Seven: Dinner With Friends?

"Well, theatrics aside, you accomplished most of what you set out to do. We have fifteen world and religious leaders waiting for you in the dining hall. Were these really necessary though?" Rhia held up the foot tall model of herself to me, making a repulsed face. The dolls were accurate copies of her, or at least as accurate as I could make them without delving beneath the formfitting suit she favored.

I chuckled. "Perhaps not exactly those but sending them to each person when the time came seemed more prudent then just snapping my fingers and having them appear unprepared in the dining room. This way they at least saw something familiar that would guide them here. I know you don't approve of some of my theatrics, but I think I might understand a human's mind than you do, having been one for 35 years. I'm pretty sure the pope and UN secretary general would've had heart attacks if they suddenly found themselves somewhere without warning."

Rhia picked up another doll, examining what was left of the clothing that remained on the miniature version of her. "Speaking of the secretary general… Now I'm thankful you've never seen me naked. Who tries to take the clothes off a toy messenger sent by a deity? Something isn't right about that man."

I nodded, also examining the doll. "I'm definitely going to have a thing to say about that. I can't be worrying about whether something is going to happen to any messenger I send out, whether it's just a doll, or actually you. I know nothing down there can harm you, but I'd still like to prevent anyone from even attempting it in the future." I clapped my hands, glanced at the screen in my room that was suddenly awash in news stories about leaders suddenly vanishing from around the world, then turned to Rhia, spreading my arms. "Well, how do I look?"

"Too relaxed for the company you have. It's perfect." She smiled. Faded jeans, a video game novelty t-shirt, and Chuck Taylor's is what I was going to be wearing when meeting the "most powerful" men and women in the world, and I wanted them to understand that their power meant little to me. I tucked the doll Rhia was examining under my elbow and headed towards the dining hall.

I entered the room without any pomp and circumstance, Rhia following closely behind. Fifteen heads turned towards me as flung the doors open. Lining the walls were the maids of the household, one for each leader present, with Su standing proudly by my seat at the head of the table. As I walked along the length of the room, all eyes followed me, taking in my attire and general lack of attention that I was giving them as I stared at Su, her eyes sparkling when they met mine. I refrained from saying anything to her though, not wanting to distract anyone from what I was about to say. As I reached my seat, I tossed the abused doll in the middle of the table, where it landed with a loud thump, its condition obvious to everyone seated. I remained standing and planted my fists on the table, speaking softly, but loud enough or everyone to hear.

"Before we begin, I'm going to say this once, and only once. Should anyone ever assault one of my messengers again, I will erase you from existence. That was just a doll, yet someone still felt the need to see more than they had any right to. You're lucky, however. Had this been my trusted companion here and not a replica, the violator would not be seated here today. She can be quite vicious when she wants to be, and I have no doubt your suffering would be worth many lifetimes." Rhia gave me a we're going to have a talk later glare, but I ignored her. I also noticed the UN secretary general turn white as a sheet further down the table.

I took my seat, and Rhia took the one immediately to my right, placing her between me and the US president. I leaned back and crossed my arms. "Now then, ladies and gentlemen, I assume you have many questions for me. That's why we're all gathered here in my lovely home. No need to stand on formality with me, so don't be afraid to just call out. I can't promise a satisfactory answer to everything you want to know, but I'll answer what I can."

Unsurprisingly, it was the American president that spoke up first. "Alright, I guess I'll start with the most obvious question. Who are you?"

"I believe I already answered that question many times today. I am Zekken. The god of Earth." I smiled at him.

He stared at me. "You're crazy," he finally declared. "There's only one God, buddy, and he ain't you."

I leaned forward, meeting his gaze and secretly enjoying being able to speak to this man from a superior position. I voted for the other guy anyway. "Prove it," I said.

He gaped. So did most of the table, in fact. There were a lot of pious people gathered here today, and I was about to rock the very foundations that they had built their various beliefs on.

"Prove it?!" He eventually bellowed, face turning red. "It's in the scriptures you fucking lunatic!" A couple heads nodded with him. Surprisingly, the pope wasn't one of them. The Saudi king and Russian president were the ones seemingly in agreement with the Southern Baptist currently losing his temper. I kept my pleasant smile plastered on my face.

"My, my. Such language. Sit down, Brad. We're here to have a friendly discussion about how to fix the planet, not listen to your tantrums." I looked over the others at the table as he fumed in his seat. "Any other questions?"

The pope calmly raised his hand. "If I may?" I fixed him with a genuinely happy smile and gestured him to go on. He smiled in return and asked, "if you truly are God, why have you chosen now to make your presence so publicly known?"

