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‘Anyway,’ said Garovel, ‘the planet’s ardor is widely theorized to be the source of all human and animal souls as we currently know them. But that’s a bit difficult to prove. It could be that souls and ardor developed independently of one another. Or from some third thing that we haven’t even discovered yet.’

‘Hmm. So, wait. Every living thing in the world has a soul?’

‘Yes.’

‘Even, like, those single-celled organisms you were talking about just now?’

‘Yep. Even them. But it must be said that their souls are extremely weak, comparatively.’

‘Huh. Does that mean...? Uh. Does that mean you could’ve taken, like--I don’t know--a hamster as your servant?’

‘I thought I did. I mean, just look at you.’

‘Fuckin’...’

‘I had to, Hector. You set it up for me so perfectly.’

‘Fuck you.’

‘But yeah, in theory, I could’ve taken a hamster for a servant. Anything with a large enough brain.’

‘A hamster has a large enough brain?’

‘Yeah. The requirements aren’t too strict. Good thing, too, otherwise you wouldn’t--’

‘Alright, shut up.’

‘Heh. Generally speaking, though, taking anything other than a human as your servant is an incredibly stupid thing to do. Not being able to communicate complex ideas to your servant is a pretty big problem.’

‘Makes sense.’

‘I’ve known a few reapers who did it, too. Haven’t known any where it worked out for ‘em, though. Shockingly, animals can be rather unpredictable.’

‘I bet someone figured it out,’ said Hector. ‘Imagine having a bear as your servant. A super old bear with soul power? That would be insane.’

‘Literally,’ said Garovel.

‘Maybe. Not something I’d wanna fight, though.’