2.5 days previous to the opening of Basalith:
Dean sat on Bath's bed in their suite, not really sure what was going on. He fidgeted restlessly, wanting to get whatever this enhancement stuff was over with as quickly as possible. Every second until then was agonizing as he worried about whether or not Bath was being honest. What if the enhancements Bath was talking about didn't work, and worse, what if they showed up on drug tests?
Bath interrupted Dean's line of thought as he slipped soundlessly into the room.
"Ready?" Bath asked, his face at once eager and calculating. Dean had the impression that Bath viewed him as a test subject, like a mouse in an animal lab.
"For what, exactly?"
Bath flashed a grin. "You shouldn't feel anything," he said nonchalantly, walking forward. "But things will be...changing. In a few days, you'll understand more completely what I'm talking about, and you'll understand just how fortunate you are..." In a few days, Dean wouldn't be caring about football or basketball or whatever sport got him into college.
He cleared his throat, then narrowed his eyes slightly, appraisingly. "Just stay still." He didn't want Dean to get any ideas and leave the room where others might see him.
Of course, Bath could always just knock Dean out, but this was a two-pronged test: what his synthesized microorganisms could do to the human body, and what the conscious human mind could take.
Dean gave him a hard look, then swallowed. "Just get started."
"Very well; let's begin."
---
Bath now strolled through his synthesized microorganism pits strewn throughout a large room in The Anima's underground labyrinth. He'd taken liberties to enlarge the room, using dragonleaf to ensure that the newly hollowed-out ground could support the structure above.
He was still going over the sight of thousands of humans crushing each other to enter Basalith. He'd been alive for a long time, of course, but even so...he'd never seen an animal species gather in such numbers and essentially stampede against itself. He'd seen it in insects, but that was on another scale, and well-coordinated.
He'd had to save no less than three-hundred people from being trampled to death--or at least sustaining serious injuries. He did this fairly inconspicuously by shielding the person being trampled and propping them up with his essence. If he had to justify why, he'd say that every person was potential manpower worth building up. After all, Bath sensed all that was happening below: being trampled wasn't a matter of strength or weakness but of circumstance and luck.
Bath recalled how shocked expressions appeared over all the newcomers' faces as they beheld the verdant city beyond the now-collapsed wall. After all, if raising an enormous dragonleaf city in a bit more than a day wasn't a miracle, Bath didn't know what was.
Bath controlled a force of fifteen-hundred "disciples," all working to direct and order the people coming in. His only job was to get people in through The Anima's doors; from there, Lisa and Lepochim would ensure that they were given shelter and some basic information about what to expect in the next few hours while they were busy getting everyone sorted out.
He was still controlling all these human puppets now, though their task was simple enough that he could easily divide his focus to continue improving Basalith. After seeing the volume of people coming in, he'd decided that his first priority would be to enlarge the Boon Pits, as he'd taken to calling them.
At the same time, Lisa was greeting all who entered the Anima from a grand pedestal, using a speaker system that Lepochim had installed only yesterday. "Welcome to The Anima, the Grand Temple of Basalith. Your faith in the Church and the Dragon will lead you to unimaginable heights. Over at the desks to the left is the registrar, where you will obtain your housing information. Further down is the Q & A desk where you can ask questions about what life in Basalith will be like.
"A few things relevant for all to know are the following: if you join Basalith, pledging to follow the way of the Dragon, you will be granted access to a basic boon as a default. From there, you will learn about the hierarchy of the Church of the Dragon and any sub-paths therein that you can take. All will have a place in the Church of the Dragon, whether they be teachers, scholars, engineers, farmers, artists...the list is endless.
"If you worry about leaving your home, your job, and coming to live in Basalith, know that the Church of the Dragon cannot convince you to stay. Moreover, the Church of the Dragon will be expanding and may be coming to your area of residence. However, do note that any who join the Church of the Dragon today and become citizens of Basalith will obtain status and benefits exceeding most people's imaginations..." After all, Lisa had some inkling of what Bath was up to with his giant pits full of bacteria or viruses or something. She knew that Bath could set up similar pits anywhere on Earth; however, while The Anima might have tens or hundreds of pits after a bit of time, most other places might only have a handful.
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Therefore, in order to receive enhancements that exceeded basic boons such as health, people would be expected to travel to The Anima. Perhaps, in the future, they would create more Grand Temples on other continents.
But that was in the future. Now...Basalith was truly a goldmine to all seeking self-determination and personal power.
Lisa repeated her speech, along with other information about living in Basalith, over and over all throughout the day. Dressed in a long, beautiful sunset-accented white dress and prismatic cloth shoulder pads and gorget, Lisa quickly became the face of the Church of the Dragon.
Which was fitting, considering that she was the Church. As ever, she was pleased with Bath for modifying her face and designing the dress on the spot. Lisa was aware that when people saw her as the head of the Church of the Dragon, they would try to find flaws in her speech and her looks. Through her beautiful clothing and her flawless appearance, Lisa truly did embody the air of an inhumanly perfect being.
