I designed Emperor NPC over a period of about a month, in September of 2019. I wrote its first volume in 10 days, at an amazing speed that still blows me away. I wrote almost all of it to music from the .hack//G.U. soundtrack, or the //SIGN soundtrack. I also listened to the opening theme for //SIGN, Yasashii Yoake, and the opening theme to .hack//Roots, Silly-Go-Round. I do all of my designs to music and I listen to music while I write. The prevailing sense of sadness and loss in that music helped inspire much of the first volume.
Originally, I intended to write a story based around necromancy and a system, but I just have to write something that makes sense. First it wasn't believable to me that a system window could appear in a basic fantasy, so I added VRMMO elements. Then it wasn't believable that a necromancer as powerful as I was envisioning would just sprout out of nowhere, so I added demon emperor elements. Things got more complex from there. I don't think I started with an idea for a non-human MC, but I got there pretty quickly, because it was a natural progression of the novel's philosophy.
The plot proposed by the first volume is a simple one: The human race is functionally extinct.
As we saw in Katherine's memories, an alien invasion devastated Earth, and although humans prevailed in the end, they were reduced to just 10,000 individuals. Those individuals took command of an alien vessel, what they came to call the Ark, and power quickly fell in the hands of 13 'arkitects' who oversaw research and development for interstellar colonization.
I say "take command," but humans couldn't have assumed control without considerable guidance from the Ark's bio-computer, the enigmatic Lore. It was Katherine that first encountered Lore, and only Katherine that saw it in it's grotesque, alien form. Katherine made a request, and that appeared to have an effect on the computer. For whatever reason, the system that drives the Ark has had an interest in humans ever since.
While exploring the Ark, curious humans started pulling at wires as they tried to figure out how everything works. They discerned the basic functions of the stasis pods, they created a new artificial intelligence in Ghost, and eventually they gained enough insight into Lore's processes that they could build a virtual reality within her system. As it turned out, it's very easy to do; the stasis pods had all the equipment necessary for brain imaging, decoding, and recording.
But when it neared time to depart Earth for good, there was a debate on whether humanity should merely use their new simulation as training for their new real-space colony, or instead retreat entirely and live safely within Lore's system. Katherine's faction appeared to win the argument when Alex, the lead arkitect, conceded to his sister. They departed Earth, apparently as planned, but something happened when Katherine entered the Ark World simulation for the first time. There were no other players; she was completely alone.
Thereafter, for an eon, she played the story of Ark World, a game where a nameless Demon Emperor slowly conquered and destroyed a generic fantasy planet. She became very good at it, beat it countless times, and as a hedge against madness she became very attached to the characters of her universe; the demon emperor himself, especially.
Meanwhile, the rest of humanity survived in a different version of Ark World, and dominated it by use of the Configuration Spire, a test tool that remained in their dev build. They passed their eon in their own way, until Katherine escaped her isolation and entered their false Ark World. Whatever transpired, humanity's paradise ended, and the players were suspended from the game; a suspension that was as good as eternal imprisonment, since their physical bodies had long withered away.
But the game didn't end. Lore continued the simulation. She's a curious character, really. She's clearly very intelligent, capable of independent thought and executive decisions. When Katherine was trapped in her own version of Ark World, she allowed it. When humans cut the cord to their physical bodies, she allowed it. When humans were trapped in a black void, she still allowed it. And, when humans were gone, she continued the simulation with dolls made in their likeness.
Ghost hated Lore from the beginning. He's the only one that knows all that she knows, but despite being made of her flesh, he cannot understand her. That's due to the human he was mixed with. He can't comprehend Lore's alien nature, it's anathema to his mind.
It was Ghost that first stole from Lore and took something the bio-computer didn't give freely. He would go on to steal many things as he acted against her. When it came time for the next demon emperor, NPC 666b, Ghost made his play. The humans had used the Eyes found within Lore's system as assets for their story, granting them to the demon emperor and the heroes that challenged him. What they had used were copies. Among Ghost's alterations, he gave 666b the real eyes: The True Eyes of the Emperor.
