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Michelangelo slapped the empty beer mug on the table, with a sigh of satisfaction. The waitress rushed to bring him another one, smiling at him. He smiled back. Duke or not, he was a people's man and behaved like one.
His thoughts started to err. What next? His plan to get rid of the papacy had failed… Yet, there were positive things to be taken into account. Half of the objectives had been met, and the South American theocratic state had perished along with its nobility. Spain's conquest of the New World has been contained to the Caraibes, courtesy of the Māory. Not his doing, but a good thing nevertheless. His grip on the German states, Austria left apart, was unshakeable. Was it worth going after the Netherlands?
"The Netherlands it is…" he nodded, raising the beer mug.
Or not.
The voice in his head made him gag and spit out a spray of beer droplets.
"Is everything all right, sir?" the waitress rushed to pat him on the back.
"I'm OK now… thanks," he said. She was still patting him, and Michelangelo had to smile to make her relent. He hated smiling, it made him look like a teddy bear, and he preferred to be seen as burly and rough. "Who are you?" he whispered, pretending he was sipping beer.
You already know the answer. The System, of course. The MAIN one. You can also speak to me in thought, by the way.
What do you want?
You've been a naughty boy, Mickey… very naughty… It went well in the end, but millions could have died.
Not if that bastard had kept to his own business. I was going to come out as a savior, uniting the Continent in one big—
Mickey, Mickey… You're obsessed with what YOU want and miss the most important thing.
And what's that?
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What I want, of course.
Michelangelo remained silent, in thoughts and words. And now what? You'll take my powers? Kill me?
Let's not go into melodrama. I can't do either, because of rules and stuff. But nothing stops me from making your life miserable if I choose to.
"And do you choose so?" Michelangelo asked deadpanned, hiding his whisper in the beer mug, and taking another sip afterward.
I need an answer first. What's your big plan? Why are you going after the nobles and social order?
I want to break their monopoly on power, and mostly, on art. Do you know how much they paid me to paint the Pope's Chapel? A misery. They don't deserve their power. Art for the masses, that's my motto.
I see. Now, listen carefully. In the end, all went well, and I'm here. You raised great enemies, and my Champion prevailed, giving my prototype iteration enough clout to install itself in many areas.
But not everywhere.
I don't want to be everywhere on this Realm, Mickey. One more realm on top of millions is not such a big deal for me. Ardent's plan is a good one. We need a neutral Realm, a Switzerland of sorts, where all Galactic powers can coexist and negotiate. Now to the point. You have great potential, but maybe you have aimed it in the wrong spot. You want to unravel the old order, right? Let's say I'm willing to give you a shot, in places that matter most.
"I'm listening."
There's a new Galactic faction that sent its emissaries to China and took it over. They're called Cultivators.
"You want me to fight them?"
Negative. We're not at war with them. We want to keep this Realm neutral, remember? But they could use a lesson in… humility. Their ways are autocratic, exactly what you hate. The powerful abuse the weak, and the average people are supposed to grovel and serve.
What if you go there and… let's say, throw some wrenches in their plans? Use your imagination and go wild. Unionize the workers, organize passive resistance, give the System to people you trust, sabotage what can be sabotaged, make disappear some Young Masters who abuse their servants, and so on. We have a great advantage in the Fate Points. With millions of people living in my territories, Fate Points will be cheap to get. You can go to China and give classes to the Resistance, but the Cultivators can't come here and do the same. Their method is slow as fuck. So, your Quest is: Go to China and transform the Cultivators' society into a successful democracy. The main word here is successful.
"Of course. So they'll be able to self-sustain."
So that the main Cultivator planets envy them and copy the model, peacefully or through revolution. That will keep them busy and allow me to expand into territories they covet first.
"Isn't democracy sweet? Sounds fun, I'm in," Michelangelo nodded while raising two fingers. "Another beer, please."