Master of the System

Rynok leaned back in his seat. It was a regular chair save for one difference. There was a large split down the middle of its back; after all, Rynok was a lizardman, and the chair had to accommodate his tail. He stroked his scaly chins with his fingers before licking his eyeballs with his forked tongue. The deal he had just made with the council of primordial gods, it was quite a profitable one. All he had to do was forbid the god of time from using the marketplace app, and the council of the primordial gods would consider giving him a spot on the council. Although it was just a consideration, he could still manipulate public sentiment and strongarm the council members into fulfilling their promise. For him, the sworn brother of the god of media, it wasn’t that difficult.

“Warning! Non-portal-related spatial displacement detected. Anti-titan systems activated.”

Rynok licked his eyeballs with his tongue again before clawing at his table. A display popped up, its edges flashing with red lights. On the screen, there was the image of a naked old man and a black dog standing on a street corner. There were no signs of titans anywhere. Many businesses and public places had warning systems since titans occasionally popped into existence without any hint of portals. People lived in fear until someone figured out a way to detect their appearances—the warning system. Of course, like most systems, errors occurred—not often, but everything with a low chance of happening happened when one lived forever. Apparently, Rynok had lived long enough to witness this low-occurring chance.

Rynok’s eyes flickered as his nictitating membrane moistened the surface of his eyeballs. A naked old man and a black dog, the creatures on the sidewalk fit the description of the god of time and his companion perfectly. A stiff smile spread across Rynok’s scaly face. It seemed like even primordial gods knew when to yield. The lizardman was curious as to what the god of time could offer him. If it gave him even more profit than the council of primordial gods did, he wouldn’t mind lifting the ban while pretending to comply on the surface. It wouldn’t be his first time dabbling in underhanded business. Rynok raised his hand, about to deactivate the anti-titan systems that had activated. The next image on the screen changed his mind. A towering black creature made of pure darkness appeared in the space above the god of time. It was unmoving, but it didn’t look dead. Its teeth were in the middle of gnashing, and its tentacles were in the middle of wrapping. It was as if it had been … frozen in time.

Rynok stiffened as a second titan appeared beside the first one. His expression paled as a third titan appeared beside the second. He slammed his hand on the table, activating the defense system. Laser beams struck the frozen titans from all directions, and thousands of golems were deployed from satellites hovering over the financial world. Black flesh and blood exploded from the titans, but Rynok wasn’t happy at all. More and more titans were appearing in the sky, and soon, they blotted out the artificial sun. There must’ve thousands of them, perhaps tens of thousands of them. For a moment, Rynok thought he was a young god back at the museum of origins, witnessing the birth of light for the very first time. The primordial gods had to fight their way through thousands of titans from the very moment they were born. He had always thought the scene was embellished to plant seeds of awe in the viewers’ minds, but now, he realized the museum’s video might not have been showing enough.

Rynok’s hands shook as he pressed on his display. He opened the portal app, but there wasn’t any signal. How could there be signal when the financial world was surrounding by darkness? The divine light couldn’t get through. The anti-titan systems were working at their full potential, but it wasn’t enough. They couldn’t destroy the titans faster than they appeared. Rynok flicked his display, focusing it onto the old man standing on the street corner. One moment, the old man was there. The next moment, the old man and his dog vanished. It was then—the titans unfroze and roared out their displeasure. The sound alone was enough to make Rynok dizzy.

***

Karta stared at the writhing darkness below her with a blank expression. She glanced up at Vremya, who was floating in the air beside her. “You’re not even going to negotiate?”

Vremya grabbed Karta’s tail and pulled her back. A tentacle flailed at the space she had just occupied. “Negotiate?” Vremya asked and released the startled dog. “Why?”

“Uh….” Karta tilted her head. Vremya’s response was so out of expectation that she didn’t know how to reply. “Because … it’s … more reasonable…?”

Vremya snorted. “When your chicken stops laying eggs, you don’t negotiate with it. You kill it, eat it, and replace it. There’s really no difference here.”

Karta blinked. In that scenario, Rynok would be the chicken, and she would be the replacement chicken. “What do you do when the replacement chicken stops laying eggs?”

“Same thing.”

Karta let out a little fart. “I see.” She nodded and wagged her tail, blowing away the fragrance. All she had to do as the replacement god of the marketplace was not get on Vremya’s bad side. “But what about all those other gods down there? You unleashed so many titans on the whole financial world!”

Vremya rubbed his chin. “You have a point,” he said. “You think I should’ve brought more people to absorb their divinities after they die? Eh, their divinities aren’t that strong consider they can’t even handle this. It’s too much of a hassle to coordinate.”

Karta swallowed. “That’s not what I was talking about,” she said in a small murmur. “Don’t you feel bad? Those innocent gods are dying because of you.”

Vremya shrugged. “People live. People die. Time moves on.” He yanked on Karta’s tail again, pulling her away from some grasping tentacles. He waved his hand, and a titan that was rushing towards the two froze in place. “It’s not like their divinities will be gone forever.” He pointed at a small cloud of light. “Look, that divinity belongs to … the god of jogging. If it sticks together, a new god of jogging will be born. If it splits up, maybe a god of morning jogs and a god of pre-dinner jogs will appear. Nothing is actually lost.”

Karta squinted up at Vremya. The old man’s face seemed to be made of stone. Maybe it was due to her vision being blocked by the squirming mass of darkness, but Karta didn’t get the sense of witnessing a tragedy occurring despite the hundreds of gods being slaughtered by titans below. The whole experience was surreal, and if it weren’t for the fact the roars coming from below caused her fur to shake, she would’ve thought she was watching a movie.

“There,” Vremya said and narrowed his eyes. “Rynok died; that’s the marketplace divinity.”

The world froze. The previously noisy environment fell silent, and a shiver ran down Karta’s spine. This was her second time experiencing Vremya’s frozen time, but she still wasn’t used to it. The two gods descended, pushing their way past still titans and into the slightly crowded landscape below. The lack of any movement made her feel as if she were stuck in a museum filled with terrified wax figures. They looked extremely lifelike, but there was still something off about them. After walking through some gruesome scenes, the two arrived in front of a floating ball of golden gas. Vremya picked Karta up by her waist and shoved her towards the floating particles. “Eat it.”

Karta licked her lips, a bit nervous. She had never absorbed someone else’s divinity before. What would it—“Mmph!” Her face was shoved into the golden light by Vremya, and she felt like she was drowning. She took in a huge breath, and the golden gas disappeared into her nose and mouth. A blinding light filled her vision, and she passed out.

Vremya looked down at the unconscious dog in his arms. Was Rynok’s divinity too much? He hadn’t expected her to faint. Now, he’d have to carry the stinky thing all the way back home. A sigh escaped from his mouth, and he shook his head. First, he’d recapture all the titans and put them back in his bellybutton. Hopefully, the dog would wake up by the time he was done.