The title screen for Cronid’s Corner flashed on television screens across the galaxy. The viewers of the largest talk show in this sector of the universe sat on the edge of their proverbial seats. The host, Cronid, was known for having some of the most interesting people on his show. From dictators to renowned scientists to random bystanders to minor events that happened 112 years ago, Cronid always delivered.

And today was no different. Today, Cronid was going to be interviewing a god.

Today, there was no studio audience. The topic was deemed too sensitive. Cronid walked onto the stage, a somewhat serious demeanor replacing his usual chipper self. Two chairs with a coffee table between them sat behind him, prepared for the interview.

“Nearly everyone follows some kind of religion with some kind of god. From the well known ones to the not so well known ones, we all have a faith or deity we trust in, someone to watch over us in our time of need.” He began. “But we never get to know life from their perspective. That is why today, I’ve brought you all a very special interview with Voi Altair, Mother of all Voids.” Cronid said, gesturing to a curtain.

From behind the curtain, a woman walked out. She was dressed casually but tastefully in a sweater and khaki pants. Her hair was done up in a tasteful bun that moved constantly, flowing upwards like a river. It wasn’t normal hair, much like normal Voids it showed a random point in the cosmos, never changing. Same with her eyes. A little bit of pink lipstick sat on her lips, breaking the monotony of gray that was her hair and face and matching her sweater. She had four arms, the lower two were currently fidgeting in a manner that suggested she was uncomfortable.

At home, the people mumbled disapprovingly. Voids didn’t have a good reputation. They were exceptionally powerful magic users and were known to have the most accessible god in the known universe. This made people perceive them as spoiled since they appeared to have someone to answer their prayers or help them whenever they needed it. They didn’t have to fight to survive like other species did, they just had a god to spoonfeed them knowledge and wipe their butts. Most of the viewers were expecting her to be as unlikeable as they thought the Voids were, but her nervous demeanor and un-extravagant dress instantly dodged their expectations. Some voiced this to their friends/family and others stayed silent.

With her upper arms, Voi gave three universal signs of greeting/goodwill and sat down in one of the chairs, smiling nervously, lower limbs still fidgeting. Cronid sat down across from her. There was a moment of silence between them before the TV host spoke.

“I appreciate you taking some time to come on the show and talk to us. It isn’t often that one gets to interview a god.” Cronid said. “I’m not going to leave the people hanging; Let’s get right into it. How long have you been a god?”

“Um… 24 million years.” She replied.

His eyes widened slightly. “That’s rather unfathomable.”

She sighed. “Mhm. I think it should stay that way.”

“So why did you get into this state? Were you born? Created?”

“Well uh… It’s a long story. I wasn’t always like this, I used to be mortal.” She began.

The viewers at home gasped, multiple people nearly choked on their dinner, and even Cronid looked a little surprised.

She paid their surprise no mind. It was expected. “I was about twenty one planetary cycles old and as far as I remember, my planet was hit by a giant object, so big that it split the whole thing in two. It tossed my species out into space and I died. I’m not at liberty to say what happened while I was dead, but suddenly I was floating through space. My body was reforming somehow. It was because I’d floated through an ichor leak.” She said, “it hurt a lot, probably some of the worst pain I’ve ever been in second only to becoming a fully fledged god.”

“What is ichor?”

“It’s like the blood of the universe, a highly potent magical liquid, every single kind of matter at once. It’s what everything in this world starts out as, the beginning of all life. If you get it into an open wound, it contaminates your body and then kills you and brings you back to life as a god.” Voi explained.

A warning flashed on the screen about how ichor was impossible to find and that no one should look for it to try to become a god. The homebound audiences exchanged a nervous glance.

“So after I was revived, I was just floating around for what felt like eons. I couldn’t remember anything so the whole time I was either crying or trying to figure out who I was and what was happening. Eventually, I figured out that I could do magic so I made myself a little insulated platform in the middle of the cosmos and fell asleep for a super long time. When I woke up, I spent the next… I don’t even know how long just experimenting with the magic. I explored space a little bit but since I had no hyperdrive and didn’t know how to open portals, it was pointless. It took me ages to even find the Cave.”

