“Champion Michael, I was told you wanted to speak to me?” Clarissa asked. I had been doing a lot of thinking during the night and very early this morning.

“Yes,” I said, and she took her seat to my right in the conference room. The fact she didn’t choose to sit across from me was a good sign. “I would like to hear what you have to say first.” I didn’t even tell her what I wanted to talk about or the direction I planned to take things. It had taken a while for me to work through my thoughts and feelings on the assassination attempt and Clarissa’s failure to properly monitor Elliot and Tim.

Clarissa looked directly at me. “I take responsibility for the lapse in oversight. Research and crafting fall under my authority.” I nodded at that.

“I don’t blame you in the slightest,” I said. Her cool façade cracked a bit when I said that. “The simple fact is, that accidents happen. Mistakes happen. You know of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, OSHA?” I asked Clarissa.

“Yes,” she said clearly confused where I was going with this.

“They have rules upon rules. The joke is, that each rule, no matter how stupid, came about because someone died or there was an accident. That kind of mentality is fine for industry and boring but repeatable processes,” I said, explaining my thought process that I had gone through to sort out what to do.

“What happened, wasn’t a failure of the system, it was a failure of leadership. That is what assassination attempts represent. I am a terrible leader. But I accept that. That also means I need to accept assassination attempts like that one are going to be a fact of life,” I said. She already knew that the failure to monitor the researchers was her fault.

“I thought you were going to melt me at one point there, to be honest,” Clarissa said. I slowly shook my head at that.

“I considered it. But the simple fact is, you are too important. From managing the city, record keeping, auditing, and giving me information in an easy to digest manner. You could go out there and murder people and I wouldn’t say anything,” I answered. Replacing her would just mean a lot more headaches I didn’t want to deal with.

“Until I create more trouble than I am worth,” Clarissa said clearly understanding the situation and dynamic between us.

“Yes, but your worth is higher than it has ever been. Your fast resolution to the assassination attempt proves that. Sure, it isn’t rocket science to go to Elliot, break him, and then get to Tim, but you had enough control of the situation to know where the leak of materials had to come from and act on it,” I replied.

“That’s it? Really?” Clarissa probably couldn’t believe what I had decided. I smirked a bit. If I was going to kill her, I wouldn’t even give her a chance to speak. I would just kill her and be done with it. She was the type of person that would be dangerous if given a chance to plot or activate contingency plans.

“Yes, that is it. I consider the matter closed. The simple fact is, no one can replace you. Just like no one can replace me. And I trust you to know where my hard lines are,” I replied.

“I thought I did. Regardless, thank you for clarifying things Michael. I appreciate it,” Clarissa said. I nodded at that.

“Because if you really wanted to try and kill me, there were much better methods to go about it. I know you have probably thought about trying to get rid of me, don’t object or deny that. I would do the same in your position. I have thought about replacing you as well, but competence and ambition go hand in hand,” I said.

“I will admit it has crossed my mind. But with each spectacular failure, I have no doubt you would survive, and I would be dead,” Clarissa said. There was that ruthless pragmatism I had seen in her initially when she had cut her eye, shining through.

I wanted there to be no illusions between us. Our relationship was transactional in nature. She took on the cloak of my power, while I enjoyed the stability and comfort she created here in Purgatory. If she got excessive points from the city, then I wanted my cut. We were work colleagues. I was the only real check on her power, but the counter to that, was how little I was around.

Removing me might give her peace of mind, but in the end, it would only hurt her, and she knew it. I was the lightning rod. I had no doubt she would say to people complaining, that she was only following my orders. Pass the blame onto me.

That was why I liked the public speech. It let me gauge how the population viewed me. So, while she might be throwing me under the bus, it wasn’t that bad. My absence probably helped in that regard.

If she did kill me, then everyone would scramble to be top dog of this place. The chance she would survive while staying in power was quite low. Either she would be assassinated or be forced to run away and build up a power base somewhere else.

That was what had always been planned, or at least a general idea of this outcome once I had placed her in charge. She couldn’t get rid of me without putting herself in a bad spot. I couldn’t get rid of her since running this city was a nightmare fueled by despair.

I had no idea how much she liked what she did, but she was very good at it. Organizing people and getting everything to work smoothly. It took a special kind of focus day after day, without rest to make everything work. She even went above and beyond with stuff like the hunting camps and festival. Then you add in how horrible this place actually was, and that is where it became a nightmare to keep it all under control.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“But you never acted on those thoughts, because of the risk,” I said, and she nodded.

“Because of the risk. I mean the greatest threat I can give you, is threatening to leave or quit,” Clarissa said with a very small grin. I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes since it was the truth. Competent people with her level of experience and practical ability didn’t grow on trees unfortunately.

“Now I am curious, what is the most ridiculous thing to come up so far?” I asked now that the tense moments had past.

“One of the Union teams was having team orgies. But one of the members had too high a Body stat and broke the pelvis of another member. They needed an emergency loan for a regeneration since they already spent their points after coming back to Purgatory,” Clarissa said.

“What really? That kind of thing is happening?” I asked. Clarissa stared at me like I was an idiot, which I probably was.

“A lot of people are losing themselves to sexual depravity to try and escape the reality of this place. With the brothels it is mostly contained. A lot of teams develop relationships as well. There is even speculation about you and Naran,” Clarissa said. It took me a moment to process that.

