This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/urgoofyahh on 2026-08-07 02:02:39+00:00.

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Part 14: The God Wasn't the Monster Everyone Feared. My Mother Was.

Three weeks ago, my mother died.

That sounds like the kind of sentence that's supposed to be followed by some profound realization about grief, acceptance, or discovering the true meaning of family.

Unfortunately, I didn't have one of those.

Instead, I was taking it better than everyone expected.

Not because I'd healed. I hadn't. The grief was still there. It had just... changed.

Everyone expected me to fall apart after the funeral. Sleepless nights. Panic attacks. Crying in empty hallways.

Instead, I went back to work three days later.

The strangest part wasn't that I wasn't grieving.

It was the silence.

For most of my life, every mistake I'd made, every hesitation, every moment where I wasn't good enough had been accompanied by my mother's voice somewhere in the back of my mind.

You could've done better.

Why are you wasting your potential?

You're still not enough.

It had been there for so long that I'd stopped questioning it. I just assumed that was what having a conscience felt like.

Except now...

It was gone.

No criticism.

No impossible standards.

No voice reminding me that I was falling short.

Just silence.

I'd spent so many years trying to escape that voice that I'd never stopped to wonder what would happen if it actually disappeared.

I wasn't happy.

I wasn't okay.

But for the first time in my life, the thoughts inside my head actually sounded like my own.

Somehow...

That was even harder to get used to.

Remi called every day.

Neither of us pretended things could simply go back to the way they were. She couldn't transfer from E.S.R. to C.S.P. now that she was leading E.S.R.; and I couldn't exactly abandon my own responsibilities either. So instead, we settled for phone calls.

It was... nice.

Awkward.

But nice.

She laughed more now. Not forced laughter, either. Real laughter.

Director Morozov had actually stopped me in the hallway two days ago just to thank me.

"I haven't seen her this happy in years," he'd said.

He loved the Remi standing in front of him.

But sometimes I caught the way his expression lingered for just a second too long, and I wondered if part of him still missed the woman he'd first met years ago...

The one who'd existed before she lost her memories.

Noah was starting third grade soon.

That was still a sentence I never thought I'd say.

Teaching the fragment of the Great Shadow how to function as a normal child turned out to be a surprisingly collaborative effort. Researchers handled science, actual teachers handled, well... teaching, and Angelo periodically wandered in to explain concepts from the perspective of an immortal being older than reality itself.

Sometimes that helped.

Sometimes it raised significantly more questions than it answered.

Yesterday I'd been helping Noah with multiplication.

It was strangely comforting to discover that an entity theoretically capable of ending civilizations still thought math was unfair.

Some things, apparently, were universal.

Like work.

Work hadn't slowed down in the slightest.

Mostly because C.S.P. had decided to "promote" me.

I use the word promote very loosely.

Promotions at C.S.P. weren't based on competence.

They were based on survival.

Someone above you died.

Congratulations, you're management now.

That was basically how my entire career had worked.

This promotion, however, was a little different.

Technically, I was now the Chief Executive of the Angel Division.

Which sounded incredibly prestigious until you learned one small detail.

The Angel Division hadn't existed three weeks ago.

Angelo became a Director.

Angelo decided Directors should each have their own divisions.

Angelo decided he wanted one.

The Executive Board apparently agreed because arguing with an ancient celestial entity older than reality itself had consistently resulted in poor employee retention.

So they created an entirely new division.

Then Angelo looked at me and calmly announced,

"Nayeri will supervise it."

Nobody objected.

Mostly because nobody wanted to.

Which was how I became the Chief Executive of a department that was younger than some of the milk cartons in the cafeteria.

Our staffing situation was... unconventional.

Nearly half of Research Division had been reassigned to us after Angelo developed an unfortunate habit of wandering into laboratories and asking questions like,

"Can consciousness be folded?"

Or,

"If I remove fatigue from a scientist, would productivity increase?"

After the seventh ethics investigation in two weeks, someone higher up concluded it would be significantly easier to transfer the researchers than continue filing paperwork.

