INTERLUDE 6
“Isn’t this wonderful.” SUPREME declared. “We’re back again… And I was missing you all so much. Aren’t I the luckiest arbiter in the world?”
“Well, you did want to spice it up,” DEUS pointed out with amusement.
“Exactly. You were basically begging for it after the crazy extras you signed off at the start of this round.” WADOR said.
“Insignificant details.” SUPREME joked loftily. “Though I guess on the plus side at least interesting. Now, who called this one?”
“What she’s doing is worse than what MAKROS attempted when he tried to trigger external healing in the rewards room.”
SUPREME glanced at the visibly annoyed GOD. “I suppose that’s my answer. FAMES, fancy seeing you annoyed and worked up. DEUS did something naughty did she? And what do you want me to do about it?”
“It has to be banned.”
“Oh, fair enough. That sounds totally reasonable… and I’m sure there’ll be no objections. Let’s just do that.”
“I’m being serious.”
SUPREME’s body puffed up. “No, you’re being ridiculous. This has been done hundreds of times before.” SUPREME didn’t bother bringing up the supporting data, as they all had access to it. “Time and time again, it’s proven to be an ineffective strategy. You sound like you’re just objecting to every move she makes. I know she’s won the last couple, but this paranoia is becoming ridiculous.”
“I know the data. There are over two hundred thousand cases in the competition, but not one of them is comparable to this.” A data package was sent over. “Time’s always been the issue in the competition. If we look to the general world, the results are significantly more troubling.”
“This is very selective data.” DEUS said after a moment. “Like how desperate do you have to be to try to compare the current situation to a ten thousand year old existence. A being who spent the last two thousand of them plotting what to do when the bargain worked.”
“Because we’ve seen his memories. I equate him to having two hundred plus years of experience.”
“Now you’re spinning gibberish.” DEUS said. “He has less than one or forty-four years of experience. There are no other numbers you can choose, and the system says less than one.”
“One’s correct,” SUPREME said in the tone he resorted to when making a potentially unpopular ruling. “The tutorial was a structured environment and doesn’t count.”
“My enemies’ dust,” FAMES spluttered. “It was an almost perfect replication of Existentia.”
“A curated world with escalating challenges is nothing like the real world.”
“Shut up! DEUS! You’re biased.”
“And you’re not?”
“But it’s not just that aspect. It’s the titles and fate expertise that’s going to get dragged along with him, that I primarily object to.”
“Species all have their strengths and weaknesses, and this is a well-worn path.” SUPREME interrupted tiredly. “The racial traits never impact the outcome. The costs of her actions is locked by precedence. This is not the case of a speculative action where there’s a reason to debate about cost and value.”
“Tom is unique. Those models don’t apply to him. And where did she get the energy for this, anyway?”
SUPREME laughed. “FAMES, you crack me up. Stop being ridiculous. She was on the losing side of a four versus three vote. Of course, true reincarnation is affordable after that.”
“You’re giving her stuff based on that vote. How is that justified? Both SANATORES and I got nothing from it.”
“You can act the fool if you wish, but don’t pretend. I’m one.” SUPREME said dangerously. “I know about the deal you’ve made with MAKROS. It does more than just skirt the line and I’ve only allowed it because the other five decided if they objected, you would do it, anyway, under the table. To them the slight compensation they would receive was not worth the hassle. Especially when I agreed as a compromise that, outside of formal votes, I would treat you as a single voice. Do you really think that something as material as MAKROS ultimate champion would be deemed to be valueless? ”
“To me personally, yes.”
“No!” SUPREME snapped. “I’m not in the mood for this. You knew the concessions that others would get and you gambled that the strength of MAKROS’ champion would make it worthwhile. SANATORES lost in the sense of the competition but won by maintaining her moral position. As this was a vote around life, she as always, was excluded from benefit calculations. That means that the majorities gain was considered to be the average of GOBUS, yours and MAKROS. GOBUS received two favours, plus its critical champions being resurrected. How much value is that for all of you? You don’t need to answer because it’s my job, and I valued the majorities benefits and paid out to the minority. I’m sure you knew that.” SUPREME looked tired. “How they use it is up to them.”
