For the first time since Chris's interview, the area outside the headquarters is empty. Almost too empty. Andrew watches as a few pedestrians take the long way around to avoid the building entirely. “Greg, I think you were a bit too effective.”
“Shhh, I'm on TV!” Greg waves him down as a clip of his speech played on the TV, specifically the part where he threatened to turn the City into a series of minor inconveniences.
“As you can see, there seems to be another powerful individual associated with Christopher Vincent, and he has threatened-” The anchor began, before letting out a groan. “Damn it, Joel, he ‘threatened’ the City with minor inconveniences! How am I supposed to spin that!?! I quit! Take this ridiculous job and shove it up your-” The video cut off with a high pitched tone.
“Ha! Brilliant! Let's watch it again!” Greg cackled.
Victoria rolled her eyes. “Greg, we've already watched it four times! We're done!”
“So you admit I didn't fuck up, right?” Greg smirked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Victoria grimaced. “I admit that your actions haven't catastrophically backfired… yet.”
Greg paused. “I suppose that's good enough…”
Victoria sighed, rubbing her temple. “How the fuck do you and Chris keep ending up as our spokesmen.”
“You think too much and I'm scared of public speaking?” Andrew offered.
Victoria blinked. “You're scared of public speaking?”
“Oh yeah. Being in the center of attention like that…” Andrew shivered.
“Huh… weird.” Victoria shrugged.
“Is it? I feel like most people aren't exactly comfortable with public speaking.” Andrew replied, frowning slightly.
“Well, sure, but… well, you know.” Victoria muttered awkwardly. “We're not exactly normal. Just feels weird for a demonic god to have stage fright.”
“What would being a demonic god have to do with it?” Andrew retorted. “Stuff like that isn't about power, it's about… reputation? The idea that somehow you're going to fuck up and do something stupid and everyone will either laugh at you or hate you or both…” Andrew shivered again.
Greg snorted. “I say let ‘em. I'll piss on their graves.”
Chris shrugged. “Who cares what people think?”
“And that's why they keep ending up as our spokesmen.” Andrew sighed.
Victoria glanced at them with a twisted expression. “Fine, but could you two at least try to be a bit more… thoughtful about what you say? Like maybe not talking about overthrowing the government and threatening to turn the entire City into a series of minor inconveniences? Where did you even come up with that?!?”
“I mean… it's what I would actually do.” Greg replied. “I'm not going to hurt anyone, but I'm damn sure going to make sure everyone is as annoyed with me being in charge as I am!”
Victoria considered that for a moment. “That actually makes a certain amount of sense… for you at least.”
“Doesn't it?” Greg chuckled.
“So, what are we going to do about this?” Victoria shook her head, waving vaguely at the TV. “Sure, we got the mob to leave us alone, but now people are… nervous? After Greg's display, it's like no one knows how to deal with us anymore, so they're just avoiding us, which… is arguably worse. At least when they were angry at us, we could show we weren't retaliating.”
“We should let Erica handle it.” Chris waved dismissively. “Or at least discuss it with her. I think we've proved we're not exactly experts when it comes to public opinion.”
“You and Greg have at least.” Victoria grumbled, before letting out a sigh. “But yeah, we should bring in the expert.”
“Pretty sure she's already working on it.” Chris commented. “She hasn't left her office since Greg did his thing.”
“So… we should go talk to her?” Victoria offered. “See what we can do to help?”
“Sure, I guess.” Chris agreed, opening a portal to Erica.
A frazzled looking woman turned to blink numbly at the portal. “Fuck, I'm losing it.” Erica muttered.
Chris frowned. “If you don't remember I can open portals, you certainly are.”
Erica blinked slowly. “Right… I- I think I need to sleep.”
Chris cocked his head, covering her with his world and giving her a refresh. “Better?”
Erica's eyes widened as she suddenly felt wide awake. “That- yes, that- what was that?”