Elior transferred over as well.

That one actually made sense.

According to Angelo, while he'd spent thousands of years buried beneath Antarctic ice maintaining reality, Elior had spent those same millennia searching the world for him.

It meant Elior understood humanity far better than his uncle ever would.

It also helped that he happened to be one of the smartest researchers in the entire organization.

Jacob, meanwhile, had somehow started spending more time in the Angel Division than he did in Retrieval, despite officially remaining on Retrieval's roster.

According to Jacob, it was because Retrieval and the Angel Division would be coordinating all future operations together.

Which was technically true.

I made my way to my new office, which was exactly one floor higher than my old one. That was apparently what counted as a promotion here: more responsibility, one extra floor, and still no pay increase.

Waiting on my desk was a stack of paperwork. A very large stack. The pile was taller than my coffee mug.

Actually, it was taller than my last assistant.

Which wasn't saying much.

He wasn't particularly tall.

He also wasn't particularly alive anymore.

I sighed and picked up the first report.

INCIDENT 1: DESTRUCTION OF HISTORICAL SITE

"I didn't destroy it," I muttered. "The giant monster did."

I wrote exactly that in the explanation box, then immediately crossed it out. "Giant monster" was technically not considered professional terminology.

I replaced it with hostile reality-altering entity.

Much better.

The second report came from Accounting. Someone wanted an explanation for why six military helicopters, three transport aircraft, fourteen armored vehicles, and one satellite had all been listed as mission-related losses.

I wasn't even aware we'd lost a satellite.

I made a mental note to ask someone.

That's when the door opened.

Jacob walked in carrying another stack of folders. I looked at the folders, then looked at him.

"No."

"They're yours."

"No."

"They literally have your name on them."

"I think that's a coincidence."

"Nayeri."

"I've never seen those folders before in my life."

Jacob dropped them onto my desk anyway, and the impact nearly knocked over my coffee.

"You're the worst manager in this building."

"I was promoted, so statistically that can't be true anymore."

"They promoted you because of Angelo."

"All I'm hearing is jealousy."

Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I have some news."

"Have I finally been approved?"

He frowned. "...Approved for what?"

"A vacation."

He stared at me.

"...No."

"Damn."

"You've been assigned a new assistant."

I blinked. "What? With my track record? That's incredibly irresponsible."

Jacob nodded. "It really is."

"Please take care of this one."

"It wasn't my fault the last ones died."

Jacob looked at me for several long seconds.

"Okay," I admitted. "Some of them were my fault. But if they keep giving me completely untrained interns, what exactly are they expecting?"

Jacob sighed. "Nayeri... I'm serious."

"So am I."

"I think you should reject the assignment."

I gestured around my office. The paperwork had somehow multiplied since I last looked at it.

"Jacob, I need an assistant."

"No, you don't."

"Look around."

He did.

"I either get an assistant..." I pointed at the mountain of paperwork. "...or these reports are going to kill me before I accidentally kill my new assistant."

Jacob's expression immediately fell.

Sean.

I sighed.

"...Sorry."

Neither of us said anything after that. The silence lingered for several seconds, heavy and uncomfortable.

Luckily for me, it didn't last.

The office door slid open again, and Elior walked in carrying another stack of folders.

"Jacob," he said, looking around the room. "I've been looking for you."

Jacob straightened so quickly he nearly knocked over his chair.

"H-Hey, Eli."

Eli?

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.

Elior smiled. "I was wondering if you'd help me organize the laboratory later."

"Sure."

"Wonderful."

His smile somehow grew even warmer.

"I'll see you then."

He gave Jacob one last smile before turning and walking back into the hallway.

The office fell silent.

I looked at Jacob.

Jacob continued staring at the doorway like Elior might come back.

"You realize he's flirting with you."

Jacob frowned. "No, he's not."

"Jacob."

"He's being polite."

"He only smiles like that at you."

"He's friendly."

"He brought you coffee this morning."

"He's considerate."

"He called you handsome yesterday."

Jacob froze.

"...Professionally."...

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