“I would have to kindly decline,” I answered calmly, keeping my voice and tone neutral.
“Did you not hear me, Arbiter W?” the Overseer asked in puzzlement, “I said that this was not a request. You do not have the option to decline my command.”
“I heard you,” I answered, “And I will repeat myself, I will have to kindly decline your request.”
Now the Overseer was getting annoyed, “You still work for me, Arbiter W, and as long as I am still running Central, you will obey me. You will find that things have changed in the 10 cycles that you were gone.”
I continued, my voice calm and even, “And I will have to remind you that my duties as an Arbiter, as Rogue so kindly affirmed, is to first and foremost settle disputes between Anomalies and the Origin Matrix. Why don’t I ask one of the other Tribunal members to clarify this point? I haven’t heard them talk at all yet.”
I looked at the Overseer, his once calm facade now completely broken, even under that weird shroud he had going on. Oh yeah, this was a person who was not used to having his commands disregarded, but thankfully I found out very early on that Central worked and thrived on rules and regulation. I was betting that not even the Overseer could arbitrarily break those.
The figures beside the Overseer didn’t have the same disguise going on, and were instead dressed in simple robes. They were freakishly tall, maybe 12 - 15 feet from head to foot, but the black dress obscured all over visible features. The other two silent men finally woke up from whatever trance they were in, and looked at the fuming Overseer before speaking for the first time.
“The rules for an Arbiter are clear,” the one on the left of the Overseer said, “They serve the Training Sites directly, and to deviate from those duties would constitute a break in the contracts.”
The robed figure on the right of the Overseer also chimed in, “In order for the Overseer’s decree to pass would require the Lord Arbiter to accept a change in designation.”
The Overseer gritted his teeth, “And I can assume that you will not choose to accept a promotion, Arbiter W.”
I smirked, “Have I ever?”
“You have not,” he answered, “But this time is different. If you will not accept a promotion, then I can demote you.”
I raised a frill, “On what basis?”
The man smiled this time, “For the neglect of your duty in the past 10 cycles, for one.”
“Oh come now, Overseer,” Big Bob said, “We can hardly blame him for that disaster 10 cycles ago. If anything, the fact that Arbiter W survived at all should be celebrated, not punished.”
Now I was really curious about this mysterious Arbiter W who I was impersonating. I’ll have to somehow gather more information about him later, although I couldn’t exactly ask others to tell me about my own biography. That’ll have to be yet another task to do in the future.
“Perhaps, Master Babylon,” the Overseer said, “there might have been extenuating circumstances for his initial disappearance, but there certainly wasn’t any for his return. He did not follow through with proper procedures and infiltrated Site 1102 without contacting Central first. Not to mention that working as an Aspirant is highly unusual. For all of these infractions, I am well within my right to reprimand the Arbiter. Does the Tribunal agree with these facts?”
The two cloaked figures thought for a moment, before speaking as one, “The Overseer is correct, although no fault can be attributed to W for the incident 10 cycles ago. Nevertheless, Arbiter W’s actions at Site 1102 were highly unprofessional and irresponsible, and a demotion is well within the boundaries of appropriate punishments.”
“Do you have anything to say, W?” the Overseer said with a smirk, “Or will you accept your promotion and work with me?”
“There will be a bit of a problem with that, Overseer,” Rogue spoke up this time, exactly as I had instructed him to.
I knew this slimeball of an Overseer would bring up my mysterious reappearance sooner or later, since I doubt I did anything the standard Central way given my unique situation. I got this fake position through literal Luck, so although I didn't know what rules I had broken, I was certain that I broke a whole bunch of them.
“And what would that be?” he said impatiently.
“The Lord Arbiter, or should I say Aspirant Walter, has already fully integrated himself into the Trials with Origin’s approval.”
“Then he will simply fail them,” the Overseer shrugged, “Say that he died in his sleep from a heart attack, humans tend to do that a lot if I recall.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Rogue smiled as he continued, “Normally it would be fine to have one or two new Aspirants disappear like that, but Walter is in a special spot within the Trials.”
The Overseer frowned, not liking where this was going.
“You see,” the Xollon continued, “the Arbiter has already integrated himself into the Anomaly’s team and is a founding member of his guild.”
“Fine,” the Overseer said, “Then we can simply wait until the start of the third Trial and have him die there. I am willing to make such a concession.”
“But,” Rogue continued, “That would be a gross breach of the terms of my contract with him if he were to deliberately lose.”
“Explain,” the Overseer muttered.
“I have offered him an official Sponsorship, as is my right, and we have already signed the contract sealing this,” Rogue then pulled out a piece of paper and threw it at the Overseer. I wasn’t sure when a physical contract was signed, but I wasn’t going to complain now.
The other man read through the contract quickly before tossing it back, “And it says that you have given up all rights to anything W does in the Trial. This hardly counts as a contract of Sponsorship!”
“But it is one,” the Xollon smiled, “Tribunal, do you agree?”
