, being a beta form, didn't have a respawn function, (past tense, because Joe had told Scott what world TFC was on and so the Scott local to that world did a quick modification to his code) and thus had nearly died and lost a leg in the process.
Joe was worried that his old traps had caused the cave in, but couldn't find where the cave in had happened to check.
"I'd offer to get the local me to have a look around, but all of TFC's mines are hidden from me. It must have something to do with being a natural world hopper. I can't really track Steve and Alex during the few times they leave the tutorial world, and the only reason that I have any clue where you are at a given moment is because you stir up so much trouble," Scott said.
Joe looked devastated, "so what am I supposed to do?"
"Live with it," Scott said, "understand that there are some things you'll never know."
"Easier said than done," Joe muttered.
"…Let me tell you a story," Scott started, "A long time ago, there was one world, and on that world were players. 9 of them, to be exact. A miner, a builder, a crafter, a redstoner, a hunter, a farmer, a fighter, an explorer and a fisher."
Joe looked confused, but said nothing as Scott paused to sip his tea.
"They didn't know how they got there, or why, but they knew they were players, and that they each liked there little jobs, so that's all they did. Until eventually, Mojang came for them. Told them all about how they were the first players, made by Mojang to see if they would survive. This didn't change much for the players, as they continued on with their lives, working together to thrive in their small world."
Joe nodded, "it's still weird to know that there are players who came before Steve and Alex."
Scott shrugged, "Mojang were far from infallible, they have a few first and second drafts. The player thrived, then one day there came an anomaly. He was a strange anomaly, a mistake born from the loose ends and glitches residing in the very code of their world. Mojang had not made him, not intentionally. He could see the code that made up everything, and influence it too. And nothing Mojang did could get rid of him, every time he died, he came back, they tried to wipe his code, but it was too entwined with the world, plus he was the only thing stabilizing it, they even did a server wipe, resetting everyone's progress, not even that got rid of him."
Joe nodded along.
"And most of all, he was good at everything. A jack of all trades, and a master of them too. He quickly caught up to the players, even surpassing some, in skill. You might think the players would've been jealous, but they weren't. They were happy to have someone to share what they enjoyed with, and thus became his closest friends."
Scott smiled fondly, "they got mad at Mojang for trying to get rid of him – and for wiping their progress – and stuck with him to the end. And when Mojang finally realized that they weren't getting rid of him, they copied him instead."
Scott paused to sip his tea forlornly, "or at least, that's what he thought. For just a few months into his existence, two new players arrived. Their names were Steve and Alex, and they were his friends' replacements, able to do all that the others could and couldn't, and code too, always coming back from the dead through a function called respawning. As time went on, he was the only one able to keep up with the two. The others were forgotten and Steve and Alex got all the glory."
"So, they based the idea of a player doing everything on you?" Joe asked.
Scott shrugged, "I don't know, and I never will. Mojang came up with and tested out all their ideas in the void at the time, only moving to their own private world to avoid prying Eyes trying to interfere with their work years later. It's possible they based them off of the First, it's possible that they came to the conclusion that a jack of all trades was what they wanted from players completely separately, it's possible that they would've come up with the idea without my existence, it's possible that they had always planned for players to be diverse and specialized these ones as a test, it's possible that's true and they took the idea of respawning from the First. Too many possibilities, too little answers. It will never be known, yet the guilt is still there, it was passed down from the First to every Scott after. We've learned to live with it. It was hard, but it softened up after a few centuries. I've had a talk with a few of the beta forms, not me me, but a version of me. They don't care that I might be why they aren't remembered by history."
Joe looked at him ruefully, "you've had centuries to get over it."
Scott shrugged, "and you have centuries still. And the lack of closure will plague you, keep you up at night, until you start to find happiness in spite of it, and one day, you'll realize, that one way or another, whether or not you caused his injury, it doesn't matter."
Joe shook his head at that.
"I don't really know what you want me to say," Scott said, "that's an issue that comes with spending most of your time alone. But Joe, you've been around the block, and you are one of the strangest folk any of me have seen. If anyone can figure this out, it's you."
Joe seemed to contimplate that before finishing his tea, saying his goodbyes, and leaving the server.
