Lancelot Amon
I came back home and undressed before slipping myself into the pool; it was 5 metres by 5 metres. I may end up moving out today, depending on how this session went. If I was going to seriously face off against Arthur, against the King of Kings, then I'd need pieces. One of my most valuable pieces was dead, and the other was comatose, but with their sacrifice they'd bought me a lot of things. One of them was time; I could theoretically remain in this hideout for as long as I wished. Arthur couldn't find me, rather he didn't even know what I looked like. The only time I came face to face with him, I was in disguise. Moreover, I was different now than I was then; I'd readjusted my face again. I'm not sure I can even remember how I originally looked. Not to mention I'm supposed to be dead.
My original identity "died" 6 years ago. It was a "misfire" by a drone. My family got killed in it; I was heading back home then to see them, after an absence of 4 years. I knew about the assassination plot back then. I could have spared them. If I hadn't chosen then to go back home, they wouldn't have died. I killed them. Killed them because I loved them. Because I felt it made me weak. They were a liability to me. They were hostages in waiting. How would I have reacted if they were used as bargaining chips with me? If they were used as hostages? Worse what if an adversary of mine tortured them to get back at me? It was a constant worry of mine. And I had adversaries that may have exacted revenge like that. I know I was certainly capable of that. If I had someone I sought to grant retribution, and they had a lover or loved ones, I'd exact my vengeance like that - torture either them or their loved ones to the point of insanity then release them back to the other party. I'd make sure to video their anguish, their despair, their primal fear, their torment all in HD. I'd ship a home stereo along to allow them enjoy it well. It's especially effective if you can't touch the other party. This is just theoretical knowledge though; I haven't had cause to do it yet. Back to my family, Dragon discovered evidence of an attempt to assassinate me by the government of a certain country. Knowing this, I prepared a suitable double. I replaced his teeth with mine, and use artificial teeth to this day. The drone "managed" to strike the gas tanks, and there was a gas leak in the house during the strike. The bodies were destroyed beyond recognition, but my teeth should have been conclusive enough. I shed a tear as I watched the strike with a bird's eye view; through the drone itself courtesy of Dragon. I'd have been lying if I said I wasn't pained, I wasn't a sociopath after all. Though I may have wished to be. I guess a little part of me died that day. The only humans I cared for after that were the brothers. I painstakingly groomed them; granted them the resources to maximise their potential sold them on my ideology. And now even they have been deprived of me. They were my best pieces, I cherished them more than a grandmaster his queen. I lost them. I chose to sacrifice Dragon to prevent Arthur from winning. Hercules' sacrifice ensured my survival.
Was I even right to sacrifice them as such. Am I a better candidate for ruler than Arthur? Was he not a more fit ruler than me? He most likely was; I lost after all. I once scorned the absurdity of individual egoism, yet before I knew it I had started walking down that path. When was it decided that the worth of any individual was their utility to me. At least Arthur had the ability to back up his own egoism; he's ruler over the world now, and I'm a hermit. Furthermore, a powerless hermit. If I take an objective look at myself, I realise the absurdity of my position. I'm no ally of justice, no paragon of freedom. I merely desire the throne Arthur has carved for himself. I wonder, when was it that I decided it had to be the whole world or nothing at all. When was it that I decided that anything short of world domination was cold comfort. Verily, I'd have validated my existence as the right hand to the "King of Kings". I'd have planted my flag on the sands of time. Engraved my emblem on history. Was there really nothing but my ego that motivated me to reject Arthur? Nothing but my all encompassing hubris? My creed has rationality as the second virtue, right after selfishness. And do not let the movies deceive you, rationality isn't an absence of emotions. Instrumental rationality is the art and science of systematically achieving your goals. Was my choice then really in line with my goals? Did it serve to further my objectives? Is it really no good if I have anything short of the best position? Am I so arrogant that I believe that I'm entitled to the greatest success just because I earnestly applied myself? When did I become such an entitled prick?
"Aah" I sighed.
No good. It's really no good. I can't accept it. If I'm going to do it, I might as well be the best at it.
"NIET."
My determination isn't so half-assed. If I'm going to do it, then I must be the best at it.
I'm content with only two positions:
1. Gaining the world through my labours.
2. Remaining insignificant by virtue of my laziness.
And I refuse to remain insignificant, reject it, refute it, repudiate it, reprobate it, disallow it, spurn it, turn it down. It's not up for consideration; I'd rather not have been born, than to remain insignificant. By virtue of elimination, only option 1 remains.
"I shall seize this world."
Aah. Pride, truly you are the origin of sins, you are certainly my cardinal sin. But that pride was an intrinsic part of who I am. And if you asked me if I would change it? The answer would be a resounding "NO". It was pride that drove me to reject Arthur, and pride that refused to let me remain the loser. I refuse to accept defeat.
Arthur is strong, he's stronger than me. His ability is quite something, but it's his intellect that is more fearful. Surely, I wasn't able to beat him, when I had the Knights of the Round table with me, and I surely wouldn't win when Arthur has 10 on his side, plus an army of espers. My only advantage now is my anonymity. Nobody knows who I am, even the doctor that did my operations met an unfortunate "accident". I restructure my face through robotics now, a gift from Hercules. This anonymity is truly all I have left. The elimination of all world currencies and replacement by the re-branded British pound made the billions I'd accumulated cease to function. Even my fixed assets would have been confiscated by the Empire, most of my assets had been destroyed. All I had in terms of currency were the assets I'd managed to succesfully liquidate into quit coin; the spiritual successor of bit coin. The only reason I could use this condo, was because the entire complex was underground. Electromagnetic shielding kept it from satellite detection, and Delphi couldn't find me, as I had 0 ESP power. Maybe my mundane status does have its advantages.
My biggest weakness now, was my solitude. I had no backing, no subordinates, no pieces to move. To be concise, I had no faction. And while creating a faction was attractive: I'd be my own boss, could handpick my members, could groom them personally, in short I could style my faction after myself. However, this required time, money and other resources. The first was very expensive; if I delayed too long, Arthur would solidify his rule, and quench the remaining pockets of resistance. The second didn't bother me as much, even without the assets I had on hand and in the net, I had a lot of ideas I could turn into cash, I was also quite the capable software developer. Nothing as good as Dragon, but good enough to create software worth billions of dollars, and design Panopticon. As for the other resources, one of the things I lacked the most was combat ability. I didn't have the strength to lead a faction, or defend it's members. But none of those are the reason why creating my own faction is an unthinkable idea. If it was me, I could work my way around those demerits. The reason why I absolutely couldn't create my own faction was because by doing so, I'd lose my greatest advantage; I'd lose my anonymity. I don't delude myself that I can set up and administer my own faction while escaping Arthur's nose. Even if I can elude 9 of the knights (doubtful as they know my "style"), there is no way I'd be able to elude Elizabeth. She's the one who taught me my people skills after all. The reason why Arthur isn't even bothering to look for me(not like he'd have any luck), is likely at her insistence. In retrospect, I should probably have given up the moment Liz sided with Arthur. Apparently he was another of her students, and she picked him over me. Well, that may not even have been it. Knowing her, siding with Arthur may have been on a whim. If she gave it any thought, it was probably on the level of "Oh this looks like it might be fun". It was the reason she joined the Knights and took me as a student in the first place.
