I stood from the chair and turned to the girls, who were moving in fear toward the doors:
"Stay out of the upcoming battle, and you can keep your lives. My subjects will need Truth Seekers, and you're certain to find work."
"Yes, students. Don't intervene, this is my battle alone," Miya said, exchanging a conditional hand sign with Ayna. She then shook out her luxurious hair and cracked her fingers. My wife's eyes lit up with a magical orange flame. The Red Queen held her hands out to the side, and the world around us transformed.
* * *
We were standing on the top of a small barren rocky outcropping in the middle of a raging sea. There were slippery stones under our feet. The wind was cold and piercing. Waves were crashing on the stones, sending wisps of brackish water at our faces. The Red Queen slightly shivered in cold and threw a mantle over her shoulders. After that, she called up two identical chairs and offered one to me. We sat facing each other. Miya crossed her legs and called up a drinking bowl of deep red mulled wine.
"So then, Ruslan. You’ve come to the conclusion that the world around us is virtual. I wonder what the basis of your guess was?"
A somewhat strange question for a person making objects appear out of nowhere, moving things at faster-than-light speeds and basically not giving a damn about the laws of physics. Nevertheless, I answered seriously and in detail:
"I've come across some minor inconsistencies. The kind of stuff you notice with time. For example, the whole history of humanity begins from the Throne World and the development of civilization there. It's as if no one here knows about the historic cradle of humanity, Earth. They don't know about mammoths, coffee or all the rest. Nevertheless, you find ship names like Thrush, Flycatcher, and Warhawk, even though there are no such birds in the whole Empire. I checked."
Miya nodded thoughtfully, accepting the argument.
"Then you see the bugs in the implant system. Where is the server for such a system? The information would have to be stored somewhere and compared with something, otherwise the it would be too easily hacked to drive numbers up or down. Also, there were a few times when the system worked, even though interstellar communication should have been inactive. And the Voice of the Triumvirate getting the Pedal-Powered Tool achievement was also a glitch. I used that phrase in a private conversation, then it showed up in his profile."
"Is that all?" Miya wondered with a chuckle when I fell silent. "These things you call bugs can easily be explained with logic."
"No, that isn't nearly everything But I don't like the fact that our conversation has turned into a one-sided interrogation. I also want to ask you some questions. For example, the fact that you were an agent of the Antagonists for many years is obvious to me. When you destroyed Krista's school and also when you killed Count Inoky. But why did you wait twelve years to share the Alien technology with the Gold House?"
Miya was very hard to surprise. But this caught her so off guard she had to strain to hide her amazement. All the same, she quickly got her act back together and answered:
"Yes, I've been working for the Gold House practically since the splitting of the Empire, carrying out all kinds of missions for the Antagonists. The four Truth Seekers you turned to ash are my very old friends, through whom I exchanged information with the Gold House, and who would recharge energy for me. Yes, I am a very strong Truth Seeker all on my own but, in a pinch, I always had that backup source of psionic energy, which saved my life hundreds of times. They were Truth Seekers of a Truth Seeker, no matter how paradoxical that might sound."
"So, one of the very strongest Truth Seekers in the galaxy spent two centuries as a Gold House agent... Miya, you cannot seriously tell me you never wanted anything more than to fulfill orders, right?"
The Red Queen got embarrassed and shifted her gaze off me.
"Ruslan, I wasn't always such a strong psionic. Once upon a time, this life was perfectly acceptable to me. But my strength grew with time and, of course, I started wanting something more than to be an obedient instrument in someone else's political game. And one day, I truly got lucky. My master Count Inoky, returning from yet another meeting with some trollop, came across the scout ship of an unknown race. I wasn't with him at the time, because I was on crystals, but I had already learned to communicate mentally without leaving a crystal dream, and I helped the Count in the negotiations. I immediately realized the value of the technologies. It was my chance to change my life and catapult myself to the heights of power. But as for Count Inoky, he was not fated to return. Obeying my mental suggestion, one of the pilots turned off the emergency-collision warning system and slammed the shuttle into an asteroid..."
"You must have grown much weaker after that," I supposed and Miya confirmed:
"Of course. There was no way to avoid it. But I wasn’t risking death, because I was being recharged with energy. It was worse that I was suspected. The death of Count Inoky was investigated for a long time, and I was one of the main suspects. My every step was watched, so the next few years, I stayed stiller than water with my head below the grass, simply living life frivolously and getting used to my new master, Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, who did not have especially serious plans and lived the way that best suited him. And there was another reason for my inaction. I had already told the Antagonists about the treasure I had, and was carrying on long and difficult negotiations with them on my price. A girl from a non-aristocratic family without even a 'ton' attached to her name, I wanted to join the ranks of the upper aristocracy. My employers weren't sure, and the negotiations were difficult. But I was in no hurry. And then, one day, I was invited to a meeting..."
"Crown Princess Eleonora, ruler of the Gold House's birthday celebration?" I guessed, and Miya nodded in confirmation.
