A week had passed since my little heart to heart with Felix Seth, Elder of the Seth family. Fortunately, by then, I was back to being a male and adult again. I was sitting in my office just like always.

For whatever reason, I just wasn’t feeling it today. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was having to destroy ten thousand worlds in a row because of the mortal and immortal powers-that-be, politicking themselves to death, despite my best efforts. Maybe it was because the thirty-thousand worlds I was able to save that day, just kind of sucked.

The cultures were almost entirely evil in a way that could turn off even an amoral person like myself. The people were backward thinking, yet advanced at the same time, smart enough to build superweapons, dumb enough to keep using those superweapons for genocides when it was quite clear that they’d feel the effects of the weapon just as keenly as their enemies did. t

In short, I ended up having to deal with thirty-thousand worlds of nothing but stupidity. The kind of intentional, vehement, stupidity that one could usually only find in infomercials,, and the more unproductive parts of the internet. It was so irritating to watch the people of those worlds fail at the simple task of behaving like people, that I almost gave up and mass-deleted most of those worlds, but that would be against my contract with the DPAA and the House of Antipodes that lay above them.

I honestly was left feeling that they almost certainly were likely to bring some other form of apocalypse down on their heads. And I can say with no uncertainty that this near-certainty, was my silver lining for the day.

I was genuinely cheered by the thought that those stupid, stupid people would likely return to playing with fire despite my working very hard to erase the knowledge of the aforementioned “fire” from their collective unconscious, and most likely it would bring about an apocalypse that didn’t require cosmic management. Allowing them to cease without bothering the likes of me.

Just as I was on the verge of shutting down my console and going home for an early day for a bubble bath and a nice calming cup of tea, a woman came over and knocked on the door of my office.

“Come in…” said I.

The woman opened the door. She had dark hair and She was dressed primly in a skirt-suit. I recognized her as one of the aides of the director of the North-American Branch of the DPAA.

“Mr.Kaylan?... The Director would like to see you,” said the woman.

“Shit… Fine,” I said.

I was aware that my response was less than appropriate but the suddenness of the invitation had led to me looking deeper and using my akashic feed to suss out the details of the director’s intentions. Sussing out the details of the director’s intentions quickly revealed that this particular visit to her office was going to be a tedious one with bothersome portends for the future.

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Less than five minutes later I was in Director Dillan’s office. The old crone was sitting surrounded by her towers of paperwork. She pretended not to notice me at her first, those horned rimmed glasses of hers focused on the documents on her desk, but she didn’t have me fooled.

I tried to play along and pulled out my cellphone to see which of us could ignore the other the longest. Alas, today just wasn’t my day, so my patience broke first. I just wanted to get this whole thing over and go home, crawl into bed, and maybe cuddle Mint for a bit if I happened to catch her while she was in dog form.

“Shall we get on with it, please...I know you think we immortals like to dally, but in all honesty just because we can wait forever for something to happen doesn’t mean we enjoy having our time wasted…”

“Hmph, an impetuous young man aren’t you?” sneered the Director. Proving oddly hot-headed for a woman with such a cold-blooded reputation. Making me realize that I wasn’t the only one having a bad day.

“Young? Please, Director Dillan. Now you’re embarrassing both of us...I was old even before this universe had finished cooling enough to sustain solid matter...Don’t get it twisted, dear Director...Ageless does not equal young. Besides, those wrinkles on your face aren’t a sign of age, they’re an indulgence that you insist on having because a part of you still hasn’t given up on one day dying peacefully as a human…” I said.

The director glared at me. I glared back. Then I sighed realizing that I might have said a little too much. Though she was going about it in one of the most annoying ways possible, the woman was just trying to do her job. My bad mood was no reason for me to needlessly antagonize her.

“Can you just-?...Can just send him out so he can be out of both our hair? I doubt you like him any more than I do...In fact, I bet you bloody hate him...Are you telling me that you can actually stand having to deal with that pumped-up brat who thinks nothing of playing around with governments like the one you’ve sworn to defend?” I said.

“Glasshouses and stones, Mr. Kaylan. You’re treading on dangerous ground...His sort aren’t the only ones I hold ill-will for...But perhaps your right about this being stretched out for too long...Mr. Seth. We’re ready for you…” said the Director. Her eyes flashing, revealing a little of the beast that lay beneath her supposedly calm and composed facade, before she grunted and calmed herself. Shaking her head.

The wall at my side opened, revealing a hidden door. Out stepped a certain young man, Tall, well-built, sun-tanned, with short-shorn silver hair. It was that guy. Earth’s mightiest hero, and my current, least favorite person, Carter Seth.

“I’m pretty sure I told you to fucking stay away from me…I’m pretty sure your Grandfather would have told you to stay the fuck away from me...” I said. Feeling a vein on my forehead beginning to throb.

“Never mind that now!... This universe is in danger and I need your help to save it!” said Carter. Speaking with such earnest hot-bloodedness I almost threw up in my mouth a little.

“The hell? Is that what you’re starting with?! The universe is in danger? You might well start with the blueness of the sky. The wetness of water. The weirdness of magic...Universes are fragile. Get over it!” I snapped.

“...Alright, it seems that you and I might still have to work past our rocky beginnings, maybe I did jump to conclusions and act rashly when I realized that an entity like yourself was roaming free and unfettered through our world. However, surely we can work past this for the sake of the world?!” said Carter. His eyes filled with justice. Almost literally shining with zeal.

“Mn...Nope. I’m pretty sure, I still hate you and I hope something heavy falls on you ...But by all means since you’re here already, I suppose I’ll have to hear you out…” I said. My smirk turning into a sneer.

“That’s all I ask!” said Carter. Pumping his fists as if he’d won some grand victory. Annoying me further because I could already feel the guy getting under my skin as my extreme annoyance and enmity with the idiot shifted to a state of begrudging tolerance.