“It’s been six months since the mysterious Event that wiped Texas and its surrounding states off the map, and experts are no closer to finding an answer than they were the day it happened. Memorials for the more than 30 million people who disappeared that night have been erected all over the country, with many people having given up hope of ever receiving an answer. The region itself is relatively unchanged from that day, not counting the numerous test sites set up by the scientists to study the phenomenon and the military working with local and federal law enforcement to keep civilians out of the region, popularly referred to as ‘The Dead Zone’ by many on social media. Tests for radioactivity have all come back negative, but no one is taking any chances. This morning we’ll cover what we know so far and speak to leading experts in the field who are trying to determine what exactly happened, and if we’re in danger of it happening again.”

“Screen off,” I mumbled into my pillow.

“I was watching that!” Su protested from the couch.

“Shouldn’t you be working or something?” I asked, slowly sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Even gods needed a good night’s sleep and didn’t appreciate it when they’re woken up early because someone can’t control the volume.

“Mistress Rhia gave me the morning off,” she said, getting up from the couch and sauntering over to the sleeping half of the room. “Since I can’t watch my show anymore, I was thinking about jumping into the shower. Would you like to join me? I think we could both use it after last night.” She licked her lips suggestively as she leaned over me, then gave me a deep kiss clearly meant to drag me out of bed. Who was I to begrudge a woman asking so nicely? I jumped out bed, grabbed her and threw her over my shoulder before marching off to the shower.

It’s been four months since this routine started, and I still couldn’t believe my luck. If you’d told me seven months ago that one day I’d begin and end each day fucking an immortal blue maid with centuries of experience to call on, I’d have died laughing right there. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and I now got to enjoy the talented fingers of my head maid as we soaped each other up. I did my best to reciprocate in kind. While I didn’t have the many lifetime’s worth of experience that Su had, Rhia had said that I was a fast learner, and I did my best to prove her right. I lived by the motto “If you don’t leave the shower feeling dirtier than when you got in, you’re not doing it right.”

Forty-five minutes later we exited the bathroom, Su dressed in her maid uniform and me back in jeans and a t-shirt sporting an anime character on it, only to come face to face with Rhia, who was standing there in her usual business attire, arms crossed and toe tapping impatiently.

“Has it occurred to you to whip up some sound proofing for that room?” she asked, clearly irritated. It actually hadn’t, but I guess I could make accommodations for the others residing here. Su stuck her tongue out at Rhia.

“No need to be so grumpy, Mistress. I told you that you’re more than welcome to join us many times.” Su grabbed my ass. “I know he wouldn’t say no, and you already know that I can make your toes curl.”

Rhia turned bright red. I couldn’t tell if it was from rage or embarrassment, but either way it looked like she was about to pop. Eager to avoid any trouble I turned to Su.

“You should probably get to work now. I’ll take my breakfast in front of the screen today. Rhia, let’s go over the schedule for the day.”

Su gave me a deep bow at the waist. “Yes, My Lord. I’ll see to it.” She then gave the still red Rhia a quick bow, then vanished from the room. I went to give Rhia a reassuring pat on the shoulder as I headed towards the living area, but she jerked out of the way. It caught me off guard, but not as much as it did her, it seemed. She immediately started apologizing, professing to not know why she did it. I had a suspicion, but I wasn’t going to say anything. It’s only been six months since the man she loved vaporized himself and the surrounding 400 miles in every direction. She was undoubtedly still coming to terms with that. While Su was eager for her to join us, I wouldn’t push her. If she did decide to open up that much more to me, then it would be because she chose to, not because I pressured her.

I held up my hands to her, reassuring her that no apologies were necessary, and then gestured towards the living area again. “Shall we?”

We sat, and breakfast was delivered to us. Our normal routine consisted of breakfast in front of the screen, catching up on the events happening on Earth, sometimes just picking a random part of the world to watch. Today I felt like being selfish and asked the screen to show me my big sister, Lisa.

I’d looked in on her occasionally, just to make sure she was doing alright. She’d left our family years ago, after a huge fight broke out about her choice of fiancé. One whom we’d known was a scumbag right from the start but had incorrectly assumed she would notice before long. She hadn’t, and when she announced their engagement my parents and I had joined forces to talk her out of it. The argument was loud and long and ended with her pretty much disowning us and leaving the house, never to be heard from again. She was 20 at the time.

