Despite the fantastic spectacle in front of them, and having heard its words, many of the Brotherhood began to fall and prostrate themselves on the ground, imploring pity and benevolence from the terror in front of them. I was curious what the big guy was going to do.

      I think even he was stumped for a moment. He hesitated before opening that black maw he called a mouth.

      “Get up you sad, sorry excuses for intelligent beings!" His voice didn't roar, but there was a touch of menace to it.

     Most all of them stood, trembling in their shoes. I noticed that the religious folks were more scared of the apparition than anyone else seemed to be. I guess finding out that the god you were worshiping was really real was enough to loosen your bowels. Everyone else was still trying to make heads of tails out of it.

      He roared down to them. “What exactly do you believe in?"

      A small voice proclaimed, “You, oh great one!"

      “But I am neither in need of worship nor do I have any use for such a stupid, pointless waste of time of someone believing in me. Is it not enough that I exist? I am already great! I do not need snotty-nosed, sniveling idiots groveling at my feet, nor do I need them usurping my work as their own. I am the creator. I made your ancestors and I made them to be proud and strong. However, I never made them in my image, for there was no point in such a grave display of vanity. While you may look like who you are because of my initial intervention, it remains that you are who you are by your own choices. And yet look at you. You have chosen to be worms!"

      His voice shook the nearby buildings. I was hardly moved by his display, having already felt his power and knowing that if he was going to smash me, he would have already done it. One of the veteran policemen, feeling either brave or especially stupid, walked up and yelled at the monstrosity.

      “What right do you have to be telling us what to do?"

      A giant fist came down and smashed him where he stood. The gasp from the crowd was enough to move the air around me. I looked for the telltale sign of blood on the pavement, but there was none. Instead, the fist opened up and a scattering of black sand fell to the ground. The cop was standing there, his pants wet down the front but otherwise intact.

      “I have no right to be here and yet I have every right to be here. I was called here by accident and yet I came because there was a need. And since I have been forced to return to the world that I created, I find that I must stay to set things to right. While I wish to interfere as little as possible, I am under the impression that there are matters that need rectifying. This Brotherhood for one. I don't know who thought that praying to someone who wasn't even around to listen to their prattling was a good idea. You build a civilization on cooperation, technology, innovation and hard work. Throwing on robes and dancing little jigs is for mindless idiots. Are you adults or children?"

       The cop backed up until he was far enough away that he felt it was safe to run. So did a bunch of his fellow officers, who seemed to run faster than the younger rookies. The crowd was getting edgy, now that their only source of protection as it were had deserted them. The members of the Brotherhood were mewling like fools and overall, the scene was disgusting. I mean sure, this guy was impressive and all, but seriously? Didn't these people have any dignity?

      Jenar, or what had taken the place of him, clapped his enormous hands and disintegrated into a non-cohesive pile of black sand. The folks on the perimeter, which kept changing in numbers and makeup, let out a gasp. In the next instant hundreds of normal sized replicas emerged from the mound, stepping out to approach the people.

      Some panicked and fled while others, from either an inane curiosity or just plain courage remained behind. As one, the duplicates extended their hands. “Glad to meet you!" came the unified voice.

      I have never seen more surprised looks on faces before in my life. Most reached out gingerly and accepted the handshake. When nothing bad happened, I think there was a mass release of long-held breathes.

     From there the duplicates seemed to develop personalities of their own, and went from person to person shaking hands and talking with them. Overall it looked like a damn politician going around hawking for his upcoming election, only in multiples. I thought it was disgusting until it dawned on me what he was doing. He was letting people know he was real, and that he had a mind and a heart. He had shown his superior side, and now he was showing his less imposing forms. I didn't know if that was brilliance or pure audacity.

      One of them came over to me."Well Veracity, what do you think so far?"

      I shrugged. “How the hell should I know? You're the one with all the smarts."