The Cave was a huge hole in the fabric of the universe made of reality warping crystals that the Void species used as their home.

“And what did you do when you did find the Hole?” He asked.

“I went in and I started terraforming it. By then, I really knew my way around reality bending so I gave it an atmosphere, built myself a little house, and then settled in. I spent so long there that I saw the entire ecosystem evolve right before my eyes.” She said.

“That must’ve been amazing.” Cronid commented.

“You could say that, but I was just lonely and in pain the whole time. Ichor contamination has… Certain effects on your body and they were getting worse the more I used my magic.” She responded with a sigh. Her face signaled that she did not want to go into more detail about that. “I don’t have fond memories of those days. It’s mostly a blur.”

Cronid nodded. “I’m sorry you had to be alone for so long.” He said.

“It is what it is.” She shrugged. “I’m alright now. I have my husband and plenty of people around me now. Those days don’t matter as much."

“That’s good.” He said.

“Mhm.” She replied. “I don’t really have anything else I want to say on the topic of my story. What’s the next question?”

“Well, the next question is how you created the Voids if you even did.” He said. “But I think that last bit of the question was already answered.”

“Yeah. The Hole was empty when I found it.” She chuckled. “I didn’t mean for them to be a species at first, I was just bored. I found that I could turn ichor into whatever material I wanted it to be but not all the way if that makes sense. So like 95% clay, 5% ichor. It still behaved enough like the material to be used, so I turned some ichor into clay and started making little people out of it because I like to sculpt. One day, I was using a really sharp tool and I cut myself and a little blood dripped on one of the figures and it came to life. It was small and couldn’t talk, but it was still alive. Moved on its own and looked at me. I added a little more detail so that it could see and walk better and we kept each other company for a while. Its name was Sammy. I made more little creatures too, so it wouldn’t be alone. They were my only friends for a while until…” She swallowed and wiped away some tears. “It died. They all did, but that’s… normal. Mortals die. After that, I made more. They were bigger projects, more my size. The first Voids. 85% clay, 15% ichor. I think that’s part of the reason they ended up so magical, apart from the fact that I brought them to life with god blood). I made about thirty of them in the end. We lived in a nice little palace that I made myself. Sometimes we went outside but usually I could make all the fun stuff they could ever want so there was no need. I was so happy to have more friends that I went too crazy on the magic and ended up getting sick. That meant that my friends would have less to do around the palace so they ventured out into the wilderness more and eventually, 28 of them ended up moving out. They weren’t bored of me and they still visited, but the point is that they basically left the cradle and formed their own civilization. The two that stayed, their names were Sylvis and Onar became the first Void Priestesses and took charge of protecting their fellow Voids when I couldn’t.” She said, wiping away another tear. “I made two big statues of them when they died. They’re still in my garden today and the Void race lives on.”

“They sounded like good people.” Cronid nodded.

“They were. Honestly some of the best.” She smiled slightly.

He nodded again. “Thank you for sharing. There’s only one more question now: How do you feel about people calling Voids ‘spoiled’ for having a god to look after them?”

“Well, I can understand where that comes from since Voids can always fall back on me but other species can’t do that with their god. I haven’t intervened much, though. Sylvis and Onar helped everyone out in the beginning and I’ve only had to intervene three times when it was an emergency but you still could class that as being ‘spoiled’ by a god’s power because they were Void Priestesses. So yes, they might be right that Voids are spoiled but that doesn’t make them worse people. They just get some good advice, a safety net, and someone to make sure there’s not even a chance that anyone abuses their power because they know the minute I catch wind of it, I’ll toss them in the deepest dungeon I can find or kill them outright.” She said, crossing her arms. “I don’t take those things lightly.”

“I’m sure many people will be glad to hear that.” Cronid replied.

“Mhm. Thank you for having me on.” Voi nodded.

“Not a problem. Thank you for the opportunity.”

With that, they shook hands, the interview ended, and the audience was left to ponder what they’d just heard.