With Liz on Arthur's side, I can't be too conspicuous in my actions. She's heinously competent at getting people to do what she wanted. As an ambassador she was perfect; a flawless negotiator. Arthur being able to build an empire and stabilise it within two years wouldn't have been possible without Liz's skills. Rather shouldn't I applaud myself that I was able to resist the duo for two years? Well, I'm doubtful if I can defeat Liz. At any rate, she's not on my level. Arthur, I could understand, he was decisively stronger than me, but I could sense the difference between us. The same can't be said for Liz. The silver lining is her extreme whimsicalness. She has but one goal; to stave off boredom. She's also quite lazy. I've never seen her truly apply herself to anything. She's scary like that. That doesn't mean I'll give up though. If I have to defeat a serious her to succeed, then I just have to get stronger is all, prepare more. But this only applies to Liz as a piece; the one I faced off against during World War III.
Liz as a player is a whole different ball game. I can't even imagine myself winning against a serious Liz, the mere thought is inconceivable. It's not that she's stronger than me, it's that I can't comprehend the distance between us. Generally people can't fathom ability more than two SD removed from them, that alone is a hopeless gap. I don't need to be a genius to know the gap with Liz is much larger than that. I still remember the first time I truly feared another human. It was after frustration with the fact that I'd never been able to beat her at Chess, Othello or any other strategy game. She claimed it was because she could read me like a book. I and Dragon designed an A.I to beat her; AGI(Another Gaming Intelligence). We ran it against the best A.Is on the net and it had over a 99% win rate. It's ELO was in the mid to late 3000s at its inception. When Liz played against AGI, she beat it. In the thousands of matches since she's always kept winning(scary, cause AGI gets better every match. It should have been in the early to mid 4000s at the last match I saw and she still didn't lose. No matter the game, I've never seen Liz lose. Even games that I designed to be overwhelmingly easier for computers. The concept of defeat probably doesn't even exist to her. If I consider that then it's obvious she never seriously went against me. Most likely Arthur was the player and she just moved as a piece. Well this is good news, a serious Liz isn't a threat to me, it's an extinction event. If she desired she could have dominated the world long before D-day. She never moved as such, therefore she doesn't intend to compete for world domination.
Furthermore, if Liz intended to seriously oppose me, I'd be dead already, therefore she doesn't intend to oppose me.
Liz as enemy = curbstomp
I am still alive, so therefore Liz isn't my enemy.
Quod Erat Demonstratum
My logic is flawless, I feel invigorated already. To think I only have to face Arthur, was there a brighter day than this? My logic may seem like this:
"I don't want Liz to be my enemy, thus I act like she's not and hope I'm right".
I assure you that you're wrong. My logic is quite simple, in a future where Liz is my enemy, no amount of preparation, no amount of strategising, no amount of resources, nothing at all can save me. As preparing for a scenario with Liz as adversary is useless, then I might as well not prepare for it. Liz being my adversary, is like a black hole suddenly appearing in the solar system; there's nothing I can do about it, only accept my fate. We live our future as if a black hole would not suddenly appear in the Solar system, or the sun suddenly go nova. Thus I'll live as if Liz isn't an adversary. Liz is so scary, that I never felt attracted to her despite her ethereal beauty.
You may think I'm being unnecessarily wary, what happened to my arrogance? my creed to be the best? To put in the effort that is required? Simple. My philosophy only applies to humans. I do not recognise Liz as a human; she's a bona-fide monster. Her ability goes beyond peerless, it's inhuman. I refuse to believe that there's a human so many standard deviations removed from the mean. She's either a freak of nature, a mutant or an alien. I'm betting on the last two, her being an alien would certainly explain her ethereal beauty. I doubt even natural accidents can produce an existence as scary as her. That's like imagining a chimpanzee who was able to curbstomp Gary Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen on their best days. Is such an existence still a chimpanzee? This is someone who had the U.S president killed, simply because I said she couldn't. I gave it to her as a test to join the Knights(well, that president was uncooperative in our machinations, and I was interested in seeing just how capable our prospective recruit was then). 3 days later, he was dead (Poor Pence and he'd only been president for a year, after we'd assassinated Trump). But even that had required a month of preparations, and Trump's distaste by a large part of the US government had only simplified our task. It was after that, that I agreed to become her student.
I am fully aware she could have planned the entire fiasco long before she approached me. Most likely narrowing down, the most probable tests I'd assign her, then preparing for them; it's what I would have done at any rate. But it doesn't matter now, if I gave her a week to get Putin killed, I wouldn't bet on it, but if she of her own volition, moving not as a piece but as a player, decided to get Putin killed, I'll bet he would be dead between, 12-24 hours. I generally don't engage in operations where my estimated probability of success is < 0.75(vs Arthur was an exception)). One month to off Trump is actually pretty good. I've explained that I usually don't commit to operations with P < 0.75. This is just my base threshold, depending on the circumstances, I can raise my threshold to 0.9. Designing a plan with a more than 90% success rate of getting the US President killed is pretty amazing you know. Don't believe me? Then let me explain. Imagine my plan has n components. Each of these components has an individual probability of success of p. The final P of my plan, would be (p^n). For my plan to have a P >= 0.9, then it means p >= nth root of 0.9. For our 9 phase plan, that means each component had to have a P >= 0.99. Of course, I cannot guarantee that high a probability for most components of the plan, so how did I do it? Each component of our plan was 5 times redundant. If for each component, I had 5 moves just one of which had to succeed for that component to be successful, then I'd only need an individual p{i} of 0.6 for any of the moves. If 0.6 was too high, I just had to increase the redundancy. As a result, I had 50 moves to plan out. You may be wondering why I set the threshold as high as I did. It's not because I'm overly cautious, pessimistic or a coward. Au contraire, I think I have just the right amount of caution; I was merely acknowledging Murphy's law (anything that can go wrong will), and the planning fallacy (humans tend to consistently underestimate the time required to complete projects. Time is a resource like any other, and my version of the planning fallacy, replaces time with the more general resources, taking it further, I may infer that humans tend to consistently underestimate probabilities of success). I am not so cocksure as to assume that I can accurately estimate the probabilities of success of my plan and it's components.
