[ WP ] You are part of a group of scientists that are in the verge of discovering immortality , the death god of your pantheon appears to you one day .

I stared at the pale figure in the black business suit in disbelief, and he just stared back at me with a calm face. 
 
 “ Well, Adam, ” the wispy voice inquired. I swore a small smirk appeared on the gaunt visage on the other side of my desk. “ What ’ s your choice? ” I looked down at the USB in my hand, and it suddenly felt as if it weighed a ton. *How can I choose? How can he make me choose? * 
 
 “ I… ” I paused, the heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach feeling like a black hole that would absorb me from the inside out. *How did it come to this? What do I choose? * 
 
 
 * * * 
 
 “ Immortality, Evelyn! Can you believe it? ” I couldn ’ t hide the excitement in my voice as I left the voicemail for my wife. “ I think I ’ ve done it! I think I ’ ve finally cracked the God Code! ” I started pacing in front of my computer, my excitement keeping me from standing still. “ Please call me back as soon as you get this! I want you here to sanity check my work. I just want to ensure that the data is correct before we share with the rest of the team tomorrow. I love you, honey. I ’ ll see you soon. ” I hung up the phone took a deep breath. “ We did it. ” I muttered to myself. 
 
 I took a minute to compose myself and then looked back at the screen in front of me. The data on the screen seemed to glow with an ethereal light, giving an eerie pale glow to my small office at our lab. I sat down at my desk and, for the third time, started to check the data to make sure that I had actually done it. 
 
 Part way through my check, I heard a knock at my door. I looked up in surprise at the door and then at the clock on my computer. It had only been about thirty minutes since I had called Eve, and there was no way she could have made it to the lab this quickly, especially if she had been asleep. “ Evelyn? ” I called out, “ Is that you? ” No one responded, so I got up from my desk and started towards the door. 
 
 “ Evelyn? Come on in. It should be unlocked. ” I reached the door and opened it, but to my surprise there was no one there. I looked out in to the lab, but it was dark and empty, just as it had been since everyone had gone home. I shook my head, feeling the lethargy set in from my lack of sleep. “ I must be hearing things. ” I muttered to myself. I closed the door and turned back around to my desk, and gasped when I saw someone standing in front of my computer. 
 
 “ HEY! ” I yelled, both surprised and angry from lack of sleep. “ How did you get in here? Get away from that! ” I quickly made my way towards the intruder, but froze when he looked up and locked eyes with me. 
 
 Standing in front of me was a tall, pale figure with thin, white hair in a sharp black suit. He had a gaunt face with skin that seemed to stretch across his skull like tight latex, but what really caught me were his eyes. When we locked eyes, I felt as if I was staring in to a dark, endless abyss from which there was no escape. 
 
 “ Hello, Adam. ” He spoke in a soft, wispy voice that sounded almost like an autumn breeze: calm and wispy, but with a slight clod bite that made me physically shiver. I broke eye contact and made my way to side of the desk opposite him. 
 
 “ Who…Who are you? ” I inquired slowly, all surprise and anger gone and replaced by a sudden hesitation and wariness. The figure just stared at me with the same blank expression. 
 
 “ I have many names… ” The figures mouth moved, but his voice seemed to almost come from everywhere at once. An unsettling feeling started to gather in the pit of my stomach as the voice seem to wrap itself around my head and seep in to my ears. I felt myself shiver again. “ Hel. Yeomra. Osiris. Mors. But…the one you are most familiar with…is Death. ” 
 
 I suddenly felt clammy and weak. I realized why I was shivering, and what the gathering feeling in my stomach was: fear. Despite the reasoning and analysis that had driven me most of my life, I had no doubt, deep to the core of my being, that this man was telling the truth. I was in the presence of the Grim Reaper. I wanted to bolt and run, but the same fear was keeping rooted where I was. 
 
 “ Now... despite what your simple mortal mind may be thinking right now, if it is even thinking at all, I am not here to kill you. Do you under stand? ” His voice never rose above a simple conversational level as if he was conversing with an old friend, casual and cool. I tried to respond, but all I could do nod. His expression never changed. “ Good. Now that we have established that you aren ’ t going to die, please relax. ” He motioned to the chair I had set up across from my desk for visitors. I quickly collapsed in to it, never taking my eyes off him. 
 
 Death calmly and slowly sat in my office chair. “ Now, let us discuss why I am really here. ” He reached over and turned the computer screen to face me. I looked at the familiar God Code and then back at him as it clicked. 
 
 “ You- You ’ re here for the God Code? But that means…holy shit…I did it. ” Death nodded slightly 
 
 “ Yes, you did. However, it is not yours just yet. ” He suddenly snapped his fingers and the computer screen went blank. “ I just erased all traces of you and your team ’ s work. No matter where you had it saved, it is now gone. Except… ” he reached in to the inside of his jacket and pulled out a small USB stick, “ …for this. ” He slowly placed the USB on the desk so that it was directly between us. I looked at him in shock and then down at the stick, processing what he just told me. Again, despite no proof, I believed him fully. 
 
 “ Now, ” he intoned, “ it ’ s time for you to make your choice. ” My eyes snapped back to his, and I felt that cold abyss pull at me again, but my confusion and curiosity pulled me back. 
 
 “ What choice? ” Throughout the whole conversation, Death had maintained the same neutral expression and it had never changed, except now. Now, a slight smile appeared across his lips, as if he was finally starting to enjoy himself. He motioned to the USB stick on the desk, and I slowly reached forward and picked it up. I slowly spun it in my hands, inspecting it casually as Death started to speak. 
 
 “ Your first choice is immortality for the human race. After sharing your discovery with the world, the world will change. But, unlike many pessimists would like to believe, it will change for the better. Immortality for the whole of humanity will cause a shift in thinking that will lead to a bright future. A utopia will be made that will last for millennia. It will end, but everything ends eventually. The All-Powerful has already decreed such. When the day comes, all will suddenly die peacefully, at the same time, as decreed. All of humanity will be happy. All of them…except for you. ” 
 
 I suddenly snapped my eyes off the stick and back on to Death. “ Me? Why? ” I leaned forward, feeling a sudden apprehension. “ Why would I be miserable if the entirety of humanity will be at peace? ” Death just stated back at me with the same place, when suddenly my phone started ringing. I jumped at the sudden noise, and grabbed my phone. I saw the name “ Evelyn ” flashing on the screen. I immediately answered it. “ Evelyn? Sweetie? Are you here? Meet me in my lab. We need to talk. ” There was a pause, and then an unfamiliar male voice answered on the other end. 
 
 “ Hello? Is this Adam? ” the voice was firm and authoritative. I looked at the phone again to confirm it was my wife ’ s phone calling me. “ Yes, this is he. Where is my wife? ” I heard a sigh from the other end. 
 
 “ I ’ m sorry sir. I regret to inform you, but your wife was in a horrible accident and is on her way to the hospital. ” I suddenly felt the phone slip out of my hand and fall to the floor as I sat there in shock. My eyes locked with Death ’ s again, and he nodded. 
 
 “ Your second choice is your wife. ” I felt my entire body go cold and tears appeared in my eyes. I started to shake my head. 
 
 *Continued in Part 2*
