“But you have to tell us,” repeated an Alii trainee for the umpteenth time.
John, trying not to let frustration show in his voice, said, “Apologies, Alii. Again, I’m refusing to tell you and asking to receive whatever punishment you deem worthy of my offense.”
The other trainee said, “But that’s the thing, Four-three, you haven’t committed an offense. We’re trying to find out who did so he can be punished.”
John held in a sigh. They just weren’t getting it. “Excuse me, Alii, would it be possible for me to attend the three classes I have left today? Just tell me my punishment later, after thinking it through. Flogging and no Advancement Chamber seems about right per the Aikapu.”
The Alii trainees looked at each other. The blonde said, “This would be so much easier with a Mele on hand.”
The Rector grunted. “I told them, Alii. I told them we’d need a Mele with two Kahaka here this year. I know they’re Li now, but you know what I mean. Not to overstep, but maybe a Nani would see results? Alii Pono Nani Empire of Heiau Koa, Kauwa Kalea Ka told us we could contact her with issues related to our two Kahaka. Former Kahaka.
“And I have an idea you two may like. I read Li Six-five can segment as many times as a Mele and requires very little sleep. He can meditate and watch screens. We could ask if he’d be willing to sit at the Mele desk when he isn’t busy. He hasn’t caused any issues at all since joining our empire. One of you’d need to code the specific system access. If you decide to contact Nani Empire, mentioning the idea could solve our Mele issue.”
The Alii trainees looked at each other again. The green-haired one said, “Nani Empire? Um, you really think she wouldn’t mind?”
“She made the offer, Alii,” answered the Rector. “I’m assuming she foresaw some issues.”
The Alii said, “Um, okay. I’m requesting a conference and sending it to the screen.” The two Alii turned to the screen on the left wall. The Rector sat up straighter in his hover-chair at his desk by the door.
From where he was sitting, John couldn’t see the person on the screen, but he clearly heard the old crone impatiently snap out, “What?”
Green-hair stammered, and the blonde said, “Sorry to bother you, Nani, but we have an issue involving a former Kahaka. One or…”
The crone interrupted to say, “Let me guess – Four-three?”
The trainee nodded. “Yes, Nani. One or more Li locked him in the generator room for about 14 hours. He’s fine though. It caused no damage to him at all. He somehow cultivated all the energy. He completely refilled the generator with his own essence, and it’s been restarted, but he won’t tell us the offenders. He said he’s not something called a tattletale. It translates but there’s no definition for what it means in the CSL.”
“It’s an old Kahaki word long discarded,” replied the crone. “Did you tell him he had no choice but to tell you?”
“Yes, of course, Nani.”
The crone sighed. “That damned Kahaka is going to send me to an early grave. You’ve both heard about the golden nectar?”
“Yes, Nani.”
“Well, wipe your flowers and keep them dry. Another trainee touched his chest. Don’t be stupid like she was. Her pun…wait, please tell me you’re not stupid enough to put me on the screen without informing me there’s boys in the room. Or the kah…the former Kahaka.”
The two Alii looked at each other nervously. The blonde said, “Um…”
The old crone interrupted and said, “By my late and venerable husband, Akua! Just…just…Four-three, get in my view! Everyone else in that room too.”
The Rector hovered over next to a trainee. John stood and went to stand against the far wall, in the view of the old crone but as far away from the trainees as he could get. He knelt and bowed his head.
The crone barked out, “Great Akua, stand up, dolt! I don’t have all day. We’re preparing for an important mission. Just tell the Alii what happened and move on. Almost a whole day trapped in a generator room. Most likely attempted murder. This is serious.”
John tried his best to sound humble and earnest. “Apologies, Nani. I’m refusing to tell and asking to receive whatever punishment my offense is deemed worthy of.”
The crone sighed. “You’re planning on taking care of the transgressors yourself. You’re Li now, Four-three. Kill a Li, and there’s nothing I can do to save you.”
A little anger filled John’s chest. “You think I’d kill a kid over this nonsense? For what? Giving me potent energy to cultivate and time to cultivate it? No harm was done. I’m fine. If anyone needs to be punished, just punish me so we can move on. This is getting ridiculous.”
The Rector and both Alii trainees froze in nervousness. John assumed due to him speaking to a Nani Empire in the way he just had. He cursed internally for letting his annoyance get the better of him. He needed to remember his role as Kahaka Four-three. Or Li Four-three now.