Save for my confrontation with Arthur during World War III; "The Guild War", I've closely stuck to Bayescraft. But I don't regret rejecting Arthur then, if I did accept him, I would cease to be me. Sincerely bowing my head to another will be denying myself, denying me. World War III was called "The Guild War" due to the domination of the war not by countries, but by guilds; organisations formed chiefly of espers to further the interests of the members, pursue an ideology, or achieve an agenda. The Knights of the Round Table was one such guild. We were one of the stronger ones as well. Certainly we had our own share of powerful Espers, a couple of rank 5s, some rank 4s. But what really allowed us to dominate, was the resourcefulness and original abilities of our members. The war ended, with the victory of the Knights. After my defeat Arthur managed to ally with and subjugate around 3 quarters of the major guilds. Together they created the SEV, and The Knights of the Round Table became the presiding guild, with Arthur as its leader. The SEV recognises espers as First Class citizens. Espers from Rank 3 upwards can get knighted, and Rank 4 and above receive a writ of nobility.
As of now, the highest rank of esper is rank 6, or at least that is the best information I've got. The rank of an esper is determined by the strength of psionic radiation they release. Fortunately for me, this radiation isn't harmful to mundanes. The ability of an esper doesn't determine their rank. An esper whose ability is to be a human computer can become rank 6, only at that level they may put quantum super computers to shame. Between each rank, there is an order of magnitude difference. If a Rank 4 esper with electricity abilities could generate 1 gigawatt, then a Rank 5 electric esper could generate a 10 gigawatts. Those are the actual rates by the way. In addition to growth of their abilities due to repeated use, my research suggests that the initial rank that the Espers received was partially dependent on a variety of factors; determination, mental fortitude, will, etc - their mental "strength". Pity I didn't become an esper.
In the two years since, many guilds have joined under Arthur's banner. The SEV is divided into several kingdoms and smaller duchies. Each kingdom is ruled by one of the major guilds, or an alliance of similar interest guilds. Though a king presides over each. The smaller duchies are ruled by the medium sized guilds. The entire world map has been redrawn. The strength of a guild, is determined by the total combat strength they can muster. The large size guilds generally have hundreds of thousands of combatants. The Grand unification of China(GUC) has millions of combatants. The core body is the former People's Army. Several other Chinese espers joined during the war. They accept all espers of Chinese origin. They rule "The Great Kingdom of China".
Coincidentally, I'm currently living in the duchy of Canada in the "Great Kingdom of Brittania". The Commonwealth guilds banded up together to form "The Great Kingdom of Brittania". This wasn't coincidental though. The British imperialists were quite the resourceful group, which makes a lot of sense considering Arthur was their Shadow leader. Even before D-day, we had an uneasy alliance with them.
I notice that I'm confused. Even though I claim I don't regret my choice in regards to Arthur, I can't help but feel a sense of incongruity with my actions then. A fundamental dissonance, as if it weren't me who spat on his face. Surely the problem comes not from the choice I made, but rather the means. I chose to lose honorably, rather than spite Arthur, by causing a nuclear winter. Above all, I hate losing.
"If I can't have the world, no one will."
I certainly think like that now, and should have thought like that then. My map doesn't reflect the territory. I can't help but imagine, that I strongly believed I'll win. Bayescraft is so deeply ingrained in me, that I can't conceive myself acting like I did then. If I honestly, truly, believed that I couldn't win, that I would lose. I certainly wouldn't have acquiesced to Arthur(the only person I can imagine myself bowing down to is Liz. And she'd be my goddess, not my liege), but I wouldn't have let him have the world either. With Hercules dead, and Dragon comatose, believing I can make a comeback is the highest level of self delusion. Certainly, Arthur was more competent than me; it's for that reason I sought to improve myself until I felt that I'd plateaued. I know that now, and knew that then. I can't conceive myself betting on something like "Dragon may awaken", "I may become strong enough to solo my own Knights". Isn't the mere thought inane? That I believed that by myself I could become capable enough to solo my own pieces, and Arthur? As I am with no pieces save myself to move? Did I believe in something as optimistic as "I may find people good enough to face Arthur with"?
"NO!"
I do not "hope", I do not believe in spirit. I don't rely on something like "potential"; even my own. I don't believe in destiny, or any fluff like that. How then could I have acted as I did then? The map is wrong, very wrong.
I lost honourably. This means I believed I could have made a comeback. My current assessment of my assests is not justification enough for me to believe I could have made a comeback.
I know myself very well. I am certain that I believed I could have made a comeback. This is the "truth".
Right now, I do not believe I can make a comback. My instincts trained trough application of Bayescraft do not tell me, that I'm likely to win. Stepping out from myself and taking an objective look at myself, I cannot describe the scenario of me winning as probable. I do not rely on luck.
My map so far is accurate. There is an error somewhere. Either I've drastically changed from 2 years ago, or there is a discrepancy in my assets. Which is more probable, that I am foreign to the me of two years ago? Or that I have cards to play that I know not of. I can't imagine the latter; objectively looking at myself, examining my values, beliefs, motivations and convictions, I notice no difference from two years ago. I am only stronger than I was then. I am an emotional person, but I am not ruled by my emotions. The scenario in which I spat on Arthur's face in a fit of emotion is fallacious. Pride is an emotion like any other. Me ruled by my pride to the extent that I acted as I did then is unimaginable. This rules out the drastic change part, and leaves only the second option. This means that I have assets I know not off. Card in hand, moves pre-made that I'm not cognisant off. To go that far, means that somewhere along the lines, I had already expected to lose(it is possible, that I was merely covering my bases, but it's not probable. Considering I knew back then, that Arthur was definitively stronger than me, it's most likely I expected to lose. In fact, knowing myself, the possibility that I'd bet against Liz is non-existent. If I interpreted Liz siding with Arthur as her betting on him, and not as a whim, then I would have decided that round was a loss) . But rather than pulling out; "to fool your enemies you must first fool your allies", I committed to the plan wholeheartedly. I sacrificed the only people in the world I cared for, for a plan that I'd already doomed to failure.
"Aah".
I shed a tear. I really hate myself. I'd thought that I'd never sacrifice the duo. They were all I had left; my protegees, my friends. When I was still a noob, still wet behind the ears, still incompetent, they'd bet on me. They were the first to decide to follow me, help me achieve my dream. My right and left hand. I loved them the way I didn't my family. They were more valuable to me, beyond their uses. When I was making the decision to proceed with the plan I doomed for failure. When I was setting up the stage for round 2, I was aware that I may have lost them. I was cognisant it was a plausible future. Yet I went ahead, I decided they were acceptable losses. I certainly don't remember it, but it's evident I made those decisions. Maybe erasing my memory was supposed to grant me solace; I probably knew I'd hate myself. I certainly know myself best, in ways most don't. I introspect daily taking both subjective and objective looks at my being. Looking at myself as me; with the biases it brings, and looking at myself as an objective observer; stripping off my identity, then taking a look at myself again. I'd previously sworn, that they were my bottom line, that I wouldn't sacrifice them(
Arthur's probably a better leader than me. What kind of leader would sacrifice their followers for their own selfishness? I wonder how History would look at me when my tale is done. Would I be remembered with fondness like Augustus, Victoria, Suleiman I? Or will I be scorned, remembered with dread, my name symbolising everything wrong like Hitler? Only time will tell I guess. Either way, it doesn't matter; I'll be immortalised in the memories of humanity.
