A small coffee shop on Earth.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" If Danse's words were the sun, then Quagmire's arrogant pose would have been a popsicle. He uncrossed his arms and drooped down in his hair raising his head up to look at him with comtept. He quickly used perhaps not coincidently his middle finger to adjust his glasses, which were falling down the slope of his nose. "In the sky? Have you ever stopped to analyse the stupidity of what you say? I don't even understand why they tend to picture their gods in the sky, or the gas around a planet that is held together by gravity in other words. Which by the way is yet another requirement for walking in a cemetery...but I digress. I never said that everyone should listen to me, although I doubt we'd be having this meeting if that were the case, seeing as universe 1.0 would have functioned flawlessly!" Quagmire looked at Danse in disbelief when he realized he was putting his headphones on. He was livid as he stomped towards the other boy with the intent of yanking them off his head. He was so enraged by the blatantly rude gesture even by Death's standards, that he didn't notice the distress in his face. Fortunately the obnoxious sound of someone hitting the table with the gable took his attention from Danse. "Do you mind, you're committing an injustice against young Quagmire's ears!" Infinitous spun around furious and expecting to find Justice hammering away at the table, in a feeble attempt to keep order, he was surprised and a little disarmed to see it was that infernal hairy creature, Nyama insisted on dragging in with him.

Danse Mors sensing the presence of Quagmire creeping up on him, held himself more tightly. He turned his head to actively ignore him, focusing his attention on his playlist. Then suddenly, Quagmire's buzzing presence like a fly over rotting fruit, washed away from view as the battery symbol on his mp3 player blinked at him. His heart skipped a beat, which was strange as it didn't normally beat at all. "My tunes," he sputtered, "My... my... tunes... what the...? No... I recharged it this morning... I was guaranteed a 24 hour battery life!! Oh I'm calling my mom!" He ripped the headphones off his head and it occured to him that he had said this outloud, in a room full of gods, and that he, himself, was one as well. He wondered if any of them had caught moments of sinking into their human forms too deeply as well. Danse wouldn't ask, however, he refused to subject himself to their emotional misadventures of mortality. He didn't need to anyway. The monkey had began banging on the table like a petulant child and Danse flipped the headphones back on again to shield the piercing noise. "Anyone have a leash for that thing?" and yet as he said it, half a smile perched on his mouth and for a moment, it looked natural.

Justice Ashtad Justice immediately perked up at the banging gavel. The drain of bickering gods had gotten to her. She wasn't used to people not listening to her AND not being able to punish them for not listening to her. But the monkey inspired her as many things did. Sparks of lightening crackled in her synapses. When Quagmire complained, she rose to her full height, which by average standards was indeed average but greater than Quagmire's pubescent form. She wrinkled up her nose and sneered disapprovingly. "This animal has a right to speak!" she snapped, pointing her finger at Quagmire. "We've created a world in which this animal lives and as its caretakers and designers we are obligated to hear his complaints! I do hope you remember the Rights of Living Beings declaration I wrote after the first universe was dismissed. I made sure to post it where everyone can see it," Then, with the passion of the great leaders of their time; Julius Caesar, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, she rose her hands in the air, set her feet firmly apart and pronounced, "LET THIS MONKEY SPEAK!" In retrospect, the passion of her words and the righteousness of her intent may have been overdone.

Cassius The majority of Cassius's mind wanted to dismiss the goings-on, even to laugh. But there was a prickling in the air, a slight electricity flowing from the ever-grinning Nyama, whose stance implied life, and the smell of burning caught her nose for a moment. Something was about to happen. Something big and messy and beautiful. She absentmindedly ate the food still lying in front of her and smiled. Her eyes bore into Nyama with a yearning she hadn't felt in millenia. Whatever he was cooking up, she wanted in.

