Asgard Station, Null Zone
Noriko Null has engineered every inch of this place, but walking around the station is endlessly frustrating when she can’t recall how anything works.
It takes her longer than it should to reach the residential area of the station: she can no longer memorize its labyrinthine layout, and she stubbornly refused to ask for directions to the resident AI until the last possible moment.
When she eventually does reach her quarters, Gilgamesh is already there flipping through channels on the flat TV screen in front of the couch.
<You figured out how to use that pretty quickly.> she points out, sitting next to him.
<It wasn’t that hard. I can see how this ritual became so widespread on your planet, it’s quite addictive.> he replies, pausing on a news channel reporting on the various aliens residing on Earth celebrating Nullmas today. Gilgamesh puts it on mute.
<A lot of people seem upset that you decided not to attend any ceremony.> he notes.
<Ugh, I hate that dumb Nullmas crap. How would you feel if the whole freaking galaxy turned your birthday into a religious holiday?>
<I don’t know. The Ur don’t really celebrate birthdays.> he shrugs.
<I have to admit, sometimes I forget you’re an alien.> Noriko says.
<I thought the bronze skin was a giveaway. Although technically I’m just one-third Ur and two-thirds god, on my mother’s side.> he corrects her.
<I couldn’t figure out how that works when I was a genius, I’m not even going to pretend that I get it now. Why are you here, Gilgamesh? Did Max ask you to supervise me, to make sure I don’t break anything with super-strength?>
<No, I just wanted to understand why you’re avoiding celebrations. And don’t tell me it’s because you don’t want people to find out you’re a goddess now… from what I’ve been told you’ve always hated Nullmas.>
<Oh, where do I even begin? I hate being worshipped, and I’ve hated my birthdays since… well, since I learned that my mother abandoned me at birth because she couldn’t use me as a weapon.>
<I can relate to some of that. My mother Ninsun had little interest in me after I was born. And although I was a king by birth, I haven’t felt comfortable in ruling others for a long time.>
<Is that why you haven’t asked me to bring you back to your home Galaxy? You’re afraid that they will ask you to be king again?>
<In part. But I’ve already seen what Sumer has to offer; I’d much rather see your Galaxy.>
<Are you sure? You’ve been away for a really long time, Gilgamesh… you’ve been stuck in Heaven for a million years. Things must have changed back home.>
<My people are not like yours, Noriko. We don’t like change. And a million years is not as much of a big deal to us as it is to you.>
Noriko adjusts her position on the couch to get a little more comfortable, feeling she can’t lose this opportunity: Gilgamesh has not talked about himself so much before.
<Just how old are you, Gilgamesh?> she wonders.
<I’ve told you, the Ur don’t celebrate birthdays. I’m not quite sure myself.>
<Oh come on, you must have some idea.>
<Well, how old are you, Noriko?>
<As of roughly seven hours ago, I’m 29.>
<I meant physically. About the height of your development, before signs of aging start to be noticeable?>
<Hmm I’d say a bit younger than that. Maybe three-fourths of the way there. Why?>
<That’s how old I am.>
<Oh come on Gilgamesh, I’m not asking for much! I’ve already encountered species that age slowly, I just don’t have a frame of reference for the Ur. Demons age four times more slowly than humans, for example, and the Lar eight times.>
<Ah, I see what you’re looking for. We live at least a hundred times longer than the Lar.>
<Come on, you’re pulling my leg now!>
<How would I even do that when we’re both sitting?> Gilgamesh asks, not familiar with the expression.
<You live eight hundred times longer than humans!? If you were the equivalent of a 30 year old… uhm… gimme a minute…> Noriko excuses herself, pulling out her N-Phone.
Recognizing that she would have done this calculation in a nanosecond if she still had her mental faculties, her jaw still drops when she reads the calculator.
<You’re telling me you’re at least 24,000 years old!?>
<See, that’s why we don’t celebrate birthdays.>
<Half the universe knows you because you went on a journey to find the secret of immortality and you’re THAT old!?> she repeats.
<You’re making this a bigger deal than it is, Noriko.>
<If anything, I think I’m underselling… s#it!> she swears, having inadvertently crushed her own phone in her hands.
<Dammit, why won’t stuff stop breaking!?> she complains, throwing the remains of the phone against the wall… and actually punching through that wall, with the pieces crashing through five additional ones before they stop.
<See why I’m not out there celebrating my birthday? I could set the city on fire trying to blow up the candles!>
<It’s a good thing that I’m here, then. I don’t break easily.> Gilgamesh boasts.
There’s something in his smile that Noriko finds both suspicious and alluring.
<Coming here wasn’t your decision, wasn’t it? Someone told you I shouldn’t be left alone on my birthday, to make sure I don’t do something reckless. Who was it, Kari? My father?>
<I haven’t discussed it with anybody. I’m just very observant… and I think I relate to your situation, in a way.>
<I highly doubt you’ve had this much trouble adjusting to your strength.>
<I wasn’t talking about your powers. I was talking about your loneliness.>
<My what? I’m not lonely!> Noriko says, and in her attempt to sound dismissive of the concept she makes it crystal clear she doesn’t believe it.