"Ok, I want to clear up that misconception before we proceed any further. I am not the God of Abrahamic legend. I am simply the god of this world. This will come as a shock to you, but Earth is not alone in the universe, and to be quite frank, it's not special in the slightest. There are many races out there that are significantly more advanced than our little blue ball is. Each of those civilizations has a god that helped guide them towards a peaceful society that eventually slipped the bonds of their homeworld and ventured into the stars. It's my goal to see humanity achieve the same status."

The American president scoffed, clearly still pissed off. "You expect us to believe that there are aliens out there? Our scientists have never found any indication that it's even possible. In your own words, Mr. Zekken, 'prove it,'" he snarled at me.

"Rhia," I prompted, without taking my eyes off the president. She stood up from her chair and walked to stand next to Su. She revealed her wings and spread them wide, glaring down at the little red man that was supposed to lead the most powerful nation on the planet.

"I am Rhia Na'onn, Daughter of Scorben Na'onn, First Primarch of an Agneles colony located 41,659 light years from this solar system. I am 823 Earth years old."

Silence from those at the table. Rhia continued, indicating Su to her left.

"This is My Lord's head maid, Su. You cannot pronounce her actual name, so Su will suffice. She is human, born on and from the Earth. She is 1,978,243 years old, and she is immortal. This planet's first goddess, Gaia, created her while experimenting with human evolution. That plan, I'm told, was shelved because Su is incapable of giving birth. It was never disclosed why. Were that not the case, she would be the mother to your race. Instead, Gaia chose to use the simple primates that had developed from her second seeding. If there was any doubt among your followers about the origin of the species on your planet, she can assure you that you did, indeed, evolve from ape-like beings, and not two people in a magical garden."

I kept a calm face, but even I was reeling from this information. Su was two million years old?! An original Gaia creation? Her and I were going to have an interesting discussion later. Rhia, meanwhile kept walking around the room, introducing the various maids and giving a brief outline of their background. It occurred to me that I knew far too little about the people I shared this home with. Seven months and the only ones I knew on a personal level and not just fooled around with were Su, Rhia, and Ryo. So many of these girls came from across the galaxy to serve on this dead moon floating above an unremarkable planet, and none of them seemed upset about it. I wondered why and made a mental note to start getting to know the staff around here starting tomorrow. I guess Rhia overheard my thoughts, because she made eye contact briefly and gave me an imperceptible nod.

Once the maids' introductions were complete, Rhia took her seat next to me again. The leaders all sat there uncomfortably staring at each other and the maids for a couple minutes. I kept quiet, letting them process everything Rhia just told them. It looked like someone wanted to say something a couple times, but then changed their minds, keeping silent. I decided that we may as well make use of the silence and looked back at Su, who gave me a sharp nod. She looked at the maid standing near the corner behind me, who immediately opened the door hidden there. More maids came out, each pushing a cart with covered silver dishes on them. Placing a cart in front of each maid already stationed in the room, the new maids immediately turned as one and exited the same way they came in, closing the door behind them. The original maids, completely in sync, grabbed the silver trays and placed them in front of each guest. Each movement was perfectly coordinated in a way that only those who had been working together for centuries could manage. Each tray touched the table at precisely the same time. Each lid was lifted in unison, and each maid retreated back to the cart and their station as one. No amount of training or drill team on Earth could hope to match the precision and synchronization of these women.

"Since we seem to have reached a break in the question round, how about we enjoy our dinner? The meals before you are your absolute personal favorite dishes. It may sound like boasting on my part when I say this, but after eating this, nothing on Earth will ever come close to matching this. After all, my chef is the best in the solar system. Again, don't stand on formality. Dig in."

Before the various leaders was arrayed a wide variety of dishes, each tailored to their specific preferences and tastes. Rhia helped with that during our initial visits to each leader earlier. Before me was highest quality Ramen dish I'd ever eaten, with beef so sublime it made Wagyu taste like processed meat. The Japanese prime minister also had a Ramen dish in front of him, although his was chicken and shrimp. Sure, he wasn't as influential as the other leaders here, but hey, I had a soft spot for Japan.

Arrayed around the table were steak dishes that outclassed 5 star restaurants, to pizza, to food I couldn't identify as it was so foreign to what I've ever eaten. The leaders shamelessly shoveling it into their mouths seemed to enjoy it though. The only ones who hadn't immediately dug in were the pope, who took the time to say grace privately, and the Saudi king, who eyed his dish hesitantly. I knew why he had an issue with eating it but couldn't help myself.

"Is there a problem with your food, your highness?"