The old crone calmly and slowly said, “Be very, very careful with your tone, Four-three. If you're not planning on taking care of the transgressors yourself, I’m failing to see what the issue is. Just tell us what happened. You haven’t committed an offense. Yet. Li. Tell us what happened so the transgressors can be punished, and you won’t be.”
John thought it was like he was talking to Pixie again, and the Alii programming couldn’t deal with a Li not telling on his peers.
The questioning proceeded just as it had with the trainees. After a few more minutes of frustrating back and forth, the old crone said, “I’m fining you one credit for disregarding the Aikapu.”
John said, “Understood, Nani.”
Anger entered the crone’s eyes. “You want to lose more? Fine, that’s two. I can keep going if you don’t start talking.”
John said, “Understood, Nani.”
The crone laughed. “That’s three! Rector!”
“Yes, Nani!”
“Flog him. A hundred lashes. Really lay into him so he feels it. And use a type three.”
The Rector grunted and said, “We only have a type one here, Nani. These are Li.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“I’m sending you a type three. You’ll receive it by this evening. Four-three, I’m done with you. Get out!”
John left the room as ordered. He could hear them talking about Nine filling in at the Mele desk before he was too far out of range to make out the words.
The Peerless were in for a surprise if they thought he was the only problem Kahaka. If the hate in Nine’s eyes when they last saw each other, after John killed Thirteen in the Duels, was an indication, the biosynth would be attacking him on sight.
John was ready. He thought he’d be able to go toe-to-toe with Nine and come out as the victor if the Rector or the other staff didn’t stop the fight.
And just as John finished this thought, Nine walked out of the closest building and met his eye. He yelled out, “John of Terra…I should say Four-three, please, I’d like to speak with you.”
John prepared for battle as he waited for Nine to finish approaching. The biosynth seemed to have reformed his skinsuit to model the academy uniform, and also reformed himself to appear more like a brute, with arms nearly as long, but without the matching chest and arm girth.
Once he reached John, Nine said, “Thank you for waiting and allowing this conversation. I wanted to apologize for my words and behavior during our first meeting. I was on a mission. When my ward was killed, I lost control like a lesser animal, and that is unacceptable for one such as I. But losing my princess also set me free. I’m following my own path forward now. I wanted to thank you for this. For releasing me.”
How this meeting was going was very surprising to John. He would’ve bet anything Nine had truly wanted to kill him and planned on attacking him on sight. He kept his guard up just in case and said, “That’s great to hear, Six-five. I didn’t pick the terms of the Duel. Thirteen did. It was a very close fight. She was an extremely doughty fighter.”
“Yes, it was. And yes, she was,” replied Nine. “I’m glad we’re attending the same academy. You were absent from your first class, and I became worried. Your performance during the entrance exam proves you’ll be a worthy competitor. As both of us are former Kahaka, I was hoping we could be friends.”
“I’d like that,” John replied. “Just as a heads-up – the Rector and Alii are asking a Nani if they can have you sit at the Mele desk. Just when you aren’t busy, not all the time. I assume to monitor the students.”
The biosynth’s emotionless face gave nothing away. “I wouldn’t mind. It would help pass the time. I have little in common with the other students. I am older than even the Rector, though he is a Salt. Sadly, there is nothing for me to learn here. It is required to attain Oli status, so I must tolerate it.”
John had a lot of questions he wanted to ask the biosynth such as how his refunctioning worked, to what degree could it change him, how much of a computer he was, if he was like Pixie or more like Avatar, and a million others. Curiously, he asked, “Would you mind if I ask how old you are?”
“Of course not,” replied Nine. “My age is 92 standard years. Yellow advance slowly and try to achieve perfection. Due to how we’re constructed, we have a natural long lifespan. We see no need to rush. I have been this rank for nine years. I have three more to go creating vigor and fortifying my soul to achieve an optimal ascension to Diamond. May I ask your age?”
John laughed before saying, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I would believe you,” stated Nine. “Cam Roderick is much younger than his appearance would indicate. This is due to your home world being blocked from the Tree of Life and its inhabitants previously lacking the ability to ascend. I have heard you are old but have yet to hear how old or why you are different from other terrans in this regard.
“Let me propose a trade. Judging by your entrance exam scores, you require assistance with certain subjects. I require my curiosity regarding you satisfied. Further, I could use a friend while attending this academy, and a training partner when staff are not available. What say you?”
“That sounds great to me,” replied John. “I need to warn you though – I struggle with the fundamentals. If all your people have computer minds and learn quickly and easily, well, prepare to be frustrated. That’s not my case. At all.”
