“Time to give to tell people the good news,” I say without preamble to my council the instance I return to the chamber.

I’d not been gone long, around half an hour. The mortals had made a reasonable attempt at cleaning themselves up in that time. They scramble, standing up and asking questions. I ignore them and fling the doors open to the balcony.

“Vilte, you’re with me up front. Keep it short: unconditional surrender. I will take it from there. The rest of you in a row just behind us within sight of the camera line. Not a word on abolition, need to pick your brains on that first. Move or be moved.”

My plan is simple, Vilte will make the announcement to the people, I’ll scare the crap out of them on live TV but Vilte will be there all the time behind me sending the subtle message that he will be the good cop to my bad cop. With the deadwood weeded out of the council and my new team in place, I should be able to use them to steadily push the people outside of the free zone down the path of abolition and eventually racial equality. Whoever Vilte can’t charm, I’ll threaten and/or kill.

Simple. Boring but simple.

I walk out, nodding to Jana Jacobson and her camera crew, who I’d teleported on to the balcony at the same time I returned. Like true professionals, they’d recovered from the surprise translocation and were setup and filming.

In the last hour, the crowd of people in the square and parks below the Dawn Tower had swelled. Entire families had come, parents carrying their kids on shoulders, kids with cotton candy and white balloons. It was quite the festive atmosphere. Flags and banners, all bearing the Republic’s white shield with three linked red circles in the middle, flutter gaily over almost every second person making the space into an ocean of white.

Interspersed amongst the national flags was a less common insignia but borne in much taller banners, a white rose with a drop of red blood - the knights of purity, the country’s most popular white supremicist order. Adorably enough, there was even an entire school contingent all in supremacist cosplay.

They all cheer Vilte when he steps up to the microphone, everyone of them raising their fist as they do so. Vilte grimaces in obvious pain.

“Good people, we the council of the Greater Republic of Liasval, have unconditionally surrendered to the entity, Dominus.”

He steps back to complete silence.

Before the crowd has a chance to completely process Vilte’s words and go completely bananas, I step forward and unleash [Auro of Annihilation]. As one, the people below fall onto their knees, flags and banners falling out of nerveless fingers.

“Your country is now my Domain. Your council serves me. Your laws serve me. You serve me.”

I keep excluding Jana’s crew and the news helicopters from my aura so that they can continue to broadcast as I ratchet [Auro of Annihilation] up one more notch.

The people fall onto their faces, ground down by overwhelming fear. Here’s a known fact about humans - when you really frighten them, their fight-flight response is completely bypassed and they freeze completely and become very quiet. If they move at all, it is to fold into the smallest target possible. It’s built into them, even the babies.

Using [Perfect Target Acquisition] in conjunction with [Auto-Map], I acquire the country in its entirety as a target and ripple out a brief weak pulse of my aura. Across the country, mortals freeze momentarily in panic as the primitive parts of their brain scream out warnings of a predator close by.

“My first order: leave. Leave now.”

I release the crowd so that they can get up on their feet but I set my aura at a level of deep unease. The grounds below turn into chaos as people try to obey. In some parts, panicked mobs form and begin to push and jostle. This in turn causes the fear to spread even more. I turn off my aura completely at that point but it’s too late. Nervous systems already pushed to the edge snap and people begin to fall underfoot. Within seconds, men, women and children are dying.

I grunt in annoyance. It’s a total clusterfuck. I’d forgotten how fragile mortals, especially humans, can be.

The panic is effective however and within minutes, the grounds are cleared leaving crushed bodies amongst the abandoned flags and banners, each crumpled human a red flower in the sea of white.

-ding-

>This quest:

>Murders: Humans: 28 (+0) >Manslaughter: Humans: 43 (+43)

One of my council members clears his throat. It is Salvador. The others are silent, on high alert.

“Dominus, can we send the medics in, please,” he asks.

“Yes.” I say.

Vilte is besides himself, again. For a dictator who executed the royal family and no doubt countless others, he seems to genuinely care for his people.

“You monster! There were women there and children! What the fuck was I thinking we could work together.” he shouts, unmindful of Jana still broadcasting faithfully.

Great, the last fuckup to add to the mega clusterfuck. There is nothing in that sentence that will let me retrieve the situation.

Plan B it is then.

I backhand the idiot. He lifts off the ground and slides a couple of meters away until he hits a wall, unconscious. I float his body behind me as I walk in to the chamber, motioning Jana and her crew to follow as I do so. I leave the rest of the council outside. I’d immediately frozen all of them in case any of them makes the same fatal mistake.

Jana and her camera crew’s eyes widen as they film the blood drenched room and the bodies. I give them a few seconds to film the whole thing before moving in front of the camera.

“People of my Domain,” I say, “your life has become very simple. You will obey. You will not question. You will not protest.”

With that last statement, I cut off Vilte’s head. Blood fountains from his neck in an arc, as I move his body to join the others. His head floats a little behind like a macabre balloon. I settle his body down neatly, placing his head on his chest like the others.

