《The Heart of the New World》 Prologue As James entered his first Adequacy Festival he felt to be relieved of all the bad memories of the past, and was craving for the abundant range of meats, soups and every other delicious combination of ambrosial meals, which was not very common at this part of the world, the frequent orgies, the praise of the departed, especially to those who had died at the Machine War, and the most crucial event of the festival, the Speech of the Paragon. Wandering between the grey tenements of the Upper City, he glanced at a beautiful brunette girl, who was implying the appearance of a new participant with a ruddy, charming face and an alluring pale skin, her eyes of grey shining of the desire to be accepted in this exciting new world. Her nut-brown hair was surging in the air as she dashed forward to the inner square to avoid the immense crowd¡¯s arrival to the praise. James followed her trail by moving towards the small pathway, however he was not quick enough to catch up with her in time. Apprehending the typical howl of the ceremony, which he heard in the previous years while being instructed to retreat to his quarters, he rushed towards the alleys of the opposite direction, in order not to be late. The Speech of the Paragon had merely started when James arrived, only the first part had occured, which was the only tedious part from the audience¡¯s point of view. A screeching elder was praising the virtues, and almost got impaled by the crowd, manifesting the desire to listen to the Paragon already. Tyronne Blackheart was a man of elegance, he wore the best black polymer-tube clothes, with a similar red cape, His eyes were grey-blue gems shining towards the people, always watching over. Although he was very young, between twenty five and thirty, he had obtained several ashen locks of hair, his was cut short at the sides, but kept longer in the middle. His flawless pale skin reflected the sunshine, almost like the Divine of the Old World. ¡°I am just on time, I guess. Tyronne Blackheart¡¯s speech hasn¡¯t even started.¡± thought James joyfully, pushing through the crowd. ¡°Shut up prick, the Paragon is coming.¡± growled an elderly woman to an unsavoury punk who was screaming a mocking monologue from an old world manuscript in his illuminated behaviour. Two militiamen set off towards the punk, tried to stop him from expressing his unlikely thoughts on the Champion of Virtues by naming him a man who would not necessarily have sexual intercourse with females. Being bashed in the head, he lost his consciousness, James heard the speech started as Tyronne stepped out to the balcony of the Grey Palace.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°As I am gazing upon my audience, I feel a certain feeling towards you. I feel sorrow and desperation as I perceive the cold reality. Our enemies had abducted several of our people, leaving their corpses to rot on the ground, not hiding that they are heartless beasts, forcing their experiments on us, not respecting our families and friends, whom we must protect. We do not know what awaits us, though we have a firm grip on our armies that induced their destruction in many cases by using the advantage of the quality of being a human. We do not let our people be slaughtered like animals .We are the core of humanity, our lives are not others¡¯ to take. We choose our own destiny. The best way to use our creativity to our advantage is to work together for every one another and ourselves by removing the flaws of the people by selecting the best warriors, scientists and engineers of the youth, turning the biting frost into the bitter warmth of the sun. Our destiny is to win the war between the good and the evil creating a heavenly paradise out of our world, destroying the wretched domes of the machines, removing the threats of our species forever. We are the ones who inherited the world and with that comes a great responsibility .In order to win this war, we have to obey the five virtues, or perish. We, you, are the core of humanity, without you all is lost. May you find strength in the virtues and focus on our sacred duty.¡± James remembered the Five Virtues of acceptance, compliance, productivity, loyalty, self-sacrifice being taught at the sorting-school. It was very harsh for children who was not born for eligible parents, defined as non-direct servants of the state. The offspring were separated from their parents and were sent to these institutions, which treated them as potential workforce, nothing more. Only the officials and soldiers got to bring up their own children. The crowds started roaring and screaming the sentence ¡°Bless the Paragon of the Five Virtues¡±. Tyronne smiled, turn around, took the ceremonial spoon, and said ¡°The Ceremony is now complete, the Adequacy Festival shall now be considered commenced!¡± He threw the spoon into the crowd and disappeared in the shadow of his elite guards, the Vanguard of the Virtues. James First Chapter On the last day of the festival, James were wandering around the Lower City, where he felt free, or at least more unrestricted than in the Upper City. The street, he was walking at, was not in a great shape, but he wanted to discover the parts of the city he was not allowed to before. He wanted to taste the food of several cooking stalls famous amongst his fellow students, so he approached one he had heard about. ¡°Good day to you. May I have some flavoured rodents?¡± ¡°Yepp.¡± Replied the shopkeeper smiling, knowing that he would be given a good sum of money, or at least much more than the original cost of the ingredients. He started to roast the prepared meat, while James was staring at the unique techniques the chef presented. Then he glanced at a mysterious person, probably without any ill intent, who was leaning against the jamb of a shady shop at the off street behind the stall. After the rodent had been roasted, he started to eat it, but his eyes were still fixed on the man and the shop. He was intrigued by the possibility that he might find something interesting, so he approached the place in a careful, yet confident manner. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°A potential customer.¡± ¡°Are you? Come in then.¡± The shop was full of rare relics and books, which were probably illegal. ¡°Do you have a book about the Cataclysm?¡± James asked the shopkeeper. ¡°One. But I think it is just a fantasy. A good fantasy, no more. One of the rarest book.¡± ¡°Is that so? How much?¡± ¡°One Serenity Token.¡± ¡°Suspiciously cheap. Quality books like these might cost a pretty penny.¡± He thought. ¡°I am interested.¡± He handed over the token. The shopkeeper did that with the book, which was covered with linen, so that nobody would recognize it. It seemed to be the most ordinary out of the ordinary. ¡°It seems I stumbled across a history book. Some ¡®UN¡¯ and commercialists were mentioned, I do not know anything about it though.¡± He thought as he opened the book, left the shop and returned to his quarters in the school while reading. Unfortunately for James, the book was found by one of his supervisors after an irregular screening. This part of the school, the quarters, were frequently searched showing no respect to privacy, even to diaries and private storage. ¡°What is this? Have you gone mad? I found this book under your mattress.¡± ¡°So what will happen to me?¡± James asked anxiously. Although most of the offspring of the upper class were given some community work, which were tailored to be a slap on the wrist, James could not dream of that luck. ¡°You have desecrated your school, you shall not come back. From now on you are to serve in the army¡¯s skirmisher party, since we have found a black list book under your mattress.¡± said the supervisor, disgusted and trembling of having that amount of responsibility at his shoulders and knowing he could have made this incident disappear by burning the book. ¡°I hope you know what that means.¡± ¡°That I am dead for sure. I was told that a division is sent out to minimize the amount of damage taken by the main corps. They are the lamb to slaughter as the bots have those guns that paralyze and kill the people. Actually, you did not even tell me what a black list book was and what the list¡¯s contents are to dodge this clusterf...¡± said James dreadfully, sequentially going grey, almost fainting. ¡°But we did tell you not to read anything that is not given by us or the state, didn¡¯t we? You were a fool to do otherwise. Now your blood is on your hands.¡± muttered his superior as he closed the door and locked James in. ¡°Am I wrong that I want to see more of this world? Am I wrong to doubt? Am I going to die? I wanted to learn to help the people. To stop their suffering. Am I naive? Would they consider changing their lives, if that meant an improvement for others as well? Is everyone doing everything out of instinct? Why wouldn¡¯t they do anything against any wrong? Why do they accept subjugation? I should have accepted everything as it is, not to doubt them. I am nothing but a pebble. I have no value at all, so how could I do anything against the system that only make others suffer? I only wanted to help, to search for better solutions. The past teaches, you learn. This can only make you better, doesn¡¯t it? How can I be better? By accepting something horrible and powerful, or by fighting against the will of the people, if it is for them. Why do I have to be accredited by people who are not able to improve themselves? I don¡¯t understand why I am told to be worthless if I don¡¯t do as others say? Do I have a reason to exist? What is after death? Was I a good person? Who is a good person? The one who accepts and obeys law, or the one who breaks the law to make a better world for others? Well, I am sure I will not have a family and a home. Love? Home? No¡­ What am I to do?¡± thought James viciously, almost out of his breath, suffocating on his bad decision. His golden eyes were almost crying, his dirty blonde hair was close to be torn out. He reclined his head on his hands and tears rolled down his face. ¡°I always did everything you asked, showing you the respect you demanded. Your reputation was my main concern, and did everything accordingly. Now you just leave me, crossing your fingers for this situation not to go public, eh?¡± James cried out, having his quarters tremble before him. After an hour or two, the supervisor came back. ¡°I returned with the bureaucRat.¡± He barked at James. Two guards escorted James to his new workplace while the official did the administration. ¡°Why did I even buy that book? It was cheap and covered in linen, which would mean ¡¯I am not legal¡¯. I am sure I could have found the answer I was searching for, but did I need it? I mean, if I wanted to help, can I only help if I am allowed to help? Isn¡¯t it wrong to see others suffocate, while you do nothing against their certain death?¡± he saw a womanly figure following the group, but he did not care. ¡°Am I worthless? I was never good at anything. I couldn¡¯t write good stories, I couldn¡¯t calculate anything properly. I wanted to do research, but I wasn¡¯t skilled enough according to the principal. I never had someone to rely on. I don¡¯t think anyone liked me. I have nothing to leave behind. I feel this horrible grasp on my heart that I have never felt before. I do not care about people anymore, how could I if they toss me to die, without any particular reason? Am I afraid of death? Yes, certainly, but that would just make this pain go away, there is nothing wrong with being dead, then.¡± Arriving at the building meant new comrades to James, as he expected to meet people with similar qualities and traits. He saw several fellow criminals, amongst whom were one or two older scofflaws, none of them were satisfied with their new profession. All of them stood up as James entered the community room, which demonstrated the ¡¯disciple¡¯ of this skirmisher group. He knew that this burden he acquired was his alone. ¡°My name is James, happy to meet y¡¯all.¡± Said the newcomer to the fellow colleagues as his voice was resonating with discomfort and utter exasperation. The others presented themselves in an orderly manner and could be described as morose or despondent, some responded with a bold and naive introduction. ¡°I am delighted to know you.¡± replied a sanguine voice which caused James to shiver unintentionally. ¡°I am Noah.¡± Stepping out of the shadows of the corner, he exposed his caramel coloured hair and a rather handsome face, showing off a modest scar on his left cheek. Although he still possessed some adolescent features, like not being able to grow facial hair, his posture displayed a substantial amount of confidence, and his gaze was a dignified one. ¡°A scar? Very strange wound to acquire in the city, as people can hardly have any blades around. An accident? A brawl? I can consider myself a far cry from this guy.¡± Pondered James as he looked at Noah straight in the eyes to deduce his hidden qualities.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Then he proceeded to converge on the corner to shake hands with this enigmatic entity. On arrival, he realised that nobody made a fuzz, and no one cared enough to get to know the newcomer, but formalities in the military were sufficient. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t ask, but why you are alone in the corner? That kinda raises my suspicion towards you, even though I do not really have any prejudices.¡± James posed the question with a faint of mistrust. ¡°Cause I might be a budding genius and the others are not. Or they all have their preferences which exclude me. Nobody wants to be a friend with someone who has a stronger personality. Nobody wants to be inferior.¡± Responded from shadow of the corner with these heedful words apprehending that he was distinctive due to his charisma unprecedented to the youth. Well, he was actually pulling James¡¯ leg. ¡°I guess they assume you are a weirdo, and they are not very far from.¡± after a slight moment of silence they both produced a giggle or two. ¡°I am sure you had these exceptional specimens around you as well. There are way too many.¡± ¡°I had a classmate who researched the perfect thickness and absorption ratio of the toilet paper. He made charts, functions and analysed them as well. His solution was four strips, but it depends on the thickness of a piece. Toilet papers aren¡¯t even produced. He was even given some science award by the school, if I remember well.¡± ¡°I had one who hated fleas, so he covered himself with an alcohol and lit himself up. He doesn¡¯t have any fleas now, I am sure.¡± ¡°The martial art club we had renamed their meetings to meatings, after realizing they just beat each other up while arguing.¡± An officer interrupted. ¡°People! It is time to hit the sack. The bull session is over, move out, before I¡¯ll have your noses broken.¡± ¡°By no means do I want to insult you sir, but you seem to be in a hurry. Do you have an appointment with unfeminine tart tonight, perhaps?¡± Someone blurted. ¡°Should you come to my cell, I¡¯ll happily give you a treatment.¡± Continued another convict. At that moment, he burst out and pointed at a random person to come out, whacked their nose and shoved them back to the line. ¡°You will pay for your insolence.¡± he barked while calling the most recent captive out to take the blame. Hence James was sentenced solitary confinement, even though he did not really commit anything. As time was passing by the discomfort grew into torment, leeching on his self-consciousness derived from all his wrong-doings from the past. ¡°The girl at the festival would probably never fall head over heels in love with me, then why did I try to? Am I wrong that I did not get close to anyone? I feel like nobody wanted me. I feel that it wouldn¡¯t worth it. I always saw others look at me differently, or they did not care. I did not want to bother others. When I wanted to befriend someone, they looked the other way, or did not pay attention. How can I build a relationship without a mutual understanding? There is no point. I do not care about others, because of that. My acquaintances formed groups that excluded people, rather than accepting others and befriend everyone. They just used the others, they did not care about them and such. Nobody cared. Is that an excuse? What did I do to them that they did not give me any chance? Is there something wrong with me? Am I ill-humoured, careless, mundane outsider? Do I deserve death? What will be when I die? Nothing. I will die without having anyone to love me. I never had talents, I never had friends. Were I always alone? I learnt that the only thing that matters is me. I was always alone, I never got friends, or such, but I longed for someone, maybe anyone.¡± murmured James, and stood up, as he heard the tinkling sound of keys outside his cushy architectural miracle. He was escorted back to his room as his punishment was over. ¡°Wow, you smell like a pile of shit, to say the least.¡± Noah greeted James eagerly. ¡°But this guy¡­ I have never felt this connection.¡± he thought. ¡°I¡¯ll just throw you some of my guarded treasure, good friends always share.¡± Responded James sarcastically. ¡°The only bad thing is that I couldn¡¯t jack off in that small place. At least I had some time to think my life over.¡± ¡°What have you wondered about? Hope it was not kinky or about me or both.¡± Asked the confident one smiling.¡± I am dying to find out....¡± ¡°Why on Earth would I think about you?¡± ¡°You had quite some time in that latrine. Don¡¯t you want to talk about it? It makes me suspicious¡­¡± ¡°Alright, but do not forget that curiosity killed the cat. I was recalling lots of mistakes, one of which happened during the Adequacy Festival.¡± ¡°Let me hear it.¡± ¡°Why would I tell you?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Eeh. Alright, I think it will be better for me to open up. After spending almost a day in that shithole, I was wondering about a gal .She was very appealing by appearance, but I missed the chance to talk to her. ¡± ¡°Was that a mistake?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t that because you are ¡­ different?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really get you this time.¡± said James not being able to realise that he was called a queer. Then he answered a sudden ¡°NO.¡± Furiously, almost fainting of the anger he felt. ¡°I am not! Why do you care about my sexual orientation!?¡± ¡°I was thinking of you not having been with a girl. I am not into that actually. I am what people call an asexual.¡± responded Noah with an indifferent look. ¡°Whatever you freak. What I wanted to say is that I was going towards her and she just disappeared. I was at the Upper city next to the road that leads to the Grey Palace. She had grey eyes and brown hair.¡± ¡°So it was you? My sister told me about a jerk checking her out, then advancing towards her. She thought she might be dragged to an orgy. A strange coincident indeed. Her name is Mia. I think she was going to the butcher at that time.¡± ¡°Mia.¡± muttered James. ¡°I would not comprehend that she is your sister, since her similarity to you is almost non-existent.¡± ¡°Sister-in-arms.¡± said the sexually uninterested chap almost inaudibly and enigmatically. Suddenly, a high ranking military personnel dashed in and started screeching at the corridor, where the cells were located. The convicts stood up to honour his presence, even though he was the one to be responsible for sending them to their deaths. His titanium plate was glittering in the vicinity of a small window, under which was some black polymer clothes with several hexagonal medallions that represented his exceptional status in the military leadership. ¡°This is your last day here. Tomorrow we go to war. Sleep.¡± Then he just left. Several hours after sunset, James couldn¡¯t help taking notice of some hurrying footsteps followed by some mild tinkling, which couldn¡¯t be compared to the noises the guards made. ¡°A rudimentary lock, indeed. Why did you need me to do this? Couldn¡¯t you just escape by yourself?¡± whispered a mysterious stranger next to James¡¯ cell. He deduced that it was coming from the entrance of Noah¡¯s manor of excellence. ¡°Graham announced that they are moving out, so I have to report on his policy. I need your help with James. He cannot come with us, but we could escort him out of this comfort incarnate.¡± Responded the prisoner, who was indeed Noah. ¡°I don¡¯t care about your affairs, Noah, the plan only included rescuing you, and you alone.¡± Protested the stranger. Subsequently, a tick echoed through the hallway. ¡°Remember the incident at the Upper City Butchery?¡± replied the recently freed captive vigorously and smiling shrewdly. ¡°Alright. But you escort him, you bash him in the head, you carry and dump him in the forest.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Sighed Noah. He stepped out of the cell afterwards. James was dismayed at the conversation, but tried be as quiet as a lamb. Despite his controversial feelings, he chose to feign his slumber so that the other two would not realise his eavesdrop. Trying to control his despair he felt as a result of being close to treason and execution or being bashed in the head and then be left alone in the woods, he felt tremendous amount of dubious emotions. He could not comprehend the fact that he was not able to go with them, and yet he felt a faint of distrust towards his only friend. Although he tried to endure the weight of capital punishment, a glimmer of hope was still there right in his mind. There was no absolute solution for this as others made the decision instead of him, crippling his other opportunities. Upon hearing the tick of the lock, he got up simulating fatigue, like he was never aware of their discussion and never heard to be whacked in the face. ¡°So what is happening? Will you introduce me to your feminine comrade Noah, or you have forgotten your manners?¡± asked James mockingly with a weary intonation. She stepped out of the shadows proving to be truly a woman. Vale was about the same age as Noah, she also had a scar at her right cheek coming right from the upper lateral cartilage to the side of her face. It was a bit longer and about the same width as his, but not as unpleasant in quality giving its bearer unwonted attractiveness. Her sky blue eyes reflected a lock of hair, which fled form the black bun she had tied with a rope. Her outfit was accustomed to her ectomorph body. James could not see any deformation on her clothes, therefore deducing a small breast and a bony waist. ¡°We have no time for introduction, should be moving by now.¡± ¡°Do you trust me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Of course he was not sure about it, but being killed was not attractive at all. ¡°Come with us then.¡± James nodded. They kept a fast pace due to the amount of time they lost, although almost all the guards were sleeping. Two of them were at the entrance and one were put to each possible exit, except for the one that the leadership had not found yet. Having had no encounters, they arrived at the storage facility, which secretly lead to the catacombs. Its end was some hundreds of metres away from the barracks, offering a safe escape route. It was not very pleasant though. Being crammed with skeletons and outdated equipment, it took a long time to leave the place. Dawn came, bringing bad news to the guards and officers responsible for the Skirmisher Branch of the army. They vanished. ¡°The abominable stench of the marsh is almost unbearable. I cannot see too far either.¡± thought James after getting out of the tunnels. He felt the same desperation seeing the inhospitable conditions of this territory filled with artificial smoke. Then everything went black. Tyronnes First Chapter One average afternoon the Paragon was sitting at his desk. He had several extravagant furniture in his grandiose chamber, for instance a double bed made of tropical wood, several grey-blue curtains of exceptional quality and, of course, a huge carpet of the same colour. Most of these luxury items¡¯ fabric was created out of silk, as these rare materials made a stunning fit to the architecture of the Grey Palace. In addition, all of the windows were made of oak that was coloured to a shade of dark brown likewise the floor, which was composed of the same matter. Although it was a bedchamber, he used the room as his office as well. Displaying wealth and excellence, negotiation and intimidation were the most efficient here to the ordinary people, who were not used to this extravagant style of equipment. A pile of papers, concerning state affairs, towered over Tyronne as he was regarding several problematic government related subjects. When the bureaucrat stepped in, he was calculating gross income and did not care about the approaching civil servant. This state employee was rather fat and was blessed with an oval shaped head and disgusting, heavy jowls that accumulated the stench of his abominable sweat. ¡°Sir, two of the convicts of the Skirmisher Branch escaped.¡± Tyronne did not look up, but kept writing. ¡°We do not know how they did that, they might have been helped by the Resistance.¡± ¡°Who let you in?¡± ¡°Sir, this is important.¡± ¡°For Whom? Who let you in? I will not repeat myself. I reckon you would make a great replacement of those two as you do not obey my commands and answer my simple question. You forget who I am.¡± said Tyronne calmly. The inferior individual shimmered and exposed himself. ¡°I told the guards I have an appointment to discuss important matters of the state. They just let me in.¡± answered the subject trembling. ¡°You may speak now.¡± ¡°Two of the convicts related to the skirmisher group escaped.¡± ¡°Why would Graham send you here covering his weakness and his faults instead of admitting it?¡± thought the Paragon. ¡°When?¡± ¡°A day ago. They left no traces whatsoever.¡± ¡°Then you will not be able to find them. Am I correct?¡± ¡°Sir¡­¡± Tyronne hit his bell, four of the Vanguard introduced themselves to this insignificant character. The soldiers had light blue uniforms with titanium armour plates to protect their wearer. ¡°What I need is loyalty. I want my staff to work by my conditions, my commands. I demand adherence only to the Virtues, MY RULES.¡± he cried at the official furiously. Tyronne imposed his ingratitude on this pawn merely used by another player in the ploy to gain unlimited power over the absolute state. ¡°Take this man to the Grey Monolith.¡± He commanded. The Grey Monolith was a monument to the virtues, but most importantly a prison, from which nobody had returned intact. This building gave control over his personal staff, the population, who did not know anything about the bastille part, and the soldiers so that they do not commit mutiny of any form. It had several levels, which was granted a sign of the alphabet according to its function and treatment of individuals. The first level was baptized as Level B, whose function only included brainwash, interrogation and torture. Level C was for solitary confinement, Level D gave accommodation to people awaiting their death sentence in front of the public, Level E gave excruciating experiences only for the members of the resistance and anyone who openly denounced or revolted against his Highness, and the highest level, Level P that was to remove the pretenders to the state from play and had other enigmatic functions. Also, a temple of self-sacrifice was carved beneath the column. ¡°Hopefully, this will make people think that I did not figure out Graham¡¯s significance and that he was using my staff for his ambitions.¡± His mind was not livid, he played an act in order to fool the guards and the official. ¡°Call for Graham and Nathan, respectively. You have ten minutes.¡± The ruler ordered a guard, who was standing in front of his door. This guy ran off to fulfil the commands his master gave as he did not wish to be executed for treason. After he left, Tyronne took out a piece of paper, which mentioned both ¡¯Resignation by Duty.¡¯ and ¡¯Increased income and land.¡¯ and placed it on the other side of the desk, upside down. After three equal knocks could be heard, Graham was escorted into the office, his black hair mixed with some grey locks laid unkempt on his shoulder due to the fact that he did not stand getting a haircut. Despite him being almost at the top of the social hierarchy, he did not imitate a typical nobleman, as his face possessed some wrinkles and his facial hair grew in spots unevenly. After being saluted to, the Paragon offered the officer a seat, who happily accepted. ¡°How is Selena?¡± ¡°She is content. She loves her child and husband, they live happily. She has everything she needs. She feared that you would interfere.¡± Tyronne ignored the last comment. ¡°Do you remember the reason we broke up?¡± ¡°I think she was not able to get pregnant.¡± ¡°I thought she was unable to, but a good doctor pointed out that my old illness rendered me infertile. He called it Memento Mori. Have you heard about it? No?¡± Of course he did. ¡°Its symptoms included fever, the disappearance of pigments. It alters sperm and, in the end, can cause death by suffocation. If I remember well, this was a sickness that appeared after the Migration¡­ Anyways, I sent a letter to Selena, but she was taken and got pregnant.¡± ¡°So why did you send for me?¡± ¡°I know about the fiasco.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you try to deny that?¡± ¡°Well, those were two useless kids, who have no importance whatsoever.¡± ¡°Useless? No importance whatsoever? They could have saved some of my soldiers¡¯ life. Your negligence will be rewarded as others¡¯ would be.¡± ¡°I am awaiting my punishment.¡± ¡°I heard that your son was chosen as a candidate to be a scout at the Recoinnaissance Branch.¡± ¡°I am proud.¡± ¡°You do not seem to be.¡± This time Graham ignored his comment. Tyronne had taken notice of that. ¡°Let us change subject, shall we? Do you remember why I made you an officer of my army? That was your dream. I wanted have made Selena happy, who loved you more than anything, so I offered you the job. I realized that I have made a grievous mistake, as you are not even talented enough to lead ten soldiers. I have prepared the document for your resignation, it lies in front of you upside down. I hope you consider my offer and be relinquished of your duties.¡± As Tyronne spoke he exposed some written information of phoney truth and false orders. The officer turned the paper around, he gazed at the document in a way that displayed dismayed dissatisfaction dissenting disapproval and unholy heresy. He could not believe how puny pension he was given, which led him to stray further away from his supervisor. ¡°I cannot kill him openly, I cannot deny him because of his daughter. He could even blackmail me, but he is too stupid to do that, or he knows I wouldn¡¯t let him.¡± Thought Tyronne.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°If you could give me more.¡± muttered the dumb one. ¡°I have nothing to spare, your colleagues will not be granted this kind of pension. So a mansion and servants are not enough for you? What do you want then? Most officers of your quality are awarded a bullet in the head.¡± replied Tyronne harshly. ¡°With all due respect Sir¡­ I want to serve my country.¡± He answered in a polite yet displeased manner. ¡°If you were not retarded, you would have accepted my offer. Now I now you are my enemy.¡± He thought. ¡°Clean my toilet.¡± Replied Tyronne with sensational seriousness. ¡±You are to come every morning and clean it. I will hold you accountable for any filth remaining. It is, surely, a huge honour.¡± Some gossip even mentioned that the smell of the Paragon¡¯s expelled gases were almost identical to the odour of the rose and that his excrement could provide nutrients to plants more efficiently than industrial fertilizer. ¡°Sir¡­¡± ¡°I have made up my mind. Question me and you will suffer the consequences. Dismissed.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± Graham stood up, saluted, turned around and left the room, without any words to say aloud. As he dragged himself out of the chamber, Nathan stepped in, who greeted the old donkey with a warm welcome. ¡°Greetings, stupid shit.¡± This individual was ranked as the chancellor, and was almost regarded as a friend. Nathan could be described as a skinny, tall fellow with red medium length hair swept back, green eyes of unerring enigma lied on his pale face along with a long and thin nose, with some freckles on his cheek and acute chin. Slyness was lurking in his gaze as a result of being a truly cynical person. ¡°Underestimating simplicity complicates everything.¡± This was his motto. ¡°How was your morning?¡± asked the Champion of Virtues kindly, and displeased as his right hand did not report him on the progress of the Conclave of the Cardinals. ¡°They missed you. I was almost sentenced to ten lashes as a result of my insolence that was caused by not being able to convince your perfect presence to appeal before the credible Cardinals.¡± Replied Nathan cynically. ¡°Any details you can spare me, sir?¡± ¡°Those ancient lifeforms are just happy to exist. They have expressed some concerns about the living standards of the priests and the qualities of their sanctuaries. The usual stuff.¡± ¡°Did they have any territorial problems?¡± ¡°No, the five sectors are doing equally.¡± ¡°Do the people donate enough?¡± ¡°Yes, the Knight of the Linen even complimented the Lower City.¡± ¡°What about the Knight of the Velvet?¡± ¡°The Upper City prefers to keep its fortune.¡± ¡°I can say that the mayors are doing great. Do the people hate not being able to live under their own virtue¡¯s sector?¡± ¡°On the contrary. They do not care about it. If they want to donate, they just go to the closest shrine of their preferred doctrine.¡± ¡°Fine. How was the festival?¡± ¡°A miracle to participate in, a nightmare to organize. The typical reactions occured around the city. Most of the people loved it, some just resented those practices. I, personally, flicked the beans at the marketplace and nobody cared. You know, the usual stuff. Oh, your subjects absolutely admired your speech, not like Mr. Productivity¡¯s magnificent monologue.¡± ¡°Could we pay for the expenses?¡± ¡°We even had some of the budget money left. Our Camerarius did well.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with crime?¡± ¡°The Servant of Justice had had some days of, so his magisters took care of the jurisdiction. It was lower than usual.¡± ¡°Any sudden event you couldn¡¯t cope with and I do not know of?¡± ¡°No, only some kids escaping from the Skirmisher¡¯s barrack. But I suppose that is why Graham was here.¡± ¡°Excellent Deduction. I was told about the incident recently.¡± ¡°You need a briefing?¡± ¡°No, I do not care. But it seemed to be a good opportunity to remove Graham once and for all.¡± ¡°You have given him a choice to resign, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°He did not sign it. Will you orchestrate his removal, or I have to do it myself?¡± ¡°What do you want me to do about it? Break his legs? Murder his son?¡± asked Nathan sarcastically. ¡°The ball is in your court.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± asked the redhead in a surprised tone. ¡°Contact Ethan, he will do the rest.¡± Responded his superior with ultimate frankness. ¡°Wasn¡¯t he given a new assignment?¡± ¡°Graham¡¯s son is a candidate at the recon branch. He will be made an apprentice and get killed in an accident. He is to move out tomorrow.¡± ¡°And what about Selena? Are we ignoring her?¡± ¡°I have had ENOUGH of his insolence.¡± Tyronne answered furiously. ¡°This prick is my mistake and I will not bear him any longer.¡± His hatred was derived from Graham¡¯s unreachable position that undermined his authority, defining the destiny of every individual in this city. Not only did he swear to destroy this unattainable position, but to take revenge on his stubbornness and idiocy that insulted the Sovereign¡¯s most gracious ego. ¡°Just conceal it as an accident. She dislikes his brother as he is an untalented goofy bastard like his father.¡± He lied. ¡°He deserves to die.¡± Tyronne did not reveal the plot, which were to depose him as he did not know whether Nathan was a participant or not, but this time, his ire was true. ¡°No objections, I am correct?¡± Tyronne nodded. ¡°You are dismissed.¡± Nathan turned around, stepped towards the door and went to work. ¡°It is only a matter of time that someone come and attempt to depose me. My spies¡¯ report is coming due.¡± At that moment, a guard stepped in with an individual wearing black bureaucrat suit. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the Minister of the Shadow?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir, the minister is to report you on their findings.¡± ¡°Report, Eximius Umbra.¡± It was a custom of Tyronne to name the talented in latin. He adored the language, but only two dictionaries could be found at this part of the world after the Worldfall. The others were destroyed, burned, recycled or disappeared. When he was bored, he memorized the content of these books. He was a frequent visitor to the state library, when he was only an apprentice. The shady minister stepped forward and approached Tyronne with great precaution. ¡°Several lower layers have been contaminated, and almost half of the military command was exposed to be participating in a conspiracy against you.