I ducked under one of Judment’s blades as I parried another with my own. The second, slimmer Judgment came out from behind the first and attempted to skewer my head on its sword, which resulted in me wrenching away from the both of them and creating some distance.
Taking stock of the two of them, I charged in again, as I had for the last three-hundred attempts. I swung my daggers horizontally and the larger Judgment moved to intercept with its blade. With a mental command, I activated the sonic vibration feature and the daggers cut through its weapon and into its chest.
Slumping over, the body dissipated into a black mist of nanites and electricity. The other came running at me, and swung her sword down in an arc. I ducked under the blade and thrust both my knives at the AI. She dodged one blade, but the other one ran through her stomach, causing her to drop her blade and disappear like the first one.
I sighed and sat down. “That makes 176 wins to 125 losses, and I'm now on a 20 win streak. I daresay I’m getting the hang of it.”
“Judgment!” I called into the darkness and the bound AI appeared.
“How may I be of service to you, Master?” Judgment cocked its head, an action which seemed strained considering the state that it chose to appear in.
“Reboot the other functions of my brain, now. By my approximations, since you haven’t forcefully woken me up yet, I’m guessing I still have time left before the match starts?”
The AI nodded. “Yes, Master. You have eight hours left until the match begins. Taking recovery time into account, you can still remain in my subspace for three more hours before needing to wake up.”
I tapped my finger to my chin, or at least, I tried to before I realized that it was just phasing through my chin. Sighing, I said, “Is there any way to give Judgment Subspace physical substance without initiating training mode? It’s so jarring to go back and forth repeatedly.”
Judgment itself was still, and I recognized the complete lack of movement as it running calculations. “Unfortunately Master, a change of that size would mean that I would have to completely overhaul my systems, causing me to go offline for a short amount of time. I fear what the humans would do if they found out there would be no eyes on them for even that period of time.”
I nodded reluctantly and sat in place, looking up at Judgment. “I understand. In any case, please wake me up. I have a feeling that pre-fight, some bullshit is going to happen. Or even worse,” I shuddered, “I’ll have to fill out waivers.”
The AI nodded and a grey light began to shine from Judgment. “Understood Master. Please remain on standby while I restart your brain.”
I remained sitting and observed the weapons I had become familiar with in these past two weeks. “I wonder why no one has thought of this training method.” I mused to myself, and to my surprise I received an answer.
“Because no one is insane enough to surrender their body, Master. You are in the safest place in the castle, and even so, I observed at least three people besides Princess Reya from the royal family come into the room and check on you. For normal people, it’s even worse. If they eject their consciousness from their body, there’s no telling if a cyber-stein or brain-jacker will intrude and steal their identity.”
“Brain-jacker is pretty self explanatory, but what is a cyber-stein.” I asked, and Judgment tilted its head in thought.
“Whereas brain-jackers are humans with the ability to shift their consciousness, their soul into another body, cyber-steins are machines. They were used in the Ultimate War, and were a hybrid of human thought and AI capabilities. The thing that they didn’t expect was for the human part to harbor resentment for their creators and hijack living human bodies.”
I shuddered. “That doesn’t sound pleasant. What’s stopping them from taking over bodies everyday?”
“Numbers and natural defense.” The AI answered. “Most of them had been purged by their creators, and only a handful exist today. One of which is in the Metron Kingdom National Museum, but that’s a different story. With the advent of Judgment as a worldwide system, my software protects against them so long as the consciousness is present in the body.”
I closed my eyes in thought as I said, “Shouldn’t there be reason enough for people not to fear them? Their numbers are so little that the odds of being overtaken by one is significantly less than some other forms of death, right?”
Judgment nodded once more. “That is correct. However, the greatest fears humanity has ever known is fear of the unknown, and fear of that which one cannot understand. Humans refuse to acknowledge that people inherently have differing points of view, and try to convince others to take their side in a matter to justify their own opinion.”
“Truly, humans never change, do they? Even in my world…” I sighed as I trailed off, and shook my head. “Nevermind. Are we close to rebooting?”
“Yes, I would just like to confirm one thing with you. Per your request, I have been injecting you with antidepressants while you were unconscious. Would you like to continue that today as well?”
“Of course. You don’t need to ask me permission, I expect you to have my best interests in mind at this point." Judgment looked in my direction, and even though it had a blindfold on, I could tell that it was staring at me. Then, darkness.
“Very well then. Mental functions returning to base levels. Injecting daily dose of antidepressants. Initiating startup sequence.” I heard Judgment’s voice reverberating in my head as the darkness became less suffocating.
Light slowly returned to my vision under my eyelids, and I woke with a start, sitting up in a soft bed. My hands practically sunk into the mattress as I tossed the silk-like sheets off of me.
“What were you planning to do, Master?” I looked across the room and saw Reya sitting cross-legged in a blue velvet chair with gold accents. Where have I…
Looking around, I noticed more of the blue fabric adorning the walls, and inwardly chided myself. “Your room was the one I Fell into?” The question sounded dumb coming out of my mouth. Of course it would be. How had I not openly made the connection that the only princess willing to help me out was the one who felt bad because I fell into her room.