Looking at myself objectively, I'm a piece of shit. If you asked me to describe myself in one word, then it'll be "Asshole". I'm quite a resourceful asshole, but an asshole none the less. If I was to look for the silver lining in my current situation, it's that I'm free. I'm completely free. There's no one and nothing to bind me down again. I have no attachments to humanity, or life itself. I could watch the world burn down right now, and not shed a tear. There are chiefly two ways to manipulate people; fear and greed. The former now held absolutely no hold over me. As for the latter, my greed was to possess the whole world. All of it, or nothing at all. By virtue of my labour, I either claim the highest honours or I claim none at all. Even before I was born again I was like that: because I had to study in highschool, I wasn't going to be satisfied with anything short of valedictorian, and thus I claimed it. I just never realised my true nature then. Truly, then I didn't know myself.
I twirled around in the bath while humming a tune. Fear has no hold over me, and to motivate my greed one must offer me the entire world. If I'm given the world, I've already won. Thus, I can no longer be manipulated. No more blackmail, no more hostage crises(well those who tried this are already dead), no more bribery. I only move at my whims now, and no one else's. I am truly in control of my own life now. What I feel now is euphoria, the greatest of exhiliration from truly embracing freedom. I am elated, and once more reassured of myself; I am strong. Strong enough to sacrifice those dear to me. Strong enough to use my family as bait. Strong enough to kill the only girl I'd ever loved. Verily, I am truly strong. I'm confident, cocksure even; I'm more prepared than I know, I know not what moves I've made, nor what cards I've hidden, but I've just got to trust in myself. What can I believe in if not myself? My cards will reveal themselves at the right time. For now I'll just make do with what I have. Truly there are only three types of people in this world; those that can be used, those that can't and myself. The former two are completely expendable, the latter isn't. Even if the planet should burn, if I'm safe that's all that matters. I smiled.
I left the bath and dried myself. I changed into my pajamas and went to my den. I had 12 large 8K monitors, surrounding the room, accompanied with surround sound. I sat myself at one of the systems, each unit was 64 TB RAM, with 160 Intel Xeon processors and 12PB of storage. I fired up the system, and ran my self-made browser "Shadow". I connected to the Dark net, and accessed the forums on which information was being sold. My objective, was to decide which faction I should join. About 30% of the guilds still don't recognise the authority of the SEV. Some actively oppose their authority, others are more subtle. The major guilds in opposition to the SEV formed the "Resistance Alliance"(RA) They form about 60% of the non SEV guilds. They're the only faction with the ability to firmly oppose the SEV. If I'm to join a guild it would have to be an RA one. The size of the guild matters. Too large, and I won't be able to grasp quickly enough, sufficient influence to move it to my whims. Too small, and they would be ineffective as pieces. My ideal guild, was a medium sized guild made up of elite members. Combat ability was paramount if I was going to take down Arthur.
I had my computer start sifting through the guilds to find one which fits my criteria the closest. I assigned points to each criteria, and wrote a function which computed across the various criteria coming up with one which best fit my requirements. One result came out:
"MALEFICENCE"
They were a medium sized guild made up of a few thousand combatants. They were quite amazing in terms of combat ability; my system ranked them 7th in overall combat ability within the RA. They were one of the most proactive guilds amongst the RA. They carried large scale terrorist operations within The Empire, and had massive bounties. They were considered threats to Imperial security(the fourth highest threat assessment the Empire gave). In case you're wondering the other three in ascending order of threat level are: (Threats to Imperial Sovereignty, Threats to Imperial existence, extinction event). They were quite the millitant guild and were most active in The Great Kingdom of Britannia. As for their ideology; they were anarchists. Their belief was that only in the absence of political structure, can true freedom be achieved. I dug a little deeper on them. It seemed they were recruiting, and would be having regional exams in three weeks in the county of British Columbia where I was.
My current identity, was Jonathan Lockwood; a Professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia. The classes were very entertaining, and grading and a lot of my work was automated by AIS(Another Intelligent System); Dragon and my brain child. The cover it provided was good, and it allowed me to move about. I'd set up this identity 3 and a half years ago, it was one of my fail-safes for in case I lost the war. I was originally a Teacher Assistant(TA), but got promoted a year later(6 months before the end of the war), after I designed a superlinear algorithm for multiplication; solving one of the unsolved problems in CS. I was later promoted to a full professor 9 months ago, after I developed a non quantum polynomial time algorithm for integer factorisation(eat that RSA), solving yet another unsolved problem. Sadly, I was not able to claim the biggest prize of all; solving P vs NP. The conspicuousness of the action, was part of my cover. Lancelot was a scholar of the liberal arts and an economist. Any knowledge I had about Maths and c
Computing, did not exceed beyond what was needed to practice Bayescraft, and Economics. Certainly not at the level to be making breakthroughs in Computer Science. In fact the very notion of me being an IT whiz, was absurd; each of the Knights were a unique existence, specialists in a particular field. My existence was redundant; Dragon was a better developer. Virtually all the coding was done by him, I just contributed to the design. My specialties were making money, and Politics theory. I'd been interested in both since childhood even before I was born again; I'd once had a bet with my younger brother on whether I could be the richest man before 20; I lost splendidly. I didn't acquire that much wealth until a couple years later. That I was a Computer Scientist, was something that not even Liz knew. Thus my cover was perfect. I could have been less prominent, but I desired recognition for my achievements in the field of computing. My vanity may well be my Achilles heel. For my efforts, I was praised as the Second coming of Sir Alan Turing, and received Imperial citizenship. No Knighthood for me though. I'd probably need to do something as revolutionary as Relativity or it's CS equivalent(P Vs NP) to get a Knighthood as a mundane. Receiving citizenship alone, was probably pushing it a little.
To further perfect my cover, I even controlled my thoughts to the extent that I never thought of anything relating to my identity as Lancelot while in the University. I was Jonathan Livingstone, and completely stepped into his skin. Even my thoughts reflected that. This was done to protect against possible observation by a telepath. The last thing I needed, was to lose my anonymity due to idle thoughts. I had no intentions of disposing of this identity for now; I'd painstakingly crafted it, and since my training was done, I was going to discontinue my celibacy. There was a gorgeous student named Alice, who had been pestering me for a date. I'd actually been tempted to acquiesce. Not just because of her looks(which were divine by the way. She was as pretty as Liz, with none of the primal fear), but her mind which was as sharp as a monomolecular knife set me on fire. She was the most brilliant student in my department(and with a significant margin at that), and most likely the whole University. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was the most brilliant undergrad in the Duchy of Canada(I would actually bet on this). If she asks me out again on Monday, I'll accept.
