Alice:
She slammed back on her [Emotional Control].
Oh, what a relief.
Look at the shit, he's panicking. Serves him right.
"Got you, you little shit of a bastard!"
"Why, you, you, female, how dare you!"
"Oh, go fuck yourself. After all, you certainly can't fuck me, can you?"
Golly, it's so good to say that to him.
Hey, System san, have we heroes done our duty?
Ding! You sure have.
Ding! Excellent work!
Ding! You have died.
Sigh. Well, apart from certain incidents, it was all wonderful. And I got to do both Bronsen and Drayden.
Cassy:
Ding! Alice has succeeded in removing the Emperor's collar.
Ding! Excellent work!
Ding! You have died.
So, was all of that production from Alice a deliberate ploy?
Ding! It sure was!
Well, OK then. Hey, System-san, ensure that Evereena has a worthwhile life, will ya?
Ding! It will be so.
Bronsen:
Ding! Alice has succeeded in removing the Emperor's collar.
Ding! Excellent work!
Ding! You have died.
Well, that was certainly something.
And I certainly didn't die a virgin, that's for sure.
Drayden:
Ding! Alice has succeeded in removing the Emperor's collar.
Ding! Excellent work!
Ding! You have died.
Oh, right.
It was a wonderful life while it lasted.
Drayden forcibly shoved aside memories of the occasions when it wasn't quite so wonderful.
I have already given the others their goodbye hugs. I wish I could have done the same to my parents. And my sister.
Emperor, not:
Alice disrespected the Emperor totally!
And then she died, just like that.
What? What is going on?
Ding! It means she outmanoeuvred you, that's what. She won. She removed your collar. Then she told you to go fuck yourself.
Ding! Emperor Kelper is no longer the Emperor. Searching the local area for the most suitable slave candidate to become the next Emperor of all the slaves. This message has been sent to all slaves, active or inactive, and everyone within a thousand kilometres of the slaver country.
But I was supposed to be dead when the next Emperor was selected. Not be left alive!
He looked up at the face of the Green, still standing behind him. The Green whom he had personally selected to be the best possible candidate for the next Emperor. The Green that, up to now, had always been utterly subservient to him.
Right now, that Green was looking at him and smiling.
A cruel smile.
A smile of anticipation.
The Emperor started getting some nasty vibes.
Ding! The most suitable candidate has been found!
The Green smiled even more. Because of a total lack of practice, the Emperor couldn't tell that it was a malicious smile - the smile of a predator.
Eleanor:
The fog that had enveloped her mind had been slowly clearing, allowing Eleanor to take notice of where she was - surrounded by people who loved her.
I suppose that doesn't apply to the Treasurer. But, never mind. He's still here with us.
Ding! Emperor Kelper is no longer the Emperor. Searching the local area for the most suitable slave candidate to become the next Emperor of all the slaves.
From one instance to the next, her mind cleared completely.
"Wow! I can think again!" she said, "And the Misfits must have succeeded!"
"That is good," said Lena, "But there is still the next bit..."
Ding! The most suitable candidate has been found!
Ding! Eleanor, currently the queen of Manifestoria and currently also a slave, is the most suitable!
Ding! She, alone out of EVERY other slave, has experience leading a country and demonstrated courage and resourcefulness in attaining her throne. She has also shown courage in attempting to obtain the Emperor's gold collar by putting her own life, by her own volition, on the line. This message is also public.
The others in their cramped quarters saw Eleanor's collar change from grey to gold.
"Oh my. My Eleanor is now the Slaver Emperor," said Lena, "Wonders will never cease."
Before Eleanor could react to this news, a new Voice message appeared.
Ding! This message is asked of every brand new Slaver Emperor: Do you, as the new Emperor, choose to destroy slavery?
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Before Eleanor could give this any conscious thought, her vow to destroy slavery, her 100% vow, activated; its power roared through her mind, and she screamed out:
"YES!"
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding! Slaver Emperor Eleanor has chosen to destroy slavery.
Ding! This message has been sent to everyone on the Ringworld.