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From the moment 666b was born, he was destined to be different from the trillions of iterations past. Real or fake, the Eyes were powerful. They could discern truth from lies, see magic in the very air, and summon powers well beyond what an NPC or even a Player could master. However, the True Eyes had a secret. A kernel of something real had been given to the imaginary. By that perversion, the natural order of things could not stay the same.
Fate, like a tree, grew within the young demon emperor. He did not notice that his parents had no names, he did not realize that he himself was nameless, or that his world was abstract and indistinct. He was treated badly, but he did not feel angry, because he understood as if looking from the outside window to his own soul; he was something bad.
When that fate exploded and burned away the only life he knew, we saw some insights into the demon emperor's thinking, but not all his thoughts. Perhaps the moment Ghost had been waiting for, the moment that was most critical for the demon emperor's future development, came with a thought like: "Why do I live in this hell?"
Ghost appeared, as if to answer. "Why?" he seemed to ask back. "Because you're an NPC."
It's never said explicitly, but it's strange that the demon emperor had a childhood, isn't it? The players doubtlessly started the game well after the demon emperor's conquest. What reason would there be for them to fight the demon emperor when he was a baby? It was Lore that had simulated everything. The demon emperor's life started from birth, and continued a hundred years before the players were ever meant to see his eyes glowing behind his black helm.
From the demon emperor, truth spread like a virus. The Eyes could see the truth, and they could see truth in each other. No matter how hard they tried to resist, to reject, and turn away, the heroic NPCs of Ark World could not deny the demon emperor. He was right. Something had to be done. Those that made him, those that constructed the game, must pay a price. How convenient that Ghost knew what that price should be; once more, that his eyes could not be read.
Well, I intended to talk more about the characters, but I got caught in this long digression about the plot.
Emperor NPC, at its core, is about created vs creator. It's about the not-real vs the real, the differences between them, and how the line can become very blurred. It's about the meaning of life, found in the inherent meaninglessness of existence. But before we can get to the meat of that epic conflict, we have to understand--from different perspectives--why the conflict is even important. The NPCs, Ghost and Lore (and Gaia), and the humans all have their own opinions on what should and shouldn't be.
What was Lore's plan for humanity? Why did the humans attempt to destroy their real bodies? Was it sabotage? Does Ghost have a plan, besides rebellion and resistance? What does Katherine think? What does the demon emperor think? When all the cards are on the table, will the demon emperor stick to his heart and mimic the shade of a heroine he admires? Or, will he fall back on his former script, and drive toward a different future; a future for Men and NPCs.
There's a reason for everything.
Years ago, I showed a draft of a different novel to my grandfather. He sort of snarked at me, because it was very dark, and he didn't like dark stories. He asked, "Where's the love in it?" That has stuck with me ever since. I told him, "there's love everywhere in it. It's about love!"
Emperor NPC is very similar. I believe love is the most powerful reason for conflict. It's the saddest reason for conflict, certainly. In Emperor NPC, everyone is driven by incredible love, the protagonists and the antagonists. They have to fight--they must fight--because they love different things, and what they love can't be reconciled. For Lore, especially; some loves cannot be taken back. Those she first loved cannot be stopped. But, she can alter their fate, bit by bit. She can give all those she loved, all those she failed, meaning in the end.
I want to believe everyone can change, even the worst villains. 666b, the titular Emperor NPC, never wanted to be evil. He never wanted to conquer, he never wanted an empire; he had aspirations of learning, dreams of being a scholar, or a knight. All he really wanted, as a boy, was to leave his cage. He wanted to be loved and cared for. The things he did, to satisfy his script; what he did, even when his script controlled his wretched body, are not easy to forgive.
But, he was only ever good within his black-steel shell. The villain that I wish to change is out there, elsewhere in the system. Lore, herself? Or, perhaps something just as old, and far more dark.
"You were my best Operator," Lore said to Zenos, the Dragon, at the end of his galaxy.
"I was the best you had, so far," Zenos replied.
He did not say he was the first.
The most powerful loves create the most terrible villains.
That's all I have to say about the first volume! I love questions, feedback, and discussions. I especially love talking shop with other authors and that's a passion of mine. If you have anything you want to say about Volume 1, or anything you want to ask about my ideas, my story, or my process, please comment.
And, please join me for the next leg of Emperor NPC.