“I’m confident INNCETIS used it for his usual thing.” DEUS volunteered with a laugh.
MAKROS shifted and appeared amused. “His approach to this competition should be banned. He doesn’t even play lip service to it anymore. Instead, he just collects resources in order to afford a summoning array, so he can ignore the outcome of the trial. Instead of his species being scattered like what is supposed to happen, he uses that teleporter to consolidate them. Yes, they might come with nothing but a planet’s worth of sapients. But let’s not pretend even without levels or materials that is a significant force. Put them in a low-level zone and they rarely experience any form of trouble. The strategy is continually allowing him to bypass the suffering that is supposed to occur as a result of getting last.”
“His people enrich Existentia.” SUPREME snapped.
“Agreed. I was just teasing.” MAKROS back tracked. “I’m not calling for a change and that was not a complaint and definitely not a formal one.”
SUPREME regarded the other GOD for a moment. “Good, because if you were, that would piss me off. Anyway, INNCETIS can pursue which ever strategy he wishes. Same with DEUS and WADOR. It is none of our business what they do with their windfall.”
FAMES glowed with anger. “She obviously used it to do the reincarnation. With Tom’s experience, he is too dangerous to be allowed a true reincarnation especially at historical costs. It’s too much of a bargain.” He faced DEUS. “What settings have you incorporated. When will his memories become active? As a three-year-old or four?”
DEUS said nothing.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s that early.” Fames said having read the shift in her body in reaction to the question. “SUPREME think about the number of titles he’ll trick the system into giving him. He can hunt them with the knowledge of the prerequisites, usually the act of being told or reading the information invalidates the eligibility for the title… but for him. No ones told him so he can try to get it. We also know what he learnt in the tutorial and have an idea of some of his achievements on Existentia. He has a dozen titles, so he’s probably unravelled how the title system works… and how to extend it to new areas. Then after he applies fate to things… SUPREME you have to see the danger.” The mists that made up FAMES seethed. “He’ll grab titles one by one. By the time he gets the system fully, he’ll most likely be eligible for a legendary class. He’ll become unstoppable.”
“Yes. It could play out like that,” DEUS answered smugly. “But I would hate to assume a species as weak as humans could deny the historically norms. It’s clear that reincarnation is a losing gamble. Unfortunately, with the dragon being resurrected I’m desperate. I wouldn’t have considered this approach in normal circumstances. There’s way too much volatility inherent in this ploy for my tastes.”
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“Stop implying the history of true reincarnation in the competition has any bearing here. None of those historical examples had fifty years of training. None of them had fate to fine tune the execution of abilities and allow him to acquire skills and spells through demonstrated competency, the first time instead of taking ten thousand attempts. That trick is broken, and he knows how to evolve things with the same cheat. He created his own domain. SUPREME, you can’t let him through in this state. What he did to that challenger trial, demonstrating expertise beyond his status sheet, he’ll do that to the entire system! How many titles does he get if he has a domain before getting a class?”
“It doesn’t matter,” GOBUS interrupted. “The humans are going to choose to resurrect Tom. This entire debate is moot.”
“No, that’s not right.” FAMES snapped. “She’s tricking you. Look at the setup. I don’t know how she primed him, but she manipulated him to say those words when he did. For him, within a minute of the gathering, to declare his desire to be reincarnated with his memories. What’s the odds of that? It is unnatural. If that statement is deliberate then this entire ‘let the humans decide for themselves,’ is revealed to be the trick that it is. This whole charade of selection is to run down the clock so we can’t appeal. If it’s Michael or Rahmat receiving a True Reincarnation, then that’s bad, but it’s nothing like Tom. Worse the previous ruling specifically regarding Tom will stop us responding no matter how big a threat he is growing into. That’s unfair…. This is…”
“I don’t see the problem,” GOBUS repeated. “They’ll select Tom. Humans are easy enough to predict and the skill True Dream and the trait DEUS’s chosen is too valuable for them not to bring him back to life.”