I'm going to apply to Maleficence as a combatant, so I'd use this week to polish up my combat skills. Despite my mundane status and the disadvantages that came with (no regeneration, and thus no longetivity, no defensive force field, and no combat abilities), I did have my own way of combating espers. Hercules had left me some presents before he died. He was a robotics engineer with a degree in Material Science. He had the ability to manipulate metals. Sadly, I didn't become the next Iron Man. He did make suits of armour, and they were quite powerful. Each one was able to destroy a thousand man mundane army by itself(well given enough time more, as nothing short of a thermonuclear warhead could destroy a single suit) and he could mobilise thousands. However, he disabled all of them and rendered them useless during his last stand; one of Arthur's abilities, was mind control, but it required eye contact. No Hercules' gift to me, was a weapon set. A suit of armour made of Orichalcum(the name Hercules gave to the metal he'd created with his abilities, and which his robots were made from.) A set of monomolecular 5 inch Orichalcum knives, and a set of 6 Apocalypse guns; Ragnarok. The guns in Ragnarok included two pistols, two automated rifles, two sniper rifles. The guns were made out of Orichalcum, and fired Orichalcum bullets at velocities of up to 300 KmS-1. The barrel of the guns contained Hercules blood, and the bullets were created and fired through his ability. They had a battery which sent a jolt of electricity into the blood, stimulating his ability to manifest and fire the bullets. The creation of the guns was possible through Dragon's ability, which allowed him to program Hercules' ability. The guns were also recoilless, a boon if not my hand would have been blown off.
Normal firearms were of severely limited use against Espers. They could adjust the psionic radiation they released to create a forcefield around them. Generally, a rank 1 Esper could create a force field that could resist any projectile with a K.E <= 1 Mega joules. A rank 6 Esper could resist up to a 100 Gigajoules. As a result, my guns were effective for Rank 5 espers and below. I'd always take shooting sessions in the evening, to train my aim in a virtual environment. I think I was quite a good shot, though the sheer unfairness of my guns would only compound matters in actual combat
I looked at my suit. It was made using Orichalcum fibre, thin monomolecular threads of Orichalcum, woven together to form cables(the cables were further woven together endlessly untill you got thread several millimeters thick). The armour was so thin, that it could pass of as leather bodysuit. However, Orichalcum was a 100,000 times stronger and harder than steel. It was relatively light as well; the entire armour came to no more than a few kilos. The armour came with a helmet, which looked like a biker's helmet, complete with the visor(Orichalcum fibre reinforced glass.) The entire ensemble was black, and would pass of perfectly as a biker's gear. I had the wheels to go with it too; Death's Hound a sleek blacker than night bike that was more than capable of breaking the land speed record. It also looked no different than any high end commercial bike. Certainly not outside the salary of a UBC professor.
I checked my guns, and polished the knives; I did this daily, as a form of meditative exercise. The suits of armour had been retrieved by the various guilds. The metal was almost entirety unworkable; intense heat in the 10,000s of degrees C and pressures(millions of Atm, was required to smelt and remould it.) Creating new Orichalcum was grossly inefficient (around a million pounds per gram, thus the existing (
Orichalcum was more than worth it's weight in Platinum. As such, while my Orichalcum knives may not ring any bells, my suit of armour(made from Orichalcum fibre as opposed to the sheet metal) my guns and bikes, would certainly arouse a lot of interest. It may be difficult to identify the metal by sight alone, but X-rays, radio waves, and other forms of electromagnetic surveillance will definitely pick up the metal's unique characteristics. Using Hercules' gift, would have been painting a massive beacon announcing "Hello Arthur here I am". In order to prevent such a scenario from happening, I made a few moves. I released(read sold) to all the RA guilds information on the synthesis of Orichalcum, and an algorithm for manufacturing Orichalcum fibre. I further seeded the rumor mill with info that another metallic esper had appeared, and one who could manipulate Orichalcum. There were 4 metallic espers who were above rank 3, and convenient to manipulate. Through my guidance, they became able to produce and manipulate Orichalcum. Orichalcum weaponry flooded the black market. I was able to paint the illusion that there was only one Orichalcum esper, and that they were a rank 4 as opposed to 4 rank 3 espers. This mystery esper, known as the Black Knight, had also conveniently disappeared. It was unknown whether they were dead or alive. As for the original 4 espers, all but one was dead. The remaining alive one was comatose, functioning as an Orichalcum mine. The other 3 had been used as sacrifices to forcefully raise his rank to five. Unfortunately, I was no Hercules, and recreating his suits of armour was beyond me. Mass producing my Orichalcum fibre clothes, and the weapons was possible though. I'd been discretely arming the Resistance for over a year now(the products they had were inferior to mine of course, but not something that can be determined without detailed examination). It was largely due to my help that only 70% of the guilds were under Arthur's banner. Appearing now with my get up, wouldn't raise any flags. The stage was set for me to appear, and I'd freed myself to move as I pleased.
As I said before, I had no intentions of abandoning the identity I'd crafted for myself. I wasn't going to debut as one person, but rather as two; the story teller - using my front as a University Professor, and The Reaper - my combatant identity. The story teller and the reaper weren't going to be the same body; I'd gotten another body prepared to take up the role - it was the corpse of one of the metallic espers. Her brain had been restructured into an organic super computer, by AIS, and could be controlled either by AIS, or alternatively by me, if I so pleased. We could also utilise her abilities to a limited extent. In the worst case scenario, in which Story teller got killed, but Reaper survived, I could continue living as Reaper until I found a more suitable body. A communications chip had been implanted in my brain for that purpose.
I had developed a separate AIS child named "Sophie" for the purpose of controlling Reaper. Sophie had my memories, and could act independently as I would. Her personality was quite different from mine, as her knowledge base was far wider; all 12 petabytes in my hideout, and all the information she'd managed to scout from the net. Sophie was a fully emotive AI, and could function exactly as a real person. She was the first of her kind(at least to my knowledge). I'd also hard-coded her such that she was loyal to a fault. In the first place, her goal was to serve me and maximise my utility as I so directed.