"That whole flashy party was planned just so the daughters and grandchildren of the ruler could come visit her in Antagonist space. My traveling there as Crown Prince Georg's Truth Seeker didn't cause any questions. My master then got wasted at his grandma's birthday, drunk and high on drugs. I, meanwhile, made a positive impression on Duchess Eleonora royl Akad, but everyone particularly liked my trophies: designs for unique spaceships, advanced technologies, including for antimatter production and... contact with an extraterrestrial race. That was the very place where the idea of an 'Alien invasion' to weaken the Great Houses was cooked up, as well as that of creating a Grand Duchy to take their place. For my efforts, I was promised a reward. My child, who would be born in an official marriage with the ruler's grandson was listed as a co-ruler of the government before he was even conceived."
Here came my turn to get surprised. Deia?! My daughter, who wasn't even two years old yet, and who still had trouble speaking, was in fact the mysterious third co-ruler of the Grand Duchy?!
"Georg, at one point, you asked me if I was a member of the Triumvirate or a co-ruler. And I answered honestly that I was not. You must agree, it was an elegant solution! I was not co-ruler but regent to my daughter. And she, by the way, will inherit the united Empire if something bad ever happens to you. But I found an even more elegant solution and, after the coronation, decided to become Empress myself. Mr. G.I. has too weak a personality to rule. He will retreat from government affairs very quickly, immersing himself in endless entertainment and enjoyment. And if he tries to oppose me... Well, there's always a way to put someone more agreeable in his place instead. But just not you. You're too strong willed and will not submit to my orders. And... you're too powerful... I do not understand... and your new abilities... What the hell?! Are you invulnerable?!"
Miya started flailing her arms, and her face went red in strain. Clearly, the Red Queen was now testing out her whole arsenal of murderous abilities on me, hoping to bump me off. But I didn't feel a thing! Finally, Miya recognized the uselessness of her expenditure of force and lowered her hands.
"Well, Krista taught me how to resist people like you. Beyond that, unlike Count Inoky, I was interested in ideas of collective conscious
ness and the psionic abilities of the Elvinian race. I even learned to work with them. And right now, orbiting the Throne World there hovers a third Queen, where I have five million psionics backing me up."
I stood from my armchair and wiped away the illusion Miya created — the armchairs, the outcropping, the sea. We were then back in the middle of the space room in the Silver Palace, but the situation had changed.
A siren was howling and a great many soldiers with Unatari State emblems had filled the room. All Miya's students were lying on the floor with their faces down, and their hands bound behind their backs. Bionica, actively gesticulating with her hands, was explaining something to the head of my bodyguard Popori de Cacha. In the very center of the room, Astra was standing with a laser pistol in her hands over Ayna's corpse, which had been struck down by a well-aimed shot right between the eyes... I was not expecting such mettle from my favorite.
The second of general confusion passed and... Miya was left hanging off one of Rosss's razor-sharp appendages, having pierced her body straight through.
"How... can this be?" the Red Queen rasped out with her dying breath, sputtering the words through bloody foam.
Bionica explained readily:
"Well, Rosss is from a new genetic line of Alpha Iseyek, and doesn't have just two hearts, but four. And as for the blue ribbon... it was intended for Crown Princess Deianna, and absolutely does not apply to her mother. The Swarm language doesn't have such a concept as 'regent,' so the blue ribbon did nothing to stop the enraged praying mantis. And as for Astra... well, who could have known that she was the two-time pistol shooting champion of the Kingdom of Veyerde?"
Miya didn't even hear the last words. The eyes of the mighty Truth Seeker had gone dim and stopped moving. I walked over, crouched down and closed the eyelids of my dead wife. Tears started welling up in my eyes. Despite how complicated Miya's character may have been, she was still a remarkable person and an exceptionally beautiful woman. It was a pity that, in the end, she had chosen the weak-minded Mr. G.I., who was easier for her to manipulate...
"So, what now? Cancel the coronation?" Astra inquired timidly, having cast the pistol aside with disgust and looking in horror at the dead bodies.
Everyone around was silent and looking in my direction, waiting for a decision from their ruler. I stood up decisively and wiped away the treacherous tears with my sleeve.
"No, we will not cancel the coronation. What's more, put the marriage back into the program, as it was before. Today, old Fesilia's prophecy will come true, and Astra will be given the largest crown in existence! And yes... intercept Duchess Violetta's starships and bring my sister back to the Throne World. Now is not the time to let another Antagonists be created. Humankind is about to expand even further in the cosmos. Very soon, we will not have to crawl from star to star for decades just to install more warp beacons. Humanity will join the highest league of space-faring races, and the whole Universe will lie at our feet! Our Empire will need all its strength for that massive jump forward!"
Epilogue
Luna-34 orbital station
Laboratory of the Institute of Time
A PRETTY GIRL with a thoughtful look stands next to an open virtual reality capsule. Her session in the computer world had already been over for ten minutes. The equipment should have been deactivated and the sanitary UV cleaning procedure should have been started long ago, but the young beauty was delaying for some reason and nervously biting her lip. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she closed the lid of the virtual reality capsule, put on her work jumpsuit and, with a shake of her mane of stylish bright red hair, headed into the common room.
