The clock finally struck six. Work was finished and Gareth could start his trip home. He wouldn’t have to deal with annoying coworkers for the next two days and could instead spend time working on projects of his own.

As he was leaving the building and getting ready to walk to the bus stop a mile from work, a large hand clapped down onto his shoulder.

“Gareth! You sure leave the building quick. I’m glad I caught up to you!”

Jeremy smiled down at him as Gareth sighed and rubbed at his face.

“Jeremy. There is a reason I leave as fast as possible. What do you need?”

“Aw, don’t be like that. I know I was getting a bit heated when we talked earlier, but I don’t want you to think there’s any hard feelings. I just want to believe that I can make a difference, and it felt like you were belittling that feeling.”

Gareth breathed deeply and continued on his way toward the bus. He knew without even looking back that his shadow was twice as big as normal.

“You said it yourself. You would just die if you attempted to intervene in a situation like that. And there is not anything wrong with wanting to make a difference. Like I said, you were just thinking small. Why stop one thing when you can stop it all? Amass enough power, enough social clout, ascend to the top, and change the world in such a way that nothing bad ever happens.”

“That idea’s good on paper, but making it actually work like that would require massive changes and a lack of freedom for the people. Making the world better one little thing at a time is much better. I’m not trying to create a worldwide empire that kills or imprisons everyone at the drop of a hat in order to ensure peace and happiness.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“And that is where our values differ. Stopping one crime does nothing when a million more are occurring at the same time. Make crime go away entirely, using any possible method, on the other hand…”

Gareth looked toward the sky.

“Not that I would ever be able to do that. But the same goes for you; you will stop one mugging, one murder. And then you will die trying. And that will be that.”

“That’s a sad way to think about the world. And an unfortunate look into your thoughts. I rea—”

He bumped into Gareth’s back.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“That light in the sky is getting awfully bright.”

“What, the sun?”

Jeremy joked, then he looked up and saw what Gareth was talking about. A small, bright orange ball that was getting… steadily… bigger…

Jeremy picked up Gareth and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and began running.

“Gah! Put me down and let me run on my own!”

“Putting you down now would lose too much time! Sorry!”

Gareth tried to get a good look between Jeremy’s jarring stomps. It was heading straight for where they had just been walking and appeared to be about the size of a beachball now, only growing larger. As it got closer, it began to illuminate its surroundings with a dangerous orange hue.

By the time it hit the ground with a resounding crash, it was about the size of a small car. The shockwave sent Jeremy stumbling to the ground, Gareth in tow. The large man peered back where they came from a saw a small crater where there was once a truck, cars swerving to avoid falling in. Most succeeded, but a few were unlucky and went straight in.

Jeremy stood and started heading toward it.

“We don’t know what that is! Do you want to get cancer?”

Jeremy yelled back.

“I have to try to save whoever I can!”

“Damn it…”

Gareth muttered under his breath and chased after him.