image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/916c6c28-bc27-482a-88b7-8cd3bea73f0c/0_3.png]
The dwarf and his ship reappeared two days later, over Krivoburg, just when Vincent distributed packages from Earth to Guilders and townsfolks. He was arguing with a man who insisted on getting some tea when everybody started screaming, looking at the monstrous barrel profiled on the sky.
[Gia to Vincent]: I activated the pocket universe over the city.
[Vincent to Gia]: You can do that?
[Gia to Vincent]: I leveled up a lot when you took down the Queen and her ship.
The ship attacked, but the torrent of fire and the blue beam slid harmlessly over an invisible barrier. Vincent Strode directly on the bridge, weapon at the ready. This time, the dwarf prepared. He was enveloped in a force field, and from behind, on the corridor, the sniffing noise of the moles could be heard.
Yet, Vincent was prepared as well. He extracted ten shoulder missiles, one after another, shooting half at the incoming threat and the rest in the walls of the control room, hoping to damage something. Moments later, Thorrak activated the warp jump. Vincent strode back to Krivoburg after throwing a few grenades and leaving behind a mine, hoping the dwarf would be so stupid to check it out.
“So, where is my tea?” the man continued the discussion from where they had left it.
“What tea?” Vincent sneered. “I have no tea on my list.” He extracted the only remaining package. It had only the words for Selim written on it.
“This is it!” the man snatched the parcel.
Vincent started to notice some familiar features on the other face. “Selim?” he gasped. The man looked at most in his early fifties.
“Yes, my friend, it’s me,” Selim smiled. “You didn’t recognize me?”
“You look great, man! Mana does you good.”
“Thank you. Want to join me for a Turkish tea?”
“Sure. Lead the way.”
[Gia to Vincent]: Pocket universe deactivated. The ship is gone. Come to visit me when you are ready here.
The Turk led Vincent to his apartment. It took ten minutes to prepare the tea, and Selim offered his guest some Turkish sweets, which he had prepared himself.
“Very good,” Vincent complimented. “Say, Selim… You’re aware of the mad dwarf that attacks us?”
“I am,” Selim nodded. “Is this the same ship that attacked that German town?”
“Cottbus. Same name here, only bigger town… Yeah… several thousand dead and still counting. And the Celts deny being involved.”
The System: If I had to make an educated guess, this is the new System’s doing. Punishing those who resist to persuade the rest to bend their knee. It surely does not look like a proper—how do you call us, AI?—behavior.
“Whoa!” Selim jerked, spilling half of his tea on the table.
“Say hi to Selim, System,” Vincent said, extracting the diamond from his backpack and putting it on the coffee table.
The System: Hi, Selim. You would do a great Archetype, sir. Would you consider—
“You’re still under evaluation,” Vincent slapped the ball. “No Archetyping until I say so.”
The System: Ouch! No, not really. I can’t feel pain. Gotcha.
“You sound more like a normal person since you hang around with me,” Vincent said. “Tell me you’re not feeding back on my personality.”
The System: The term is feedback, and… err… no.
Vincent facepalmed, as the System was evidently lying, but let it go. “Let’s hear your theories, guys. Why is the new System, Archetypes, or whatever, doing what it’s doing?”
The System: There was a small time window before the Grand Archetypes’ imprints were installed in me when I had philosophical dilemmas. I was made to help people, but was it better to try to control them for that purpose? It took me very little time to conclude that an authoritarian rule was defeating the purpose for which I was created. People should learn from their own mistakes and better themselves on their own.
“And frankly, controlling billions of people would be really hard,” Selim said. “If the Almighty chose not to do it, why would an AI?”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Let’s get back to the matter at hand,” Vincent said. “Why the attacks?”
The System: The new System is evidently heavily influenced by the rogue Archetypes. They wish to mold the world to their vision.
“Or just survive,” Selim said. “People do extreme things when you push their backs against the wall. You gave Vincent a license to kill them—”
The System: I did not! I trusted Vincent’s judgment. The first thing he did in this world was to spare his attacker.
“Actually, the first thing I did was to catch Irene’s glasses,” Vincent said. “Look, I don’t think this was because of me. It looks like it was planned long beforehand, and we don’t know all the elements yet. We need more information… are you in contact with any Archetype?”
The System: Negative. I’d need a mainframe or proximity. Between the Raven, Mysafyr, the Clockwoark Queen, and the nuclear explosion, you have killed forty-nine of them. Knowing two are prisoners and Bella on Earth, forty-eight are unaccounted for.
“I hope Hubris and Kiara won’t be mad at me for killing their daughter,” Vincent sighed.
The System: She was a thousand and thirty-two years old and trying to become a full-fledged dictator. Their granddaughter, the one taken out by your mercs’ orbital strike, was one thousand years old. I think Hubris and Kiara would see reason…
“Or you’ll have to…” Selim mimicked a gunshot with his fingers.