¡± ¡°Most important ranks?¡± ¡°Head of the Skirmisher Branch, two of the Cardinals, namely Loyalty and Compliance, the Deputy of the Militia and some lower ranked officers in the Main Branch.¡± ¡°I want a written report.¡± ¡°I have that with me.¡± He handed over a stack of paper. ¡°What do you want us to do?¡± ¡°Tell the Minister of Atonement to reward your spies. I¡¯ll tell the Overseer you did well.¡± Tyronne divided espionage to three different segments when he came to power. The first was spying itself, the second segment was to reward the spies, and the third inspected the other two so that nobody could abuse their office. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Nothing. Dismissed.¡± After so much work, he forgot to track the time. As dusk was over, the sunlight did not penetrate the transparent glass of the wooden windows, and yet he craved for the slight warmth those feeble rays have caused. He stood up from his extravagant chair, and set off for the dining room as it was time he dined with company. He was a little peckish indeed, but that was not enough to consume a starter and three main meals. Arriving at the hall, his occasional concubine nominees were waiting to eat already. ¡°I am humbled by your presence, ladies, sorry for being late.¡± he greeted his potential lovers, in the meantime all of them stood up and bowed to their overlord, some of them almost fainted of hunger. They had not been allowed to have lunch so that all the food the Paragon¡¯s kitchen prepared would not go to waste. Tyronne hated throwing out good food, since it was a valuable and rare asset these times, plus he despised inefficiency. The waiters began to serve the starters hence the girls prepared themselves to remove the material from the plate politely. According to traditions, the Paragon was to wait for his visitors to devour their dinner, only then could he start his own. While the others fulfilled their obligations, Tyronne asked for some red wine that was very unusual of him, since he hated every kind of alcohol. Despite having eight possible candidates, he had already chosen one, all of this was a formality. He even had some snacks back at his chamber. He stole them from the kitchen last time he ventured there, so he denied the opportunity to fill himself with the glamorous provision and only desired the busy future. While the others were eating, he heard some kind of unusual, mostly clinking noises in the kitchen. Then two of the waiters suspiciously approached him in a hurried manner. At that moment a girl stood up so that she could withdraw to the lavatory, and hit one of the approaching waiters unintentionally, exposing a knife that was not exactly for gastronomic use. His partner threw his weapon at Tyronne. He used his plate as a shield, blocking the blade, altering its trajectory, hitting the fireplace beside him. ¡°Fucking GUARDS!¡± he shouted, but nobody answered his call. Unfortunately, there was eight other humans in the room, who were not particularly very skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so he started to retreat to the back of the room so that nobody would get wounded. The other one had hurled his dagger at the Paragon, who dodged it with great care. Both of them were dangerously close. Suddenly, two of the girls grabbed one of the assassins and a third smashed his face with a chair, crushing his skull and removing him from the battle. As the other one was standing motionless in the shock and awe, Tyronne gripped the key of the window, which was on the mantelpiece, and stabbed his victim in the eye, who collapsed under the pain the act caused. Then Tyronne whacked his face with a tray rendering him unconscious. This all happened in the blink of an eye. ¡°I knew this day would come.¡± After this grim experience, Tyronne checked on the guards at the door, whom were absent from their position. The only thing that was left behind were several drops of red fluid. ¡°FUUUUCK.¡± He cried out as loud as possible and waited for the Vanguard to arrive. Mias First Chapter As Mia came to herself at noon, she could barely keep her eyes open. She had to focus on preparing an enigmatic encounter for the members of the Resistance that concluded the objectives of next week¡¯s missions as several new details were recently acquired. Unfortunately, she was not the kind who could rush in and slaughter officials or plunder trade convoys, therefore she tried to ease the stress of her comrades with organizing some peculiar parties or mesmerizing meetings. She had been helping them for a long time, meaning she was considered a member of the Resistance, although she wasn¡¯t an official agent. The room Mia lived in was of a mediocre size in which only modest furniture could be found. There were a wooden desk along with a disenchanting chair, whose legs were not of the same length. These were set at the window that displayed half of the Lower City in an ideal weather. As it had a wide ledge, she could sit on it, and daydream about the future that was always brighter than reality. Beside these extraordinary items were the door that was perpendicular to the window. Also her wardrobe could be found on the other side of the room, mostly filled with casual dresses and clothes for the sole reason to blend in the crowd if the opportunity presented itself. The building she lived in was an inn, mostly made of wood but some concrete painted white could be observed outside. The previous owner was fond of old-fashioned architecture and wanted to build a structure resembling the fifteenth century. It was an ambiguous experience of primitive and contemporary style, death and life, bizarre astonishment of blatant beauty and hideous hedonism, most of which were scarce in this miserable world of mist, murder and mischievous matters. ¡°After all this time, it is still producing an accurate reflection?¡± She wondered when she glanced at her old mirror. This massive relic was thrown out of the window by a drunken fellow once, when it was transported to the room, crushing a poor chirping soul on its way, but it still seemed intact after the fall. The only damage caused was some research notes leaked out of the back as it was previously owned by Mia¡¯s parents. Staring at the surface of the mirror, she examined her body as it was her daily routine to identify unwanted changes on her skin, not to mention rashes or birthmarks which were the first signs of several fatal illnesses. She started with her head, and teeth. Then her grey eyes shifted to her medium sized breasts and checked it carefully whether a lump appeared or else. The only thing that she detested nowadays was that her hair became unkempt after a very busy shift or during sleeping since she unconsciously motioned. Thus she had to rinse her hair to soften it up in order to be able to comb and style it to improve her already enchanting beauty. Usually, she would spend twenty minutes to conclude the act, but considering being late, it would be rather inefficient. Therefore the only thing she could do was applying a jewel, a copper clasp, which had been given by an old acquaintance, and tied her hair with the unusual trinket. She used the self-proclaimed hair tie to make a ponytail and nothing else to cope with the schedule and the time-consuming task of dressing up. ¡°Mia, are you up? We ought to start organizing the party soon, maybe in ten minutes.¡± A low-pitched voice posed the question from the bottom of the stairs. ¡°Yes, I have started to dress up.¡± ¡°Twenty minutes you say?¡± responded the mysterious figure. ¡°I¡¯ll try to hurry.¡± ¡°Fine by me.¡± The proper attire had not been appointed yet, moreover, she was barely conscious of that. As a result of being late, she took out some of her lingerie, which mostly consisted of the underwear we know, and some finely adjusted white cotton fabric band. She craved for the dazzling disguise of a proper host to appeal to the others this evening, so she sorted the unnecessary ones out by taking the most alluring outfits out of the wardrobe. ¡°But this might be too much for a party.¡± Then she took out a checked shirt of blue and red colours with black linen trousers. ¡°This would suffice.¡± The moment she finished, she opened the door, ran down the stairs to the ground floor and announced the completion of another successful morning routine. ¡°Finished. What can I do for you?¡± Mia asked Jack in a heart-warming tone. Jack was the owner of the tavern and the innkeeper who could be depicted as a bald, brawny and boring person. This middle-aged individual wore a brown apron, dark green trousers and a black shirt all of which were made of linen. A simple personality accompanied his raw appearance that could be described as hard-working, melancholic and sceptic. ¡°Could you go to the good old butcher? Not to that arrogant asshole at the Upper City Market.¡± Replied the gloomy innkeeper. ¡°Noah and Vale had some trouble over the Upper City. You remember their scars? They got it there when they were told to steal from the shopkeeper.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Buy a rabbit or two, if they still have any. I know quality meat is rare nowadays, but we have an inn to run. Two Serenity Tokens will be enough, I suppose.¡± He put them in Mia¡¯s soft hands, turned around, and started to move the furniture so that the hall would be sufficient for today¡¯s meetings. The moment Mia departed from her uncle¡¯s premises, her vision was blurred by strength of the stalwart Sun that had not shone this bright for several years now, thus cutting through the sickly smog. The girl turned right and ventured forward to the butcher¡¯s. Halfway through, an individual teeming with various sexual desires approached the errand girl to seduce her. Although he was a handsome lad about the same age as Mia, he was not at all cherished for his ill-mannered action. The girl could deduce that he was a member of an affluent family as his velvet outfit displayed pride and fortune, yet she was not fond of being used for the sole purpose of agitating one¡¯s male reproductive organs and bear the consequences. Thinking that he found someone of his liking, naivety and joy flickered in his eyes. ¡°May I offer my services to such a gorgeous young lady as yourself?¡± asked the lad valiantly. ¡°What for?¡± replied the gorgeous young lady in a cautious manner. ¡°I felt a sudden urge to help a fellow citizen. My father was appointed a magister, so I try to follow his footsteps.¡± ¡°Oh, another newcomer? These people just want to get someone pregnant, don¡¯t they? They cannot do anything with their newly-found wealth.¡± she thought ¡°If that urge can be defined as a stimulation of your gonads, then I would respectfully refuse. I am sorry, I am on a tight schedule, which means you are to be left here all alone. Will you endure the humiliation?¡± ¡°I could only felt guilt leaving a beauty explore the city only by herself.¡± ¡°You should try expressing yourself correctly so that I would not yearn for slapping you in front of everyone. So long.¡± She bypassed the dumb one and continued her journey. As Mia was wandering, her thoughts shifted to Vale and Noah. ¡°I have not seen them for some time now. I have heard that they had some business to do at the Skirmisher¡¯s barracks. I hope they can come to the party tonight. It would be a shame if they missed another one. That would mean I have to herd drunk people alone¡­¡± On arrival, only two rabbits remained, so she bought both of them, which were excessively overpriced, and returned home. Although the street was full of different shops that obtained their goods from the Church¡¯s factories, she took notice of a boutique, which was not a church-owned store. She approached the wooden stalls in front of the shop and asked about the price of a red dress gorgeously ornamented with flower symbols in the middle and ivy on its sideways. ¡°Twenty Serenity Tokens? I knew that the Virtues demand a tithe from independent shops, but this? This is daylight robbery.¡± She acted to be furious when she took a look at the price tag so that the shopkeeper would take the possibility of a discount into consideration.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°All you see is handiwork, not some low-quality junk anyone can buy on the streets.¡± Replied the clerk. ¡±Best I can do is eighteen Serenity Tokens or a hundred Leaf¡¯s Tokens.¡± ¡°I shall bid farewell then. Bye.¡± Ten minutes later, Mia arrived at home and yet she was still concerned about those clothes she left behind. ¡°Did you get the meat? Or should I order some of those substitute stuff?¡± shouted the bald innkeeper from the kitchen. ¡°Two rabbits for one point five Seto.¡± ¡°Well done.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± she bowed elegantly. ¡°How many idiots did you run into?¡± ¡°Only one.¡± ¡°Then you were lucky compared to Lucy.¡± She was the chef¡¯s apprentice and sister-in-law. ¡°She met with a priest, a colonel¡¯s son and a prick from the Merchant Association.¡± ¡°Well, being old enough is full of ill-intentioned desires. So bad. I should get a husband soon.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want you to marry yet. I have no money for a proper wedding.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t spoil me, Uncle.¡± ¡°Then go and get some change.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t enough Appetite Tokens?¡± ¡°You guessed it.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡¯ She turned back and headed to the closest shrine as only they were allowed to change tokens to different types. The most valuable and rarest was the Serenity Token. There were several others that was only used for getting a type of product, so that the Seto would not be involved. Waiting several hours, just to have a chance to talk to the priest, she stood in a queue as the priest took frequent breaks. Then it was her turn. ¡°Good day to you, I want to change fifteen Serenity Tokens to Appetizer tokens.¡± ¡°Wait a moment. I¡¯ll take a break.¡± ¡°But you have had a break before the previous customer.¡± ¡°So what?¡± ¡°Sir, I have been waiting for several hours now. You have only served ten people during that time. This is basic division and multiplication.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So? I have other matters to attend to.¡± ¡°Good for you.¡± He stood up. ¡°You can attend to them after I have taken my break.¡± ¡°What does he do during a break? Jacking off? They don¡¯t like to do anything, do they? Sitting behind a counter, intentionally postponing the procedures. They do not even have to do a sermon. They are useless. I bet if they were told to solve a problem outside their counter, they would just ran away crying like little girls seeing a rat. Not like it was demanding or challenging to do this, you just have to calculate depending on your customers¡¯ needs.¡± She was standing before the closed counter for fifteen minutes. She almost fainted once, since she haven¡¯t eaten anything yet. ¡°I am here.¡± ¡°How was your break? Did you churn some butter?¡± ¡°Whatever. How can I be of your service?¡± he asked indifferently. ¡°I have fifteen Seto to change into Appto.¡± She handed over the tokens. ¡°Here is three hundred.¡± Now he handed over the tokens. ¡°Thank you, have a nice day.¡± When she approached the exit, she heard the priest say ¡®I¡¯ll take a nap¡¯. She was furious, but she got what she came for. There was no reason to meddle in government affairs. That shortened life expectancy drastically. The sun was already setting when she entered the tavern. ¡°I am back. Is there anything I could do for you, Jack?¡± She shouted. ¡°No, not really.¡± He replied. ¡°I reckon my friends are here, I haven¡¯t seen them since the last time they went out. I go and search for them.¡± Said Mia. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°I think you have done a great job organizing this meeting. Thank you.¡± She said to Jack. ¡°Welcome.¡± Replied the innkeeper. ¡°Hello there.¡± Noah greeted Mia out of the blue. ¡°Long time, no see.¡± Mia replied. ¡°Where is Vale?¡± ¡°She had other matters to attend to. But I¡¯ll try to do my best substituting her.¡± ¡°Do you want me to talk over girly things with you? Anyways, how was the operation I should not know about?¡± ¡°Well, I have spent some time sitting in my own excrement.¡± ¡°Good for you¡­ and as I see you lost some weight¡­¡± ¡°Then another prisoner was presented, who had an amazing personality compared to my dignified colleagues. Unfortunately, Vale did not like me having another friend, so we dumped him in the forest.¡± ¡°Is he alright? That is not what I expected of her.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°I think she loves you.¡± This statement was rather unexpected and seemed to have hit Noah hard. ¡°I do¡­ wait, what?¡± ¡°She has grown in fond of you.¡± ¡°That is absurd. She would not. She knows that we could be killed any time. Plus, the leadership prohibited any kind of sexual relationships.¡± ¡°That is only a woman¡¯s intuition.¡± ¡°Hope so.¡± At that moment a middle aged, and probably respected, but brutal man opened the door of the tavern, causing the others to cheer up. His attributes included long ashen beard and slob, braid hair, blue eyes, small nose. His neck and face were covered in dirt. Also, a ruthless appearance with several scars and deformations impaired his strange clothes that were basically cut out of sacks that were mainly used at the market. Since the Head of Operations arrived, everything were set to commence this merry reunion. ¡°I see we are all here. Let us begin!¡± he shouted. ¡°We have gained intel on Graham Asinus. This was approved by the Intelligence and the Captain, meaning that an accident might happen in the future. We will meet at the Golden Bridge tomorrow morning, where you all be given the info on the mission.¡± ¡°Hooray¡± The audience cried. ¡°We are having a difficult task, I want nobody to have hangover. Be responsible.¡± He turned around ¡°Mia my dear! I see you did an amazing job organizing this party. How are you?¡± ¡°You know that I am always fine. Jack is with me almost all the time. My safety should not be your concern.¡± ¡°That old bastard owes me a beer.¡± ¡°Dice?¡± ¡°Card game.¡± ¡°What if I included another ration, gratis, on behalf of my uncle, Eric?¡± ¡°Fine with me. Free food, best food.¡± ¡°Noah. Will you accompany me? We are thankful for the information you provided.¡± These parties were always created to let off the stress the assignments caused to the Operations Section of the Resistance. That included heavy drinking, gambling, brawling and even some activities that concerned sexual intercourse with someone with a specific profession. ¡°Noah, what if I told you that we acquired a lot of details in the past month? I mean ten times more than usual. Something is happening. We either take the chance or be killed.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the Resistance is under surveillance?¡± ¡°Or the structure of the state is rotting away.¡± ¡°None of them is good. I, personally, would not want Tyronne to be killed by some grasping idiots.¡± ¡°Well, I want to cut open his belly and hang him with his intestines, but that will not happen. The Captain will make the choice.¡± Mia was observing them, overhearing these statements, in the distance since she had nobody to talk with. While she was eating she overheard a conversation about the Migration that happened some centuries ago. ¡°People came from the Outlands, you know. This territory was uninhabited before them.¡± ¡°Some say that the Outlands is not a valid place to live. The Cataclysm branded the soil, and people went nuts.¡± ¡°Nobody wanted to die of starvation. My family said that the catastrophe destroyed the food sources, so people had nothing to eat at all. They formed groups and tried to find a place that was hospitable, and this was the only habitable region on the continent¡­¡± ¡°Was this land the epicentre of the Catastrophe?¡± she asked herself. Then she heard that the subject was suddenly changed to the topic focusing on the delicate parts of the feminine gender. Vale was not present, Noah was chatting with Eric and Jack was managing the inn. She was just as lonely if she was in her room by herself. Her belief of not being a true member was stronger than ever. A sudden fear of isolation emerged from the shadows of doubt and uncertainty rendering the girl whiter than a dove in the company of pigeons. Not like she wanted to be in the Resistance so desperately. She did not want to be alone. As the time was passing by, her fatigue increased every moment. ¡°I guess I have had enough.¡± She went back to her room. Noah saw her disappearing in the crowd, so he stood up and said farewell to the drunk Eric, who was speaking gibberish and almost lost his consciousness. ¡°Do not fuck horses, their kick is heavy.¡± Following the girl, he dashed through the intoxicated crowd causing several of his teammates to praise his excellence in defecation. After taking the stairs, he gently knocked on her door. ¡°It is me, Noah. My superior got drunk again and I grew bored, but I did not see you around. I thought you would be here.¡± ¡°You can come in, no courtesy required.¡± ¡°Duly noted.¡± He entered the room. ¡°Can I ask you something?¡± asked Mia gazing at the sensation of the Lower City lights. ¡°Sure.¡± he sat down on the bed carefully. ¡°How can I be so useless? I cannot even socialize at a party like this.¡± ¡°You are not, and believe me, you should exclude these people from your social sphere of influence. What is the reason of your sadness and solitude?¡± ¡°I am afraid to lose you two.¡± Replied Mia almost crying. ¡°Remember what we did four years ago, before the Resistance was formed? We managed to take down the leader of the Vanguard and got away with it.¡± ¡°I was shaking with fear. Why can¡¯t you just forget what happened and live happily with me, Jack and Vale? You are the only ones I have.¡± She was sobbing. ¡°Concerning the fact that my family was murdered and Vale was dumped, it¡¯s only natural. We have done so much for the people lately. Achieving this goal will be our salvation from the dread of being eradicated at any moment in our lives. I am fighting for my family, for you, so that you could live a happy life. You know what? When I find James I will introduce you to him so that you would not feel so lonely these days. He is a decent fellow with blonde hair and golden eyes. You might have fancied him.¡± ¡°I¡­ I might say that I might be¡­ interested. If you stop going on suicide missions.¡± She stuttered. He stepped beside and embraced her. ¡°Everything is as good as it is and will be. I would go mad without you. I like you the way you are. I love the way we are.¡± As they sat in awe of the combination of the night sky full of stars and the man-made city of stone and artificial lights, a tear rolled down Noah¡¯s face. Edgar’s Supplementary Chapter ¡°It is hard to be an archbishop.¡± explained Edgar, an old man, who was about seventy years old. His white beard was long, but combed, along with his hair, which was similar in its qualities. He had a hammer shaped pin fixated on his white robe. ¡°How so?¡± Responded the abbot, a useless pawn, who can barely attend his daily tasks. His profession was equivalent to a concierge. ¡°If you work hard, there are a lot of cases where you have to calculate the exact values of the tokens so that you could exchange them equally. It is basic math, but it is hard when you work alone. My direct subordinates follow my tendencies to be devoted to work, but others show no signs of desire to do the same. Also, I have to check on other temples.¡± ¡°Interesting. Yet you are not working right now, you are talking to me instead.¡± ¡°I just came to check on the employees.¡± ¡°I think that is forbidden.¡± ¡°By whom?¡± ¡°The Cardinals.¡± ¡°You still do not want to let me in, do you?¡± ¡°Meh.¡± ¡°I think we started off on the wrong foot. My name is Edgar, Archbishop under the Cardinal of Productivity, and I want to check this temple in his name whether everything is going as it should be or you are repelling the requests of fellow customers. The Archbishops are the personal secretaries of the Cardinals and have to inspect another Cardinal¡¯s sector, which is chosen by a lot.¡± ¡°Eh.¡± Replied the abbot. ¡°Eh.¡± Replied Edgar. ¡±Hmh.¡± Replied the abbot. ¡°Well, if you want me to write a complaint about you, then continue. You might end up hanged or burnt at the stake, if you continue provoking me.¡± ¡°Let me show you the way, sir.¡± His attitude changed from persistent negligence to sudden enthusiasm. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± He was escorted into the hidden chambers behind the wooden counters that resembled Christian confessional booths, but without the walls around the customer. There were four of them in a line along with a door. As soon as he entered, an old acquaintance greeted him with a warm welcome. ¡°Long time no see, my friend. Have you come to check on us?¡± The acquaintance was surprised. ¡°Yes. Nice to see you, old friend. I have not seen you in three years. How is your family doing?¡± Edgar greeted him. ¡°My granddaughter¡¯s husband¡¯s sister died recently. They are down in the dumps.¡± ¡°I am sorry to hear that. Are they still working hard at your son¡¯s shop?¡± ¡°No, they have acquired a small boutique that produces non-uniform dresses. They told me what happened to your grandson. My condolences.¡± ¡°He accepted the risks when he became the leader of the Vanguard. Also, he was the Paragon¡¯s best friend, if not the only one.¡± Said Edgar without any remorse in his voice. ¡°I do not want to insult you, but I would like to know the circumstances, and his father¡¯s mental state, so that I may stop feeling this awful guilt. I haven¡¯t been to the funeral.¡± ¡°Death is only natural, do not feel guilt by any means, please. It was an ordinary patrol when he got separated from his group. He wanted to check on a long abandoned place. Someone taunted him, they almost started fighting then his throat was slashed. My son was furious and, since he was the general of the standard units in the army, he ordered to find these people at once, but the trail was gone. He could not really process his emotions, he took a two years long break from the military. After recovering, he got back his old job. I was devastated first, and resigned from my post as the Cardinal of Productivity to have the time to mourn. But these scars are ours to wield, and nothing returns to its original state. He died while fulfilling his duty, he felt no remorse doing so. That is the only thing that matters.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I see.¡± Replied his friend casually. ¡°I have to go now, I have an audience with the Paragon due to private matters, so I¡¯ll call this a day. It was nice to meet you. I have to come back in two days from now to inform you about the results. We could go out like the old times.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have the regenerative capacity, but I would do my best if you invited me over.¡± ¡°Glad to hear. See you then.¡± He waved and left the temple. This old man travelled to the Grey Palace, as he was invited to the Paragon¡¯s meeting hall along with his son, Edmund, so that Tyronne could mourn with his best friend¡¯s family. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to be a Cardinal again, Edgar? I''d be happy if I could help you. Please state your ambitions for the future.¡± Said Tyronne in complete melancholy. ¡°I am happy with all I have. You should not compensate me for a loss you have not caused.¡± Replied Edgar. ¡°It was my fault, I should have never agreed to his proposal.¡± replied Tyronne. ¡°That is what he wanted.¡± Said Edmund in a mournful attitude. ¡°Try to remember the good things that happened to you when spending time with him. Stop being so resentful. Death is permanent, we all have to accept that. Death is natural, since it is the consequence of being alive. It is a door, whether to an eternal slumber, or carefree perception of another world. And he wouldn¡¯t want you being this sad because of him.¡± Said Edgar. ¡°I have thought about visiting his grave together under the palace. But since Clair has not arrived yet, we have to wait.¡± Stated Tyronne. ¡°That poor gal. She lost the love of her life. She loved my son more than I could ever have.¡± Said Edmund. ¡°You know, I have time now that Nathan has agreed to work overtime. How is your work old man?¡± ¡°Your priests are lazy pices of shit trying hard not to accomplish anything.¡± Replied Edgar, a bit angry, but not too much. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard that before. The Cardinals told me everyone fulfilled their purpose.¡± Said Tyronne in an unsurprised tone. He knew this would happen. ¡°Some of them are having twenty minutes long breaks between transactions, which only last for a maximum of five minutes. They are useless.¡± Reasoned Edgar. ¡°Thank you for the information. You have always been loyal to me. I would be more than happy to bestow my gifts upon you. Both of you. Whatever your heart desires.¡± ¡°Stop this war.¡± Proposed the priest. ¡°I can¡¯t. We have problems with food and overpopulation and I do not want to murder people without any reason. That''s one thing. I didn¡¯t want bloodshed, though. I have sent my ultimatum to the domesman and they did not accept it. I wanted to open transmission between us, and obtain the secret code their science hub holds. That is the most important right now.¡± ¡°Remove the corruption in the higher class and increase the engagement of the gentry and the commoners in government related areas.¡± Proposed the soldier. ¡°I am working to root out the corruption, but I have no intention in employing too much talented people. There is a conspiracy against me even now.¡± ¡°Grant any wishes right? More like denying everything.¡± ¡°Spare those who killed my son.¡± Said Edmund, out of the blue. ¡°What? Why would I do such a thing?¡± ¡°Because I want you to. I have forgiven. An eye for an eye only makes the world blind.¡± Replied the father. ¡°Are you quoting Gandhi?¡± ¡°Yes, I have read all the books you have given to him after he died.¡± ¡°Thank you for honouring me. I accept.¡± The door opened and a blonde girl with sorrow in her brown eyes stepped in. Being attractive, she had many suitors from peasants to newcomers, but her grief would not let her choose anyone except the one meant for her. He died four years ago. ¡°Sorry for being late. I had a fever just until now.¡± ¡°Shall we commence?¡± The party descended into the underground mausoleum of the palace. As he was buried in the ¡®Magnificent Citizen¡¯ section, just upon the industrial hub, they did not have to walk too much. His grave was on the first floor. Everyone stood there in silence, honouring the child, the friend, the lover with all they had. After the ceremony, the statesmen returned to their duties, only the girl remained to mourn in peace. She was allowed to stay as long as she wanted in the palace. ¡°What do you think of the girl?¡± asked Tyronne. ¡°She loved him so much. I can only give my gratitude for giving my son such an experience.¡± Replied Edmund. ¡°I agree, but she shouldn¡¯t spend all her life mourning someone. Edward wouldn¡¯t be happy about it.¡± Replied Edgar. ¡°I have offered her shelter, food and a decent job, but she still wouldn¡¯t accept, but that is none of my business. Do you want to have dinner here?¡± Asked Tyronne. ¡°Yes, I would happily accept that. I have to talk to Nathan about the Eastern Border, and give him some ideas about a possible supply line.¡± Said the soldier. ¡°I am going home. My house is near the Grey Palace.¡± Responded Edgar. ¡°Shall we proceed, my General?¡± ¡°Yes. Good night, father.¡± Said Edmund. ¡°See you old man.¡± Tyronne smiled. ¡°See you. I pray for a safe meeting.¡± Edgar followed the path that leads to the exit of the Grey Palace, then proceeded to the Saint¡¯s Street. When he arrived at a small mansion of remarkable quality, he opened the door, asked the maids to prepare his meal. Since he was a man of faith, he had a sanctuary that was designated to the Virtues and his family members including his deceased grandson. He sat down in front of the altar and started praying. ¡°I will never forget you, the delight of my only son, my only grandson. I saw you being born, I brought you up. I saw you live. I buried you. The time I spent with you was the only joy in my life. See you in the Other World.¡± He fell asleep on the chair awaiting his last judgement. Ethans Supplemetary Chapter ¡°We live in strange times, dear innkeeper.¡± Ethan expressed his feelings about smashing chairs on drunkards to render them unconscious. ¡°They cannot even observe. Can¡¯t they realize that it¡¯s the basis of combat?¡± There were three thugs and two broken chairs on the floor, yet the victim was safe and sound. ¡°Not everyone can distinguish ordinary people from Vanguard Assassins.¡± Said the innkeeper hoping that no more damage would be done to his property. ¡°Have you ever heard of natural selection?¡± ¡°Yes. I overheard a priest and an official.¡± ¡°This was an example of that. Can you give me a bottle of whiskey, please? It is getting late.¡± ¡°Yes, of course. Thirty Vitality Tokens, please.¡± ¡°Are you familiar with the concept ¡®Vanguard Assassin¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, let me tell you, that if you try to conceal my target again, I will cut off your finger one by one, and then I¡¯ll carve your eyes out with them. I have been granted the right to act in the name of the Paragon, and he does not like dishonest people.¡± It was a bit harsh to say these sentences, but he was told to impose fear on disobedient citizens. The way he conducted his bounties was discrete and indiscernible. ¡°I¡¯ll give you thirty-five, the plus is for your frankness.¡± He smashed the tokens on the bar. ¡°Yes, sir, thank you.¡± He muttered in fear. Only state-employed assassins were allowed to kill, mostly to remove the disloyal scum, but if they were endangered, they were free to unleash a berserk. These murderers were fostered to be organic machines, showing no regret or disgrace after slaughtering whole settlements. Yet only three of them remained. They were the masters of melee weapons, including daggers and swords, some preferred long range weapons like pistols and bows. All of them were given equipment resisting radioactivity since most of their weapons emitted radiation to surely remove their targets from the living. Their armour consisted of lead, carbon fibers, and a light but strong material to balance the weight and protection. This uniform was painted black and dark purple which Ethan hated the most. ¡°I am glad you understand. I am searching for a person called Fisting Freddie. I heard he was near the Northern border. He did inconvenient things to people¡­ or I imagine. My mission is to ¡®educate¡¯ someone close by and I heard about this guy.¡± ¡°He arrived yesterday.¡± ¡°Can you show the way?¡± ¡°He is in the second room of the first floor.¡± ¡°If the Tedious Three awakes from their slumber, please tell them to fuck off.¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± Silently climbing the ramshackle that the innkeeper called stairs, was almost impossible to mere peasants, yet he was trained not to be bothered by unfitted problem like this. He hopped up without a sound, which was done by analysing the structure, revealing the spot, where he could minimize unnecessary creaks. Of course, some footwork was also required to reduce the screeches to the necessary lowest value. After gathering information, he knew there was a slim chance to defeat his opponent in hand-to-hand combat, so he tied him up while he was sleeping. ¡°You know, if it was not for you, I would have sent you back to your Merchants without your private parts, scum.¡± Declare the assassin when his captive awoke. ¡°How do you know that I am affiliated with them?¡± ¡°I see your ring and a dead girl by your bed, who has bruises that typically caused by boxers from the North.¡± ¡°Who the fuck are you? Tell me. I want to remember your name after I crush you like a maggot.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you feel you are all tied up? How could you defeat me?¡± ¡°I am the bastard son of the most powerful merchant in Pravislota¡­¡± ¡°Seriously, who the fuck cares? All I heard about you that you make people suffer because of your fetish. So I brought a bottle of whiskey, which will be pushed up in your ass so deep you¡¯ll feel the redemption of all yer victims, you bald frog.¡± ¡°If you kill me, there will be war. I will not let someone scraggy piece of crap destroy me.¡± The ropes were suddenly torn apart and as the outlaw tried to stand up, three knives penetrated his skull. He collapsed, and was, undoubtedly, dead. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to drink the whiskey and will take your ring as an evidence.¡± He cut the ring off the hand along with the organic part, turned around and left the inn of this merry agricultural village.