Zalmos Proxy -

"That's when I was lonely." Zalmos slurped a noodle. "Sit."

"To whom?"

He woke on his knees in a hallway of polished lead. The air tasted of rust and burned rosemary. Ahead: a door without a handle. Behind: a wall of weeping stone. Elias knew the protocol. He closed his eyes, bit the inside of his cheek until copper flooded his mouth, and spoke the name he'd been bred to forget. zalmos proxy

"Someone who remembers what it felt like to be mortal." "That's when I was lonely

"Proxies can't time travel," Elias said. "The body comes apart." zalmos proxy

The god pushed a single playing card across the table. Two of Clubs. The corners were dog-eared.