According to Plan

This story contains mentions of a child's death and murder by police. The acts are never shown, nor truly described.

The Star of Lerangis had aligned with the moon of Khoury. The dark lord of The Maniscalco, Kagawa, was soon to arise. So, all in all, a very productive morning. The great god Moreno sat back in his wingback chair, cup of tea in hand it was just how he liked it: a squirt of lemon and a sprinkle of horseshoe nebula. He looked around his solar system wide study and smiled. Everything was in its place and on schedule. Just the way he liked it.

Somethmentioing beeped. What was that? It beeped again. Then it beeped again. It just kept beeping. Nothing should be beeping in this room. It was filled with nothing but his books, his chair and himself. Wait. It wasn’t coming from this room.

A frown crossed his face for the first time in a millennium. He sat the cup down and left the study. Alarms blared in the hallway. Alarms? Oh yes, he had forgotten. He had installed alarms in the beginning. They were to only go off if one of his creations strayed from the plan. He chuckled at the thought. As if any of his creations could stray from his plan.

He followed the sound to his office. Taking a seat in his favorite rolling chair he waved his hand over the bare desk. Millions of stars shot out like a geyser. They swirled in a grand spiral before forming a web of interconnected timelines.

“Isolate the issue.”

A section of the web expanded to take over his field of vision.

“Kagawa? I just finished this one. It’s not even set to take effect for another eighteen years. Show me what’s wrong.”

The web transformed into the image of an Adonis clad in football gear.

“Gant.”

Gregory Gant was going to be a great epic hero. Moreno had planned it all out. It would happen in ten simple steps.

First, Felix Kagawa would be elected sheriff.

Second, Gregory Gant would join the middle school football team.

Third, his mother would bring the daughter of a family friend, Olivia, over from her home village in Guatemala during his six-grade year.

Fourth, over the next three years they would fall in love.

Fifth, Kagawa would be elected mayor.

Sixth, Kagawa would court white nationalists and fascists, becoming leader of the hate group Maniscalo.

Seventh, he would use that to become governor.

Eighth, he would orchestrate a mass deportation of Hispanic that would claim Olivia, who would die during the event having been shot by overzealous cops.

Ninth, he would lead a massive violent raid overthrowing the government and rule with an iron fist.

Finally, Gant would avenge his fridged love by leading a citizens’ army to overthrow him and be crowned king where he would lead his people into a new golden age.

The first step was already complete.

“What’s wrong with him?”

A group of stars formed a single word beneath his image. DECEASED.

“What?! How?! When?!”

AGE 5.

“What happened?”

URINTED IN AN ELECTICAL SOCKET.

The god Moreno smacked his head on his desk.

Little Gregory was unbuttoning his pants over the floor socket. Moreno popped in, teacup in hand.

“Don’t pee in that!”

To make his point he poured his tea onto the socket causing it to spark. Gregory jumped back just as he popped back out.

Moreno sat back down at his desk.

“The boy might be scared for life, but he still has one. Everything is back on track.”

The alarm went off again.

“What now?”

STEP TWO FAILED.

“Failed? My steps can’t fail. Show me.”

The stars became a solid grid. They each changed their color until they became a massive moving image. A movie began to play. Gregory, now going by Greg, had grown into a handsome preteen. He stood in his middle school’s hallway looking at the bulletin board. Two adverts hung side by side. One announcing football tryout. The other was auditions for the school play, which were at the same time. What problem could there be here.

He cut to tryouts. No Greg. Where was he? Moreno searched the school. Where could he be? He stopped at the auditorium. There he was. He was onstage. Auditioning. That wasn’t right. He had to fix that. He went back to just before Greg arrived at the bulletin board. With a wave of his hand the audition advert ceased to exist. The screen returned to a star field.

“There. Fixed.”

The alarm blared again.

“Oh, come on.”

The screen returned. So did the image of Greg auditioning.

“How?”

On screen Greg thanked his friend for telling him about the audition.

“What are you doing? I didn’t teach you a love for theater. I gave you a love of sports.”

He waved his hand over the screen again. The school’s theater department was shut down. Greg was now out on the gridiron.

“Better.”

Another alarm.

“What now?”

STEP FOUR FAILED.

Moreno rubbed his temple.

“Show me.”

