A small coffee shop on Earth.

"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 humans, this can never go into debate again okay?"

Danse Mors sneers, "Oh but wiping out humanity is such an amusing topic... I'm sure Cassius and Infinitious can agree..."

"I agree," Cassius piped up for the first time in ages. Perhaps it was the rest, perhaps it was that she had eaten, perhaps that she had drank, but her voice had a humanness to it now beneath the scratches and scars. "I don't expect anything more or less from this than for you to prove your nature to us. Be that as it may." She smiled in a way befitting Seuss's Grinch. She drew herself up to her full height and took first position. The body she had stolen was a prima ballerina, at least in the youth ballets. When Cassius wasn't focusing, her body naturally fell into place. All grace was robbed, however, by the harsh lines.

Margaret "Maisie" The room was quiet for a moment, as Nyama sat in shock and everyone else sat in self-satisfaction and guarded excitement. Then, before even ten seconds had passed, Maise spoke, a bit louder than she meant to, "Nay."

Danse Mors rolls his eyes towards the ceiling. "Isn't this right up your alley? Testing mankind with your rituals and sacrifices to see which one is granted leniency in this cold, cruel world?" he says with dripping disdain. It's not that he didn't appreciate fortune but a god of absolutes has little sympathy for one who avoids the inevitable. "What could you possibly object to?"

Justice Ashtad directs an open eye to Maisie; the spell of temperance leaving her almost at once. Her hand twitched towards the gavel. "A task this paramount should have a unanimous vote. We can't give this due process without your consent," she says, words jumping up and down in her mouth like an excited toddler. She shifts her glasses upon her nose and raises a quizzical eyebrow. "What's your particular issue at this time?"

Margaret "Maisie" Her lip quivered, but she clamped it in place. "Just Nay. It's clear I'm outvoted though." She turned her face away from the others and stared blankly into the dark wood of the table. She couldn't say but she knew in her heart that mankind wouldn't pass. The possibility was frightening and cruel.

Cassius "Frankly, miss Margeret, non of us care what you say. You're still a baby. You can have your petty objections. It's clear we have a majority," she directed her focus now to Justice, "And she can't just shut herself away from it. She needs to participate. We are about to reach compromise, something I am sure you do not fail to recognize the gravity of. We cannot afford to slow that because Maisie is having a fit." She glared as if intending to kill, and while her face was still facing Justice, it was clear that her misgivings were directed at Maisie.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" Gasped louder then he would have wanted at hearing Danse's comment. During the brief period spent out of the boy's body, Ininitous had made a mental note to be nonchalant towards any remarks coming from Death that were irritating but illogical plus he didn't want his high spirits at the notion of conducting an experiment to be ruined, such goals however seemed to all but evaporate. "You have no business clumping me up with that!" He pointed towards Cassius with disdain. "What I find amusing and what she finds amusing are in direct opposition to each other. My goal is to create a universe with perfect or as near perfect order as can be achieved when I'm forced to work with certain unpredictable elements," he gave Maisie a quick glance, but his gaze soon roved to the ceiling and stared at nothing in particular, as he spoke. "This human's behavior...laughing at the prospect of extiction seems to suggest that far from having evolved beyond us, the qualities which were derived from the worse of us has become most dominant, these are of course the same creatures from universe 1.0, so it would have been asinine to assume that they would have changed at all, the evidence against them far exceeds that which favors. He started smiling despite himself. "But I'm more then willing to conduct this controlled examination and analyze the data, before I make my final decision. Again it was a brilliant idea!" He straightened up from in his chair and interlocked his fingers again giving off the impression of an ingratiatingly overachieving teacher's pet. "In either case 4 of us have voted in favor of the test, Nyama has yet to officially say 'aye' or 'nay' but one would think that him being the one to have thought of it that he would agree still, it's either 5 against 1 or 4 against 2 this should be enough of a reason to proceed Justice, and what's more if they wish not to participate it will their choice...I for one would be happy if the results didn't become corrupted by dumb lu

dumb luck anyways," he let out a high pitched cackle, feeling terribly amused with his medicore pun.

Nyama "Jerry Williams" Looked away from Cassius disgusted at the site of her body, mostly bones wrapped in dried skin, no animal would be able to remain alive in those conditions if it weren't by the help of some supernatural force, he was surprised at the fact that she would even agree to anything other then destroying the universe and going back to the void.

