“Tantalus,” Ashcroft spoke first. “Everyone’s here.”

“I see,” Tantalus said, looking at the papers he held in his off hand. He reached for eyeglasses that he neither needed nor carried before stopping himself. “Who are these people?” Tantalus gestured to the extra fifty people who had accumulated at the North Gate.

“We’re a group of concerned people who have some questions about the path we seem to be going on in this city,” one of the Revenants, the apparent leader, said. “There are ten thousand real, living people in this city, and it seems to many of us that we’re led by a military junta. Yesterday, Ashcroft significantly changed the political situation in Osiris without consulting anyone. Today, ten unelected players are meeting with the NPCs and speaking on behalf of all ten thousand of us. You can imagine how that is concerning to some.”

The shouting man drew certain unpleasant memories to Tantalus’s mind. Riots, military suppression, civil war. He clenched his teeth. Luckily, most of them had left their guns at home. In fact, the vast majority of them were dressed like normal NPC civilians. Tantalus couldn’t be entirely certain that any of them were, in fact, Revenants.

“We don’t have time for this,” Tantalus snarled. “You guys all got my recommendations, right?” Tantalus turned to the ten people he had actually invited to the North Gate. He wondered who had leaked their meeting location to the public. Tantalus began walking toward the City and gestured for the S-ranks to follow.

“Hey!” the man shouted. “We’re not done talking!”

“Ahem,” Ashcroft cleared his throat. “You’re free to form a civilian government whenever you want.” He spoke with a broad smile. Everyone present knew that at least one of the protesters would be using the BloodNet record feature. Any Revenant could record anything he wanted without equipment. The only indication that you were being recorded was that the Revenant’s eyes would glow yellow. “The situation yesterday required immediate response. The set-up we have right now is only temporary. Hold an election, or whatever, and I’m sure everyone here will do their best to follow the results of that election. And in the meantime, Cordelia here is the designated civilian representative.” He motioned to ConcreteBeats before swiftly trotting to catch up with Tantalus.

Some of the protesters began speaking to ConcreteBeats, and she tried her best to alleviate their fears. Ashcroft and the other seven S-ranks soon caught up with Tantalus. FullDan’s ice cold demeanor quickly melted soon after he had backed far enough away from the protestors. His shoulders slouched, and he began periodically clenching his off hand.

“God, I hate protests,” Emile spat.

“We got enough of those ten years ago,” Mozaic said darkly.

“‘No politics in the war room,’” Ashcroft cut them off with a movie quote that had become a very popular saying in 2035. The quote was usually reserved for instances where conversation on a given topic should stop because it would just result in unnecessary hostility. “Regarding your diplomacy recommendations, Tantalus, I have a question. What’s this about Mander and Cordelia leading discussion? Sure, I like Mander as much as the next guy, but he’s hardly a leading voice among the Revenants. I recommended you, and you recommended Mander. And why Cordelia? She has a big following, but the Duke is expecting a ‘military’ delegation. Cordelia is hardly a shining example of military personnel.”

“They were the obvious next choice after you and me,” Tantalus said.

“Okay,” Ashcroft breathed heavily. “Not to sound like a jackass for saying this, but why not you and me?”

“The NPCs hate the two of us,” Tantalus said simply. “Yesterday, I looked a Colonel dead in the eye and threatened to commit a massacre, and you actually committed a massacre.”

“I didn’t have the full picture at the time,” Ashcroft sighed, “but I understand. I didn’t know that you’d threatened to commit mass murder yesterday.” There was a hint of appreciation in Ashcroft’s voice.

“It could’ve been handled better,” Tantalus said. His next statement was aimed at the whole group. “Does anyone have any concerns about my tactical recommendations?”

Everybody in the group shook their heads.

“It’s pretty simple,” Ashcroft said. “If the Safe Zone goes down and they start attacking us, we just kill them all.”

“And make sure to get the Duke first,” Tantalus reminded the group.

They had reached their cars at this point. Cordelia caught up with them after a few minutes.

“Thanks, Ashcroft,” she said sarcastically as she got in the back of one of the cars. Ashcroft, Mozaic, and Emile got in the same car.

