“I have my purpose, and I believe it’s a good one, but I didn’t choose it,” I say. “I’ve lived it for many, many years, and I’ve seen many iterations of society. Some good, some bad, some happy, and some very filled with anger and sorrow. What has been similar in all of the human civilizations is that you can’t simply remove the bad and watch good grow. Goodness among humans requires cultivation, time, and care, and ultimately, it will always be repopulated with bad. It’s in your nature to hurt, to maim, and to injure.”
“But we help, too.” She folds her arms. “Not all of us hurt, maim, and injure.”
“Says the woman who introduced herself by firing on me eight times.”
“You had just burst from a mountain and were killing humans right and left.”
“It’s my pu?—”
“Yeah, yeah, your purpose,” she says. “I mean, you could say my purpose as a woman was to pop out babies and repopulate the earth, but I can choose to do to it my way, and I can choose to do something different as well. Have you ever tried to think about what you were created to do, and whether it could be done better than you’ve been doing it?” She drops her voice. “Or, maybe you aren’t needed at all?”
So much for my insight about the burger correcting our disconnect.
“Where are we going?” She looks around in alarm.
“I need to be around fewer people—I can sense all the darkness and the teeming mass of people who are struggling, and my power cries out to me.” I tighten and release the steering wheel. “I promised you time, but I’m not sure how much more I can give.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, well, what did you have in mind?”
“We did something you chose—eating—and I even tried doing it myself, though it’s against my nature.”
“Yeah, you really seemed to be hating it when you were demolishing those burgers.” Her lip’s twitching, which I’ve come to realize means she’s suppressing a smirk.
“Nonetheless, it’s time for us to work on your training a bit.”
“You know.” She lifts one eyebrow. “I hear Lake Tahoe’s close, and we could find a less populated area and?—”
“Kill just a few people?” I dislike the desperation I feel, but in my entire existence, I’ve never gone this long without eliminating some humans.
She huffs. “No, that’s not what we should do.”
“Then?”
“I can work on using my water powers or whatever. I thought you’d be happy about that. How can I be a good general if I’m not able to weaponize the powers I pull from you?” She’s smirking. I’m positive that she’s smirking.
“A good general. . .” I splutter. I’ve almost given up on her being a good general. At this point, I’m just going to have to settle for dragging her around without worrying she’s going to die and plunge me into another hibernation. The problem is that the stronger she becomes, the more her death will impact me.
Instead of fixing my problem, I’ve worsened the damage she can do.
I might be almost as stupid as a human in this awakening.
“But after we spend time at this Lake Tahoe, I’ll begin my work again.” I nod slowly. “I’ve been patient, but it’s time. Three days is more than I can handle.”
She throws up her hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We said three days.”
“I’m changing it. The rest of today is all I can spare.”
That really sets her off. I almost enjoy her ranting. As we pass some area named Truckee, she starts talking about things I actually find interesting, about the brutality of the weather and the elements here. The depths to which humans will sink when they’re desperate has always fascinated me.
“You know, it’s too bad I don’t have it with me. I read this book about some people who got stuck here back in the eighteen hundreds—about the time you were last awake. They were trying to get over the mountains, but they were too late, and the snow came early.”
I skip to the end. “And they died?”
Her eyes flash. “Yes, that’s always the goal for you, right?” She huffs and shakes her head. “Yeah, a lot of them did die, and some of them ate the ones who died so they’d live. Actually, most of the ones eating the ones who died were mothers feeding the dead to their own children, because they couldn’t stand to watch them starve.”
Before I might not have found that interesting.
After eating, and enjoying, my first hamburger, I can see where it might distress humans. “You do eat flesh. Is it really that different to eat human flesh than that of other creatures?”
