“What an interesting mix of people,” Phon relayed after a few minutes of scanning the crowd with Phontext’s assistance. “Let’s see, the majority so far are everyday workers, but there’s some zoneball stars, a lot of military—surprising after Bastion, even a couple of high-level politicians sprinkled amongst the crowd. Hmm, there are some auras I’ve sensed before, but they’re so diluted in this overpopulated sea. I’ll keep digging.”
“Ah wait, backstage is that…” Phon’s head turned towards the stage with no one on it. “How interesting. I won’t spoil the surprise, but I’m sure we’ll see them soon.”
While the woman continued her work, the others huddled on the rafters for discussion before the defense started. Though the discussion was more like accusations. “How’d you let it get this bad?” Xard was the first to throw shade. “You’re working here a few days a week at least. Never noticed the cult forming under your nose?”
“Uhh, no, I honestly haven’t…” Kada was just as disappointed in herself. “From a logistics standpoint, nothing’s been wrong really. But it’s starting to seem that my staff hasn’t been reporting the entire truth of what’s been going on. I’ll have to dig further into why that is, and hope I don’t find anything more than they genuinely believed it was something they had under control until it rapidly escalated.”
“From the meetings I’ve attended lately, there has been a noticeable uptick in attendance. But given the current season, it’s really not unexpected, and we’ve always trended upwards since launch. It’s also not uncommon for guests to want to extend their stay, because, I mean, c’mon, this place is awesome. I will say that I had noticed an uptick in extensions and asked my staff to track it, but they hadn’t reported anything significant since.”
“Violence and outbursts amongst our guests is also not unheard of, especially at the waterpark. That has had a slight increase, but not really anything noticeable, and we certainly haven’t had any reason to expect that it had any sort of connecting thread. Despite that, there were still plans in place to increase our security measures as well as the presence of guards and authority around the resort very soon, but I guess we’re too late for that.”
“What’s harder to explain is this hall and the other places the Fiendnatics have been claiming for themselves. After I first heard about it this morning, I dug into the reports of loitering and squatting around the area since it’s occasionally an issue, but usually by big families or groups that are only here for a week or so that want a place they feel entitled to.”
“But there weren’t really that many. There’s some over the past few weeks, but not nearly as many as that news report would claim. Unfortunately, I’m guessing it means those doing patrols have been incentivized to look the other way for some reason or another. That, or the other guests are just accepting it as places they shouldn’t be at, even if there’s no official rule, and moving on with their days.”
“As for this hall, that’s a different issue. It’s really not the most popular space, pretty much just used for some of the biggest conventions, concerts, and events. Because of its size, it’s not a place smaller gatherings have need of, so it goes unused most of the year. Though as the resort gains popularity, there are more bookings beginning next year and beyond.”
“Meaning my staff would have no real reason to deny a group wanting to use it, as long as they could afford to pay for it. They don’t actually need permits for events here, since this land was labeled in international waters when we bought it and re-registered as Fiendish territory when our nation came to be.”
“Wait, then Drim would be king here too, wouldn’t he?” Jaid brought up, looking over to the man who was clearly just as surprised
“Guess I’m a bad king then,” Drim shrugged. “Don’t even know what lands I rule.”
Xard then surmised, “Well I guess the taxes from here would look like a drop in the bucket with our bank account. And since the land was already privately owned by our investment group, I guess Ledmer’s lawyers never saw a reason to bring it up.”
“Honestly, I thought you all knew,” Kada hadn’t meant to distract from the point she was trying to make. “But the gist is that it’s also really easy for anyone to rent this space, even though most don’t have a need for it. So if someone petitions our staff, as long as it doesn’t sound sketchy, there’s no real reason to refuse them. But now that they’ve been using it for so long, I guess they feel entitled to the space and have basically made it their church.”
“I can’t believe we actually ended up with a cult…” Drim could only grumble at the absurdity of the situation. “But I don’t think it’s right to put the entirety of the blame on you or your resort, Kada. I’m starting to think now that we’ve gone a bit too hard with our promotion and campaigning, spending too much time highlighting our superiority, though that was never our intention. The people are starting to think we’re something we’re not.”
“I’ll have to sit down with Chorus and Victori to discuss this. If people are actually comparing us to gods, that is the farthest thing from what I’ve intended. Yes, we want the people to believe that we’re highly capable and willing to help them, because I genuinely believe that we are. But they shouldn’t be praying to us to solve their problems or deifying us. We’ll have to set the record straight and remind these people what's important—to not throw away their lives for us.”
“Well, it’s a little late to do something right now,” Xard muttered. “Looks like it’s starting.”
A man walked onto the cage and was met with erupting applause, quickly followed by silence. Though it was obvious, he introduced himself as one of the organizers of the Fiendnatics, the same man who had been interviewed by the news earlier that day. Then he specifically went on a tangent about how he wasn’t a leader of the group, and how the only people they’d follow were the examples that Fiends left behind.
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He then thanked everyone for coming, and dove into all of the ‘great things’ the group had accomplished. Admittedly, it was impressive the money they’d raised for charities, especially those that helped families and communities that had been hurt by Humanity’ actions, many of which the Fiends themselves had never heard of before. Drim may have made a note of a few to check out in the future.