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Preferring to travel after sunset, he could hardly be seen by the road, presenting opportunities to an ambush. He had to draw back to the other settlement nearby, where his target and his master are hoping to spend a lovely night, since they have to leave the state to spy on the Northeners. He changed his uniform into a regular outfit, so that he would not be spotted by his targets. ¡°Who is this Anthony? What did he do? He is eighteen years old, if I remember well, too naive to be a bad guy. I guess Tyronne is purging his staff again. He did something like that when he came to power.¡± Entering the outskirts of the city, he saw the pair moving on, he made haste to be close to them following their footsteps. Being friendly, he shepherded the two towards the local inn, where he bought all the drinks they wanted and rented three rooms for the night. He did not recognize the master, but he was already dead nevertheless. ¡°Who are you? I have not seen you before.¡± He smiled. ¡°We are members of the Recon unit, a very prestigious rank in the military.¡± ¡°I see.¡± He said, but what he thought was ¡°Complete fools, who had no other objectives than hiking and coming up with stories. Recon is important, but these people are sometimes autistic.¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t properly introduced ourselves, have we? My name is Ian, this is Anthony Asinus.¡± Said the master. ¡°I am Trevor. Nice to meet you.¡± Ethan introduced himself. ¡±I am a travelling merchant and obtained a small fortune by selling northern mead to nearby inns. I am happy to accompany two outstanding soldiers, who are to indulge themselves into a dangerous situation for our sake. I think we owe you, who protect this country.¡± but thinking ¡°You¡¯ll die tonight, even though you both seem nice, hard-working people.¡± ¡°That attitude is respectable.¡± Exclaimed the young one. He had very similar characteristics to his father, but his short hair was nut-coloured. The master, on the other hand, was a middle aged man, who knew what would happen if he messed anything up during this mission. Average looking, average hair colour, average intellect, nothing outstanding. Only his hard work had born fruit, which could have resulted in his dream job of managing a station or village far away from the borders. He was out of favour. After the party, the scouts went to their rooms to sleep in a proper bed, which they would not find anywhere in the near future. The assassin followed them. Eventually he entered the room and bashed both of them in the head simultaneously, so that he would have time to prepare. According to the Paragon¡¯s wish, he either had to mask the murder as a Northern provocation or as an attempt to murder officials by the Resistance. ¡°I have killed a Northener recently, I have his equipment.¡± The scheme was set in motion. ¡°Boy, are you alive?¡± ¡°Why am I all tied up, scum?¡± ¡°Ask your father. Look around, your master is missing.¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°If I remember well, I have to convince him that he was attacked by Northeners. So he is off in my room.¡± ¡°What will you do with me?¡± ¡°That depends. Do you have any other questions?¡± ¡°Not like I need any information. I die here, am I right?¡± ¡°Certainly. But it is not your fault.¡± ¡±What?¡± ¡°Your father did something he shouldn¡¯t have.¡± ¡°What will happen after I die?¡± ¡°The Annual Interregional Convergence is on the verge, the state wants to decrease the possibility of a war, or at least tries to bargain a non-aggression pact so that the war with our eastern neighbours would go unopposed. Not like we couldn¡¯t annihilate the Northern Association. They are in no position to attack us right now, they need at least three years mobilize an army.¡± ¡°Am I used as a decoy?¡± ¡°Yepp, and the Paragon wants your father to suffer. But I have a better idea. You vanish. I¡¯ll tell your master that you were kidnapped by the North. The truth is that the Northeners would be happy to acquire another indentured servant, since they would take someone in from the cesspit of society, and let them live in sanctuary. I think if you are humble enough and never show yourself, and give me one of your fingers, then you will be able to continue existing, basically everywhere that is not here.¡± ¡°Why let me go?¡± ¡°I have killed enough promising people already, and you are just a kid. I do not like to kill political targets. Moreover, I do not like to kill. Also, I do not care about your fate, so choose wisely, you only have one chance.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather live.¡± ¡°Goooood boy. Which finger do you want to lose?¡± ¡°Left little finger.¡± ¡°Let me get my stuff. You mustn¡¯t make any noise.¡± He left and came back with a hot knife, and removed the little finger suddenly. The victim almost screeched. Gruesome pain reflected on his face, and almost embraced panic. ¡°Here is some money people use up there, and do not forget to blend in and live a modest life.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± He was released and sent towards his destination. Relocating the veteran back to this room, he started screeching and unwrapping him telling lies about several offenders who kidnapped his apprentice, and that they were similar to northern hired guns. After that he transferred his body back to his chamber and prepared to sleep. His thoughts shifted to Tyronne. ¡°He never asked me to kill a boy before. He really hates this guy, I suppose. But murdering an innocent? This is not like him. I have known him since we were very young. We met at the library when he was an apprentice to an industrialist, who discovered his exceptional talents at an orphanage. He memorized hundreds of books about calculus, political theory and a long dead language¡¯s words. He knew the things I have undergone at first sight. Then we met with Edward, the grandson of a Cardinal and the son of a general. His father took Tyronne in as a ward. When we were seventeen years old the late-Paragon died, he challenged his designated successor and poisoned him with the weapon Edward gave him thus he became the ruler. Years after he stabilized his rule, Edward was murdered, Selena was taken, he had no family, and only I remained. As I have observed, I am the only one he does not treat like inferior person. I know I am his friend, I might be able to do something against it, but I am still a remnant of the previous regime, an assassin he hates to employ. The trainings had been stopped, as he preferred to outplay people by his mind games and subjugation, using everyone around him. I am meant to be a murderer, not a priest. I can only help him this way and I rarely have anything to do.¡± He finally fell asleep on this productive yet unjust day, which he had to endure all the time. James Second Chapter As James opened his eyes, he glanced at the unfamiliar ceiling with a glimmering neon lamp, realizing he was not in the forest. This room was a wet concrete hole, which had almost no furniture except an air vent, a set of mediocre medical equipment, a metal bucket and a bed that could restructure anyone¡¯s spine to a cogwheel. ¡°What the heck?¡± the blonde guest exclaimed furiously. A human-like creature, with its metals clinking, emerged from the shadows, scaring James to death and putting him into a state of frenzy, desperation and dread. He couldn¡¯t apprehend what would happen. Whether he was a subject of a harsh treatment or will be butchered like the Paragon told so. Discovering being bonded to the bed, his emotions grew uncontrollably. ¡°What are you going to do? Kill me? Slaughter me? Use me as lab rat in your cruel researches?¡± said the organic one afraid of being deprived of his life. ¡°On the contrary, Sir, This Unit and Master Charles found you in the forest, unconscious and hurt.¡± responded the pile of metal in a calm manner. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°We mean you no harm.¡± the bot was able to read his surprised facial expression. ¡°We?¡± ¡°My Master will arrive soon.¡± ¡°Your Master?¡± ¡°Master Charles, he is a researcher of robotics, mechatronics and advanced AI and so much more.¡± These were mostly curse words in the State of Virtue. The Nation dismantled all kinds of mechanical imitation of a human being and systematically killed off the experts on the topic. The population were manipulated into the state of being petrified of their immortal counterparts, which were displayed as savage, brutal, immoral, unethical beings, the harbingers of sins, the cursed ones. None of that were true apparently. ¡°So¡­ What are you?¡± ¡°I am a first-generation personal assistant. Being designed and built by a legendary scientist, my existence is justified as a humble servant.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°We found you in the forest unconscious and hurt so we transported you immediately to the nearest outpost.¡± ¡°Where is that?¡± ¡°In the mountains, not far from the Domes.¡± ¡°The Domes?¡± he asked the moment a balding older figure opened the door. His outfit included a blue striped shirt, green trousers with black suspenders and faulty glasses over his brown eyes. James thought he was in his fifties, which he deduced from his grey hair, his elegant walking and the way he talked. ¡°Oh, you are finally awake. What a nice surprise.¡± ¡°Sir, I will leave you two alone.¡± the android removed itself from the conversation and withdrew from the room. ¡°Thanks. So how are you on this gloomy day?¡± ¡°Fine, thank you. My head hurts a little and I do not know where I am, except that I am somewhere in the mountains.¡± ¡°Correct. We are going to take a ride back to A1. We succeeded in connecting all the outposts, so it takes about an hour to travel through the region. Have you ever seen a subway station?¡± ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. We do not have anything like a station in the Capital, and we do not need it.¡± ¡°Interesting. So you lived all your life in the West?¡± asked the scientist. ¡°Are there any more nations around?¡± ¡°If there is West and East, then there is North and South. And another in the mountains which we call The Order. I guess you do not have any kind of education back there. I hope you can read or write.¡± ¡°I can.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± ¡°So what will you do with me now that you know that I am a citizen of a hostile nation?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bring you back, and turn you into my personal assistant. That old pile of trash needs a replacement.¡± ¡°That hurts.¡± The droid replied from outside the room. ¡°I thought you would imprison or kill me.¡± ¡°I am not a barbarian. Look at me, I cannot even swing my arm properly.¡± ¡°Then why did you save me? I could be dangerous to old people like you.¡± ¡°I do not know yet.¡± He lied. ¡°What will happen?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to take some classes on arrival that teaches you some general information, and we will upload your DNA into the database since you don¡¯t have the key gene. I think you are old enough to apply to the class my daughter attends.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Could you release me? This bed is horrible, it makes my back hurt.¡± ¡°It was designed to hold scouts from your nation.¡± He explained while he freed his new apprentice. ¡°I guess I have not properly introduced myself. My name is Charles.¡± ¡°Mine is James. I appreciate your trust.¡± ¡°I have brought you some of my old clothes. There is a bathroom in front of this chamber, so you can use it to have a shower and get dressed after doing your things.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± he moved to the place mentioned before and did all of the above. His waste was due, he stank viciously and the outfit he wore was obsolete. Completing the first two tasks, he put on the red shirt, the black vest and trousers which held a golden pocket watch. This resulted in looking smart and elegant he had never ever been before. They left the outpost and got on a train. Travelling caused James to experience sluggish nausea as he had never been on any kind of vehicle before. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± ¡°I know, but I still feel inconvenient.¡± ¡°Sure, if anything is to come out, there is a litter bin on the right.¡± Several seats, which were covered with synthetic leather, could be found at the sides along and a trash can at the entrance of the car. The inside was coloured white and was gleaming in the light neon lights. It was made of plastic that was extremely elastic and strong compared to other materials of the same cost. ¡°You know, this was my nephew¡¯s innovative idea. I am proud of him. This train is hurled towards its objective with a high speed by accelerating positive ions with electricity. The ions are recaptured after release. It uses some magnetic technology as well.¡¯ Said the native breaking the silence. ¡°I guess you have siblings then.¡± ¡°Had. My only sister died of Memento Mori. Same as my wife.¡± ¡°My condolences.¡± ¡°It was five years ago, I¡­¡± he stopped. ¡°If I remember properly, you have a daughter as well, right?¡± James saved the day. ¡°Yes, I do. She has a difficult personality, but I still love her unconditionally as any father should their child. I think she have not accepted the death of her mother yet.¡± ¡°How old is she?¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Eighteen. And you?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t told about my birthday, therefore I can only guess. About nineteen.¡± ¡°That¡¯s sad. You don¡¯t have a family, do you?¡± ¡°No, I was taken away because my parents were not eligible, or were the enemies of the state.¡± ¡°Not eligible?¡± ¡°Not officials or soldiers. Why would you think that?¡± ¡°Being left behind in a forest near the city presents a lot of clues to your current situation. You might have had a friend to bring you there as you were wrapped in blankets. If you had any parents they would rather hide you in their home, even if you have done something unacceptable or at least that is what I would do. But I do not have the necessary details to conclude anything.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. That was impressive. To say the least, my story starts with reading a book that was forbidden, being sent to jail, where I befriended a fellow criminal. His comrade helped us to escape, but I do not know what happened afterwards.¡± ¡°The automated people-mover has arrived at A1, please leave the cabin at your convenience.¡± Said a recorded female voice indicating the end of their jolly-good journey. The doors unlocked to reveal the modern style of the station. Although it was mostly empty, one or two benches were placed so that the associates of the passengers could sit down and wait. The train delayed itself for you if you applied a ticket at your social appliance device and sent you three warnings to get on the vehicle. After checking on your location and speed, the train could decide to leave if you had no intention to board it. These means of transportation were not very popular, but were very important to people who had to get around the region. ¡°Do you need anything? Just ask. You are not registered in the database yet, so it would be dangerous wandering around alone. If you are not with me, an extermination squad will be dispatched and will hunt you down.¡± ¡°I could use a snack.¡± ¡°If we turn right and take the stairs, there will be a stand with all kinds of meat sandwiches right in front of us.¡± ¡°Meat sandwiches? I have not eaten meat since the festival.¡± He initiated a step towards the stairs. ¡°Festival?¡± ¡°Adequacy Festival. We celebrate everything we have by fucking and eating as much as we can.¡± ¡°That is interesting. Did you fuck and eat?¡± he asked smugly. ¡°I ate a lot, since exceptional food was scarce, the other did not happen. I consider it as an expression of a special bond rather than some mindless instinct.¡± ¡°So there was nobody of your liking?¡± ¡°That is another thing and also not true.¡± ¡°Well, look at that.¡± He exclaimed at the peak of the staircase. ¡°I¡¯ll get my SAD.¡± He took his device out of his pocket. ¡°Wait, how much does the food cost around here? I do not want to worry you financially.¡± ¡°It is free.¡± ¡°What?¡± James was astonished. ¡°Free. The bots do not ask for money or anything. Why would they? I¡¯ll just send an appliance through my device and they will fulfil my orders. The menu is on the stand.¡± ¡°As I see, they have fish sandwiches. I have never had one before.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll order it. The drones will bring it to us.¡± As James inspected his surroundings, he realized he was in a contrasting environment to the Capital. The Sun was shining brightly, one could not observe any signs of clouds in the turquoise sky. The street was full of hexagonal solar panels that were disguised as some regular brick tiles of a fancy square and several trees were planted at the sidewalks. There were two rails at the sides in between the road and the pavement for an object called heaver that used electromagnets to push towards the destination. Its resemblance was similar to a scooter that was equipped with a windshield. Having a self-driving function, it would find its way back to its underground lot at any stations. ¡°I have brought you the sandwiches.¡± Reported a drone floating at the height of a human with a relatively hefty package. Charles gave his SAD to the automatized errand boy for identification while James unwrapped the sandwiches. ¡°Wow, this is delicious. I haven¡¯t eaten anything like that before.¡± Exclaimed the young one as he munched on the rather average sandwich to a domesman. ¡°Yeah, not bad, but I have eaten better.¡± ¡°What¡¯s in this sandwich?¡± ¡°Tuna, pickles, boiled eggs, some ham, salad, tomato, mayonnaise.¡± ¡°Mayonnaise? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°A sauce made of eggs, vinegar and several other things.¡± ¡°This is spectacular. We were given some pretty nasty food back at the quarters. Sometimes I found copper casings in my rolls.¡± ¡°You had to grow up on that?¡± ¡°Yeah. But I am still healthier than my generation.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to to the administration, shall we?¡± He fiddled with his device and two heavers appeared. ¡°Okay.¡± He mounted the vehicle. Some minutes later, they landed at the destination safe and sound. Since James had no means to control his heaver, Charles set it into convoy mode to ensure the arrival of his new assistant. ¡°This is the Government Appliance Section, or GAS for short.¡± Explained Charles as he pointed his finger towards a mediocre-sized but rather extraordinary building. Although the outer edifice was very similar to the blooming buds of a snowdrop, the inner parts were simple office blocks of the Bureaucratic Artificial Intelligence Telemetry that was to manufacture new SADs. Also, there were no jobs for organic lifeforms there, everything was taken care of by machines. Heading through the vast hall of the complex, James realized that it was used as a theatre rather than an administrative complex. There were some booths for gathering personal information and appliance to full citizenship, which needed a reference as a prerequisite for registering into the database entitling you to possess a device of your own. Accepting the constitution, you were given a newly-built or reinstated smart house and literally everything one could dream of. The latter was only available after the validation of one¡¯s identity, of course. The only thing the applicant had to do was to bestow upon the AI some DNA sample, so that they could be registered. Also, nobody could obtain multiple SADs that way. ¡°Just go to the booth, state your name and apply for citizenship. I have given a reference to the Telemetry already.¡± ¡°Okay, anything else?¡± ¡°Your eye colour is strange. Yellow is the rarest outcome. The closest I saw was amber, but your eyes are truly golden.¡± ¡°Do you even want to inspect the colour of the most sensitive part of my manly spectre?¡± ¡°Just go.¡± James approached the booth. ¡°I would like to apply for citizenship.¡± ¡°Give me your hand, Sir. Would you spit into this?¡± The robot handed a cup over. And he spat in it. After some minutes, he was given his very own SAD device. ¡°You were a citizen already, but we haven¡¯t given you a device. You will be given a house in two months. We registered you to our Coming of Age class as your referee requested. Attendance is not compulsory.¡± Said the drone, which was not at all human like. He went back to Charles with his brand new device. ¡°It said that I was a citizen already, but they did not give out any data about me what so ever.¡± Both of them stood there blankly. ¡°Then your parents must have been born here.¡± He murmured. ¡°What else did it say?¡± Replied Charles after a while. ¡°That thing said that I will be given my own house two months from now on. Also, I am requested to attend school to obtain the basic knowledge about this place.¡± ¡°You can live with us, if you want to. Or you can apply to the Dormitory. Your choice.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather accept your invitation. You said something about me being your assistant.¡± ¡°Old Sid needs to be relieved of duty. You know, he is a servant-class personal assistant from the first generation of droids. If you ever need help just broadcast to him. He¡¯ll come.¡± ¡°Okay. How do I initialize a broadcast?¡± ¡°Type in ¡®/broadcast¡¯ and the desired bot¡¯s ID, S-1-500 for instance.¡± ¡°Understood. Will we travel to your house then?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± They took a ride back home. It took some time, since the sun set at the time of arrival, creating an incredible scene for someone who never had a chance to glance at the bare sky. ¡°Come inside.¡± Said the scientist on arrival. ¡°Okay.¡± James stumbled in, noticing the remarkable properties of smart houses. The house were equipped with all kinds of electronics that made life easier, for example everything was connected to your SAD, the heating, the shutter, the computers. Though every room had their own specialty features, the kitchen was one of the most peculiar, where two machine arms were preparing the food the owner asked for. Being on rails, it was fixed on the ceiling. A central controlling unit, or CCU, could be found in the cellar that controls every piece of electronic equipment the house had. The interior of the building was not extraordinary, though. The wall on the other side in front of them was made of glass, which presented a pleasant view of the garden that was maintained by robots designed for gardening plants. The ground floor had three rooms, the living room which occupied two thirds of the whole level incorporating the kitchen, excluding the bathroom and Charles¡¯ bedroom. A staircase crawled up at the left side, eventually turning into a balcony over the living room. The second floor contained three smaller bedrooms, a bathroom, and the workshop, where Charles conducted his research. ¡°Emily, I¡¯m home.¡± screeched the elder. The balcony vibrated of frequent footsteps that suddenly turned into rumbling at the staircase. Soon, Emily¡¯s stylish hair waved in the distance exposing her platinum-coloured locks and black roots. She had seamless skin, defiant and narrow eyebrows, an adorable, small rounded nose, yielding cheeks, a small thin chin all of which together exhibited a beauty incarnate. ¡°You haven¡¯t told me that we are having a visitor.¡± Her blue eyes gawked at the unexpected company of his father in suspicion. ¡°I was away for two weeks. I didn¡¯t know it either. Let¡¯s introduce you to each other, shall we? This is James, my new assistant.¡± ¡°My name is Emily, nice to meet you.¡± ¡°You, too.¡± He replied. Wondering about her intentions of the future, he came upon a scar-like structure at her right iris on the upper border of her pupil blazing in greenish and goldish colours. ¡°How did you find this exceptional specimen?¡± ¡°Stop, Emily, I don¡¯t need you to pester my new employee. Also, that does not concern you, only if he wants to speak about it. He stays here for two months until his house is finished. I gave him the third bedroom upstairs. I think he will attend the same class as you. There is no need to be rude. You only have to bear him for two months.¡± ¡°Two months!? Hmm¡­¡± ¡°I see you are tired, James. If you want to rest, just go upstairs, take the left, and the third room on the right is yours. It is prepared for you along with some clothes and other things you would need.¡± ¡°Thank you. Then I wouldn¡¯t bother you anymore, I am pretty fatigued alright.¡± He set off to his new chamber. ¡°Would you sit down with me, Emily? I have missed you.¡± Charles murmured in the distance. ¡°At least I can rest a bit now.¡± James thought. ¡°This Emily seems to nurture a challenging nature. Charles said that they lost her mother, so she craves for the attention of her father. I assume she hoped to be his next assistant. Why would I be chosen over his only child? Maybe she did conceal her desire so that her father wouldn¡¯t notice.¡± Following the rather trivial direction, he turned up at his new safe haven. He opened the door to observe the habitat he owns for a while. In the eyes of an outsider this room might seem a little extravagant, yet it only consisted of a cosy, white double bed, some bookcases and a wardrobe that was filled out with recently fabricated clothes that were famously fashionable according to his generation. ¡°Well it is time to sleep.¡± Murmured while he lied down on his humble bed. Mias Second Chapter ¡°So what do you want to do today?¡± Mia looked at Vale with a faint of suspicion. ¡°We might go drinking.¡± She replied. ¡°I never liked it. Besides, I am a waiter at a tavern, so it would be difficult to enjoy the atmosphere. And we are still at ours.¡± ¡°Hunting?¡± ¡°No.¡± Declined Mia. ¡°Boxing?¡± ¡°Do I look like a ripped brawler to you?¡± she laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t know then.¡± Racking her brain, nothing else came to her mind. ¡°You could come with me to the public baths. I heard that it is secluded and does miracles to your skin. We might not meet any pricks at the women¡¯s bath.¡± Said Mia enthusiastically. ¡°Eh¡­¡± ¡°Or we could buy some clothes. You seem to only have that particular outfit, and this setup.¡± Vale was in a white shirt and a black skirt. She had several of them, all of which were uniform and had a very cheap, down to earth value. ¡°Eh¡­¡± she frowned. ¡°That is useless by the way. I am happy with these outfits. I don¡¯t like spending money.¡± ¡°We could hike. Then you can hunt as well. The mountains are not far away, only two or three hours by carriage. There is something I would like to show you there.¡± ¡°That is not a bad idea. Will Jack be angry?¡± ¡°I have a day off. I intended to spend the day with you.¡± ¡°Do you think Noah would come?¡± ¡°I doubt it. He had some business up in the city. If I remember well, he was given another mission.¡± ¡°Oh, really? Interesting. He tends to send a message or a signal about those things. Never mind then. I¡¯ll go and pack the essential stuff.¡± ¡°Do we have everything we need?¡± asked Vale. ¡°I guess so¡­¡± Mia got up, and went to the kitchen for food and water, got suitable clothes for both of them. Two rucksacks were found in an old wardrobe, so they had everything they needed except for the shoes. Most of the standard design shoes were of bad quality and was made for urban use. ¡°Well, nobody can leave the city.¡± Jack explained to the chef, and Mia overheard this conservation. ¡°We have to get beer from elsewhere.¡± ¡°Bad idea then.¡± Her eyes filled with disappointment. ¡°So you say nobody can leave the city?¡± ¡°The Paragon stated that it was an emergency and was for the good of the people.¡± Replied Jack. ¡°What did you want to do?¡± ¡°Go hiking. I would have wanted to spend some time with Vale.¡± ¡°A new restaurant has opened at the border of the Lower and Upper City. It is very similar to an Upper Class restaurant, but has less variety and worse food. You might want to go there.¡± ¡°The one that sells weird slimy stuff, right?¡± ¡°They call it fish.¡± Replied Jack. ¡°Are you sure it is?¡± Asked Mia in a doubtful tone. ¡°My acquaintance established the place and assured me that it is safe and delightfully delicious. If you go down the street and take the right at the Siegmund¡¯s statue, then you¡¯ll see its crest.¡± ¡°I only have one question then.¡± ¡°Here is ten Seto.¡± He handed the tokens over. ¡°Who uses delightfully delicious? Thanks.¡± She replied then shouted ¡°Plans changed, Vale.¡± ¡°Why?¡± replied Vale. ¡°Nobody is allowed leave the city. Jack said there is a new restaurant we should go to.¡± ¡°Sounds good. I am getting hungry anyways.¡± ¡°I worked up an appetite as well.¡± ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°If we go down the street and take the right at the Siegmund¡¯s statue, then we¡¯ll see its crest.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get pestered by indecent idiots easily, so you should watch out¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then. We are off Jack.¡± ¡°The smoke is not as thick as it used to be.¡± Said Vale when she left the building. ¡°This is a good day to take a walk then.¡± They wandered towards their detached destination. After five minutes of walk the arrived at the Statue which was in the middle of a phenomenal fountain, which was carved out from marble diligently, sprinkling water on the passengers. The square itself was round and filled with rectangle shaped cobblestones along with some plastic benches. Also, the most important shops could be found here, selling clothes, furniture and food along with the master craftsmen, whose sole purpose was to make affordable, non-uniform products to appease merchants and others, who did not want to waste money on costly commodities or useless mass-produced goods. ¡°Don¡¯t look at that green-eyed snot.¡± Vale exclaimed. ¡°Where?¡± She looked at the ¡®snot¡¯. ¡°Well¡­ Ok.¡± Her head turned away. The guy approached them and said ¡°Hey, girls, may I have a glass of wine with you? I¡¯ll pay.¡± He misinterpreted the signal. ¡°Fuck off.¡± Vale turned around, grabbed Mia¡¯s hand and dragged her towards the restaurant. ¡°Please! I insist, I¡¯ll pay you a second, you might change your minds if you get to know me.¡± His voice became quieter and quieter as they left the square. ¡°Look. That is where we are going!¡± Exclaimed Mia. ¡°It looks a bit run-down.¡± The place was recently bought, so the owners did not have enough money to fully renovate the outside of the building. Customers tend to stay indoors so there was no need to be in a hurry with the repair that might bankrupt the enterprise. Although the base was stone, the whole building was constructed of wood, and had wooden roof tiles as well. Since it was not painted, it was not very pleasant to touch and had a brownish and blackish colour. The front even had a huge window, through which one could see the most of the interior. Despite its appearance the building was completely stable and proper to use anything one would wish to use for. Entering the restaurant, the two could observe round tables and chairs, painted dark brown, which had several wavelength and animal carvings to show off. Some fur carpets were lied down. There was a bar perpendicular to the door, where the fish and other meats were prepared and roasted in front of the customers. The chef and the bartender both were busy at the moment, and a waiter popped up, who was a brown haired maiden, and definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed, to invite the girls in. Her uniform was made of fox pelts and linen with symbols of wolves and other big carnivorous animals ¡°Please, take a seat. Is this your first time here? We offer a great variety of foods including fish and rice.¡± She handed over the menu to the gals. ¡°Thank you. Do you have salmon?¡± Asked Mia. ¡°We are out. Sorry.¡± Replied the waiter. ¡°What fish do you have?¡± ¡°We are out. Sorry.¡± Replied the waiter. ¡°What do you have then?¡± Asked Vale. ¡°We have rabbit with strawberry gravy and rice or bread.¡± ¡°You have elk or deer?¡± ¡°No, but we have recently got some pork from the countryside.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Potatoes?¡± ¡°Out.¡± ¡°What do you have then?¡± Both of them posed the question simultaneously. ¡°We usually import everything from the agricultural sector, but it couldn¡¯t make into the city because of the curfew. Basic dishes I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°You have a very expensive menu as I see.¡± ¡°It is very hard not to get bad quality food, since hunters cannot prey on big game, who fled because of the smoke, but on rodents. The deliveries from the countryside is difficult to get due to the inefficient transport system. Most of our fish is salmon from the North, and some freshwater fishes that are present in the region and available.¡± ¡°Okay. What would you like to eat Vale?¡± ¡°Pork with strawberry gravy with tomatoes and some dumplings, please.¡± Apparently, dumplings meant pasta which had some kind of meat inside. ¡°Same.¡± Mia agreed. ¡°Thank you, any drinks?¡± That referred to alcohol. ¡°No, thank you.¡± They answered simultaneously, again. ¡°So where did you want to go?¡± Asked Vale out of the blue. ¡°Two fifty-ones.¡± The waiter screeched hardly inaudibly in the background. ¡°My parents had a little manor at the base of the mountains. Their graves are there, too. I think the state didn¡¯t take it away due to the fact that the inhabitants were infected. So it is on my name. I could sell it, but nobody would buy it because of the potential danger. Farming is not optional, because of the terrain. Terrace farming costs a lot of money. The territory has no ores whatsoever. So I was wondering what I can do to make money and renovate the manor. What would have my parents done?¡± she wondered aloud. ¡°I haven¡¯t a clue.¡± This was a surprise. They never had a conversation about parents before. Vale knew that it was hard for Mia even if Jack had taken care of her. ¡°Do you have any grandparents?¡± ¡°Everybody has. They died. Father¡¯s family was a farmer family, Mother¡¯s father was a soldier, who died young, so her mother needed to find a job, but she did not want to work at a factory. The two of them were taken in by Pa¡¯s family.¡± ¡°Hmh.¡± ¡°What was before we took you in? I never asked about it.¡± said Mia. ¡°Both of my parents worked in a factory. Father died after the start of the war, mother died in an illness. They didn¡¯t want me to be taken away. I had to live on the streets. I had to pickpocket and do some nasty stuff in order to stay alive. I was an agent of the Shadow Ministry for some time. They paid for every bit of true information, so I eavesdropped and stole papers.¡± ¡°That sounds interesting. But I do not envy you though.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Replied Vale. ¡°No, you don¡¯t.¡± she smiled smugly. ¡°Do you love Noah?¡± ¡°NO!¡± she blushed, and at that moment the waitress came from the bar, bringing the ordered meal to the girls. ¡°This looks delicious.¡± Mia exclaimed and dug in. ¡°Yeah.¡± Vale still felt the aftershock the question caused. ¡°Do you really think I love him? Why do you think so?¡± ¡°You follow him without question, you blush when he complements you, even your eyes shine when you glance at him, not to mention you tend to gaze at him for ten minutes or so. I am not stupid, I made an educated guess.¡± ¡°Ehh¡­¡± ¡°I understand, since he is handsome and has a personality befitting a gentleman. But the vengeance thingy is a bit too much though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s different. It¡¯s not about the looks.¡± ¡°So? You are in love right? It doesn¡¯t matter why you fell in love, only that it is true.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She spilled the beans. ¡°What do you like about him, if not those I previously mentioned?¡± ¡°Remember when we first met him? Jack gave him a room to stay in, next to mine. I saw his anger and I could only sympathize. I tried to help him, but he was depressed at that time, and then Jack helped him shape his personality. I saw his strengths but I couldn¡¯t figure his emotions out. I just wanted to help him so that he wouldn¡¯t be sad again. It is only reasonable to become close with someone whom you want to understand, so I assisted him in everything I could. We trained together, we fought together. Then I realized that he is so much more than he looks like and that was before we matured. What he does, he does it for something greater, something that I can¡¯t even fathom. I feel that if I let him pursue his vengeance alone, he would die, and I cannot imagine a world without him. He is the pillar of my life, my best friend, he is the reason I am, who I am and this I could never forget. His smile, his gestures, his way of thinking, his eyes, his facial expressions, everything about him makes me tremble. I want to support him, see him be acknowledged. I can¡¯t lose him. Not in my life.¡± ¡°Have you tried telling him the way you feel?¡± ¡°He always changes the topic. He blushes and averts eye contact and speaks about our future objectives. I don¡¯t know why.