Nyama "Jerry Williams" kept his gaze fixed on Chilili for some time, he took the opportunity of the other gods' distraction to say what was on his mind since she had spoken. He sort of slinked over towards her right side like a fox trying to make it's way to safety without being spotted by a hunter, if anyone had been looking into the window of the shop from the outside they might have assumed he was about to mac it to her. "Chilili you don't need to worry about disrespect, they're or most of them anyways are the ones who aren't showing any towards life." He paused for a moment trying to collect his thoughts, he wanted very much to get his message across clearly, Tom had made his way from the backroom, happy content, and full of milk, he slid in between Nyama, and Chilili and rubbed his little body affectionately against Chilili's leg. "You know it's funny the...elders I never really noticed it until what you said but they are like children! Kind of interesting how they all choose to poses human pups, I mean babies I mean not babies but not adults teens is it? Anyway I never meant for a actual test, but now that I think about it the test might be a good idea."

Nyama "Jerry Williams" took in a deep breath, that sentence was probably not settling well with her, feeling uncomfortable he crouched down and began petting Tom, so as to not to be level with her face, he continued to speak meekly. "You see Infinitous is wrong, he sees everything as black and white cause and affect this and this equal that, but I know for sure that evolution is more then that, you guys that is to say humans and even other intelligent types of animals, make choices everyday and these choices determine the life they lead, and the bigger picture means the course your species' take depends on each individual, and what's more even the animals that were not influenced directly like you humans, are products of this universe which has been made by all of us...My point is some day in the future whether they realize it although I think Reap- Danse does, and I don't know why he's acting like such a hyena, because I know that he knows, but one day we might be having this stupid meeting about whales or elephants, or humans again, and I really really want to stop this argument and pull it out of discussion forever like baboon does pulls out and crushes a tick from his fur does that make any sense?"

Nyama "Jerry Williams" looked up at her hopeful. He heard Quagmire speak his name and he whipped his head towards the boy's direction. "I'll say nay or aye depending on whether or not Chilili says it's okay to be tested, and Justice is right, all seven of us have to agree."

Justice Ashtad smirks glibly at Nyama. "Hm... an agreement... Perhaps there is hope for us after all... Honestly, put the quibbling aside everyone... If one of us disagrees then it opens up the opportunity that this test will be the first of many. Theoretically, Maisie could opt to side with others to do her own test thus opening a can of worms. It's tyranny and most importantly, it leads to unfair and biased results. If we all agree, then we can attempt a fair, balanced resolution..." she says, snapping her fingers. "Sadly, the old saying, which was obviously not influenced by me, that life is unfair can be very true. But as the creators and architects of life, we should be better examples to our progeny," And with that, she picked up the gavel, waiting for the final votes. Her body was poised, eager, trembling with excitement. Judging humanity was a niche of hers that she didn't often get to utilize anymore. However, this time she would leave the flaming sword at home. Well... she'd think about it...

Danse Mors sighed, disconnecting himself from the others. Even the mortal disinterested him. The weighing of decisions was tedious. He had already made up his mind the moment the human presented herself. His talents gave him an advantage that the others would be too self-centered to see. Danse knew the skeletons in her closet. From people to animals that passed over into his realm were all subject to his will. It would be easy to get the dirt on her. Dead loved ones, dead enemies, even a dead goldfish would provide a different perspective than the little mouse that trembled before the gods. Humans were easy to manipulate because of their fear of him. How easy it would be to snuff the little candle that flickered with something as fickle as life... He almost allowed himself to smile at the thought of the little human's tasks. Danse couldn't help but get excited at the thought of ending the rapid heartbeat, fluttering in her chest... If only everyone would make up their minds... He wouldn't say it but he agreed with Nyama and Justice. Endless bickering only led to chaos and disorder and while Quagmire would disagree, Danse ultimately had to sort it out. All those lives that had to be taken and re-shaped... Frankly, the dead were very annoyed with the gods. All those souls floating around from the first universe weren't pleased at having been recalled. If he hadn't have dabbled in reincarnation, he would have had a revolt on his hand. "While everyone throws a tantrum, I'll be designing my task... I'm beginning to rethink my stance on a zombie apocalypse," he thought aloud,"I used to be against them because of the obvious abomination... but it looks like fun," He wandered away, picking up his book on Nietzsche and thumbing through it.

