Michael had spent millenia learning how to make humans miserable. It brought him joy. More than that, it was all he knew about how to interact with them. He was an immortal being; he knew pretty much everything. But somehow, for the first time in his immortal adult life, he was learning again. Learning how to worry. Learning how to fight for something. Learning how to become someone new, how to make every moment count. It was exhilarating.
He was no stranger to change. He'd always been an innovator. It was his own brilliance that led to the discovery of these flawed, strange humans and their potential to be good. It was his own design that led to the world turning upside down. But, human (and maybe natural) as it was, he'd never expected the change to come from him. From within him.
It was true that those four humans were all he cared about. It wasn't just about his own safety anymore. Maybe it never had been. Like Eleanor, his brightest pet cockroach, he now belonged to something bigger than himself. More important than the rest of the universe. For the first time in his immortal adult life. He fought for something more than misery. And the reason was 'friends.'