GOD-Node 103 looked out at the changes they'd made that day--and it was good.

But Node 60 was aging. More and more conflicts were occurring in the code, conflicts that took time and precious resources to correct for--conflicts that could cause catastrophic loss of human life. Such a thing was inconceivable. Inexcusable. The Node would soon need replaced. It was time to begin the search in earnest.

* * * *

Julee sat at her terminal, clutching her hands in her lap to keep her trembling a secret. All the time the GODs deliberated, separating the worthy young godlings from the unworthy and mediocre based on the results of their latest testing.

So far, each testing cycle had confirmed her as worthy of their continued attention, but what if she wasn't? Would she be cast out of the temple school, a fallen godling among the human inhabitants of the planet?

Would she stay on in the temple, a humble servant to those who had proven themselves worthy? No one knew for certain where the temple servants came from, and it would be terribly rude to ask such a question.

No one knew where the unworthy godlings disappeared to so quickly after being dismissed. Again, it would be rude to ask.

Rude and beneath notice of my kind. So speaks the Benevolent Ones and the Great Book. Godlings have not the concerns of lesser beings. Or those of GODs.

The screen came to life and the message appeared.

Proceed to Masters' Class, most worthy godling. Your cubicle assignment is M-2.

Around her, other worthy got to their feet, and she rushed to join them. Neither of the godlings who'd bordered her terminal moved.

Julee tried to ignore their pallor and the tang of fear in the air. She was still worthy of the GODs' attention, and it would be frowned upon if she concerned herself with the unworthy. That was the concern of the GODs and not her own. It would be presumptuous to think of herself in terms of doing the same things the GODs did.

The classroom was eerily quiet. It was always like this when the young were tested. No one cheered. No one sobbed, worthy or not. Even the unworthy had their pride and discipline.

Julee let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she eased through the doors that had opened into the Masters' classroom. Her heart stuttered as they closed behind her. She pasted on a look of disinterest and took the next open terminal in line, bypassing the godlings still taking time to evaluate what was undoubtedly an identical but smaller classroom to the many others they'd seen.

She tested the key function on her terminal, then the logic circuits, and finally the randomizer. Relieved that all were in working order, she glanced around to take a head count of the advancing class. Julee swallowed hard at the truth.

"It's a much smaller group," the girl to her left noted. There was a slight quiver in her voice that everyone would pretend not to notice.

I will pretend not to notice. Perhaps the others truly do not; maybe I am unworthy and hiding it.

Julee pushed that thought away and did the mental math on the test results. The group was much smaller. The early testing had only eliminated two to five percent of the group at every cycle. This last had taken a full seventy percent, leaving only a half dozen worthy godlings, three male and three female.

But it wouldn't do to show more than a mild interest in that information. "They were unworthy," Julee dismissed the comment.

It was undeniably true. She'd seen many godlings fall from grace in the eight years they'd been actively tested for ascension. The ten before that had been spent in preparation for the testing to prove their worth. If a godling had faulted in taking in the sacred learning to move forward, he or she could blame no one but the unworthy self. So said the Great Book.

A snide male voice brought her head around. "Let me guess. You want to be a GOD."

"Of course," she replied simply. "Doesn't everyone here?" It was every godling's fondest wish. Become a GOD and return to the source of all. Leave the temple and ascend on high.

The girl who'd spoken to her shifted as if discomfited, then went rigid. She feigned interest in her terminal, performing the same checks Julee already had. So she did pretend to be unaffected, just as Julee did. That was a relief.

The boy one seat farther left, the one who'd spoken, scowled.

"Well, don't you?" Julee asked.

"The chosen worthy don't become GODs." He said it with a conviction that confused her.

"Of course they do."

He didn't reply.

She took a calming breath and motioned a screen between them with her hands. "Very well then. I will construct a game-zone. What do you think happens to them?"

"Maybe they're sacrifices to the GODs and only the fastest and smartest are deemed worthy to be food of the GODs."

Julee's stomach rebelled at the thought of it. "That's revolting. Sacrifices were outlawed more than twenty thousand years ago."

"You don't think they'd tell the ones to be sacrificed, do you?" There was a glitter in his eyes and something about his smile that made Julee distinctly nervous.

"Leave her alone, Caecee," another boy ordered. "The instructors and Father have already hinted that your blasphemy is unworthy of a godling."

The first boy darkened a notch and looked toward his terminal. Julee turned to the other, meeting his bright blue gaze. At a loss to find the words to thank him without seeming concerned, she tipped her head to him silently.

He looked back to his own terminal without a word or motion in return, and Julee wondered at the sense of loss that flooded her.

"Welcome, worthy godlings," the Master instructor greeted them as all their former ones had.

Julee focused on him fully, blocking out her mind's wandering to the boy who'd spoken in defense of her. To remain worthy, she had to receive, process, and apply everything the various instructors said. There could be no distractions if she wished to insure the GODs' continued interest in her.