Milov existed. He existed in front of a demon, to whom he explained over and over his readiness to go into battle, no matter the cause. The demon was remarkably shocked by this assertion and secretly feared Milov, for it knew that Milov meant every word of what he said. Oftentimes Milov tried to ascertain his own location, but beyond being in front of a demon, the clues never seemed to fit together right. Furthermore, the feeling began to grow within him that time was passing very slowly, and this feeling grew unchecked until the day came when he could no longer conceal it.

“Demon,” he said, “Time must be passing very slowly!”

The demon was displeased, and proceeded to show Milov that the notion of judging time against itself was absurd.

“Besides,” explained the demon, “I have seen the other reference points, of which you know nothing, ignorant fool! Such points I have seen, and I tell you this: Their time and our time are neither the same nor different!”

Naturally, Milov was perplexed. He began to doubt that speaking with the demon would ever provide him with a way of deciding anything about truth. However, Milov decided to trick the demon. He unwound his shirt until it was no more than one long thread in a heap, and then he asked the demon to go to another of his so-called reference points.

“Demon,” he said, “Have you any food?”

The demon replied, “What is it to have food?”

“Oh demon,” said Milov, “To have food is to possess that which, when consumed, fuels the body and boosts the mind! This I know!”

“You know nothing!” replied the demon excitedly. “You know nothing! You perplex me!” And with that, the demon set off toward a reference point.

As the demon turned to leave Milov, the existant tied one end of the string to the demon’s ankle. Once the string stopped moving, Milov decided that the demon had reached one of the reference points. He did not have to wait long before the line slackened suddenly, and from this he concluded, perhaps incorrectly, that time was in fact slower where he was. He began to follow the line towards the demon’s ankle, determined to confront the demon with this new knowledge.

The demon, in the meantime, had split into two demons, named Ru^e and P@lyeztx respectively. Incidentally, at a different point in time, P@lyeztx would experience one of the points at which time and space began (but that’s a story for (and from) another time). Upon splitting, the demons set off in different directions, one in search of great fortune, the other intent on eating the greatest meal ever eaten by anyone.

Milov continued in pursuit of the string, but after some time became perplexed. He could not tell whether the space he currently inhabited was different from the space or spaces he had occupied previously. He began to wonder about the demon’s seeming certainty of the existence of these reference points of which it spoke. How could the demon know if a reference point was different from any other reference point, or from the point where the demon had existed in front of Milov? For the time being, Milov decided that perhaps he did not fully understand reference points.