“Of course!” She glared at me, exasperated. “Was that not abundantly clear when I had an argument with my father over whether or not to make you my Duskblade? Honestly, you’re so smart but lack any and all semblance of common sense. We had to move you into my room because people kept breaking into yours to see what you look like. Even so, who in the hell dilates time in subspace to the point that they faint from it?”
“Me, I guess.” Hell, if I wasn’t so willing to push myself I don’t know if I could’ve even lasted past the first day without attempting suicide.
“Yeah, I realize.” She replied, clearly unhappy with my life choices. “You were completely defenseless back there. How would you even handle it if anyone came to you with malicious intentions?”
“I had Judgment looking out for me, so even the fact that there were three people that came into your room didn’t escape my notice.” She blinked at the information.
“Three… wait, Judgment can act independently from your consciousness!? Ugh, why’d I have to give you the upper hand in signing a contract?” She shook her head and pointed at me. “Do you know the kind of money people like Teramoto from Hideki Labs would throw at me for the chance to research you? Ugh, damn my life!”
“Come on, it’s not all bad.” I sat up and looked around for my clothes. “Besides, you’re already entered into a contract with me so there’s no use crying over spilt milk anyway.”
Reya clicked her tongue. “Don’t try to stray away from the main subject at hand. Please don’t do such dangerous things again.”
I took a deep breath at her words, one which was cut short upon hearing what she had to say next. “Honestly, do you have any idea what would happen to me if anything happened to you?” Her choice of words put a fresh layer of ice over my heart, and made me realize where I was.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It's things like this that make me lose hope in humanity. I’m not someplace where anyone cares about me as a person, only as a political tool and symbol. I swung out of the bed and stood up, hearing Reya shriek in front of me. Looking down I saw that my member was fully exposed and looking back up revealed that Reya was staring like nobody’s business.
“Excuse me, could I have a bit of privacy?”
The princess’ face blazed crimson as she rocketed out of the chair and ran out of the room. I took a deep breath and found my clothes on a chair opposite the one Reya was sitting on.
“Joshua, when you’re finished please let me know. We have to head down to the colosseum soon.” As soon as I had finished suiting up, I called for her and she came to the door.
“I thought the match was at 8?” Reya scoffed as she led me down the dark hallway of the castle.
“Yeah, so did everyone else three days ago. My dumb brother lobbied for the king to hold the ceremony earlier so everyone in the royal family could watch it, with our schedules being so busy and all.”
“Well that reeks of political motives.”
“Doesn’t everything these days?”
With no rebuttal to Reya’s comment, we made it to the castle entrance, where the various elevator shafts were.
“Master, your package is incoming.” Thank you, Judgment. I walked over to the entrance, soliciting a groan from Reya.
“Joshua, that’s the wrong way! Ugh, we don’t have time for this. Registration itself is going to be a pain as… what are you doing?”
I finished signing the receiving slip for the Hideki Labs delivery man and opened the package, handing the box back to him to recycle. What I pulled out was a helmet once used by a certain anime villain I fancied, that used the number ‘zero’ as an alias.
I smiled despite myself, and slipped it on. The darkness inside quickly illuminating as the helmet booted up. “Why did you order it, and how much did it cost?” Reya shot me a disapproving glare, but I shrugged it off.
“Remember what you said earlier? I sent Professor Teramoto a sample of blood in exchange for it.” Reya’s mouth went agape and her hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
“Do you have ANY idea how much you gave up just for a helmet!?” I waved her off.
“Shut up for a second. I tricked you into a binding contract, how can you assume I’d be so dumb?” She looked as if she wanted to say something, but I had no doubt the contract itself was keeping her tongue still.
“I just had Judgment extract some blood from the Professor himself and sent it to him. He’ll no doubt find out it’s his own in a few days, but it should buy me enough time until I figure out what sample I can give him without revealing the source of my powers.”
Reya sighed in exasperation and rubbed her eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re a genius or the most carefree person I’ve ever met.”
“Why thank you.” I bowed slightly, my helmet reflecting the castle lights onto the floor. “Anyway,” I stood up, “we have a murder to get to. Let’s head down, shall we?”
Reya said nothing, but rolled her eyes as she walked back into the castle and into a chute. I stepped in behind her, and she put in a series of complicated inputs before the door closed and, contrary to my expectations, the pod shot skyward.
“Is the colosseum not below us?”
“No.” Reya said, leaning on the back of the glass tube. “You’re thinking of the training room. The colosseum is the reason this castle is so large. It had to be structurally sound enough to put another construct on top of it.”
“Ah, so that’s how it is.” Reya nodded and we walked out of the elevator and into a lobby, where there was a receptionist, and a boy waiting. The boy walked up to me, but Reya ignored him and went to the receptionist to register me.
The boy smirked, combing his greyish blue hair to the side. “Brice Metron, the pleasure is yours, of course.” I cocked my head as he spoke, trying to figure out what this person wanted from me.
After a moment of silence, the boy’s smile faltered and he stretched his hand out. “I’ll allow you the pleasure of becoming my Duskblade over Reya’s if you just take my hand.”