"It is forbidden for Muslims to eat pork or drink alcohol. Why would you bring me this?" He was upset but controlling it.

"I haven't served anything to anyone that they didn't enjoy. I know for a fact that everything placed on this table is their favorite dish."

"You must be mistaken. I have never strayed from the will of Allah."

"Bullshit. You practice your faith as much as I practice celibacy. Next, you'll tell me you don't have a 14 year old Russian girl held prisoner in your palace, right? You'll be getting tired of her soon, won't you? It's been almost 6 months since she was snatched off the street after all. Then she'll join the 27 other girls you used up." At least she would, if she weren't currently resting in a room in the residential wing of my moon complex, safely whisked away by one of my little messengers hours ago.

The Russian president nearly choked on his steak before spitting it out and rising in anger. "WHAT?!? What the hell did you just say?"

Eating around the table stopped. The pope crossed himself quickly, while the maids stationed around the room readied themselves should things turn physical. While I had no doubt they could handle anything that happened, I preferred to not reveal that particular trick.

"Sit down, Piotr."

"Like hell I will! He's got one of my citizens locked up? An underage girl! Why the fuck should I listen to-"

"I said SIT DOWN!" Raising my voice for the first time. The room reverberated with the pressure I placed in the words. He sat down, staring at me, and I stared right back. "I find it funny how you get so enraged over that but think it's perfectly fine to eliminate anyone who'd run against you in your rigged elections. I probably wouldn't care so much, since politicians are generally crooks to begin with, but it seems their families have accidents too. A shockingly large number of accidents happened last year, right? And just what the hell are you smirking at, Mr. Allen?"

The American president stiffened, and the color drained from his face. "I- I don't know what you're talking about. These allegations are shocking, to say the least."

"Yes. I'm sure you're completely shocked by all of this. How's Pam, by the way? Are you going to stick with the 'she's become critically ill' line, or is there a tragic car accident in her future too? Presidential murders are so hard to cover up these days, aren't they? Especially when your mistress will be the murderer. Is mistress the right word to use? What's the male equivalent again? Rhia? Do you know?"

Rhia just shrugged and continued eating some sort of blue meat that was on her plate.

"Doesn't matter. The main concern is the murder, not who he's fucking. I don't care about that." I stood up and started pacing around the table, ignoring the catatonic forms of the three leaders I'd just called out. "Ladies and gentlemen, half of you are awesome people. You genuinely want the best for those placed under your care, be it spiritually or nationally. I can support that. I can even help with that in some cases. The other half at this table are probably the worst kind of human I've ever met. If I didn't know that it would plunge the world into chaos, I'd eliminate you right here and now. You disgust me. However, I need you to go home and start putting the plan I'm about to tell you into motion."

The Chinese president raised her hand. "And why should we listen to you? What happens if we ignore your wishes?"

"Then your nation gets left behind until you decide your people are more important than your ego, ma'am."

An attractive woman in her early 40s and the only other human woman at the table, spoke up for the first time as well. "What about me? I'm not a national or religious leader. I just run a business."

I smiled. "Please don't act so naïve, Ms. Nelson. We both know just how important you are to the future of the world. Your company is pushing the limits of technology in a way that rivals Japan." I gestured towards the Japanese PM, who was sitting quietly while observing everything. "In fact, you two may want to take this opportunity to discuss a few things. If Japan allows HorizonTech to gain a small foothold in Japan, it may spur everyone to look further than they have before. Conversely, perhaps Japan should look into getting more of its products out to the world at large. I know y'all keep the best shit hidden within your borders. I want to trigger a tech boom the likes of which this world has never seen. Su? If you'd show them to a private room, please?"

Su quietly approached and gestured for both of them to follow her. Ms. Nelson hesitantly got up and started to follow, while the Japanese PM was already on his feet and following Su, eyes glued to her ass as she walked ahead of him, his right hand twitched a bit and started to drift forward. Without turning around, Su warned him that if any part of his body touched hers, he'd lose it, respected guest or not. Professionally, of course. He returned his hand to his side, his face looking flushed. So he's that type, eh? I thought. Rhia rolled her eyes.

Mr. Allen finally came out of his funk, looked around the table, and then focused on me. "Well, now that you've got us by the balls, what do you want?"

"People like you out of office," I stated. "But until that day comes, I need you to lay the groundwork. All of you. Ultimately, I want to create a world where everyone wants to contribute. Where they're encouraged to contribute, not forced. Ultimately, I want to create this." I snapped my fingers and the Earth hung in the air over the table. With another snap, all of the borders that outlined the various countries vanished. Everyone's eyebrows shot up.