It’s been eighteen years since then, and she was now the mother of three, and the guy we’ve seen at the head of their dinner table isn’t the same man she fought with us over. She lived the typical middle class family life and seemed truly happy. Hanging on one of the walls of the living room was one of the last family portraits we’d taken before she left. Our parents sitting with Lisa and myself standing behind them. Below the portrait was a little shelf with three candles lined up. She’d light them and tell the picture good morning, and then before she left for work she’d blow out the candles. I wasn’t sure if this was a religious thing on her part or not, or just something that made her feel better, but either way I was touched. Eighteen years without a word from her, but she still loved us. I let the screen rest on the portrait a bit longer, staring at my parents’ faces, then my eyes drifted up to mine. I realized something as I took in the scene.

“There’s no way I can let her know I’m alive after all this time.”

I didn’t realize I’d said it out loud until Rhia responded. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea. There wouldn’t be any reasonable way you could explain your situation, or why you haven’t tried to contact her since The Event.”

“Then we’re left with a problem,” I said, letting the screen focus in on my image in the portrait. “Eventually my face will be seen by many around the world. Probably sooner than we’d like, if the news keeps showing us more of what it has been. I’ll have to step in to prevent global catastrophes caused by their pride and stubbornness. Everyone has a camera these days, something you’re perfectly aware of, Miss Raven Angel, and I won’t be able to avoid it any more than you were.”

She grimaced at being reminded of the cult that was, surprisingly, still going strong. Walter Jones was still polluting the airways with his confused beliefs, and the original faithful that had made the trek to Baltimore have since spread out across the nation to spread “the word.” Man are they in for a rough surprise when I show up.

“Please don’t remind me,” she said. “What are you getting at, and how does this relate to your sister?”

“Imagine being told your whole family is dead, and then suddenly, months later, a sibling pops up and ‘surprise! I’m not really dead, and oh yeah, I’m a god!’ How would you take that kind of news?”

“I honestly have no idea. I’m an only child. But I do see your point. So, what would you like to do about this?”

“I need a makeover. From top to bottom I need a new image. It’s not just her. I served in the Army and a lot of people I know are scattered around the world. They’d recognize me in an instant. Besides, look at this face and body.” I gestured at all of me. “When you think ‘Deity,’ a middle aged nerd with a pizza and beer gut isn’t what you first imagine, is it?”

“No, I suppose it isn’t,” she laughed. “Alright, remember that modelling you practiced last month?”

I did. In fact, I remembered everything I’ve ever seen or done since birth. Another divine quirk. She was referring the statue of Ryo I made from moon rock. I thought I did a good job. It was an exact likeness, in fact. Ryo hated it. I’m not sure why, but when she got near it, her hackles rose, and she growled like I’d never heard her growl before. I was about wink it out of existence, but Rhia had swooped in and offered to dispose of it for me. I didn’t see any reason not to let her do so, and she promptly picked it up and disappeared out the door with it. I can’t be sure, since I still haven’t been invited to her corner of the complex, but I’m convinced she’s got the statue mounted on a pedestal like Hachi in there. It’s obvious how much she adores Ryo, after all.

“Yeah. Ryo wasn’t too thrilled with the results, as I recall.”

“That’s because you made it look too real. It was freaking her out because it showed no signs of life. Anyway, you can do the same thing to yourself. Just imagine what you want, and you shall have it. It’ll also work on other people, but I don’t recommend that. They become dependent on it and stop working to improve themselves. Oh, and if you ever try changing anything on me, we’ll find out just how much a god can take before he submits to an angel.”

I held up three fingers, scout’s honor. “I would never do anything to you that you didn’t want done by me. I swear to god. Er, me. I swear to… me? Can I do that?”

Rhia snorted. It was a cute sound I’d never heard her make before. She set her breakfast down on the coffee table, giggling, then, covering her mouth, immediately dashed to the door. She paused long enough to look back at me, snorted again, and bolted out of the room.

