Chris walked into the Diner with the others, raising an eyebrow as Giana waved him down, walking over curiously. “Yes?”
“It appears you haven't been doing your due diligence in informing your compatriots of the full scope of your abilities.” Giana commented cheekily. “These two had no idea there are four of you.”
Chris glanced at Erica and Alan, before turning back to Giana, a second table appearing as he and the others sat down. “We've been keeping that under wraps for the moment. We figured it would be best to let people adjust to the Doppelgangers first.”
“We might be coming out soon, though.” Victoria added. “It's a necessity if we wish to spread the system.”
“I wouldn't call it a necessity.” Greg interjected. “We could just spring it on people and let them figure it out for themselves.”
Victoria scowled at him. “Greg, we're trying to reduce chaos, not add to it.”
“Sure, which is why we probably should tell people, I'm just saying it isn't necessary.” Greg shrugged.
Andrew sighed. “Could we leave me out of it, if we do? I'd rather people not see me as a demonic god, and since my abilities aren't exactly relevant for anything we're doing…”
“Hey, your abilities are perfectly relevant! We're going to war, and you kill people. How is that not relevant?” Greg retorted.
“War?!?” Erica exclaimed incredulously, before covering her mouth at the outburst.
“It's a possibility.” Chris replied. “Jer'tunal is gathering an army already, making them swear oaths…” He frowned, considering the oath the recruits were supposed to swear, which essentially amounted to blind obedience to whatever Jer'tunal ordered them to do. “If he gives them the right orders, it won't even matter if we kill him. They'll still be forced to come after us, or die themselves.”
“Wait, shit, really?” Greg blinked. “I was kinda counting on the whole ‘replace his bed with C-4’ idea if things started to get dicey.”
Victoria's expression twisted. “The Oaths do make things complicated, don't they? Given the right set, it doesn't matter if there's no reason to follow them anymore, people will just keep going, because otherwise they die.”
“So… we kill him now?” Greg offered. “Before he sends an entire army on a death march?”
Chris shook his head. “No, if we just kill him, the entire kingdom is going to suffer. We need to get at least a few nobles on our side before we off him, or it's just going to cause chaos and probably get an army sent after us anyway because who wouldn't attack the people who assassinated their leader?”
“People who hate their leader?” Andrew offered.
Victoria shook her head. “Even if people aren't happy with their leader, that doesn't mean they want some outsider to come in and take them out. It's- it's like if you have some of that popcorn, flakey shit stuck in your teeth and it's bugging the crap out of you, then some random dude off the street pins you down and picks it out with some tweezers. Are you going to be grateful the shit is gone, or are you going to be more concerned about the asshole tackling you and rooting around in your mouth?”
“Victoria, you really can't give me ideas like that.” Greg chuckled.
Victoria rolled her eyes. “Anyway, you get my point, right?”
Andrew sighed. “Yeah, I get it.”
Erica coughed slightly. “I'm- still a bit confused.” Chris glanced at her, before letting out a sigh and flicking a finger at her. “Holy fuckballs!” Erica exclaimed, her eyes widening as all the information on the Elven Kingdom, the Doppelgangers, and the Eternals was suddenly jammed into her brain. “You- what- how-” She stammered as she sorted through the information. “Are- huh…” She trailed off, blinking slightly. “How the fuck are there four of you?!?”
Giana cackled as Chris shook his head. “It's complicated.”
“More complicated than all the crap you just shoved into my brain?!?” Erica asked incredulously.
“Not particularly, but it isn't exactly relevant, so there's no need for you to actually know it.” Chris shrugged.
Erica grimaced while Giana grinned. “They're frustrating, aren't they?”
Erica glared at her. “At least I'm not a prisoner.”
“At least I'm not a slave!” Giana retorted.
“Subordinate, not slave.” Chris corrected.
Giana snorted. “Same difference.”
“Eh?” Chris wiggled his hand.
