“Of course not.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because there are rules that shape the universe. We might not like all of them, but without them there would be anarchy and nothing would work.”
“Nothing works now.”
“Now you’re being melodramatic.”
“Are you happy? Am I happy? Is he happy?” I say, pointing to Samael. He takes a swig of beer.
“Name me one happy creature in this universe. You can’t, can you?”
“ ‘Call no man happy until he is dead,’ ” says Samael.
“That’s Marcus Aurelius, right?”
He makes a tsk noise.
“Aeschylus. A Greek playwright. Didn’t you read any of the books I left for you?”
“I remember the one where Curious George got to be a fireman.”
“Getting back to the topic at hand,” says Mr. Muninn. “We’ve had this discussion before, Stark. You want me to take sides in the religious dispute between Hell’s old Church and the new. You want me to make mankind happy and cheerful and free from strife. You want me to be all things to all creatures.”
“Shouldn’t you?”
“Where would free will come into this scenario? The ability to make choices, good or bad.”
“You never gave the angels free will. That’s why this one rebelled,” I say, pointing at Samael. “Maybe that’s another rule you should have broken.”
Samael looks away. He doesn’t want to get dragged into this particular argument.
“As I said to you once before, you don’t know what it is to be a ruler and you certainly have no idea what a deity is.”
“Do you? Are you really a deity, or were the Gnostics right and you’re just the Demiurge, a caretaker who’s gotten in over his head and can’t keep the plumbing working?”
“That’s an offensive question.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Who are you talking to? Stark or the Abomination?”
“Both, I suspect.”
“You know that both Deumos and Merihim are against you, right? They’re as bad as Aelita. Just more subtle.”
He looks at me hard.
“What makes you think that?”
“Things I’ve seen and things I’ve been thinking about. Hey, here’s one good bit of news. Aelita is dead.”
Mr. Muninn sits back in the chair. Rests his elbows on the arms.
“I’m sorry to hear that. She was a troubled child, but at one time she was one of the ones closest to me.”