Gardener

The Gardener is one of two abstract mathematical principles, personified as beings of Light and Darkness, that oversaw the flower game in the Garden. The Gardener's rules governed how flowers were placed, spread and sustained at each tick of game time, while the Winnower's rules culled them. When the Gardener proposed a rule rewarding difference and complexity, the Winnower objected, and the Gardener inserted itself into the game as that rule. The conflict devastated the Garden and helped produce real universes.