Nine emotionlessly said, “I have boundless patience. We…I am purged of all base emotions. I won’t become frustrated.”
“Great. It’s a deal. And thanks. Really, thanks. I’m sorry to say this is a very lopsided trade favoring me.”
“My pleasure, John. My room is 101 within dorm 1. Or contact me through the CSL. I’m pinging your NCS so you’ll have the information while knowing no one spends the energy to communicate through it. Have a good day.”
“You too, Nine. I’ll contact you soon. Thank you again.”
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John was flogged after evening group exercises. All the student body had to form up and watch. A cat-o'-nine-tails was the instrument he was flogged with. Whatever made it a type three also made it hurt very badly and cause a lot of damage.
Nothing John couldn’t fix with some vital essence, [Heal], and a solid block of meditation.
The Rector was clearly frustrated he couldn’t make John scream. John would have to be subjected to a lot more pain than just being flogged if the Peerless wanted to see him cry out in pain, regardless of type one or three or whatever number the cat-o'-nine-tails went up to.
Once the flogging was done, John refused to be treated by the Autodoc and went to his dorm. He had to wait until curfew before his eight roommates found the courage to enter the room.
Tiny-face tried to apologize but John grabbed him by his tiny face, put him over his knee, and spanked him for some time. Not to cause pain. He went very lightly. It was meant to cause embarrassment, shame, and show how easily John could manhandle the Li whenever and however he wanted to.
When done, Tiny-face was told that he’d be John’s lackey for the year, and he was to perform any tasks John didn’t want to himself.
Being a lackey would be a lot worse of a punishment if all of John’s equipment didn’t have self-cleaning and repairing runes. Having the title be more symbolic than substantive was fine with John. He wasn’t mad at Tiny-face.
John couldn’t afford to lose credits. Now he was down three of them. He had no desire to have the old crone or any of the academy staff angered at him. He had promised he would be as the best of men and allow no more failures. Losing credits was failing. He was moving in the completely wrong direction.
But Tiny-face was just a kid. A kid that already failed his first attempt at graduating from academy. If he failed twice, he’d be sterilized and exiled to Palm.
If being the best of men required condemning a kid to attempted murder charges and exile, or even putting a mark on his record that helped result in such a fate, then John was happy not to count himself among the best of men. In this instance, at least.
The people of Earth were right – John was a monster, but he tried only being such to deserving enemies. The Li were as much victims of the Peerless as the people of Earth.
And the best of men took the long view. Their plans spanned years and decades out. Sometimes, losing a battle was necessary to win the war.
It was John’s belief that any culture that punished a man for taking care of his own business was an inherently corrupt society. The rulers would say vengeance and justice were different things. The rulers would then say only those they empowered with the task could dole out justice, no matter how poorly, unfairly, or corruptly their henchmen did so.
The goal was always to make peasants know their place, to know they were unimportant and low, to accept their lives were of no real value, and their fates could only be decided by their betters. And that was because any society consisting of men with honor would first turn their vengeance against those rulers and their henchmen. The rulers knew they had to make being a man illegal. Only peasants would allow themselves to be ruled so totally.
John informed Tiny-face and his other roommates they were not allowed to fail this year. He would be taking an active role in their performance. He would teach them that true discipline had nothing to do with mindless obedience.
Once these Oli had spent enough time with John, and he was able to show them how to think for themselves and make their own decisions, they would take that into their kauwas with them. In time, they would infect others and reignite the spark that had been lost within the hearts of the Peerless during their long, brutal, and noble war freeing their world of demons and Circle Joyat.
It was natural for a man’s heart to burn with a flame that made him yearn to be free and in charge of his own life, to take care of his own business, and to stand both fell and tall. Only a society of low people could believe that flame was wrong. Only an evil society would actively try to extinguish it.
John’s first strike against his enemies would be to reignite that flame in as many Li as he could, as he had done with Talker.
Fire was an interesting substance. There was nothing to fear from a small flame. It was easily contained, mostly safe, and had many, many beneficial uses. But a small flame could also turn into a blazing inferno that burned out of control.
John planned on not just reigniting this flame within the hearts of as many Li as he could, but also stoking it.
Tiny-face and the other roommates didn’t know it, and if things went as planned, they’d never truly realize it, but they had just been recruited into John’s army.
The Peerless advanced by both small and great steps over time, as did John’s plan to destroy them.