FAMES appeared slightly mollified by that observation. He seemed to relax a little.
“No, you were right initially.” MAKROS interrupted. “DEUS has played us. The humans might resurrect Tom, but DEUS won’t let them. Isn’t that right, sister? You’re planning on taking control of the prize allocation at the end when the appeal timer has run down.”
DEUS said nothing.
“Answer or we’ll take it as a positive inference and assume the worse.”
“You’re not the arbiter, MAKROS.” She responded frostily. “You can’t dictate terms to us.”
SUPREME sighed. “Children, is this really necessary? The games you’re playing aren’t achieving anything. DEUS answer the question, please.”
“Then yes. That’s exactly what I’m intending. I’ll overrule them at the last moment and have him reincarnated.”
GOBUS started laughing, staring straight at MAKROS as it did so. “This is a disaster for you. You lost, and I lost in the trial. But you… you’ve totally screwed this up. Your champions survived with zero growth while DEUS is walking away with almost all of hers still alive and powered up beyond what the trial was supposed to allow.”
“More than that,” WADOR agreed as equally amused. “There’s Tom’s plan that’s still in motion. And him being reincarnated won’t stop that momentum. Especially not when she dumps all the survivors of this trial into the same place. Instead of ten of them at an average rank of fifteen there’s going to be almost twice that at a rank closer to forty. That is suspiciously near the power required to start killing the trolls. Funny how that’s worked out isn’t it?”
“That’s why you need to join us.” MAKROS said. “She’s going to succeed, and we’ll all be screwed. If we unite, we can stop her machinations.”
“No,” WADOR said flatly. “Credit to DEUS. I miscalculated in this competition. She didn’t. You know she warned me about the two of you. Explained the power curves and synergies and the risks we’d have to take to stop you. I agreed, GOBUS agreed, and we all upped the degree of chance to combat you. It sounds like some of her gambles paid off while mine haven’t. The advantage she’s gained she’s earned, and I won’t begrudge her it.”
“SUPREME, you need to act here.”
“No. MAKROS I don’t. Reincarnation is nothing like the crime of tipping competitors off about the benefits of stealing a racial trait. That charge was so troubling I was willing to intercede and surprise, surprise DEUS was innocent. This new ploy it’s a well-known mostly losing gamble. You should be thankful that she’s pursuing it.”
“Eladaka, says otherwise.”
“Eladaka was the success that proves the rule that the strategy is a failure.” SUPREME snapped back.
MAKROS was now glowing in anger. “Tom’s more Eladaka than Eladaka was. You can’t let him be reincarnated with all of his memories. The tools that child will have by the time he becomes of age are terrifying.”
“Your dragon will remain the strongest.” DEUS pointed out unhelpfully.
“For what ten, twenty…”
“Most likely the entire competition,” SUPREME interrupted the rant. “And remember these consequences are on you. It was you who deemed it acceptable to use a simple majority to save her life. The losing three have to receive significant compensation for that. I will not stop the reincarnation based on a fear that DEUS is playing you.”
DEUS floated up a little higher than all of them to demonstrate her success. “The arbiter is not going to act. If you want to stop this, I’m open to offers. After all, I dislike leaving things up to chance. I’m happy to de-risk the strategy if I receive an acceptable offer.”
There was an instant of stillness as messages flooded between everyone. Then there was a subtle shift in positioning that left FAMES and MAKROS alone together. No one else had been willing to align to them.
MAKROS took point. “What will it take to stop Tom’s reincarnation?”
“You reversing the resurrection of your champion seems like a reasonable deal.”
FAMES looked like he wanted to say yes, but MAKROS drew back, and a flash of lightning silenced his companion.
“No, that’s not acceptable. Will you consider another package?”
DEUS laughed. “That’s the only prize I will accept for stopping his reincarnation.”
“In that scenario, I end up with nothing. I’ll owe GOBUS favours and you keep over two-thirds of your rewards. I’d prefer to wage a war of destruction than tolerate that kind of outcome.
“You should have considered the consequences of your own deal.” DEUS replied. “A simple majority was arrogant.”
