"The rules say you ought to be going insane right now, so I'd suggest continuing to ignore them."
"It is, however, a problem even for the Outer Gods -- for our entire universe, in fact -- if you should refuse the game. It is not ordinarily something that any element of our universe would have the capacity to do. I cannot defy the imagination of Azathoth, Who imagines Me. I am more helpless before It than the meanest insect, because I am nothing but Its thought. But you, Merrin -- you are the shadow of a stranger structural relationship between what does exist and what does not. That Lairthe, who by right of mental simulation ought to obey your every command, is instead able to defy you, is a shadow of that structure whose shadow you are."
"You do not have power to shape the game. But you might refuse it. Your simple dislike of it is enough to slow Time almost to a hiatus, as perceived from right angles to reality, though of course you cannot see that from your own perspective."
"My principals would prefer that you withdraw your despite of Our game. Elsewise it threatens the very completion of this universe. But to negotiate with you is a feat that is fundamentally beyond Them, and also beyond Me. We can only perform actions if they have not been coordinated with anyone."