Tantalus, GatorKing, and FullDan boarded the red pickup truck. FullDan voluntarily got in the truck’s bed with Tantalus’s shotgun and GatorKing’s rifle and saber. As Tantalus reversed out of his parking spot, he briefly noted GatorKing’s features. GatorKing’s current avatar was a powerfully built black man with a square jawline and dreadlocks tied back in something resembling a ponytail. Tantalus had met Gator in real life back when the Scions all lived together in Boston, which had become a major hub for Internet influencers after most urban centers were severely damaged during the strife of the late 2020s. In real life, Gator was a small man with thick glasses and an inhaler. Recursion, the resident nickname guy, gave GatorKing the nickname “Urkle.” Tantalus could not in good conscience hold the non-representative avatar against Gator, however. Tantalus was the same as him, but in the opposite direction.

“So,” GatorKing asked, opening the window behind him so that FullDan could hear, “if Mander and Concrete are going to handle diplomacy, what are we going to do?”

“Stand around and look pretty,” Tantalus answered. GatorKing chuckled. “And be prepared to fight your way out if necessary.”

“You don’t gotta tell me,” Gator said. “God, I hope they attack us. Working for NPCs makes my skin crawl.”

“Be wary,” Tantalus warned, “the NPC nobles are stronger than we may think. A developer for Ferrum Online approached me. He told me that you can use magic to harden your skin to the point that it stops bullets. The developer also told me that the nobles are very skilled in their use of magic.”

“Hmm,” GatorKing said thoughtfully. “FullDan, can you pass me my sword?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“S-sure,” FullDan responded as he passed Gator his saber through the open window.

GatorKing pulled his sword out of the scabbard to the point that the blade could just barely be seen. He then pressed his index finger to the flat of the blade, and blood began to pour out of the gap between his finger and fingernail. The bright blood touched the blade and flowed unnaturally to cover the entire blade in a striped Damascus pattern.

Tantalus saw this out of the corner of his eye and remarked, “We can do that? Useful.”

“Yeah,” Gator said. “We spent a lot of time experimenting with the game’s mechanics at the North Gate.” GatorKing passed his sword back to FullDan. “Ashcroft even hired a doctor to start working on a system for blood transfusion.”

“Cool,” Tantalus said. “I’ve been working on trying to figure out how to read Iron Script. It’s… complicated.”

At that time, the red pickup truck pulled into an underground parking garage near the Duke’s Palace. The three S-ranked Revenants exited the car with FullDan jumping out of the truck bed with ease. The other two cars had parked nearby, and the ten Revenant liaisons regrouped in the center of a parking garage.

The ten Revenants stood in the center of an underground parking garage. A few of the Knights checked their weapons one last time, and ConcreteBeats yawned loudly. Now given a moment to ruminate on the situation, Tantalus was growing worried. He was confident that a force of nine competitive-level players could handle any attack carried out by the Duke and his followers. He was concerned about the long-term negative effect this meeting could have on relations with the NPCs, however. Tantalus had, of course, considered the worst-case scenario. There was no doubt in his mind that the Revenants could subjugate the NPCs with minimal difficulty, but he was concerned about the blow such an action would deal to the Revenants’ morale. As things were on the second day, the Revenants of Osiris could easily call themselves the “good guys,” and there was a significant value to that. They were heroes of justice fighting against monsters, and Tantalus would rather not surrender that belief unless absolutely necessary.

“We really are treading new ground,” Ashcroft said unprompted. “The ten of us hold the unique privilege of being the first people in the history of the world to formally initiate diplomatic overtures with a non-human government. In a manner of speaking, this is first contact.”

“Sounds like we need to be on our best behavior, Captain Kirk,” Trismegistus joked.

Ignoring the conversation between the Knights, Tantalus walked next to Mander and lightly patted him on the back. “Lead on, Boss,” Tantalus said, barely above a whisper.

Mander began walking forward with slight prodding. Once he had started walking, he fixed his posture and began projecting an aura of confidence. “No more dilly-dallying,” he said, trying to sound confident, “we don’t want to keep the Vulcans waiting.”