      “Now don't go shortchanging yourself. In the end, the result here is that people will learn to both fear me and to respect me. Fear is the jolting force to get their attention, sort of like in the ancient days of my world when children were paddled. I have gotten their attention now and from here, everything will fall into place."

      “But isn't that acting like a god? I thought you were against that!"

      “I am, but I have to kill the idea slowly. So unless I step into the shoes that have been made for me, I see no alternative but to fill them until such time as they have worn away to nothing. People will not let go of stupid concepts without a fight. So I'll give them what they think they need for a while and then fade out into the sunset."

      “So you aren't sticking around then?"

      “I didn't say that, not precisely. Everyone here will need to feel that there is something constantly lurking underfoot for a long time to come. It's like the silly concept of heaven and hell. Your ancestors knew my opinion on such things. The sad fact is, when you die, you die. There is no afterlife. My ability to live on has nothing to do with mysticism, but with science. There is much more depth to knowing and understanding than there is in believing. You can believe in anything you like and that doesn't make it real."

      “I can see where the truth can be a downer."

      “Downer? Why? If you know that everything that you do has a consequence to those around you, and that all you have is what is before you, why not take that information and strive to be your best just for that reason?"

      “Because people always want more."

      “I suppose so. That's not all bad until it gets out of control. I set down the initial rules here just for that reason. A body needs a skeleton to function and so does a society." 

     “What about some of those things that are reported to live in the great sea? They don't have skeletons."

      “I think we can forget about such life forms for the moment. The more complicated the form the more complex the requirements. A single person living on their own can live by whatever rules they set, but when you have many, they must reflect the needs of the many, not the few."

      “Yeah, I can see that. But the rules here have been subjected to tweaking that shifts the law to favor those who have money or power."

      “The former laws did reflect that. That is no longer the case."

      “Just changing them doesn't mean that people will follow them you know."

     “Oh, they'll be followed. Unlike any other “god" that has ever existed, I will have the final say in what is and isn't allowed."

      “I don't follow you." 

     “You don't need to.

      “Ok, whatever boss. As long as you know what you're doing I guess there isn't much I can add."

      “We'll see about that. I think you might be more useful than you think."

      For some reason his words didn't reassure me. I was wishing with all my might that things were back to the way they were not that long ago. At least then I knew how to handle myself. Now, I was totally out of my element. I liked being underground and doing things on the sly. Being out on the open now had made me high profile, for I think it's reasonable to assume that everyone was beginning to associate me and my crew, wherever the hell they were right now, with this massive disruption.

      “Listen Jenar, I really don't want notoriety outside of that which I can create for myself."

      “Too bad. You called me up and now you're stuck with the results. Besides, who else here knows the city as well as you do? It's not like I'm going to make you king or anything. People get to decide who they want in office. After this, they might be a little more careful about who they choose."

      “Are you implying that they might choose me?" I felt a lump in my throat.

      “That remains to be seen. You are rather honest in your own way, even if you go about things like a thug. Then again, the underdog tends to use whatever means is at his disposal now doesn't he?"

      “I'll refrain from commenting on that, if you don't mind."

      The black form chuckled. “I know all about you Veracity. You know I do. I am not here to judge anyone. What you do is up to you."

      “I think I've been through enough already. What makes you think I want to lose any more of my time or life on this stupid city?"

      “Loss is a choice made for you, sacrifice is one you make for yourself. So I guess you had better start thinking about the future. Your city may need you more now than it ever has." 

     “What the hell does that mean?"      

     The black figure almost seemed to sigh. “Religion is for the weak minded. It's not all bad, for it acts like glue. When you have a lot of personalities that don't agree on the same things, having one commonality to bind them together is a wonderful commodity to have at your disposal. But in lieu of that binding force, something often must take its place. People are simply not able to cope on a day to day basis with the fact that their lives are nothing more than they appear. You get up each day, and instead of hoping for something better, you need to make it better. Those who succeed have the confidence to do so on their own. So with the abrupt ending of the Brotherhood, the people are going to be looking for something or someone else to believe in. Since I intend to drop from sight when this is over, they will see you and your friends as the ones who had the closest association with me, and therefore the ones with the greatest potential for godliness."