I closed my browser, flexed my arms, and took a deep breath. It was time for my "hobby"; Magic Warfare. It was a MMORPG strategy game I'd created 21 months ago. The setting was a medieval fantasy world of swords and magic, and the player started in a certain faction, as a troop or platoon leader. They had to work their way up; the aim of the game was world domination. It was the hardest strategy game on the net, and the number of possible games was around the order of Ack(33). I created hundreds of AGI clones, and used them as NPCs and boss characters, especially in story mode. They had initial ELO ratings ranging from 1500 - 4500. The gameplay featured campaigns. A campaign ran usually from anywhere less than a month to over 3 months. There were 4 timezones for campaigns, and each one was active for 6 hours daily. A player could register for a maximum of 4 different zones. The game was completely free; no ads, no paying, none of that bullshit. Donations were eventually accepted, at the players' insistence and would explain how I was able to fund it if my identity got leaked. Players enjoyed full anonymity, and no one including I could track them. Protecting the identity of the players was paramount to operation. It also allowed me to play to the utmost of my abilities without getting found out by Arthur. I made the entire project open source, and there were several spin offs and private servers allowing people to play against each other using adjusted rules. There were hundreds of millions of players. The reason, was due to fact that the game had received unexpected publicity, as well as sponsorship for the tournaments to the tune of millions of pounds. Try as I might though, I couldn't identify the sponsor. Although considering our clientele, it was certainly feasible. I checked the global leaderboards(based on ELO rating and not server specific)
Rank. Name. Rating
0. Lizzie <3. 5000+
1. Arthur. 3500
2. Katelyn. 3497
3. Tet. 3495
4. K. 3197
5. N. 3195
6. Whizzie. 2890
.
.
.
Total players: 370,596,423
I'd fallen to third huh. Well I did have the lowest play time amongst the top ten: I restricted myself to one campaign, most of the others played two with the exception of Liz. She didn't play any campaign and only played against AGI; she continues bullying him. I feel sorry for the poor guy. Well, better him than us; there's a battle royal twice a year amongst the highest rated players. The first time, she won in a week. The next, Katelyn proposed an alliance amongst the rest of us; the top 10 banded together(we weren't able to gain the cooperation of the others, it didn't matter to them who won as there was no chance for them anyways. Au contraire, they were allied together against us) , and she still won in a week. BTW, AGI's source code is open source, and newer versions keep getting developed with the data from the older generations. No version has been able to win against Liz though. Arthur's probably figured out who Tet is, but the strict anonymity of the game is my saving grace. The ratings were based off FIDE chess, and AGIs with the chess rating provided, was used to gauge the player ratings (the ratings players had, served as estimated ratings of they played Chess). 6 and below, had more normal ratings. It's the first 5 that were monsters. Liz was a legend; the rumour mill had it that either it was they: a hive mind made up of a collection of some of the best strategists in the world(this was by far the most popular). Or a massive supercomputing project, made up of over a trillion microprocessors running in parallel with AGI installed. There was also the quantum computer version. Someone had rewrote AGI for a quantum supercomputer and that was it. A recent one rising in popularity, was that she was an alien courtesy of yours trulu.
I spent the next 6 hours in my campaign, I didn't play in the same campaign as Arthur due to the time difference with the UK. I played in the same campaign as Katelyn, K and N. K and N were strong enough individually, but they always had a rock solid alliance. Coincidentally, me and Katelyn never allied together; it was more fun that way. My campaign was always the most heated. Arthur always curbstomped his, so he started placing various handicaps on himself to keep it challenging. I breathed a sigh, as the campaign ended. I'd laid the groundwork. Grand gambits were my style, it was sensible to strive for simplicity, and indeed simple plans had higher probabilities of success. However, war was the art of deception. And the simple plan was never the only plan with me. I may spend a long time doing my preparations, but once I finally moved, it was usually "checkmate in n moves". My first check always closed the game. Katelyn, had nicknamed me "The Spider", and the moniker had stuck. In contrast, Arthur's style was to crush with overwhelming superiority. He utilised fewer moves, and more simple plans but they were flawless and possessed amazing firepower. Katelyn has nicknamed him "The Dragon". Arthur was capable of his style, because he was a prodigy. He was gifted with his overwhelming intellect, and was thus capable of coming up with perfect plans. I wasn't born a genius. I wasn't capable Arthur's style, neither did it suit me. Katelyn's style was somewhere between Arthur's and mine, yet distinct. She had more moves than Arthur, and more superior individual moves than me. Her plans weren't as domineering as Arthur's, but made up for it in variety. They weren't as numerous and insurmountable as mine, but made up for it in lethality. She named herself; "The Tigress". Liz's style was very simple, it wasn't enough she defeat you, but she must defeat you in the worst way possible. She must actively make you despair. String you along, let you think you had a chance, and then crush your hopes. Her playstyle was very nasty. I had suggested "The Abomination", but Katelyn gave her "The Troll". It was this grotesque play style, that gave credence to the hive mind theory, and my alien theory. Liz couldn't actually play against other humans, because when she joined a campaign everyone inside forfeited(she normally protracts her matches to grant despair. She defeated us in one week, because it's probably the most efficient way to grant people as prideful as Arthur and me despair; showing us our overwhelming inferiority). K and N, were nicknamed Gemini. They perfectly complemented each other. Making up for the weaknesses and shortcomings of the other. Individually, they weren't a match for No 4 upwards, but together; they'd repeatedly beaten even Arthur.
After I finished my campaign, I requested a duel with Katelyn. I set the timer to 4 hours. We usually did this after our match. The time of the match was irrelevant, we mostly spent the time chatting. She was one of the chief contributors to the project, and has been present on its development since its inception. We'd gotten quite close. I greeted her.
"Hello Alice"
A pause. Guess I was right.
"How did you know? Unlike you, my identity can't be deduced from my code, nor have you ever played against me before."
"I didn't. It was merely the most probable explanation. Which is more likely, that I'll happen to encounter 2 females with an IQ in the 7th SD, who were both programmers? Or that I'll encounter the same individual twice? As you well know, the former is an order of magnitude more probable than the latter. "
Got to keep her occupied; I can't let her realise what's off about this engagement - that she has never gotten my identity. In truth, part of the reason I approached her like this to know if she knew my identity. Right now, I'm in a precarious position; Katelyn knows Tet is Jonathan, and Arthur knows I'm Tet. I don't know the relationship between Katelyn and Arthur. In fact, I don't know Katelyn's identity, nor if there is a relationship. In the first case due to the war a lot of records were lost, and verifying her cover if that's all Alice is would be impossible. Katelyn may be innocent, and have no relation to Arthur. However, that wouldn't stop me from sacrificing her to keep my anonymity. What's making me hesitant is something else entirely. Got to keep typing.
"I designed IQ tests in form of the take home questions I gave you, and that was how I was able to determine Alice's IQ. For Katelyn, it was from your coding, and gameplay based on a few assumptions; one of them being that you haven't received formal training in strategy. My computer estimated your IQ."
"True, I haven't formally been trained at strategy games or studied it. I'm an avid player though, so I've learned a lot due to experience."
Fucking geniuses.
"I assumed that as well."
"If you've known who I was, then why didn't you say anything. And why've you been rebuffing me?"
"Katelyn's a great friend of mine, and I wouldn't want to ruin our platonic relationship. Furthermore, I made a vow to celibacy until I solved P Vs NP. "
"It's hopeless."
