Oliver ughed and shook his head. “What a bunch of morons. But the way you put it, I suppose I would have done the same.”

  “That’s why we didn’t really punish them.”

  Kate and her friend had gone for some doner kebab near the university. They were now sitting on a bench in a small park just behind the rge church at the city centre pza.

  “I’m quite thankful you drew the line at wiping out humanity. Any pns in case they do something stupid again?”

  “I haven’t talk to Az about that yet, but I have thought about things I would suggest if it came to that point.”

  “Well, what would Kate the Vengeful do to humanity?”

  “It’s a multi-step pn. In step one we ideologically cleanse humanity to remove any undesirable elements and only keep those around who are willing to accept our leadership. Step two involves the corralling of the survivors into protected sanctuaries where society gets to be rebuilt with our values. Humans would be cared for and free to do as they please within reason. Of course such foibles as capitalism and religion would be strictly forbidden and trying to practice them would be harshly punished. Oh, and we would get rid of the dogs.”

  “Sounds like you would keep us like pets. Well cared for pets. But why kill the dogs?”

  “Dogs are creatures of the heavens, we don’t get along with them. And yes, you’d be more or less our pets.”

  “That doesn’t sound too bad for most people. Better than extinction and likely even better than what we have now…”

  “It will be a punishment for the right people. The rest will live in a way that simply makes sure no one becomes too bothersome again.”

  Oliver looked at Kate and paused for a moment. “If I disapproved of what you are now, I would have almost said that your humanity has been consumed entirely now, that you are no longer one of us, not even the smallest spark remains. But I do approve and while I would like Kate the Vengeful to remain a fantasy, I can’t help but like that side of you. I get why you said Apollyon makes you feel safe.”

  “Do I make you feel safe?” Kate was worried what she said was more intimidating than reassuring.

  “Not in a way that I felt unsafe before, just that I feel like there is nothing you won’t be able to protect your friends, including me, from.”

  Kate smiled. “Thank you… I’m just sad that you’re the only one left from our group back in the day. The only one who knew me from before who I can make feel that way.”

  “Arthur made his choice when he sided with that dipshit Henry and Dorian… well, I still have hopes. There is someone else though.”

  “There is?”

  “Yea, my brother. You don’t need to tell him everything, or anything really, it’s just that I heard that his birthday pns got overthrown and maybe you can help him and be all impressive and that.”

  “I am intrigued, continue.”

  “He hasn’t seen you like this, even in your human form. You st spoke before we all moved out, I think? Anyway, he usually goes to the card store in his city because around his birthday they do an unreted event where you get to py Heroes against some local pro-pyers to win some prizes and test yourself against the best the region has to offer. He usually treats his buddies to a fun day at that gauntlet and a few drinks afterwards. This year that gauntlet isn’t happening, the guy who runs it is on honeymoon with his wife and won’t return until a few weeks ter. I have seen how you and your demons py and you might be able to provide the best gauntlet they ever faced.”

  “And when is that?”

  “The weekend before Halloween usually. They tend to do a little spooky theme for the kids as well, dress up and have some fun. Kids get to py for free as well I think.”

  “A themed gauntlet of pying against the best pyers avaible… Remember when you asked Eisheth if she did the ‘being mysterious’ part intentionally back in the day?”

  “Yea, and I know now that she enjoys that.”

  “Exactly. Every demon loves a bit of theatrics. I had to handle some humans st year, family of one of the cult members, and I thoroughly enjoyed pying the part of her demonic master. I think you can tell him that we'll have his gauntlet handled.”

  Oliver grinned. “I think I will participate as well, if that’s alright.”

  “Most definitely. But be prepared to get your arse handed to you, I intend to invite a few demons you haven’t pyed against before and they are damn good.”

  “I do look forward to that.”

  “I think Halloween is on a weekend too, isn’t it?”

  “Yea, it’s Sunday this year.”

  “It’s Polly’s birthday, I have a few ideas already.”

  “That’s a joke, right? Apollyon’s birthday isn’t on Halloween, is it?”

  “We calcuted that a few years back and yes, it is. She doesn’t like doing big things but I tend to cook for her and we have a nice evening together.”

  “That sounds super sweet.”

  “I do my best. She always cooks for me on my birthdays too. As long as they matter, we are doing something nice for them.”

  Oliver raised an eyebrow. “As long as they matter? What do you mean?”

  “Polly is over a hundred-and-thirty-thousand years old. At some point you stop counting. The fact that she could tell me her exact age at all is astounding, most demons can’t do that. I asked Eisheth once how much younger than Lilith she is and she didn’t really know. Best guess I have is about fifteen years give or take. Her younger sister Naamah is another ten-ish years younger again. But rounded to any numbers that matter, they are all about the same age as Polly. They predate immortality and know what order they were born in, that’s all that really matters. Eventually, I will get to that point as well.”

  Oliver looked a little mencholic. “I suppose you will… I hope you will still remember me fondly when that happens.”

  “Hey, the option for immortality is there.”

  “It’s not for me but thank you. But to know that you, Apollyon, Nirrti, Eisheth, Amaterasu, all of you will remember me is more than enough. All I want to do now is make it a life worth remembering.”

  “That is going well, I assume?”

  “Slowly, but yes. Professor Hartmeier was overjoyed that you guys finally found someone you trusted enough to do local research. Some undergrads are a little jealous, but that’s to be expected. Overall, it’s been going quite well and we’ve been hard at work cataloguing wildlife, pnts, mushrooms, anything we find that I don’t veto. He understood quite quickly that there are some things that might be out there that could lead people to figure out where you come from, invasive species that you brought in, and that you wouldn’t like that and would withdraw your approval of any research being done. He doesn’t know that the ‘invasive species’ is just cats of varying sizes.”

  “I’m happy to hear that. If you need any more support there, tell me. Wouldn’t want our only local biologist to have any troubles.”

  “There is one thing I need actually.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “I have told Hartmeier that I would talk to one of you about cameras in the woods around the ruins. For now, I have said no to putting them up but we would get better results if we could have at least some of them up and running.”

  Kate nodded. “I will have to check our maps and if there is anything I don’t know about but in general I think the woods around the ruins, up to the road leading east from the city and the trainline south, are okay to set up cameras in. I think most of the woods on the other side of the trainline are private property but I would have to check. If they aren’t, I would give the okay for cameras there as well. The only pce truly out of the question are the library grounds and the surrounding area.”

  “Awesome! I would like to get that in writing, don’t want anyone to misquote you ter on.”

  “Of course, I’ll send it your way by next week.”

  “Thank you!”