Margaret "Maisie" "Far be it from me to question the countenance of a terestrial species, but I'm not sure his opinion applies to our judgement of man," Maisie's eyes shifted briefly to Nyama, "Despite the *opinions* of some." She glimpsed the girl behind the counter and her throat shut tight. "I-i-... I believe it's time we heard from the only one in the room yet to give his opinion. Nyama?"

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" Quagmire was certain that Danse had said something, fortunately the monkey's insescive poudning, had drowned out what ever obnoxious self agrandising vague and mellow-dramatic commentary he must have uttered. At least in Infinitous' mind those were the only sort of thoughts death could express. He rolled his eyes as he recieved Justice's lecture. "Indeed! I remember that highly biased fluff peace you shoved down our proverbial throats, I never forget anything and if ever the astronomical odds should come together, that my memory might slip..." He gave Maisie an icey glare so as to deter her from getting any ideas. "Rest assure whatever menutia I might forget, it won't be massive neon pink writing that spanned the length of a universe!" He spoke each word louder then the next until he was yelling, as loudly as the monkey was banging. "Silence!" he whipped around the table and snatched the gable from the monkey who bared his teeth at the boy to show his displeasure at the unexpected act of aggression. Quagmire hoped back and clasped his arm closer to his body protectively. "Don't even think about it!" The room grew quiet it seemed just in time for Maise to voice her opinion about Nyama getting the chance to voice his.

Nyama "Jerry Williams" "heh..Yes..um," His eyes stayed fixed on Cassius, she had a sort of hungry look that he found very unsettling, he felt like a gazelle who just made eye contact with the leopard that had been stalking him. It wasn't so much the stare he realized as the fact that it was Cassius doing it. He drew in breath and enjoyed the sensation of having his muscles relax as he exhaled, it was so easy to eliminate tension when in a corporeal form. He focused himself, and presented his open hand to Quagmire to receive the 'talking stick' the last thing he wanted to do was irritate Justice who was one of his allies. Raul hopped on his shoulder and he began to feel more comfortable.

Nyama "Jerry Williams" "Alright well I know all of you already know my opinion on humans as a whole. In the end they are really really smart animals, and predatory too. Sometimes they let their killer impulses get the better of them. Also just like monkeys and apes who live in groups, all of them feel a need to climb the social latter to get the best spoils of food and shelter, which in turn ensures you stay on the top. Now a days the spoils are replaced with money but very little has changed, only now instead of stones and spears they have, nuclear bombs...okay a lot has changed! But I'm not really stating my point am I? I'm sorry I'm not very good at this." Nyama closed his eyes in frustration, he felt regret at not taking more time to interact with humans, as a human or possibly even the other gods, speech wouldn't have seemed so alien to him, and his thoughts might have flown in a more coherent stream.

Nyama "Jerry Williams" It's then when he realized the significance of his current thoughts, talking to a human was a lot like talking to one of his peers, identical even if said human was stubborn and self absorbed. He laughed at his own internal joke, and then continued speaking before any of them had time to spit out a sarcastic comment at his expense. "But I know someone who is! Good at talking that is! Like I was saying humans are animals but they are also a lot like us, we needed a purpose so we made a universe, they also clutter their heads with these kinds of thoughts, they need meaning and purpose in their life rather then just living it and loving in the moment...I kind of feel sorry about what we did to humans sometimes, a lot of pain comes from this kind of awareness, they worry about their future and their loved ones dying, and even the end of the world, I guess they had good reason... But you all know why this is so too! Each and everyone one of us gave them something of ourselves! So Maisie is right there is one amongst us that, hasn't stated her opinion." Raul looked over his shoulder in the barista's direction. "Chilili!" Nyama raised his voice not in a demanding tone, but so that the girl could here him clearly from his distance. "Will you please come here and tell everyone what you think? I'll give you the stick so they'll have to be quiet and listen!" He did say that last bit, in a harsher tone, but it was clearly intended for the other gods.

...

