The Systemic Lands

Chapter 214: Day 504 (2) – Viewpoints 17

Clarissa

I watched as Michael tortured two men to death silently. I knew something like this would happen the moment I dragged both of them in front of him. It didn’t matter that Elliot was quite capable at his position. A betrayal of Michael was something he took personally.

I held the man’s fake glasses in my hand. He thought he was clever and helping his colleague out. But he clearly knew what he did was wrong, since he had altered his meticulous record keeping. While the investigation went faster since he had confessed everything, it wouldn’t have mattered in the end. That was why I tossed him to Michael to save myself.

While it was tempting to think Michael wouldn’t murder me horribly, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate if he thought I betrayed him. I had thought of using the super soldiers from consumption as a force to counter him, if necessary, but that idea died very quickly after seeing the latest fight.

He moved just before the attacks happened. Also, he had survived suicide attacks by adjusting his trajectory in mid-air and then shielding himself with a skill from the next attack. I buried any thoughts of going against him very deep, burned them, then threw away those ashes to never be considered ever again.

There was zero chance of winning without massive casualties. Even then he could always run away. Someone came to stand next to me and it was Naran.

“A never-ending parade of idiots,” he muttered very quietly. I just nodded at that. At least it would refresh in people’s minds why they shouldn’t poke Michael. People talked about him like a legend, or a boogey man, but he was real and reminding everyone of that very fact.

There would be conversations all over Purgatory about what happened and the brutal execution of these two men. I would make sure to spread their exact crimes through my people with some carefully controlled leaks.

The most annoying aspect about all of this was the loss of Elliot for managing the city buildings. Tim’s death would remind the researchers to not play with fire, less they get burned themselves. Or skinned and salted as it were.

I winced slightly as Elliot began to struggle more and more, letting out choked gurgles. A couple people moved away and threw up from the horrific visage. While many people wanted to leave, there was something enthralling about watching such a horrible spectacle.

While the lack of rules and regulations of this place allowed me to get away with a lot, it also meant other people could as well. Michael had quickly shed all trappings of a modern society and preferred the historical option of rule through brutality. It wasn’t a wrong choice, just a disturbing one to witness.

Who was worse, Michael who tortured the people? Or the people who allowed it all to happen? Was there any difference? I was no saint and watched what was happening with open eyes.

President Bob

“Not going out?” Carl asked.

“No. I am staying far away from that man. I like living,” I said while drinking a stiff drink to calm my nerves. I had been fine during the battle with the Ritualist, but after Laura I knew exactly how this city worked. There were no more illusions or foolish notions of quitting clouding my mind. The Constitution that had been written, was only worth enough to wipe my ass with.

The less I did anything to bother him, the less likely I would end up dying like those idiots. I already knew everything that happened, since Carl had been hanger on for Clarissa’s investigation and he had explained what had happened to me.

Laura had made a secret kill squad. I knew it was the kill squad Ken and Tyrese had been pressuring Laura to make so long ago to counter Michael. I had known about it from Ken’s helper Louis who had died to the Ritualist and had been Vice President for a short while. I thought it had disbanded and the idiots would not be idiots and keep their heads down.

Training up a fanatical kill squad and not expecting anything to happen with them? What suicidal idiots. I was glad I had nothing to do with the mess. There was no one higher up to blame, but one could never be too careful. I poured myself some more hard alcohol and began to drink more.

“You are going to wreck your liver,” Carl said.

“That is why we have regenerations. When is he leaving? You know?” I asked.

“Day after tomorrow, most likely. Store upgrade is tomorrow,” Carl said.

“Thank god. I don’t know how Clarissa manages to deal with him,” I muttered.

“A strong personality and a clear head, I suspect,” Carl said.

“Well, she has more balls than me. I can promise you that. Underneath her skin, is the cold hard calculations of a machine. That woman has veins of ice, let me tell you,” I complained. I had to do whatever she said and she wasn’t shy about it.

She didn’t even need to make a threat or hint at one. I knew it was there. Once Laura was dead, her grip on Purgatory was unbreakable as long as Michael backed her. While the assassination might have destroyed the trust, her quick resolution and finding the culprits would only elevate her further up in Michael’s eyes.

At least with him, he was gone most of the time. With Clarissa, she never let up. Constant audits on the city treasury and expenses. I smiled a bit, since research was under her purview, and she had screwed up massively letting this happen.

There was no one she could deflect to. In the end the blame landed on her. Which was why she was probably so efficient and quick at sorting the mess out.

“She certainly is fierce and isn’t afraid of anyone,” Carl said.

“If you had to put up with Michael, you wouldn’t be afraid of anything else either. She is riding the tiger, and everyone is afraid of the tiger, but she uses that to her advantage. She just has to make sure she doesn’t lose her grip, or that the tiger dies,” I said. If Michael was gone… I took another big gulp of alcohol. Better not to think about that in case he had a way to read my mind.

Not like I was going to try either of those things. One does not poke tigers in the eye if one likes living and not being melted. The metaphor only went so far I thought as I took another big gulp of alcohol and frowned since my cup was empty.

Fethee

I watched as Champion Michael tortured the men who tried to kill him right into a horrible death. I knew the man, better than anyone except Naran. Pulling the cart and keeping my mouth shut let me notice a lot of things.

He was unrelenting. Once he got his mind on something, he wouldn’t let go. Like a vicious dog. And he hated betrayal. Naran had made that point clear to me. I didn’t really understand it before, but now I did.

