New York
2025 AD

4,543 years since initial death
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The relentless buzz of the lights drilled into his head.

Mark kept his chin up and stood in front of digital board with his formal brown leather jacket. In front of him were dozens of college students composed of young adults, most of whom clearly paid no attention.

"By referencing the cycle in a mathematical formula, you're left with the following equation where 1/a plus 1/b will equal to 1/c. This is a tertiary cycle, very important to remember its name. We call it that because you have two separate cycles of different lengths trying to come together and form one cycle altogether."

Carefully watching his students, he could see some of them weren't even looking at him or the board. He sighed but kept the lecture going.

"These cycles follow the path of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Now, every time Sirius ever rose, the Nile river would flood. You don't have to believe it, but I was there a couple thousand years ago and saw it with my own eyes. Why go to the river to bathe when the river could just come to you?"

He chuckled at his joke and hoped it'd lift the mood in the room. It accomplished nothing except for a few brief smirks that faded away as instantly as they appeared.

"Eventually, the star will return to its original point, and we call that an observational year. But they don't follow the same length that we typically do here on Earth. The Egyptians knew that, as clever as they were, and found that rather than the usual 365 days per year, this cycle followed an exact 365.25 days. And there's a really interesting reason why they figured that out."

His voice rose and it only caught the attention of a few of his students. One boy in the back had his eyes closed. Mark was angry.

"That reason is because that specific quarter out of all the days of the year would eventually add up until it creates a whole digit, and guess what happens? That digit is then executed! It gets killed off! Fuck your 365 days! Now it's 364!"

At long last, a few of the kids laughed. That woke them up.

"Modern day astronomers and physicists say the Egyptian calendar is wrong because of that fact! They say that just because one day gets subtracted every four years, it doesn't 'work' because it makes their observation imprecise. Can you believe it? We have a leap year every four years and that's factually correct somehow, but the Egyptians have something similar and it's somehow unconvincing. We still have the most advanced and wonderous structure in history, and they claim that the damn aliens built them! Huge UFOs with robot birds that erected these pyramids faster than I ever could on viagra! Or if the aliens didn't do it, then we had slaves. Like you'd really think some malnourished slaves getting whipped under heatstroke without a couple of god damn gatorades could build those things."

Everyone's attention was fully captivated. He had done it.

"We did it! And you know how we did it? Because we knew that teamwork makes the dreamwork, baby! We had the brains and brawns to make it happen by forming a plan and sticking to it. We watched the stars and calculated every position of the constellations and built off of them. These dumb scientists are jealous of us! What have they made? A damn thing! We made pyramids! We made clocks! Sphinxes, calendars, irrigation, makeup, calligraphy! We had bowling and breath mints motherfuckers!"

He turned his attention back towards the board.

"Now, let's look back at this equation. I know this is history class, but math is important and you'll see why. This is the Sothic Cycle. They are our Julian years made by none other than the Egyptians. One full cycle is the equivalent of 1,461 years. But remember what I said? Every four years, one day gets subtracted. So let's keep the cycle going. Scientists say our cycle is wrong because one day it'll end, let's just see when that'll happen first."

Mark jotted a couple numbers down on the board and formed another equation.

"Let's first determine how many days are in 1,461 years. Its very simple, you just multiply it with 365 days. Anyone got the answer?"

A girl raised her hand and answered. "533,265 days."

"Terrific! Since every four years, a day gets subtracted, we can simplify that with 0.25. All that's left is dividing our number of days with the quarter. We're almost there, let's hear it!"

Another hand jolted, and a different girl answered. "2,133,060."

Mark wrote down the number and spoke it aloud, but stopped short. His hands froze as he tried to process what he heard. "What was that number again?"

The girl repeated her answer, and it only worsened the overwhelming nervousness he suddenly acquired.

"So that's- that's around two point one hundred million- what? Would those be days or years?"

He thought over his math again. It had to be years. If that was the case, then what the hell was that skull back at the museum?

After a few seconds of silence, he stabilized himself and tried to continue the lesson.

"Alright, I want to try a little experiment with you guys. Since humans didn't exist two million years ago if you ignore evolution, let's look forward. We'll say for instance that the Sothic cycle began on a random year. It could be, uh, the year, 2519 BC."

Despite forgetting a thousand things everyday, one fact he had always remembered was the year of his birth in 2551 BC. His parents told him he was born during the early years of Khafre's pyramid's construction. Since he was thirty-one at the time of his initial death, he could decipher when he screwed up his life.

"So, if this infinite cycle of endless immortality continued forever and ever based on the Sothic cycle, then wouldn't it end one day? Because if you think about it, those missing days every four years will accumulate. So if you were immortal, and you lived according to that cycle starting from that specific year; when would your immortality end?"

One male student from behind tried to speak. "How do we calculate BCE to CE?"

Mark erupted. "BC and AD! The common era denies the cultural and historical significance of our dating system, well not ours but you get the point! And you just subtract the initial date by two million years and you add one!"

He pulled out his phone to use his calculator. Once he did the math, he accidentally whimpered.

Another student then answered him. "That would be 2,130,541 AD or CE."

Mark sweated heavily. He panted as the panic caught up to him. What made it worse was that Set suddenly appeared to walk past him. "Set?"