¡± ¡°That sounds like him.¡± ¡°I want him to stop this stupid vengeance and flee. This is unreasonable. I tried to explain the consequences of murder and treason, but he wouldn¡¯t listen. I think he wants to change the nation drastically. I am afraid something will happen soon, if we do not leave the country.¡± ¡°What he does, he does it for something greater, something that I can¡¯t even fathom.¡± ¡°My emotions are stronger than a stupid cause. I love him, I do not want to be his fuckbuddy without any feelings regarding each other. I thought we could persuade him together, if you supported me.¡± ¡°I tried, he denied.¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t confronted him together. He might back off when he hears our statements.¡± ¡°He told me about a guy whom you have had disposed.¡± Said Mia. ¡°He was not a bad person, but I couldn¡¯t let him see our hideout and find out our identity. Who knows what would happen. We are criminals.¡± ¡°Noah wants to search for him.¡± ¡°Eh.¡± ¡°And he wanted to introduce this fellow to me.¡± Continued Mia. ¡°What did he think? You get a slave or what?¡± ¡°Why would I have a slave? Am I that bad?¡± ¡°No, never mind. I am just surprised he wants to find you someone proper.¡± ¡°Have you finished?¡± Asked the waiter impatiently. ¡°Yes. Can we pay?¡± ¡°Sure, that will be nine point five Seto.¡± ¡°Here is ten, consider the rest yours.¡± ¡°Thank you. Have a nice day.¡± She left with the carved, wooden plates which matched to the style of the building. The etiquette was almost non-existent in this part of the Lower City as the shops targeted poor newcomers, who were the newly promoted statesmen, or rich workers who were civil servants or other shopkeepers. The most reasonable was to leave as soon as possible so that the others would have a place to eat. The girls stood up and left the shop. Although they tried their best to evade young males with an annoying attitude, some always found them. They always created a situation that was awkward to start with. ¡°Did you know that the punishment for committing rape is grinding the testicles? The Paragon came up with that to regulate your hairy asses. Stop pestering me or I¡¯ll report your intrusion to the Militia, who will happily execute the sentence.¡± Nobody dared to get close to this violent and grievous gal anymore after this statement. Entering the inn, Noah was sitting at a table, drinking a glass of water while Jack lectured him. The girls tried to eavesdrop. ¡°I heard from my acquaintances that the militia found out who you are. I can¡¯t let them have any of us.¡± Said Jack impatiently. ¡°What will you do?¡± ¡°We, son, we. We head to another country. I¡¯ll talk to Mia and Vale as soon as they come back. You go and pack your things.¡± ¡°Noah, please, listen to him. He only wants to save us.¡± Suddenly, Vale entered the battle against her beloved. ¡°I¡¯ll go, pack, you speak some sense into this boy.¡± ¡°I still have so much to do here that I cannot leave.¡± ¡°What, murdering people? That¡¯s unnecessary and unreasonable.¡± ¡°When did you start doubting me?¡± ¡°Since we were children.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I only wanted to protect you, even from yourself. Don¡¯t be stupid this time.¡± ¡°She is right, you know. You only make yourself suffer. If you did not notice, she only wanted the best for you, you selfish bastard. She is more important than your pride.¡± Mia added a comment. She enjoyed lecturing him, since it was a rare event. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I wanted to tell you several times, but you avoided my emotions. I love you, you idiot. I want to save you. You won¡¯t be living in the near future, if you keep doing this.¡± Explained Vale. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Remember what Eric said?¡± ¡°Stop being so conceited selfish little bitch, Noah. Think for yourself, not for your father, who died years ago. Forget it already. You are too young to die, anyways.¡± Mia quoted in the background. ¡°I see.¡± Replied Noah anxiously. ¡°I want to hear your thoughts.¡± Said Vale. ¡°Where would we go? This is our home and I want to fight for it.¡± Fire ignited in Noah¡¯s eyes. ¡°Fight? You¡¯ll get killed. You cannot fight if you are dead. The state is oppressing everyone, who dares to do anything.¡± Vale had it withered away. ¡°Oppressing the people is not something we should accept and live with.¡± He tried to reignite. ¡°Some people needs it.¡± Replied Vale, throwing a bucket of water at his fireplace. ¡°We could just move to any other nation. They all serve their purposes. We could go East.¡± Jack shouted from another room. ¡°What if you succeed, Noah?¡± Vale asked. ¡°I¡¯ll be the Paragon, and make a state where everybody is free.¡± ¡°That is not how it works, you know.¡± ¡°Well then, tell me.¡± At this point, only Vale and Noah argued. ¡°You die, they are too many. Dying is worthless. Do not fight for a system, whose specialty is torturing and oppressing people. It is all right to flee.¡± ¡°The army is at the Eastern border.¡± ¡°We go South.¡± Jack shouted again. ¡°You can¡¯t do it alone. So forget it. He has too much control.¡± ¡°I need no one. I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°I can make this work.¡± ¡°STOP. You are coming with us, like it or not. We will search for James, too.¡± ¡°Wait, what? You remember his name?¡± ¡°I am not an asshole, Noah, I had to be careful. You wouldn¡¯t let me if you didn¡¯t agree.¡± ¡°He might be dead, so that doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°You know, Jack took you in for a reason. You were suffering, alone, dying. And now you do not care? Who are you? When did you get so fanatical? You do not even see what¡¯s important and what¡¯s not. You shouldn¡¯t care about people as long as they do not care about you. You should attend your family. Jack lost his, to that extent that only Mia remained, and then we came along. We do not want you run away all the time, just this once. You can come back in ten years and do what you want. You still have lots of time. Just come with us. Save yourself, do not die for nothing.¡± While Vale was talking Jack came out of the room. ¡°Stop, stop. I had enough. I give up. Jeez, you are tough.¡± ¡°Go, get packing, I¡¯ll go and ¡­¡± suddenly, the door was crashed, and the militia rushed in. ¡°Freeze. By the order of the Paragon, arrest those two.¡± He meant Vale and Noah, not the others. ¡°That rhymed¡­¡± ¡°No way I¡¯d let you.¡± Jack was almost on rampage. ¡°Get the fuck outta here.¡± The youth withdrew, while Jack assaulted the militiamen with a frying pan. After bashing two in the head, Jack went for the leader, who unsheathed his sword and cut right through the pan and his chest. ¡°Jack, JACK.¡± Mia saw how he was wounded. She froze, while the others dragged her and tried to escape, but the whole building was surrounded. ¡°You do not even deserve a capital punishment, Filth.¡± The leader exclaimed and started laughing. ¡°Get those three, I want to see them in shackles. Empty the building, take the valuables.¡± Mia freed herself and tried to approach Jack, who was bleeding out, but she was taken as a hostage. ¡°Come out or I¡¯ll blast her head.¡± The leader had a magnetic pistol that discharged the bullet at an incredibly high speed. It was forged from steel, and had a copper eagle engraved on the receiver. ¡°Go.¡± exhaled the crying Mia. The militiamen brought the others out of the kitchen. ¡°Let¡¯s see whether you are the man in the Monolith or you are free as man.¡± ¡°What? Are you having a stroke or what?¡¯ Noah cried out desperately, since he did not understand what he was talking about. ¡°I mean stop being a self-pretentious freedom fighter. Your mates arrested.¡± ¡°You stupid fuck¡­¡± Noah barked, they are were put unconscious, so that the militia could escort them to the Monolith without any resistance. Tyronne’s Second Chapter ¡°What is it, Nathan?¡± The Paragon asked his servant, while he was gazing at the city from his palace¡¯s balcony. ¡°Your plans have been executed.¡± ¡°Results?¡± ¡°Graham and the Conspiracy have been compromised, the Resistance is partially captured. They really had confidence in their Captain after all, and some went missing, probably evading the militia.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He turned around. ¡°How many do I have to purge?¡± ¡°About a quarter of your staff.¡± ¡°Will decimation work?¡± ¡°I think so. We only have to persecute the top of the hierarchy and some others to show example.¡± ¡°I want to talk to them. Are they in the Monolith?¡± ¡°No, Sir, they are in house arrest.¡± ¡°House arrest? Gather them and schedule a public execution for tomorrow. I¡¯ll have our audience be the executioner. A justified lynch is all we need.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He stepped back. ¡°Bring me Graham.¡± Nathan could feel Tyronne¡¯s scorching hatred. Nathan nodded. ¡°I knew you would ask for that. I have prepared him for you, he is at your doorstep.¡± ¡°Come in then.¡± A miserable man stepped in, a shadow of its former self. His hair was abominable, his clothes reflected mere simplicity and was too filthy to be proper in the government¡¯s headquarters. ¡°Look at you, you are disgusting. Should have accepted my offer, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°What is the meaning of this? Why am I in shackles? I demand an explanation.¡± ¡°Because you were plotting against me, obviously.¡± ¡°That is not true, I swear, I just wanted to shut them down and change their minds. The Paragon will take everything from you, so stop this nonsense, I said.¡± ¡°Lying will not help you. The reason I wanted to talk to you is that your son was kidnapped.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tyronne saw the dismay filling his conceited heart. ¡°By the North, if I remember well, he is a slave in a gold mine. I could launch an invasion if you stayed put and accepted my offer, but I would not risk a war before the Interregional Convergence without a casus belli. It is not suitable to rescue the son of my enemy.¡± ¡°But he is Selena¡¯s brother. I beg you¡­¡± the old man cried. ¡°I contacted her and told the truth. You wanted to overthrow me, and he was kidnapped. So you must die, and he stay where he is because of that. She cannot save you anymore, old faggot. Put him in a cell, he¡¯ll lose his head by tomorrow as the symbol of my legitimacy. The others are to face the crowd. Except the Cardinals, they are to be killed silently, we do not want an uproar now. Tell them they died of a sickness and have them buried under the palace.¡± ¡°Yes, Paragon.¡± his staff hurried to complete the task he gave out. ¡°The Grand General arrived, sir.¡± Announced his guards. ¡°Let him in.¡± Commanded Tyronne. ¡°Your Grace. I have heard about the blasphemous deeds to remove you from power.¡± ¡°Did you come to check on me, Edmund?¡± ¡°I want to thank you for the promotion.¡± ¡°It is only natural. You did well.¡± ¡°How did you capture the Conspiracy and the Resistance?¡± ¡°I have given them fake information and started to battle against each other. The Resistance thought they could kill high value targets, the others thought that was going on a trip under cover to examine the army.¡¯ ¡°I understand. It was an excellent plan.¡± ¡°Not really, but both of them were stupid and greedy. Many of them died as well when I moved the militia in. So I have to fill the vacant positions, now.¡± ¡°Is that why I have become the Grand General?¡± ¡°I wanted to give the title to you a long time ago, but the late Joachim was hard to make a traitor. He had unwavering loyalty to himself and he knew what would happen if things would go wrong. He killed ten of my men before going down.¡± ¡°Well, you know that I am your ally, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course. We have to go and check on the army, including the introduction of the new Grand General.¡± ¡°Your request is humble, we can start our journey right away. Most of the armies are stationed at the Predator Valley.¡± ¡°I guess Joachim was doing everything but his job. There was no breakthrough since the start of the war. He only sent raid groups to plunder the countryside.¡± ¡°He had never listened to me, but since I am the Grand General, we could pull it off. Could we build tunnels?¡± ¡°Yes. But that would use a lot of resources. I¡¯d rather you did something else.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Could you prepare my coach? I hope it is charged.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir, we have prepared it for you, just in case.¡± Tyronne and Edmund ventured to the coach, which resembled an electric car, and was designed by the Paragon himself. The structure was created of aluminium and covered by wood. The coating was made of burgundy coloured velvet which was ornamented with gold symbols resembling ivy. Although it could be mistaken as a vehicle from three centuries ago, the equipment inside was contemporary. Electric motors drove the coach and batteries were the finest. Those could last several weeks without charging. Arriving at the Valley, they were greeted as the new Grand General and his assistant. Tyronne knew what would happen if he popped up randomly at the army. He was a role model to the regulars and the professionals alike, causing a combination of fervour, disarray and euphoria that would render the soldiers unable to fulfil their duties. He wore a mask just in case. ¡°Let us begin the formal introductions. I am Edmund, your new Grand General.¡± The officer shouted at the assembly displaying a dominant, earnest and invigorating attitude. Tyronne was bored with all these formalities, so he gathered the remaining head officers and generals, inviting them to the new Head of the Army¡¯s tent. After the speech, he visited his new residence. He knew that Tyronne would invite the others over, so he started making plans how to breach the machines¡¯ defence without losing half of the army and lots of resources. ¡°We have two options. We either get around the mountains, which can be done through the Northern Association¡¯s territories or the Districts¡¯ territory, North and South or we false attack and retreat several times to lure them into and open fight.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°I have other matters to attend to, I¡¯ll leave you here. Do your best, officers.¡± He walked back to his cab and left for the Capital. ¡°I have a lot of paperwork to fill, and I have to take a shit. I cannot do that in front of these people.¡± After entering his cab, he started thinking. ¡°He is the only one capable of defeating them. If I remember well, he believes in uniformity in the army, meaning he would have the same set of equipment, tent, food and any commodities, blending in with the soldiers, improving their morale. Also he asked for new motorized and mountaineer equipment. He wants to increase armours in the army that has electric engines and shoots acidic bullets. Also, he has requested scoped rifles and thick clothes for two squads that would operate as sharpshooters to eliminate any threats and report on the enemy. These weapons had a special stock that converts mechanical force to electricity, which can come from movement and recoil. My engineers created AC guns to overwhelm the machines. A battery is attached to the receiver of the bolt-action rifle that charges the bullet, which consists of a tungsten head to penetrate their armour and a fluid, which is charged with electricity and holds it as alternate current that cooks the circuits of a robot on impact. Since it¡¯s a prototype, we have both standard gunpowder based calibres and ammo that needs electricity and magnetic forces to be launched.¡± The carriage stopped at the entrance of the Grey Palace. ¡°We have arrived, Your Grace.¡± Claimed one of his new personal assistants. ¡°Stop calling me ¡®Your Grace¡¯, I am not a monarch. A simple ¡®Sir¡¯ is enough. Will you take care of the coach?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± ¡°Ehhhmm¡­ Who is that kid over there, crying?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know. He¡¯s been doing it for two hours now. Some of the maids tried to ask about his problems. His father was killed recently, her mother died long time ago. He is alone. His family was not rich.¡± ¡°Was not he stripped away?¡± ¡°Apparently, his father was a retired militiaman, who was rendered useless after his back broke in a fight at a festival. He served as a hunter after rehabilitation, but was eviscerated by a gang, which was recently formed, when he did not pay protection money. They had a house at the outer part of the Lower City. My cousin knew his father, so I wanted to ask you to help this little guy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can. Tell Nathan he has two days to remove the gangs. Gut the leaders, hang the others.¡± Tyronne approached his subject, who was about six years old, had red hair and blue eyes and had similar characteristics to the six years old Tyronne. He wore simple clothes, mostly used, but one could deduce that the father was taking care of the child, since he was properly washed and fed. ¡°Hey, kiddo, why are you crying?¡± ¡°Father told me to run here. He was speaking to three big men. He haven¡¯t showed up yet.¡± he sobbed and told his story stuttering. ¡°Poor kid¡± he thought. ¡°Who is your father? What is your name?¡± ¡°I am Seamus, son of Alfred.¡± ¡°Would you like to come to the Palace?¡± he invited him over. ¡°The Paragon¡¯s? He might help Father!¡± Tyronne realized he was not informed about his father¡¯s death. ¡°What do you think of him?¡± ¡°He is the man! Strong, virtuous, embodiment of intelligence.¡± Knowing that the second part was straight from a priest¡¯s sermon, he was not really satisfied with the reply. ¡°Well, I have to tell you that I¡¯m the Paragon.¡± ¡°Really? I thought you would be stronger.¡± He smiled at him. ¡°Don, will you prepare a room and proper clothes for this little man?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± Tyronne lifted his guest and entered the palace. He showed him around, since the kid was a resident, until someone would adopt him. Tyronne knew how horrible it was not to have parents to rely on, he tried to ease the little one¡¯s life by giving him another chance. He had a chance to visit all the Paragon¡¯s ministers, and introduced the child to the ministry wing of the palace along with tremendous amount of bedrooms to cope with the needs of all the staff and servants. ¡°I have several ministers, who awaits my command. The chancellor, who is my right hand, the Grand General, who leads my armies, the Overseer, who helps me gather information, the Camerarius, who is in charge of buying and selling, the Knights, mayors of the Capital, the Servant of Justice, a righteous man, and the Champion of People, who cares about the people outside the city.¡± Tyronne introduced him to all his subordinates. After the tour, they sat down somewhere to talk a bit. ¡°So you are six years old? What a man! You¡¯ll be a Vanguard in no time, I am sure.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. Daddy will be proud, right?¡± ¡°He don¡¯t want me a soldier.¡± He said sorrowfully. ¡°I might need help in other duties like speeches. I hope I can count on you.¡± After the chit-chat, he said goodbye to the little fellow, who was put in the care of the maids serving Tyronne tirelessly. ¡°I have to work.¡± Moving to the Minister¡¯s Chamber, he called together the Council of Ministers to prepare for the Interregional Convergence. ¡°As I see everyone is here, except for Edmund. Good. Report.¡± ¡°Ethan obtained something useful, I sent it to your chamber.¡± ¡°Will it be safe to go?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The Overseer replied. ¡°We have just removed the Resistance and the Conspiracy. The Order of the Underworld wouldn¡¯t do a thing. We will be their guests, their leader just died, so they have no time to set anything up. They have their own turmoil ravaging.¡± ¡°That name is too edgy.¡± He thought. ¡°What about the Vault? That is our most important objective.¡± ¡°We are currently working on a project that could open it.¡± ¡°Any details?¡± ¡°It is said that the lock of the vault is biometric. So we figured out how to make a key, but we do not have the necessary information to produce the key, yet.¡± ¡°How much time?¡± ¡°Much.¡± ¡°Do we have enough?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± ¡°Until I do not return, I give you the assignments you have to do. Nathan, govern and tend to Seamus. By the way, he is our guest, and a very promising little chap. If someone hurts him, I¡¯ll have them raped. Camerarius, you should deal with the priests, who do not like to work, and the appointment of new, virtuous Cardinals. Servant of Justice, speak with Nathan about the gangs present in the city. Velvet, you should give out gifts to the loyal upper class citizens. Linen should focus on the removal of the slums appeared at the city walls. Find some talented and loyal people. The Overseer knows what to do. Champion, you should organize some festivals in the countryside. Are we done here?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± They said simultaneously. Having discussed everything important, the council was dismissed and Tyronne returned to his bedroom, attended chamber business, and sat down to his table, which was full of documents as ever. It was not an easy task to suppress potential revolts and punish members of the higher strata efficiently and simultaneously. He had to take away all their possessions, redistribute a little to placate the others and find the people capable of being obedient and who would be competent replacement of the traitors, then give them wealth to keep them content. A maid knocked on the door. ¡°Sir, there is someone who would like to thank you.¡± The kid he picked up at the streets ran in fearlessly, with a smile that displayed happiness and excitement felt after meeting with one¡¯s role model. ¡°Hey, kiddo. Have you had dinner?¡± The sun already set after he came back from the miserable meeting. He had no appetite, since he had neglected his duties before and wanted to do the paperwork he should have days ago. ¡°Not yet. Will you come with us?¡± the Paragon nodded, stood up and followed the maid, who sent another one in advance to inform the chef about his and his ward¡¯s desires. No maidens were present at the dining room on arrival, and Tyronne let the kid sit down at his designated place. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°Amazing!¡± ¡°I have ordered a rabbit just for you.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten that yet.¡± ¡°Really? I think you will like it.¡± The staff brought the rabbit and some rice for the little one, and some potatoes for the lord who had some problems with his digestive system. He hated potato, especially badly cooked ones. ¡°What does oral mean?¡± ¡±When you take ¡­ Uhm ¡­¡± He stopped for a moment to rethink the sentence. ¡±When you have to speak about a topic in the school. Where did you hear that?¡¯ ¡°Miss Mimmy spoke with another lady.¡± ¡°Well, do not concern yourself with anything like that.¡± He signalled the butler and whispered ¡°If anyone speaks like that around the house in the presence of our valuable guest, I¡¯ll cut their tongue out myself. Tell them.¡± The butler only responded with ¡¯Yes, Sir.¡¯ and hurried away. ¡°I have prepared a big room for you, next to mine. It has a double bed, new clothes and a desk. Can you read and write?¡± ¡°Father teached me some. Anyway where is he?¡± ¡°He has some business to attend to. He told me to take care of you. Would you like to learn new things starting tomorrow?¡± ¡°What new things?¡± he asked being astonished. ¡°I thought you could help me with counting and writing. Would you like that?¡± ¡°I like helping, yes!¡± ¡°Very well. After you finished your meal, you should go to sleep. Someone will escort you there.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°I have to go now, good night.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± Withdrawing to his chamber, he wanted to continue doing the paperwork. He continued to do so until the sun rose. Sometimes he slept three hours, then he continued working all day next day. When Nathan rushed in, the time was close to noon. ¡°We found the murderers who claimed the life of many, including Edward. They are in the Monolith along with other Resistance members and a waiter who helped them organizing their meetings.¡± ¡°Did any harm come to them?¡± ¡°Zenon started to interrogate them just now.¡± ¡°Who told him to?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°WHO TOLD HIM TO?¡± ¡°I did, I thought you would want that.¡± ¡°Damn, next time ask me, please, if you want to keep your fucking head. We¡¯ll deal with this later.¡± ¡°Sir, they killed your best friend. I thought you might want to see them dead.¡± ¡°Edmund asked for their absolution. And I think I have a use for them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. All you longed for since then was to see the perpetrators being tortured. We started to prepare them for that purpose and wanted to surprise you.¡± ¡°Send a message to that idiot to cease his actions. If any harm comes to them, he will be held responsible.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it. Stop nagging and obey my commands already.¡± He turned around, put on a coat and ventured forward to the Grey Monolith. Leahs Supplementary Chapter ¡°No, I do not want to. I have no intention to destroy my career as a piano virtuoso.¡± Leah was having a lunch with a district representative at a beautifully ornamented restaurant. Oak chairs and carved tables could be found throughout the building, including the balcony, from which you were able to observe the street. ¡°You are the perfect candidate. You were able to put off a great play and you are still twenty.¡± ¡°Everyone has to, before being given a certificate.¡± ¡°You have a charisma.¡± ¡°Still, I do not want to destroy my life by becoming a politician.¡± ¡°Work is work, which will always be significant. If you choose to be statesman, then you will be given a lifetime of adventures.¡± ¡°Adventures that nobody likes, not even me? Why did you become a representative? I know politicians are hated no matter what. A lowly job for lowly fellows. They do not even have any authority except the right to fix faults, improve life quality and administrate.¡± ¡°I did not excel at arts or recreation, only in talking.¡± ¡°But I do.¡± ¡°That is why we want you to be an envoy. It is more prestigious.¡± ¡°If I accept and come back, the citizens will brand me. People think that politics excludes talent, so I can say goodbye to concerts and fans forever. Nobody would come, nobody would cherish me. Even my parents would flinch at me with hatred and disgust.¡± ¡°We thought if a renowned artist such as you would go to be an envoy to the Annual Interregional Convergence, then people would stop detesting this profession. It is important to address issues, but everybody is a coward, who flee from the slightest problems of society and suppress those who try to find a solution.¡± ¡°I am not renowned.¡± ¡°You have written a play.¡± ¡°So did everyone to get their certificate.¡± ¡°I failed, you didn¡¯t. That is why my status is lower than yours. That is why I am a politician. Some have to be the worst to provide for the people even if they do not acknowledge you. I¡¯d say that you have the talent to endure and be the best.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°We tried to hold a referendum about it, nobody but us, the representatives voted. About seven people.¡± ¡°Nobody would sell me anything.¡± ¡°They are prohibited to segregate politicians.¡± ¡°I have seen it a dozen of times. The police wouldn¡¯t care to control them.¡± ¡°Because nobody would testify.¡± ¡°We would like to hold another referendum to elect an artist to become the envoy. We would also say that if nobody participates, the country will withdraw from the Convergence and bear the consequences.¡± ¡°So you would intimidate the people so that they would vote and you would destroy another¡¯s life by nominating. What a pleasant people you are.¡± ¡°We have no choice.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you go?¡± ¡°Since I am the only official in the Art District, I have to do my job, since I have to do the work of hundreds of people. Shame, but this is true for all the other districts as well. My inferior told me that he would substitute me while I talk to you.¡± The inferior is the supervisor of the representatives.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°I can recall that guy. His eyes told me a story of sorrow and dismay, and I do not want to be like that. Even though workers, who are unable cultivate art, are given anything if they have their certificate, and they are always given, everyone in the government sector is forbidden to use that privilege. What if we do not send anyone?¡± ¡°The Order will purge the nation, and destroys every defects of this nation and creates a satellite state. Everyone will be asked not to interfere. This would be an insult that nobody would forgive. They are working for a more peaceful and more prosperous future.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask the one you tend to send?¡± ¡°He died three days ago in a heart attack.¡± ¡°My condolences.¡± ¡°No successor was found. What do you think what will be if do not attend? All will suffer.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you disguise someone so that nobody would know who goes?¡± ¡°No. It is against the laws. A politician must be recognizable.¡± ¡°If your boss does your job, why do not you go for it?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t, I told you we all have to oblige the endless paperwork.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t there anyone waiting to be persuaded by you?¡± ¡°Your play was the best, not to mention that you are kind of a renowned pianist as well.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°I think I have to make the decision. You are nominated to become the envoy, nobody else and it will be an emergency election, so everybody has to vote. I do not care about your objections. You have to save this nation no matter what.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Hmmh¡­¡± ¡°Do I have to?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± ¡°Well, fuck¡­ Why me?¡± ¡°I have told you my reasons.¡± ¡°Then tell me about the duties of the envoy.¡± ¡°You will be given the right to vote in the name this country. You¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°This is very nice of you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about it either. You¡¯ll have to talk about it with the supervisor. I guess you have to solve all the present crises, like the war between West and East.¡± ¡°That will brand me.¡± ¡°Hope not.¡± ¡°Nobody would say a word to me if I accepted.¡± ¡°I do. I was more than happy when you accepted my request.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I hoped you would understand as you did not turn me down. You are tolerant, you are sociable, charismatic and talented. Please, approve our nomination.¡± ¡°I have to think about it.¡± ¡°I should get back now. I have a duty to hear out the population¡¯s problems and solve it. I know they are just using us, but hey, I do not mind. Be yourself then.¡± He got up, and exited the restaurant in a haste. He left some money on the table, which had absolutely no value, not to leave his fellow countryman in a tight situation. Barter trade was present in this nation, but some people was given Favours, which represented money, with which you could appeal to the politicians and juries. The police¡¯s, lowly people¡¯s and workers¡¯ payment consisted of some food, the right to ask for any kind of reasonable goods and many Favours. The citizens considered money to be an abysmal abomination that would lead to the monopolization of state and power hunger. It depends on the people to choose whether it is bravely or cowardly to build a system of power that rules supreme without the consent of the people to improve their situation. This backfired too many times in this region, losing faith in politician who became the object of public ridicule and hatred. It did not matter if they were needed, people just hated the idea of someone abusing their power. ¡°What if I was destined to be the envoy? Should I prepare a campaign? What is it I have to do to win the people¡¯s consent? Are they afraid? I knew bad things ended twenty years ago, but we are a completely different generation now. We have to change in order to stay alive, don¡¯t we? Does it have to be me to change the people? Are they so ignorant? If I try only they can change their mind set, I cannot. They might see me a potential dictator. But I have to try right?¡± She stood up, paid the bill with those Favours and ran to the Representative¡¯s Office in the district. Knocking on the door, the representative let her in and offered a seat. ¡°Did you change your mind?¡± ¡°I hope I won¡¯t regret. Although I have some conditions.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A proper campaign.¡± ¡°Definitely not. I will not have you organize your public execution.¡± ¡°Then let me talk to them after the Conv.¡± ¡°That is different, you have to do that anyways.¡± ¡°I think this is unacceptable. We need a system before we destroy ourselves.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°All the others have it, we mustn¡¯t fall behind. We might be able to forge weaponry and decorate them to encourage the folks. We might be able to create a proper government that can address issues and provide safety to its people.¡± ¡°Do you accept being nominated?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well then we¡¯ll hold the referendum tomorrow.¡± The representative sent a message to his colleagues to stop searching for a nominee, and start arranging the election that hadn¡¯t taken place for twelve years. Both of them had positive intuitions towards the election, and Leah would not be bothered by other people¡¯s opinion. No matter what she will endure and push forward to a better, more reliable and prosperous future. Ivans Supplementary Chapter When Ivan entered the classroom, all the students stood up to honour his presence. They were born to affluent families, so did Ivan, who was about thirty, yet he functioned as a teacher for the time being. He graduated at this school, which had specialized in commerce and politics and was established by his father, a member of the merchant council, Dimitri Bogatstvy, one of the richest merchant in the North. ¡°Thank you, sit down. We will talk about the customers and the way we should influence them to buy. Do you know anything about it?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll buy what they want.¡± ¡°Sure, good joke. We have to make them think they can do that. This needs a particular object, a desired necessity. Let me tell you an example. Our nation is based on commercialism, which means we try to get as much money as possible from the population, while making them content. So the first thing we did was incorporating books into the guild and making statues and other junks to sell to the people, who had emotional connection to these items and gladly bought many of them. You can sell useless items as well, just establish a link with your customers. The system¡¯s basic rule is where there is need there is money. You can establish brands to increase your revenue. Prestige and comfort does only good to the merchant.¡± ¡°What if I wanted to open a restaurant?¡± ¡°You should focus on quality. It is the most important aspect of a restaurant to provide expensive and remarkable exotic food. Do not forget about competition. The guild set a minimum so that nobody could gain a leverage.¡± ¡°How can I influence someone without lying?¡± ¡°Never lie but do not tell the whole truth.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°You try not to talk about the bad qualities of your products. You can talk about the good ones, but only if it is true. If I had a house, how could I sell it if rats lived in the cellar? You do not talk about it. ¡°What if they ask about it?¡± ¡°Talk about it a little, then avert the topic. You definitely do not want to show the cellar.¡± Someone knocked on the door. ¡°I am sorry, Ivan, to disturb you in class, but a messenger came from your father. Looks like it is very urgent. I¡¯ll substitute you.¡± ¡°Okay. We are at twenty, twenty-nine.¡± He rushed to the messenger, who was waiting in the garden of the institution. ¡°Your father wants to have a word with you, sir, about the Convergence.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with me?¡± ¡°He said if you ignore him again, he will marry you off to another family, and you¡¯ll have to pay the cost of the first half of your education as well.¡± ¡°Where is that old goatfucker?¡± ¡°At his mansion, the one near the Guild House.¡± ¡°Do you have other matter to attend to?¡± ¡°Yes, sir, but I am not allowed to talk about it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go now.¡± ¡°Thank you, have a nice day.