“Can they stop being your subordinates?” Giana asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Technically, yes.” Chris replied. “They just need a strong enough… something to break the connection. Might be will. But admittedly, that isn't an option for most people, so it may be a moot point…”
Giana paused, taking a moment to process that. “Then… for most people, they're in an inescapable position, forced to heed your every word, or risk punishment. How is that not slavery, no matter how well you treat them?”
Chris cocked his head. “I suppose you have a point. It would admittedly be rather simple for me to torture my subordinates into complete obedience. I arguably already did so with T'ka… an early mistake on my part.” He quickly added, turning to the other three. “However, in absence of an enforced will, can you really call it slavery? Any citizen of a country is arguably trapped in that situation, forced to heed their governments every word, or risk punishment. Do you call that slavery? Of course not. It could be, but only if that government abuses their authority.”
Giana frowned. “A government's authority can at least be questioned, because the authority of the government is supported by the people. Your authority, on the other hand, simply is. And since your authority can't be questioned, then anyone under it is simply your slave.”
“You may be right, but for what he's offering, slavery is worth it.” Erica interjected. “An immortal slave will still have more freedom than a mortal with less than a hundred years to live.”
Giana sneered. “Of course. But I'm not a mortal, I'm a Damir! I may be killed, but my body will never submit to the ravages of time, so why should I submit myself to him?!?”
“Well, for one, any power I might have over you as a subordinate I pretty much already have since you're in my world.” Chris commented. “Technically you're already my slave, it's just a question of how large a pen you want. Do you want to walk outside on a leash, or stay inside for all eternity?”
“Chris, the fuck!?!” Victoria exclaimed.
“What? I'm not saying it to be mean, but by her definition, that's her situation.” Chris explained. “I of course don't think of her as a slave and would never treat her as such, but the fact remains that I could, and whether she's connected to my world or not does little to change that fact.”
Victoria grimaced at him. “I'm feeling a lot less comfortable about all the people we've connected to your world.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “You can fuck with anyone's mind at any time. Greg could turn the planet into cheese. Andrew can kill a bunch of people or something. It isn't about what's possible, it's about what we actually do with it. I'm not interested in turning people into my slaves, so what does it matter if I'm capable of it?”
Victoria sighed. “Fair.”
“Cheese?” Alan muttered, frowning slightly. He'd been mostly staying out of things, because all this was way over his head, but the idea of someone turning a planet into cheese merited at least some comment, didn't it?
“Cheese.” Greg confirmed with a grin.
Giana was just staring down at her plate, still trying to process the idea that she was already Chris's slave, finding no way to refute it. All her resistance was just… petulance? Delusional? Pointless. It was just pointless. Nothing she did mattered. All she could do was drift around this world like a ghost for the rest of time.
“It gets better.” Andrew muttered.
Giana blinked, looking up at him. “What?”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“It gets better. Life.” Andrew elaborated, before flushing and coughing awkwardly as everyone looked at him. “Sorry, she- she just looked so depressed…” He sighed, focusing on Giana. “Look, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that life changes. Sometimes not for a while, sometimes all at once, but… it does, and holding on to what used to be will just make you miserable.” Andrew's expression twisted. “Sometimes- sometimes you just have to accept the new and forget the old. Like- like the fact that you're a fucking demonic god.” He finished with a groan, burying his face in his hands.
“Freaking finally.” Greg chuckled.
“Demonic god?” Alan muttered again, eyes wide.
Erica grimaced as she went over the information Chris had given her about them. “Well… it fits.”
“Doesn't it just?” Greg grinned. “We tried going around introducing ourselves as ‘Eternals’ for a bit but since we made that up, it didn't actually tell anyone anything, you know? But demonic gods! Everyone has a concept of what a demonic god is! And it fits!”
