"So," Judith put another cigarette to her lips. "We're both in agreement that there's something unnatural about that guy, right?"

The pair stood at the front of the room. The Old Man remained tied, but they had placed him against the far wall near the exit.

Arthur sighed. "I'm not sure. I mean, he didn't do anything, really. Can we really confirm our suspicions based on assumptions?"

"Him being shipped here in a coffin leads me to believe something is wrong with him. Besides, if he was just some normal guy, then he didn't help his case by not just telling us what his deal was. If someone asks you if you're a fucking god, you'd just say, 'No, I'm not a fucking god.' It's not rocket science."

"Should we leave this to the police?"

Judith scoffed. "It won't solve anything. It's just forcing the problem onto somebody less equipped to handle it. It should be us. In the best-case scenario, this guy is just a regular person,

and we call the police. In the worst case, he is a paranormal threat, and we deal with him appropriately."

Arthur paused. "I can't help but feel like he's innocent. And knowing things is kind of my forte, isn't it?"

"True, I guess.Though a bit pompous of you to say.”

"But for some reason," Arthur continued, "It feels too easy. His emotions are too straightforward and too simplified when I'm around him. I couldn't dig up any useful information from him. He wasn't lying at all the entire time we were there."

"Well, he didn't say much of anything that could have been a lie," Judith corrected, "Most of it was him just talking about how he could theoretically be lying and a lot of fluffy nonsense that didn't actually answer our questions. For some reason, he doesn't want us to know what he's gonna do if he leaves, and that's reason enough to question his motives."

"But it wasn't like that," Arthur insisted, "All I could learn was that he wants to be free. That's all he wants, but... that can't be all he wants. I don't know if he knows what he wants to do afterward. Or maybe part of his strangeness means I can't read him like everyone else. Who's to say?"

"Gross, you sound just like him," Judith blew a mouthful of smoke. She waved her hand as she mimicked John's inflections. "'Who's to say?'

Her head smacked against the wall. "Ugh, this sucks. Of all our jobs, why is a guy locked in a room the most difficult to solve?"

Arthur tapped his chin in thought. "It just doesn't make sense. If he was innocent, why say all of this stuff that throws his word into question? And if he is a monster, why stay imprisoned? Why doesn't he just walk out? I know he wants out, but it's like he's doing whatever he can to avoid using us to escape. Even if he was just a bad person, even bad people know how to utilize pity to get what they want."

Judith's eyes lit up with intrigue as she tossed the cigarette. "Maybe it's because he can't leave."

Arthur looked at her in confusion as she sauntered over the Old Man in the chair. She leaned down to give him eye contact. "The chains you use to hold your God, are they infused with any... special materials?"

The Old Man's expression was confused. "N-no, they are ordinary chains. However, they hold great symbolic value. Our god-"

Judith waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. So they're ordinary chains, right? No magic minerals or power limiters of any sort?"

"Not at all. Those chains are nothing to him. He remains there because he wants to be here, with us, his worshippers."

Arthur perked up. "What are you talking about? He absolutely does not want to be here. He told us as much. Hell, getting information out of John is like getting blood from a stone, and that was the one thing we're both almost certain is true about him."

The Old Man's expression faltered. "He is... confused about his place in all of this, but we've done our best to guide him to his apotheosis, to show him the truth of his divinity. He will learn his place in due time."

"Okay, well, at least we know John wasn't lying," Judith clapped her hands. "John claimed he wants to leave, and if Manson here claims that John is reluctant to be part of the cult and all but acknowledges that he wants to leave, and you've deduced that he does genuinely want to leave this place, then that's three people confirming the same thing. We can just assume it's the truth for now."

She pulls a chair over and sits across from the Man, sitting on it backwards and leaning on the backrest. "Walk us through the process. How do you 'forge' a god?"

The Man scoffed. "Like I would tell you. How do I know you won't try to forge him into something else?"

Judith blinked. "We could do that if we wanted to?"

The Man frowned. "You forge a god through worship and by feeding him his power. We worship him every day, offering gifts, and he becomes what he is meant to be, but then, by morning, his strength diminishes. It is something that must be maintained through devotion and faith."

"Judith," Arthur said, "This guy believes everything he is saying to you. He’s clearly deluded. John said he wasn't a god. I know he wasn't lying to us."

Judith turned to look at him. "What if John is just saying that because he doesn't know what the cult's turning him into? You won't notice if he's lying if he thinks he's being honest with you. What if releasing him is part of the ‘forging’ process?"

The Man said nothing. His gaze hardened as he looked between the duo.

Judith continued. "Look, I don't agree with this guy. John being an actual god is pretty stupid and far-fetched, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't completely normal. That's my perspective; he's some fucked up dude keeping his real identity secret because he knows we'll rat him out. As soon as he leaves, he'll mess someone up. The only reason he's being so secretive is because he can't give straight answers without incriminating himself."

Arthur sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Okay. I'm going to go question John some more."

"I'll go with you." She stood up to follow, but Arthur held a hand out to stop her.

"I think he gets more anxious when you're around," He said. "I'll talk one on one. I think he's just more comfortable around me, to be honest. I know we're not police, but let's try a bit of Good Cop, Bad Cop and see if he says anything different when it's just me in the room."

—————-

When Arthur walked back into the room, he saw John huddled in the corner of his cell, his arms wrapped protectively around himself as he sat in the fetal position. He perked up as he saw Arthur, his brown eyes twinkling with relief. "You're back!"

"Yeah," Arthur said, not sure how to feel. He walked over and kneeled to be at eye level with the prisoner. "Listen, I know this isn't easy, but since it's just the two of us, I want to know where we stand, okay?"

"What's there to know?" John said, looking at the floor. His tone was curious rather than indignant. " I'm chained in a room, and I want to leave."

"Where are you planning to go once this is all said and done?"

John sat in silence, carefully thinking over his following words. "I told you before. I don't know what I could say that you would accept. I don't think you would believe me anyway, no matter what I say."

"Even if it sounds ridiculous, I need to know. Even if you're lying, I need to know."