Aggie stared at his phone screen, even though it had gone black several minutes ago.

He wasn't quite sure whether the call he'd just ended actually happened or not.

It was all very surreal.

But it was needed. What he'd created was just too great for mere mortals to handle.

But, after a little thought, calling a service named Rent-a-God and asking for divine help over

the phone felt kind of cheap? No, that wasn't the word Aggie was looking for. Not cheap,

but commercial? Yes, commercial. But then, considering

the reason he'd called, Aggie should have expected it to feel that way. After all, he needed

help getting the message out about his new invention. And wasn't that commerce in a nutshell?

Aggie shoved that kind of base thinking

out of his mind. He was a genius with an invention that would revolutionize everything. Absolutely

everything. Thirsty after talking to the Rent-a-God operator, who was a nice gentleman, very knowledgeable,

Aggie walked into his kitchen and opened the fridge.

Slim picking sat before him on the mostly empty shelves.

He'd been so busy that keeping food stocked had become a bit of a problem as of late.

And Aggie wasn't much for grocery shopping anyway.

So he snagged the single can of generic brand diet soda,

popped the top, and drank deeply. As he walked out of the kitchen, his hand to his mouth to stifle

the sustained belch creeping up out of his esophagus. There was a polite knock at the door.

Already? He finished his belch and cleared his throat.

Um, yes, I'll be right there.

It was stupid of Aggie to think that the god he'd procured would be anything but timely.

...