I leaned in closer, and the boy stepped back. “Ah, I see.” The boy twitched at my words. Fear. He fears Reya’s potential. God damn, I guess politics suck in any world.
“I appreciate the offer, but I made a contract with the princess there.” I pointed to Reya, who smirked. A frown accompanied by a blush appeared on Brice’s face.
“Very well, but you’d better give us royalty a show, at least!" He roared and retreated in the direction of what I could only assume was the spectator stands.
“Only if you can handle it.”
“What was that you said?” Reya walked over after seeing I was done speaking with her brother.
“Oh, nothing. Are you done already?” I thought registration was going to take a long while?”
A smile appeared on her face. “Of course we’re not done, I only completed the first of three-hundred and twenty-five pages. Your signature is needed for a majority.” She started walking back, leaving me standing in the middle of the reception area.
I started waling over and sighed, “Fuck.”
---
Gazix, formerly known as Cho Long, gripped his Yaiba sword nervously as he waited in the pit of the colosseum. He had been notified of the decision to have him duel for his freedom a little over a week ago, and since that time he had been fantasizing about returning home and finally being able to reunite with his mother.
He hadn’t seen her since he was twelve, and even then it had been so long that he was forgetting her features already. His mother was never one to shy away from a challenge, which was how she attracted the eyes of the former emperor in the first place.
Unfortunately, this meant that when the new emperor had taken the throne, she fought tooth and nail to keep what little savings she had left from Cho’s father. They were barely struggling to get by on what they were farming, and without that money they would have no way to pay for the next year’s crops.
This landed her in jail for going against the emperor’s orders, and Cho had to enlist himself in the military just for the slim chance he could rack up enough military accolades to earn his mother a pardon from the current emperor.
Cho’s plan had worked, but he had needed to form a split personality in order to handle all of the bloodshed that he was committing. Cho’s nature was too far departed from war to handle being a soldier, but Gazix reveled in it, treasuring every moment of war he participated in.
Unfortunately, Gazix became a little too good at his job, and the emperor sent him on a mission he had no chance of returning from. Luckily for Cho, Judgment made sure the emperor upheld his promise, and his mother was free to go home for the first time in half a decade.
“And now that she’s back, I can’t exactly rot here forever, can I?” Cho muttered to himself as he gripped his sword once again.
Cho was determined to get out, no matter if a man, woman, or child walked through that door. Contracts made under the AI Judgment were absolute, so he knew if he murdered today then freedom would be his.
“Honestly, I can’t figure out why people hate the AI so much when it keeps insane politicians like the emperor in check.” Getting his breathing steady, he eyed the syringe that Brice Metron had handed him over an hour earlier.
Inside was an enhancing agent that would increase his kinetic vision and reflexes for an hour, not to mention a failsafe for if he actually bit the dust. Cho was loathe to trust something from royalty, but the fact that there seemed to be a schism between the younger generation of Metrons helped him trust the fact that Brice wanted whoever he was facing dead.
Cho stuck himself with the needle, and grunted as his body acclimated to the new speed which his brain was operating at.
“Fighters, take your positions!” A voice boomed over the loudspeaker, and the door to Cho’s cage opened. Cho took one last breath and picked up his sword for the last time, one way or another. Cho walked forward and Gazix stepped out, ready to bathe in the blood of his enemy.
A flurry of boos rained down at him from the stands, but he didn’t hear it. How could he, when his mother was standing on the other end of the arena?
“Ma…” Gazix lost all his energy and Cho breathed out the word.
“Oh, my little Cho!” His mother hobbled to the middle of the arena, her leg still bad from that time she had been bitten by a viper while trying to save him as a child.
“Ma!” Cho shouted again as he dropped his sword to the ground. He ran up and embraced his mother, the two sharing a warm embrace.
“Oh my boy, how I’ve missed you!” His mother holding his cheeks in her hands, tears started to flow from Cho’s eyes.
“Ma, how…”
“The emperor abducted me and shipped me here because the Metrons asked him to. Apparently, they’ll let me walk free if I win the duel. Pei, that abhorrent man!” A smile crept onto Cho’s face despite himself, his mother’s usual action sending a warm pulse through his heart.
“Please, let me forfeit so you can go free. Cho smiled at his mother and separated from her. “That would be wonderful Cho, thank you!” Cho’s brows furrowed. That was unusual. Usually his mother would-
Cho heard the sonic blade sink into his heart before he saw it, and the clean insertion meant little gore when it was yanked from his chest. Cho clutched at the wound in shock, and looked up to see his mother’s visage disappear and become replaced by a man wearing a strange, mirror-like mask.
“Face… less…” the words were the last to come out of Cho’s mouth as he slumped over, dying.
The masked man started laughing, the sound soon filling the arena and drowning out the nervous thoughts of the frightened and silent spectators.
Suddenly, Cho felt something move within him, a short reminder of what exactly he had consumed earlier. A grin made its way onto his face. The world could laugh at Cho all it wanted, but Gazix would leave a lasting scar on it, beginning with the pompous spectators in the Metron Kingdom.