Chapter 2

I wanted to be taken seriously as an important cog in the machinery of the gods and goddesses, so I further made my point by lighting up a cigarette and blowing smoke into everyone's face whenever Aquaria said anything nice about me. The coughing emphasized just how favored I was, because the smoke choked everyone else, but didn't bother me. I did notice that some of the younger celebrants of both sexes eyed me with envy and awe. It puzzled me at first, and then I remembered that Aquaria was also the embodiment of everything sexual. No wonder that there was envy and awe: I was the consort of a literal sex goddess! Oops, this could get complicated, particularly since it occurred to me to have Aquaria evolve into Venus. Man, what an opportunity! Tonight, I'll have to tap Alice's data file to find out what I can about the cult of Venus.

It turned out that there wasn't much data available. I did learn that Venus had two aspects, physical love and spiritual love. She had other aspects, but these were the two I wanted to make the most use of. My biggest problem was maintaining a balance so that Venus would not appear too biased one way or the other.

I had a long discussion with Alice about her feelings on the subject. Even though Alice was a robot, she did have feelings for me, and I wanted to be sure that she was not offended in any way by what I asked her to do. She assured me that her orgasms with me were genuine, but that she had no qualms about having sex with other people, male or female, if I wanted her to, and she could fake an orgasm which couldn't be distinguished from a real one. We agreed that sex was the most powerful weapon we had, and we had to use it if we were going to fulfill our mandate to push these people toward civilization, and, eventually, the stars.

Of course, there was no reason why we couldn't enjoy the trip. Even though she was a robot, Alice was able to experience the equivalent of human emotions. She loved me, there was no way around it, she was just built that way. However, sex was as much fun for her as it was for any human female, and neither one of us could come up with a reason for her not to enjoy some variety. She had noticed some very attractive males at the banquet, and she would be happy to sample what they had to offer.

All of this talk about sex had us both wound up tight, so we relaxed with a good fuck before I went to sleep. Meanwhile, while I rested, Alice was busy formulating a plan for launching our project. There was a big festival coming up in honor of Aquaria, so that would be a good time to have the big "coming out" party. She would select some male dignitaries to spend the night in bed with her, and I would have the wives in bed with me. Alice was going to work out a way to make it a big honor to be screwed by one of us—sort of a "blessed by the gods" kind of thing. Of course, she would never get pregnant, but what woman wouldn't consider herself blessed to have a child by a demigod, which I was sure to be by then. Even those women who didn't get pregnant would still have been greatly honored.

We both started laying the groundwork for this escalation of Aquaria and Romeo into the direct running of the affairs of Ruma. The easiest way to get me accepted as a demigod was for me to do something heroic and miraculous. I didn't know what this would be, but I started dressing the part. I started wearing my bronze armor and my pistol whenever I was in public, which was every day. There was a war god in the pantheon, but he was kind of small potatoes when he was compared with Aquaria. I needed to build up his image and assume the position of his avatar.

There were a lot of wolves wandering around the neighborhood, and I could become a celebrity in my own right if I could rescue someone important from a wolf. There was also an occasional lion and some poisonous snakes. Any of these would do, but the snake gig would have to be pretty spectacular. I had been wandering around in my armor for about 3 weeks, letting people get to know me, when my chance came.

A pair of lions had started raiding in the neighborhood and had already threatened several people. These lions were not reluctant to attack humans, so they were a real danger. If I could eliminate them, I would establish my bona fides as a heroic figure worthy of demigod status. If I was going to fight lions, I wanted maximum firepower, so I started carrying the rifle as well as the pistol.

One morning, the cry went out, "LIONS!" I was already dressed in my armor and wandering the streets, greeting constituents and pressing the flesh, so I was near the site of the sighting. I ran to where the lions had been spotted, and a crowd followed me. I assumed that the crowd gave my plan some validity, since they must have expected me to protect them from the lions. By the time I saw them, the lions were only about 50 yards away and walking towards the town as if they were the rulers of the universe. At this range, I was deadly with the rifle, even in standing position.

I took careful aim at the female, as I knew that she was the most dangerous and that I needed to kill her first. I took a deep breath and cocked the hammer. I let out half the breath as I aimed the rifle, and, when I was sure of my aim, gently squeezed the trigger. BANG! The female lion dropped in her tracks, dead before she hit the ground. It had been a shot directly into her chest just below her neck, and the bullet did massive damage as it plowed into her body. The noise and the smoke of the shot frightened the adults and thrilled the children, so I had already made a big impression.

However, the male lion was not going to give me time to gloat over my success. He looked at his dead mate and sniffed her blood. He let out a truly blood-curdling roar and charged at me; there was no hiding the source of the mortal insult to his mate. Though he was close, the lion's bounding speed made him a difficult target, but I repeated my routine and fired at the charging lion. BANG! The bullet caught him in the middle of a bound when he was at least 4 feet off the ground. The bullet entered his chest right between his forelegs and traveled up through his heart, damaging his lungs in passing. He, too, died immediately, but it was frightening to see him skid to a stop practically at my feet.

The crowd went wild! There was cheering, shouting, and laughing as I was buffeted about and slapped on the back and head by well wishers. I was damned glad I was wearing my armor, or I might have been seriously injured by the exuberant crowd. I was hoisted onto shoulders and carried back into town to the main square as in a big victory parade. Others brought in the two dead lions and laid them at my feet. People rushed to spread the word and to tell Alice and the town dignitaries what I had done. Somebody brought out wine and the celebration started. It lasted the rest of the day and into the night. A grand time was had by all, and I was more than a little drunk by the time I got to bed that night!

The adventure with the lions was what I needed to establish my place in Ruma and to establish me as a demigod. Who else could kill lions with thunder and smoke? Now I was the object of nearly as much awe and respect as Alice, and I was constantly sought out to bless some person or thing. It was a heady experience and could become habit forming. I had to work real hard to keep from being swept away by the adulation.

The big day dedicated to Aquaria finally arrived. It was the first full moon of autumn. Basically, the day was a celebration of the fall harvest. Since Aquaria was also the goddess of sexual pleasure, the celebration was a time of sexual excess. People wore masks over their faces and went around town naked below the waist. It was considered very bad manners to refuse a request for sexual dalliance from either sex. The richer citizens even placed cots covered in blankets and pillows before their front door for the convenience of passersby; the soiled bedclothes were burned in a ceremonial fire in the town plaza the next day.