“You don’t find that idea concerning?”
“Hell no,” Wayne said. “Ialreadydone gone and died. That was the part that I worried would hurt.” He gaped down at the planet below. “It’s sobig.”
“Yes, Wayne,” Harmony said. “I realize that a person might become intimidated, seeing all this. Recognizing the vastness of what they’ve lived upon. It is a lot to take in, I think. It can make a person feel small, insignificant, and—”
Wayne grinned. “And I saved the whole damn thing!”
Harmony paused. “Well, I suppose you did. With some help from Marasi and Waxillium.” Harmony gestured toward a red haze, swirling away from the planet as if in a funnel, vanishing into the distance.
Wayne felt something from it. An angry sort of respect. Begrudging. Her avatar had been defeated, and so Autonomy withdrew her touch from the planet.
“Is that it, then?” Wayne asked.
“For now,” Harmony said. “She was overextending to try to bring us down quickly, I think. Telsin and the Set’s failure is an enormous setback, and Marasi was quick to collapse the portal to this planet. My vision returns, and I will try to take care I am not blindsided again.”
“You sound afraid?” Wayne said, cocking his head.
“Nervous,” Harmony said, his expression distant. “I can see pieces moving in the cosmere. Aligning. Pointed at us. We are not free of their influence. But we have… time, now. Time to prepare. Thanks to you, Wayne.”
“Me,” Wayne said. “I saved thewhole damn world.I… I’m probably the best constable who ever rusting lived!”
“I… suppose…” Harmony said, “that Vin, Elend, and the others weren’t constables…”
“Wax ain’t never saved the whole world. And most of the others in the octant constabulary? They couldn’t save a coupon for free beer, even when I gave it to them. Stupid kandra giraffe man. Wayne, the best conner in the whole damn world… Ha! Eat that, Reddi. Eat it with hot sauce andcry!”
Wayne felt something happening as he said it, though. A kind of… stretching feeling. Like he was being pulled somewhere. Somewhere… warm?
“Before you go,” Harmony said, “is there anything you would like to know? I’m not truly omniscient, but my knowledge far surpasses that of mortals. Some have a final question for me before they go. Have you such a request, Wayne?”
Huh. Any question? That was a hard one. He pondered a moment. “So,” he said, “before she left, MeLaan told me that I was the best lay she ever had, and I was wondering—”
“Wayne,” God interrupted, “what is it Ranette always says to you?”
“Try dodging this?”
“The other thing.”
“Don’t ruin the moment by bein’ all skeevy?”
“Yes, that one.”
“Right, right,” Wayne said, nodding. “Good point. Good point. You’re smart, maybe even as smart as Ranette. Suppose that makes sense and all.” He continued to think, though that stretching sensation… it was getting stronger. What could he ask? What…
Then he grinned. That wasperfect.
“I’m gonna assume Wax and them will be fine,” Wayne said. “You already promised that. So I ain’t going to waste a question on them. And you can’t trick me into doing so. You’ll take care of them. I know you will.”
“To the best of my ability,” Harmony said.
“Good. Then tell me this, God,” Wayne said, pointing at him. “Was that thebiggest damn explosiona person ever made?”
Harmony raised an eyebrow. “That’syour last question? Your final request of God before you pass into eternity?”
“Hell yes! Figure now that I’m dead, I’ll get the other answers right soon. You ain’t going to trick me into asking a useless question. So tell me. Was it?”
Harmony smiled. “Ah, Wayne. I suppose that most other things that could rival it—like the detonations of the Ashmounts—would be categorized as acts of God. Therefore, I declare that it is. Yes, Wayne. You exploded yourself in the biggestdamnexplosion a person has ever made in the history of our planet.”
“Make sure Steris knows,” Wayne said, grinning. “She’s always complainin’ about my exploding things. This time I saved her hide by doin’ it. Plus, I made the explosionsmaller.That’s gonna break her brain. I made it smaller, and it was still the biggest one what ever was.”