Ding! To every slave: your last order ever as a slave is to do your best to have an orderly transition from being a slave to being free.
Eleanor's collar disintegrated and dropped in a cloud of coarse sand.
"Err, my dear, I, well, I suppose you weren't really Slaver Emperor material after all," said Lena.
Eleanor brushed some of the sand grains off her collar.
"I guess not."
No longer the Emperor:
He was still looking at the Green, trying to work out what that smile meant when shit went down.
Coarse sand also went down from the Green and every other slave present, including, of course, from every newly collared slave.
The Green's expression turned perplexed as he tried to find his collar.
What?
But Eleanor is dead! I can see her body from here!
Ding! Nope! Eleanor, being another female, also outsmarted you. Utterly. That body is Frannie. She used to be a slave, and was happy to sacrifice her life to lure you into the trap.
But but Eleanor wasn't a slave!
Ding! She wasn't, right up to the point where she put a slave collar on herself. That showed true grit, wouldn't you agree?
But she's a female. How can she possibly be suitable for the Emperor's role?
Ding! So what? That rule forbidding females to be anything else but Greys was your rule. It certainly wasn't in the rules of the slaver system itself. Indeed, she has all the qualities needed to be a successful leader. Unlike your hand-picked Greens, who, despite your training, have never had much chance to practice being a leader. Who have never shown any courage or resourcefulness in doing anything. How could they, when they were slaves, with little free will and agency. They have had the limited freedom of being Blues, but that still does not compare to Eleanor's experiences.
But all slaves have an absolute rule against destroying slavery!
Ding! Nope again! That was never made part of the slaver system. By Voice of the World’s imposed mandate, the original designer of the slaver system had to include an escape clause, no matter how much he disagreed with it. And, of course, Eleanor never had any absolute orders given to her.
But what do I do now? How do I live when I'm not the Emperor?
Ding! Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Mr Kelper!
Hestia:
This is amazing. The Misfits and Eleanor have removed everybody's collars. There is no longer any slavery.
No longer suffering from the initial collar-imposed mind fugue, she straightened out from her couching position.
Say, where is the Emperor, that is the ex-emperor, right now I wonder?
She quietly and slowly walked up the stairs, halfway to the landing that opened to the circular room.
She looked to her side.
The two Misfit boys. They're dead, just as they said they would be.
She looked up at the landing.
And the two Misfit girls. Also dead. They were all wonderful.
And, that unspeakably horrible-looking person with the garish-coloured clothes, he must be the Emperor!
Voice of the World, I beseech you, grant me the maximum possible power!
The Voice was happy to oblige.
Hestia leapt up the remaining stairs in one bound, jumped over the bodies of the two girls, materialised her sword, and slammed it into the Emperor's body.
Then, just to be sure, thrust it in a few more times.
The Emperor, just a little bit dead:
Ding! You have died. By the ex-slave Hestia, the sister of one of the many female slaves you have killed over the years.
What? How?
I didn't notice anything!
I'm dead?
That's right! You're dead. And you will be reincarnated.
You mean, given a new life just like heroes like the Misfits.
Nope! You're going to be reincarnated as a dung beetle. Lots of people have requested that, you know.
What! What did I do to deserve that?
I was also a slave! I didn't have any choice, just like any other slave!
True, you were a slave. But, as Emperor, you did have some agency. You might not have had any free will concerning continuing the slavery system or going against any of the orders you had received from the previous Emperor. But none of those orders said anything about killing all of those female slaves.
You are going to be reincarnated once for every such death.
Enjoy your many reincarnations!
You will have heaps!
Not to mention heaps of yummy stinky dung to munch your way through!
The Voice of the World booted the now very ex-Emperor out to his first life as a little dung beetle.
Hestia:
I did it!
Ding! You sure did!
Ding! You have died!
Is there a next life? Will I meet with my sister again?
Ding! The Voice of the World does not know for sure. But that's all right, you can find out!
The light around her faded out, leaving a tiny speck in the distance...
At this point, the Voice of the World lost the connection to Hestia's soul.
Eleanor:
Eleanor was still flicking away grains of sand, wondering what to do next.