“I reset you.” Chris explained. “Put you back to whatever your prime state is, which includes full energy reserves. Anyway, I assume you've been working on our PR. What do you have so far?”
Erica sighed, running her hand through her hair. “I- I think you need to go public. All of you. You'll need to do interviews, talk shows, public appearances… but that would involve you doing interviews, talk shows, and public appearances, which hasn't exactly gone well so far.” Erica groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I've looked for any other option, but… even if I make the perfect case for joining your world, people will still focus more on who you are. Illogical as it is, people care more about the nature of the people they're involved with than the benefits provided. And your nature is good! You just can't seem to actually show it without making some comment that people take completely the wrong way!”
“I have been nothing but honest.” Greg protested.
Erica sighed. “That's the problem. I know you're ultimately benevolent, but all your benevolence is bound up in these weird principles you have. And outside those principles…” She trailed off as she went over some of the things Chris had shoved into her mind that enforced the fact that benevolent didn't mean good. Or was it the other way around? Either way, these people were fully capable of doing horrible things if they considered it necessary, allowing horrible things or horrible situations if they considered the alternative to be worse. Such as allowing humanity to choose slavery, because they considered taking humanity's ability to choose slavery to be worse. “If you could simply focus on how you want to help people, without mentioning the things you're willing to allow or do to ensure you can help people. No threatening the government, no supporting any government, just… helping people, okay?”
The four of them shared a look. “We… can probably do that?” Victoria agreed hesitantly.
*
“Are you sure a talk show is the best way to do this?” Andrew asked nervously.
“Talk shows are the best way to humanize public figures.” Erica explained. “Interviews are more about providing information, while public appearances are more about establishing your presence in the community. Talk shows are about who you are, and that's what we need to start with. But again, focus on how much you want to help people.”
“And you're sure I can't just stay out of it?” Andrew asked hesitantly. “I don't even do anything!”
“You're too present.” Erica sighed. “Are you going to stop being involved? Just step back and watch the others fight against the Elves? Spend all your time in Chris's world or on Earth?”
Andrew's expression twisted. “No.”
“Then you need to do this.” Erica insisted.
Andrew groaned. “They're going to make me a freaking meme, I just know it.”
“Ha! Always Anxious Andrew. I dig it.” Greg laughed.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Well you- you- fuck, I can only think of Good Guy Greg!” Andrew cursed as Greg cackled.
Victoria cocked her head. “I don't know that one.”
Greg raised an eyebrow. “Not in your World or not enough time on the internet?”
Victoria shrugged. “Could be either.”
Erica sighed. “Please try to be more focused when you're out there.”
“Might need to drain some trees.” Greg muttered. He'd been avoiding doing so recently because he'd ended up killing a few too many trees, and it wasn't doing him much good anyway. Sure, he could focus better, but besides Rune World, there wasn't much he really needed to focus on, so killing a bunch of trees just to feel better felt… off. He sighed, wishing every World had trees like Beast World. Now those were some sturdy trees.
“Alright, for our first guest today, we have the subjects of some recent controversy.” Sean Stewart announced as he finished his opening set. “Please welcome Christopher Vincent, Gregory Halver, Victoria Tyverius, and Andrew Stone!” The four of them walked on stage, giving the crowd a few waves before taking their seats. “Chris, I have to say, I wasn't expecting you back so soon.” Sean chuckled. “How was the wedding?”
Chris shrugged. “It was a wedding? The ceremony was nice, I suppose. I still don't quite get why everyone makes such a big deal out of dancing… but honestly, I would have done anything as long as it meant I was married to Beth at the end of the day.”
“Well, I can't argue with that.” Sean chuckled, before gesturing to the others. “Would you mind introducing me to your friends here?”
Chris paused. “How much of an introduction do you want?”
Sean blinked, frowning as he considered that for a moment. “How about we start with their relation to you? You all seem rather close, yet as far as our records show, the three of them didn't exist in the City until a few weeks ago.”
