The Director looked at her screen, ignoring the people in her office.
Five Administrators stood, waiting for her verdict. Administrator 6 sat in the only chair, hatred peeling off him in waves as he glared at her.
The Director had never seen hatred from this close before. She’d seen it from far away, and aimed at others, but the palpable loathing coming from 6 was something new.
It amused her.
“When the eighth player hit the reset button, your players were on Floor 51,” she announced, finally looking at him. “Therefore, you do not automatically lose. Your chosen ‘players’ will be allowed to continue, and you will have your privileges returned.”
Admin 6 nodded sharply, still glaring.
“However, I will change some things,” she continued. “Your ‘players’ have levels all the way up to 100. The maximum any real player has is 60. The average is 49. Therefore, I will cut your player’s levels down to a max of 50. As they gained their reset wins by cheating with level 100 spells and such, I will nullify their wins. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” he bit out.
“Good. I will also not remove any players when we reach Cycle 15. More competition is always better.” She closed her screen and faced Admin 6 directly. “That leaves you. You will be allowed to work alongside the other Admins, but I won’t allow you to communicate with them. I will remove your voice, and every message you send will be relayed to me first. If you send too many messages, I will block you from sending any. Do you understand?”
Admin 6 glared as the other Admins moved uncomfortably, glancing at each other.
“Administrator 6, do you-”
“Yes,” he snapped, snarling. “I understand perfectly. You want to punish me for daring to prove you wrong. You think you’re so far above everyone else-”
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“Enough.”
“-you can’t even fathom that the people in the dungeons can be our friends! You’ve forgotten that the people in the dungeons are under our care, they’re not our property! We have to-”
“Stop.”
“-treat them like beings with thoughts and emotions, because they are! You’ve been here so long you’ve lost your empathy and humanity, and just because I haven’t, you have to isolate me until I bre-”
The Director removed his voice.
Admin 6 staggered, his eyes going wide. If he hadn’t been tied to the chair he probably would have fallen to the ground. He stared blankly at the floor, breathing with ragged gasps.
“Administrator 6,” the Director said, slowly standing. She looked down at him impassively as his eyes darted upwards. “I have lost my humanity. Nearly a millennium ago I left my humanity behind and became something better. We are what humans aspire to be. I know this because you chose to become one of us when your life on Earth ended. You were given immortality, knowledge, authority, and now you choose to throw it all away.”
The fear had bled from his face, and he was glaring again.
“You don’t deserve to be here,” she told him. “And yet, you have a job to do. Go. Finish building the world you and your ‘friends’ will inhabit.” She waved her hand, and the ropes on his wrists vanished.
Very slowly, Admin 6 stood. He glared at her, fists clenched so tight his knuckles went white.
They both knew there was nothing he could do to hurt her.
He turned around and vanished.
The Director sat back down, looking around the room. Admins 2, 3, and 4 walked out. Admins 1 and 5 stayed.
“Wasn’t that a bit harsh?” Admin 1 asked.
“No,” the Director answered immediately.
Admin 5 shook her head. “I’m not saying I agree with him, but I understand his point of view.”
“And?”
“And… making him mute isn’t going to accomplish anything.”
The Director smiled. “Certainly it will. It will be a constant reminder of who is in control.”
The Admins shared a nervous glance.
“Yes, ma’am,” Admin 1 said.
Admin 5 took a deep breath. “Yes, ma’am.”