They also briefly overviewed plans and outreach programs they were trying to schedule outside of Ledmer, humanitarian trips they were going to take around the world. It seemed they didn’t entirely plan to glue themselves to Mermaid’s Reef like shut-ins. The organizer then did mention the issues they’d been having around the resort, reiterating that they were trying to come to a consensus with the staff, though failed to mention that negotiations had essentially gotten nowhere.
He also made sure to remind everyone that any negative behavior towards the staff and other visitors was entirely unacceptable, especially decrying any harassment and violence. The man then reiterated that anyone caught performing such acts would be excommunicated from the Fiendnatics and immediately asked to leave the resort. Perhaps they weren’t such a radical group after all.
After a bit more housekeeping, they moved onto the programming for the day. A group of people came up, and one at a time, they passed a microphone down the line. Each person introduced themselves, spoke on a past experience about how they were either helped by Fiends, or had come to admire them. Then, to finish off, each gave an example of how they ‘acted like a Fiend today’.
This was mostly small stuff like light volunteer work or not-so-random acts of kindness. A woman mentioned how she’d gone to the beach and picked up litter that morning. A man said how he’d helped an elderly couple with their oversized luggage. And a pair who were apparently together told the tale of how they’d gone fishing in the ocean and caught food for the monsters in the sanctuary—all to further a more peaceful coexistence. That one got the most applause by far.
When they departed, they were followed up by a man and woman taking the stage. The man was a Lesser who seemed to be dressed in purposefully ragged clothing, aiming for a shabby look. He took the microphone, which already got applause, but it couldn’t even compare to the uproarious reaction he got when he introduced himself.
“My name is Bruke, I’m a Lesser Fiend and have been for several years now. I served two years in prison for the murder I committed, and up until just recently, was a server at a restaurant. It was a small place, a family-run diner that was mostly visited by regulars. Everyone was so nice and didn’t judge me for being a criminal or a Lesser.”
“But then one day, Humanity stormed right in. They grabbed me, beat me then and there, and then threatened to shoot anyone who tried to help. Next thing I knew, I was thrown into a cell. No… that’s too generous. It was a cage. And that’s where I was held captive for over seven months.”
“I’m Molleen,” the woman introduced herself next. “And I was a guard for Humanity.”
What had been a supportive and endeared crowd for the man instantly flipped into what could only be called a mob. There were gasps and hisses, chants to lock her up. Some even called for her to be killed, but those were drowned out by the massive general booing from the majority.
The woman already looked on the verge of breaking down, confronting what the masses thought about her with nothing to hide behind. But she pushed through and spoke, her voice quivering the entire time. “I know what we did was wrong. That I was wrong. We did horrible things, unspeakable things, the likes of which can never be forgiven.”
“I was so swept up in it all, my friends and family at the time were strictly Fiend haters, and I was trapped in their bubble. Joining up felt natural, to do my part and stopping the evil Fiends from killing us all. But I know now that it was all lies, all scare tactics, just in a grab for power. Yet, I can’t downplay my part.”
“I am not here to ask for your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it, and the only reason I’m here now is because I surrendered myself into custody and didn’t resist when The Artillery came. Yet, I’ve come… to ask a favor.”
“My sins can’t be redeemed, but I want to work towards a future that ensures nothing like Humanity or the oppression they caused ever happens again. There’s still a lot of hate out there, and most of those people aren’t even aware that they feel it. It’s misguided or environmental, passed down without proper explanation or merit.”
“So the favor I’m here to ask, is if you meet a fool like me, don’t write them off right away. They may not know any better, or genuinely don’t understand what they’re doing is wrong. So instead of chastising them, teach them, and help them down the right path. Only through guidance and understanding can we grow and make a world where all species can coexist peacefully.”
Though her words resonated with some, most of the mob had already made up their minds. Several decried her ideals, gagging at the thought of ever working with someone like her, and some even went so far as to start throwing items at the stage. The woman didn’t even try to dodge them, accepting the hate and scorn for those who had judged her as lacking.
But the Lesser stepped forward, throwing his arm in front of the woman and blocking the harassment from the crowd with his body. “This is unacceptable, and it is not who we are!” Bruke berated the audience in front of them. “Attacking her is an insult to her bravery to come and speak before you today. If someone is really willing to change, to commit themselves to a better cause, then no matter what they’ve done, no matter how lost they’ve been in the past, then they deserve nothing but our help and support.”
The Lesser then turned to the woman. “And you may not be able to forgive yourself, but it is not your choice how others perceive you. From what I’ve seen today, you have presented nothing but earnest honesty and willingness to improve. Because of that, I forgive you.” Bruke took a heavy step forward, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her into a deep hug.
It only lasted a second, enough to surprise the audience and help calm then down. They broke off a moment later, and Bruke transitioned them into a handshake in front of everyone, causing applause and cheers to erupt. One small display of acceptance was all it took to completely change the atmosphere and sway the opinions of everyone watching.
Molleen began spouting endless thank-yous to the man, shaking his hand with both of hers before she jumped in for another hug herself. Then they left the stage shortly after, the crowd clapping for them as they left.
The organizer took the stage once more, ready to introduce their final segment for that event. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming today. I hope you enjoyed that display of bravery and forgiveness—what we should all strive for as Fiendnatics. To round out today’s panel, we of course brought back our favorite speaker. You know her, you love her, our own shining light from Cosmos, The Beacon!”