¡± The school was located at the outskirts of Pravislota, the capital of the North, so he took up his bicycle and started his journey. On arrival, he asked the guards to let him in, and handed the invitation over. One of his old acquaintances came down the stairs, which led to Ivan¡¯s father.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Long time, no see. How have you been?¡± greeted him Ivan. ¡°Not much. I have been working a lot lately.¡± ¡°You were working in a factory, right?¡± ¡°Yes, as a carpenter, a welder and a blacksmith.¡± ¡°Then why are you here?¡± ¡°I asked about the regulations of establishing a private company.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°I have gathered a fortune over time, and I had enough of my boss. He did not like anything I did, but nobody could do better. The production line of my colleague made a metal stair in a week, I made it under four days.¡± ¡°So you want to be a private specialist?¡± ¡°No, I wanted to create a company, which produces metal structures. It¡¯s not easy.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°They wouldn¡¯t let me. They said that I need a certificate about my skills and another about basic economics. Without that I am not allowed to do so. I have been working for twenty years now. I went to a course that supposedly teach you how to be a blacksmith, but it was useless as I have to have two years of work experience with the paper to be valid. I have spent a quarter of my money on the certificate. Then I went to register my company, but they said I need at least two years of experience¡­¡± ¡°That sucks¡­¡± ¡°I have spent all my money on getting the certificates and the headquarters. Now they say I cannot have a company. If they find out that I am doing this illegally, they will take everything from me¡­¡± Ivan has taken a piece of paper out and scratched some word on it. Then he handed it over to his friend. ¡°Try doing it with this. I have to go now. So long¡­¡± He went to the bathroom, let the steam out, and ventured forward to his father¡¯s office. He knocked and opened the door. His father, a middle aged man was sitting behind a table. Behind him were several bookshelves full with writings about commerce and politics. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°It is good to see you, son.¡± ¡°Stop being so courteous. What do you want?¡± ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s time you married. It¡¯s time you made some renown. I have high expectations.¡± ¡°I do not think that you remember, but I always wanted to be a scientist. You never listened.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you a task and if you complete it, I will think about it.¡± ¡°Yeah, like last time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be rude. I can still marry you off if you are useless.¡± ¡°Do you think I would accept?¡± ¡°I can make your life a living hell, you know.¡± ¡°Do you remember Sasha?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The one you almost beat to death.¡± ¡°Oh, him? I was afraid you would change your sexual orientation. So I beat him and made his family lose their company.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, fuck you old man. He was my only friend. Nobody dared to be close to me after that, not even women.¡± ¡°Set that aside, and hear me out. The Merchant Council voted on you to become the next envoy for the Convergence. Declining would be very harmful for our family¡¯s prestige.¡± ¡°Did you make me a candidate without my consent? What if I turn you down?¡± ¡°Lose everything.¡± ¡°I have nothing, you parasite.¡± ¡°I have heard about a woman called Anna. I can think she is not of a merchant family.¡± ¡°Eh¡­¡± ¡°That is what I thought. I¡¯ll have one of my subordinate give you the details.¡± ¡°Stop meddling in my life.¡± ¡°Huh? What was that?¡± ¡¯I¡¯ll accept if I can marry to Anna.¡¯ ¡°If you¡¯ll accept, I¡¯ll spare that girl. I am the one who is in control.¡± ¡°You dare. I had enough. If anything happens to her, I¡¯ll rip your old goaty testicles off, and feed it to you. She¡¯ll come with me to the Tower.¡± ¡°Heh¡­¡± his father had a mixed facial expression of fear and fury. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Also, I do not want to walk, you do understand, right?¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± ¡°So what do I have to do at the Convergence?¡± ¡°You have to persuade Tyronne not to declare war on us. We need a year or two to prepare. There was an incident at the border, Vadim¡¯s bastard son started to rampage. An assassin killed him and made it look like he killed an officer¡¯s son. The Paragon now has a reason to declare war. We have to be neutral, until we can amass a huge army, and then destroy him, with the help of our eastern neighbours.¡± ¡°I think you underestimate him. He could have destroyed us a long ago. His military is twice as strong as ours ever will be. He does not produce useless goods to make money, like you do. He produces weapons, should it be man or equipment. That whole nation is an army: Have you ever thought about what we are? Peddlers, merchants, capitalist, who cannot even aim with a gun. Don¡¯t be ridiculous. Do not wage a war you cannot win. He will leave us alone, if we give him the Economy Hub¡¯s code. That is the same for the South and the East.¡± ¡°I know the code by heart.¡± He wrote some letters to a piece of paper ¡°However this is not the true one. Give this to him and offer peace.¡± ¡°He will know whether it is true or false. Do not make a fool out of him, or he will make you one by force. I¡¯d like to see that, but that doesn¡¯t matter as long as he plunders the whole region.¡± ¡°You have three days to get there, and do as I say. If I hear you did something else, you will regret it. Now go get your girl and move.¡± Ivan stood up and left the building. He sent a message to Anna, got into the carriage and started his journey to reach the Tower. James Third Chapter ¡°Good Morning Master James. It is nine o¡¯clock.¡± Yelled Sid from behind the door. ¡°May I come in? I have brought you breakfast.¡± ¡°You may intrude. What am I obliged to consume today Master Sid?¡± he replied eagerly and with a bit of sarcasm. He disliked being called Master. ¡°Well, we tried to recreate a recipe the Old World called Full English Breakfast, but some of the text was destroyed rendering it impossible to copy, so we added some ingredients that would be in perfect synergy with the basic ones to have the original flavour. I named it The Partial English Breakfast.¡± He did actually came up with exact recipe by chance. ¡°May I eat this in my bed?¡± ¡°Of course. I clean up every day. I have brought the cutlery for no other reason.¡± ¡°Okay. Will you tell Master Charles and Emily to wait for me in the living room after they finished with the things they ought to do?¡± ¡°Yes. Master Charles has no need to be in such a hurry, and Emily will be waiting for you there as soon as she finishes. I¡¯ll happily notify them of your recent awakening.¡± ¡°That sentence, I believe is not correct.¡± ¡°You are not as stupid as Emily told me so. I assumed you would realize after being chosen my successor.¡± ¡°Emily told you I am stupid? That is unfine.¡± ¡°Unfine does not exist.¡± ¡°You are not that sturdy after all.¡± He smiled. ¡°Oh, thank you. I¡¯ll be on my way. Send me a message should you need any help.¡± He vanished without a trace after his exclamation. Having had no dinner, he devoured the mixture placed on the plate, except for the mushroom. He was too afraid to eat that. Opening the wardrobe, he had no clue of recent standards of fashion so he typed ¡¯Help me with the clothes, Sid.¡¯ into his SAD. A minute later Sid arrived and started describing the everyday style of the youth, mentioning suspensors, shirts, vests, trousers mostly of linen and of vivid colours. He was still in the pyjamas he found on his bed last night after removing the exquisite gifts of his host. ¡°Do you have a t-shirt or some ordinary garments for me? I admire being elegant, but it is not very natural to me to wear smart and fancy outfits. A turquoise shirt and grey trousers along with grey shoes would suffice.¡± ¡°Do you require socks?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Of what colour?¡± ¡°What do you have?¡± ¡°All you need.¡± ¡°Grey then.¡± ¡°Here it is.¡± he gathered the requested clothing in the blink of an eye. He dressed up and approached the bathroom. He found a letter by Charles that was in order to make him familiar with toothbrushes and other cosmetic items around. Although he knew the basics of hygiene, he had some inconvenience using electronic brushes and the flasks cologne presented in the small cupboard next to the sink. He did not understand why to use perfumes. He always thought it would be wiser to antagonize products that increased one¡¯s sex appeal so that nobody would depend on anything but their own confidence and natural traits. ¡°Thank you Sid, you were great value to me.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be off then.¡± ¡°I have to go as well, Emily must be waiting for a very long time.¡± The next action of his was to relocate to the living room. Going through the corridor and the stairs, he could glimpse at his saviour and his impatient daughter. Charles was reading a report on some research-related subject and Emily grimaced bluntly while gazing at her fancy, white shoes. She put on a white dress ornamented with different shapes of petals. Her hair was curled and she wore some silver necklaces, a soft and sweet cologne. Some powder was applied to her face as well. ¡°I thought you would never finish. What took you so long? We should be there in ten minutes.¡± ¡°I wanted to ask about today, but I was too tired.¡± Charles was still reading. ¡°So what do you not know of?¡± ¡°Anything.¡± Charles was still reading not aware of his environment. ¡°Well, you do not need take notes and you don¡¯t have to pay attention. We will have a biology lesson, a philosophy lesson, and political theory and they will teach you the usage of your SAD.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Charles was still reading, truly in a trance. ¡°We will have the lessons in the same classroom, 22C, in case of you stray away.¡± ¡°Okay. You should take the lead then.¡± Charles was still reading, further sinking into the deep abyss. ¡°Bye, Pa. We¡¯ll see you in the afternoon.¡± ¡°Bye my dear, I wish you luck!¡± he replied with this sudden, quick response so that he could continue his enslavement to the particular topic about a genetic code that could open the Enigmatic Vault, which is located in the middle of the region, under the Tower. There is no real knowledge accumulated on the topic yet, that is why the place was intriguing. It might have been built in order to protect something valuable that must be locked away. After five minutes of running, they arrived at a lovely place that was used to teach and help people rather than giving them a certification. Everyone, who applied, was sorted to classes according to their skills and talents. The building itself was made of usual materials and resembled an oblique pyramid. No one knows the reason why would anyone build anything like that, but the folks cherished the style of having an opened shutter like ornament at the walls. Everything was painted white and orange except for the doors that was grey by default. There were wide corridors with several classrooms in the inside, all of which was equipped with the most recent technologies to increase the efficiency of the teachers. Entering the classroom James felt the unease he acquired attending an institution that was not in order to improve the characteristics of a child but to revoke the individuality, the personality, the creativity and imprint servitude to one¡¯s selfhood. Although the rate of success was outstanding, James did not become a weak-willed, servile person, yet he suffered minor wounds that included uncertainty in various cases, the repression of sexual desires and tendency to depression. He apprehended his personality to discard his weak traits, minimizing the damage that was done by a suppressive system and some unqualified, talentless teachers who would rather withdraw themselves than helping the students. Abusing their power, they reflected every nuisance to the children, further distancing themselves from improving their skills, unable to stand up against something unethical that resulted in a weak and inferior personality. Indoctrinating the children with the five Virtues, dominating the children by being aggressive, destroying their creativity by punishing them led to a broken society.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°At least my name is on the monitor of a table.¡± He sat down at his pre-assigned seat. A woman entered the classroom, who was especially elegant and had mediocre facial features along with glasses over her joyful brown eyes. Mostly tied in a ponytail, some locks of hair intruded her vision and scattered over her enthusiastic smile. ¡°Greetings to our Coming of Age Class, I¡¯ll be conducting today.¡± She introduced herself. ¡°If you have any questions, please ask them any time. We will start with biology, then philosophy and political theory comes.¡± James signalled the teacher that he would like to ask a question. ¡°Do you have grades and certification?¡± The teacher frowned. ¡°I assume you have not grown up here. We do not evaluate our students and certainly do not give them certification. We do send the info if they completed the class to the AI, but that is needed for administrative purposes. We, as an educational institution, prefer to improve our students since what they need is to establish a firm grip on basic skills so that they could attend other specialized classes or become an apprentice. You do not have to attend this class, but if you fail the other classes, that is your problem. If you work hard, you can become someone. Nobody needs papers to prove their worth. The system you talked about only causes stress and anxiety. All possibilities are open to the citizens, whether they become researchers, who need to prove their worth by discovering or utilizing new technologies, or want to work in the service sector. Robots can fill dull and boring jobs such as being an office worker or a cook, but people tend to prefer humans as waiters, artists, musicians. If something intrigues you, you can take a class by sending a request to the AI, who will send you all the details about it.¡± ¡°She loves talking doesn¡¯t she? I never liked teachers. They are mostly doing their job to earn money and release their sadistic desires gained back at home. But I must say, she seems to be capable.¡± he thought but he replied with a sincere ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll teach philosophy and political theory. I would like to introduce you Mr. Rio MgLain, who will inform you about the basics of applied genetics.¡± After his monologue, the lessons started with genetics. But it was hideously boring, like any other class he had ever taken. ¡°The population had been modified and added some specific genes so that they could be distinguished. This changed hair and eye colours, which was just a side effect.¡± ¡°This is boooring.¡± James thought. He glanced at Emily, who was sitting at her table, lifelessly. She might be daydreaming, or worse, asleep. Her eyes were open, though. It was he, who daydreamed. ¡°For bacterial infection, bacteriophages are used. A stem phage was manufactured, which had to be activated by overwriting its specification with a set of the genetic data the pathogens possessed. The medical treatment for viruses were nano-machine treatment.¡± There was a slight shift in the topic, when he joined again some minutes after. ¡°She has beautiful eyes, though. How is that even possible?¡± He couldn¡¯t take his off her. Yes, he was that bored. He did not pay any attention at all. A message was sent to James by Emily, who noticed being stared at, through their devices. James¡¯ bored eyes did not even bother to look away. ¡¯Dad told me about how he created this system, so it is pretty boring to hear it again.¡¯ He replied with ¡¯It is still different from the West, where I have come from. It is a dictatorship.¡¯ ¡¯Tell me all about it!¡¯ ¡¯There is a dictator.¡¯ ¡¯Please.¡¯ ¡¯We have a two class system. The rich and the poor.¡¯ ¡¯Class system? What is this, the 19th.c.?¡¯ ¡°Thank you, Mr. Rio MgLain.¡± ¡¯What?¡¯ ¡¯Class struggle.¡¯ ¡¯We are not taught anything about history.¡¯ ¡°An Artificial Intelligence was entrusted to form a government, which held the executive power and was restricted by the people¡¯s laws. These were voted on on an interface called Social Appliance Device, or SAD, which you have, too.¡± ¡¯Do you know anything about the past years?¡¯ ¡¯According to the elderly, there was a Great Migration, since this was the only intact place remaining on Earth.¡¯ ¡¯I heard that too. But why?¡¯ ¡¯We do not know.¡¯ ¡°A law could be made or amended above forty and was abolished under thirty percent approval ratings. Also, the AI had to provide the basic necessities for free, such as food, water, shelter and the Comnet, which is the service that connected most of the devices.¡± James put down his SAD, and searched for a comfortable, yet a humble pose, and slept through the remaining of this lesson and the next. He was still dizzy from the fact that he was left in a forest. When he woke up, the teacher was talking about the usage of SAD and the limits of its software. All the devices had a percentage of the AI¡¯s computing power, which could be used if one would approve the laws. They set up a profile. After that they were free to go. Leaving the building to head home, Emily started a conversation. ¡°So what was the education in the West like?¡± ¡°We were forced to do what the state wanted.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± she smiled. ¡°Everything but that, kinky woman. I had to be very careful to say the words the teachers wanted to hear. They punished you, if you were better than them. That was not even hard.¡± ¡°Sounds like bigotry.¡± ¡°Just the usual, the stated wanted the teachers to be like that to break us. We are their subjects, their assets rather than true citizens.¡± ¡°That is unpleasant.¡± ¡°Most of the children are not as healthy as I was. I needed less nutrients survive, so it was not very hard for me. But some others suffered. There was a shortage of food until recently.¡± ¡°You accept that? Do you like to live in poverty?¡± ¡°At least I am not a spoiled brat, who wants daddy to notice them. You should cut the crap out, just tell him what you want.¡± ¡°Heh? What?¡± ¡°Stop pretending, you know what I am talking about. You should grow up already. The only good feature of that educational system is that you learn to think for yourself, one way or another.¡± ¡°Well, at least I was not dumped at a forest.¡± ¡°I would probably be sent to die. We managed to escape, they wanted to save me, and that is a way.¡± ¡°I wonder how you got capital punishment.¡± ¡°Read a book.¡± ¡°What the fuck?¡± ¡°I used the exact expression.¡± ¡°But do not meddle in my life anyways.¡± ¡°Think about that.¡± ¡°Never mind.¡± ¡°So Charles programmed the system?¡± ¡°Yes. He did twenty-five years ago or so. Before he met Mother.¡± ¡°What it is like to be his assistant?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I heard they couldn¡¯t bear you.¡± ¡°They were fired. Actually, Pa wants to find a person, he doesn¡¯t care about knowledge.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°You are very similar to one of his old friends.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. She had the same eyes and hair colour. He has a picture of her in his office, beside Mother¡¯s.¡± The rest of the journey was silent, or at least nobody said anything until they entered the place called home. ¡°We are here.¡± Shouted the girl. ¡°I am in the kitchen.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten anything today¡­ Are you cooking?¡± asked James the humbling question with a smile. ¡°No, shitting in the sewers. Of course I am cooking.¡± ¡°What? Why don¡¯t let the hands do the dirty work?¡± she asked. ¡°I wanted to honour you two by making some goulash and rice cake.¡± ¡°Oh? I never thought you would make that of a grand housemaid after all.¡± James made cynical comment. ¡°Hihi. These are some old recipes I found at the hub. I never thought it would contain cooking recipes with exact ingredients, instructions and stuff.¡± ¡°Yepp. That is a recipe.¡± ¡°Have you finished yet? I am hungry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be finished in ten minutes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go and change my clothes.¡± She headed towards her room. ¡°I would like to speak with you after lunch. It is important.¡± ¡°Is it connected to what you were so engrossed in in the morning?¡± ¡°It is connected to you.¡± ¡°An unforeseen development. Why does it have to do with me?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll talk after lunch.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go to the toilet, then.¡± ¡°Big buddy?¡± ¡°Orchid Ointment.¡± He did his duty and came back. ¡°Finished.¡± After he shouted, a ¡¯wild¡¯ Emily appeared. She redressed and became much more stylish to cope with the recent youth fashion. Her hair was purposely unkempt. He had Sid dish up the goulash he had been making for the last few hours. It was filled with pork meat and beans, served with some sour cream. The rice cake was just pudding with some butter and was baked. James felt something strange, a feeling he had not felt before. The way he could talk to these people, the fact that they took him in and helped him was too much not to call them friends. Or family. After the lunch, Emily went out to spend some time with her friends, so James and Charles were alone to speak about matters concerning his private life. ¡°I knew who your parents were.¡± ¡°Huh? How did you find out?¡± ¡°Actually, they were the only people I could call friends. They helped me develop the AI, but they wanted to gather all the special combinations of the hubs. We classified them as the key codes as they are needed to open the vault. But I haven¡¯t heard anything about them since they went exploring. Then I found you. I had my suspicions, but I wasn¡¯t sure until your DNA test result were sent to me this morning. You see, they had a hypothesis that the codes are encrypted DNA segments. Biometric locks were the best to seal a place of the past so nobody could open it. The Vault is unbreakable even with quantum computer with a million true qubits.¡± ¡°So did they succeed?¡± ¡°You are here right?¡± ¡°He?¡± ¡°Your genetic material contains all of the encrypted data.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t I my parent¡¯s child?¡± ¡°Well yes, but actually no. Basically, your DNA is a mix that includes both your parent¡¯s genes and the encrypted data. They started their journey before you were conceived, and spent a year or two in the North and South, then they went to the West, and obtained the code and modified you when you were conceived. Some of your genes aren¡¯t theirs. The code we possess was used to identify people, so you had that already, and they put all of the others in, but I do not have any idea how. Maybe in vitro fertilization and then modification?¡± ¡°What happened then?¡± ¡°According to my acquaintances they were persecuted after you were born. They were said to be spies and malevolent enemies. You were taken from them, but that would have happened anyways.¡± James started to feel dizzy. His migraine was incoming. ¡°Now that I have found the one, I want you to open the vault and destroy its content.¡± Mias Third Chapter ¡°Where are we?¡± asked Mia after she woke up from her long and dreamless slumber. She was frightened and did not know what happened to Jack. He was probably dead. ¡°Eh? What happened?¡± a voice emerged from the shadows after a while. ¡°Noah, is that you?¡± ¡°Yes. Who else? Mia, I know it is you.¡± ¡°Nope. I guess you can¡¯t see either. It is too dark.¡± Replied Vale to the accusation a slight distance away from those two. ¡°We are in the Monolith, I guess.¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± Said a woman as a door was slammed to the walls. She had a lantern, which illuminated her features clearly. She had red hair, brown, mutilating eyes, which shone with an indecent instinct and cruelty, a cloak and a black uniform, made of synthetic leather around the shoulders and polymer elsewhere, only exclusive to the torturers of the Grey Monolith. The way she spoke was not proper, her intonation was irritating, but somehow determined and confident. She had scars all over her face. ¡°Let me turn on the lights.¡± A strong LED switched on suddenly, which almost burned out the prisoners¡¯ retinae as they got used to the darkness already, but the lamp set itself to a bearable strength after a while. Noah and Mia were chained to the cold brick walls of the room, almost unable to move since the length of the chains were taut. Vale was placed on a plastic table in the middle of the room, unable to move. All of the convicts were wearing some crude linen rags with bloodstain indicating that this was not a new one from fabulous fashion shop. ¡°So, who would like to start?¡± she smirked. ¡°Never mind, I know who I will start with. What is your name?¡± ¡°Fuck off.¡± ¡°Well, Fuck Off, nice to meet you. I am Avia. Zenon would have entertained you, but he got a nasty diarrhoea.¡± ¡°Are any of that actually a name?¡± Noah replied. ¡°Hrgggr, of course. If you try to resist, I have some drugs, just bear with me, Fuck Off. I am going to ask questions, you should answer honestly. You might survive the day, if you do everything according to the book.¡± ¡°So what is your name?¡± ¡°I told you to fuck off, right?¡± She took out a gnarled whip from her brown leather satchel and hit her mildly muscular abdomen ripping her skin. ¡°I do not want to see her being tortured.¡± Mia thought. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Vale.¡± She could barely talk. ¡°Will you tell the truth?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Splendid. Who are your parents?¡± ¡°I was dumped after they died. An innkeeper called Jack took me in.¡± ¡°The fellow, who tried to protect you? He was such a nice guy.¡± Mia was hissing in the background, but she did not dare to anger her host. ¡°Were you a member of the Resistance?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Rank?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t have any. I didn¡¯t care. I did what they asked me to do.¡± ¡°Why were you a part of it?¡± ¡°Wanted to defend my family.¡± ¡°You are a pathetic little child, Fuck Off. Were you active four years ago?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± She got another hit. ¡°I know when you lie. Don¡¯t try it again. What did you do?¡± Noah and Mia were staring at the scene shocked and unwilling. ¡°Nothing.¡± She got another, this time it was stronger. Nobody except her friends heard her screams, though. Both were watching with a horrified expression. ¡°Don¡¯t lie.¡± Noah whispered, almost crying. ¡°I¡¯ll be more exact then. Have you been to the Golden Trout Street? The street that had a ruin of an old building, the Paragon said it was some copy of ancient roman stuff. Only the decayed base remained.¡± ¡°Once I travelled through, if I remember well.¡± ¡°You are hopeless.¡± She had taken another whip out that had blades installed on its end. Mia tried to object, but that was useless. ¡°You could kill her with that. Please don¡¯t. You can¡¯t get any info if you kill her.¡± ¡°She agreed that she will only tell the truth. I¡¯ll pass this one, but if you lie again, you¡¯ll experience real pain.¡± ¡°Do you remember who the Leader of the Vanguard was then?¡± ¡°Edward Something.¡± Noah realized everything. This was not interrogation, only torture. Also Vale wanted to protect him. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t know his surname either. Have you met him?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What was he like?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t talked to him so what do I know? He pat my head once.¡± ¡°Understandable. Do you know who killed him?¡± ¡°No.¡± She said it with all her heart. Maybe with too much of it. ¡°Why did you lie? You want to die? I do not want you to.¡± She dared not to say anything. ¡°Shame, I started to like you.¡± She hurled her whip and slashed the blade in her abdomen, cutting it open and causing both haemorrhage and bleeding. She shrilled in a shock, yet nobody said anything. After she suffered enough, Avia turned to Noah. ¡°I knew you killed him. Tell me the truth or she suffers more. I saw your expressions, you wouldn¡¯t let me botch her, right big boy?¡± ¡°We¡­¡± he stammered. ¡°I lured him to the street and she cut his throat while I distracted him.¡± ¡°Oh my, if she is a criminal then she truly deserves punishment.¡± She smirked again, it was much more hideous than the last one. ¡°I even found huge crystal of an illegal drug.¡± ¡°I gave her an amber before the festival. You seem to be stupider than I thought or you didn¡¯t care.¡± ¡°Oh well, that is sad. Should have been drugs. She would have suffered more.¡± ¡°At this pace, she will bleed out.¡± Mia said. ¡°I do not want to lose you, too.¡± She started to cry. ¡°I know.¡± Her smile was crueller, more intense and more malevolent than ever. ¡°A murderer deserves it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°She lied to me.¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°The Paragon might want her dead.¡± ¡°Fuck him.¡± ¡°You stupid brat.¡± She leaped forward. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± A voice shouted at the evil executioner with fury, a voice Mia heard before that was confident, dominant, supreme and demanded respect. The executioner stopped and her smile disappeared. ¡°What is happening? Will she die? Are they playing with us?¡± Mia thought. ¡°Sir.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sir me. Do you remember 2-c.1?¡± ¡°Sir¡­¡± she stuttered.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Do you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Quote.¡± ¡°No executioner has the right to act without consent.¡± ¡°Yet you acted without mine. WITHOUT MINE. You acted without any of my consent or presence. Medic, treat the lady.¡± Three of the medical team rushed in. They were the ones who kept the prisoners alive to prolong their suffering. ¡°I wanted to appease you.¡± ¡°Without inviting me over? Wasn¡¯t that just for self-satisfaction? I hope you remember the punishment of these crimes as well.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°No objections?¡± ¡°Can I?¡± ¡°Absolutely not.¡± The Paragon turned away. ¡°Can you save her?¡± ¡°Unfortunately no. She¡¯s almost bled out. Her internal organs are a mess.¡± -Will she die?- ¡°Fucking great. Put her to rest. Stop her suffering.¡± ¡°Hey, you two. Do you need medical attention?¡± -She died?- ¡°No.¡± Both replied, grieving for their friend. Mia tried to glance at Vale, but her eyes displayed cold nothingness, a grasp unique to death, a true lifeless, blank stare. ¡°I need you to stand up, and come with me. Can you do that?¡± ¡°Yes I can.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then follow me.¡± They did it without a word. Two guards tied up the executioner and led her to the Grey Palace. Tyronne wanted to ease his guests, so he escorted them to his favourite restaurant, just outside the Monolith. The building itself seemed to be modest and ordinary, but the inside of it was the real deal as the flooring was made of black oak, the walls of pine. The chairs were covered in velvet, ornamented with gold, the tables were beautiful craftsmanship from the South, the waiters, only women, had big bosom and revealing outfits. This was one of the most renowned restaurants in the Upper City, the favourite of the Paragon. ¡°This was a grievous mistake.¡± He explained while sitting down at his designated table with the youth. ¡°My chancellor messed up. You can do whatever you want with the Avia, by the way.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You can kill her, rape her, or whatever. What do you want to eat? Be my guests.¡± ¡°Eat? Our friend was recently murdered and you want to buy our indulgence with food?¡± ¡°I think you misunderstood. She didn¡¯t have a choice, but you do. You can die as well, but you can choose life. She couldn¡¯t. I want to recruit you, Noah, to the Vanguard and I need someone to bring my successor up.¡± He glanced at Mia. ¡°I would have wanted Vale to accompany my friend, Ethan. She would have been trained and become a bodyguard to protect Seamus.¡± ¡°She won¡¯t accept¡­ I wouldn¡¯t accept¡­ She¡­ wouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Mia thought. ¡°Why would we even accept anything from you? You have only made us suffer. My father was murdered by your orders, Mia¡¯s parents died because you wanted them to. You have only brought us suffering. The way you manipulate people, the way you use them and throw them around is disgusting.¡± Noah exclaimed, everyone was staring at him with immense hatred as he dared to disrespect the Paragon. They even stopped munching. ¡°Your minion killed my best friend. What do you want from us?¡± Mia thought. ¡°Is that bad? You wouldn¡¯t have met without those conditions and you have a peaceful life. I could have killed you, you know, but I thought that kids shouldn¡¯t be. The reason your father is dead, Noah, is that he strangled her second wife, but I do not think you know about it. Your bloodlust is unjust, Mia¡¯s wouldn¡¯t be, Vale was different, but she is dead.¡± ¡°Who is Seamus? I do not remember anyone in your family with a name like that.¡± Asked Mia timidly. -Will I be used as a courtesan? I hope she didn¡¯t die for that. Do I have to educate a kid? She wouldn¡¯t accept...- ¡°I found him alone, he had nobody, so I took him in. He is fast-witted, and conscientious kid worthy of becoming my successor. You would be his private tutor, I think you are talented enough to bring him up, which could be a heritage from your parents. You could make him whoever you want him to be. A liberal or someone like me, I do not care. If there is anything you need,¡± he winked ¡°You can ask any time.¡± Both of them ignored this comment. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you come after us four years ago?¡± It was Noah¡¯s turn. ¡°I did, but then I realized if I make the Resistance and make you join, then crush it. I figured that would deal a heavier blow. You were my pawn, and I loved it. I would have executed you soon enough if it was not for the Grand General.¡± Mia could see Noah¡¯s break down bone by bone, nerve by nerve. ¡°Three of your best dish.¡± Tyronne barked at the owner, who ran back to the kitchen. ¡°You see, I was asked to forgive you, so I thought I could make you my associates. You are skilful enough to be my advisors as well.¡± ¡°Why would I?¡± replied Noah. ¡°If any of you declines, all of you die, or at least I wanted it to be like that. The only thing I want to ask from you is not to kill me. I¡¯ll give you everything you want.¡± ¡°I want Vale.¡± ¡°Everything but dead people.¡± ¡°So bad.¡± ¡°I could give you all them bitches¡± he thought. ¡°Would you sacrifice Mia to save your precious pride?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°If you decline, she will die too. We could have a lunch in the Palace, but I didn¡¯t know about this little event before.¡± A waitress brought three plates full of well-done steak, a sauce that was a mixture of cranberry and sour cream, rice and different baked fruits such as apple, peach and lemon. ¡°Bon Appetite.¡± ¡°Enjoy your meal.¡± Replied Mia, though Noah was blankly staring at his delicious dish. -She did die, didn¡¯t she? Noah feels it, I feel it. She is not here anymore¡­- ¡°It¡¯s not poisonous.¡± ¡°I know.¡± After they finished, Tyronne signalled the waiter, who removed the plates delicately. Her breasts shoved onto Noah¡¯s face as she tripped. ¡°Sorry, I am so sorry.¡± ¡°Hmmh.¡± Tyronne did not care. ¡°You do your job as you please. If you are attracted to this young man¡­¡± She blushed. ¡°What is he talking about?¡± Mia thought. ¡°Why did you say that?¡± ¡°She liked you. I have eyes for people. I can tell their true intentions.¡± ¡°You are joking.¡± ¡°You consider joining so that you can cut me up at the most unexpected moment, right?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Your eyes tell me everything.¡± He smiled ¡°You are a god-damn moron, if you believe this.¡± He thought. ¡°I doubt it.¡± ¡°It is okay to doubt, but will you be able to tell me how I did that? Only the latter gives you advantage. I only have one question left. Do you accept?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Replied Mia thinking ¡°I do not want to sacrifice his life, Vale wouldn¡¯t let me¡­ ¡°I am still not convinced.¡± ¡°You want to change this nation, don¡¯t you? Help me then.¡± ¡°Will I be a puppet?¡± ¡°Yes, but I will not ask you to do anything immoral.¡± ¡°Then yes.¡± ¡°A carriage is waiting for us. After we arrive, I want Noah to come with me for instructions, Mia should head to the Maid¡¯s for a custom uniform.¡± Tyronne instructed them to get into the carriage, travelled to the entrance of the Grey Palace. The meal was free of charge. ¡°Have anyone tried to kill you?