Chris nodded. “Right, well, for that we have to begin with my ability. As you all know, my world is rather… unusual for an ability. For a while, that confused even me, until I was… connected with these three in a sort of metaphysical way that I won't get into the details of today. The core of all this is the realization that my world isn't an ability, it's… well, me. As Dr. Jacobs would say, this body of mine is simply a meat puppet.
“Similarly, my friends here are unrestricted by their physical forms. The smoke you've all seen Greg using is his true body, a sort of essence of physicality which he can use to dissolve and form matter at will. Victoria's true body is an essence related to ability energy, while Andrew's is the essence of… connection is probably the simplest description of it. We all represent some aspect of reality, and for some reason we're connected to each other, so through that connection, I brought them here, and they brought me to where they are. We can all be in multiple places at once, so there was no reason not to.” Chris finished with a shrug.
Sean blinked, then blinked again. “You're- not human?”
“Depends on your definition.” Chris replied. “Culturally I absolutely am. My physical body is usually human but sometimes it's more inconvenient to be something else, and I'm not terribly attached to any specific form. My mind… Well, I've been told I'm weird, but do we really want to say certain personalities are outside the bounds of humanity? So yes, I'm a living world, but I would still say I'm a human living world.”
“And- and your friends?” Sean asked, glancing at the others.
“Human, human, debatable.” Greg answered with a grin, pointing at himself, then Victoria, then Andrew.
“Hey!” Andrew protested.
“What? It's true.” Greg shrugged.
Andrew grimaced. “I'm perfectly human. I just… have a few extras as well.”
Greg cocked his head. “Fair.”
“So there are other bastions of humanity out there?” Sean asked hopefully. One of the primary questions for humans in the City was whether they were actually the only remaining humans on Azza, or if others had found some way to survive.
Chris nodded. “There are, but… it's complicated. Well, it isn't, but the implications if it all are.”
Sean frowned, before shaking his head. “I suppose we'll have to accept that for now. But let's get back to more current events.” He turned to Greg. “You made some pretty… interesting declarations the other day. Care to explain what that was all about?”
Greg chuckled. “Of course. See, despite our power, we have little to no interest in actually having power. Politics and what not… I couldn't imagine a more headache inducing, mind-numbingly boring pursuit, and I'm a bit… passionate in my avoidance of it.”
“And that involves ‘turning the entire City into a series of minor inconveniences’?” Sean asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning slightly.
Greg shrugged, grinning back. “I figure it would make people as motivated to replace me as I am to be replaced.”
“Yet you would take charge if you felt it necessary?” Sean continued.
Greg sighed. “An unfortunate aspect of who and what we are is that we are capable of doing… Well, pretty much whatever we want. I've always been a firm believer that when you're capable of doing something about a problem, it becomes your problem. Now, I don't think I'm the best person to solve every problem out there, particularly political issues that can become so very, very complex. However, when a government decides to pursue actions that are clearly problematic, such as, say, exterminating a race for seemingly no reason at all, then I really have no choice but to step in and do something about it. And again, I really don't want to do that.”
“I'd like to interject here and say that we have seen no reason to interfere with the government or any other organization in the City.” Victoria commented. “The conflicts within the City have all been the acts of individuals, which is the City government's right to police. Our only concern is if anyone begins to sanction violence, on anyone. As long as everyone remains peaceful, we have no reason to step in.”
“Ah, of course not.” Sean nodded. “Then what are your plans? I assume you don't plan on just sitting around and twiddling your thumbs, right?”
“Thumb twiddling does seem to be one of our part-times, but no.” Victoria smiled. “Chris is of course working on bringing people into the Eternal Tribe, Greg can create any resources anyone needs, and I will be providing people with the system.”
Sean cocked his head. “The system?”