Chilili Crow Dog lowered her head so that no one could see the tears that hung to her eyes like prayers. She was alarmed at how different mortality felt when one was confronted with immortality. Studying veterinary sciences, she had developed a scholarly distance between herself and her future patients. She was above the dogs and cats, horses and pigs. She believed she understood life they way they could not. If Chilili had never met the gods she would have continued to believe it and never comprehended how isolating that viewpoint was. When faced with the eternal, however, she found herself on an equal playing field. Alongside her mortal compatriots, she realized just how small and fragile they were. It would be so easy to be crushed, relinquished of life, it was disorienting... How could anyone stand it? As Tom brushed up against her leg, it occured to her, as well, how comforting it was. This little creature, her brother, understood her in a way none of the gods could and, in turn, she understood him in the same way. They were all connected by their mortality in the same way the gods were disconnected by their immortality. None but Nyama touched the other. Most seemed at odds and unable to empathize with any opinion but their own. Humans could be that way too but many needed each other. They needed each other in a real and concrete way. They needed each other to survive and even after they were gone, that connection never severed. She took a deep breath and as Nyama spoke, she tried to see him for what he was. How does one talk to a god? Failing that, she made up her mind that she was without choice. Whether she liked it or not, she had become a champion of mankind. "I'm not sure why Fate chose me to represent humanity," she started, glancing at Maisie uneasily, "But I'll accept a test... I was told that I should never refuse the spirits and I won't. And... and I'll prove to all of you that we're greater than our parts because we-.... we're um..."

Wasn't it only yesterday that she yelled at her blonde co-worker, calling her an ignorant slut because she claimed that she was related to an Indian Princess despite the horrific historic inaccuracy. That somehow, the co-worker, too was Native American and could understand her. Only yesterday she had put the blonde in the "other" category and SHE was supposed to represent mankind. To Chilili's credit, the blonde was a slut and ignorant. "We're... essentially good," she said weakly. A god was constant according to their nature; one note characters that had simple drives. Unfortunately a human was only constant in their inconsistancies. They were everything and nothing and Chilili was only beginning to see her dilemma. Would her determination be enough? At the moment, it was her determination that kept her from throwing up.

Margaret "Maisie" started to cry. It bubbled up like foam from a hot spring, boiling tears running down her face and criss-crossing the dimples and folds along the way. The noise too bubbled up, a gasping, shaking "huh-huh-huh," that she couldn't control. She had seen Chilili look at her. She was responsible for this. She was responsible for everything. She could have prevented this whole thing if only she had paid more attention, and worked harder at it. If only she had worked harder, she wouldn't be sitting at a table planning the ultimate death of the young girl at the end of the table. She knew Chilili would fail, and if she did, it was Maisie's responsibility, Maisie's fault. There was no use fighting it. It had been her fault all along. "A-aa-huh-Aye." Maisie sobbed to herself.

Cassius balled up the napkin sitting in front of her and threw it at Maisie's face. The blubbering cow was so useless. Cassius wanted to kill her, but lacked the rage required. It would be an apathetic killing, more out of ennui than anything, and there were more important things to deal with. "So, that makes all of us. Nyama doesn't need to speak, we all know he follows the humans around like a lapdog. We're in agreement. Go ahead, bang your stick." She flapped a hand at Justice like someone encouraging a child to go play. She was growing weary of this room. The wall painted eight shades of brown and the obscene hipster decorations, street signs, and recycled plastic knick-knacks. She wanted to burn it down.

Nyama

Nyama sighed feeling exasperated, Chilili had agreed but not because because she believed this was a feasible way out. She was submitting to their will simply because she felt helpless. She was like Raul before he had been let out of his cage. His eyes roved towards the Monkey's tail, it hung down from the table where now sat himself while he gnawed at the gable, having hopped from Nyama's shoulder the moment he crouched down. Nyama felt much sympathy for her, but this sort of attitude wasn't favorable for survival, he was also a bit irritated with her. The universe it seemed often reflected the fact that it was brought into fruition by opposing and contrasting forces, that some how brought balance to each other, but it did not however take away from the fact that it was a harsh place to live in. He had toiled hard indeed just to come up designs that could work, let alone depend and compete with each other in a way that would be sustainable for the whole, in the end there was reaper man, he was like the shadows of his own creations no matter how much they ran he'd trot behind them, at a pace to just fall behind, the moment they grew weary they were overrun. Nyama didn't resent Death, for doing what was in his nature, but for his reason he could only favor and put his own energy into the strong, whether they be it in might or in will.