<When I was still king, Noriko… before I met Enkidu… I was already worshipped as the greatest ruler who ever lived. And in our adventures together, Enkidu and I were celebrated as heroes throughout all the Sumerian galaxies.>
<Yeah, I’ve heard the myth. Then Enkidu died and you couldn’t find the secret to immortality.>
<Enkidu was the only one who could keep up with me. Without him, adventuring seemed hollow… and as I was being hailed a hero for opposing Kronos, I was just tired of it all. I would have welcomed death if I hadn’t been locked behind in Heaven.> Gilgamesh confesses.
<I did wonder why Enkidu wasn’t there in your personal Heaven. I understand from the myths that he was your best friend, right?>
<Friend and lover. Earth’s version of the events left out a lot.>
<Can’t say I’m surprised at this point.> Noriko shrugs.
<Enkidu was with me in Heaven… but it was just a pale imitation of the original. Keeping him there felt like desecrating his memory, so I just stopped wishing him to be there. And eventually I stopped believing I deserved him. That I deserved the adulation I had received all these millennia, that I deserved happiness and…>
<Companionship?> Noriko interrupts him, looking him in the eye.
He stares back at her, leaning forward towards her.
<We’re both living legends, Noriko. You’ve made me realize we need to live a little.> Gilgamesh responds, getting close enough for a kiss… but Noriko hesitates.
<I have a… bad history with relationships. I’ve hurt men before.> she admits.
<You’re in luck. I am more than a man.> Gilgamesh boasts, and once he initiates the kiss Noriko doesn’t stop him.
In fact, as soon as her newly divine blood starts pumping, she’s the one taking off his clothes.
Max Black’s apartment, New York City, Earth
Jane Blake considers herself a rather heavy sleeper, so she’s not used to being awakened in the middle of the night. She’s even less accustomed by her boyfriend waking up from a nightmare with a bone-chilling scream.
<Max! Oh my god, what happened!? Lights on!> she orders the bedroom’s digital assistant.
Max Black is sitting on the bed, with a cold sweat and breathing heavily.
<Nothing, nothing, just… just a bad dream.> he minimizes, but she’s not buying it.
<Just a dream!? You sounded like someone was torturing you!>
<I said it’s nothing. I just have a lot on my mind.> he blows her off, standing up as he wipes the sweat off his forehead.
<It’s the Nexus, isn’t it?> she asks.
<Oh, yes, what a brilliant deduction! I would never have guessed that jamming a five-billion-year-old alien device filled with ten thousand years of human history into my brain would… would…> Max slows down after his initial rant, looking at his girlfriend.
Jane can’t decide whether to be offended or scared by his rude attitude, scared by it, or genuinely worried about him.
<I’m sorry, that was… this isn’t who I am. How does Noriko stand this!?> he shouts, with his silver eyes shining brightly in anger.
<You can’t understand how this feels, Jane. I know, because I couldn’t understand it before. Just looking at you… something in the back of my mind is analyzing and judging your slightest movement, then comparing it to every memory I have of you, then write a whole thesis about it before I can tell it to stop.> he rants, walking back and forth as he talks.
<It’s like… God, it’s like having a liter of coffee injected straight into your veins every other minute. Did you hear what I said? A liter! I shouldn’t even know how much that is!>
<Max, please, calm down a second. Try slowing down.> she suggests.
<You’re right, you’re right. I owe Noriko a serious apology… I thought she was just a workaholic, but it’s so hard to stop thinking all the time… I don’t know how she’s ever been able to get any sleep. Especially if she had the same nightmares I had.>
<Do you want to talk about it?> Jane suggests.
<I’ll spare you the details, but… imagine the worst kinds of war crimes and genocides throughout history. Witness those multiplied by a thousand, and add the full knowledge that you’re the only thing preventing that nightmare from becoming a reality. That is what holding the Nexus feels like whenever I close my eyes.>
<I can’t say I fully understand, Max, but don’t be too hard on yourself. You don’t have to carry all that responsibility on your shoulders.>
<Of course I do! Everyone else is too stupid to get anything done!>
<Max. I’m trying to be really understanding, but aren’t you taking things a bit too far?>
<No. No, I don’t think I am. In fact, the more I think about it… Noriko hasn’t taken things far enough.> Max realizes, hurrying to put on his clothes.
<Max. Remember when you made me promise to warn you if you ever started to talk like a supervillain?>
<That does sound like something I’d say.> he admits, recovering his Quantum mask.
<You’re doing it right now, Max. Listen, Noriko told me about her struggle to get the Nexus under control, the stuff that turned her into Abyss. Maybe you should talk about this with her.>
<Why would I do that? I’m obviously smarter than she ever was. If I had been in her place years ago, Lily wouldn’t have needed to die of old age.>
<Maybe you should calm down a moment before your grief about Lily’s death makes you do something completely reckless.> Jane suggests.
<Reckless? Who’s reckless? I’m just going to fix the world. Don’t wait up.> Quantum tells Jane, kissing her on the forehead before activating the teleporter.
After her boyfriend disappears in a flash of light, Jane Blake frantically looks for her phone… she hates to call up Noriko on her birthday, but Max just raised all the red flags in the world.