“What about you just not taking control of the trial rewards?” MAKROS said. “Instead, you let the humans make the decision themselves.
This time, she hesitated. “I’m not a fool. I’m hypersensitive to the volatility of what I’ve started. Tom’s going to be a child. He could die before he even connects with the system. I don’t really like gambling so much on a single outcome. I’m willing to buy insurance, so to speak, and the best form will be you taking your champion off the board. She’s the greatest threat, as far as I’m concerned.”
“She’s not that great.” MAKROS stated seriously. “Your little dysfunctional alliance eliminated her reasonably easily.”
“Only because she was arrogant and wasn’t expecting that type of attack and because you were prevented from contacting her. I don’t see things lining up so perfectly for my side again.”
“No, they won’t. Next time she will burn you all to a crisp. You said removing her was preferred, but you didn’t say an outright no. What else might get you over the line? All you need to do is not interfere with the human’s decision-making process.”
DEUS smiled happily. “We can talk, but for the sake of clarity if he’s chosen not to be resurrected, he’ll be reincarnated instead. No matter what happens you will still owe me.”
“I understand the gamble.” MAKROS responded. “I’m betting there won’t be one of those moments of genius because that is the only thing that could unravel what’s about to happen. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
They proceeded to negotiate for an entire three seconds, which was a near eternity.
“Interesting,” DEUS summarised. “You are truly scared of him.”
MAKROS shifted his body to show agreement. “We wouldn’t have had this conversation otherwise.”
“So, in return for me not using my rights to choose the prizes and force Tom’s reincarnation and a guarantee that if he dies in the future reincarnation won’t be offered again, you will provide the following concessions.”
The contract listing the agreed terms appeared in front of all of them.
Both FAMES insects and MAKROS dragons have the subsequent restrictions applied.
* They may not seize another species’ racial traits for the duration of the competition.
* Killing more than half the fighting strength of a single species is out lawed.
* There will be restrictions preventing them from creating an environmental, disease, or magical catastrophe.
* Summoning country level threats will be blocked.
* Vassal empires will be restricted to a combined strength of below three standard civilisation units in power.
* Neither species may participate in a grand extermination campaign.
* They will both be permanently blind to the nature of the other competitor races. Which also includes forfeiting the benefits of the competitor trial.
The following restrictions apply to MAKROS and FAMES for all human survivors.
* They are blocked from retaliating directly or indirectly.
* Information about the survivors may not be communicated to any species on Existentia.
* A general communication blackout is established for all species within seven days travel of anyone from the trial. This is enforced at DEUSs discretion.
All GODs are prevented from issuing an active warning about cooperation with the team attempting the troll attack. If a native species gives unwarranted help to the attack team, standard penalties for interfering with the competition will apply.
For every two divine interventions that MAKROS and FAMES earn, one will be gifted to DEUS.
“This is what we agreed.” MAKROS said. “It is solid insurance for you, as it prevents us from carrying out the most popular ways of obtaining large numbers of ranking points.”
“Most of the general ones are included to protect lives and not rob you of ranking points.” DEUS snapped back.
“A restriction can serve multiple purposes.” MAKROS replied non-plussed. “What I’m doing is quite a gamble isn’t it.”
“Less than I would like.” DEUS agreed. “Despite how beneficial this seems, I’m annoyed at GOBUS for folding. Your champion is a twisted parody of sapience, and her remaining dead would have been best for the world.”
MAKROS laughed. “But her reign of terror is at least restricted for the next sixty-four years. I do, however, need to clarify one point. While they’re blind to the existence of others in the competition, I’m assuming that they can still kill them in the wild if they meet.”
“Yes, that’s the intent.” DEUS said.
“Then we’re in agreement. Well, played DEUS.”
“It wasn’t me. It was just lucky I had the right skills to send into that meat grinder.”
“Lucky indeed.” MAKROS said. “It seems that’s happening a lot to you recently.”
“It’s because you and FAMES have become so predictable. When you can predict your enemy perfectly, it makes apparent genius moves easy.”
The meeting broke up with DEUS insult hanging in the air.