¡± ¡°Yepp, it is getting boring. I dispersed a conspiracy against me some time ago. It is not easy to rule, you know.¡± ¡°Is there something we must know in the near future?¡± asked Mia with phoney curiosity. ¡°Did I forget about Jack? He is probably dead, too. I miss him, I want to ask him for some advice, but¡­¡± She thought. ¡°We are going to the Convergence.¡± ¡°Convergence?¡± ¡°Annual meeting of the five powers. We have to address issues, for instance the Enigmatic Vault. This goes every year, but no solution ever was made at that place.¡± ¡°Will we go with you?¡± ¡°Yes. Both of you. Noah will be one of my bodyguards, you will help me with speeches and such. You need to learn. Now, Noah come with me, I¡¯ll ask you about your armour and weapon preferences and order them accordingly. If you have anything to ask for, just let Nathan or me know.¡± ¡°Nathan?¡± ¡°Yes, the chancellor. Red hair, long nose. You¡¯ll know. Mia, if you take the stairs, go down two levels, then take the right. It is the first door on the right, with a sign ¡¯Maid¡¯s¡¯ on it.¡± Mia did everything according to her instructions and was led to the room. ¡±What did I do wrong? Why wouldn¡¯t I force them to move out? I could have prevented their death. Why didn¡¯t I? What is wrong with me? Why did let them continue? I can¡¯t¡­ it cost me dearly¡­ Jack, Vale¡­ you are too much to lose¡­¡± ¡°Oh, a new maid? Welcome.¡± Said an old woman. ¡°I am the tailor of the Grey Palace, called Zia.¡± ¡°I was told to come here by the Paragon. I am to be little Seamus¡¯ private instructor.¡± ¡°Oh? What a lovely girl, and so young. I¡¯ll take your measures.¡± And she did. She measured the size of her chest, the length of her shoulders and other body parts. The old lady decided to reinvent an older style she was told about by the Paragon. Since the colour of the standard uniform of the maids was grey-blue, this one was made of velvet of that shade of colour. The outfit was smart, and contained a grey skirt and suit, a sailor tie of the same shade, and a blue shirt. Nothing too fancy. Nothing too revealing. A maid approached her in a haste. ¡°Are you Mia?¡± ¡°Yes, pleased to meet you.¡± ¡°According to the Paragon¡¯s personal request, you can take your time to grieve for your friend to try to forget the tragedy you lived through before attending his successor. You do not have to push yourself.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°I guess you are tired. I¡¯ll show you to your room.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± They ventured towards her room on the second floor, next to Seamus¡¯. ¡°How could I mess this up? What can I do? They are not coming back. They are not going to come back. Why do I feel like it is all my fault? If I didn¡¯t push Jack¡­ If I was much more resilient¡­ If I ¡­¡± ¡°You will have breakfast at nine o¡¯clock, lunch at one o¡¯clock, dinner at eight o¡¯clock. All will take place in the dining room, with the Paragon and Seamus.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°You have to introduce yourself to the kid, after you take a bath and use the toilet.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± While the maid told her crucial information about the Palace, they arrived at her room. It was huge, fully furnished and had a similar style to the Paragon¡¯s own room, but had a smaller bathroom and bathtub. An exact copy, so to say. There were several manuals and books on the table, all of which was about the basics of politics and commerce that she had to teach to her student one day. She found a note on her bed. ¡°I know this is sudden, but we will leave tomorrow. If you have anything you need, tell one of the maids I assigned to you. Make sure to bath and rest, but introduce yourself to Seamus. He is the only reason you are here after all. The room has a standard design, if you do not like it, you can refurbish it any time. We have dinner at eight o¡¯clock, come to the dining room and eat.¡± She did everything accordingly. She took a bath, attended chamber business. Then she went over to Seamus, who was trying to figure out how to do subtraction and was helped by another maid. ¡°So you must be Mia.¡± The maid intensified. ¡°Yes, happy to meet you.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± asked the kid. ¡°I am the one who will help you learn stuff. What are you doing?¡± ¡°Subtraction.¡± He was holding his head. Anyone could tell that he did not understand because he didn¡¯t want to. He was bored after all. ¡°That is easy, do you have a pen and a paper?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He gave it to Mia. ¡°Come, sit on my lap.¡± She started to tell him about it very simply. ¡°So we have five coins, and we want have to give two to Tyronne, how much will we have? You see we just remove those two. How much do you see?¡± ¡°Ummm. One¡­ Two¡­ Three.¡± ¡°You just subtracted.¡± - Jack thought me to. This was his way of telling things. I used this method when I helped Vale to learn¡­- ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. We signal that with a minus sign. See? Five minus two is three. We take the two out of the five.¡± She spent a considerable amount of time with him to see his talents. As she did not know where the dining room was, she heavily relied on Seamus. On arrival, Tyronne waved, and Noah was sitting beside him. ¡°So we have duck tonight with mashed potatoes covered in different spices.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that too heavy for a kid?¡± ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, he wanted oats-meal. By the way Noah was sitting at his chair all day long, and did not really say anything. How are you? I see you were distracted.¡± ¡°This little guy is talented for sure.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Seamus did not know what was happening, he was paying too much attention to his oats-meal. ¡°Both of you should eat as much as you can. We won¡¯t be eating too much next week. We start our journey tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°What will I be doing?¡± ¡°Stay here and study. That is the most important.¡± ¡°Again?¡± ¡°What did I tell you?¡± ¡°Doing nothing will not please you in the long run. Okay.¡± After everyone finished their dinner, they went to sleep so that their journey would not start with weariness bearing only hardship. But the sorrow and regret remained. Tyronnes Third Chapter ¡°We are here at last.¡± Tyronne stepped out of the carriage, and waked the others up. ¡°This is the Enigmatic Tower.¡± He pointed at the plainly built tower, mostly out of concrete and iron bars. Nobody knew why somebody would build something like this atop the Enigmatic Vault. The Order used it as their Headquarters, no less. It was immense in size, five floors were used as barracks and gave accommodation to at least three thousand associates. Although it functioned as the stronghold to protect the Vault at all cost, there were several floors dedicated to conferences, commerce, food and leisurely activities. The main hall was a huge, empty hall with curly stairs at the sides, and had a hologram in the middle that was probably fuelled by something in the Vault. This hologram was an orange sketch of the world map with two laurels of the same colour, crossing each other in the middle of background. There was an option to go up, but no ordinary visitor could get to the floor underground that was the copy of the main hall, but without the hologram. Instead, a door was present, which was made of the strongest titanium alloy and several other almost unbreakable materials, and was towering over the stairs, dominating the timid hole with the words of ¡®Project Blackheart¡¯ carved into the terrifying transom. ¡°The Paragons had taken up the name ¡®Blackheart¡¯ to name themselves the true successor of the Enigmatic Vault. Lots of them wanted to open that door, but the Order denied. To siege and conquer mountainous region is almost impossible without losing too much resources and manpower, which would lead to a state that is weakened. It would be nothing more than the prey of its neighbours.¡± explained the Paragon out of the blue. He was wearing his ceremonial clothes, the exact same he wore at the festival, Mia and Noah had their uniforms on. The whole area was a highland surrounded and embraced by mountains almost reaching the stars and imposing a stern picture of grandeur and magnificence. No trees were present, only roads and tunnels, which could be blown up any time if an invasion was in progress. ¡°We have been coming for a long time now, shouldn¡¯t we have some rest?¡± asked Mia. ¡°Have you finished with the main points of my speech yet?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have fallen asleep.¡± ¡°When will the Convergence take place?¡± ¡°I do not know yet.¡± ¡°I have time then.¡± ¡°I used to improvise. This meeting is useless anyways. But I want to take a look at the Vault.¡± ¡°Tyronne Blackheart, or Tyrant Blackheart?¡± Barked a man at the gates of The Tower. He had a muscular body, but nothing else. His face resembled a hamsters¡¯, he was shaven and had short hair. His uniform was orange and had black armour plates fixated on it to protect the body from AC and standard bullets, melee weapons. ¡°I see you have new lapdogs as well.¡± ¡°George, the pussy-witted, Enigua. I heard that the old man died a month ago, but I never figured you would be their next leader. I see you are the Grandmaster of the Order now. That surname you took up is horrible.¡± ¡°Yours is a copy of an old joke.¡± ¡°Not a very pleasant way to meet again, is it?¡± ¡°No, it is not. I couldn¡¯t forget all the atrocities you have done. Those life you sacrificed, the war you are waging. I can only despise you.¡± ¡°Politics is not about feelings, only about power. Do not forget who I am. If you tell how you feel when we meet, I can make up plans to discourage you from your life, but it does not worth the effort, though.¡± ¡°At least I do not have a harem.¡± ¡°Good for you. You must be satisfied with yourself.¡± ¡°Prick.¡± ¡°Stupid shit. Your pride is worthless.¡± ¡°At least I do not kill people, if they do not see eye to eye with me.¡± ¡°At least I did not lick the asses of the elders in the Shadow Council to get promoted. You are nothing, but a nuisance. Seriously, what administrative failure made you Grandmaster?¡± ¡°I was voted on, and won, not like you.¡± ¡°I fought my way to greatness, you just posed as a valiant and diligent knight, just to be a jester.¡± ¡°I am the Grandmaster of the Order of the Underworld, a man swore to protect the Vault against malevolent maggots, such as yourself.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less. You are no more than a conceited little bitch with a fancy title. Your power resembles a rotten husk of a tree cut out by malnourished beavers.¡± The Grandmaster seemed to explode at any minute. ¡°Now, tell me the basic information. Do not forget that you are a Grandmaster, you cannot segregate envoys of another country, and you, surely, do not want to anger the strongest.¡± Then he obediently showed Tyronne the ropes, then the Champion of Virtues ignored his presence and turned away. ¡±Oi, Mia. They gave two rooms for the three of us. Whom do you want to sleep with?¡± he smiled, and signalled to move forward. ¡°Alone, preferably, or you could sleep on the couch.¡± ¡°Well, then I¡¯ll take mine, you should go for yours.¡± He told the details. ¡°Conference floor, Guest¡¯s corridor, fifteenth room. You should cheer Noah up, he haven¡¯t even said a word. You could ease each other¡¯s suffering you know. It is easier than you think.¡± ¡°Why are you so horny all the time?¡± ¡°Because I am attracted to your being. You are a beautiful woman, aren¡¯t you? Sex keeps me sane, I cannot be serious all the time that just messes up my mind. I love to deceive people, but it needs much attention and I get tired easily.¡± He lied. ¡°For fun, huh?¡± ¡°I am only human. Otherwise I would have made you cower before me, and did something really unpleasant to you, like many of the other Paragons would have. They were monsters, causing famine and suffering purposely but I do things differently. That is why a part of the upper strata is not satisfied with my actions.¡± He looked at her with his grey-blue eyes seriously. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I imagined you to be evil, yet you seem to be a decent person.¡± A young male with a black beard and short black hair introduced himself. His features included a diamond shaped head, small nose, healthy skin, green eyes which were not very far from each other, yet it was not malformed, resulting in a weirdly handsome character. He was in traditional northern clothes, which were black fur coat, leather trousers, long necked boots, a white shirt and a small beaver pelt hat, all of which were ornamented with golden filaments. ¡°I am Ivan Bogatstvy, envoy of The Northern Association.¡± They stopped in the middle of the main hall. ¡°I do not know you, do I?¡± Tyronne asked, knowing the answer.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°No, but my father attended your inauguration, he might be familiar. His name is Dimitri.¡± ¡°Yeah, I remember. I think he wanted and audience with me, so that he can influence me with money and numbers. I called him a shithead sent all the way back he had come from. I saw right through him.¡± ¡°He wanted me to give you this.¡± He draw a piece of paper out of his pocket. ¡°This is the key code of the Commercial Hub.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that treason?¡± ¡°I was told to give it to you.¡± ¡°What do you want for that?¡± ¡°Peace. Preferably a trade contract.¡± ¡°What if I took that by force?¡± ¡°That is why we would like to give it to you.¡± ¡°I mean, the code, not the random set of numbers you just show me.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It is fake, son. Didn¡¯t you know?¡± Ivan was surprised or at least acted alike. ¡°Why would you think that?¡± ¡°I saw five types of characters in your code. It should only be four.¡± ¡°How do you know? There might be different encryption methods used in different hubs.¡± ¡°Sounds an awful lot of work, and it would be unreasonable. Too much effort, almost no gain.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°I suppose your father gave you the code to satisfy me, so that I would let my guards down and watch you prepare for war while I am doing nothing. He is an idiot, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°We do not mean any harm, and I am only doing what I am told to do.¡± ¡°Fear not for I have already acquired your key code.¡± He turned away. ¡°We will talk at the meeting.¡± The other two had already left for their rooms when he decided to climb the stairs. Reaching the Conference floor, a young girl approached him and called by his name. ¡°Paragon Tyronne Blackheart. It is an honour to meet you.¡± ¡°When did I become a housewife to be interrupted all the time? Do I have to do the dishes now?¡± he thought. ¡°In any other case I would have introduced myself, but since you did not let me, I would be honoured, if you did yours.¡± He looked at the girl. ¡°My name is Leah, the Envoy of the Districts.¡± The woman¡¯s properties included light brown hair and blue eyes, a plain outfit which was made of red linen and was carefully adjusted to her body. A skirt and a top, and some strangely braided hair that was all. Although her facial structure was considered to be average, she had some delicate features as well, such as gorgeous hands and slim body. ¡°She is not as attractive as Mia, but has the perfect tits though. I have to be careful. She seems to be agitated. Oh, I remember. She is new. Why did she accept?¡± he wondered. ¡°I would like to present you our gift.¡± She handed a over a piece of paper. ¡°Oh, the key code?¡± ¡°Yes. We would like to establish a peaceful relationship with our neighbour.¡± ¡°Thank you. See you at the meeting.¡± He replied. ¡°I think you underestimate espionage. Ethan did not even had to conceal himself to get into the Cultural Hub.¡± He thought while he smiled, and set off to his subordinates¡¯ room. ¡°Are you in there?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Mia shouted. ¡°Now that we are here, the Grandmaster wants to start the meeting. Are you capable?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Both of them replied. ¡°Noah come with me.¡± He stood up. ¡°Mia, you can do whatever you want. Do you have money?¡± he handed over a pouch of coins. ¡°Tend to the other servants as well, you are their supervisor now. Also, you might want to peak in the documents I arranged for you. It might be of use later.¡± Tyronne left the room with Noah following him. Their destination was the Conference Room, which was on the other side of the level. While walking, he started to talk to Noah. ¡°Are you still depressed?¡± ¡°How could I not be?¡± ¡°Death is natural. You should get used to losing people. Many of my acquaintances and friends could die any day.¡± ¡°I saw my best friend being disembowelled.¡± ¡°I saw my best friend leave a woman behind, because someone murdered him while tending to his duty. You could have saved her.¡± ¡°How? Why are you blaming me?¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you live a humble life? Why did you kill?¡± ¡°I saw no other way.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°To protect.¡± ¡°My ass. You just wanted revenge, didn¡¯t you? You are still a child. Take the blame and move on. Bad situations sometimes does more good than harm. Death is always at your doorstep. If you think you are to blame alone, she played right alongside you.¡± ¡°But why do I feel like collapsing in any minute? Why do I have to bear the mistakes I made? Why am I a lapdog of my enemy? She wouldn¡¯t have wanted this. I can¡¯t take it anymore.¡± ¡°I think she only wanted you to find your place in this world. Your past is permanent unlike your future. You can still fix your life, you are still young. But I think it is fate that brought us together. You might kill me, but I am willing to take a risk.¡± ¡°Kill you? After what you have done for Mia?¡± ¡°I have too many sins to atone for. I was the reason your girlfriend died, right? I killed Mia¡¯s father as well, not to mention I have to take the blame for my subordinates¡¯ actions. I told you, if you have anything you need, just point at them. Girl, boy I do not care. I¡¯ll get it for you, because I couldn¡¯t keep my promise. I couldn¡¯t follow Edward¡¯s way of thinking. I miss him.¡± ¡°Edward?¡± ¡°Yes,. You know him, I am sure. He wanted me to change the way our nation works. If you hadn¡¯t killed him, We would be living in a Utopia.¡± Noah collapsed. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I know. You can¡¯t do anything against it, so bear with me. The only thing that satisfies me is to be on the top of the hierarchy, to call myself the best. I am sure you know what I am talking about.¡± ¡°Heeh.¡± ¡°Stop being a pussy.¡± He thought as Noah was starting to behave strangely. ¡°Now I have done it.¡± Tyronne slapped Noah with all his power, he even had two rings on his left hand. It left two small wounds on his face. He was gawking at Tyronne with a mixture of fear and surprise. ¡°Let us go to the Conference Room, try not to succumb to your shitty thoughts. You can take your time to stand up as well.¡± Everybody was watching the scene. Everyone stopped as they heard the resonation of that extraordinary slap. ¡°It is a ten out of ten.¡± murmured a guard, astonished at the elegant technique of slapping an employee. A whistle could be heard from the audience. Meanwhile, Noah stood up and started to reintegrate with his duty. Opening the door, all of the envoys greeted the Paragon. As the chamber contained a pentagon shaped stone table, only his seat remained empty. The envoys, namely, Ivan, Leah and EB-3, and the Grandmaster who was impatient and almost irritated over the situation, were waiting for the start of the meeting. The war has been going on for several years now, nobody reckoned that it would be a sign of eternal joy. ¡°We have been waiting for thirty minutes now.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have come early.¡± The Paragon sat down without going through the ceremony. ¡°We still have a ceremony to complete.¡± George protested. ¡°Who cares? We all want to carry on with our lives and duties, we do not need a ceremony lasting half an hour. Sit down already.¡± Everyone sat down. ¡°How do you dare?¡± ¡°Should I unleash my wrath upon everyone? You know I would destroy the others eventually. Painters, merchants and lifeless robots cannot stop me. You know that well.¡± ¡°You want the Vault, am I right?¡± Ivan asked. ¡°Yes. If you let me, I¡¯ll leave you all alone.¡± ¡°You could just destroy us with what you find.¡± pointed Leah out. ¡°Why would I? I would have done that long ago, if my objective was world domination.¡± ¡°What do you achieve with opening the Vault?¡± ¡°Knowledge.¡± ¡°You could just use our hubs instead.¡± Leah proposed. ¡°That is not a valid option.¡± Said the bot, helping Tyronne out. ¡°Our people chose not to share the hub¡¯s code with any of you.¡± ¡°I declared war because they did not gave me their code. I do not need an access to their knowledge. I need only the code. I presented them an ultimatum, they rejected.¡± He said. ¡°I want to know more about the Old World, no less, no more. This is the only way to go. After that, I might abdicate and be an exile. I would discover the Outlands. I had enough. I want to know more about the world. It can¡¯T be that only we survived.¡± He thought. ¡°Do you think anyone would give it to you by their own free will?¡± asked the Grandmaster. ¡°Yes, if they do not want to die.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how you practice of free will.¡± ¡°On the contrary. The subject can choose between life and death. I wouldn¡¯t cut one¡¯s head off without a reason. That is unnecessary.¡± ¡°That is just blasphemy.¡± ¡°I have been here since the formation of this useless conference. What did you wish to achieve?¡± ¡°Peace.¡± ¡°Give me the codes, then.¡± ¡°We protect the Vault in order not to give it to someone like you.¡± ¡°What do you know about me? I am sure you know nothing. I think you are just afraid to lose your job. That is all.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a break, shall we?¡± proposed Ivan. ¡°This is getting out of hand.¡± All of them stood up. ¡°We shall continue in ten minutes.¡± ¡°What do you think, Noah?¡± ¡°You are the dominant aspect.¡± ¡°Sure, but about the envoys.¡± ¡°Ivan is stressed, tries desperately to remain in control, the bot is just a bot, and George is a strange person. His pride is too much.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°About Leah.¡± he smiled. ¡°You like her, don¡¯t you?¡± he froze. ¡°Oh, so you remembered your girlfriend. But at least you could forget her for quite some time. I am proud.¡± Noah regained his weary glance. A guard opened the door, went to George and whispered to him. ¡°The Vault¡­activated¡­ who.¡± Tyronne read some of his words. ¡°Send for the Vanguard, this is getting interesting, someone just activated the Vault. Go.¡± He stood up and approached the door. ¡°You are forbidden to leave the room. If this is an attempt to assassinate us, it is much safer here.¡± ¡°I am well aware of that, but I have to check on the Vault. If someone managed to open it, I do not have to continue this war.¡± ¡°We should go together, then.¡± Proposed the other organic envoys. On arrival, they saw nothing, but a monitor which reactivated itself after a long slumber. It was located beside the door, under that was a hole. ¡°Warning. The Tectonic Discharger is unstable, please evacuate.¡± Leons Supplementary Chapter ¡°The world¡¯s fuel reserves are only enough for three more days.¡± Announced the television. ¡°Nations worldwide enacted policies that restricts fossil fuel usage as the last wells run dry. The geologist had mistaken the last big oil field as an empty crater, and nobody corrected it since the whole report was made twenty years ago. Nations were not able to build enough renewable energy generators to cope with the demands of the people. Cars, smart houses, research, robots they all have one in common. All of use work with electricity. The UN tried to address the problem, but it divided into two factions. The far-right, the Commercialists and the far-left, the Futurists even clash at this very moment.¡± ¡°These people are stupid. Why didn¡¯t they just pay attention to the details?¡± A colleague asked. ¡°The Commercialists do not care about a better future, they just want to fill their pockets. You know what we are building, right? It is a mean to control people.¡± Another colleague replied. ¡°The Futurist are at least doing their best for humanity. They have started to mobilize all their funds to build those batteries, but the world is not capable enough to produce them in time. They are just mostly the opposition. Commercialists are populist, you know.¡± He continues ranting. ¡°Well, the UN made this project possible, so I cannot say anything. Mostly everyone agreed.¡± ¡°Are you a fucking Commercialist?¡± ¡°No, I am fucking your mother.¡± Someone in the background shouted. ¡°I do not care, have work to do.¡± ¡°Who said anything bad about the Commercialists?¡± ¡°So what?¡± ¡°You twat.¡± ¡°They want to make the world their brothel. They want a system that increases their revenue, rather than providing a proper future. They want a system, where energy is used instead of money, and we will be dependent on them, if this project is finished. They will make laws that bans renewable energy under some silly excuse. Do you want to be a slave?¡± ¡°Those filthy Futurists want to acquire power for themselves. What they say is impossible to put into practice. Free energy? Free food? Bah. People will just take everything without second thought. It is anarchy. Do you want to live in a world, where thefts and revolts are commonplace?¡± ¡°Stop this childish argument. We have not come here for nothing. We have to finish the project in three days. Why aren¡¯t you working?¡± said Leon, the manager of the Project Blackheart. He was sitting in the back of the canteen and was working on some biometric properties, when these two started to argue. ¡°Excuse us.¡± ¡°Go.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°We have a meeting with the most influent shareholder of the Sons of Prometheus group, which includes Navitas Consilium, Fritjofrs Fingrar and Allgemeines Vern¨¹ftig companies, and the latter is our employer. So we need a product, even if it¡¯s not finished. Initialize the modul¡­¡± He stood up as well and ventured to the mentioned place.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The shareholder arrived sometime after they finished the preparations. ¡°Good day to you, sir.¡± ¡°Afternoon. How are things?¡± ¡°We did not fully finish Teutonic Discharger, yet.¡± ¡°Yet?¡± ¡°Yes, we have to improve the magnetic induction...¡± ¡°Bah. I haven¡¯t read the reports on that thing.¡± ¡°We have built a machine that harvest the tectonic energy and the tension of the layers to create electricity. That is simple.¡± ¡°We had another project, right? I mean we were hired to conduct both of those project.¡± ¡°You mean Project Blackheart? We built the hubs so that they could remain intact for millions of years. It is the same with the Vault, which can be opened with some pre-manufactured genetic material. We have put some parts of the code into the hubs, so that if one gets hacked, one would get only a quarter of the key. There are a lot of knowledge we could not upload to the hubs, yet. The whole territory is autonomous, by the way, so we do not even have to import food and basic commodities.¡± ¡°What kind of genetic material?¡± ¡°The perfect human. Contains genes that grants resistance to several illnesses, needs less intake of nutrients, it always produces a high intelligence ratio. The person can even have natural platinum blonde hair and red eyes. I have designed it to be male¡­¡± Leon started to get excited. ¡°Well done like the steak I use to eat.¡± The shareholder laughed, but nobody else did. It was a bad joke, even for dank scientists. ¡°Whoever controls this Vault, controls the world, or so. We have all the technologies from all around the world. We encountered some problems at the hubs. We couldn¡¯t get into the others no matter what. We could only access from the Vault.¡± ¡°Because we didn¡¯t want it.¡± ¡°I understand. We have just installed the door and the biometric locks. One would need huge amounts of data to get in, so someone has to manufacture this genetic material efficiently¡­¡± ¡°That is strange. Why did you have to close that Vault?¡± ¡°I was given an order by another supervisor.¡± ¡°Will you introduce the machine to me? I have to turn in a written report, you know.¡± ¡°Come with me. We have placed the demo in the Vault.¡± They moved to the door of the Vault, but it was not yet closed. Entering the hall, there was a huge metal structure, whose outside resembled a human heart. It was called the Tectonic Discharger. ¡°It uses tectonic tension, seismic waves, geothermal heat, the magnetic field and the core of the Earth. It will be like a huge dynamo. By injecting several materials to the core that will make it rotate faster.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that magnificent?¡± ¡°This technique is still in development. Last time we put it into use, it generated about a hundred thousand terra-watt per hour.¡± ¡°I want to see it work.¡± ¡°It is still in development.¡± ¡°Still. I have a job to do.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Do you want to be fired?¡± ¡°We still do not know what the consequences will be.¡± ¡°Well, it is time to find out.¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t finished the programme yet.¡± ¡°But you have the most important parts, right?¡± ¡°That does not work like that.¡± ¡°Still¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You are fired. Everyone! We are to start the machine.¡± He shouted. ¡°Anyone not following my orders will be punished accordingly.¡± Everyone was afraid of his reach and power. Setting up the machine, the new module was added to the Tectonic Discharger, which was prepared long time ago, but was too dangerous to use. It started to boost, giving out a strange sound that was no gracious tithe to the world. Some shockwaves could be felt, but nothing serious. Or they thought so¡­ ¡°Geologists report worldwide tremors and earthquakes¡­ Uprisings have started in the cities, as continents were ripped apart¡­ caused panic¡­ food is not paid for... buildings in ruins¡­ sewage system destroyed¡­ this was total annihilation.¡± Quoted scarcely a radio in the near vicinity of the research team. Panicking, a scientist slipped and hit a button that closed the Vault¡¯s door. Jacks Supplementary Chapter ¡°Kuh.¡± was the sound he gave out when he was stabbed. Having his abdomen ripped open, he could not stand still, so he leaned on the wall next to him, where he was shoved to. He collapsed some second after. Bleeding out, his mind started to bring back his memories buried a long ago. ***** ¡°Do you want to come to the market, Mia?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± a seven-years-old Mia replied. ¡°We need to decorate your inn to look better.¡± ¡°Get your shoes on, then.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± after that, Jack grabbed her by the hand and ventured forth to the Lower City Market, which was at the main centre of the city. Their inn was on the other side at the border of the Upper city. Although it was not a tremendous amount of walking, they had to take shelter, since Mia could hardly endure the heavy smoke of the city. Entering a shop occasionally and buying some minor goods was the best solution. ¡°Look, Jack it¡¯s a chicken.¡± She pointed on a figure on the counter. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Would you buy it for me?¡± ¡°Do you need it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± She looked at Jack with a faint of disappointment. ¡°Let¡¯s just buy the things you think the inn needs.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She said with more dissatisfaction. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll buy you something after we finished the inn. What do you say?¡± The response dealt a decisive blow to the seven-years-old Mia¡¯s conscience. ¡°Will that be okay for you?¡± ¡°Definitely. I¡¯ll buy you the chicken statue if you want it.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°So let¡¯s go.¡± They went out to the streets. The market was not far from this location, but was very busy along with its vicinity, so Jack held Mia tight not to lose her. ¡°I am hungry.¡± She complained. ¡°Let me check my purse.¡± But it was not there. He felt some movement few moments ago, but he thought it was only because of the crowd. He looked around for potential thieves, who might have acquired his purse. He did not feel despair, these things happened too much close to the shops and centres. He saw a girl, grasping firmly on his purse, running away into an alley. ¡°Mia, would you run with me?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They started to run. On arrival, they saw the alley, which was enclosed, but had a hole in the fence. Jack heard some machines that were used to heat the buildings, and heard his money clinging. ¡°Mia could get into the alley, but I cannot send her in, it is too dangerous.¡± ¡°Why are we here?¡± ¡°How should I put?¡± he thought. ¡°Someone has taken my purse, and she went in.¡± ¡°You are too fat to go in.¡± ¡°You mean my muscles are too thick?¡± ¡°Fatty.¡± She smiled, Jack laughed. ¡°Could you come out? I want my purse back. I have someone to feed, you know.¡± He shouted. Someone imitated a growl. Jack, who had been working with military dogs knew that it was a fake. It was a human with a high-pitched voice, preferably a child. ¡°You seem to be much younger than I anticipated. Come out. I will not hurt you.¡± There was no noise this time. ¡°Mia, could you look through the hole?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She crouched and put her head in. ¡°What do you see?¡± ¡°A girl.¡± ¡°A girl?¡± ¡°Aham.¡± ¡°What does she look like?¡± ¡°She is young and she has blue eyes and she has bad clothes and she seems afraid.¡± ¡°Anyone else?¡± ¡°No. She is holding a purse.¡± Mia stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you food.¡± He shouted. No answer. ¡°I have some rooms to spare. Come out, I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I stole your purse. People beat me for that.¡± ¡°You could just give it back and apologize. I might be able to help you.¡± She appeared at the hole, carefully moved forward. Mia was smiling all along. ¡°Can we eat now?¡± she asked. ¡°What do you like?¡± this was meant to the stranger.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Hold your horses, Mia. What is your name?¡± he saw a girl, the same age as Mia crawl out of the boiler¡¯s alley. She was filthy, her clothes were torn, and held a thimble desperately. ¡°Vale.¡± ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Could you give my purse back?¡± ¡°Can she come with us, Jack?¡± ¡°Wait, what? What should I do now? I don¡¯t have enough money to refurbish the inn, and maintain two children alongside.¡± he thought. ¡°Jack, Jack, could she come with us? She seems sick.¡± ¡°I see that.¡± She seemed somewhat pale, and had fever. It was not very healthy to stay in a hot and humid place, but at least she did not freeze to death during the night. ¡°I should just establish a kindergarten. I don¡¯t have enough money, I don¡¯t want another kid. I do not have the time. Yet it doesn¡¯t matter how I feel, I cannot leave her here.¡± ¡°Jaaaack.¡± ¡°Come, I¡¯ll buy you some food. What do you want to eat?¡± ¡°Really?¡± both asked simultaneously. ¡°Yes, but I will definitely not buy you the figure, Mia.¡± she nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s just go back to the inn. Could you pack your things, Vale?¡± ¡°I do not have any.¡± ¡°I see a thimble.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to pack that.¡± ¡°True. Come then.¡± They started their journey back to the inn, Jack held their hands. ¡°Would you like to eat some golden carrots?¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± asked Vale. ¡°Raw carrot with yellow candy coating. I¡¯ll buy you some.¡± He went to the stall and bought two. ¡°Here.¡± Vale was speechless. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Mia replied vigorously. ¡°So you do not have any other clothes, do you?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°I could buy you some.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she blushed. ¡°Yes. But you have to take a bath first, and you have to eat. I¡¯ll give you a room as well. Do you want to help us out? Mia needs help with the decoration, I need help with serving food.¡± ¡°Can I?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± She was speechless, again. Interpolating between the streets and the shops, they arrived. Jack showed her around. She was given a room next to Mia, while Jack told her where to find him if bad things happened. ¡°Now go, take a bath. We have to get some clothes for you. You can¡¯t help us around with those rags you wear, it would not be appealing. Borrow some clothes from Mia.