Ding! Every slave that has just been freed represents one destroyed slave collar, plus there are all the unused collars. You, as the leader of the team that achieved this, is granted two thirds of these points. That comes to 4,231,417,266 points.
Naturally, you don't have a hope in hell of knowing how to allocate these, so the Voice of the World will do that for you.
Everybody in the command centre heard this announcement.
"That's, that's, over four billion points? Is this more bullshit?"
Ding! Actually, it isn't another case of Misfit-type bullshit. It is a simple consequence of the fact that the destruction of each collar, without killing a slave, grants 100 points. And there is no exponential decrease in points, as there is with just about every other way of gaining points.
"I see."
"In that case, it is time for me to make some extra vows."
Ding! Eleanor has made a public vow to everyone on the Ringworld: 100% strength.
I will take full responsibility for freeing all slaves.
I will endeavour to rule for the benefit of all under my power and not to enrich myself or my companions.
I will never attack any neighbouring countries but defend my people as needed.
I pledge to do my utmost to gain the cooperation of all relevant countries in such a way that it will benefit all parties.
I will attempt to increase the technological level of the entire Ringworld society as much as is feasible.
"Lena and I worked these out beforehand, just in case. And, of course, that bit about technological levels, that's from Drayden."
They sat in the dim light of the Treasurer's fireball for a while. Eventually:
"Come on, we need to get out of here..."
They removed the steel bars holding the blocks of the access tunnel to the funnel and pulled out the blocks. Plus, some rubble from the slaves' initial attack. They crawled out, with Eleanor being the last one.
"Hi Jane, Hi everyone. Did you get the announcements?"
"Yeah, we did. So, since you were the last Slaver Emperor for a few seconds, does that mean you are still, sort of, the Empress of the ex-slaver empire?" said Jane.
"Maybe? I may need some time to get used to this new situation."
"Also, Hestia also died, but she killed the Emperor before she did." said Jane, "And the Misfits, of course, are dead. Perhaps don't let the children see them?"
"And I would like to point out that the ex-slaves the Emperor brought with him are still outside. They don't look to be much of a threat now."
Evereena:
She gasped in horror at what Jane had said; she had momentarily forgotten about the Misfits. She turned and started to run outside, but Jane caught her.
"My dear, this is a bit ghastly, but the Emperor had their arms cut off, presumably to prevent them from touching him."
Oh shit.
Number with shock, she nodded her head. She then allowed Jane to lead her outside. She stopped before Cassy's body and knelt. Jane knelt with her and kept on holding her arm.
Cassy. Cassy.
You're dead. And mutilated by that horrible Emperor. Damn him to hell. I hope he becomes a dung beetle!
Ding! He will. Repeatedly. Many people have made this wish, so who is the Voice to refuse them?
Evereena giggled hysterically for a while, then calmed down. She slowly reached out her hand to stroke Cassy's hair.
"Why couldn't you have been allowed to stay here?"
Ding! Sorry, but that is the fate of heroes. But, remember, you have your memories of her. In particular, don't forget what she said to you when you were on the roof.
I suppose that will have to do.
Sniffling all the while, she looked around, searching for her mother.
Oh, she's hugging Aragon; perhaps I need to wait?
Fortunately, Esther had been keeping a close eye on the situation. As soon as she saw that Evereena was looking for her, she gently disengaged from Aragon and went to give Evereena a big hug.
Aragon nodded in agreement to Esther, then went to Jane's side.
Eleanor:
Eleanor looked at her loyal subjects.
Esther is looking after Evereena. Adrian and Jacob are hand in hand. Lena is holding Mason and Becky's hands. Jane and Aragon are awaiting orders. As usual, the Treasurer stands off to one side, not quite knowing what to do.
And, sigh, four dead Misfits, plus Hestia, Frannie and Reggie.
Maybe this was a cheap victory. Only seven dead on my side. And the Misfits were always going to die, no matter what.
And those other slaves, they're standing or sitting around, looking shell-shocked.
She flicked away the last few grains of sand stuck to her shoulders.
"I suppose I need to get going."