I wouldn’t give up pulling the cart, since I was getting a lot of crystals from killing monsters and learning quite a bit. Just the casual conversations were eye opening. It was hard since my English wasn’t the best, but skills, monsters, and how everything worked had been revealed to me over time.

Nothing I heard would be repeated, but it was interesting. Like seeing how things really worked. I smiled a bit knowing that Naran would look out for me. I knew he had saved Michael’s life before. I could tell when those golems attacked, he wanted to leave me behind, but didn’t object to Naran saving me.

That was why I listened to Naran. The man was clever in his own way. He let Michael get all the attention and just stayed in the background. I could ask anyone, and they would know who Champion Michael is. But Naran, no one knew anything about him. At most a person might know he was Michael’s teammate.

He was smart. Very smart. That was why I kept my head down and listened to him. Well, we would be leaving the day after tomorrow. I needed to be sure I was ready to depart then.

Governor General Gerold

I hated stupid people. Heads were set onto tables and placed at the gates as a reminder for the people. There was no shortage of heads despite all the warnings. People complaining about taxes. People complaining about fighting monsters. People complaining about all the complaining. People complaining about the people complaining.

I had to tip my hat to Clarissa. She somehow made it all happen and Michael had her fall right into his lap. The other half of the equation I was missing was the threat of Michael. My men knew, so they listened and didn’t make a fuss. But the new arrivals had no idea.

There was something much scarier about a guy just coming up and melting everyone, than an organization. People were used to organizations and soldiers. They weren’t used to people melting them without a second thought.

There were constant purges and crackdowns to keep order. Still the crystals were flowing in, and my stats were rapidly increasing. I knew my people were jockeying to replace me, once I left the city. That wouldn’t be for a while, but this was the best way to increase stats.

Other people could chase monsters and crystals. I would let the crystals come to me. Work smarter, not harder. Clarissa had the right idea in that regard. Still, there were monsters out there in human skin that were beyond me. There was a knock on my door. “Enter,” I called out.

It was Captain Harold. He had stuck around. A shame that Gonzo had left to join the Union. “General, there was…well, we made our way Southeast along the edge of the void, scouting.” He was shaking a bit and his eyes were darting about. I already knew that, but the man was clearly shaken. I waited for him to collect himself. I wanted to know the level 2 zones around Truth to see if I could get a good grinding spot outside of Purgatory’s purview. The area to the Southeast was promising.

“The giant worms stayed away from the void, including the summoner worms after them. We managed to get to zone at coordinates (-2,1). Since it was odd that it was reported as a level 2 zone from the other side,” I nodded at that. That was why I had sent the exploratory party. I frowned as drool began to leak from Harold’s mouth. Something was wrong. I put my hand on my sword and got ready to act.

I could ill afford to send people away, but there was a chance of an easy to grind level 2 monster behind the swamp, that Purgatory would have a hard time accessing from the South. Also, it was a point of interest. If it was something really good, then perhaps I could trade that information to Champion Michael for a favor.

“I…there…AHHHH!” I quickly stood up and freed my sword as Captain Harold began to scream. Blood began to leak from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Soldiers rushed into the room but stood back seeing the Captain screaming on the floor, a bloody mess.

Finally, the screaming stopped after about a minute. Harold was still breathing. I carefully went over to him, but kept my sword pointed between me and him. I was taking no chances. “Harold, can you hear me?” I asked.

“Urrrg,” he let out a groan.

“What happened? What did you see?” Why was it acting up now was the much more serious question. I was on guard in case anything exploded out of his chest.

“I…I…” He was trying to speak, but there was some kind of issue. Suddenly he went still and spoke clearly. “Go there. Go there. Go there. Go there. Go there.” He kept repeating the same two words over and over again.

“Why? Why do I need to go there Harold? Why? I want to go there, but why?” I asked trying to coax out information. He stopped speaking. I didn’t lean in, I was still quite weary of anything he might try or something controlling him.

“A thousand, thousand powers. Answers. Truth. A thousand, thousand powers. Answers. Truth. Freedom. Go there. Go there. Go there. Go there.” I tried to think about what I should do.

There was clearly something going on in that zone, but it was also equally clear it was bad news. Super bad news that was flashing neon lights saying bad idea all over it. Harold let out a gasp and slumped on the ground. His left eye suddenly popped, the mess spreading out on his face, blood and eye fluid dribbling down his cheek.

“Harold, speak to me, are you okay?” He clearly wasn’t okay, but I didn’t want to say that. I wanted information.

“I…everything hurts. I saw something General. It…I couldn’t understand. Everything. Everything is spinning. Why are you spinning General?” I let out a sigh of relief. At least he was coming back to his senses.

“Get him a regeneration and then put in a secure room to rest. Four guards in the room, four guards outside, hourly rotations, high alert,” I ordered my men. They quickly took Captain Harold away. I let out a small hum of contemplation. I smelled an opportunity here. Not about anything Harold said. That was all a trap and complete garbage, a guaranteed sucker’s bet. Probably a monster or some other eldritch abomination that would stack up corpses.

His left eye popping like that was the cherry on top of the shit cake. I could leverage this information. I wouldn’t even need to lie either. I would share this information with Champion Michael, explaining exactly what happened.

He would owe me a minor favor for finding something interesting and diligently sharing everything. If he did check the place out and died, that would put me in the position to return to Purgatory and take control. Clarissa would be difficult, but she was no fighter. If he didn’t die, while I wouldn’t be implicated.

A win, win situation, just as l preferred. Unless whatever was out there did something to Champion Michael and he went crazy. Perhaps, it would be better not to do anything. I would need to think on this some more and see if Harold had more information.