((chat wasn't working))

Chilili Crow Dog stepped out from the back room, holding her hands to keep them from trembling. Each step seemed to encompass a milke as she attempted to span the distance between her and the eternal gods. What the hell was she going to say? Having heard the conversation, she already knew the futility of trying to change their minds. Nothing she could say could possibly be enough to save mankind but she had to try. So she stood among gods, feeling like a child under scrutiny. And in a way she was a child. Each of them towered over her but not as a parent. God, to her, was something different; the void them came from and the spark that brought them into being. These were connections, like arms and legs of God, reaching out. They were all the same to her and equally intimidating. To anger them, her grandmother would say, would be to your own end. Wow, she thought, I actually believe this... I'm fucking nuts... But before she lost her nerves, she cleared her throat. "Um... I uh... I couldn't help but overhear your, um... conversation..." her hands began to shake together. "As a uh... human and a... representative of humanity all I can say is..." she shook her head. "Wow, what can I say?" She looked at them, appearing more like herself than gods and as the nerves rose to her throat, she tried to choke back a laugh. Instead, she hiccuped. Self conciously the hiccup turned into a stifled giggle. Overcompensating, the giggle turned into a high pitch peel of laughter. She clapped her hands to her mouth and suppressed any form of humor down her throat again. "You know what," she said, frustrated and lost, "you're right, all of you. Humanity is a mess and you are the divine comedy. You made the universe and you messed it up. And you can remake it but you'll mess it up again. We're not the problem, you are. But some of us have evolved beyond your mistakes and we're trying to fix it. Just give us a chance..." She took a deep breath and waited, almost wincing as she did so. Then, as she was contemplating the end of her species, out of the blue, she wondered if she left the coffee pot on.

Margaret "Maisie" sat quietly, watching Chilili from under her bangs. She fought back several comments that would have proven detrimental and thought for a minute. And then, "She's right. We gave them feelings and a conciousness. We gave them the ability to be afraid, and be compassionate. We're responsible for that now. It might not have been our intention, but we need to own up to what we did. We created thinking, reasoning creatures."

Danse Mors bristled beneath the ignorant commentary of the human being. Unlike other gods, he was used to being judged by something so small and it irked him. However he had run out of things to say. All he could think of was how much he wanted to leave; leave the shop, leave this skin. Anxiety was foreign to him but not to the body that inwardly writhed with the need to hide. He scoffed at the idea that thinking, reasoning creatures were what they made. If the incessent squirming of his nerves like little worms in his guts were any clue to the reason behind these humans, they were more instinct than reason. "Fine, we're bad creators. We're the higher power and we don't have a clue what we're doing... Why don't we just scrap the whole damn thing? Whose idea was it to create humans? We're fine with animals. They're small and they stay put within the natural order... Humans don't. They deviate that order and they take pride in it. Artifical means of lengthening life, fighting disease and to laugh at me entirely, they include vampires and zombies into their little death cults and frankly, I'm not amused!". He wraps his arms around himself, gently stroking his skin as if to calm the rippling tide beneath. "Death is a beautiful thing, it does not glitter!"he snapped. Danse settled down in his seat and heaved a great sigh, "But we'll never get out of this damn place without some kind of resolution so what do you suggest, human?"

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" rolled his eyes upon hearing Nyama's crackpot idea to allow the human to state her opinion, if they were going to start conferring with mortals beings, they'd be more likely to get greater objectivity from the monkey, perhaps Justice was right, at least if they were this desperate. He rested his head against his closed fist, his elbow on the table, giving off a not so subtle air of boredom. He looked at Chilili with obvious contempt from the sides of his eyes, it wasn't so much the human standing before him as it was for the suggestion that prompted his bad attitude. He took in every word she said none the less, and he was not surprised that it was a series of incoherent verbally spoken thought processes. What could she say? Indeed Infinitous thought that there was no new statement she could make that would disprove the terabytes of evidence collected against them...and then she laughed.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" was so shocked he didn't feel his arm sliding off the edge of the table, consequently his head lost it's support and nearly slammed into the table. He pulled up quickly and readjusted his glasses the surprise of the girl's giggling seemed to have deflected all attention away from his clumsy antics, even Danse's. He leaned back in his chair in time to hear her final deceleration. She actually had the audacity to call them the "Divine Comedy"! Whether or not that was a pun reference to the epic poem young Quagmire had read when he was a mere 8 years old, was irrelevant. The fact that he had endured the agony of being beaten by Quarmire's classmates, while he resided in his body, and then spent the bulk of the evening being mocked by Death was possibly compromising his own steely objectivity he didn't care, he was furious. This universe was truly a chaotic mess nothing like the precise order he envisioned, it would only get worse if the perceiving species reacted in such a preposterous manner!

