“Artificial divinity?” I asked. “Like artificial intelligence but for gods?”
“Not for gods, Vervain. It will be a substitute god. The relics I've taken serve as layers of the machine—processor, command center, computation, judgment, and so on. When I'm done, you will all be free.”
“And how will we fuel our magic?” Odin asked. “We will be free, but also drained. The draining will continue until we become mortal.”
“I've been assured that will not be the case. We have enough energy to fuel us forever. Come now, Allfather, you know this. You don't have worshipers anymore. Not enough to fuel the Norse Realm. And yet, you endure.”
“I don't know,” I murmured. “I mean, I agree the Gods shouldn't be taking energy from humans. We haven't, and we're fine. The God Realm was made with Fey magic, so it will be fine. But there are gods like Lucifer, whose people rely on the energy provided by humans. What will happen to Hell?”
“The Demons will be free.” Agwusi shrugged her slender shoulders. “Don't you want that for them? They almost died because of their ties to humans.”
“That's only because Katila was hunting them, and he was a god.”
“Regardless, they will never have to worry about that again.”
I looked at my men. Kirill and Re had remained silent, but they scowled at Agwusi. Then they looked at me and shook their heads. Change was hard, but sometimes necessary.What Agwusi said made sense. I fought gods who manipulated humans into war or other fatal situations just to take the energy of their deaths as a sacrifice. Humans didn’t freely give that worship and received nothing in return.
But worship wasn't black and white. Most energy offerings didn't harm humans and were given freely. The Gods provided protection, luck, prosperity, and more in return. I didn't see a problem with that. It was a win-win situation. Then there was the energy transferred through malicious acts that went straight to Lucifer because humans blamed him for every evil. I kinda felt like he deserved it for playing the role of their scapegoat. And he never manipulated humans into committing those evil acts. So it was sort of like making the best of a bad situation. Agwusi was nutso, but I had to at least try to explain this to her.
“I've fought gods because they harmed humans to gain energy.” I held up a placating hand. “But that's only one side of worship. When humans offer their energy, it doesn’t harm them. And some gods still care for their people. They give blessings to those who offer sacrifices. It’s not a simple matter. You can't say that taking this away will benefit everyone.”
“This system has been in place for centuries,” Odin added. “Tear it down now, and you will put the realms in jeopardy.”
“I don't agree.” Agwusi looked at Ty. “Do you?”
“I don't know.” Ty frowned. “I don't like that you've injured souls.”
She looked at Fenrir before settling her gaze on Ty. “It was an accident. It will be better now that I've added more layers to the machine.”
“What if it's not?” I asked.
“It will be.”
“That's not an answer.”
“Agwusi, you promised me that no one would get hurt. Accident or not, you've broken that promise.” Ty stepped away from his father and took her hand. “I love you, but I won't let you destroy people's souls. That's worse than gods manipulating humans into dying for them. At least those people have intact souls to enter the afterlife with.”
“I won't hurt anyone else.” Agwusi stroked his cheek. “I fixed it.”
Torrent, who had remained silent up to this point, stepped forward. “I am Torrent, God of the Internet.”
“Yes, I remember you, Torrent.” Agwusi inclined her head.
“I understand what you're building more than you do.”
“Oh? And what do you think, Technology God?”
“I think you're making a mistake.”
“Why?”
“People think of machines as predictable.” Torrent shrugged. “They can be. When they function properly. But when a machine malfunctions, it can do terrible damage.”
“Yes, I know it malfunctioned. I've corrected the problem.”
“That wasn't a malfunction. That was an incorrect build. You corrected it, and now the machine should run as you hope. But this machine is the first of its kind, and new builds always have issues. That's why a prototype is made first. It's tested so that flaws can be found and fixed. Even tried and true machines break down or make mistakes. That's with normal machines. You've made a machine with god magic, powering it with relics that aren’t meant to be used in this manner, and releasing it upon the realms without testing it. You don’t know what it will do, but I guarantee you that it won't work as expected.”
“If it doesn't work as I wish, I will rebuild it.”