"Huh?" Good, she's probably convinced herself that my identity isn't a big secret. My code gave me away, I really need to fix my vanity. It's why Dragon did all the coding back in the Knights. If she thinks I don't find it strange that she knows who I am, then it only validates my identity I'm her eyes, and makes me look less suspicious. I'm doing fine.
"P Vs NP is undecidable. Well as far as Turing machines are concerned, P Vs NP is no more computable than the halting problem. For certain reasons, I had cause to attempt the problem. I can email you my proof if you want."
I cried. I wept. I don't even need to see the proof. Just by virtue of her saying it, I believe it. If she said she'd solved all the unsolved millennium problems as well, I'd believe her. That's just how unfair she is.
"Thanks, it'll be much appreciated. What are you doing in University then? I doubt the conventional curriculum as anything to offer you." I shouldn't let her ask why I'm contacting her now; the vow has been annulled, and I badly want to get into her pants. I can't appear so unscrupulous.
"True, but your classes definetly have something to offer" I could imagine her coquettish smile. Damn she's good. I've underestimated her. I have a raging boner right now. She's appealing to my ego, stroking my pride in my intellect, and leaving open the possibility that she's suggesting other things as well. Damn. I certainly do make sure that even professors who specialise in algorithm research can profit from my classes. I'm a pioneer in the field after all.
9/10. As Liz will say, "the art of flattery is the first art of negotiaton". It's imperative on me to accept it gracefully.
"Thanks for the compliment"
Her revelation has changed a couple of things. One her cover is certainly false, she has a mission to accomplish at the University, whether that mission is specifically me is up in the air. Stop. I can't let myself think like that. Inflate my ego anymore, and I may make an idiotic decision. If she accounted for this in her compliment, then I have to revise her rating to 10/10. Two, I want her.
"Your welcome, so let me ask you again; won't you go out with me?"
I want her, I want her more than is healthy. I'll admit, I'm a sapiophile and intellect turns me on(Liz doesn't count. There's no room for lust, all I feel is fear). But this girl pushed buttons I didn't know I had. My groin really hurts right now. I want her more than I can remember wanting anything. I want her as a woman, as a companion, as a piece, and as a lover. I want her more than I wanted the brothers to join me. More than I can remember wanting anything since I was born again. Damn, I've always wanted to have sex with a highly intelligent woman(Liz offered but was rejected). I certainly want to fuck Alice senseless. Damn my groin really, really hurts.
Breathe out. This is dangerous. I'm in very dangerous territory. Decision making has been compromised. I need to reassess my priorities.
First is superiority. Even before my rebirth, I've wanted to always be on top. If I was ever going to apply myself to anything then I must claim the highest seat. The highest seat or no seat at all. Everything or nothing. The desire for superiority has been with me since childhood.
Second is power. I've craved power since my rebirth. Ever since I was 16, I've desired power. For that reason, I took up rationality; so that I may win. For that reason, I strove to increase my intellect; to become that much stronger. For that reason, I strove to acquire pieces; to shore up my forces. To acquire wealth; to gain the influence it brings.
I must not compromise my priorities. I need to reassess the threat Katelyn poses. Katelyn is a genius. My money's on a born genius, but there's a possibility she's an esper whose ability raises intelligence(wishful thinking as there has been no mention of this. However I really, really don't want to kill Katelyn. I'm merely resolving my cognitive dissonance). If Katelyn's a born genius, then it raises the question of why I don't know of her. I used Panopticon to search for suitable people of ability to shore up my forces. The only scenario in which I wouldn't know of someone like her, is if she was brought up in hiding; homeschooled, abilities hidden, etc. This scenario raises the probability of Katelyn being brought up by a secret faction. The posterior probability of Katelyn being a hostile existence has been raised if she's not an intelligence esper. Her threat level is upped by one.
Now I can choose to ask her if she's an esper and what her ability is. However, once I do this I'll be crossing the Rubicon. There'll be no going back. I'll either kill her or won't. Making this decision is equivalent to deciding if her death is acceptable to me. My creed maxim number 4 has "do insomuch as you do not regret". I have to decide if I'll regret Katelyn's death. I desire her to an unhealthy level right now, so how will my health be if I killed her myself? Will I regret it?
Pros:
* Possible threat removed.
* I'll be once more free, unfettered by greed as I am now. My greed for her.
Cons:
* I'll be alone in the world once more.
* I'll lose a very splendid piece.
* I won't be able to have her as a lover.
As a piece, Katelyn would be very splendid. I'll be able to raise her into a fine queen, she may be more valuable than...
Stop, stop. I must not rationalise this decision from the position of Katelyn. Assuming I decided to argue about the nature of the moon. And on the first line, I wrote: "The moon is made of cheese". I then flipped 20 pages, and on the penultimate line I wrote: "Therefore the money is made of cheese", and on the last line: "Q.E.D". It doesn't matter how profound the arguments I fill up those 20 pages are. How enlightened, and sound my reasoning. It doesn't change the fact that I wrote: "The moon is made of cheese". The moment I'd written the moon is made of cheese, my argument was already true or false, right or wrong. The moon is either made of cheese, or it's not. Rationality can't be used to argue for a fixed side. It can only be used to decide which side to argue. The moment I start rationalising sparing Katherine, it becomes irrelevant what arguments I bring in her favour. The real rule is that I want Katherine. All I'll be doing is to try and resolve my cognitive dissonance. I'll be no different from Christian apologetics who convince themselves that it is within their epistemic rights to believe in the Bible. I keep rationality because it's useful; it lets me win. The moment I redefine rationality to a certain ritual of cognition, and that as long as I follow that ritual of cognition, I'm satisfied, even if I end up losing, then I have failed. My priority is superiority, and the means to achieve that superiority is defeating Arthur. A false positive hurts acutely. Much more than the hypothetical reduced profits of a false negative. A false positive grants actual, real, tangible damage. If Katelyn is a false positive, then I would be royally screwed. However, if Katelyn was a false negative I wouldn't be able to not regret losing her. It's a fact, that I likely wouldn't be able to find a piece as splendid as her.
I took a deep breath again. I'll hear her out. I'll agree to go on a date with her, and try to feel her out. My policy is to use what can be used. If she's potentially useful, and her utility is higher than the damage that would be caused if Arthur figures out my identity then I'll use her.
If Arthur figures out that I'm Jonathan Livingstone, them what's the worst that can happen. Worst case I'll be terminated before I can react. Best case, I'll dispose of this identity and have to change my face.
If I gain a tangible suspicion about her, then I'll dispose of her and change my face, or change my face then dispose of her. Or failing that, change my face.
I exhaled. I won. I didn't succumb to my greed. It was really bad; my trousers had been soiled.
"Okay. I accept. Where and when's good for you?"