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" let out a cynical high-pitched cackle. "Evolved beyond our mistakes? Ha! Do you even know what precisely evolution is girl?" Quagmire took in a deep breath as if he were preparing for a lengthy explanation. "Never-mind," he swatted the air dismissively in Chilili's direction, "it's quite beyond your comprehension anyways, let me over simplify for you." Quagmire got up from his seat and went for Nyama's back pack, he quickly un-zipped it, and took out what appeared to be a sketch book. "He," Quagmire pointed at Nyama with his free hand "Concocts all sorts of harebrained schemes for a organism of the animal kingdom, the first draft never makes any sense! They don't function by the laws of physics...My laws, and so he goes back to the drawing board, until they do! Later he makes them more efficient altering the shape for the environment they belong in, again guiding his designs by my laws! So how arrogant it is indeed, that you suggest that you evolved beyond the rules you play by, Danse I can see much of you has rubbed off on the humans. What a self absorbed and self aggrandizing species!" He placed the sketch pad by Nyama's side, sat in front of his lap top, and sighed as if bored and tired. "Anyways I have the extra bits of mass or dark matter collected in strategic points, around the universe," He was clearly speaking to the other gods once again. "I need only alter the gravitation constant slightly, and it'll stop it's expansion and commence it's collapse neatly into single particle once again ready for the next explosion to be induced when we're ready. Shall I scrap the project now?"

Nyama "Jerry Williams" stood in place a few feet away from Chilili, rocking back and forth he clenched the the gabble tight in his hands he had forgotten to give it to her. Raul looked up at him with concern. Nyama had roared with laugher at hearing her giggle, but now he could barely contain his anger and fear as he heard Danse's and Infinitous' rant. "Shut up shutup shutup stop shutup shutup! he repeated in a low but threatening voice, it sounded something like a chant. He didn't care that Infinitous had taken his sketch book, it was the cruelty he had a gripe with. Mercifully Danse was willing to wait for a suggestion, but he seemed be barely keeping his patience now, Ininitous was speaking of collasping the universe! "ENOUGH!" Nyama gave out a feral yell it almost sounded like a roar. Raul bared his teeth aggressively, and Tom, Dick and Harry let out a threatening hiss all at once. Nyama glared at Quagmire and he had to resist the urge to tackle him to the floor, but the boy would be a victim in all this too. "You can't do that!" in his panic he founded even harder to search for the words, he had to sway the opinions of the other gods, call them to action to keep existence going. "Like I said we each put something of ourselves in humans, this gave them a little bit of everything, this is also important being adaptive, it's the reason my sketches seem crazy sometimes I like to try all sorts of things, you never know what might help an animal survive better for longer!" He looked at Danse for an instant and decided against continuing down that trail of thought, less he feel challenged. "So with all their traits it's possible humans can evolve beyond our short comings I think anyway...But Chilili you are very wrong I disagree with you! Oh we might be a funny joke, but somehow we managed not to mess things up to much, we made something beautiful! I know if the rest here gave you guys a chance, you'd meet the challenge and come out on top!"

Nyama "Jerry Williams" looked around the room for an instant. "Right Magie Pie? Judge Judy I know you agree with me!"

