John was struggling in a small tea room, sat across from Gaius. Though technically John held an equal title to him, John struggled not to feel like he was about to be reprimanded. It wasn't anything that Gaius had done, he was perfectly polite, it was just the absurd nature of their imbalanced relationship. Or perhaps it was the politeness too. Sometimes adults acted like this before the other shoe dropped. Focusing down on his tea, John tried to remember literally anything that had been said so far--by Gaius or by himself. John's whole body was in a sore agony, just lifting his teacup sent muted pangs through his tortured muscles. His escapade into the outer reach of the sect played into his guilty feelings, John was trying to pull a political maneuver for the first time with his bastion plan, he was nervous about it getting thwarted before it came to fruition. He thought Gaius probably wouldn't care even if he knew, at least.

*Ahem* Gaius cleared his throat. Already, John had been impolite. He stifled a grimace and put on a the necessary mask.

"Thank you for the tea, it is delicious." John couldn't remember what it tasted like, it could have been merely hot water.

"Yes, I thought you might. Kai always loved the floral undertones to it. I prefer silver needle tea, myself." Gaius spoke with a casual air, not condescending nor authoritative. Definitely not supplicative.

"Kai has been a great friend to me, I'm hoping to repay that kindness and set the stage for our continued cooperation."

Gaius smiled, and John knew that he was being a little too forward in this negotiation--and that's what it was. This was the strategy he had ultimately decided on. John didn't hope to drive any hard bargain, he would get out maneuvered easily. It was also obvious that while he had some official authority, no one would recognize it until John had the strength to back it up. John was halfway through his foundation now, and advancing at a break-neck pace with the help of the... outside forces aiding him, but until he had formed a core he was a figurehead. Even then, Gaius had stepped into Nascent Soul--they would not be true equals for a long time.

Nevertheless, Gaius was being polite and giving John room to meet him in the middle, which spoke to his grace. By quickly jumping into a position of support, John was accepting his graciousness but also knowing his place. Such behavior was valuable in a follower, and John was indeed a follower and supporter of the Operators, they had helped him and so he would pay them back, but he was also hoping to get some concessions in the end. If he cooperated, and his asks were limited enough in scope, he could eke out more for himself and the Weird sub faction he was building.

"Kai's a good kid, isn't he? I'm glad you two became friends. Soon he too will be an elder--we will build a better sect together." Gaius' eyes burned with the fire of a true believer.

John was surprised at how vehement Gaius seemed, it was enough that he felt comfortable broaching a difficult subject.

"The Sect Leader.... He's been acting very unusual lately." To put it mildly, John thought to himself.

"Yes indeed." He sighed slightly. "It's not good to talk about such things outside my presence--my aura can protect you from being overheard. The Sect Leader has been acting increasingly erratically over the past several years, some of which you have experienced. Only recently has it culminated in his complete disregard of the functioning of the sect."

There was a lull in the conversation while John digested that. Of course he knew that the Sect Leader was becoming increasingly unreliable, but he was essentially powerless to stop it. Changing that dynamic was a large part of his motivation to cultivate. On the other hand, Gaius was a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator and leader of a prominent faction. The Songs were no longer in the picture politically so...

"You'll have to excuse me for being forward. Why not take over the Sect? Is there anyone who can really stand in your way anymore?"

It would be so much easier to eliminate the unpredictable variable and have Gaius' steady hand take over, who knows what the Sect Leader was getting up to?

"You've shown your inexperience, John." Gaius reprimanded him lightly. "Indeed I could try to forcibly take over the sect, the Leader is no longer sane enough to stop me, I should think. But he is not a sole force, nor the sole problem.

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"Other elders and veteran members of the Sect are still loyal to him. They will not stand by silently if I enact a coup."

John gulped. "There would be conflict."

"There would be war. A civil war within the Sect would devastate the entire organization. Ultimately a sect is a union of interests that reaches across rank, John. To break that unity into open fighting would destroy everything--I will not see this Sect fall into such chaos."

