"Please forgive me if I'm reluctant to take you at your word," Matt says, a little stiffly, fully aware of the irony of phrasing it this particular way. Asking forgiveness from the Devil? Father Lantom is probably rolling in his grave.

Up until now, Matt has avoided pondering too deeply about the theology of the Nexus - if God is truly everywhere, surely He is here too. Is it the same God? It has to be, right? But the Bible is rather lax on mention of multiverses, or any other Earths. And yet he has seen unrelenting evidence for years now that there are other Earths, with a whole other set of humans. Sometimes all that seems to separate them is a simple question.

What question would have lead Lucifer to be trustworthy? In a place of infinite possibilities, the odds are impossible to calculate, but it's more than zero. If Matt was not so used to having to doubt, he might just walk away here and now.

Neither is he quite ready for a theological debate with the actual Devil. Not yet, so soon after having his world thrown off its axis. Instead he hesitates, and unfolds the shirt draped over his arm again. "You said matte black, right?" An absurd response, and yet, perhaps the safest.