Julian Vaughan was not an easygoing man under normal circumstances. It was therefore hardly a surprise that he would make full use of the strange power given to him over other people. Of course, it didn't hurt his cause that the Procreative Force of the Universe had chosen HIM as its avatar, its personal instrument.
Despite what people (including Vaughan himself) thought of Hinduism, it was not a religion simply devoted to vegetarianism, reverence for cows, reincarnat-ion, and seemingly unrelated books about sexuality. It was a national religion with both ascetic and materialistic elements, depending upon the sect and the outlook of the devotee in question. Young Julian was about to be confronted with the older, more primal, and more useful side of that faith. He was going to be empowered by Shiva, the so-called "Destroyer". The mortal would receive some of the powers of the God.
This DID not mean that he was becoming Shiva itself in a personal sense. What it meant was that he was to be its agent and device for carrying out the next phase of humanity's growth. Mankind had to expand beyond the cautious, conservative part of the cycle. Sexuality needed to be unleashed.
Given the moralistic brainwashing that affected people's decision-making, a seemingly "supernatural" intervention was necessary to override those tyrannical mores and customs. The truth, of course, was that this was VERY natural. It had happened before in humanity's past and would happen again. The Gods were impersonal forces that acted through Nature. In this case, they would act through a man.
There was no warning to Julian that his life would was about to be so drastically and irrevocably altered for the benefit of the Cosmos. He started his workday the same way it had always began: he got up, shaved, brushed his teeth, showered, ate a hearty breakfast, and headed out to work at the local rag. Yes, Vaughan was a journalist; there was no other profession that EVER interested him like investigative reporting.
He had been assigned to the consumer watchdog section of the paper for the past year and had proven his willingness to expose corrupt corporate practices to the public. However, there were several at the office who still regarded him as less than "columnist material". He knew that he would have to fight to get to the front page before even thinking of that. Political issues were the key to syndicated columns and op-ed pieces.
The problem with several of his colleagues was that his politics were not clearly defined or understood by anyone on the staff. They regarded him as too much of a "maverick" or "independent". He was seen as radical, but not partisan. Most of his co-workers assumed that he was a liberal, but they weren't sure.
Being a bachelor didn't help him with the editor and fellow reporters. He was frankly too "eccentric" to be trustworthy. When he once told a female colleague that he preferred to be single because he was not inclined to make the promises of exclusivity that many modern women expected, she laughed and told him that he should just take a mistress. That a skirt-chaser might have principles was unthinkable to the jaded bitch. He could be a single or swinger, but NEVER a cheater.
Vaughan was something of a disgruntled Catholic with an attitude about God that reflected his independent nature. If there was a Supreme Being, well then he would have to make a good case for himself. Simply being God was not reason enough for him to run Julian's life for him. If the Universe was anything to go by, Vaughan was unimpressed with this supposed personal deity's management style.
Arriving at work that day, Julian was jolted out of his normal routine abruptly by a simple remark and its consequences. He almost dropped his cup of coffee when Sandy, a loudmouth at the "lifestyle" part of the newspaper, did her usual groping ritual. One or more of the men always got fondled by the wannabe journalist, but this time it was at an inconvenient moment. It was acts like this which had cost the woman her 2 year marriage recently.
"Sandy, if you want to sleep with me, just say so! If not, stop this goddamned teasing and leave me alone!" he furiously declared.
"Julian, I want to sleep with you," she shocked everyone by saying in front of everyone in the kitchen.
"See, what was that SO hard? Well, answer me!" Vaughan demanded.
"Yes, it was intimidating. Julian, I am horny and just want some guy to pound the shit out of me! I don't care about love. In fact, I don't expect to find love again for a long time. I just have needs, thank you. I want your attention. It always worked with other men," Sandy suddenly admitted to him as the whole office listened.