"You want to create a one nation world?" the Saudi king asked.

"I do. One where everyone helps everyone else. Where everyone works together towards a common goal. Where people aren't separated by petty differences like race or gender or politics or who they love, or even religion."

Nearly everyone at the table started speaking at once. They all said it differently, but the gist of it boiled down to "you're out of your mind." Holding up my hands, I quieted them down.

"I know, I know. It's a ridiculous idea. While I don't believe you when you say it'll never happen, I'm not so naïve as to think we'll be able to accomplish it any time soon. So, I'm planning for the long term."

The pope spoke up. "I can understand why you want to do this. In a way, it's something I've been working for as well." It was true. This particular pope had rocked the world when he took the position by instituting changes that many looked upon favorably, but an equal number protested, including recognizing female priests, and he even blessed a gay marriage once. In all honesty, I liked the guy. Some of the people working for him, however, made the Saudi king's hobbies look like child's play. I'd be sure to get the information to him somehow so he could clean house. He continued, "What I don't understand is how you plan on accomplishing this. Humans can be very resistant to change you know."

"I'm well aware of that fact. When I said 'long term,' I was speaking long term for me, which is almost incalculable for all of you. You see, being a god has its perks. One of which is eternal life. Or near eternal. Either way, it's going to be a long, long time before my vision is met, and none of you, unfortunately, will be around to see it. What you will be doing is helping me lay the groundwork for your children's children's children, etcetera etcetera and so forth."

The pope nodded at my words. He seemed agreeable enough. "I guess that makes sense. What about religions though? From what you've told us, everything we know is wrong. I can't exactly go home and tell everyone that. It would cause chaos."

"The church has adapted before. After all, you're not putting anyone to death for suggesting the world isn't the center of the universe anymore, right? I have plans to help the world understand that it's merely a grain of sand compared to the universe. How you adjust your followers' belief that God with the big G created everything will be an interesting exercise to watch. Eventually, however, we will have to put an end to that. There are deities out in the universe far more powerful than even me, and they don't take too kindly to others being given credit for their work, or so I'm told. Especially when it comes to beings who don't actually exist. There have only been three gods that have watched over this world. Gaia, who seeded it with life and encouraged it to evolve, and another god who never interacted with the world at all, merely watched it from where we are now before getting bored and leaving about 4000 years ago. The third is speaking to you now."

The room fell silent. It was understandable. Many of the people here were devout in their beliefs, and I just old them their god never existed. If I hadn't been an atheist before I was told all this, it probably would've affected me the same way.

The Chinese president, Wang Shu, looked up at me. "What do you mean 'from where we are now?' Where are we?"

I smacked my forehead. "Right! I completely forgot that you guys have no idea where we are! Come with me! You gotta see this!" I immediately made my way towards the door. Caught off guard, one of the maids quickly rushed over to open it for me. I turned around and looked at the others, still sitting at the table. "What are you waiting for? You're going to love it, I promise."

Following me, the remaining thirteen members of the dinner party, Rhia, and a couple maids, filed out of the room as I headed to what I figured was a ballroom or something. I didn't know, I just knew it was huge and had massive windows. I went to open the door, but a maid beat me to it. A cute girl that looked about 20 with tanned skin, blonde hair, and purple eyes. She opened the door for me and stood to the side as I passed. She blushed slightly as I thanked her, giving me a small head bow in response.

I marched into the room, my shoes squeaking on the floor as we entered. Everyone spread out around me as I spread my arms wide, every curtain along the far wall flinging themselves open at my movement. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the moon!"

Everyone stared in awe. Earth floated in the sky, almost full. The western parts of the Pacific rim were just coming above the horizon.

"This is a trick, right?" Bradley Allen asked. "We should be bouncing like in the moon landing videos, but we've been walking around like we're on Earth!"

"Divine trick of the trade. You're welcome to step outside and check, if you don't believe me." I shrugged. "Of course, we don't have any space suits up here, since we don't need them. You may feel a slight chill at first, since we're in a new moon phase as far as Earth is concerned, but I'm sure the suffocation will take your mind off of it. Please say you'll do it, it'll take care of one of the headaches I currently have." I really didn't have time for this guy anymore. He's annoyed me ever since he first opened his mouth at the table and I was pretty much over it.

