It was his first day in. The Warden had given him everything he had asked for. A chunky, distressed oak desk. A beautifully turned and pointed quill made from a peacock feather. The most comfortable reclining chair, paper and state of the art technology, linked up to the planetarium. It could view planets but did not have the transporter function. He would have to walk to the planetarium to visit planets. Since the redman debacle security had been tightened. Only Warden authorised jaunts were allowed.

As promised the warden had given him access to some 'out of this universes' coverage of religion. It had really amazed and distressed him that something so good had been turned into something so ugly. Seeing humans on the vid feed was an eye-opener too. They were all so sad and angry. They appeared to have much more skin on their bones if that made sense. People here tended to be wiry in comparison. More muscular and more alert. People here were pinker or browner or more colourful than the drab grey humans. Humankind seemed to be stuck to one planet called Earth. Waldorf had some vague memories of at least five planets he had lived on. Targum was a new universe but had further advanced technology on at least one of his previous worlds. Not quite to the level of Evans, but more advanced than the billions of years old Earth.

Faith or religion or belief in a God was new to him. He seemed to recall a 'Cult of the seven moons' in one of his reincarnations. It never took off the ground though and was ridiculed as far as he could remember. How worship had taken hold on this backward world was quite mind-boggling. Offering sacrifices for bad harvests and the promise of everlasting paradise in the event of a holy death was astounding. How could death bring anything good? All beings in Targum were as important as others. There was a food chain but food is food. Not an offering to invisible gods. Ridiculous.

Reclining his new chair Waldorf felt the enormity of his new position. Belief in a higher power, in itself, was not the problem as obviously there is a higher power, whether it be The Wardens father on Earth or The Warden and The Governor here in Targum. It was the sacrifices made in the name of these powers that he was here to redirect. This would then ensure that greed was not promoted and this included forcing people to believe in one religion over another for personal gain. Holy war made no sense. Paying offerings was wrong. He could see that the warden had made a commendable and difficult choice here. The Warden did not want to be worshipped as a God and this was fundamental to this universe. He would do his best to only act where belief in oneself was at stake. The custodian of self-belief was a title he could live with.

There was a hesitant knock at the door. Waldorf wasn't expecting anyone.

He tried an official-sounding "Come In." It needed some practice. It felt wrong somehow.

The face at his door was unfamiliar. A neatly trimmed beard. Laughter lines around the eyes. He recognised the eyes. It was Godfrey. The new Godfrey. It was true then. The eyes are the gateway to the soul. He rose to meet him and embraced his old friend. He didn't want him to feel uncomfortable or out of place. He was very thankful he recognised the eyes. He had somewhere to start. The last time he had seen him had been some weeks ago. He had seen the new body then but it had been a strange experience. The new face had not been memorable or imprinted on him. It was a jolly face; Not Godfrey, but a jolly face he could get used to.

Stolen story; please report.

"Sit down old-timer, let me look at you."

Waldorf resumed his recliner. "Well, well. How does it feel? Wierd I bet?"

The 'new' Godfrey looked smaller and out of place. Uncertainly he crossed and then uncrossed his legs.

"It will take some getting used to. The pain is gone. These legs are fantastic. It's great to walk again. I may want to race you around the castle on a mind-scooter I feel so healthy."

Waldorf smiled and imagined all the crazy stunts they could now do together. Yes he thought, he could get used to the new Godfrey.

There was an awkward pause before Godfrey asked, "How's the new job? Do you think you're up to sitting in an office?"

"Well, there is a limit to what I can do here. I can observe planets and make strategies but I can see us having some great times down where it counts 'in the field' as the farmers say." Waldorf could not stop looking at his renewed friend. He shifted his eyes to his desk ornaments and lifted a small silver ball to bash into others. It would be rude to stare.

"Before, I may have said something like 'We are not allowed to intervene' but now, I agree, I am itching to get onto those planets. I am sure if we are careful we can avoid any intervention incidents. I do, however, think we should clear stuff with the warden and maybe even let Greaves know a bit about what we are doing?" He went to stroke his beard and missed. "I certainly want to push myself to the limits. Hope you can keep up old friend."

"That sounds like a challenge. I can get used to this. I have been thinking that as you are in charge of 'the wielding of magic' in this universe, that maybe our first trip could be to Agios. I don't think Deller is setting himself up as a God but it wouldn't hurt to check, and as dragon magic has been discovered there for the first time it would be wise to learn all we can, first hand as it were."

"Yes. I agree. We do need to be careful though. Magic is power and the knowledge can lead to problems as we know. I am reading some transcripts at the moment about magic on Earth where wizards and sorcerers become crazy with the power, I suppose it is similar to religion in that sense."

"I suppose you are right. I didn't know they had magic on earth?" Waldorf raised his brows.

"No, no, just books. Fantasy it was called. The Warden has given me loads of reading to do. Some of it is very good. Until now it was fantasy anyway. It is quite exciting to be part of a legend that is coming true." Godfrey leant over and lifted one of the silver balls and let it swing back.

"When you look at it like that I can see what you mean. I have been researching religion on earth and it scares me how power and greed can distort and corrupt humans. With this magic and worship, crazy people may appear in this universe. I see it as our new job to ensure this never happens. After all, are we not 'Gods?'"