      “Fuck you! I'm not going to have people dropping down and worshiping me!"

      “Nor would I allow it. But they will look to you for guidance. I would suggest that you think long and hard on it. You may get stuck with the job whether you like it or not. But don't think of it as an imposition, but a chance to impart your wisdom onto these good people."

      “Wisdom? That would be your department, wouldn't it?"

      “You know, not necessarily. I have only a limited amount of the full potential of information I have stored back on my ship. This container, if you will pardon the expression, only has room for a barely a millionth of it. I simply programmed my personality traits and the information I had on this world, plus a small amount on the universe and on my home planet. It's still a large amount of data, but it is nothing compared to the total. But I lack a few things now that I had in that previously functioning biological body. One of them is the capacity to love; to have compassion. I might be able to emulate it, but the subtle nuances are lost in an inorganic body."

             "Yeah, about that. How are you able to jump from one form to another and still retain you, well, your mind?

“Oh, that's simple. My brain is more or less a bio-technical construct. When the organic body died the nanites extricated the processor from it and I resumed life as you see me now. It's not all that clever from my point of view, but it's functional."

“You don't have something like that that I could plug into my own brain, do you?" I was ever hopeful to increase my own intelligence, and a jump start sounded just perfect.

“Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. If you start adding bits and pieces randomly, you'll ruin who you are at heart, and heart is what you need the most right now. A lot of people are going to be hurting that I came back and then left again after telling them what morons they are. The truth hurts, and facts can cut to the quick. Still, there are harsh realities to life and getting jolted with the news can sometimes cause people to shake off their sloth and their complacency and go the extra mile in discovering who they really are."

“That's kind of deep."

“So is a pile of shit Veracity, so don't try to patronize me. There was an old adage from my world about a frog and hot water."

“What's a frog?"

“A small primitive life form. If you put it in cool water and bring up the temperature, you can kill it because it grows used to the ever increasing heat. But touch it with a drop of hot water and it will react because of the suddenness of the temperature change. I'm that drop of hot water now, and I intend to make everyone react."

“I'd say you already have. But if you leave, what's to keep this from all happening again?"

“You'll see. Everyone will see."

His words sent a shiver go through my spine. I suppose I felt a bit like an Outlander does when I show up. At least, I assume that's the way it worked. When I go out there, people notice and are in awe. While they might be the big kahuna any other time, when I was there, I was bigger, badder, smarter and more menacing, even if I wasn't trying to be intimidating. With this guy, I wasn't sure of my own name when I was around him. Anyone who could turn to dust and reconstitute himself again was a badass customer. The longer I was around him though, the less I could think of him as being this all powerful entity. He might be powerful, but that seemed to be more to do with his overall intelligence than it did with being divine. I believed everything he said anymore, and I wished I could have seen the city in its glory years.

“That's what I'm afraid of."

“Now, now; no cynicism from you. I made it work once; I can make it work again."

“If you say so. Me, I'm thinking we might have been better off without you."

“That's just the frog talking. Change is good, even when it's not wanted. Life cannot go on if it is static."

“Meaning what exactly?"

“Life may reach a plateau, but that only lasts as long as the conditions that allow it remain fixed and unchanging. Any change, even if it isn't catastrophic, can lead to the demise of the system. That why the gene pool here is so diverse, and yet in some instances it allows for cross pollination."

“Pollination?"

“Sorry; my attempt at humor. It means that two dissimilar kinds can produce offspring. So you see, in the event of some sort of cataclysm, your Outlanders stand a better chance at surviving than those who have stayed here in the city."