Quite frankly, Lisa loved the attention and sense of worship she felt from all who entered the room. She felt the group shell, encompassed it with her touch like a child a small sparrow. The shell felt warm and clean, excited, filled with hope, filled with awe. She could sense that this crowd wanted to be a part of something monumental, something that had never happened before.
She felt as though...she could grow drunk off of these feelings, off of the energy radiating off from the massive group shell. After several hours, she didn't feel tired; rather, she felt energized.
She was starting to actually feel like the person she was pretending to be, and that felt fantastic.
The day came and went; soon, night fell, though there were still thousands of people outside who had not been admitted.
"Everyone who has received a house has been given information about the location of the public baths and the eating area," Lepochim noted as he, Lisa, and Bath all gathered quickly on a balcony near the top of the floral grand Temple. "All of the kursi have been working hard to ensure that people feel at ease while they get settled down. They haven't seen any fights, which is a miracle, considering humanity's propensity to infighting." His voice, as ever, hinted at disdain.
"We still have a few thousand people who haven't been admitted, though...what are we going to do with them?" Lisa asked uncertainly. "Bath?"
"There are still 6,540 people who are waiting," he said slowly, his voice serious, menacing. Lisa shuddered despite herself. "I am exceptionally put out by the US government."
Lisa and Lepochim both gave each other a glance at the strange change in topic.
Seeing their expressions, Bath closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again with a sigh. "They've been attacking us non-stop ever since two hours ago. I've already destroyed innumerable drones, none of them armed with guns or explosives, but I've considered all of them hostile. Moreover, there are certainly people who have entered Basalith who have come with impure motives, such as government spies."
Bath gave Lepochim a pointed look. "While everyone is grouped up, I understand the difficulty of accessing individual shells...however, I'd like you to delegate a few kursi to search the new arrivals and try to uncover suspicious behavior."
Now he turned to Lisa. "I'd like you to go outside," he said crisply. "I can't leave this place, not now; I worry about what would happen without my protection. However, there are forces fairly close by that I can see with enhanced vision. Armed forces."
Bath's face turned grimly savage, almost as though he was sneering. The uncharacteristic expression caught Lisa off guard.
"You need to take care of them."
Lisa's face turned ashen. She plastered on a smile to hide her fear. "Take care of them...? Bath, I don't...you're talking about US military forces, right?"
"Whoever is outside of this place," Bath said coolly. "I don't know who they are, but probably."
"I don't think the answer is to attack them," Lisa replied forcefully. "Lots of people have been calling us a terrorist organization online. If we take violent action against the US, then we'll be justifying those claims."
Bath gave her a frown. "Lisa, they have tanks. And guns. And..." he looked off into the distance. "RPGs? Regardless, they mean to attack us with full force. And you suggest that we let them encroach on what is ours?" His words rumbled in his chest, erupting out with unquestionable dominance.
Still, Lisa steeled herself against his frightening demeanor. "I'm not going to attack the US government when technically, the territory you seem so keen on protecting is on US land. Like, it seems fairly reasonable to me that they'd send a military force to address what they view as the unauthorized creation of a theocratic city." Lisa took in a deep breath. 'That was a mouthful,' she thought to herself while waiting for Bath to reply.
Instead, it was Lepochim who broke the silence. "Lisa is objectively correct," Lepochim noted carefully. "Attacking with force won't do any good. However, why not retaliate through other means?"
Bath's expression was completely blank, which Lisa interpreted to mean he was struggling to keep his anger in check. She'd never imagined that he'd be so territorial.
"Like what?" he hissed.
Lepochim gave him an almost sad look. "Just think, for a second, without letting your instincts get the better of you." He gave Bath a pointed glance.
"Instincts..." Bath said slowly, closing his eyes and breathing out.
"Yeah, those," Lepochim snorted, causing Bath to glare at him. "When was the last time you took control over any stretch of territory?"
Bath's gaze was unwavering as he stared at Lepochim's passive face. "Millions of years ago, at least."
"And did anything ever challenge your territorial claims?"
"They all died, and others learned," Bath admitted. "Fine; I'm not stupid. Perhaps my aggression and annoyance is an overreaction. However...they really are planning to storm this place, soon. How do you both propose to deal with this problem if not through retaliatory force?"
"I told you to think. Of course you have Lisa with her physical enhancements and whatnot to serve as proxy for your rather violent desires," Lepochim noted bitterly.
Lisa gave Bath a probing look.
"Lepochim, back off," she glared. "Bath. I get why you're pissed off; I also feel protective towards this place. But seriously, if we're planning to take over the world, the universe, we can't rely on just lashing out in retaliation. We need to have a plan for when this happens in the future."
Bath turned around and regarded the area beyond the balcony, the lake, the leafy skyline, resting his arms upon the dragonleaf-veined stone. "Like?"
Lisa cracked a grin; she already felt the inklings of an idea. "Just leave it to me."