He scrolled through scenes of Greg and Olivia together. Something was wrong. They were growing closer, but they acted more like brother and sister. They should be falling in love by now. Maybe they just needed the proper setting. School dance. No. County Fair. No. beach trip. No. Why wasn’t this working?

“You should audition for the play,” Olivia told Greg on screen.

The two were starting high school.

“Why’s that?” Greg asked.

“Yes, why?” Moreno seconded.

“Taylor will be there.”

“She will?” Greg asked, blushing.

“Who the hell is Taylor?” Moreno demanded.

He scrolled back through the scenes he had been looking at. Greg and Olivia went with friends to the school dance. Greg couldn’t take his eyes off the pretty blond girl Olivia was friends with. Moreno scrolled ahead. The friends were together at the county fair as well. Greg and this… Taylor kept shooting glances at each other. Moreno scrolled ahead to the beach trip.

“You know you said her name in your sleep again,” Olivia told Greg.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Taylor,” she playfully moaned.

“Shut up!”

“Make me!” she laughed as he gave chase.

Moreno scrolled back ahead to the audition. Greg and Taylor were reading for Romeo and Juliet. They were good. Real chemistry. No matter how many tweaks he made to the timeline he couldn’t stop them from ending up here. He couldn’t change it. He couldn’t change it. Moreno collapsed back into his chair. For the first time in the history of existence he felt… powerless.

His heart hammered. His palms were slick. He felt a cold sweat on his face. His thoughts were racing in every direction.

No. He could not be powerless. He created all of this. It would work. Olivia’s death would still motivate him. The death of a sister was just as good as the death of a lover. Now, he just had to get Greg back on track to become the warrior he was meant to be. That meant no more of this school play nonsense.

Each audition he attempted later Moreno made sure someone else got the part. All it took was the right person in the right place at the right time. As did the monsoon of football tryout posters he sent Greg’s way sophomore year. The boy caved. Excellent. Everything was back on track. The alarms ceased. All was right with the world.

Moreno sighed contentedly. Then a new feeling crept in. One he never felt before. Curiosity. He had to see how this new version of the story played out. He had to know. He scrolled ahead to the new golden age. The world was as glorious as he had imagined. An elderly King Gregory lay in his bed. His son sat by his side, holding his hand. The king was dying.

“How can you be so content, Father?”

“You would be too if you were finally free from a miserable life.”

What?

“You and your mother have been the only light I’ve had in a life filled with such darkness.”

That wasn’t right. This was a glorious epic, not some Greek Tragedy.

“My dreams shattered at every turn. Years wasted playing a sport I could not stand just to make my father happy. What good did it do me? It didn’t stop Olivia, who I loved like a sister, from being murdered in front of me. It didn’t stop my country being turned into a hellscape by a bigot. It didn’t stop me from losing so many I cared about in a bloody war. Thrust into power before I was ready. Luckily, I’ve trained you well enough to avoid that pain, my son.

“Nothing but struggle after struggle. I toiled away for a thankless god. One who seems to hate my very existence. But now, finally, I can get away. I can find peace.”

“Hate?” Moreno asked. “I don’t hate you. I love you. You are my creation. This was not part of my plan.”

Was it? Everything that happened to him was what Moreno had planned out. What he had pushed him so hard to achieve. Was any of this what Greg wanted? Was this how he wanted his story to play out? His story. Moreno considered those words. For the first time. This was Moreno’s story; he was the one telling it. He was the one planning it. Greg, however, was the one living it. The consequences were his own to bear. The pain that Moreno’s plan inflicted upon him. Moreno had never considered that. He had never given a passing thought to how Greg felt about all this. From his seat outside it all the story he had told was a great one. An epic to be shared for generations. From Greg’s place in the middle of it, it was something wholly different.

Moreno sat silent, deep in thought for a long moment. This was no longer the story he wanted to tell. It was time for a change.

“Undo all my changes.”

SUBJECT DECEASED.

“Except for the electric socket one!”

Kagawa lost his bid for sheriff when his pro-fascist leanings and his questionable use of force while on the job were brought to light. None of his attempts to run for office or find any other sort of mass audience found traction. He would live a life of obscurity. This wasn’t his story anyway. It was Greg’s.

Greg Gant became an actor in middle school. He met his future wife Taylor through his surrogate sister Olivia. He lived a long and happy life. It wasn’t the epic spectacle Moreno had set out to create. It was a charming little romance. That was ok. It was a good story in its own right.