Victoria's smile widened. “I'm capable of granting people a mental construct that facilitates the collection of what I call points. The system gives people daily tasks, such as doing a set amount of push-ups or running a certain distance, and once completed they are awarded points. On average, a person can earn twenty-five to thirty-five points a day. These points can then be spent to increase your capacity to develop your skills, make yourself physically stronger, or… increase your ability energy. A low-tier ability starts at ten points, mid-tier at a hundred, high-tier at a thousand, superior at ten thousand, and omega-tier starts at a hundred thousand, and peaks at three hundred and thirty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-three. Which, if you take the average, means anyone can take their ability to the peak in just about thirty and a half years, probably less since daily tasks aren't the only way to earn points, just the most consistent.”
“Holy fuck.” Sean muttered incredulously, before coughing awkwardly as he got himself back under control, turning to the crowd that was busy having its own reaction to Victoria's announcement and barely even noticed. “My apologies everyone, please excuse my language.” He turned back to Victoria. “There must be some sort of drawback to the system, right?”
“I'm not sure if I'd call it a drawback, but just like Chris is his world, I am my points.” Victoria explained. “If my points remain with a person, I have access to their mind. However, I'm very much not interested in being in people's minds, much like Greg is very much not interested in politics, so I keep my points out of people, and they only return when people spend them. Of course, I understand if people have trouble believing that, but much like Chris's influence is an unavoidable consequence of being connected to his world, this is an unavoidable facet of who I am.” Victoria finished with a sigh.
Sean nodded. “I see… still, even with the possibility of some mental snooping, omega-tier in… nine years?!? Holy- ahem. That- that is an incredible benefit.”
Chris scratched his head. “Why does no one in the City care about being immortal?”
Sean chuckled, shaking his head. “I don't think it's that they don't care, they simply have reservations about the influence you exert. How valuable is being immortal if you end up losing yourself in the process?”
Chris clicked his tongue. “That isn't how it works. My influence mainly revolves around physical control, not mental. At most I can direct attention mentally, ensuring people pay attention to what I want them to pay attention to. There's no danger of losing yourself that way.”
“That way?” Sean raised an eyebrow.
Chris shrugged. “I can trap people in a world I have complete control over. People have done worse with less.”
Sean paused. “Indeed they have.” He then turned to Andrew. “So, what do you do?”
Andrew froze. “H-huh?”
“Chris makes people immortal, Greg provides resources, Victoria has her system, what do you have?” Sean elaborated.
Andrew grimaced. “My- my nature doesn't lend itself to widespread benefits like the others. The most I can do is create Bonds, connecting two people on an… intimate level. It can provide other benefits, but that's the main one. It might be nice for couples, I suppose, but other than that, I can't do much.”
Sean frowned. “I suppose that makes sense if your nature revolves around connection, but I find it hard to believe that you would be limited to forming these Bonds, given what your friends are capable of.”
“It- isn't all I can do, but it's all I can do to help people.” Andrew sighed.
Sean cocked his head. “I'm confused.”
Andrew glanced at the others, looking for help. Greg shrugged. “I could explain, but I don't think you want me too.”
Andrew groaned. “I- there's a- primary connection everyone has to… reality. I- break that connection. The general result is… death.”
Sean blinked. “Oh.” He paused. “Could you disconnect people from Chris's world then?”
Andrew's eyes widened. “I- don't know? Maybe? People are usually- always willingly connected to his world, so it hasn't come up, but… I'd say probably?”
“Of course, it was just a thought.” Sean replied. “Maybe people would be more willing to trust Chris if you proved how minor his influence is with a few test cases, leaving them connected for a period before breaking it, ensuring they're no longer under his influence when questioned.”
“That's not a bad idea.” Victoria agreed. “We'll have to do that at some point. After we confirm it's possible.”
“Of course.” Sean smiled. “Unfortunately, I believe that's all the time we have for today. Thank you for coming and I wish you all well in your future endeavors.”