*

Rhia bolted down the hallway, picking up speed as she half ran half flew to her residence. She blew passed a couple maids, flipping their dresses up with the wind generated by her acceleration. The maids stared after her, confused. Rhia was usually the height of propriety on the moon. Never a hair out of place, and the consummate professional. What could have her racing down the halls giggling like a schoolgirl, they wondered.

She was desperate to put some distance between John and herself right now. As she’d mentioned earlier, sound travelled quite far around here thanks to the marble and tiles lining every wall and floor, and she didn’t want John to hear her at this moment. She finally made to the other side of the complex to her small apartment style room and flung herself on to her couch, burying her face in a pillow before letting the laughter pour out of her.

He’d caught her completely off-guard with his question, and she couldn’t help it. She’d snorted in front of him. The look of surprise on his face following that didn’t help much, and she knew she was going to lose control. That’s why she left as fast as she had. She had an image to maintain in front of him and couldn’t be seen like this. She had to get it out of her system though. So she let herself laugh. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d just let herself go. Her sides were hurting. Tears were falling. She remembered the confused look on his face when she’d turned around at the door and laughed harder. She remembered the panicked look on his face when he’d nearly walked into her after leaving the shower with Su, like a kid who’d gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She was gasping for breath now. That face was priceless.

Remembering the incident in front of the bathroom, however, also reminded her of the moment that followed right after, when she’d flinched away from his hand. Why had she done that? It wasn’t like he’d done anything wrong to deserve such treatment. He’d always been a complete gentleman towards her. It wasn’t because he and Su were especially loud that morning. By now everyone had gotten used to it. Some of the maids even joked about setting their watches by them. So, what was it? Her laughter finally started to die down. The laughter stopped, but the tears didn’t. Why? Why was she crying? Why was she upset this morning? It was just him and Su acting like they always did. It didn’t affect her. In fact, it made her job easier. He was more relaxed and easy to talk to now, so it was easier to discuss what should be done and make plans for the short-term future. Su was happier too. Her assignments were completed with more efficiency than they have in decades, and she was positively glowing. Their energy was infecting those around them. Their home on the moon was a happier place to be these last few months.

So why was she crying?

*

When Rhia finally returned I was still sitting on the couch, sculpting a floating three-dimensional model of myself. Next to it floated two other models. Each one looked in better shape than I currently did, but I couldn’t decide which to go with. It was all cosmetic anyway. Rhia had demonstrated to me quite a few times that with my position came strength. Literal strength. We had popped on down to a gym on Earth one night after it had closed, and she had me “workout” once because I was lamenting the shape my body was in. I ran for an hour without even breaking a sweat. I lifted every weight in the gym. I then lifted every machine in the gym. Let me be clear. When I say I lifted every machine, I don’t mean I used max weight on each machine, I mean I physically picked up each machine. It was ridiculous. We then popped over to a mountain range. She told me to punch the mountain. The news the next day reported an investigation into a gas buildup in the area possibly leading to the explosion of said mountain, but fortunately it was in a restricted region and no one was nearby when it blew. I felt like an anime protagonist. Just needed an orange jumpsuit. Really, these powers weren’t even fair.

I looked up from my work as she approached. “Feeling better?” I asked. She nodded, not quite making eye contact, although I could see hints of puffiness around her eyes. I didn’t ask about it though. If she wanted to talk, she knew where to find me. She approached the back of the couch to look over my shoulder.

“Trying a few test models out first?” she asked, indicating the bodies floating in front of me. I nodded.

“Yeah. At first, I tried the traditional images people have of gods, like the Greek and Roman pantheons, but it just didn’t feel right to me. I make a striking Aphrodite, by the way, but the beard ruined the look.” I glanced up at her after my joke, but she just gave me a distracted half grin. She indicated what I had in front of me.

“What about these?”

Turning my attention back to the models, I let out a sigh. “I tried using a more modern influence. That’s Brad Pitt in Fight Club, that’s Chris Hemsworth in Thor, and this one here is Henry Cavill in Justice League. None of them seem right to me. Maybe it’s the face. I altered it enough to seem familiar, but not completely so. I didn’t want to confuse myself whenever I look in a mirror.”

“Have you considered losing the beard?” she asked me, giving my chin fur a tug.

