Twilight of the Gods (Part One)

It’s dawned on me that the world has changed.

Man no longer desires to worship gods, they wish to find ways to dethrone them.

They are not satisfied with the power I can give them.

They want to have my power.

I’ve only now realized this, after so many years.

The era of gods is over.

Did we even last an era?

We were idiots, weren’t we?

We thought if we gave humanity the ability to learn, we’d get better stuff.

Hey, guess we were right.

Some thought it was a bad idea.

Some didn’t.

I didn’t.

Convenience overtook precaution, and humanity decided they wanted to fight an uphill battle.

I bought an iPhone

With my telepathy and expansive memory, and my ability to be in many places at once, I had little need of the iPhone to access the internet, or make calls.

Only thing I really used it for was playing Wordscapes.

I’ve spent years sharpening my skills of perception, yet I’d been stuck on one word for five minutes.

“Sir, are you going to order anything?” A human asked me. They all looked the same at this point.

This human had no breasts, and the human’s voice was low, which meant that you call the human he? Was that still relevant? I couldn’t remember. I decided that it was a he.

He had addressed me as sir, meaning I also looked male at the moment. I change so often I sometimes forget what I look like.

It was almost funny how I could be one human one day and another human the next day, and nobody questioned where the first human went.

They barely care about each other now.

“Um...yeah...I’ll have the steak.”

“Sir, this is a coffee shop.”

“Then I’ll have the coffee.”

It must have been morning already.

It felt like it was yesterday only a few minutes ago.

What year was it? I looked around at all the people wearing face masks.

It must have been the 20s.

I wasn’t sure which 20s.

Chalchiuhtotolin always took exactly a century to unleash his latest creation, so it was always the 20s.

I so easily remembered facts, but I so often forget the important things, like the century, or what fucking word uses the letters “g, l, i, k, t, i, a,”

I tried to remember why I was trying to remember what the current year was.

Right. Money.

I needed to know what kind of currency to steal.

The money would lose value if gods conjured it whenever they felt like it, so I usually take it from people who won’t be all that harmed by losing it.

I look up to the television and see myself.

Well, it’s not me, actually.

It’s a version of me, based on a version of me based on a version of me based on who I was many, many years ago.

That was back when I actually enjoyed living forever.

The two options of living and dying, they’re both shit.

I know when I’m going to die, and how I am going to die.

Then again, I rarely do what I’m supposed to to.

I don’t think I’m supposed to be here, or maybe I am.

The rules about when and how we can interfere with humanity are always shifting, like myself.

I’m done with my coffee.

I didn’t even remember receiving it.

I give the waitress my check.

Waitress?

Was she not a he when I had ordered my coffee?

Was that yesterday already?

She tells me she likes my outfit. It’s very vintage.

I realize I gave her the wrong money. This is 2021. America.

I reach for my credit card.

“Use this instead.”

I take back the bills that are no good in this time.

“What’s your name?” She asks.

“Hermes.” I reply.

“Oh, like the Greek God.”

“Yeah, like the Greek God.”

I forget when Hermes and I started telling humans that we were each other.

It was a bit of fun.

Hermes was a fun guy.

Haven’t seen him in a bit.

My trailer is on again.

“Ah,” she says. “Loki. Glad he’s getting a series. He’s my favorite Marvel character.”

“I think it’s unrealistic for someone to stay a trickster for centuries and not get bored of it.”

I respond.

“No, you see, that’s Loki from 2012. He escaped from the timestream. The version that had grown from being a trickster existed in 2018, but he died.”

“Wish I would die.”

I don’t want to kill Balder. I’m not that kind of person. I don’t want to be imprisoned with snake venom or whatever, but if it will lead me to death, I’m heavily considering it.

Glaikit. It was an insult a few years ago. That’s the word I was trying so hard to think of.