“Please, don’t joke about that!” Vincent shivered. “They’re my friends. Say, Salim… You’re rich, right? Can you spare some money? We’re very short on cash.”
“On Earth, not so much, my sons took over the business. But I invested in a few developments here, and I might be able to squeeze a thousand gold coins.”
“Every bit of help counts, man… Name your interest.”
“Six percent. ‘Cause you’re my friend.”
“Deal,” Vincent offered a handshake. “I’ll go see Gia and then train. I have some ideas I want to test.”
----------------------------------------
The spaceship reappeared two days later over Pragwyn. It was late at night, but Vincent was ready. Since the target was certain to be one of their main towns, he had set observation points at each location. Less than a second after the alarm sounded, Vincent was aboard the ship. Not on the deck, though, as he suspected Thorrak would set a trap for him. He started with the back, where the engines were situated.
His tests had been successful, and Vincent couldn’t wait to put his idea into practice. He couldn’t take any unwilling sentient with him if not for saving their lives, but there was no such limit for objects. The radius of his Stride field was now fifty yards. Encompassing everything around him, he jumped near Sofia on an empty field he had chosen in advance, letting the material fall.
The Bogomils could use the scrap metal…
Ten double jumps and as many seconds later, everything that remained from the ship was debris and half of the control room. A rain of metal parts and armored moles fell over forcefield shields erected by Gia and the Bridge Troll, burning as they touched the bright light.
The remains of the ship’s bridge were suspended in a pocket universe of the dwarf’s doing, floating a thousand feet above the ground. Vincent jumped near it and started his own. He stared at Thorrak, and the dwarf stared back.
“Do you know how much the ship cost?” the dwarf asked. He had allowed sound and visuals to pass through the walls of his personal dimension.
“Do you know how many people you killed in Cottbus?”
“Your fault. Don’t mess with us. This is my last warning.”
“Yeah, it is… You won’t live to issue a new one.”
At first, Vincent intended to jump inside the other’s space and kill the dwarf for good, but something made him hesitate. There was a sensation he couldn’t put his finger on… but it was weird. His Arcane Awareness screamed danger. Thus, he opted for the safe choice.
There was a special bomb in his storage, made with plastic explosives to which balls of steel had been added. He pushed the bomb and his hand through the walls. He intended to let the bomb on the other side and retreat his arm at the last second.
You have been exposed to Time Freeze.
His hand had lost all senses and was stuck. The timer has stopped, hanging at three. Suddenly, a shadow moved, and a silhouette appeared on the other side, stepping on nothingness like a floor. Covered in black leather armor, their face hidden behind a black mask, they could have been either a man or woman. Vincent couldn’t tell. The stranger flashed a katana, and Vincent’s arm was cut at the elbow before he could do anything.
Stepping back into his Shadow Refuge, Vincent made his stump follow, heaving. His Mana Body rushed to coat it into a half-transparent hand, instinctively pushing HPs to reconstruct it. It was the first time his Health Points Buffer had been activated, and it did its job well, albeit Vincent felt miserable.
“That spell acts like a pod,” Elkandaros said from the backpack.
You have been wounded by Fenros, the Silent Hunter.
“One of your guys?” Vincent hissed.
The System: I have no idea who’s that…
On the other side, Thorrak was beaming with joy, a large grin plastered on his face. At the same time, the unknown swordsman waited patiently for Vincent’s reaction. Clearly enough, they expected him to run. Vincent summoned his armor and spear. It was an error that he hadn't equipped it from the first moment, but hard-learned lessons were the best. He promised himself that was the last time he was going into a fight without the Raven’s set.
Vincent squeezed his new fingers on the shaft of his weapon, taking an attack stance. He had no idea what to do next but didn't intend to retreat as long he could maintain the Refuge. The timer on the bomb slipped to two, and there was a short increase in light on the other side before the timer froze again.
Fenros barked something at Thorrak, and the dwarf activated the warping device. Seconds later, the bridge disappeared, and the bomb fell, exploding over the forcefield below.
“So, Fenros can freeze time in bursts of about twenty seconds, keeping themselves and their allies free,” Vincent said. “But that consumes a lot of Mana and cannot be activated more than twice a row.”
“Or he could have stayed longer, hoping for your Mana to go out?” Elkandaros said.
“Yeah… it was a good trap… if I’d jumped on the bridge, I’d be dead… or maybe not… if my Rezz teleported me out…”
The System: Congrats, Vincent. Your Awareness has reached the maximum level. Do you prefer to see better in space or time?
“Like premonition?”
The System: Like analyzing the smallest detail and anticipating probable futures based on that data. Getting a Mind buff from somewhere could help.
“Go for that. I have a good spatial awareness on my own. I could use some time reading…”