“To begin with, I must admit to a level of bias in the selection of transfer locations for the souls in question,” began Archibald. “I originated in the Chenrel system. I was made aware of a disturbance in the system that would lead to a great calamity and an outpouring of souls, and wanted to do what I could to stem the flow.”

“The Board is aware of the situation and is monitoring the development of the system,” Tatiya responded.

“Monitoring the situation… if I may be frank for a moment. The system is without a God, how can the Board let a situation like this continue?” asked Archibald, incensed. “You would let every soul in that system drift aimlessly, unable to be redirected. Without a God to uphold order, the whole system will fall apart.”

“We are aware. We are monitoring the system with great interest,” Tatiya responded cryptically.

“This is an experiment to you,” Archibald responded, realizing the reality of the situation. “You wish to learn what happens when a God is gone. You wish to either see a new God born, install your own, or watch the destruction of a complex planetary system.”

“That is beyond the scope of this discussion,” Tatiya redirected. “What is your purpose in sending souls into the Chenrel system? What do you hope to accomplish?”

“I hope to inject a level of stability,” replied Archibald. “The lack of a God will not go unnoticed among those connected to the magic of that world. It will be like children let loose in a toy store. The powerful will find their power unchecked and demand more until the system reaches a breaking point.”

Tatiya nodded.

“And that’s your goal… You think the last soul standing will rise, as a God,” Archibald whispered aloud, horrified. “All those other souls, lost to the void. Have you no compassion?”

“It is an acceptable loss to the Board to gain the knowledge we seek. We must be able to prepare for the next absence of a God and this will go a long way to establishing policy for the future,” leveled Tatiya.

Archibald couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They actually think there will be more Gods disappearing in the future? In fact, they expect it and want to establish policy…

“The universe is ever expanding, Archibald,” Tatiya said, reading his mind. “The Gods cannot keep up with this expansion. To maintain order in a broader sense, they are stretched thin. We must establish protocol in the absence of the Gods, while discovering methods to increase their number. I’m sure you understand.”

“How do I fit into this?” Archibald asked, exasperated. This was not the meeting he’d prepared for today.

“You have injected an unexpected variable into our experiment,” Tatiya explained. “The souls you have sent to this world are powerful. Their destinies intertwine with the mana of the world and give them abilities few naturally have. Put simply, you have created half the leaderboard of candidates to become the next God.”

Archibald was stunned. I never intended to do this, I was just giving second chances to those I felt deserved them and now, I have sent them into a fight for dominance of the world.

“The Board is aware of your decisions,” continued Tatiya. “And I have concluded from this interview that you did not intentionally manipulate the results of our experiment. As such, we will not be demoting you from existence.”

Archibald paled. That was on the table?

“Instead, we offer you a transfer. A promotion, so to speak,” Tatiya continued. “Since you are so invested in this project, the Board has decided to offer you the role of Conservator. You will observe the planetary system directly and cycle back the lesser souls. As the stronger souls fight and die, you will transfer them from Chenrel into the Afterlife Recruitment Pool, where we will process and select the best for employment in the Afterlife.”

“And if I refuse to run your experiment?” asked Archibald.

“That is not an option,” responded Tatiya.

Archibald sighed. “Then I suppose, when do I begin?”

“Immediately,” replied Tatiya.

The space around the pair morphed and stretched. Archibald could feel his office, the space that he’d cultivated so lovingly, be ripped from the fabric of the Afterlife. It condensed to an infinitesimally small point, crushing everything to near nonexistence, before exploding out.

In the blink of an eye, his comfortable office now encompassed the entirety of the planetary system. Positioned above the system, the orange star now rotated beneath them. Planets, moons and other remnants from stellar formation circled the room. With a nudge, Archibald sent a comet from orbit, watching it careen out of control until it left his domain entirely.

“So this is my new home,” Archibald thought out loud.

“It is. You have the power to see things at a grand scale, as such, or at an individual level,” replied Tatiya. She motioned her arms wide as she gestured to the system as a whole, then brought them together, and the view of the system shrank to that of a bird flying through a forest.

“You are able to change things quite dramatically, but we ask that you do not,” Tatiya continued. “Remember, you are an observer. You are stationed here to keep things moving and to report on the progress. If we find you have directly impacted the results of the experiment, there will be consequences.”

Archibald nodded.

“We have left you with a detailed roster of the souls available in this system, please familiarize yourself with it,” she said, gesturing to a large book on his desk that now floated through space. “As a last word of advice, try not to let the power go to your head. We are always watching, and it would be quite a shame to need to repeat this experiment again.”

With that, Tatiya formed a door and stepped through. As it closed, the door disappeared, leaving Archibald alone in the quiet above the system.