Justice Ashtad rolled her eyes at the older gods. Despite their age, they argued like children, letting their over-inflated egos get in the way of progress. She waved them off like one would wave of an aging grandparent rambling nonsensically at the dinner table. "If we've learned anything over the past two universes, it is that we must constantly strive for balance... We have given as much as we can and influenced events but ultimately, I agree, that it is up to the creation itself to take our potential and use it their actualization," she said, channeling her former temperant nature. She felt very zen, even going as far as sitting, cross-legged on the table with her fingers in the lotus position. "Please excuse the temper tantrums, Chilili, we are not all subject to hormonal influences from our hosts like.. ehem... some of us here and I'm sure they are usually more even-keeled..." She closed her eyes and slowly breathed in through her nose and released through her mouth in a tranquil blow. "Nyama, I sense an ulterior motive and while I'm usually against anything ulterior I do like the idea... I'm not sure why we didn't think of it before," oh but she knew... It would have meant another meeting like this one. "Let's actually test our creation and we can judge whether it's truly worthwhile to start from scratch or if we can fix it... All in favor say "aye" and all against say "nay"," She looked around the table with one eye open and raised her hand. "Aye".

Danse Mors scoffs obscenely at Infinitous. "It's always about you, isn't it! Like you created the whole damn universe all by yourself! But oh, if there's a problem it's someone else's fault, right! You gave these mutated apes too much intelligence but not enough to see the big picture. You have philosophers and theologians who, unlike the tree or the pond, can see their own extinction and shrink in terror! They use their logic and tools and desperately seize up life like it's sand in an hourglass, like it's something that can be saved up! If they pray to the right god, eat their vegetables and kill anything that scares them then they can never die!! It's absurd! And you don't want to take responsibility for it! No, it's my fault, right? I am the God of Self-Aggrandizing and Self-Absorption all of a sudden... Honestly, I thought I was the God of Death, limited to ending the life of these animals. But no, go ahead, Quackmire! End the universe right now and create another one with just you. See how you do with no one else but your own ego and see how the little monkeys treat their god then! Push the button! Go ahead, do it!" he screams, spit flecking at the edge of his lips. The anxiety within him swells outward through his limbs until it can no longer be contained. His arms wave about madly and his eyes bulge from their sockets. He completely forgets himself within the room of his equals and lesser and finds only unintelligable blubbering stemming from his mouth until it settles to his throat in grumbles. He begins to pace, releasing the excess energy pulsating through his body with each step until he finds himself almost exhausted by his own emotional force.

Danse Mors Even as the other gods talk around him, he continues muttering under his breath. As it becomes clear what the real motivation behind the meeting is about, he finds himself suddenly intrigued. He instinctively circles around the group as Nyama announces his intentions and Justice throws in her support. Like a vulture he continues until he reaches the crux of the circle in the guise of Chilili. As the room settles for a brief moment, Danse walks around her, looking her over and breaking the comfort zone by inches. Then he says quietly, as if to himself more than anyone else, "I know Nietzsche very well. In life, he once said, "In the consciousness of the truth he has perceived, man now sees everywhere only the awfulness or the absurdity of existence and loathing seizes him." In death, without the brain tumor, he had a different take... I wonder if after this little charade, you won't feel the same..." he turned away, rolling his eyes at Judge Judy. "Aye," he said sardonically.