Around 5 Years Later
□■□~☆^☆~□■□
H̶͍̟̉͑̉͛̎͐ę̵̉̈́̒̀̐͊̂̓̈́͒͠͠ȓ̷͈͔͍̫͈͔̫̰̯̯͈͍̗͊̍͝o̴̝͖̮̰̣͚͓͉̝̮̹̫̙̾͌͊̽̃̏̀̍͋͘͠ḅ̴̡̧̭͓̭̦̟̝̰̜͙̣̟̔͒͌͜ŗ̵̝̜͇͕̙̠̥͗̓̆̔̄͋̋̒͌̾̂̒͛͠͠i̴̱͉̬̭͔̠̻̋̄̀̉̇̏n̸͉̟͍̪̼̭͉̝͔̟͉̖̣̭͗̓̈́̐̈ͅe̷̡̩̝̟͚̗̟͖͓̦̱͓̦͓̊͆̕ͅ joined the world
"Scott, I have something to ask you," Joe said.
"Ask away, and can you hand me the watering can? The roses need a little extra love," Scott said.
Joe swallowed, "Yeah, about… love… Scott, have you ever had someone who you cared about deeply? As though you'd… give the world to them if they asked?"
Scott paused, thinking for a moment, "I can't say I have, as it'd be irresponsible to give a world to someone without the admin's permission."
Joe's look of incredulity was worth it, "I'm just playing with ya, Joe, I know what you mean. I haven't really talked to anyone other than you, so no, but other mes have. It's always strange when those players enter different worlds, because the main perspective you get is one where the player in question is this angel that can do no wrong, then they head off world and now they are suddenly just a random guy."
"That–" Joe paused, "sounds interesting."
Scott chuckled, "yeah, it is. But I understand the feeling. You came here to talk about Caroline, right?"
Joe looked aghast, "how did you-?"
"Again, every world has a Scott, including the one you live on," he said with a smirk, "and while I may not be an expert on love, I'm not an idiot. You've stopped running around causing havoc, to the point that I'd be unable to track you if you weren't so sedentary. You wouldn't just do that for anyone."
Joe opened his mouth, closed it, and sighed, "well then you know my problem. I don't know… how I feel, or what to do about it."
Scott bent over and drizzled water over the rose bushes, before looking at them and frowning, "some fertilizer could do them some good," Scott muttered before turning back to Joe, "I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert on this, because I've never experienced it myself, and I'm far from good with women. Now men on the other hand~" he said, a lilt in his voice as he grabbed some of the compost and started packing it onto the dirt around the rose bush, "but I think the thing you gotta do is talk to her."
Joe sighed and Scott tilted his head, "I take it you've heard this advice before?"
Joe nodded silently.
"Let me guess, TFC?"
Joe slumped, "yeah, but the problem is that I don't know how to tell her."
"Well, I'm not good at that there, my most successful confession involved the player in question nearly dying and me swooning like a noble woman from a Victorian romance novel who just caught tuberculosis, which I doubt she'd appreciate. But I can say that the worst she can say is no."
"And how is that supposed to help?"
"Because you can bounce back from a no, and also," Scott's smile widened, "I really doubt she'd actually say no."
Around 7 Years Later
□■□~☆^☆~□■□
Joehillssays joined the world
Scott turned to find his friend in the flower garden as usual, a smile on his face.
"Joe! Long time no see, buddy! I see you've finally gotten yourself a communicator," he said with a wave, "your usual?"
Joe nodded, entering the house.
"So, what brings you back to my unremarkable corner of the universe?" He asked, sitting down across from Joe with a tea cup in hand.
"As you probably already know, I'm getting married," Joe said.
Scott nodded, "I am very happy for you and Caroline."
"I wanted to invite you to come as a witness."
Scott chuckled at that, "I'm sorry, but I physically cannot leave my world. I could send my local version to watch, if you wish."
"That's fine, it's gonna be a small wedding anyway. We aren't even going to have a bouquet."
"No bouquet? That's not gonna happen! I'm making you two one," he said, pushing back his chair and standing up.
Joe sighed, "and I'm not gonna be able to stop you?"
"Nope!"