“Ow! No. This is my first opportunity to grow a beard, and dammit I’m taking it! I couldn’t in high school. Then I couldn’t because I worked in a grocery store for a few years and company policy said no. Then I joined the Army and wasn’t allowed to for the ten years I was in. Then the pizza place I worked in after I got out only allowed goatees. So yeah, I’m seizing it! Besides, whenever one thinks of a god, they think ‘beard.’ Look at all the depictions of the gods throughout history till now. Now that they’ll finally see a real one who’s about to tell them everything they know is wrong, I’m sure they’d love to see they got at least one thing right.”

“Uh huh…” she said absentmindedly.

“Are you even listening to me?”

She suddenly stood up straight and reached for the model I was working on, the Superman one. “Can you make it so that others can make changes to it? I’d like to try something.”

“Done,” I said, confused at her actions for the third time today. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

She snagged the three foot tall model out of the air, tucked it under arm and made to leave the room. Just before she got to the door, she turned.

“This may take a while. Your schedule’s free for the day anyway. Go have fun.” She then turned and headed out of the room, calling out as the door closed behind her “Su! My room, now! Bring Ryo and Bridgette with you too!”

Who’s Bridgette? I wondered. Shrugging, I pondered what to do for the day. I trusted Rhia. She’ll let me know when she’s ready. I wandered over to the window and stared at Earth, floating serenely in the sky. I thought about popping down for a visit, but for once I wanted to do something no one else could really do. No one from Earth, anyway. What was the point in being me if I just continued to do mundane shit like visit theme parks and tourist attractions? I’m a god, for crying out loud. Maybe I’ll take a walk.

Twenty minutes later I was bounding across the moon’s surface. The vacuum of space had no effect on me. The lack of oxygen didn’t matter either. I couldn’t die. I could even make it so that I didn’t feel temperature changes. So far, I’ve discovered that there is almost literally nothing I can’t do if I don’t want to. The one exception being time travel. Even for deities the past is forever locked. What’s done is done, and it can never be revisited. I didn’t lose any sleep over that anyway. Looking back only slows you down. My mission was the future. Mine, humanity’s, and eventually the galaxy’s, should my little pain in the ass planet make it there.

I followed the markers I’d set out the first time I’d made this trip. It was a couple hours of high speed bounding, but I finally arrived at my destination. I floated up off the surface, so I didn’t disturb the relics. I liked to come up here sometimes just to see the first time man had touched another world. Humans made it here, all on their own. No deities had helped them. No angels oversaw them. They had knuckled down and did it for themselves. And then they’d done it five more times. I don’t think the people down there truly appreciate what a big deal that is. I hovered over the site, looking at the flag that was knocked over when their module took off, half buried in moon dust. I could easily fix that, and even restore the flag in a way that would prevent it from disintegrating in this harsh climate, but I won’t. This site is to be preserved.

I couldn’t help but be a little silly though. I moved away from the site, trying to find the perfect spot that would capture everything if I were trying to take a picture. Confident I was far enough away to not disturb the actual landing site and countless footprints left by Neil and Buzz, I conjured up a director’s chair and placed it facing the descent module. On the back it read STANLEY KUBRICK. I laughed silently to myself (as if there was any other way to laugh on the moon’s surface). Moon watchers are going to lose their fucking minds when they see a new shadow here. My bit of mischief complete, I decided to head back home. I was curious to see if the girls were done yet, and there really is only so much you can do to have fun on the moon.

*

Later, back on Earth ~

“Hey, Tommy? Something seem different about the Apollo 11 landing site to you?”

“What? Why would it? It hasn’t changed in almost 50 years, Jimmy.”

“Uh… I see a shadow.”

“What? Shadows ain’t exactly news, ya know?”

“This is definitely a new one. Hang on, let me get my other telescope.”

“Alright. Give me a look while you do.”

“Be right back,

“Uh huh… you gotta be shittin me… he wasn’t lyin.”

“Whatcha doin?”

“Lookin’ up the number for NASA. If we’re the first one’s who’ve seen this, maybe they’ll pay us! Hurry up and set that big bastard up. I wanna confirm before I dial.”

“On it!”