I, Propitiator: "Chapter 13"

Chapter 13

Without love, evil grows.

Over the next week, we rapidly repaired the A.R.S. Zoelight and raced toward the Sol System Space Station. However, like in chapter 4, it seems to me that explaining more of the things behind-the-scenes would help illustrate what we were up against, what had to be destroyed, but more importantly, what there was to redeem.

Zurui called Kakios and Vidya to the base headquarters. They entered to room to see a holographic projection of a man they all knew as King Mammoth. Now he wasn’t called that because he was physically large, but rather because his ideas were large and so economically ahead of what most thought possible that he looked like a giant. King Mammoth was the leader of the entire Arashad Regime and had been for about twenty years now. The senseless expansion began shortly afterwards. King Mammoth continued, “Now I have called you two here because your efforts to stop the resistance have not gone unnoticed. Kakios, you will be promoted within Zurui’s staff to his second-in-command. Vidya, you will be promoted within this base to be the chief science officer and I’m counting on the two of you to aid Zurui to the best of your ability. Zurui, for your actions, I am sending you a legion of 15’s and a fleet of our newest ships from Gliese IV, they’ll be coming through the Elliptical Cross Wormhole and should reach your base in a matter of days. Please send and escort to the wormhole and prepare to attack on the Sol System Space Station. I expect an update from the base every 72 hours until otherwise stated. Dismissed.”

The holographic projection faded into the blackness of the room. Vidya turned on a light then they waited for Zurui to give them orders. Oh, for clarification purposes, GEC and ECW are on completely different sides of the solar system, since if you have one elliptical cross-point, you will probably have another somewhere else. Zurui spoke in a very flat tone, “Go take your new post, CSO Vidya.”

After Vidya left, Zurui stated, “In all probability, when we take back the Sol System Space Station and finally conquer Terra Lapsa, I will move on to some new project. This means that you’ll be in charge of this base. So I must first make sure you know exactly what is going on in this universe. Everyone, everything, and all that is does not deserve to exist any more than you. To you that means even me. So when you go about your work, don’t hesitate to take what you want… if it helps further the regime. This is the path to success: to charge relentlessly toward your goal.

“Now when you charge, do not stop to smell the roses. This is foolishness. Do not place any regard in what others think, for what do they know of where you are headed? Instead, find for yourself a true desire, surrender to no one and strive toward that endpoint. Satisfy every craving in your body, do not give a second thought for someone else, because if they are worthy of what they desire, they will find the means to satisfy their own desires on their own.

“Now if you want to get somewhere, you need to know how to get there. Similarly, if you have a goal, you need a plan to guide your actions. Within that plan you need to have the perfect strategies and tactics to overcome your obstacles. However, this cannot be so stiff that you cannot devise a fallback plan if the obstacle is revealed to be larger than you anticipated. You must have the strength to charge through anything, yet the knowledge to know when it would be more advantageous to try slightly different route.”

Kakios suppressed a yawn as Zurui continued, “Finally, whatever you do, do it for yourself or else the desire to complete your task will fall under the pressure it will take to complete it. Without this drive to achieve your goal, nothing will be accomplished. Everything is yours for the taking if you simply derive a way to take it. As for me, my current plan is to put the Avners through something worse than death and if you are ever going to amount to anything near my level, don’t just eradicate your obstacles, but make a spectacle out of them before your destroy them so that if anyone was ever thinking of standing in your way, they’ll learn from your history that to withhold your desires from you is foolishness.”

Zurui then discussed a few new protocols that were to be in effect now that things were going to be different and altered his plan for Kakios to try to capture me. Afterward, Kakios went to go see Vidya. She was just getting off, so they got some food from the mess hall and took it back to her quarters to share a meal together away from the crowds of soldiers. Vidya started eating while Kakios spoke about having to listen to Zurui, “He’s really starting to get on my nerves you know? He thinks he knows what he’s doing and sure, he’s effective against most of the resistance, yet the Avners somehow manage to get in his way every time. It’s funny to watch him direct us around, do his biddings then see it all crumble because he doesn’t have the strength to finish them off.”

Between bites Vidya inquired, “Doesn’t he know they’re a problem?”

“Oh he’s well aware of it, so he wants to make a spectacle of them, which makes some sense, but then his plans to make a spectacle of them just set him up to loose to them again, it’s like he forms nets to catch water; the holes are letting leaking, rendering the method useless.”

Vidya tilted her head then asked, “So what would you do if you were him?”

“Huh? Oh I’d just kill them on the third time around; revenge is overrated.”

Vidya grinned wickedly, perhaps entertained from the idea of killing people, but you can’t really be certain. Then she asked, “So do you have a plan for yourself?”

Kakios thought for a moment, then stated, “For now, I will hide under the shadows of Zurui and the regime, but in due time, things will change. You see, Zurui and the efforts of the regime will thin out the resistance, the only group that could really stop me. The resistance may not have all the power, but they have the heart and a leader that will carry them to victory if given enough room to operate. Therefore, the best course of action is to tire the resistance out and then rise to power from within. In this manner, we can ensure that all the power belongs where it should be: in my hands.”

Vidya was fascinated by the new concept and thought to herself how brilliant of an idea it would be to stick close to someone like him. That would most definitely ensure that she’d be in a place of power, but wouldn’t have to really be leading an empire. Besides, he was devilishly attractive, what more could she ask for? This was perfection in the making and along the way she’d find all the excitement she could possibly want.

For Vidya it wasn’t necessarily about power or some end goal, but rather, she lived for the thrill of being under someone rising to power. She loved to see a person conquer, the ruthless ascent and truly genius strategizing. To some extent, even the counter-strategizing that would come against Kakios and Zurui was of interest to her. It was all about excitement, the thrill, and in the end the victory where the opponent screamed in terror.

The senselessness becoming a force driving them to all wage war against the Prime I grew in number of minds it truly infected. The truths of justice and mercy seemed to be lost among the regime such to the point that no one left in the regime appeared to have a shred of it. Yet as that quote by Einstein that Mason has paraphrased for Oliver multiple times goes, “Two things in existence are infinite, the universe and stupidity, and to me, the former is uncertain.”