PftA Book 2 - Chapter 6

A/N: I'm not sure if this chapter is too exposition heavy. I'd love some feedback.

Chapter 6 – A Hard Conversation

After reviewing the newest contract – the Alliance really liked their contracts, it seemed – I signed it with a pulse of mana and set the tablet down. While I was excited to get a new piece of manatech, I was leery about being with the Mind Mage for too long.

As soon as I left, I’d focus on learning Sense Motive, the evolution of Detect Lie that I’d gotten in the other timeline. I should have done it before while I was testing Lisa’s capabilities, but I hadn’t thought of it at the time. I also didn’t have any spellforms for evolved spells – a deficiency I needed to cover soon.

“Now that you’ve obtained the interface upgrade and reached level three, do you plan to continue delving twice a month?” Rhona asked, catching me off guard.

Sensing a deeper purpose to her question, I asked, “Is there a reason that I shouldn’t?”

Rhona’s finger began tapping rhythmically on the table as she considered her response. “What do you know about Alliance politics?” she finally asked.

“Not much,” I admitted. Even with a decade of living within the Alliance, my education was remarkably poor on the subject. That’s why I was going to take a class on the topic during the upcoming semester. “I signed up for a class through Atlantis University, but classes don’t start for another two weeks.”

“It’s good that you’re already taking steps to learn, but I’ll give you a quick summary. Not including colony planets like Earth, of which there are three,” she said, answering my unspoken question, “there are thirty-two planets and three space stations within the Alliance. The space stations are governed wholly by the Space Exploration Force, a joint military-research organization directly subordinate to the Council.”

She paused and leaned forward. “The Council holds the real power within the Alliance. They make all the major decisions. Each Council member is a current or former King or Queen in their own right, governing anywhere between one and six planets. There are no less than ten members on the Council at all times – nine royals and one Arbiter. Earth will be the thirty-third planet to officially join the Alliance, and will fall under one of the already-established kingdoms.

“Because of Earth’s expected tier, the Planetary Sovereign assigned will likely be a Viscount – the lowest level possible for a world ruler. The world will be divided into Baronies, most of which will be ruled by natives chosen by the future Sovereign. By Atlantis Alliance law, three-quarters of a new world’s nobles must be native-born,” she finished, her expression expectant.

I could easily see the implication, however…

“I don’t want to be a noble, especially not on Earth. If the worlds are anything like what the game makes them out to be, I’d rather explore and progress instead of being stuck on a low-tier planet for the rest of my life.”

Rhona tilted her head as she considered my words. “That may be, but just because you don’t want a title doesn’t mean others won’t see you as a threat - especially if you are the highest-level native. Even if others eventually overtake you, being a frontrunner could draw unwanted attention. Several of the natives I’ve interacted with seem more interested in short-term personal power than the potential for long-term progression. It is something to keep in mind.”

“What do you recommend? Being at level three already makes it pretty obvious I’ve delved at least once.”

“That’s a difficult question,” she admitted. “You can either lay low and stop progressing or push ahead and make yourself too strong to challenge. Both approaches present their own issues.”

Rhona withdrew a plate of cookies from her spatial ring and offered me one, causing me to smirk in amusement. The brunette always seemed to have sweets around. I wondered if it was a personality trait or if she thought it was culturally appropriate based on whatever media she’d encountered.

After I took a cookie, she continued, “I can always imply you are one of mine – an Alliance member, I mean,” she clarified when she saw my expression. “That will work for anyone who hasn’t encountered you as a beta tester, but you’ve been working as such for over a year. It’s likely only a matter of time before your identity is discovered. If you’d like to go that route, I’d recommend either changing your avatar’s appearance or getting a disguise amulet. Or both.”

I bit into the warm cookie and savored the texture as I considered her advice. I didn’t want to stop progressing. Keeping myself weak was the exact opposite of my goal. If I had to choose between staying weak or pushing myself to grow strong, the choice was obvious.

“I don’t want to stagnate,” I said after a few moments. “Besides, I need more mana if I’m going to be effective at my job. Tier One just isn’t going to cut it. If there is a threat, I’d much rather face it at an advantage. Assuming I have nothing to fear from the higher-tier Alliance members, ensuring I’m stronger than anyone who might threaten me just makes sense.”