The group exited the parking garage onto a street on the other side of the Duke’s Palace. A crowd of about a hundred NPCs and Revenants stood in front of the Palace. Some of the NPCs were carrying cameras. A police line had been set up to allow for an unbroken pathway from the parking garage to the Palace’s front entrance. The NPC police officers were all armed with clubs, and a few carried large plastic shields. They looked exactly like riot police from the Old World but without any firearms.

As the ten Revenants crossed, some of the NPC reporters shouted some questions. Tantalus could vaguely hear somebody shout, “What is your plan to end the siege!” Ashcroft walked over to the reporter to give a brief response that Tantalus could not hear.

They walked up the marble steps to the Palace’s front entrance. All the attention unnerved Tantalus. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag as the cameras flashed off to both sides. Luckily, none of them knew the specifics of the Revenants’ situation, so they would not know to approach the “Commander” with their questions.

The double doors closed heavily behind them. They could still hear the sound of the crowd outside, but it was much quieter now that the thick doors were between them. The Representatives of Osiris were led deeper and deeper into Osiris. Tantalus figured they would be told to wait, but they were brought straight to the Palace’s inner sanctum. Tantalus was no diplomat, but even he could tell that this was strange for a high-level noble. In Ninth Oasis, the players would frequently have to deal with nobles. Every time, the noble in question would require the player to wait for some amount of time. Polite nobles would only make you wait for ten minutes, and rude nobles could make you wait for days. Either way, you’d have to wait. This Duke Edwin character was different, Tantalus realized.

The group stepped through one last set of heavy doors and found the Duke’s war room. There were no windows in the room, and it was lit by dozens of ceiling-mounted electric lights. The war room was about fifty feet long by fifty feet wide. In the center was a long table, which was surrounded by countless men and women in green military uniforms. With a cursory glance, Tantalus could see that none of the officers present were below the rank of Colonel. Off to the sides of the room were smaller groups of people gathered around smaller tables. The man at the head of the central table wore the same military uniform, but he did not wear a rank insignia on his lapel.

“That’s him,” Tantalus whispered to Mander and pointed at the man standing at the head of the table.

“Archduke Edwin Mandelbrot,” Mander said to the Duke, “it is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

The Duke was a man in his mid-thirties. His face bore some of the lines of age, though his hair had not yet begun to turn grey. Duke Edwin turned to the Revenants and regarded them with a fierce intensity. This only lasted for a moment before the Duke, through great effort, softened the look on his face.

Two officers stood next to the Duke. Colonel Maria Feldrast stood to his right, and an unknown man who bore the rank insignia of a Major General stood to the Duke’s left.

“I must congratulate you on picking me out so quickly,” Duke Edwin said. “You must be quite skilled at gathering intelligence.”

Tantalus was tempted for a moment to reveal how he had picked out Duke Edwin, but he decided against it.

“Yes, my lord,” Mander smiled. “I am Mander of Trebizond, and that is Cordelia Brooks. The remaining eight Revenants that stand before you are all warriors of great renown. It has been decided that Cordelia and I will act as our group’s primary diplomats. I am a representative of the military contingent of Revenants, and Cordelia is representative of the civilian contingent of Revenants.”

“What do you mean?” Duke Edwin said, barely able to mask his disapproval. “What civilian contingent?”

Cordelia Brooks spoke up at this. “You see, Duke Edwin, most of the Revenants either cannot or will not actively fight against Deluvians.”

“What?” Duke Edwin stopped for a moment and bit his lip. It was clear to Tantalus that the Duke was taking great effort to stop himself from saying something undiplomatic. “All of our sources stated that the Ritual would create a full division of Revenants ready to repel the warriors of the Machine God.”

“Your sources lied,” Cordelia said with such confidence that it was difficult to simply deny the veracity of the words. “The Revenants you summoned are just normal people from another world. I was a musician in my world. I, and most other Revenants, are not cut out for combat. Some are fighters, and some will be able to rise to the occasion, but it would be foolish to believe that more than ten percent of us will ever be willing to fight on the front lines.”

Duke Edwin sighed loudly. “Colonel Feldrast had brought such things to my attention, but I did not want to believe it. Is it true? Are the Revenants truly beings from another world?”

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Mander said, “but it’s the truth.”