"You really are powerful, aren't you?" President Wang said.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I arrived in Italy in a golden pillar of light, turned weapons into toys, travelled around the world in an afternoon to collect the fifteen of you, sent animated dolls to collect you, demonstrated my knowledge of your favorite meals, revealed three dark secrets no one should know about, and materialized a projection of the planet out of nothing before your very eyes, and this is what convinced you?" Apparently, my reaction amused her, because she giggled. It was a cute sound, not one you'd expect to hear from one of the heads of state, but I guess she's human at the end of the day. I looked her over. Ehh. If she were twenty years younger. Maybe even ten. Seeing the likes of Rhia and Su everyday must have spoiled me. I didn't used to be this selective. I can't even say age is a factor, considering my current playmate was literally the oldest human in existence. No, I think I'll let this one pass. Banging a world leader might be fun one day, but today is not that day.

Slowly, she stepped forward, gazing at the Earth with an awed expression. "It's so small," she whispered.

"Really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?" someone else muttered.

President Wang glanced over her shoulder at me. "I think some kind of fate has led me here today, Mr. Zekken. Are you familiar with my name?"

"Wang Shu, yes, I know it."

"In ancient Chinese mythology, Wang Shu is the name of a god that drives the carriage for the moon. I'm well aware of the jokes made in the West about my name, but I've always been proud of it. Now, here I am, speaking to a god on the moon. If this isn't a sign, I don't know what is." She turned to face me. "Mr. Zekken, you have my support. Whatever you need of me, if it's in my power, I'll see it done."

I thanked her and meant it. I could easily force through the changes I wanted, but that would defeat the purpose. I wanted humans to grow on their own, with only guidance from me when they needed it. Granted, the world needed it a lot these days, but once all the heavy lifting was out of the way, I wanted them to take the reins of their own destiny.

She gave me a small nod, then went back to the window, gazing in awe at the sight in front of her.

"Since we're able to see Earth from here, does that mean we'd be able to see this place from there?" the Russian president asked. Rhia then leaned over and whispered something in my ear. I smiled and answered his question.

"Only if I wanted you to. If you stood outside these windows right now and tried to look in, all you'd see is the horizon. Why? Wondering if you could target your missiles on my house and turn it into a glowing nuclear crater?"

"N-no, of course not," he stammered, shocked at having been found out. Rhia's mind reading sure does come in handy. I'll have to get her to teach me that one day.

I waved him off. "Doesn't matter anyway. I rendered all those weapons inert anyway."

"What?!" Suddenly no one seemed interested in the view anymore.

"Hmm? Oh, I said I rendered all nuclear weapons inert. Useless. You guys currently have thousands of ICBMs aimed at each other, armed with ordinary rocks. Every single one. Can't have you blowing up my planet now, can I? Same with all your chemical and biological weapons you're hiding from each other too. Nasty things. The only thing you should be using nuclear power for is power generation. And you should probably begin to phase that out as well. Start researching clean energy options." I turned to the Saudi king. "Speaking of which, as punishment for what you've done to those girls, I've reduced the oil in your country by 75%. If I were you, I'd start getting your house in order. Your family has committed some serious atrocities over the years, and one way or the other, you will no longer be ruling by the end of the year. You can make it easy on yourselves and leave on your own, or I'll do it for you. You've got nine months to decide. Same goes for you two," I said, making a snap decision and pointing at the Russian and American presidents. "Only you've got till the end of this month, which is two weeks away. Out of office and out of public life. You can do it, or I can do it for you."

"You can't do that!" They both shouted at me. I heard a thump and a clatter behind me and turned to see the Saudi king pressed face first on the floor, some sort of dagger laying next to him, with the tan maid from earlier easily keeping him pinned under her foot. I smiled at her approvingly as Rhia leaned in and whispered her name to me.

"Why thank you again, my dear Hannah. Rhia, remind me to thank her properly later. Uh, be sure to talk to Su first. Must respect the chain of command and all that."

"You may thank her however you wish, My Lord," Su called out as she entered the room trailed by Linda Nelson and the Japanese PM. "In fact, I think I may already have a good idea on how to do so."

"Perfect. We'll discuss it later. How about you two? Did you guys manage to work something out?"

Linda's smile brightened the room. "I believe we have. There's still a lot of paperwork involved, but with Mr. Nakahara's help, you may get word soon of a major shakeup in the tech industry. If all this works out, I'm going to owe you big time. So, should I call you Lord, God, Oh Great and Powerful One? Because you've certainly got my vote for supreme deity."

I chuckled. "I certainly won't stop you from calling me any of those, but for brevity's sake, let's just stick with Zekken."

She seemed to finally clue in to what was happening around her. A king was pinned under a maid's foot, two presidents were beside themselves with rage, one president was still staring out the window in awe, and the remaining nine guests were just standing there uncomfortably. She looked at me again.

"What I miss?"