Chris tapped the table. “I still say the best solution is just giving everyone pamphlets. Why tell people what we are when we can just hand them the information? Even demonic gods just tells them that we're powerful, and that they should be careful around us. Which, yes, but it isn't the full picture. We aren't exactly benevolent, but we're still capable of benevolence, and I feel that gets lost in demonic gods.”
“The problem with the pamphlets is people read the first paragraph and skim the rest, missing all the nuance and getting a completely twisted idea of who we are based on the few facts they did pick up.” Victoria sighed. “Plus, I swear, no one has any sense of reading comprehension! They'll read a paragraph that specifically explains how we have no interest in taking over the world or overturning governments, and think we're revolutionaries!”
“To be fair, we are literally in the process of overturning a government.” Andrew commented.
Victoria glared at him. “One. One government because for some reason Chris is the only person in the entire fucking World who can actually depose the asshole! And we aren't even overthrowing it! We're just…”
“Violently implementing a succession?” Greg offered with a snicker.
Victoria sighed. “Yeah. That. If literally anyone else could take the throne, we'd be putting them up there, not Chris.”
Chris nodded. “I have no interest in claiming the Blood Bow. It's gross. Great grandpa made it out of his own bones and shit.”
Greg paused. “Neat.”
“Of course you'd think that.” Victoria sighed.
“What? It is! Dude turned his body into one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire damn World! That's pretty neat!” Greg protested.
Chris cocked his head. “I suppose if you look at it that way, yeah, it kinda is. But still, it's basically an heirloom cadaver, and that's gross. It's like giving your kids a necklace made out of your own fingerbones.”
Greg blinked. “That… also sounds pretty neat, not gonna lie.” Some smoke eased out around his neck, turning into a bone necklace, fingertips splayed out like spikes all around it. He then made a mirror, checking himself out. “Yeah, I'm about this.” He nodded, grinning slightly.
Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose. “Greg, no. You can't just wear human body parts!”
“Why not? It isn't like it's rotting flesh or something, it's bone! How is this any different than keeping a jar of ashes on your mantle? Or turning yourself into a diamond and making jewelry out of it?” Greg retorted.
Andrew frowned. “People do that?”
Greg shrugged. “They can, yeah. I knew a dude whose dad was pretty big that joked about getting an entire set made out of himself.”
Chris cocked his head. “I wonder what that'd do to the ability energy…”
“It'd probably depend on the process.” Greg commented. “If you condense the body into a diamond, it'd probably trap it, but I'm pretty sure they cremate the body first, then turn it into a diamond, and I'm not sure how cremation affects ability energy.”
“It lets it escape a bit faster.” Chris explained. “Once ability energy has bonded with a substance, you pretty much just have to let it escape on its own. Which, you know, good for Coreforging, but bad for artificially creating an energy dense environment.”
“So it'd probably trap the ability energy in the diamond, huh?” Greg replied.
“Depends on how well diamonds retain ability energy? Also, the diamond might be considered the core itself, which makes things… weird. Certain substances, like aluminum, can block ability energy, but can't retain it at all, which makes them great for Coreforging because once you disable the block, the ability energy just flows right out.” Chris commented.
Greg frowned. “Ability energy is kinda fucky, isn't it?”
“It really is.” Chris agreed.
Erica stared at them incredulously. “You people just went from arguing the accuracy of referring to yourselves as ‘demonic gods’ to a freaking Coreforging lesson in less than ten minutes!”
“We're not the best at staying on topic.” Andrew sighed.
“I can stay on topic just fine.” Victoria grumbled. “You people are the problem.”
“You can stay on topic, but you can't keep us on topic, therefore we are bad at staying on topic.” Andrew retorted. “I'm fully capable of staying on topic on my own too, but in this group… it's impossible.”
“I'm always on topic, the topic just changes a lot.” Chris shrugged.
“If you want me to stay focused, you should talk about more interesting things.” Greg chuckled. “Speaking of, who actually are you people?” Greg glanced over at Alan and Erica. “We just kinda sat down and never addressed that.”