Chilili Crow Dog self-conciously rubs her arm, looking around to the others but unable to meet their gaze. The nervous laughter had not gone over well. It hadn't gone over well at her mother's funeral either. She could still see their stony gazes in her mind's eye. Only this time she was alone with no grandmother to hold her, to protect her. She bristled beneath Infinitious' outburst and was more than a little confused by the others. As Danse crept closer to her, chills went up her spine. She felt set up and she wasn't exactly prepared to be the sacrificial lamb. "I'm sorry, Nyama..."she said, shoulders scrunched up near her ears, "I didn't mean any disrespect... I just... I just feel like I'm trying to convince a bunch of children not to push the red button... so to speak... not that any of you..." she heaved a sigh and then Danse spoke of Nietzsche. "I'm beginning to feel like I don't have a chance in hell..." she muttered to herself. And she was probably right. A few seemed reasonable. Nyama scared her at times but only as a tiger scares a deer. It was natural but ultimately Nyama wasn't interested in hurting her. Justice kept swinging back and forth between earth mother and judge while Danse just gave her the creeps. Infinitious sounded a lot like her Biochemistry teacher who also had a rough childhood and took it out on the students (unless they were blond and looking for an easy A). Cassius didn't really present herself as of yet but she also gave her the creeps. Maisie seemed the only one that was closest to human but her sympathy seemed to conditional... No... Chilili didn't have a prayer in the world...

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" Watched the screen the super-massive black hole centers of each galaxy merged with each other creating an ever greater singularity neatly absorbing and crunching all mass like a titanic garbage disposal. This was of course only a model of his plans. He was not the least bit disturbed by Nyama's outburst only moments before the thought of being bitten by his furry animal would have scared him, but just as a hungry person might drool at the thought of food, and someone's feet might ache at the thought of running a marathon, Ininitous had absentmindedly detached himself from young Quagmire's body ever so slightly, he felt more like himself cold and calculative, and then Danse had the nerve to accuse him of being the egotistical one. He snapped his head up and looked away from his screen. "First of all, I never said I made the entire universe! You really should keep a more scientifically accurate record of things before you make assumptions, this just proves how much your ego gets in the way of your perceptions every time someone mentions there accomplishments you think they're being arrogant because they don't give you honorable mentions for your," he snorted "contributions." He put fastened himself one again to the particles that made up the boy's body, instantly there was a pang of irritation do to the word "quackmire" but he brushed it aside. "Anyways Nyama I must say I'm very much surprised, with your uncharacteristic use of rational, are you suggesting a scientific experiment? Interesting to say the least what better way to get to really analyze humanity then through a controlled series of test to better gauge their behavior. I totally endorse this method....Aye!" He raised his hand up straight looking a lot like a student who thrived on a teacher attention when he had the answer before his classmates, there was an usual glint of excitement in his eyes.

Nyama "Jerry Williams" eyed Chilili carefully, catching all her movements both conspicuous and subtle, she had apologized without reason they were the ones who were in wrong, but what he found most disturbing, was just how frightened she was. He was about to say something to her, when the conversation of the other gods caught him completely by surprised like a eighteen wheeler, barreling down on a squirrel who was trying to cross the street. "Wait what? Ulterior motive?" He took in a deep breath as if the next phrase he was about to say, were a lump in his chest and pushing it out would take much effort "Scientific experiment? No!" He waved his hands in the air. "No, no , no that's not what I meant I meant, the universe itself, 2.0 is the challenge I didn't mean..." his eyes met gazes around the room, Ininitous' look of rapturous joy unnerving him quite a bit. Death had agreed, Justice had agreed even though that's not what he actually wanted, much like he accidentally started a meeting about mankind's fate, he now accidentally initiated a test trial for humanity, he was glad he wasn't Danse with this sort of clumsiness of actions he would probably have killed off all life in a instant. Only Cassius and Maisie were left to voice their thoughts, but what could he do, taking back what he said, might just produce more arguing and the fate of the world would be in limbo once again. He was confident in mankind's abilities, most particularly Chilili's. The guilt was overwhelming, he loathed the scientist who did this sort of things to laboratory rats, now because of him the most intelligent animal of all would be run through a figurative maze, but this might just be the best way out for her species maybe she'd understand, but as long as she and many generations after continued to exists, he could live with her hatting his guts. "I mean yes some kind of test makes sense, and if she passes it, we must agree that whatever actions we decide to take in the future, it'll never be wiping out human