"This isn't what I expected," Sam mumbled, slack-jawed as he stared out of the window into the vast space ahead of him. No, not space. Vaguely he could see fractals shimmering in the sky, a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes that defied his understanding. Reality itself seemed to twist in the far distance, and Sam felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Gray said, joining him at the window. She leaned against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest.

They were on the fiftieth floor of Gray's workshop, where with its high ceilings and large windows, it felt more like a penthouse than a research facility. Holographic displays flickered in the air, showing schematics and data that Sam couldn't even begin to understand. Each inch of the room was covered with gadgets, some of them humming with energy, others lying dormant, and wait, was that a working lightsaber?

But the sights of the workshop paled in comparison to the view outside. There was no blue sky or clouds, no sun or stars. There was only the shimmering fractals, stretching out into infinity, a cosmic tapestry that seemed to be alive. Cast under the dim light of the fractals, Sam could see a sprawling cityscape, a metropolis that seemed to stretch on forever just like the sky above. Bathed in neon lights and holographic displays, the city sparkled like a jewel in the darkness.

"What is this place?" Sam asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"New Versailles," Gray said, "the capital of our Empire." She gestured to the city below. "Well the outskirts at least. The inner city is too expensive to live in.

It would take a hundred lifetimes to afford a place there. That's why I am out here. This place was pretty cheap, but it's still pretty impressive, don't you think"

Sam remained silent, his mind racing. He had lived in a cramped apartment back on Earth, struggling to make ends meet. But here he was, standing in front of a lady who thought a fifty-floor workshop was 'pretty cheap'. What kind of world had he stumbled into?

Realization dawned on him. "Wait, you said 'our Empire'. What do you mean by that?"

Gray turned to him, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh, you didn't think you were the only god, did you?" She chuckled. "No, everyone in this city is a god chosen by INTELLECT. We all have our own domains, and we are all powerful in our own right, but our real strength comes from working together. Hence, the Empire."

"It's called the Samian Empire because all of INTELLECT's chosen have the same name" Gray said, "My full name is Samian Gray, and you are Samian Green. So we go by our last names to avoid confusion."

Gray noticed the puzzled look on Sam's face and laughed.

"Nobody knows why this is the case, but it's been like this for as long as anyone can remember. Some people think theres a deeper meaning to it, but I think INTELLECT just has a weird sense of humor."

"All gods are named Samian... because INTELLECT thinks it's funny." Sam repeated, wrapping his head around the concept.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Well, INTELLECT works in bizarre ways," Gray said, shrugging. "Don't question it too much. You'll only end up with a headache."

"So whats my domain?" Sam asked, looking out at the city below. "What am I the god of?"

Gray grinned. "Thats for you to find out. INTELLECT doesn't define our domains for us. We have to discover them ourselves. It's part of the fun. I didn't know I was the god of accidents until I put a metal fork in the quantum oven and caused a thermonuclear explosion." She chuckled at the memory. "Good times."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "The god of accidents? Then why are you in engineering?"

Gray shrugged. "Nobody said the gods had to be good at their jobs. Besides, I like building things. It's a nice change of pace from blowing things up."

"Wonderful," Sam muttered looking at his hands, realizing that the god of accidents was the one who had rebuilt his body. "that's very reassuring."

Gray chuckled. "Don't be so narrow-minded, Sam. Domains don't define you. They're just a title that describes what you're the best at. You can do whatever you want with your skills. That's the beauty of being a god."

"Really?" Sam asked, a spark of hope in his eyes. "So I can do anything?"

"Well almost anything," Gray said, "my advice, stay away from the Empire's Legal Department. That's a whole different kind of hell. We had an intern who enlisted after an arbitration gone wrong costed his best friend's life. We never saw him again, the last time I checked he was institutionalized at the Happy Horizons Mental Rehabilitation Center. He's been there for ten years now, and he's still reciting the digits of PI backwards five hours a day. Poor guy."

Sam shuddered at the thought. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good," Gray said, clapping him on the back. "Now, what were we here for again? Right! I need to finish my molecular coherence stabilizer."

"What about fixing my body?" Sam asked.

"Haha, I'm just pulling your leg," Gray said, "Let's get started."

----------------------------------------

In the eternal night of New Versailles, Sam found himself wandering the streets, lost in thought, as he passed by towering skyscrapers and neon-lit alleys. True to her word, Gray had fixed his body, and even improved it. He looked at his hands, flexing his fingers, feeling the synthetic skin that now covered his limbs stretch and contract. It almost felt like he was in his old body, but now he was stronger, faster, better. No more aching joints or tired muscles, he could run for miles without breaking a sweat.

With a thought, he activated his built in eye-phone, and pulled up a map of the city. A red dot blinked on the screen indicating his location, and another dot marked Gray's workshop. Gray had needed new parts for her molecular something project, and Sam had decided to take a walk to buy them and get to know the city. He had been cooped up in the workshop for days, and he needed some fresh air. Or as fresh as the air could be in a city that was more machine than nature. Samian began walking towards the hardware store.

People, no gods, of all shapes and sizes passed him by, and a suprising amount of them stopped to greet him. Sam had thought that he wouldn't stand out in the city, but he was wrong. It was not every day that a new god appeared in the neighborhood, and people were curious. What was his life before? Was he happy? What is his favorite color? Sam answered the questions, abeit some more truthfully than others, and soon he found himself surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, all eager to hear his story.

Distracted by all the attention, Sam didn't notice the figure that was following him, a shadow in the neon-lit streets. It wasn't until he reached the hardware store that he felt a presence behind him, a cold chill that made the synthetic hairs on his neck stand on end. He turned around, but there was no one there. Just the remnants of the crowd, the holographic displays, and the smell of hot dogs in the air.