“It wasn't on topic.” Chris commented, grinning slightly.
Erica blinked as they all turned to look at her and Alan, balking slightly at the attention of the self-proclaimed demonic gods. “I- my name is Erica and this is my partner Alan. We're- we're journalists.”
“Ugh.” Greg let out a distasteful grunt, before letting out an awkward cough. “Sorry, force of habit.”
“How is ‘ugh’ing at journalists a habit?” Andrew asked incredulously.
“Well you see-” Greg cut off as Victoria slapped the table.
“No! We are on topic!” She snapped, before turning back to Erica. “So you're journalists? That could be useful. Our public image is a bit… damaged. Thanks to someone.” She added, shooting Chris a dirty look.
Chris shook his head. “I spoke nothing but the truth, despite how indelicate it may have been. It isn't my fault people have a poor grasp of how the media works.”
“You have a poor understanding of how the media works!” Victoria retorted.
Chris cocked his head. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Alan snorted and Erica rolled her eyes. “The pervading lack of media literacy is an issue that has caused me many, many headaches.” She sighed. “One of the reasons I wanted to join the Eternal Tribe was to help correct the misunderstandings that have spread from the… mishandling of your interview.”
“We would absolutely appreciate that.” Victoria smiled. “What would you need from us?”
“Access.” Erica stated simply. “We need to show people who you really are.”
Alan coughed. “Erica, who they really are, are demonic gods.”
Erica froze. “We'll… minimize that part.”
“Hey now, I'm proud to be a demonic god!” Greg protested. “Besides, how can you complain about media manipulation, then turn around and manipulate the media? It's pure hypocrisy!”
“It isn't manipulation, it's framing.” Erica retorted. “I have no intention of manipulating anything you do to make it look like you did something you didn't do, but it just makes sense to focus on the aspects that are actually relevant to the City and the benefits you can provide. Just like I wouldn't focus on a company's financials when I'm doing a story about how great their product is. It just isn't relevant.”
Greg paused, considering that for a moment. “I suppose that makes sense…”
“So you just need to check out the various benefits we can provide?” Victoria asked, keeping them on topic.
Erica nodded. “We were just checking out the Diner when you arrived. We heard something about ‘Earth’ food?”
“Right, you people have like no spices.” Greg muttered. “Practically British.”
“British?” Alan blinked.
“Don't worry about it.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “But yeah, you should check out some food from Earth. Chris?”
Chris nodded as several plates appeared around the tables. “Dig in.”
Erica and Alan shared hesitant looks as the others began to eat, tentatively grabbing a few different types before simultaneously taking a small test bite, their eyes widening as flavor exploded on their tongues. “Holy fuckballs.” Erica moaned as she dug into her meal.
“Is Earth heaven?” Alan muttered in disbelief. “Did you find some kind of paradise?”
“Ha!” Greg let out a bark of laughter. “No. Not at all. Earth is just… it has a wider variety of resources than the City, which allows a greater variety of flavors in its food. Simple as that.”
Alan shook his head. “I don't care if it's literally hell, I would do anything to eat like this every day.” He let out a groan as he dug into his food.
“I feel spoiled.” Andrew frowned. The way the people from the City reacted to food from Earth made him feel like he wasn't properly appreciating all the amazing meals he'd had. If these people could get a taste of some proper Beast meat, they might die from shock!
“You are spoiled.” Greg assured him, patting him on the shoulder. “I mean, legitimately. You live in a mansion complex, and have an entire mansion all to yourself, with your two loving girlfriends. The fact that you have the nerve to be depressed as often as you are is a fucking crime.”
Andrew's expression twisted. “I killed a kid when I was ten. Amenities don't exactly help with crippling guilt. They- kinda make things worse.”
“I mean, fair, but still, two loving girlfriends.” Greg shrugged.
Andrew sighed. “Yeah… that is pretty great.”