“Alright then. I recommend you query your interface about shielding your identity. And no,” she said, holding out a hand, “that is not information you should share with the general public, even after the reintegration begins. It wouldn’t violate your NDA at that point, but it is my personal advice to you. There are some things you simply shouldn’t share. It would be like holding up a glowing sign proclaiming you’ve falsified your public status.”

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, failing to find the words I sought.

Rhona shook her head and continued on. “I have someone that I want you to meet and work with. If you are going to continue delving and growing, you’re going to need someone to help guide you. It’s not completely altruistic on my part, either. Having another functioning Space Mage would be a great benefit during the transition, so I expect you to put the training I’m providing to good use in the coming years.”

Rhona told me about the Space Mage she’d had take Robert back to St. Louis, before informing me that she’d approved his request to be reassigned to the local Headquarters office.

“I wasn’t surprised when he petitioned for the reassignment, considering you’ll be here for the foreseeable future,” she said with a smirk. “Unless you’d prefer I assign someone new, I didn’t see an issue with honoring his request. He seems quite smitten, though he tries to hide it. While I personally don’t have any issues with a potential relationship between the two of you –”

“No!” I blurted before pulling back. “I mean, I don’t have an issue with it, but it’s not like that. We’re just friends.”

Rhona’s lips twitched, and she tapped the side of her forehead. “Mind Mage,” was her only reply.

I did not want to deal with this. Thankfully, she sensed that and moved past my embarrassment.

“Mage Stella assures me you’ll be teleporting with little limitation and opening portals in short order as long as you listen to her guidance and reach Tier Two before too long. I’ll have her meet with you on Monday when you come into the office.”

Rhona spent the next several minutes reminding me not to allow others to see my magic and ensuring me the restricted areas of the building were safe to practice in.

“I’d rather you do all your crafting and magical experimentation here to ensure there are no issues or accidents. Again, you can modify your office to suit your needs, or I can assign living quarters to you on one of the upper floors. Even if you choose to continue living with your friend, having a private, secure location may reduce the chances of being identified as an awakened native before you are ready.”

Once I verified it was not an either-or decision, I happily accepted the offer for a private room on the awakened employees' floor. At a minimum, it would give me a secure location to store all of my creations without taking up space in my office.

= = =

“Do you need me to help you with your bags?” Justin asked as I entered his new apartment – a different one from the visit before – carrying only a backpack and a small tub of ice cream. I’d removed my luggage from my storage ring to minimize any questions that might arise, but I didn’t feel the need to carry everything into the house. Most of the important stuff was still safely tucked away in my dimensional space.

“No, this is enough for the night,” I replied, handing him the dessert container. “I’ll probably spend most of my night in the game anyway. I’ve been a bit absent lately with the move and all.”

Clearly, he didn’t buy it, but he likely thought I’d been busy with my secret boyfriend. Thankfully, he didn’t pry.

After splitting the ice cream three ways, I made sure to help Amie burn off the excess sugar energy by taking her to the nearby playground. The efforts I’d put toward improving my fitness showed, and I was hardly winded when the energetic toddler finally wound down. By that point, it was getting late, and my niece needed a bath before bed.

She was dozing when I pulled her out of the bath and put her into pajamas. Justin watched in amusement as I tried to brush the sleepy toddler’s teeth – a challenge that anyone who’d fought a sleepy toddler would understand – before putting her into the small bed that had replaced her crib.

Instead of immediately jumping into the virtual universe, we sat on the couch and chatted for a while with a smithing show played in the background. The topic of virtual universities came up, and Justin enthusiastically told me about the classes he’d registered for at one of the better university campuses. He was so excited about continuing his education after taking two years off that I felt a rush of anger at his now-ex for derailing his previous plans.

The realization that Amie wouldn’t be there had things gone to plan mostly smothered my negative feelings, but the hostility I felt for Melony hadn’t abated.

I still despised the woman, and I hoped she got everything she deserved in the upcoming apocalypse.