The lion didn't respond, but rather he smirked. Set walked to the side and disappeared.

Some student then asked a question aloud. "Wouldn't that defy the whole point of being immortal though? Even if it takes two million years for it to end, that's not really immortality if it'll actually end."

"Shut the fuck up!" Mark twisted around and screamed. He placed a hand over his beating heart and stumbled onto his desk. A million thoughts rushed through his head.

His students were visibly worried, some of whom tried to call out to him. He ignored them all and instead turned back around. Drawing from memory, he added a new subject to the board.

"In the ancient Egyptian texts, they discussed a snake in their mythology. Its name was Apophis, and it was cosmic in size. As a deity of the underworld, this snake had one goal and that was to swallow the sun. Every single day, Apophis would battle the gods in a never-ending war to eat the sun and plunge the world in eternal darkness."

Everything added up in his head which only strengthened the stress.

"The snake was a direct opposite of the light delivered by Ma'at, the Goddess of cosmic order and justice. And guess what? Ma'at had judges! Forty-two assessors that would judge every soul before allowing entry into the afterlife! They determine whether you go to A'aru or the Duat, which is the equivalent of Heaven and Hell."

He snickered to himself as he remembered his own mythology.

"If you were a sinner, the judges would have a Goddess named Ammit devour you. You know how she looked like? She had the head of a crocodile, the torso of a lion and the rear of a hippo. So pretty much, she looked and behaved like your average modern-day activist. Oh you better believe that if I ever die for good, she is going to have a feast. She'll probably reinstate my immortality to turn me into an all you can eat buffet!"

Set was right all along. All of it made sense now, he knew where his fate led.

"But to even reach the judges, you'd need a vessel that can sail the Nile and fend off Apophis. Obviously, a sun boat is what you need to defeat a galactic snake that hungers for the sun. The solar barge! The pharaoh's private fucking yacht! It's genius! Everything was right in front of me but I'm an idiot! I saw the snake in London, I fought Ammit, and Set mentioned the judges! But the boat? I've had that boat on my hand since the beginning."

A few seconds passed without a response. He yelled again. "I need an answer! It's Khufu's solar ship that takes him on a voyage to the afterlife! I have spent four thousand years looking for it to no avail!"

He lost his patience and instead rushed to his desk. Atop it was his laptop and he hastily tapped away. He had to backspace every typo he made until he got his answer and slammed the laptop shut.

After a few breaths, he faced his students. Although his heart was on the verge of failing, he chuckled. "Those Egyptians were pretty funny. I searched every pyramid, every temple, every home, every patch of sand! And they hid it underground in a ditch."

"I know what you're thinking. I must be pretty stupid to look it up now. The internet has been around for this long and I waited until this very moment to search up a question that's been haunting me for four thousand years. And you're right, I am."

He turned his back on them and looked back at his board. His arms positioned behind his back. "I gave up time and time again. After centuries of searches and failures, I already knew I could have just put myself out of my misery and looked it up. But I didn't, because I didn't want to. I was scared of what would happen if I actually found it."

Mark lowered his head. He was about to walk off and leave, but he stopped. Instead, he faced his students once more. They looked so terrified. It just dawned on him that he inflicted his trauma upon a bunch of clueless teenagers. 

"I'm sorry for yelling. I'm also sorry for insulting one of you earlier, it's just difficult to elaborate. I have schizophrenia and ADHD, but I try not to mention it because I don't wish to alarm anyone of my behavior. Unfortunately, this is the end. Rest assured that I will be attending therapy, but this also means that you'll be receiving a new history professor. There are some personal matters I must attend to, and I don't have time to lecture you anymore." 

He paused and looked outside the closest window. "If you want my advice, none of you should be here. You don't appreciate history by sitting here and reading about George Washington chopping down cherry trees. If you really care about this world and the people that came before you, then leave this room and actually explore this planet. Travel the world and the seven seas like your forefathers did. Analyze every structure you come across and remember that all of it exists because of men and women who lived before you existed. Your ancestors are watching, so live and make them proud. Make me proud." 

With a final wave, he bid his class farewell with a gentle salute. "Salam."

He walked down the halls and exited the building. Along the way, he struggled to contain his watery eyes as a few tears dropped and traced his path. Out on campus, he reached the garage and sat inside his car before lowering his head against the steering wheel.

Away from any prying eyes and ears, he unleashed every emotion that begged for sweet release. A roaring wave of every profanity he had learned in numerous languages erupted from his lips as his trembling hands slammed against the interior of his vehicle in an uncontrollable symphony of unkempt rage. All the while, his vocal cords pushed against their limits as frustration and anguish rushed through his veins and out his soul in a fiery embrace.

Then, he recklessly opened the car door and bent over as he gagged. A flow of contents he couldn't stomach spilled from him in a display of a wretched waterfall that led to a heavy barrage of coughs. Finally, a deep breath filled his lungs to help re-establish control over his body.

Mark leaned back into the car to reach for something to wipe his mouth with. But his efforts were quickly halted when he stared at Set reclining the passenger seat in a comfortable position. The glove compartment was opened, and the lion held a tissue in his paw.

Set closed his eyes and smiled just as the seat reached its lowest point. Mark snatched the tissue and cleaned himself before asking himself one of countless questions.

What would he do for two million years? 

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