Once again the two figures beside the Overseer woke up from the weird trace they went into when they weren’t addressed and they spoke as one, “That is correct. General Rogue can freely give up the rewards if he wishes. The contract is valid.”
Rogue continued, “So it would be against regulations for him to give up his position as an Aspirant, or to willingly die or give up in the Trials. After all, I have a vested interest in the success of my Sponsor, reward or no reward.”
This time the Overseer was angry, “And if an accident were to happen that caused W to somehow leave the Trials early?”
“Are you threatening to interfere with the Trials?” I asked.
“No, of course not,” he answered, lying through his teeth, “I am just giving a potential hypothetical.”
This time Bob chimed in with a smile, “Well, since I designed the monitoring systems in the Trials, and I am also actively monitoring Aspirant W’s activities, this hypothetical accident must be really, really unlikely to happen if it escapes my notice.”
“It would be,” the Overseer answered, “But it can still happen. As skilled as you are, Master Babylon, your creations are not infallible.”
I shrugged, “If that were to happen then I would simply quit my job as an Arbiter and live in Xolloid.”
Now the Overseer’s disguise was starting to falter, and I could briefly see his true face for a fraction of a second. It was a hideous thing made of patchwork skin and other organs, as if he was doing everything in his power to keep his physical form from deteriorating.
“You would leave everything that you built up over the years to live in a backwards place like Xolloid!? After everything that I have done for you?”
“Careful what you say,” Rogue said, his voice chilly, “Remember that we Xollon do not like to be insulted. We remain neutral in the current war solely because my disciple works for your Site.”
“And I will also be inclined to leave this position if Walter is impacted in any way,” Xalla added. I gave her a quick flick of the frill in thanks, she didn’t have to do that for me, “And the Lord Arbiter has done more for Central than you have ever done for him.”
“Fine!” the Overseer screamed, all pretense of calm completely gone, “But the gross negligence of the Arbiter must be addressed. If he refuses to take responsibility, then that responsibility rests on the Site Administrator!”
A flash of light appeared and Q was standing a distance away from the four of us. He was still in his human disguise, although he quickly shed it when he saw the situation he was in. His new form, or his real body in this case, was marvelous. He was still vaguely humanoid in shape, but physical body was made out of a clear, glass like substance. Inside that glass structure was a swirling mass of nebulae and galaxies, almost as if he housed an entire universe inside himself. It was beautiful.
“You, Site Administrator Quasar of the Omnipotent Race,” the Overseer said with rage, “Will be relieved of your duties due to the your failure to properly inform Central of the Arbiter’s return, and for allowing multiple anomalous phenomenon to occur unheeded in your Site.”
I was about to protest, but Q, still as calm as I’ve ever seen him, raised a hand and gestured for me to remain quiet. I didn’t mean to cause him to lose his job! He was being blamed for something that I had done, and there was no way I would allow that to happen.
The Overseer continued, “A new Site Admin will be chosen to take over, on my recommendation, and you will have until the last Aspirant arrives on the Main stage to transfer all necessary power and privileges over to the new staff.”
“I understand,” Q answered emotionlessly, “Would that be all?”
“Yes, you are dismissed,” the Overseer spat, “Leave at once.”
Q nodded, gave me a reassuring wave, and disappeared just as quickly as he came. Fuck! I didn’t mean for that to happen. I’ll make sure I set things right with him, if it’s the last damn thing I do. I still have a bit of time to think up a way to fix things.
“You four are dismissed as well,” he grunted, “I will also designate someone to help the Lord Arbiter in his tasks when the new staff arrive.”
Great, looks like his man will hold a grudge for a long time.
We were about to leave when the Overseer stopped us one last time, “Oh, and W?”
I looked back but didn’t say anything.
He grinned, “I will summon you again privately once the change in staff is completed, to discuss all of the changes in Central over the last 10 cycles. I’m sure we will see eye to eye then, this time without the Lord General and his people to distract you from our conversation, of course.”
Shit, does this mean that I have to use the last of my preview tickets just to deal with this petty Overseer? I looked at the remaining time on my transformation and saw that I still had over 14 hours left on it. It seemed like a waste to have to go back to human-form so early.
“Do not worry, my Host,” Noe chimed in, “With the Gamma upgrade, I can store the unused transformation time for future use.”
I almost danced in joy from hearing the first little bit of good news to come, but just twitched weirdly instead. Xalla and Rogue gave me a weird look, but didn’t comment on my sudden movement.
Thank you Noe, you are the freaking best!
Refocusing on the present, I forced myself to smile and answered, “I look forward to that, Overseer.”
“You should,” he answered with a mocking smirk, “Now please leave, I have work to do. Termination papers to sign. It's a lot of work, finding a new Site Admin.”
No wonder Rogue hated this guy’s guts! This piece of shit was the most petty person I have ever met. But he will curse the day he pissed me off, that I promise.