"On Monday at 6, there's a cafe I want us to go to. And don't worry. Even if you're celibate, I'm still good; I want a non-sexual relationship after all. ;) [http://forum.novelupdates.com/styles/default/xenforo/clear.png]"
I banged my head against my desk, and cried. For a different reason entirely.
Alice
I was quite happy; giddy even. I jumped and flopped down on my king sized four poster bed, my body sinking into the mattress, the purple bedsheet almost completely swallowing me. The feeling was sublime, which reflected how I felt now. I'd finally gotten the professor to yield. In truth, he was the entire reason I'd transferred here; I was curious about the TA who was making breakthroughs in Algorithm research. His classes were interesting; I actually learned a few things. He always did his best to make sure that no matter your educational background, you'd be able to profit from taking his course. He even endeavoured to attend to the individual needs of each student. Assessments were personalised. Even if they were done through tablets, he made comments on everybody's work, and suggested means to improve themselves. His diligence to his craft was refreshing. Wouldn't the world be a better place if more of the teachers were like him? Or so I thought. Since then, I'd taken note of him. He was just a curiosity then, and a breath of fresh air. He also served as a reminder of just what it was I was fighting to protect. The world we were fighting to bring about. All of that changed, when I saw a link to a game named Magic Warfare. I'd always been an avid gamer, and had dominated a few MMOs in my time. The game was very interesting and refreshingly challenging. I started playing it, and 3 months after its release, the source code was made available. The GM announced that he was going to make it a community project, and you could register as a developer if you could pass a simple test. The registration exam, was so Jonathan esque, and that combined with the source code convinced me that he was the GM. I became the first collaborator, after I finished the 4 hour test under an hour. I ditched all my other MMOs and announced that I was permanently migrating to "Magic Warfare" helping spike its popularity. The siblings K and N moved as well.
We chatted as GM and developer, and had a cordial relationship. We discussed strategy, political and military theory, performance of the AIs and how to further boost Magic Warfare; making it as enjoyable and complex as possible. We spent sessions redrafting AGI, and were eventually able to create a boss character whose ELO was as high as 5000. The current version of the game is our child. Along the line, I started sponsoring the campaigns and tournaments handing out large cash rewards. I didn't have to be the lead developer to figure out that Tet was Jonathan. It only required knowledge of a simple truth any gamer was aware of: "There's nothing as boring as watching someone else play the game". Considering Jonathan's estimated skill level, and the time he joined the game, Tet was the only candidate. We started chatting as players while duelling, and he was more or less my equal.
It was around a year ago, that I approached him; I was swiftly rejected. It was a hard and novel experience, especially as I'm not used to not getting what I want (well except for that issue. But "he's" an exception rather than the rule). Jonathan rejecting me really deflated my ego, but I wasnt going to leave it at that. Unlike "him" I don't forcefully take anything I desire. I was actually quite curious why he rejected me; he clearly desired me, yet he refrained. I don't mean to boast, but I'm among the 3 most beautiful women I've ever seen. I also bear the evidence of that beauty. Even leaving alone the matter of my beauty, I could telling from his gaze that he desired me - it was a gaze I knew all too well. My persistence eventually bore fruit it seems.
As if? I wasn't really that naive as to imagine that he was as he appeared to be. In the first place, Just what business did an Algorithms professor have being so heinously competent at warfare. So knowledgeable at economic, political and military theory. He was as capable as brother, and despite brother's genius, even brother had pored over thousands of books on the subjects. What motivation did a mere professor have to become so adept. Jonathan was a maestro, and therein lay the problem he was a match for brother; a privilege allowed to none other than myself. But it didn't really matter, I certainly had my own secrets to keep. Besides, there wasn't much out there that could pose harm to a rank 6 esper. As such, I shall continue to indulge myself.
I took a brush and brushed my voluminous ginger hair. It was so long I could sit on it, and I loved it's silky feel. The exercise was almost trance inducing for me. I was wondering what I should wear tomorrow. Something flattering, but not too extravagant. I want to make him swoon, but not raise his wariness any further. I also had to be careful that my identity didn't get leaked; in the worst case, I may end up needing to silence him. I really didn't want it to get to that point; I admired him after all.
I stood up from my bed and walked over to my bedside table. The platinum showed me my reflection; a purple streak in my hair while sporting quite an undignified look. I picked up his framed photograph, the black Orichalcum absorbed all light and served to give the picture an eerie feeling. I stroked the picture then kissed his image.
"Say Jonathan, won't you become mine?"
Alas, there was no reply. I dropped the picture and went to relax in my indoor bathroom. After soaking in the hot water and doing a few leisurely laps in the bath, I came out and dried myself.
"DING - DONG!!!"
I had a guest, it was time to dress the part I guess. I dressed up in a luxurious purple robe made of silk interwoven with Orichalcum fibre and studded with tiny rubies. I went to go and greet my guest; Lord Alvin duke of Canada.
"Hello Alvin."
"Good evening Your Highness, how fares your love troubles? If you so wish, I could gift wrap the professor and present him to you?"
His left eye was raised in that annoying manner of his, and he spoke in his irritating Irish drawl. Everything about him got on my nerves even his impeccable suit, and flawless style, but I had to deal with him as he was "his" right hand man. I did have to accord him some respect though; he always looked at my face and into my eyes whenever we talked, and had never so much has had a blink of desire when looking at me. To the best of my knowledge, he was heterosexual, so he was quite the disciplined man.
"We are not amused Alvin."
"My apologies, I mean no disrespect. Your Highness' presence is required in the Imperial capital your highness; first princess of The Empire; 'Whaitri' Anastasia Diana Brittania"
"What's the occasion."
"His Majesty would be conducting the yearly retreat starting next week. In His Majesty's words; 'the fortnight of the retreat is going to be terribly uninteresting, and I might just be bored to death. Go fetch my sister for me will you. Tell her that I've been lonely without her. She won't want me to die of loneliness before the boredom kills me will she'."
I shuddered inwardly as he finished. He's even managed to accurately convey "his" characteristic aristocratic accent. Even now, I only felt repulsion whenever he was brought up.
"Tell him his message is received."
"I apologise for being the bearer of bad tidings Your Highness."
I dismissed him with a wave. He's still as frivolous as ever, using his right hand man as a mailman. Probably only to further irritate me. My displeasure with Alvin is entirely unjustified. He's faultless by himself, his only sin is being "his" right hand man. Cold water had been sprayed all over my mood. I may end up having to drop out of UBC. I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to come back. "He" may intend to detain me in the capital. I sighed as I finally stepped into that identity, a streak of purple appearing in my hair.
Depending on how my date with Jonathan went, how much he further aroused my interest, I may just kidnap him along with me to the capital. Even in the likely case that he was an adversary, even if he was another player on this board. What did it matter, he was no threat to me, no threat to Anastasia. In the first place, someone who couldn't defeat brother was no match for me. I and my sisters wanted him, so I merely had to possess him; simply had to make him mine.