text: The elevator dinged as she passed another floor. Boring orchestral music played softly in the air. At this level there should not be any more stops until she reached her destination. Very few had any sort of clearance above this point. Her foot tapped with nervous energy as she glanced at her watch. This was a matter, she felt, that needed to be resolved before it was too late. It had been a record number of years since the last soulless apocalyptic event had occurred and she hoped to continue that trend. The elevator dinged a final time and the door slid open without a sound. As she entered the dark empty room her shoes echoed with each step. By now she could feel the being’s presence. The room wasn’t so much a room, but rather a dark corner somewhere in the universe. Where the walls of a room would be she could sense the presence of the being surrounding her. She stopped in the center of the darkness and gulped. "Uh, Your Powerfulness, the humans are at it again," she said, clasping her day planner to her chest. "Bending the laws of nature and such," she added. "How is this?" asked an ominous voice. For beings that were supposed to be all knowing and powerful, they sure asked a lot of questions. Had they perhaps been placed on a higher pedestal by those beneath them? "Well, um, you see..." she chewed on the end of her pen as she tried to phrase her response properly. "It seems they are trying to play you. God, that is. They have discovered how to create life through what they call, uh," she flipped open her planner in search of the proper word. "Oh, here it is, 'science'," she finally said. "Cloning to be exact," she added. "Ah, yes," the voice said as if knowing what she was referring to. But she wasn't convinced. After a brief pause the voice said, "And you're here in regards to the souls." For a split second she felt the being was all knowing. How else would it have known why she was there? Then she remembered the name tag pinned to her blouse that clearly stated 'Department of Soul Assignment and Allocation' in bold letters above her name. "Yes," she replied flatly. "The department is in need of a signature on whether or not to assign souls to these ‘clones’ as they're called." She quickly rummaged through her day planner and pulled out two pieces of paper. One page said 'Yes' and the other said 'No' in bold letters above a signature line. The voice groaned and said, "I cannot authorize such a request." "Then who can?" she asked with genuine curiosity. The voice's next words came out slow and almost begrudgingly. "You'll need to consult an Ancient God on this situation. They will likely petition a Reaper for assistance on a matter such as this." For a moment she was quite shocked. She had never worked with an Ancient God. In fact, it was extremely rare for her to even be speaking with a Dimension God. And a Reaper? For something this simple? There was clearly more depth to this issue than she originally anticipated. Her training reminded her to never try and understand the politics of the gods as she tried to reenter the correct headspace. "Uh, very well," she said, attempting to regain her composure. "Can you grant me the proper clearance or shall I submit the appropriate application seeking an audience of such an authority?" she asked a little more confidently now that she no longer sought approval from this particular god. The voice groaned again and she felt a shift of energy. Her name tag now bore a golden rim. It sparkled brightly. "Spare yourself the effort. Your access is granted," the voice said in the same begrudging tone. An ancient looking vault door attached to nothing appeared in front of her. The large spoked handle in the center of the door began to spin. Metal locks popped out of their seats allowing the door to slowly open before her. With a simple smirk she made her way to the door. "Thank you kindly," she said with a slight bow. She walked through the vault door in search of an Ancient God. After the vault door shut, the being was left alone. If a voice could make a sound that meant it was rolling its eyes, that's the sound it made. The vault door vanished.