“That…I…I can’t melt those idiots who spread the rumors without confirming them, can I?” I asked with mock despair in my voice.

“Trust me, I wish. There are rumors that I am your bimbo and placed in charge because I am sleeping with you. Without TV or the internet, that is the one thing people love to do, gossip” Clarissa said. Stone Age Twitter, there was no escape even in the Systemic Lands.

“People are idiots. You got your position due to your lust for power, not your lust for my body,” I said jokingly.

“Well, you are power personified, in one steamy package,” she said in complete deadpan. This time I knew she was making a joke the way her eyes tilted upwards to indicate she was amused and teasing me.

“Any other crazy things?” I asked.

“There is a high stat brothel that has formed. Where they cater to individuals with over 100 in the Body stat. Customers also have to confirm they aren’t over a specific number at all brothels now after some minor breakage. Also, there are a couple of men, billing themselves as Champion of the Bedsheets. They dress up in similar outfits to you,” Clarissa said.

“Champion of the Bedsheets, why am I not surprised. Wait, similar outfits?” I asked. Now that was illegal.

“Only in the bedroom. They are careful not to go into public areas dressed up like you. Should I crack down?” Clarissa asked.

“Let it be. Maybe give a warning to keep the outfits in the bed, not in public. Even actors,” I said.

“I have, but I will make sure the message in conveyed,” Clarissa said. We sat there in silence for a bit thinking about what we had discussed. Both of us content where the situation and dynamic between stood. A bell began to ring in the distance. I looked at Clarissa who was not worried.

“The store upgrade. Everyone will move to their designated areas and go on high alert,” Clarissa explained.

“So, you are taking this seriously,” I replied.

“I always did. We can’t afford to keep pushing off the store upgrade any longer. Especially with all the city buildings being purchased already. The remaining upgrades are not as important as getting more options in the store,” Clarissa said.

I knew she meant food options. But that didn’t mean other possibilities wouldn’t open up. We might finally get some kind of airship production. Zipping about the sky would be the way to travel.

“Shall we?” I asked and stood up. Clarissa stood up as well. I followed her outside the building. Naran joined us as well. We exchanged nods. Clarissa had ten guards with her this time. I noted the plaza was cleared of random people and filled with soldiers and multiple Union teams as the bell continued to ring. I noted several people on roof tops along with summons. They normally weren’t allowed inside the city.

“Champion Michael, Chief Administrator Clarissa, everything has been prepared,” General Smith said.

“Champion Michael will be making the upgrade purchase. All gates are alerted?” Clarissa asked.

“Yes. At least 100 soldiers at each gate. We have summons deployed in arcs in front of the city gates and lines of communication set up. All supplies have been made ready as well,” General Smith reported.

“What is the plan if a level 4 shows up, or multiple level 4 monsters?” I asked. Wanting to know the planned response for when I took action.

“Seek to contain and possibly overwhelm them while you kill them,” the General said. “We will also activate the city shield if a level 4 breaches the city.”

“No. Wait for the monsters to arrive at the plaza. They might retreat or wait outside the city if the shield is activated prematurely. We don’t have the reserves for multiple activations,” I said and looked at Clarissa who nodded to confirm what I said. One million points for only a day’s worth of defense, wasn’t that long and was insanely expensive.

“Very well. Shall we?” General Smith asked. I nodded and began cashing in the points from the chests that were brought out. My points went over the one million mark, and nothing happened. I was testing that out since this was the best time to test things like this.

I had 1.95 million points when I went to purchase the store upgrade option. I purchased the level 4 upgrade. Interesting how I thought of it in level now and not tier. Perhaps it was the fact that everything was being slotted into levels. I was instantly confronted with a timer of 100 minutes while the upgrade was processed. There was that 100 minute limit again, similar to Regeneration and crafting.

I removed my hands from the pillar, and everyone was looking at me. “Prepare for an attack. There is a 100 minute timer,” I said. I could still purchase stuff from the store. The upgrade didn’t pause everything at least, that was good news in case I needed a regeneration. It gave me more confidence to be more aggressive with the battle that was about to happen.

“Send message, remain full alert, 100 minutes, imminent attack,” the General said, and a runner raced off to where they were keeping the communication stones to alert the outer city defenses. There was nothing else to do but wait while everyone was on edge. The bells continued to ring, sounding out over the city.

I looked up at the Airship Dock. Stop toying with my emotions Almighty System. I was getting my airship. I blinked as I speck high up in the sky. I let out a long sigh. Of course the attack would come from the sky. Why did this place even have walls if they were so useless?

“Attack from the sky, order people to spread out and take cover,” I said. The General glanced at me and then at the sky.

“Sky attack, disperse, archers at the ready! Aerial summons!” he shouted, and the order was quickly conveyed to the soldiers. I ignored them. I also ignored telling Clarissa, ‘I told you so.’ But I was one hundred percent right this was a bad idea.

“What do you think Naran? I count ten.”

“I think so. High up and closing face. Half a minute until they the level of the Airship Port,” he said.

“We talked about aerial combat, but never really practiced that much,” I said.

“A level 4 aerial battle will be difficult, with no way to maneuver in the air,” Naran said. I had it better than him with Air Burst. One of the reasons I liked the skill. But it was costly in terms of energy at 50 per use. I had the energy reserves to attempt aerial combat.