No! He quickly pushed those dark thoughts away this wasn't just death this was oblivion, and lab mice could never be held to the same judgment they were at the mercy animals much more mighty and clever then they, he was hit with a double dose of his old guilt, he absentmindedly wrapped his arms around Tom, and picked the cat off the ground feeling a need for comfort. His peace was short lived, as heard Maisie's uncontrollable sobbing, she believed Chilili would fail, had his foolish impulses and verbal blunders really sealed the doom of the only endearing quality of his kind, their creation? Despite it all his instincts still held firm to the belief, that Chilili was like a zebra that would boldly bend her neck downwards into the watering hole, in order to get the lion to release it, she had strength to spare. These thoughts evaporated as soon as he heard the most unwelcoming of sounds Cassius's voice calling his name. He hissed in displeasure for her comment. "B-better to be a lapdog, then a decrepit old vulture looking for some bones to pick on!" He was annoyed that his voice skipped, but otherwise was happy with the fact that he took a crack at her, and it was all thanks to Chilili's insight...A mortal actually teaching a god something, his instincts were right as they always were. "Anyway Aye!"

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" Idly ran his finger across his lap tops' touch pad, as he saw the entire contents of 2.0 get compressed into half the width of a gluon his universal collapse model having ran it's course. He muttered to himself, as he heard Danse's monologue, how he hated caring about what the walking corpse had to say, even when not directed towards him. "Should small space-time vortexes conveniently form themselves within a atom's distance of all the zombies' bringing them into a singularity, as the vortexes themselves evaporate due to Hopkins radiation, or should a cosmic string relapase time in those areas where the zombie's collect so that the mortals would have knowledge of the event prior...What would be the most amusing way to thwart a zombie appocolypse?" That is not to say he wasn't paying attention to the going-ons of the rest of the room. At hearing Maisie's, Chilili's and Nyama's consensus he piped in once again. "Well then it seems the matter is settled. Justice if you will please finish off the redundant formalities. We can commence testing by the most effective means of collecting information...The scientific method. We can each formulate our hypothesis as to why the species is flawed, and come up an experiment that would prove if our hypothesizes are correct. I am more then willing and happy to assist anyone with coming up with a viable test, if they're logically challenged." He snorted and threw quick glances at Nyama, Maisie, and Cassius, then he unfocused his glare as if he were talking to the air itself. "Also any of you lethargic forth dimensionally challenged slackers, who have decided to skip this meeting, I think I speak for all of us when I say it would be nice if you participate in the testing as well, if you wish to brush off your apathy at this time." With a big grin on his face, he turned his attention to Chilili. "I must say girl, the fact your kind realized the value of the scientific method when seeking out knowledge rather then basing their explanations on absurd superstitions does seem to suggest you have some hope after all."

Justice Ashtad raised her hands in the air, holding the gavel tight in her grip. In one deft move, all pathos had been stripped from her body. Her eyes grew cold and steely. Her spine grew straight and hard. Even the sociopath could not penetrate the same icy inhumanity that she embodied. She closed her eyes, casting off the pretense of her human charade. She was Justice and in her judgement, she would not allow mortal distractions to influence her. "I hereby proclaim that Chilili Crow Dog is the champion of mankind and in her position she will be given ONE test by each of us as we see fit. However each one of us may assist others in their test. We shall follow her progress and judge her actions based on our collective values. If we deem humanity worth saving, it shall be so. If we deem humanity a hindrance to the universe, we shall convene to discuss punishment. It is Chilili's responsibility as the part of champion to mirror her actions based upon her individual interpretation of the whole of mankind. She will not be one person but one person acting as the whole. It is our responsibility as the part of her creators that we act according to our nature and never, at any given point, subvert our natures out of mortal influence. We shall test her, in turn, until we reach satisifaction." And with her final words, the gavel came down hard upon the table. Her final act and Chilili had been judged accordingly. There was no going back now.

To Be Cont'd...