"Then what are we to do?"

Gaius kept a stern look for a few moments before opening into a smile.

"That's where you come in John! Already you have been a boon to the Operator faction. Taking over a critical position from the previous Song family faction is very important. I don't think you realize just how critical missions are to the cultivation journey of all the disciples in the sect. Not only does it distribute contribution points and resources, it guides the strength of the faction as a whole.

"We cannot create open conflict, but by eroding the strength of the Loyalist elders, and instating our own Operators, the influence over the Sect shifts. If we are successful, the Sect Leader can 'retire' without bloodshed, if not without cold conflict."

Gears were turning, but John didn't get the whole picture yet.

"And how do we manage that? Part of my position is thanks to the recklessness of the young members of the Song family, very little to do with missions or elders."

"Ah but the young are the future, even with our extended lives, influence over young and new disciples plays a critical role in the influence of the sect. We control the Left and Right hand of the Sect Leader himself. This gives us broad official authority to control sect matters. With enough influence we can encourage Loyalist elders to retire or enter seclusion, provided they stop playing an active role in mentoring disciples or influencing the sect. The specifics will vary with each Elder, but it refines down to distributing resources to the right people and bringing disciples over to our side."

It seemed like a complex problem. Gaius wanted to use official and informal pressure to slowly erode the power of the Sect Elder and those loyal to him. When enough pressure was built up, they could take over the sect without igniting a civil war. It seemed like a workable plan, just difficult to manage. The whole faction would probably be involved--tracking the loyalties of existing disciples under Loyal elders, giving and calling in favors, distributing resources favorably to disciples in line with the Operators plan. It was a vast network. And while Gaius called it influence, John could see what would lay underneath it. Bribery, coercion, nepotism--It was a righteous cause to uproot the corrupt Leader, but would the ends justify the means? That remains to be seen.

"What should I do?" John finally asked.

Gaius laid out his responsibilities. Having the position of the Left hand gave them some more options to use official authority to shift policies or bully people into retirement, but it was not a key component of the plan--they were going to move forward with just Gaius initially and most will not respect John's authority until he increases in strength anyway. Primarily, John will issue and control missions. Those siding with the Operators would get increased or favorably rewards, those siding against will get decreased rewards to strangle them out.

John mentioned including his allies and fellow Weird cultivators in those favorable terms, Gaius laughed politely and told him he was surprised he felt the need to ask. Clearly the Weird sub faction was not a key component to Gaius' plans, but it was good to get 'official' approval to feed them resources.

"That's all that will be asked of you, but it's not the whole plan." John wouldn't be managing this by himself, he could rely on the Operators to give him marching orders. "The second part of the plan is to increase sect recruitment."

It was obvious when put into the context of sect influence, "More disciples entering gives us more disciples to join our faction."

"Now you're getting it!" Gaius pulled back and grinned once more, clearly pleased with John's progress as a schemer.

"I've never seen the real disciple acceptance ceremony. The circumstances of my recruitment was decidedly more dramatic." Gaius made a non-committal 'Hmmm' which told John that he didn't have the full grasp on what happened, or simply didn't care. Maybe he saw it as further proof of the Sect Leader's downward spiral. John certainly did.

"The Butterfly Dream Scripture is still a legitimate cultivation method in the end, we should seek out those who are compatible with it in addition to classical disciples. All the more to raise our powerbase." And all the more to add to John's personal power, but he kept that part to himself.

"Very well, they'll induct just the same as everyone else, though. I don't want any more experiments. The Sect Leader's madness is better left in the past with him."

Their meeting didn't last much longer. After exchanging a few more ideas, John was politely dismissed to begin implementing his new duties. In the back of his mind, he was a bit worried though. John was fairly sure there was no way to induct a Weird cultivator normally, the experiments were necessary, but perhaps they need not be so barbaric. John needed to go check out the lab, and find out what the Sect Leader was really trying to accomplish with him and his allies.