¡± ¡°Appealing?¡± ¡°Acceptable and favourable for the customers. Go now. There is one bathroom in your room, you can use that.¡± She climbed the stairs and disappeared. The door of the inn was bashed out of the way with a strong force. Its sound could be heard throughout the building. Four men entered the battleground. ¡°Is that fucking brat here?¡± Jack turned around. ¡°Greetings, how can I help you?¡± ¡°Is that fuuucking brat here?¡± he shouted louder and louder. ¡°Are you looking for the rat in my kitchen? Though luck, I have been hunting it for a long time too, but you will never succeed, it is too clever for you.¡± ¡°Very funny. I am talking about a young lady, black haired, blue eyes, loves to steal and report things.¡± ¡°Lady? I do not know what you are talking about.¡± ¡°I saw you holding her hand.¡± ¡°What took you so long to ask anything like that? I mean, we have arrived at least ten minutes ago.¡± ¡°I brought some friends.¡± ¡°So you need friends to beat up an eight-years-old?¡± ¡°She is the devil.¡± ¡°Or you are an unfortunate idiot. She was alone for a long time, nobody took her in, and never knew about other options than stealing. So you want to beat her? I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± He put up his boxer, and picked a metal rod, with which he used to clean the ceiling. It had some wool on the end, which could be used to remove the dust easily. ¡°Boys, we should take care of him.¡± Three of the men ran towards Jack, who swung his rod hitting one in the groin and then he hit one with his hand, which lead to a severe loss of teeth. The last one wanted to punch him in the face, but he blocked with the rod. His fingers broke. Then Jack bashed him in the face, breaking his nose. ¡°Oy, you fucker, c¡¯mere.¡± He shouted angrily. ¡°Nobody is allowed to brawl in my inn. I was a dog trainer in the military. I fought dogs without any equipment. You¡¯ll lose your dignity if you beat a woman, let alone a girl. Then you will be worse than dogs. Do you want to be worth less than a dog? I have no problem with beating them to death, you will be a piece of cake¡­¡± ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t meant to.¡± Jack hurled the rod towards the leader¡¯s face, taking his eyes out. ¡°If you want to go to the local militia, you shouldn¡¯t, most of the officers were my comrades. They will punish you instead. So go now before I grab your other eye as well.¡± The one with a broken nose got up and the two of them carried the others away. When Jack turned around, he saw Vale crouching on the stairs. ¡°Did you take a bath?¡± ¡°Yes. Thank you.¡± ¡°Mia. MIA.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± ¡°We should be going.¡± He grabbed both girls¡¯ hands. Exiting the premise, they ventured towards the market, but took a slightly different route, as Jack was a favoured customer in one of the children¡¯s clothing stores near its vicinity. His late wife¡¯s uncle¡¯s daughter¡¯s husband was the owner. They had some glamorous conversation over pets and family. They rarely met, but that didn¡¯t stop Jack to ask for a discount, since he was almost broke. He used the most of his money to buy an inn, and repair it to a favourable condition. Entering the shop, Jack asked Vale what kind of clothes she wanted. ¡°What do you prefer?¡± ¡°So I can get new clothes?¡± ¡°I have told you about it several times. I only have money for two sets, so choose wisely.¡± She pointed on the two cheapest white shirts and black trousers. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He spoke to the shopkeeper for a while and he bought the clothes. He was given a seventy percent discount. ¡°I want you to take on one of the outfits.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°You can find a changing room over there.¡± The shopkeeper pointed towards a white door in the back of the building. ¡°Jack. Come with me. I am afraid.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Mia was inspecting the goods during the whole time. She did not pay any attention. ¡°You look great.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°So we should go back.¡± ¡°Noooo.¡± Mia exclaimed. ¡°Yes.¡± He grabbed Mia by her arm and held Vale¡¯s hand. He dragged Mia out of this store successfully. This was a rare occasion. ¡°I haven¡¯t been here before.¡± Said Vale. ¡°This is a part of the market only a handful knows.¡± ¡°Can we look around?¡± ¡°You do not have to steal anymore.¡± ¡°I want to look around.¡± ¡°There is a bridge between two districts of the city, we should be heading over there. The landscape is kind of enjoyable.¡± So he showed the way. ¡°Can you hear this?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Someone cries.¡± Vale said. ¡°Under the bridge.¡± Jack located the perpetrator. He glanced at the establishment of the bridge and saw a boy crying. He was angry too. ¡°Hey, you. What are you doing?¡± ¡°Leave me alone.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave you alone if you answer me.¡± ¡°Leave me alone.¡± He hissed. ¡°Why is that boy crying?¡± asked Mia aloud. ¡°I am not a boy.¡± Replied the boy angrily. ¡°What are you then?¡± asked Jack. ¡°A son of a general.¡± ¡°I understand now. He is an orphan, isn¡¯t he?¡± he thought. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Why would I tell you?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Mia asked. There was a moment of silence. ¡°Father was taken away by the Vanguard.¡± ¡°Why are you under the bridge?¡± ¡°I cannot go anywhere else.¡± ¡°Jack. Can we help him?¡± asked Mia carefully. ¡°Do I have a sign with kindergarten on it? It is an inn, I cannot raise children in it.¡± ¡°Jaaaack. Jaaaaaaack.¡± ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°Jaaaaaaaack. Jaaaaaaaaaaack.¡± ¡°Damn. Hey, kiddo, can I offer you a room? I have an inn. It is not a palace, but it¡¯s warm at least.¡± ¡°Yaaay.¡± Mia exclaimed. ¡°Why would you help me?¡± ¡°Because she wouldn¡¯t stop pestering me about it. Come then.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your choice. You cannot do anything if you die.¡± He turned around. ¡°Come let¡¯s go. I have to make dinner for you.¡± They ventured forward. The boy followed them cautiously, since he had nothing to eat. On arrival, Jack started to cook some onion soup with plain potato. It had little flavour, but was nutritious. Then he saw someone sitting down in the hall. ¡°We have not opened yet. Please le¡­¡± ¡°Could I get some soup as well?¡± the boy asked timidly. ¡°Only if you tell me your name.¡± ¡°Noah.¡± ***** ¡°I never told them, but they are all my children. You told me I still have a reason to be alive, I did not understand what you were talking about back then, now I know. I guess I¡¯ll be joining you soon enough, darling.¡± James Fourth Chapter ¡°How do you open this monstrosity?¡± James asked timidly. He felt as a dwarf, while standing in front of the magnificent door. ¡°It seems you have to insert huge amounts of biological data.¡± Emily responded. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Scratching his head, he put his thumb behind his belt, which held an Alternate Current gun on the right side and a casual on the left. ¡°You have to insert your data.¡± ¡°It is still not clear to me.¡± ¡°You put your data into the keyhole.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Please, don¡¯t talk that way.¡± ¡°Masturbate into the keyhole.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You have grip your weapon and polish until it becomes filled with fluid. Then you insert the projectile into the keyhole.¡± ¡°Why do I have to do that? I did not came all the way down here from the domes to fap into a fucking hole.¡± ¡°It was less than an hour, remember? You didn¡¯t even have to do anything. I organized everything, even the underground¡¯s tickets that brought you here. The bots even made a tunnel just to get you in.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Do you need me to help?¡± ¡°Would you?¡± he replied with doubt. ¡°I was told to do everything to support you, even if Charles couldn¡¯t come in.¡± ¡°This is one in a lifetime chance¡­¡± he thought. ¡°You always call Charles Pa.¡± ¡°I tend to, but this is much more stressful than I thought it to be, plus you are getting on my nerves.¡± ¡°What are you anxious about? You do not even have to get in the Vault. You are to help me with this and leave through the tunnel. No big deal.¡± ¡°If we get caught, especially when you do your duty, many problems would appear. You should start as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Help me with it. I am stressful, too. My hands might shake¡­¡± ¡°Is that a bad thing? You could relieve yourself, if you start massaging the customer.¡± ¡°I think I told my opinion about it.¡± ¡°Do you need me to escort you to the toilet as well?¡± ¡°I still have a choice to say no, you know.¡± ¡°Take it out.¡± Being annoyed, she took a rubber glove out of her pocket, and pulled it on her hand. ¡°Is this your first?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me.¡± Her cold glance ripped right through his confused eyes. Not to mention, both of them blushed and were embarrassed. She started playing with joystick. ¡°Hmmh.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it.¡± ¡°Just shut up.¡± ¡°Hmm. You are doing it right, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°That is disgusting.¡± At that moment, James couldn¡¯t hold back. The white fluid spread like heresy, sticking to the surface of the gloves, the floor and even on the door. Emily took off the glove and put the key into the lock. James was shimmering in the background¡­ ¡°Why did you do that?¡± asked James curiously, feeling slight embarrassment and pride. ¡°I have no other choice but to help you.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I am the assurance. You must get into the Vault, or I¡¯ll be punished.¡± ¡°Get punished?¡± ¡°Oh, are you a parrot now?¡± ¡°Who would punish you?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to know the details. I¡¯ll be going, the door is to open. If it did not open, leave. I¡¯ll be waiting for ten minutes or so.¡± She withdrew to the entrance of the tunnel and disappeared. The display above the keyhole started to evaluate the DNA, then sent back the message ¡®Access granted¡¯. The sturdy door started to move, causing immense amounts of noise pollution, but it didn¡¯t take five seconds to open. James stepped in, and pushed a button, on which ¡¯Close¡¯ was written. Advancing into the heart of the Vault, he saw a gigantic archive full of books and servers, which could be accessed without any passwords or access cards. Many levels were present, most of which were rectangular shaped rooms. The lowest level held the main interface and the Tectonic Discharger. ¡°Why does Charles want me to destroy this?¡± he wondered while approaching an interface on a server. He started to navigate through its library. ¡°So I have access to every hub from here? That is strange. He told me to destroy everything, but I do not see anything malevolent in these archives. Is it because of the Paragon? Is it because of the ill-intentioned power-mongers, who want to conquer the world? Jeez, Charles might just want to protect his own standing. Nobody, except me can get into the Vault, right? Then why did he search for me? Is this why he was wandering in enemy territory?¡± he sent a message to the science hub, but since only one way notifications were available to use, he couldn¡¯t communicate with anybody. ¡°I have been waiting for you.¡± Announced a hoarse, mysterious male voice through the speakers. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Come to Blackheart. The lowest level. I am waiting.¡± ¡°Well, this is getting interesting, and a bit alarming. This is an abandoned place, a graveyard and the hub of knowledge, and a random guy awaits me? This thing had not been opened who knows since. Should I give him a chance?¡± He searched for an elevator, which could be found at the back of the room. When he stepped in, he pushed the last button on the panel to get to the lowest level. Some music started to play, but the speakers were faulty, so he did not really listen to it. The door opened after a while. As he entered the immense area, a huge structure and some equipment he never saw before introduced themselves. ¡°Come closer. Come to the monitor.¡± The device, he approached, was a huge glass rectangle on the wall, called the renderer, and used an in between of holograms and 3D technology. Under that, there was a huge metal surface, which read gestures by the holograms it projected, which could take the form of a keyboard or a chart. A face appeared, which was old, had grey beard and was bald. Slim glasses were lingering on his pesky nose, and his brown eyes were efficiently hiding behind it. Behind the glass, not the nose. ¡°This is just a recording.¡± ¡°Great, nice to meet you too.¡± ¡°Do you know why you could get into the Vault? You are not chosen to intrude, you are made to. You are the perfect human, whose DNA was all planned by me.¡± ¡°Thank you for doing me¡­¡± ¡°Before you do anything else, I need to say that the machine, you might see in the middle of the room, must be destroyed.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That is why I am here¡­¡± ¡°It is not as easy as you think. This thing cannot explode, cannot be overloaded, cannot be salvaged, cannot be demolished without the proper tools. There are some pliers in the vicinity of the machine.¡± ¡°So what can I do? Jack off onto the tool so that the thing opens itself?¡± ¡°You have to get into the Tectonic Discharger and cut the wiring. There is a slight hole in the right ventricle, from which the control panel can be reached.¡± He took up the pliers from the ground. ¡°The proper tools are pliers? What a distinguished equipment¡­¡± ¡°Remember, the perfect human is not just perfect on the outside. I have engineered you to be better in every way, but you could only be male since some genes were linked to the Y chromosome. Less nutrients, more resilience, higher intelligence, beautiful eyes are all a quality you possess.¡± ¡°What is next? Am I going to grow another penis? Or a pussy?¡± ¡°So if you would approach the small hole on the side¡­¡± James got in the hole. He saw a motion sensor and waved so that the video continued playing. ¡°You should search for a panel with the text ¡¯Kontrollieren¡¯ and open it.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t seen that word before, it means control, I guess.¡± ¡°Opening the panel, you can see several wires with labels. It should start with ¨¹bergang, Fl¨¹ssigkeitteuerung, Energievervaltung, Sicherheitbeobachtung, Kernbeschleunigerleitung: ?nderung. If you cut the wrong one, the machine might start again. Cut the Sicherheit and the Leitung, respectively.¡± But the hatch did not open. Being angry, he fired two shots on the lock, on account of ¡¯It¡¯s a fucking piece of shit.¡¯ One of the bullets ricocheted, but did not hit James. That loosened the hatch and then he cut the wires. Some noises could be heard from the upper part of the machine. ¡°You should now relocate to the left atrium, and stop the circulation. There is a pathway through the hole.¡± ¡°You should have just made a button that destroyed its circuits¡­¡± ¡°There are steppes embedded in the walls, you should use these and get in to the right atrium. Then there is an entrance to the left atrium, you have to crawl through.¡± He spent more than twenty minutes to get from one place to another, followed by clinging and clanking all the way through. He saw another motion sensor and he waved into its ultrasonic field. ¡°There is a button panel, and a closed cavity on under them. Cut all the wires in it, except the blue ones. Then push the buttons with the labels ¡®1; 21; 3; 23¡¯ respectively¡± He cut every non-blue item, and pushed the buttons. The mechanical sound of the machine changed to electronic noises. ¡°Now you just have shatter the Energie Vervaltung.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that it¡¯s indestructible?¡± ¡°The machine uses the core of the Earth and its magnetic field to induce electricity. Imagine a Faraday disk generator, in which not the coil but the magnets are moving. This is the way I can put it without going into the details. The machine also converts seismic waves and obtains heat from geothermal energy as well. We tried to accelerate the Earth¡¯s core to move the magnetic field faster, we drilled a tube into it. You have to rupture the tube. The structure will lose its balance then and collapses under its own weight and the pressure inside. You have to insert something into the tube.¡± ¡°I will not put my dick in it.¡± ¡°There is a titanium rod on the deck beside the interface.¡± He crawled out of the hole. Glancing at the piece of metal, he walked over to the four-legged plastic furniture and removed the item. He scouted the area, and found where he has to put the rod in. He inserted it, which caused the metal structure to shimmer and tremble. Giving out a low-pitched noise, the machine lost its balance, turned over, and shattered. Some cracks appeared on the tube and the metal covering the left atrium. The face on the display shifted to a robot¡¯s, which started into its lonely monologue. ¡°I do not know whether you succeeded or not, but I hope you hear this message. I might have made the perfect person according to my perspective, but I realized that it would not make them any better at all. You might be genetically pure, but that will not make you the best. It can only be derived from your thoughts, emotions and actions. Your time in this world is limited, do not waste it away, like I did. Getting what you want easily or be privileged makes you weak, useless and unable to go against the malevolence of the world¡­¡± the interface suddenly shut off. James heard some screech of digital voice from behind. ¡°What the fu¡­?¡± A metal hand grabbed his leg and pulled him over. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. Another hand gripped his left and pushed it to the ground. ¡°You¡­ imperfect¡­ human, how dare you intrude¡­ the house of gods?¡± ¡°Not that I wanted to.¡± He draw the AC gun out of his belt and shot at the main body of the murderous persona. The electricity destroyed its circuits. It collapsed shaking. ¡°What was that about? Where did this buffoon come from? There is some liquid on the floor, which might lead me where this came from. Naah, I¡¯ll go the opposite direction. I do not want to die here.¡± He stepped towards a door on the other side. ¡°I hope I wouldn¡¯t encounter another crazy junk.¡± He heard the echo of some metal colliding with the floor. He readied his guns. ¡°I am sorry, I hope he did not cause any inconvenience.¡± ¡°Not at all. He just wanted to try out his new fancy moves, that¡¯s all. Would you like to pet me like he did as well?¡± ¡°I am Leon, you might know me. I see that the Tectonic Discharger in not active anymore.¡± ¡°I doubt it will be. Why would I know you?¡± ¡°I was the guy talking on the interface.¡± ¡°I thought you were more, let¡¯s say, organic¡­¡± ¡°I have uploaded my mind into this metal vessel, or rather the previous me did. The others did not really want to hear me out, because I designed the machine that caused the Cataclysm. There was an error in the procedure, so their personalities decayed accordingly.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°I want you to get rid of them. Entering the vault, you activated the Awakening function of their incubator.¡± ¡°Absolutely, of course not. I¡¯ll just leave the moment I have an opportunity.¡± ¡°They might destroy the world.¡± ¡°Who could probably do that? The world outside of this Vault is huge and terrifying. Even if you are a god, it is impossible to destroy the people if they work together.¡± ¡°Are you a coward?¡± ¡°I believe that I shouldn¡¯t die for something unreasonable.¡± ¡°Kill them, please. They are suffering.¡± ¡°No, I have no reason to.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help you use the knowledge I developed through the years.¡± ¡°Why would I care?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Human Cellular Electronics. I helped to integrate human cells with artificial cell organelles that manufacture nano-machines and such. It is much more rigid, can be changed easily and is able to produce electricity out of heat and movement and use ATP for the rest of its needs. It would be a semi-organic setup without cutting off body parts and restructuring the human homeostasis.¡± ¡°So you intend to use that on me?¡± ¡°No, I want to help you learn it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°You have to get into an HCE Incubator. It would integrate these organelles into many of your cells, which will divide and increase the amount of the modified cells. Your immune system would probably attack these cells, but there is a procedure that conceals the organelles which avoid detection by creating substances that deceive one¡¯s self-defence. It takes time¡­¡± ¡°Well, good for you.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°So why did you¡­¡± ¡°Become a robot? I did not want to. The others were afraid of death by starvation and dehydration. My colleagues could not believe that the world came into and end, which did not happen, since we were alive. They did not want to become the evil villains who destroyed Earth, so they made a plan to upload themselves into a metal body, realizing that we were trapped here. I was secluded, and was only given my basic needs, because I was the project manager. If I did not upload myself as well, they told me that they would torture me. They wanted to use me as a scapegoat and punish me in front of the world. By the time they finished the basic structure of their bodies, the whole world went mad and ripped itself apart rather than working together to solve the problems. People just stole and defied the law. Nobody wanted to do anything against it. Nobody did anything against misfortune or damage, just went to ensure their own survival, rather than others¡¯. Everything went wrong because everyone overreacted the whole situation and gave in to the irresistible panic and useless instincts. This is why the Old World fell.¡± ¡°You tend to speak out of context.¡± ¡°I am a robot. I do not have several functions that a mortal brain possesses.¡± ¡°How did your kind colleagues become so bloodthirsty?¡± ¡°There were some misinterpretation in the program that converted their personalities to software codes. I am still partly human, the processors I have are organic, their¡¯s are not. Robots can hardly understand human emotions, they have their own.¡± ¡°LEEEEOOON. Are you chatting with the visitor? How many times did we tell you to stay in your fooocking playroom.¡± Another malicious machine appeared out of nowhere. ¡°Oh, is this your engineered miracle? This rat? We are way better¡­¡± the robot started to run towards James with the intent of murder, faster than any human could. His unholstered gun was faster, its projectile hit its chest. It fell over lifeless, or James thought so. ¡°We will punish you for your insolence¡­¡± three other appeared from the shadows. ¡°How many colleagues do you have?¡± asked James while he retreated to a close facility and barricaded its entrance. ¡°Roughly twenty. You have killed two of them.¡± He answered from behind the door. ¡°More are coming.¡± ¡°Do you have a plan?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± ¡°Fine. Do you have acid or explosive materials in this faculty?¡± The belligerent entities started to strike the door with their full power. ¡°I think you might find some nitro-glycerine in one of the crates at the back of the room.¡± ¡°Something just came to me. Why can¡¯t you just destroy them? They do not seem to be violent towards you.¡± ¡°I wanted to be sure that I would not attack anyone, even if the uploading would go wrong, so I programmed my software to be unable to hurt anything willingly.¡± The door gave in, and seventeen bloodthirsty bot rushed in. James was standing next to the door when it was opened and hid behind its remnant. He left his shirt on a pile of nitro, and the machines jumped on it without a second thought, taking the bait. Finding some matches previously, he lit the fuse he arranged, and fled. But something grabbed his left shoulder and pulled him back. ¡°You cannot flee from us.¡± ¡°You should leave me alone. I think this counts as sexual harassment.¡± The bot whacked a metal plate into James¡¯ shoulder, detaching the half of his arm. Then the robot removed the illicit limb. ¡°Insole¡­.¡± The nitro blew up, destroying the ill-intentioned beings, even the one, who tore James¡¯ left arm out. The aforementioned limb flew two or three meters and slapped Leon¡¯s metal face with a partial force of the explosion. Most of the concrete fled the crime scene, whether be bigger or smaller pieces, most of them found their way to James, burying him under a rubble of constraint and compulsion. The recently detached limb¡¯s place ached horribly and shed his blood, several of his ribs were broken. He tried to stay conscious. ¡°Could have been better. I did not want to die in this shithole¡­ Did I do this right? Does it matter? It is my fault I die...¡± he fainted from the pain and the loss of blood. Tyronnes Fourth Chapter ¡°Damn. What is this white thing I stepped into?¡± George was inspecting his boots, his anger burst upon realising what the substance was. ¡°I see you have met another specimen of your breed. You have been searching for a long time¡­¡± Tyronne responded. ¡°Motherfucker.¡± He replied in the distance. ¡°So what do we do now?¡± asked Noah. ¡°I want to see the individual, who comes out of the Vault.¡± ¡°I doubt they would let you be here any longer.¡± ¡°They? These untrained boys playing the cool knights of the darkness? I could take out twenty before they stop me.¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t try it out.¡± ¡°Did you send the message?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°When will they arrive?¡± ¡°Since they were concealed nearby, five minutes or so.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s retreat then, before George realizes anything. He won¡¯t, but we have to be careful, his whole army is in this hall.¡± ¡°Along with innocents.¡± ¡°All civilian units, retreat to your headquarters.¡± Announced George. ¡°He is doing all the work for us. We should be grateful. I¡¯ll invite him for a dinner after we finished.¡± He turned around and left the hall of the Vault. Noah followed him. They ventured to the main entrance to meet up with their forces, a small, elite division that was specialized in taking out a large number of enemies in crowded, sealed places such as the Tower. ¡°We still shouldn¡¯t kill anyone who is not resisting.¡± ¡°You cannot just dance in and say that everything is mine. They will put up a fight.¡± ¡°This should not affect innocent people.¡± ¡°Only if they get in my way. I couldn¡¯t care less of their lives.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°You forget your place. Don¡¯t you remember that there is another person, whom you should think of?¡± Noah¡¯s face became pale. ¡°Yes, sir. I am awaiting your orders.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t blame me. It is their choice to fight not mine. Or is it? One is solely responsible for their actions. What do they know about my nation? It is not as horrible, George exaggerates the poverty and the inability of my people. These people could even get privileges, like the countryside or the border towns. Maybe a place on the council and autonomy would be enough.¡± After some minutes, about a hundred elite Vanguard members appeared, mostly disguised as a trader convoy from the North. It was highly suspicious, but nobody cared enough to check the carts, which was full of guns and explosives. The officer, who led the division, approached Tyronne. ¡°Reporting for duty, sir.¡± ¡°How long will this take?¡± ¡°An estimated twenty minutes.¡± ¡°We both participate.¡± ¡°I advise against it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± ¡°I want to hear about the tactics you¡¯ll be using.¡± ¡°We have two. The first is to block the entrances, take on gasmasks, and use sleeping gas. This would affect the civilians, the air ventilation system would carry the incapacitating agent through the Tower.¡± ¡°We should not affect the innocent.¡± Noah burst out. ¡°So you rather kill than make the citizens a bit drowsy. What is the other solution?¡± ¡°Encircle, use shields to prevent leaking and flanking and guns to massacre the soldiers.¡± ¡°Is that what you want?¡± ¡°N¡­¡± ¡°Say no more. We will go with the second one. Do you have any incinerators?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°If some cause problems, feel free to use it. If you see any non-military individual, please deal with them kindly.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do this¡­¡± ¡°Change of plans. He does not come with us. He will stay here with three good men, and bears the fruit of his idealism. The others should come with me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do this, let¡¯s go with the other plan¡­¡± He was rendered unconscious with the handle of a gun. ¡°Also, I do not want to sort, bury and burn corpses so change your ammunition to rock salt. We might be able to convince them to take on some fight at the borders. Especially if they have relatives. Let¡¯s advance, shall we?¡± Taking out every witnesses on the way, they marched to the entrance. Entering, he shouted ¡¯Tetsudo¡¯. It was old tactics which he read in a book about ancient empires. Being efficient in tight places, it was the best way to conduct this mission. They could not be flanked. Taking up the formation of a half circle, they enclosed their enemies with the building¡¯s wall and their shields. Some of the enemy soldiers intended to leave, so they were given some salt as a farewell present. Moving forward, the battleground became smaller and smaller. When a soldier was hit in the abdomen, they collapsed and were dragged outside the formation and tied with ropes made out of carbon tubes, and carefully placed them on top of each other, if there was no more place around. After ten minutes, the soldiers surrendered, and were taken as captives. ¡°Well, the majority of the Order¡¯s forces lie in front of us.¡± ¡°Where is George?¡± asked the Paragon. ¡°I want him to lick my boots, I stepped in some intriguing stuff recently. He could taste some exotic spices¡­¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t found him yet.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t? Eehh. You see that soldier over there, next to the Vault¡¯s door? I want to interrogate him as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± He ran to the guy, grabbed him and pulled him through the hall. ¡°If I am not mistaken, you are George¡¯s bodyguard.¡± He started talking when the dragged meat arrived. ¡°It¡¯s Grandmaster to you.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you properly. Did you say grand hamster? He does look like one.¡± ¡°What you are doing is illegal, and unjust. I will not say a word to you.¡± ¡°First of all, no war is just, so who cares about being just or not? I do not give a damn. Secondly, if you do not tell me where he is, I¡¯ll start killing of your comrades one by one, in front of you. I¡¯ll make them suffer. We have a huge incinerator, and I am excited to present its abilities to such a loyal friend like you. Hey guy, bring it in.¡± Four men brought in a huge gun like structure that would be able to melt medium-sized buildings made out of stone. ¡°I have seen it once. It just melts everything in its way. But that would be too generous. We set out the victims to the end of its range and have it taste their flesh.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°He¡­ He¡­ He is interrogating a girl, who was using a tunnel that penetrated the ventilation system.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°At one of the interrogation rooms, on the sixth floor.¡± ¡°You heard him. I take a quarter of our men, you stay with the prisoner.¡± His Elegancy advanced to the sixth floor, which was a narrow passageway with several junctions. Interrogation rooms and prison cells did not need much place. He could easily remove unwanted resistance with the formation, since the shields were made of an alloy that insulated and protected its wearer. George¡¯s bodyguards took on the fight by opening doors and hiding behind them, but were unable to do anything against the incoming attack. Being desperate, they surrendered after several minutes. ¡°George. GEEEEEOOOORGE.¡± The envoy of the Virtues shouted. ¡°This place is done for. You should come out before you hurt yourself with your tedious toys.¡± ¡°Fuck¡­ How dare you destroy a thriving nation? How dare you force your cruelty upon people?¡± he shouted from one of the rooms. Tyronne signalled to the soldiers to approach it carefully. ¡°He is capable to make a last stand, sacrificing himself for a ruined nation, a fallen idea.¡± Tyronne thought. ¡°Look. I do not need anyone¡¯s consent. That is why I am now two nation¡¯s leader and you are a prole, a useless vagrant.¡± ¡°I have a hostage.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°A young woman¡­¡± ¡°Really?¡± If we were in a desperate situation, sleeping gas could be used at any time. ¡°How does she look like?¡± ¡°Platinum hair. Strange eyes.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you come out? I want to see my maid unharmed.¡± He came out of the twelfth interrogation room, on the right. He aimed his gun at her temple, and held onto her body, like it was the last bastion of his freedom. Her mouth was tucked in, so that she would not be able to give signals. Little did he know that the girl was not affiliated with the State of Virtue. ¡°Did he do anything disgraceful to you?¡± The girl shook her head. ¡°Why would I? She is a hostage¡­¡± ¡°This might be your last day in this world, a hump would be appropriate¡­ Anyways why don¡¯t you let her go?¡± ¡°She is my ticket outta here¡­¡± Stated George. His opponent smiled. ¡°How? You ride her? You should have done that long ago¡­¡± ¡°These jokes are getting on my nerves.¡± ¡°You should have tried fighting me. Instead you hid behind the back of a girl. What a coward.¡± George started to retreat. ¡°He will shoot one or two and push her aside. He wants to make it to the exit, doesn¡¯t he?¡± The politican signalled to his officer what he deduced. After George stepped back, he did throw, gently of course, the girl aside, and at that moment he was hit in the groin with the same souvenir his men were given. He collapsed. Tyronne approached the man, who was lying on the floor and probably became a eunuch. He vomited and was regenerating. Tyronne waited for the perfect moment, then he started to talk. ¡°Kiss my boots. I will not cut your slings down or pull your teeth out. You have a choice to swear fealty.¡± ¡°Never.¡± He murmured. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything.¡± Tyronne stepped on the man¡¯s valuables, which were a mess, anyways. The force of the impact was too much to handle, even if he had some protection against this kind of attack. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± He tried to stand up, but fell over, vomited and repeated this for a few times. ¡°Kiss my boots. I deliberately prepared them for you.¡± He shifted his foot towards George, who was kneeling in front of him. He bowed and kissed the boots. ¡°Lick the shit of welt.¡± The Champion of Virtues forcefully inserted the front of the boot into George¡¯s mouth, who involuntary swallowed the organic substance. ¡°Take him to one of the interrogation room. You should sort the captives out, and if they can fight, they are to be send to the main branch as privates, if they can¡¯t, then to the skirmisher branch. Send a message to Edmund that I might have found a solution to our problems. He should reply as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°As for the girl, I shall enquire her about her employer. Take the cloth out of her mouth.¡± ¡°Th..th.. Thanks.¡± ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Lia.¡± ¡°Well, Lia, what happened?¡± ¡°He thought I was your agent, he took me as a hostage and wanted to kill me¡­¡± ¡°So what are you doing here, if you are not affiliated with George? He would not do such a thing, if you were a member of his precious Order.¡± ¡°I was¡­ um¡­ helping the envoy-bot.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll go check on your jailer.¡± Tyronne went in the interrogation room. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°How did you find that girl?¡± ¡°We sent a maintenance crew to the ventilation system, and the personnel reported that there were two holes in the sides of some tube at the hall of the Enigmatic Vault. We didn¡¯t notify you about the events. We sent some soldiers in the tunnels to explore them and found her at the exit. ¡± ¡°Great.¡± Tyronne left the room. He looked at the girl and started talking to her. ¡°You seem similar to one of my acquaintances. He lives in the East.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°His name is Charles Depree, does it ring a bell?