“... Considering what kind of people you were dealing with, things went surprisingly smoothly,” Faye commented after listening to my report.

We were strolling through the city centre of the Gamma. It wasn’t yet completed because of the chronic lack of resources and manpower, but it was still the same town I had lived in when I first had come to this world.

Although I usually preferred discussing important matters while deep in the thicket, this time I opted to do so where the denizens could see us. I made sure to keep enough distance so that no one could eavesdrop on our conversation, but after the results of the meeting, it was important for the inhabitants to become used to my appearance and presence.

Being recognized as the owner of the Gamma wasn’t only a matter of territorial declaration. It also involved those that lived on the land. Every single soul on the territory was now considered my property. And I wanted them to see who was the one their lord cherished above everything.

Before departing from the meeting spot with the other figures in power, I asked a few questions to clarify the resolutions of the meeting. I needed to know what my appointment as Patriarch entailed. Mia was the one to answer me.

“Oh, it’s just a formality. The children like to have some sort of Lord, they take pride in it. Also, a figure of fear and authority helps in keeping them calm and obedient. For us, it’s just an intricate way of saying that each of us can do as he likes in his own home and should avoid messing with others’ stuff,” she had explained.

“Children are rowdy. Without guidance, they would not last,” Tobias had added.

This was the true nature of Households, Patriarchs and Matriarchs. It was a game played by this group of absolute monarchs, where the archumans were pawns and the humans trapped underground were simply cattle used to replenish the number of the formers if it ever waned. Only in the Delta the common men and women weren’t treated as mere resources, and only because of the particular role the Perimeter played as the industrial centre of the world.

The primary reason for this pastime of the powerhouses was to avoid the species driving itself to extinction. After all, the citizens of this world were humans with powers. If left to their own devices, chaos would ensue.

The second reason was simply to keep themselves entertained. They were not comparable to humans from almost every single point of view, but centuries of life in a world devoid of many things could still bring about boredom to these beings.

And boredom was exactly the third and final reason, as Sloan personally explained.

“I’m tired of being trapped here,” she grumbled.

She reminisced of a time in which archs were free to reach lands beyond their borders, a time she had not lived personally but which she had been able to savour during her younger days. Unfortunately, with age came power, but also limitations. One faithful day, she found herself unable to reach other lands, trapped in a place she didn’t like.

The only solution was to dispose of the genai king, the origin of the scorned Veil, the arcane construct which closed off the ways to the outside.

From that moment onwards, her one true purpose became to cultivate a Torchbearer and have him defeat the genai king so that the Veil would crumble. She had waited for centuries and to this day only Caleb, among the numerous inheritors of the Focus, had proven himself capable of actually using its power. That was the reason why she had reacted so viciously when I attacked him.

But things had changed. Her priority was never the Torchbearer itself, but what he could accomplish. Nevertheless, Caleb had proven himself increasingly unreliable and moreover, the power of the Focus, the only thing which made him special, had started to wane. On the other hand I had reappeared after so many years, stronger than anyone could have imagined.

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“Tobias always vouched for you. Seeing you today convinced me he might have been right. So, I will watch over both of you,” she concluded her speech, reiterating her intentions of waiting to see which one between the two of us would remain standing in the end.

“If you become a Legion, you will be able to reach the enemy. A Legion can’t be stopped. I know it well, as I witnessed it myself. Moreover, you already broke something akin to the Veil once. You will be able to do it again,” Tobias clarified the reasons why Sloan suddenly saw me as trustworthy.

Shortly after, we parted ways.

“I am satisfied,” I convened with Faye’s evaluation. Things had indeed gone smoothly. Everything was proceeding as it should have.

“Anyway, what did you say the b… I mean, Matriarch Sloan say about Isaac and Chloe?” she questioned me. She didn’t try to conceal her animosity, which was directed at more than a single person.

“She didn’t answer”

When I tried to inquire into it, Sloan simply turned around and left the place. The other two people were completely useless, as they were not aware of the events that had transpired.

“Well, that’s strange”

“You may be right”

“John, it’s known that Atriarchs don’t lie, or at least there is no account of them doing so. But her omission could mean that there is something she doesn’t wish to tell you”

“It’s most likely to not break neutrality for the future conflict”

Faye suddenly fell deep in thought, trying to decipher what had happened. I needed to distract her, or she would spend the next hours brooding over it.

“Did the genai reveal anything useful?” I asked her.

She snapped back to her senses and turned to me.

“No, his memory is in shambles. That thing you told me he had on his head must have been something truly devilish. It seems it completely disabled the short-to-long-term memory translation processes. He had un understanding of his general situation as he still had memories from before they put the apparatus on him, but since that point onward he lived in an eternal present”

I didn’t doubt the honesty of the genai’s words. It wasn’t only because I had clearly perceived his genuine gratefulness for being freed from his shackles, but also because I trusted he wouldn’t be able to deceive Faye.

“The Epsilon made him a perfect tool. Who knows how many they have enslaved,” I commented.

“They are just a mass of scumbags,” she responded while looking into the void. She was trembling in anger at the thought of what she considered an unforgivable barbarity.

Nevertheless, she calmed down and turned to me once again.

“So… when are you departing?” she suddenly asked.

I looked at her. A smile appeared on my face.

“Why do you think I’m going anywhere?” I asked feigning surprise with a wide mouth, without even trying to conceal my surprise was insincere.

I knew trying to hide the truth from her would be a vain endeavour; not that I intended to do that in the first place.

She forced a smile back and pretended to be deceived by my poor acting.

“Oh come on, who do you think I am? I’m the smart and beautiful Faye Deveraux, the one who received the recognition of John Doe himself, the nastiest archuman on the planet! Nothing escapes my wits!” she shouted pompously, blushing slightly due to embarrassment at her poor play.

I almost let a chuckle escape my lips, but ultimately held back.

“Seriously, after years of stop, you suddenly returned active. Would you stop now? After asking for an entire year before confronting Sandoval? Obviously not. You may not be a genius, but you aren’t an idiot either. I already know your agenda, you told me personally about it, remember? There were five points:

‘One, get comfortable with my body.’

‘Two, return to the world.’

‘Three, become a Merchant.’

‘Four, profit.’

‘Five, … take back what’s yours’, I think?”

“You remember well,” I confirmed she was right.

“This means we are at point three. Becoming a Merchant. It’s about growing quickly, or at least that’s what you told me,” she said. Silence followed.

After a while, she returned to the original question.

“So… when are you departing?” she asked once again.

“Now,” Tobias answered the question for me when he suddenly appeared behind us.