I am not done yet though and speak into the camera again.

“Tear down every portrait, every statue of that guy, every flag of the old Republic. By the end of the week, the town that fails will be made an example of. Don’t be that town. Jana Jacobson here will be filming what I do to it, so tune in Friday.”

I gesture to the row of bodies. Jana’s camera man, now used to my cues, points his camera accordingly and gets great footage of 28 bodies compressing into memorial diamonds.

I teleport the crew out, back down to the rest of the media outside the palace.

I teleport the council into the chamber. Olli is weeping unashamedly at the death of his friend. He may need to die too. The others are stone faced, again only Salvador is relaxed, calculating.

-ding-

>This quest:

>Murders: Humans: 29 (+1) >Manslaughter: Humans: 43 (+0)

I flick the holopanel shut and address the surviving members of the team.

“The job is simple: keep the country from going up in flames after that cluster fuck.

First, we need more people on the council. Get me a list of the positions you need and the people best suited for it. Loyalty and capability. Preferably someone who hated Vilte - he must have some enemies much as it seems the whole country thinks the sun shines out of his ass. Call this group Omega.

Second, I want to know who will never play ball. I dont fucking care how important they are. Get me a list, names and photos too if you have them. And their families as well - anyone close. Feel free to add in people you have a grudge against, why the fuck not - just so long as they dont belong in Group Omega. Call this group Alpha.

Third, I want a list of people who may play ball. Everyone else who is important and their loved ones. Call this group Beta.

This is how it is going to go down. I am going to execute group Alpha, loved ones first, in front of group Omega and group Beta. After that I am going to get group Beta and Theta to pledge allegiance to me. All of this will take place tomorrow in front of the cameras. Let’s call it my inauguration.

The exceptions to the lists above are slaves or ex-slaves. I have that in hand.

Olli, I want a list of all ambassadors in order of the strategic importance of their country. I want it in an hour. For fucks sakes, dont look like that, I am not planning on starting any wars. Yet.

Finally, Vicent, get someone to clean this room up. Also get me a phone and give the number to everyone here.

Alright, that’s it for now. You’re still breathing because you’re pragmatic and capable. Let’s keep it that way. All names to me in 23 hours. Salvador, stay for a moment, the rest of you go.”

“Vilte is of the Toma family, am i right?” I ask Salvador after the rest leave, “Illustrious, rich, politically engaged, nice wide family tree. I bet you guys are right into family trees. I bet you guys are super keen to make sure only white people are in those trees.”

Salvador nods.

“I want that whole tree. I’m going to chop it down, root, branch and all those cute little leaves. Call it my grand finale tomorrow.”

“Yes, Dominus.” Salvador replies then pauses, “if it makes any difference, I understand why it has to be so now.”

I look at Salvador, trying to make out if he is sucking up to me in fear for his life or not. He isn’t. He is genuinely trying to build a bridge with the guy that murdered his previous boss and plans to do the same to countless others.

“Fucking Vilte. In front of the fucking camera. A fucking waste,” I say.

Salvador nods. Classy. There’s nothing he can say to that without either being an asshole or a brown-nose. I really hope I dont have to kill him.

“One more thing,” I say, “I don’t want another Vilte situation, you get me?”

“I will provide advice about the other council members, Dominus.”

I wave a hand in dismissal. The mortal bows and exits, leaving me alone in the chamber of blood and diamonds.

-ding-

A full hologram of the Buddhist monk Chan materialises and bows. The avatar interface must apply to him too.

“Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha,” the monk chants, “You are now 24 hours into your new incarnation, Dominus. The Buddha says: ‘Silence the ill-natured man with kindness. Silence the miser with generosity. Silence the liar with truth’”

“That was Plan A. Plan B is all about silencing each enemy with death.”

“It is not too late, Dominus.”

“Oh yeah, how about you lay out your brilliant plan then?”

“If you had told Vilte and the others about your plan first, perhaps Vilte would not have reacted as badly, Dominus.”

“Perhaps, or perhaps he wouldn’t have been able to keep a smirk from his stupid face when he surrendered. Or maybe he would have said something even more stupid. For Plan A to work, and for that matter, Plan B, every person must be in absolute fear of me. Plan A was just going to take a lot less bodies.”

“You did not trust him, Dominus.”

“I don’t trust anyone, monk. And dont you fucking quote the Buddha on trust.”

“A pity, I had a good one lined up. But you take my point I think, Dominus. Also, you may consider that a part of you wanted Plan B. After all, it was unnecessary to push the crowd so hard. And perhaps you could have found a way to punish Vilte instead of executing him. Death is so final after all, Dominus.”

“I did not want Plan B,” I shout at the monk, “I do not want to slaughter hundreds of innocents. I do not want to terrorise thousands upon thousands more. I am not that kind of asshole.”

“Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha, Dominus. The Buddha says: ‘you talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?”’

The monk bows and disappears.