¡± ¡°No, not really¡­¡± ¡°I have only met him once. Two of his agents were able to get into the Industrial hub under the Grey Palace about nineteen years ago. They disguised themselves as a maid and a butler, and worked there for some time. They were very careful not to bump into the late-Paragon, he would have figure them out in an instant. They gave in their resignation due to the fact that their child was about to be born. Long story short, they couldn¡¯t just keep their baby, the authorities knew about the illegal child, and they were persecuted. When that Paragon saw them, he knew that they were, well, not from here and executed them. The child was put into the public education system. In the first year of my reign, Charles appeared out of the blue, asking to take a boy, similar to a woman in the picture he showed me. I told him to give me unlimited access to the hub. He was not important enough, though. You might remember about a foretold little brother, about eight years ago...¡± ¡°Ho¡­ Eh?¡± Tyronne smiled. ¡°So you are his daughter? I had my suspicions. Let me tell you about your father. He wants to deceive all the nations and act as a god governing with the power of knowledge. Why do you think he sent you to open the door? To upload every info to the Science hub and destroy everything else along with the Vault. He wants to keep his technological hegemony, so to say.¡± ¡°I do not care¡­¡± ¡°I guess there was a man with you.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°You do not try to deny?¡± ¡°I have to earn your favour¡­¡± ¡°Good girl. You remember that kind person, George? He had stepped in some sperm.¡± ¡°I just escorted him.¡± ¡°When will he come out?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Can you influence your envoy?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Are you honest?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She said it with a stern face. ¡°You are not lying, I guess.¡± ¡°What is she up to? Never mind. It is not important.¡± He thought. ¡°I should prepare to give my speech in the main hall. Will you secure the place for me? I almost forgot, gather the people for me, will you? It would be unreasonable to do so without an audience.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°And fetch me a messenger.¡± ¡°Are you against being sent to my Palace?¡± ¡°Do I have a choice?¡± ¡°No, not really.¡± ¡°Why do you ask then?¡± ¡°The question is why not?¡± ¡°Eh¡­¡± she turned her head away. ¡°Prepare a carriage with a considerable military force. Where is the messenger?¡± ¡°I am awaiting your message.¡± A person with papers and a pen reported for duty. ¡°I know this is sudden, but we are to unify the regions. The Order has fallen, you are to be made a governor of one of the five regions. I will make The Tower our headquarters, send me my ministers, and get yourself new ones, I will retain my title as a Paragon. You are responsible for anything that happens.¡± Then Tyronne stopped and stared at the messenger silently. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± He ran away. ¡°You should gather the most influential people, and ¡¯persuade¡¯ them to join us. Do it before I start my speech.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Tyronne ventured to the main hall, and oversaw the construction of the podium he will be giving a speech on. He saw the people assemble, but they had an aura of being frightened of or being furious at the change of the political system. ¡°I do not blame them, they have been living under the Order for a century or more.¡± Tyronne thought. After the Main Hall was filled with people, and the podium was erected, the Champion of Virtues stepped up. ¡°I, Paragon Tyronne Blackheart, address you to a referendum, held for the people who wish to join to our New Nation.¡± The Audience started to whisper and ask questions rather bluntly. ¡°What are you talking about? The order would not agree to your referendum; Have you invaded us, you pig?; Why would we like to be your underlings? We are free people; Why do you even hold a referendum, if nobody wants you?; What happened to the crest? Does this mean the Order is no more?¡± ¡°That hologram did disappear but it is not my doing.¡± He thought. ¡°Listen to the Paragon.¡± A soldier announced the start of his speech. ¡°My voice is the humble one here. I want to inform you about the happenings of today. The Vault, the Order had been protecting, were opened earlier today. They failed to do the only thing they stood for, to protect their sole purpose. As they have been disillusioned by bad ideals, I moved my troops and put an end to their uselessness. You might think that I conquered them. You might consider that I am a threat to all the free people. Yet I see your doubtful faces. I hear your concerns. This is not a world conquest, but the unification of humanity, the unification of minds and lives. You might see me as an arrogant, evil, devious bastard who only thinks for himself, but I assure you, I want to make a world where humans stand together, prosper together, fight together for a better future to make this place the most crucial centre of the unified human civilization. The Order did not stand the test of time. They just used you as a basis of their power, but I tell you that you are more than that, more than a workforce. You are humanity itself, the very remnant of the Old World and I shall to make you the New World, the new humanity, the new core, the strength of the new nation. This will be the harbour and you will be the ship that carries its goods towards a better place, a better time, a better life, a better future. You are to be the first lawful citizens of the United Earth. You are not to be constrained by ideals ready to exploit you. You are the ideals and I will not let you be used by some greedy merchants, I will not let you be put into a disillusioned discomfort, and I, certainly, will not let you be controlled by the metal junks without any empathy and good-will. I will fight, I will shed my blood for you, for your families, for the entire humanity. I will defend you. I will make you prosper. I will endorse you. ¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Said a heavy voice in the audience. ¡°We must accept.¡± Another influential individual shouted. After they expressed their newfound feelings towards the New Nation, several others have started cheering. ¡°We will join you.¡± Some started shouting and the others joined in. The referendum has been approved, and its outcome was a new nation. Mias Fourth Chapter ¡°So you want me to recruit the envoys, while you destroy what remains of the Order?¡± asked Mia after Tyronne withdrew from the peculiar podium. ¡°The Shadow Council must be destroyed as soon as possible. Although their army was crushed, they still have a notable influence. I am afraid that they would organize their own resistance.¡± Replied the Paragon in a haste. He handed some papers over to Mia. ¡°So what then?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll go back to the Grey Palace, ask for a Renovation Permit from Nathan and rebuild your house on my account. Seamus will be sent there as well. Things are getting serious.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll renovate my mansion?¡± ¡°Yes, I will.¡± ¡°So what can you offer the envoys?¡± ¡°A career.¡± ¡°One for both of them?¡± she smiled. ¡°I am not in the mood. I still have to deal with your idiot friend.¡± ¡°What did he do?¡± ¡°Something forgivable.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°I can give Ivan a seat in my council, he must be skilled in economics, and Leah could be an attained entertainer in the West. There are a bunch of them already in the South, but none in my nation.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°There is one more thing.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°There is a gal named Lia. You will be going back with her and pay a close attention to her behaviour. I want to know a lot more about her, you should send me a report on her after you got to know each other better.¡± ¡°Where can I find this Ivan?¡± ¡°I guess in his room.¡± ¡°You helped me plenty¡­¡± ¡°Close to your room, I guess it is a bit farther away but it is still on the same corridor. I think it was the thirty-second room. Leah¡¯s was the forty-first.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be going then. Thank you for your most gracious deed of helping a humble servant of yours.¡± Mia read the papers stocked in her hand, then ventured to the Conference floor, without even thinking about the way she would persuade her targets. Although nobody was hurt during the invasion, there was a mess on the floor, which was a result of the sudden referendum. Nobody knew what would happen next, so they wanted to prepare for an unknown disaster that might be happening any time soon. That included the envoys¡¯ staff as well. She approached Ivan¡¯s room and knocked in. ¡°Who¡¯s that? Are you with the Paragon?¡± asked a woman from behind the door. ¡°Yes, I am.¡± Mia answered. ¡°Why would someone like you be sent by Tyronne?¡± ¡°You have a filthy mind, don¡¯t you?¡± Mia smiled. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I was sent to negotiate, don¡¯t worry. I am certainly not someone, who creaks the bedstead.¡± ¡°How do we know you are the negotiator?¡± ¡°I tend to force open doors and probably shoot people till they die¡­ But I am rather peaceful today.¡± ¡°Anna, let her in.¡± A gentle male voice commanded the woman. The door opened, and Mia stepped in. The woman, who opened the door, had a tender body and an innocent look. Her eyes were weary of the constant struggle that put their life in danger. Her black hair was short compared to Mia¡¯s. ¡°Please, take a seat¡­¡± After Mia sat down, Ivan followed her example. ¡°So what can I do for you?¡± asked the envoy ¡°Do you know what happened?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You are not a prisoner. You know that right?¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± the woman asked. ¡°After we had this discourse.¡± Said Mia. ¡°About?¡± ¡°A seat in the Council.¡± ¡°Heee?¡± Both of them were surprised, to say the least. ¡°Tyronne wants to establish a Council fit to rule the Five Regions.¡± ¡°What does he want me to do?¡± ¡°Is it hard to figure out?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± ¡°I have brought you a contract that would give you citizenship. It also gives you certain privileges as long as you are loyal to the State¡¯s leader.¡± ¡°This is not very attractive¡­¡± ¡°You get a house, a big one and money. Isn¡¯t that enough? You do not have to pay for anything. We provide guards and safety to all of the ministers.¡± ¡°Ivan, we should take this opportunity.¡± ¡°We will be branded as traitors, for starters. They might send assassins to kill us.¡± Replied the envoy. ¡°Tyronne might execute us, too¡­¡± said Anna. ¡°She said we are free to go.¡± ¡°That is right.¡± ¡°We have a complicated situation here. My father does not like my current partner, and we are afraid that he¡­¡± ¡°I understand. She can stay as well. You will be guarded. Any assassins, accidents or insult would lead to a casus belli against the North, and that would be much desired.¡± Mia proposed a solution. ¡°What do you say?¡± ¡°There might be no North to worry about. According to the contract, if the region falls, you have to take over as a governor.¡± ¡°Will I be limited?¡± ¡°To a certain degree. You have to provide a certain amount of products and taxes to your overlord, and his authority will always be over yours. You are to manage the country, mostly and introduce laws that increase life quality and prosperity.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say I accept, what will be then?¡± ¡°As soon as Tyronne destroys the remaining resistance, he will form a new government, in which you will fill the position of the Minister of Finance. If you sign this contract, a delegation would come to pick you up. They would introduce you to your duties and to the other members of the cabinet. If you sign the paper, in the name of the Paragon, you and your family will be protected against any threat.¡± She handed over the contract and the paper. He took out a pen from a shelf, and signed it. ¡°Please do¡­¡± he said. ¡°We will.¡± ¡°Thank you with all my heart.¡± Anna responded. ¡°I¡¯ll be going. I have other matters to attend to¡­¡± ¡°I hope you succeed¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see¡­¡± She set for the next envoy, who seemed to be an easier target. When she knocked in, nobody responded. She started to ask her neighbours and random people about her location. She asked several people, until she met one of her attendant, who did not care about his envoy, as he resented politicians. ¡°Sir, do you have any idea, where I can find the Envoy of the South?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I guess she was playing the piano next to the conference room¡­¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Only Southerners can play the piano. She told me that she wanted to try that piano before she would die¡­¡± ¡°You should have started with that.¡± She walked to the previously mentioned room. She heard someone playing the piano behind that specific door. Entering the room, she found a woman, wearing a red dress, sitting in front of the instrument. Her fingers were dancing on the keyboard. Mia recognized the piece of music as her father often listened to classical music. He told Mia that he had a friend in the South, who was a master of the piano and a star of the nation. Of course Mia¡¯s dad got lots of recordings, which he helped to make. This was Chopin¡¯s Minute Waltz, one of her favourite. ¡°You seem to be a professional.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been doing this my whole life.¡± Replied after she finished the piece. ¡°Can you play Claude Debussy¡¯s Arabesque, no. 1?¡± ¡°Interesting request.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Nobody really cares about impressionist pieces even in the South.¡± ¡°My father loved it.¡± ¡°Where are you from?¡± ¡°State of Virtue.¡± ¡°You heard about Debussy? That is more than surprising.¡± ¡°I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Mia. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Leah. Envoy of the South.¡± ¡°Your technique seems to be unique.¡± ¡°Are you a fellow pianist as well?¡± ¡°Far from that. I can¡¯t play.¡± ¡°Why do you think that, then?¡± ¡°My father was a friend of B. F. Maximilien.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The Bold Finger.¡± ¡°Have you met him?¡± she asked in unprecedented enthusiasm. ¡°No, unfortunately, but my father helped him to record his play with a gramophone.¡± ¡°I have a disc about his play in the Great Theatre, just above the Cultural Hub.¡± ¡°That is one of my father¡¯s creations.¡± Leah started to breathe intensely. ¡°She lost it.¡± Mia thought. ¡°So why are you alone in times of these?¡± ¡°I heard they have a piano here made before the Worldfall and is in good quality. I wanted to try it out, before anything bad happens¡­¡± ¡°Worldfall?¡± ¡°Fall of the Old World in your dialect. The Northeners call it The Loss and the East named it The Cataclysm.¡± ¡°Well, I have to inform you about those bad things¡­¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± ¡°The Paragon wishes you good luck in your career.¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°He offers you unique privileges as a state entertainer. Everything you need is given, and the people will love you. We do not have any entertainers, you see¡­¡± ¡°This is interesting¡­¡± ¡°You will be given privileges, but you have to do as Tyronne says. Your concertos will be organized by professionals.¡± ¡°I still have a family back there¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone would like to welcome a politician back¡­¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°According to the traditions of your people, every politician is a cast out, but feel free to correct me.¡± ¡°You are right¡­¡± ¡°Thanks for the info, Tyronne¡­¡± Mia thought. ¡°We would provide you your dream career¡­¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t your people hate my performance?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll put ¡¯approved by the Paragon himself¡¯ into to your concert¡¯s advertisement, and everybody will love it. It is that easy¡­ All you need to do is to write your name on the contract. Here are the contents and here is the one you need to sign.¡± She put them on the piano, and took out a pen from her pockets. Leah signed it. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± ¡°There will be a carriage ready for you. According to the contract, you have to meet the current governor of the West, and he will manage you. I have to go now, I wish you luck.¡± Stepping out of the room, she bumped into the guards, who were escorting Lia to the carriage. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Never mind. We happen to have searched for you¡­¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°We should start our journey as soon as possible.¡± They started to move towards their destination, Mia followed them. ¡°May I have a request?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Could we stop at a manor by the road back? I¡¯ll inform you about its whereabouts, once we get close to the place. I have a house there, which will be renovated soon, so I have to take some measures¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lia did not say a word. She was sandwiched between the soldiers, and was, indeed, in a very uncomfortable position. ¡°I guess, I¡¯ll be coming with you, if it is not a problem.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°I was told we would have a different carriage than the envoys¡­¡± ¡°True. You are a higher priority in the eyes of the Paragon.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t misunderstand¡­¡± she murmured. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± The rest of the walk was quiet, nobody said a word. On arrival, both girls were put into the prepared carriage, and two guards were sitting in the front. Due to the scarcity of proper animals, which would be able to move these vehicles, electrical engines transferred the body to another location. Nobody wanted to spend a fortune on a carriage that could be destroyed in a mountain accident at any time, so a basic set of engines, a wooden body and four tires were included in this perfect piece of engineering. Mia tried to get close to Lia, or at least tried to talk with her. The traditional way of starting a conversation did not really work out, as she did not say a thing. But¡­ ¡°Do you have any relatives living nearby?¡± Lia did not respond, just looked at the landscape. There was a huge valley next to the road, which was about much, much higher and was located at the side of the mountain range. The air was clean, the sun was thrusting through the atmosphere gently, which was reflected by the little creak that carved out the valley. A forest could be found, covering half of the territory, but the water could be seen anyways. Fish jumped out of the little waterfalls that was throbbing and fizzing. This peaceful noise could be heard all around. Small rodents, mainly squirrels, were drinking water, along with an ordinary elk, which Mia have never seen before. ¡°I have never seen a male elk before¡­ ¡± ¡°Neither do I. How do you know it is a male?¡± ¡°Because it has antlers¡­ Have you never studied biology before?¡± ¡°It is not compulsory, only to scientist¡¯s kids. I was brought up to be an innkeeper.¡± ¡°An innkeeper?¡± ¡°Someone managing an inn¡­¡± ¡°I know, I know, but I have never seen anyone doing that.¡± ¡°It is not that difficult. You just serve people. They tell you what they need, you bring it out. They sit down, do their thing, pay and leave. It¡¯s uneasy to deal with one or two customers, but that is something you have to accept. Then there are things like getting the ingredients for dishes, obtaining alcoholic beverages, and changing money. Administration is a pain in the ass, but Jack did that instead of me.¡± ¡°Changing money?¡± ¡°Yes, we have a system, which includes lots of types of tokens. One is used for food, one is for clothes¡­¡± ¡°I have never had money before.¡± ¡°Never had money?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have¡­¡± ¡°Where do you come from?¡± she asked. Being surprised, this question just burst out of her. ¡°Never mind.¡± Lia looked away again. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Emily.¡± Then Emily gave Mia the cold shoulder for some time. Mia did not know whether to talk to her or ignore her, but she was trusted with such a valuable task, which meant she had to keep talking. Leaving the mountains behind, she started her monologue. She did not expect any response, though. ¡°We might stop soon. I have a manor nearby. I hope you do not mind that you have to wait some time before we resume our jounrey. I have some business.¡± ¡°What kind of?¡± ¡°I want to get some measurement of my house, which was abandoned long time ago. The Paragon renovates it for me.¡± ¡°Why did you abandon it?¡± ¡°It became inhospitable because an infectious disease. But that was long ago¡­¡± Silence struck in again. But this time, it was broken by Emily. ¡°Did anyone die?¡± ¡°My parents¡­¡± ¡°My condolences¡­¡± ¡°It happened long time ago. I am used to people dying around me.¡± ¡°My mother died too¡­¡± ¡°Life is not easy.¡± ¡°Not like we had a choice¡± ¡°I would never choose an easy life.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°If you have no problems to solve, you¡¯d feel worthless.¡± ¡°Would you just put some extra effort into something that is not worth to do?¡± ¡°It is way better than doing nothing. Enjoying life is blindly very attractive, but you¡¯ll have the feeling of being empty.¡± ¡°What if I spend too much time doing that?¡± ¡°Why not? You¡¯ll only learn from mistakes.¡± ¡°Some people tend to degrade every time something does not goes according to their plan. Then they start agonizing over it¡­¡± ¡°Then they are weak¡­¡± ¡°What if you are depressed?¡± ¡°Do something against it. If you feel you have no purpose, make up one. If you feel life is not generous enough, well, it is not. Accept it. If you feel being lonely or solitude, then what? You are always alone. Change yourself not to feel that. Be stronger, nobody can do it for you. You have too much to do? Not like you wouldn¡¯t have enough time. You promised yourself to do something for the thousand and first time, and did not do it? Get a hold on yourself. There is no excuse to be anxious. There is no reason to agonize over problems that were generated by ourselves. Don¡¯t regret. Don¡¯t forget. Don¡¯t waver.¡± ¡°You forget that some people are just unable to cope with their feelings. Nobody should condemn them for that. You shouldn¡¯t condemn people who want to live their life to the fullest. You should show empathy. They didn¡¯t have the same life as you. They didn¡¯t have the same experiences. Sometimes, these feelings just can¡¯t go away, sometimes, we feel just horrible. Sometimes, it is right to feel awful. You can¡¯t be happy if you haven¡¯t seen the other side of it. I would despise being someone rational. If you just focus on being better, you do not get to experience what it means to be a human.¡± ¡°But waiting for a saviour is not a solution. You have to take the lead. Nothing will go as planned, so what?¡± ¡°Spending half a lifetime to do something, then see it fail is a reason. Not being satisfied is a reason. Not fulfilling your basic needs is a reason. How come you never been depressed?¡± ¡°I was. For a long time. I think everybody has to be. But I couldn¡¯t take it. I hated every moment of it. I was waiting for someone to save me, but they never came. I had to rely on myself, rather than others. Nobody can sort my feelings out. Nobody can take responsibility for my life just me. So I decided to stop suffering, to stop feeling sorry for myself, and to tend to my emotions. If I have a problem I try to solve it, not to complain all the time. I have to solve them. It is hard, so what? Nothing is easy.¡± Mia turned her head to look out of the window. They have left the mountain pass. ¡°You see that roof in the forest?¡± She said ¡°It¡¯s my stop. I¡¯ll be back.¡± She got out of the carriage, and walked to the mansion. Her stop was very close to the roads, but the house could not be seen properly. ¡°Father used to keep the blueprints in the main hall.¡± She thought she entered the house. Ivy was all over the walls, stone rubble fell from the ceiling, damaging the wooden floor, which already started to rot. There was a shoe rack next to the door, and stairs in front of it. Although the place was empty, there was a cupboard next to the door that lead to the kitchen. Opening its second drawer, she found the blueprint, which was a bit worn though. There was an exit in the kitchen, which lead to the garden that was used to nurture valuable herbs and insects. This place had a huge ash tree in the middle, behind it was a cemetery, where all of Mia¡¯s close relatives, except for Jack, was buried. The graveyard was separated by a creak. Walking to her parent¡¯s grave, she found the small yellow flowers, one if which saved her life. She picked some, and resumed following the path. The graves were not in a bad condition. Nobody dared to come here as a result of having an unhealthy atmosphere. Her parents¡¯ were buried under the tree, using the roots as the coffins. This was their wish, which was granted by the Paragon. Putting the yellow flowers on the cross, she started to speak. ¡°I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to come here. I survived, thanks to you. I was afraid I might never see you again, but I shouldn¡¯t have been. Horrible things happened, out of the blue. Jack died. Vale died. Noah acts strange. I feel I have nobody to lean on. ¡± She stopped for a minute. ¡°But I have a purpose now. The Paragon asked me to bring up a child, who will be his successor. I want to help Noah by finding the guy he met. I know you are helping me from the shadows. I know you are watching over me, and I am grateful to know that I could always rely on you.¡± She observed the flowers falling from the ash tree, one of which was approaching Mia. She let the petal land on her hands, and put it next to the yellow one. ¡°I have lots to do. See you soon.¡± Epilogue ¡°It has been a year since the Vault Incident.¡± Mia was sitting in the chair, in which her father loved to take a nap in that was next to the fireplace. It was the place he called ¡®a warming room¡¯. There were some chairs, paintings and a sofa along with several hundreds of books in the room. ¡°What Vault Incident?¡± asked Seamus, curious as always. ¡°Somebody opened the Vault, and we do not know anything about it. What happened after was that the Paragon took control of the Tower. He formed a new nation called United New World. He is currently waging war with the three other interregional powers.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°No I am joking¡­¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°No, this is real. I hope you know that you will inherit this state one day.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Is there anything else for you to say?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± He smirked. ¡°Quit joking. He asked me to teach you about these things. I see you want to do other things and I understand that, but I am responsible for your education, in other words, please pay attention.¡± ¡°I would like to go hiking.¡± ¡°Well, the mansion was recently finished, so you didn¡¯t have time to do that. The landscape is beautiful around here¡­¡± ¡°So, can we?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask Aiden to go with you¡­¡± ¡°Yaay¡­ He is awesome.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go get him.¡± She stood up from the red velvet chair and opened the door. She shouted ¡°Aaaaaaaaiden¡±, and her butler immediately turned up. He was a young man with black hair and brown eyes. His facial hair was not growing, and was a little younger than Mia. According to doctors, he will never grow any beard, and will not have third molar germs, but both grew out, anyways. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°Would you be kind and go hiking with that little devil?¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am. Oh¡­ Before I forget, there is a man, who would like to apply for the position of gardener.¡± ¡°Where is he?¡± ¡°He is sitting in the main hall. I would be careful, if I were you. He covered his left hand and shoulder, he even has a glove on. It¡¯s twenty-six degrees Celsius outside.¡± Aiden started to talk to Seamus about how to conduct a safe hike in the mountains and told him about the potential locations they could go off to. Mia left the room, walked to the stairs that lead directly to the main hall. Then she went down to greet her potential gardener. ¡°My name is Mia. Nice to meet you. I am the owner of this mansion.¡± ¡°My name is Archibald. I saw the sign on the road, so I thought to apply¡­¡± ¡°Have you ever been a gardener before?¡± ¡°No, not really.¡± He was honest. ¡°How do you plan to take care of the plants, if you have no knowledge?¡± ¡°Who said I have no knowledge?¡± he responded with a bit of anger and disappointment. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± ¡°So what do you have?¡± ¡°Some information about the preferences of different plants, and two hands willing to work hard.¡± His golden eye was looking stern. ¡°I have had time to read.¡± ¡°How can you prove?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t, but you do not have anything to lose, give it a try¡­¡± ¡°I have a feeling that I have met you before¡­¡± She said. ¡°Me too¡­¡± He replied. ¡°We are off then, Lady Mia.¡± said Aiden, interrupting their conversation. ¡°Okay, bring him back in one piece. That is crucial.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Definitely.¡± ¡°Why do you have a glove on your hand, sir?¡± asked Seamus. ¡°My hand is not a tourist attraction¡­¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°A scar¡­¡± ¡°How did it happen?¡± ¡°Emmm.¡± Heavy thinking was progressing in the head of the stranger. ¡°You should go. He doesn¡¯t want to talk about it¡­¡± ¡°But I want to know¡­¡± ¡°This is something he shouldn¡¯t know about¡­¡± he whispered to Mia. ¡°When the time is right¡­¡± She responded ¡°Eeh.¡± ¡°Go¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Replied the butler and dragged the child out. ¡°So what happened to your arm?¡± ¡°It was ripped off.¡± ¡°Hee?¡± ¡°Do I have to talk about it?¡± He wasn¡¯t very enthusiastic about it. ¡°If you want the job¡­¡± ¡°I have nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep¡­¡± ¡°Cough it up¡­¡± Commanded the Lady of the house. ¡°Some bots with phoney human consciousness went nuts.¡± ¡°What?¡± It was a bit too direct to the woman. ¡°Long story short, I was put into an incubator that integrated electronics with eukaryotic cells. So basically I am a hybrid.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± She wouldn¡¯t know what he was talking about. Another word and she brands him a weirdo. ¡°It¡¯s no different than a normal arm. It gets stronger, if electricity flows through, and I have become resistant to illnesses due to the nano-machines the cells produce. They have electronics made out of organic proteins¡­¡± He kept it going. ¡°What are you? Or, rather, who?¡± ¡°A fellow human¡­¡± ¡°Wrong answer¡­ Tell me¡­¡± she looked at him viciously. ¡°Are you an associate of the East?¡± ¡°Oh, no¡­¡± he started to laugh. ¡°I mean, I know one or two people, but I was elsewhere, and very busy.¡± ¡°Then how did you get that technology?¡± ¡°Not from the East¡­¡± he removed the glove from his hands to show. It was very pale and grey, but there was nothing unnatural about it, except that there was no hair on the limb. ¡°This is not horrible.¡± ¡°Well, my shoulder is worse.¡± He rolled up the left sleeve. The upper part of the arm was marked with hexagonal patterns, which was formed during the insertion of the nanobots that changed the DNA. Then the cells developed the necessary cell organelles, manufacturing other nanobots with other specialties, plus they were organic. A huge, purely white scar was present on the shoulder, which was straight and wide. It was filled with different adhesive organic materials that was compatible with Human Cellular Electronics. ¡°This is¡­ I haven¡¯t seen anything like this before.¡± ¡°Nobody did in this world¡­ not even in the East.¡± ¡°I have an acquaintance, who is also from the East. You might want to show this to her¡­¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Her name is Emily.¡± ¡°What does she look like?¡± ¡°Platinum hair, strange eyes¡­¡± ¡°What a coincidence.¡± He smiled ¡°I know her, too.¡± ¡°Truly¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think she wants to talk about what happened at the Vault¡­¡± That seemed not to be intentional. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Ooops¡­¡± he looked away. ¡°What did you do at the Vault?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that crap¡­ You opened it, didn¡¯t you?¡± He still looked away. He seemed not to pay attention. ¡°Do you want me to tell the Paragon I met the person he has been searching for?¡± ¡°Do what you wish¡­ I¡¯ll be going¡­¡± he stood up. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt anybody.¡± He murmured. His eyes were on the verge of despair; he seemed as if something snapped in him. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t go.¡± ¡°You just threatened me. I can¡¯t go to the East, now I can¡¯t be in the West. The others are taking damage due to the war¡­ I¡¯ll be returning¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you live here, if you tell me everything.¡± ¡°I mustn¡¯t be a puppet. I mustn¡¯t use my gift to boost nations. I mustn¡¯t do wrong.¡± He murmured to himself. ¡°You¡¯ll sell me out, won¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No.¡± She replied with confident voice. ¡°I have seen that look before¡­¡± ¡°I won¡¯t tell anybody¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really want people to brand me¡­ The one, who opened the Vault. The one, who caused this mess. The one, who did not share the knowledge everybody deserves. Look, you don¡¯t want to know about it¡­ It¡¯s terrifying¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I hope we never meet them¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°I know too little or too much to tell you about it. Let¡¯s start from the beginning.¡± His attitude and thoughts shifted. ¡°My name is James.¡± James introduced himself. ¡°James? One of my friends has been searching for a James¡­¡± She stated. ¡°Have we met before?¡± He asked. ¡°I do not know¡­¡± ¡°Whatever¡­ What do you want to know?¡± He was unlikely to deny answering. ¡°How did you open the Vault?¡± ¡°It has a biometric lock. I was told, well, to jack off into its keyhole. There was an immense machine at the bottom of the complex, which I destroyed so that it would not destroy the world again. Then some bloodthirsty robots attacked me, and I¡­ I died. There was a guy, called Leon, who put me into his incubator¡­¡± ¡°What are you doing here? I mean you have had access to all the world¡¯s knowledge¡­¡± ¡°I was to leave anyways, but then I realized that it would be more than suspicious to get out of the Vault, so I searched and left through a secret entrance. I had enough of being in a room all day. I still have a device that connects to its servers¡­¡± ¡°May I?¡± ¡°No, you may not¡­¡± he smiled. ¡°Who are you to have such a mansion without a husband?¡± ¡°I am educating the Paragon¡¯s designated successor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s prestigious.¡± He said with a faint of disgust. ¡°We have been renovating this mansion for about a year, we moved in recently.¡± ¡°So how is the war?¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, MA¡¯AM. There is someone who wants to talk to you.¡± Aiden shouted interrupting the two. ¡°Come with me¡­¡± Mia got up and opened the entrance. Aiden and Seamus was standing next to a carriage. ¡°They have an important message from the Paragon.¡± Said Aiden. ¡°What is it?¡± She asked. ¡°You are to go to the Tower now. No objections. It is an emergency.¡± Commanded the carriage driver. ¡°About what?¡± ¡°I do not know¡­¡± ¡°Tough luck, I thought I could put my arm to use.¡± Sadness filled his heart as realized he wouldn¡¯t have a peaceful life he always wanted. ¡°You¡¯ll come with us as well.¡± She stated. ¡°Out of the question.¡± James refused. ¡°It is an emergency. I will not tell on you¡­ I promise.¡± Replied Mia. ¡°You have food?¡± He asked shamefully. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I have not eaten properly for a year¡­ I am kind of hungry.¡± He had no regrets. ¡°I can imagine.¡± She laughed knowing that this was the price of a man. ¡°Yes, we have.¡± He got into the carriage and started their journey to the Tower, not knowing about the disaster that was about to ravage the lands, burn the buildings to the ground, consume the men and bring the wrath of god, the wrath of the Seven Seals and the wrath of the Four Horsemen from the Outlands. There was no escape.