Nikola added a method that printed out that he was the ruler of Purgatory after adding lakes, mountains, and waterfalls. A door appeared and he whopped with joy. He added some code that stopped people from changing the code or going through the door.

He was not going to be in the business of letting the dead resurrect. That would get him in too much trouble. On a whim, he added a judge program after five hours of tinkering. One that will weight the deeds of all the denizens, place them either in the better parts of Purgatory, or in white nothingness. Away from the peaceful denizens of the place.

Another desk with a laptop appeared, and the Leviathan sat behind it.

“Hey, this here says I should enter my name. Does that mean I can do good stuff too?” Nikola shook his head.

“You will be sorted,” he answered simply. “Just enter your name.”

It took some time, but the Leviathan did so. A screen appeared in front of Nikola and a tally was written on it.

Harriell.  

Kills:

1,900,200 Humans.

1000 Werewolves.

1002 Vampires.

45 Leviathans.

…

190 Angels.

Verdict: Send to nothingness.

Yes/No?

Nikola frowned and was just about to press yes, when Harriell grabbed his hand.

“Look, don’t send me back there. I can explain,” Nikola looked at the man, who had committed genocide, and doubted that. Still, he nodded.

“So, you are the boss of this place? Well, sorry for throwing snow at you,” Nikola just stared in the man’s dark eyes. He then looked at the time that was written on the laptop.

“Anyway, you can’t judge me. It was all in self-defense. Why did you even make such a nice place if you are going to throw us all back in the empty white?” Harriell’s voice had a whining undertone to it. Nikola considered his words.

“What do you mean all?” Harriell pointed at a different screen that was next to his own. There, on it, were millions of results. All had the suggestion of sending the people to the nothingness.

“There must be a problem with the code. Surely, you didn’t kill all these people, Harriell?” Nikola started the debugger and ran a couple of tests. Nothing pinged.

“I did, ok. I had no choice. People wanted to kill me for who I am. I am not saying that some of these guys and galls aren’t truly evil, but I am not,” which was precisely what an evil person would say, thought Nikola.

“Have mercy,” continued Harriell. “We are all dead here. Isn’t that punishment enough?”

That was a good question, and Nikola stopped. With a sigh, he stopped the program and terminated it. Harriell jumped and fell in the snow. He didn’t seem to care, for he was soon making snow angels.

“Just think. Fifty kilometers of this paradise. Just for me,” Nikola cracked a grin at the man’s enthusiasm.

“Well, I’ll be off,” Harriell waved at him.

“Visit sometimes, ok? We can race down a slope again,” Nikola grinned.

“This time, I will win,” Harriell had gotten to the bottom first, during their race. Nikola had the mind to change the slope under him to look like a roller-coaster ride. He had the impression that Harriell will have a blast for it, too.

Nikola made the desk and the laptop disappear, just in case. Harriell could barely type, let alone hack his program. But he wanted to avoid giving his insurance that if he was sent back here, he would have an easier time. As the ruler of this place.

Just as he was opening the door, he stopped. He hadn’t told Harriell his name. He turned back.

“Harriell, my name is Nikola,” Harriell waved again, too busy in his play. Nikola had returned to being his sled and had manifested one for every denizen of Purgatory. That and a cottage with all the modern comforts and instructions about how to use them for those who had died before they were invented.

Nikola was happy with his work, all in all. He went through the door and blinked. Suddenly, he was staring at a sterile white ceiling. He was hooked up to beeping machines, and everything about his body was stiff with disuse.

He got the oxygen mask off first and then the heart monitor needle. Furthermore, he looked around. He seemed to be in a hospital. He even had flowers next to his bed. Yellow roses.

Quickly, he healed the damage the disuse had done to his muscles and got up. Stretching, he made his way outside. A nurse saw him and Nikola could have kissed her. So happy he was.

“You are awake and up?” She squeaked and rushed to check his pulse and then to flashlights in his eyes. Nikola laughed.

“I am ok,” he assured her.

“But how? You were brain-dead for months!” Nikola blinked. Then, why had he been on life support? “Your lover thought that you were in a coma and made too big of a donation to the hospital for us to pronounce you dead.”

Nikola grinned. He knew he could count on Sadik.

“Where is he?” Why wasn’t Sadik here? He wanted to see him.

“During these hours, he is at the zoo. I believe he volunteers there,” Nikola’s grin widened. Sadik was fine, and he was doing some good work for the community.

“I think that I am long overdue for a phone call with him,” the nurse nodded, but pointed at the room Nikola had vacated.

“Wait in your room, sir. This is a miracle. We hadn’t thought…” and the nurse was rushing away. Nikola went back inside the room and waited. Two doctors came in his room and began to poke and prod him. Nikola bore it all with a grin.

It was good to be in the world of the living again. Sure, Purgatory looked better now, but he missed his precious people. He wanted to see them. He placed a hand on one of the doctors, and asked a question that had been bugging him for quite some time.

“Jake Donahue? Is he well?” The doctor looked at him with confusion.

“I can check, sir. Do you want me to — now? You seem to be fine. You don’t even have muscle autophagy.”

“Please do,” the doctors left and Nikola laid back on the bed. Drifting off and finding himself back in Purgatory.