"It's her." I kept my arm around Nash and stayed beneath his. "The god. Dr. Henderson."

"Thank you for the introduction, Max." She studied Nash for a few seconds and then met my eyes. "A little dramatic for my tastes, but it will do."

Whatever. She reveled in the drama. "I know you're not just working with Piercey," I said. "You're up to much more. Tell me what you're doing."

"You still jump to conclusions with so little to support them."

"I know you're hiding the problems from your council." I pulled away from Nash and stepped toward Dr. Henderson. "If you really do care about us, listen to what I have to say. Stop manipulating our world and just give us our lives."

Her expression was so soft, I actually wondered if I'd managed to reach her. "You want me to give up."

"I want you to set us free from the burden of saving the universe. We can't. It's over."

"You, who cares so deeply for your people, would abandon countless who are suffering?"

"I don't know how to help other worlds, Dr. Henderson. All I know is this isn't it. You've made deals with Piercey, and I'm certain you have with Flare as will. You've given her powers that no one else has. Whatever you're doing in my world is an untested intervention that invalidate your own experiment."

"Don't lecture me on the scientific method, child. Once I have your world in shape, then I will be able to collect relevant data. I'm showing you mercy by not starting over in a more developed world."

Rage boiled beneath my surface. I steadied my words. Already, I wanted to fall back on the weapon Piercey had given me. "You're creating suffering, not eliminating it. This power you've given us has been weaponized against helpless people. You should take it away, not play god."

She snorted. "This world has no more suffering than any other world. It's just a unique spin on the usual. You actually have hope. You should be thankful. At least there are people like you with the power to help. You would be just as helpless as everyone else in another world."

Nash shook his head. "You believe your own lies, don't you?"

Dr. Henderson sighed. "All people in all worlds ask these questions. Why do bad things happen to good people?" She looked at me as though I was a child who couldn't possibly understand. "At least you get to look your gods in the face and ask. The rest of us spent millennia after millennia crying out to the void. Why? Our cries for help were met with silence as we were tormented by wars, famine, the promise of death."

I scoffed. "You're still crying out to the void. Except when you got tired of the answer, you turned to our world to terrorize us."

She chuckled. "You're the answer to the prayers lifted all over the universe. As I said, dear child, be thankful."

"None of us signed up to be your experiment or your sacrifice."

"No one signs up for the life they're born into. And this life, resented so it may be by you, is infinitely better than the one we salvaged you from. I can hardly imagine it. An infant left trampled in war-torn streets on Earth. Unknown. That was you and Nash both. You were caught in a war that was much bigger than your world, one that consumed your planet, and lost your life before you even got started. We did you a favor by uploading your consciousness. We cleaned up the mistakes and wrongdoings of people who were willing to sacrifice your life and countless like you for their own gain."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

My breath caught. "We died on Earth as babies?"

"Very unfortunate. It was a difficult time in human history, I'm afraid. We're still uploading worlds, you know. That's why Earth was one of the planets chosen before others. So, knowing your unfortunate life, knowing that we gave you all you know, is it me you want to scream at? Or is it someone else?"

My fists clenched. I couldn't even wrap my mind around what she'd said, much less my heart. So I gave into the glorious flames of my rage. "Oh, it's you."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Have you considered that you don't have the experience to appreciate what I'm doing?"

"The heart knows wrong." Nash held her eyes. "Enjoy your deathless world. Let us live and die as we were meant to. As everyone before has."

Her voice hitched in a rare show of emotion. "My world is not deathless. We carry the burden of all those who suffer and haven't yet found our world. Our empathy knows no bounds."

"Poor thing." I rolled my eyes. "Deal with it. You seem perfectly capable of that."

"I'm fighting against an eternal truth, one I refuse to accept. Death is a virus we cannot stop. Every time we think we've evolved beyond, it comes for us in new and insidious ways." Dr. Henderson lowered her eyes to the floor. "I'll do anything so that one day that won't have to be true anymore. No matter how many lives you live, no matter how much time passes, no matter how well you think you've healed… The sting of death is eternal." She met my eyes, tears shining in hers.

I punctuated my words with jabs of my finger. "You're playing god to right some wrong that haunts you. Or maybe you're just bored from immortality and justifying yourself."

"You think you know better than an eternal council? There are ancient beings from the first days of our universe who approved this experiment. I'm a child compared to them. Who do you think you are?"

I slapped my hand against my chest. "I'm a child of the world you created. I am the grief you've caused with your own hands. My voice matters." Heat burned in my palms. I had to breathe to calm myself down before Dr. Henderson realized I had learned how to access my power here. "Let me plead our case before the council. We'll see what they have to say."

Dr. Henderson snorted. She snorted and I knew I had no hope of winning her over. Her eyes were cold again. Her body stiff. This experiment had warped her. If she'd ever reached enlightenment in the past, at some point since she'd turned and gone the wrong way. Death truly was a virus and it had evolved into a god who stood before me.

"Please." I closed my eyes and drew upon all the love I had for my people. Melted into the warmth of Rune's sweet eyes and smile. If it hadn't been for Piercey sharing his experiences with me, I would used the weapon already. I understood, though, how dangerous it was to change an entire world. Asking was the only thing I could do other than use the weapon. "Please, do not interfere in our world anymore. Watch us in silence. Take away this curse of a power from all of us who wield it."

"Keep your pleas. I want you to help me or get out of my way." Fury sharpened her voice and silenced her laugh. Her eyes looked as though they were on fire. "Make your choice now."

I rose back up and stepped close, so close I thought she might feel the heat burning in me as well. She couldn't be allowed to supervise our world any longer. "I'm going to kill your precious Prophet. I'm going to kill your fool of a servant Flare. I'm going to free my people." My voice deepened into a growl. "And I'm going to take this fucking world out of your hands."

Smoke stung my nostrils. Her entire body singed with flames ready to erupt from her skin. The burning in her eyes deepened into a fiery red that devoured the hazel of Dr. Henderson's eyes. They were smoldering.

My heart skipped a beat. Breath fled my lungs. No…

"You're–" The words got stuck in my throat.

Dr. Henderson had faded entirely from the person who stood before me. Flare stood in her place. And I saw it now. Heard it now. The same tone in a different voice. The same haughtiness on a different face. The same person in a different body.

Flare wasn’t a demon. She was a god. A god who’d walked among us and played in our world.

Heat swelled from Flare's body. "Did you forget that I told you to fear me?"