He had a point. The Outlanders were often…outlandish looking, but they were tough mothers who lived in some of the more inhospitable regions around. They didn't believe in anything, and would probably toss aside any tales of this present occurrence as mere fits of frenzied fancy from some new drug hitting the streets. But it got me thinking.

“So you're saying that I could get someone pregnant not within my own class?"

“You're part equine, but you have some other genes mixed in. The conditions on this palent were not the same as those on the one I grew up on, but that didn't mean that it couldn't support life. Life flourished here once, a long time ago. I had to tweak things to get the combination correct for this sort of sunlight and atmosphere."

“Do you know how weird that sounds?"

“Why? It's the truth. Truth is often stranger than fiction. Is not my real and glorious self more impressive than anything your Brotherhood could have ever dreamed up?"

I coughed in my hand. “Sure."

But then I looked around and saw all the copies of himself that were spread around, and how people were beginning to warm up to them. I think that if there was a god, I'd prefer one like this, not some invisible, non-existent, made-up deity that seemed to change his mind about things at some mortal's whim. When you got down to it, and past all the weirdness that encompassed his present form, he was a decent enough guy. I'd sure as hell want him on my side during a fight, let me tell you, not that I'd need any help mind you. I just would rather be on his side than against him.

The black animation was now looking around the square. “I'm glad this is proving to be easier to handle than my own world would have been. Then again, there were a lot more of them, and many divergent religions. It's very hard to convince everyone that they're wrong when they all swear they're right."

“You could have killed them all."

“The thought had crossed my mind, but it was not in my nature, nor did I think that such a kindness was due my world. I left and allowed nature to take it's course."

“That's a rather harsh statement. Have you ever thought about going back?"

“Nope! I see no point in ti. It's been so long that no one will even remember me, much less take kindly to my return. And that's assuming there is anything intelligent left on the planet. I'm doing what I want to do and little else matters. Being by myself means I can do things my way, without interference or explanation, and I can discover what there is for as long as I like."

“Sounds fun, but lonely."

“It's both, though I hardly get the feeling of loneliness. Again, that's attached to a biological form. My mind is completely integrated within the ship, which means I have a largely unlimited intellect when it comes to where I physically am located. I could send out hundred of duplicates like this and never diminish because the information is replicable."

I had to think that one out. “So like here, where you have multiple copies, you could do it all over the universe?"

“More or less. It's not all that hard, if you know what you're doing. Here, for example, I am the original, such as it counts as an original. The processor is inside me, and the rest are mere extensions."

My head was spinning. “So you could reform as one giant monolith again?"

“Sure, within certain physical limitations. The nanites can only hold together with power, and the power need increases exponentially the bigger the form gets. So breaking apart was just easier on the power grid and easier for everyone to deal with on a personal level."

“You have this all figured out, don't you?"

“Most of it. Like I said, I'm not trying to disrupt life here; just set it back on the course I set out for it. I don't wish to undo the advances, only remove what I see as potential roadblocks. My planet did some pretty stupid things over the course of the centuries as science progressed, and many of them ended in disaster. Science may not fill the emotional needs of an intelligent being, but it fills the belly, and supplies the creature comforts everyone was used to. If you need to have value to your life, do something useful. Praying does nothing that self appreciation and self love can't do. I shudder to think of all the prayers people invoked in my name. How many died thinking that I didn't love them, or think highly of them because i didn't answer them when in fact I didn't even know they existed? It's ridiculous! The information regarding how to contact me was left with your ancestors. Praying is one of the worst things I can think of for accomplishing any task and certainly wasn't in the handbook."

“Yeah, you and I agree there. Of course, the Brotherhood took to killing and frightening people to get their way. Praying was the least offensive of their actions."

“I am aware of that. It goes back to the matter of mob mentality. That will be taken care of in the future. “

“How?"

“Let's just say that for the rest of your life, and the lives of everyone on your planet, I will remain underfoot, watching, lurking, and ready to come around again if I'm ever needed."

And with that, every black animation disintegrated into a pile of black dust.