As she had supposed, her institute colleagues met her arrival with snickers and jeers.
"And, did number Forty-Seven surrender?" Crown Prince Georg would have instantly recognized the chubby man splayed out on the leather chair as his former employer Mr. G.I.
"But your said you had studied Georg in depth and were capable of predicting his reaction to any stressful situation. Your mission was to make him afraid, feign the capture of power, but not to die yourself. Not expecting such mettle from our client, eh?" The middle-aged head of the laboratory with face and voice of the Dark Mother was very upset, and didn't hide it.
The red-headed girl accepted a cup of hot coffee gratefully from the hand of an obliging android and took a seat in an armchair the robot pulled out accommodatingly.
"Yes, I was not expecting this," the girl admitted to her colleagues. "And really, who could have predicted that number Forty-Seven would obtain support from the Alien Queen and become totally immune to my attacks?! Such a thing wasn't planned for. It was wild improvisation on the Perimeter Defense algorithms."
The head of the laboratory wasn't at all satisfied by that explanation. She shook her head in reproach and began reading the notation with the prim voice of a strict teacher:
"Number Forty-Seven was supposed to resist with all his might, then realize the uselessness of all his pitiful vain attempts before your mental might and run away due to the imminent threat to his life. In the scenario, his consciousness would be saved by a miracle, shifting into the body of a low-level guard of the Crown Prince or the first android it came across. Knowing the character of number Forty-Seven, he would never have made peace with being deposed and would have gotten on a path back to the heights of power. Cautiously at every step, constantly worried about giving himself away, he would have captured the Empire built by Crown Prince Georg and crushed it under his boot. We managed to create the ideal warrior, a man who could defeat even himself! Instead of that, our object of study defeated you and became the sole Emperor... What a crazy damned ending! Just tell me, why do we need a ruler of a virtual Empire, when our mission here was to optimize tactical artificial intelligence algorithms for humanity's battles in outer space?! Tell me, do we have a backup of Perimeter Defense before you arrived on the Throne World?"
"Of course we do..." the redheaded beauty slowed down and spun over the consequences one more time in her head before risking making a suggestion to her boss: "But what if we leave everything as it is?"
"What do you mean?" her boss asked, now on guard and even more severe.
The girl hurried to expound:
"Well, we need battles with strong opponents, isn't that right? We'll have more than enough! According to the plot of Perimeter Defense, there will be a scientific breakthrough in the very near future. They are developing new interstellar flight technology, and humanity will fly off to explore the cosmos. That is a boundless field of potential for us! Why arrange for number Forty-Seven to battle old versions of himself, when we already know he will win? So, I say there's nothing for us to gain from resetting the backup. Instead, let's let him do battle with very strong enemies he's never met before! Number Twenty-Three is already ready. Number Five as well. And also, Thirty-Two is very nearly at the necessary level. In all battle simulators, he now confidently defeats standard tactical programs Kiro Sabuto and Kheraisss Vej. So, we have worthy opponents for number Forty-Seven. We can gradually turn on more and more program modules and arrange encounters for him with new space races or alternate versions of human civilization."
The "Dark Mother" frowned and thought it over, but the fat man immediately supported his colleague's idea:
"I like it! There really is a kernel of rationality! Think of all the combat possibilities we could test! Although... I see a certain risk as well. With all these innovations, we might not see something in time, and allow discordance of different game modules or some other kinds of bugs, which would make our client realize that the world around him isn't totally real."
"He already knows!" the girl chuckled, showing a row of even, pearly white teeth. "Tell me, colleagues, who didn't clear the remnants of the older version from Perimeter Defense, and left the names of Earth animals? Hawk. Python. Thrush. Number Forty-Seven noticed that."
"And what was his reaction?" her boss asked, now alarmed and intrigued.
"Tota
lly calm. It seems to me that he accepted my philosophy that there's really no difference between a real and virtual world, if everything there is good, and you perceive it as your home. Number Forty-Seven would tear anyone to pieces for his Empire, his children, his White Queen and his unborn son, his second cousin, and his friends!"
A long silence descended. Taking advantage of the pause, the youngest person in the room risked jumping into the conversation. She was a girl of thirteen or fourteen years with many differently colored braids.
"I am also in favor. Nothing needs to change. Number Forty-Seven has earned the Emperor's throne! How sincerely he loves me, how he protects Likanna from danger! Georg isn't pretending at all, and isn't playing. He really does believe in everything around him, and truly lives in Perimeter Defense with all his soul. It would be unfair to take away his hard-earned victory!"
"We have already given Georg a great deal!" the fat man objected. "In his original timeline, he was going to die very soon. He was too good at playing some online game and deprived his opponents of virtual property that they acquired for very great sum of money. In revenge, they hired an assassin who found and eliminated their offender in the real world. The person who ordered the murder was soon found, and the event was widely publicized. That was exactly how we tracked down such a great fleet leader from long ago, who you know as 'number Forty-Seven.'"
A Game With No Rules (Perimeter Defense Book #4) LitRPG Series Page 34
