play_arrowAdding upI saw an angel sitting on my porch this morning.A man with brilliant silvery wings and dark skin, clad in a silky white dress shirt and holographic jacket, sitting on the bench resting outside in the morning dew. They were looking down at some sort of dizzyingly complex tablet as it floated in front of them. They did not touch it, but it remained in place as numbers were written into it.Cautiously, I approached them. They were muttering something, and as I got closer, I realized what it was.“6… 5… 10…”My curiosity now getting the better of me, I walked up to them.“Excuse me,” I asked. “What are you doing on my porch?”The angel briefly looked up at me with desaturated yellow eyes and deep, navy blue pupils, then went back to their tablet. “Oh. Hello there. 20… 2… 12…”I huffed and crossed my arms. Divine entity or not, I demanded I know their business being on my property. “That didn’t answer my question, why–”“Sorry, I’m a little focused right now. 40… 2… 80… I’m doing some important work right now, been moving around a lot, and this spot looked comfortable enough to rest a bit, so. 12… 29… 5…”I looked down at their tablet and its steady flow of seemingly meaningless numbers. “And… what is it you’re doing, exactly?”“Counting. 67… 8… 7…”“Yes, I can see that. But it’s rather out of order, isn’t it?”“It’s not counting up, it’s gathering numbers. 2… 120… So, really, I’m not counting, I’m adding- well, it’s adding.” they gestured towards the tablet. “487… 68… Numbers appear, I say them, and they’re added to a sum in a different program for collection- data’s important.”“Seems rather inefficient that you’d need to speak into it, doesn’t it?”“Well, it keeps my hands free. 9… 15…” They said, not doing anything notable with their hands. “Besides, if I did use my hands, I’d surely lose them from how much I’d have to type.”The angel suddenly paused, looking worried. “Wait… hold on.” they scrolled upwards on their tablet. “487…? Geez.” They swiped at the screen on their tablet, causing a second screen to appear beside it. They typed something on it as they continued babbling their strange numbers, but I couldn’t see it.I sat down next to them. “What’s it for, anyways?”I seemingly caught their attention again. “Oh, I can’t tell you right now. Maybe in a minute or two, depending on how severe this gets. 860… 1647?! Shit! It is going up! What the hell?! 2… 78… 346…”“I thought angels didn’t cuss.”They stifled a laugh. “That’s a stereotype- I sure as hell do. 2689… 345… 32… You would too if you had my job.”“And… your job is…?”“Again, I’ve already told you, adding up. 2345… 456… 823… 25…”“Surely it can’t just be that, right? Surely there’s something else to it, right?”They sighed a little. “Yes, but I don’t believe I’m allowed to tell you that either. 3007… 124… 743… 6789…”“Why?”“It’d scare you. 599... And I’d get in some real trouble if someone found out. 12786…” They scowled. “12786- Fuck me! What’s going on right now?! 345… 2345…”Well, it was no use trying to get any answers at this point. I figured they couldn’t tell me much, so I decided to ask them something else. “What’s your name?”They smiled a little. “Mavu. And I don’t believe anyone here has bothered to ask that before. 3245… 8275… 1235…”“Mavu huh?”“Yep. 456…”“Say, what’s it like being an angel, anyways?”Mavu chuckled. “You ask odd questions. 23467… 9032… 5678…”“What do you mean?”“Most people don’t ask these sorts of questions. 46256… 23435… 2345…” They suddenly seemed incredibly nervous, and looked through the previous numbers. They mumbled something vulgar under their breath, but shook themself and continued. “Usually it’s stuff relating to their religion or whatever. You know, what happens after death, who god is, etc, etc. Both questions I’m not allowed to answer, by the way. 3245… 13567…”“I’ve never been a super religious person. Besides, I guess I’m just curious.”“Hm, I see. Well, an angel is just kind of what I am, it’s my job that really matters. 213245- I… GOD! What the hell?! Sorry- that wasn’t at you, 2468… 8927… As for my job, it’s… not fun, but someone’s gotta do it. 9348...”“I see. Does your job pay well, at least?”“Angels don’t have a need for money. 345…”“I almost envy you…”Suddenly, they stared blankly at their tablet, almost in a horrified way. “938237… 4234… Ok, no, this thing has got to be broken.” They pressed a button on the screen and the same number appeared again. They pressed it over and over, but the same thing happened every time. Tears began to well up in their eyes. “No… no… no… no…” They briefly looked my way. “I’m sorry, this is sudden, but… can I… hold you?”I woke up a little, both surprised and perhaps a bit flattered. “Uh… any… particular reason?”Mavu went quiet for a moment, then wiped tears from their eyes. “I’ll tell you in a minute. Just… please. 1023478… 583394… shit… I… I… just really need some comfort right now, that’s all.”“Ok, sure.”“Thank you.” Mavu gently grabbed me and pulled me closer until I was leaning aganist them, and wrapped their wing around me. They rested their head on my shoulder and squeezed me tightly, almost like one would hold a cat while they were stressed. “14568646… 435567… 4358892… 239884111… oh god… no… no… no… This can’t be real, it can’t be…”“You know, for the record, I believe this counts as cuddling.”“I know… 100023478… I’m sorry…”I sighed, trying to blow off some steam. Their tension was rubbing off on me, not helping my already confused state.I looked up at the sky as they went back to softly muttering their strange numbers. The sun had only risen a few minutes ago, and birds were chirping everywhere.Everything seemed remarkably normal, and rather peaceful, until I turned my eyes to my right. On the horizon to the north, was an ominous rim of glowing red light. Unexplainable rumbles could faintly be heard, and I could’ve sworn they were getting closer.Mavu squeezed me even tighter, their tears now soaking my shoulder. “302983217… I… I believe I can tell you what my job is now. I-I don’t think the numbers will matter anymore in a moment…”“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, you know. I don’t mind.”“No… I… I think it’d be the right thing to do at this point.”The rumbles in the distance were getting noticeably louder, so much so that it was obvious it wasn’t from a thunderstorm.“Alright, then what’s your job?” I asked.Mavu wiped away their tears. “I’d like to apologize, first. For being so clingy, I mean. You see, I-I’m not usually this way.”“Hey it’s alright, don’t get all bent over that. Besides, this is one hell of a story to tell my friends. If they even believe me in the first place, heh…”They chuckled a little, and teared up even more.“Hey, it’s ok, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”“It’s not that. I wouldn’t mind either way, I know very well nobody would believe you.” They looked up at the sky in a lonesome sort of way, then back down at me. “Thank you for comforting me like this.”“It’s really no problem, it’s just the kind thing to do. But I do think you’re dodging my question.”They rested their head on my shoulder again, closing their eyes. “I’m not sure if I want to tell you.”“Again, you really don’t have to.”“No, I do have to. I’ve got my arm around you, I’ve been talking to you. You deserve to know. You see… my job…” Mavu put his hands together, and his tablet turned into light, retreating into his pocket.I waited in anticipation, watching the sky. As Mavu hesitated a little, I saw streaks of red dash through the clouds, burning them away and giving everything a red tint.Soon, the entire sky was ablaze, waves of fire dancing across the sky like a hellish version of the northern lights. I could feel the ground shaking, car alarms starting to go off and birds taking off into the air.The air was getting hotter, too hot to breathe, screams were echoing in the distance, steadily growing louder, and a horrendous, terrifying roar like a motor was rising up from the depths of the earth, becoming louder and louder.It was then, softly, Mavu spoke again, scarcely audible over the now deafening turmoil around us, his voice somber and quiet. “My job... is tallying up human deaths for soul collection.”gifgif