After ending the phone call, Chris had nothing else to take care of. The creatures were mutating, he was waiting for David to contact him with the details on the core manufacturer, and there wasn't anything else he really needed to take care of. Chris found a place to leave his phone, keeping it in the City so it'd still get David's message, before heading into the Immortal World and dissolving that self. He owned the phone, so he wasn't worried about anyone stealing it, or missing David's message, since he'd be able to monitor it with his awareness the entire time.

The squad was still busy monitoring the hidden cameras, staring blankly at the monitors as they waited for any creatures to pass by. Chris had already noted down everything he knew from his subordinates' memories, including the exact numbers in each of the three nearby tribes, the notable members, their abilities, and general power level as he waited. He didn't even need to pay attention to the monitor he was in charge of, as all he had to do was leave a portal point by it, and it'd be included in his Immortal Worlds awareness.

They'd decided to take shifts to observe the monitors. They split into three groups of six, two of which would observe the monitors while the third slept, before switching again. The extras were the two with stealth abilities, who would focus on following creatures, sleeping whenever they returned. It was honestly very, very boring. The only saving grace was that Chris was able to talk with Beth the entire time. Chris really had nothing to do until his creatures finished mutating, or David contacted him.

The next morning, Chris woke up with a comfortable yawn, performing his usual morning stab, sending himself into the Immortal World. He put on his uniform, ready to head out for another boring day of monitor duty, when he noticed the cocoons were just about done. "Oh?" Chris paused, checking the time. He still had a while before he had to report for his shift, so he decided to check out the changes himself, rather than making a new body, at least for now.

The imps emerged first, their mutations having gone down the usual path. Their bodies had adjusted to make better use of their varying abilities, enhancing their strengths while mitigating their weaknesses. However, when T'ka emerged from the cocoon, Chris's eyes widened in shock. "Uh… T'ka? What, uh… you've- why are you human?" That's right, T'ka hadn't turned more monstrous, like all the other creatures. Instead, she'd developed an almost perfect human form. She only retained a few features from her kobold self, such as slightly thicker and sharper finger nails, and thin, slit-like pupils. Otherwise, she was a normal, surprisingly attractive, if a bit short, human girl. Chris actually couldn't help but appreciate her new form. Almost every feature was exactly tuned to his tastes, which was almost disturbing in its own way. It didn't exactly help that she was naked either, but it wasn't like she could help that. The cocoon didn't provide clothes. Chris coughed, looking away in embarrassment as he waved his hands, putting some clothes on her.

T'ka looked down at the clothes that had suddenly appeared in surprise, before looking up at Chris with a slightly worried expression. "Is this form not appealing to you, Master?" She asked, sounding concerned.

"Huh? No, it's- it's fine. You- wait, is that why you look like this now? To be more appealing to me?" Chris suddenly frowned, looking at T'ka weirdly.

T'ka nodded hesitantly. "I- I wished to be able to serve you better."

"And you needed to be human for that?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow, before frowning again. "Wait, can mutation be directed like that? Like, maybe I could have a combat form, a stealth form… a travel form…" Chris murmured to himself, the possibilities this mutation had suggested sending his imagination into overdrive.

T'ka watched Chris anxiously, not sure what she should do. Should she get him a glass of water again? Maybe some food? She looked around the Immortal World, wondering where she could find such things. As she looked, pleading internally for something that would satisfy her Master, when suddenly a glass of soda and a plate of bacon and eggs appeared on the ground before her. She excitedly picked them up, bringing them over to Chris and offering them to him.

Chris absently took the glass of soda, sipping at it, before pausing, looking at the glass strangely before turning to T'ka and raising an eyebrow at her. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what, Master?" T'ka asked, cocking her head.

"You made the food and the drink. How?" Chris asked, staring at her intently.

"I-I don't know. I was just searching for something to satisfy you and it simply appeared." T'ka replied nervously, hoping she hadn't done something wrong.

"Interesting…" Chris muttered, looking her over with an evaluating gaze. "Try to look for something else, anything."

T'ka froze, not sure what to look for. She didn't want anything. Unless… was there anything else she could get for her Master? What did her Master need? He had food and drink, he had shelter, that only left… T'ka flushed. If her Master desired to satisfy himself in that department, he could simply make use of her. There was no need to look for anything else. Though… maybe she could find something to make herself more appealing?

Chris was watching T'ka, a wary look in his eye as he noticed the changes in her expression, when suddenly her clothing adjusted, shifting to accentuate certain features of her body, causing Chris's eyes to widen. "Nope, nope, stop that!" Chris exclaimed, waving his hand, forcing the clothing to change back. "Damn it, what kind of ideas do you have in that little head of yours?!?"

T'ka's eyes widened. "I-I just wish to serve you Master. I wish to fulfill any need or desire you may have." T'ka explained nervously.

Chris groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "For fucks sake, what is happening around here?!? Why does everyone suddenly want to jump me?" He muttered, before looking at T'ka with a serious expression. "Look, I don't- I'm not sure how things were in your old tribe, but- wait, no, I do know how things worked in your old tribe… not the point. See, humans take things like sex very seriously. It isn't something you just do. Well, no, some people do, but I don't. So, don't- try anything like that again, alright?"

T'ka nodded seriously, taking his words to heart. The last thing she wanted to do was displease him. Her offer wasn't out of any form of affection, but purely out of submission. After what happened, she had realized that now that she was connected to Chris's world, there was nothing anyone could do to actually harm her, besides Chris. If he was happy, he could make her life a paradise, but if he was unhappy… he could make her life a living hell. Therefore, she would do everything she could to keep him happy, no matter what. It could only benefit her.

Chris gave her a weird look, wondering just what was going through her mind, before shaking his head. As long as she got it, it was enough. Still, he had to admit that all this had taught him a lot, particularly the fact that he could direct how he mutated and that his subordinates seemed to be able to access certain features of the Immortal World as well, though the details on the second one were a bit fuzzy. "Alright, get ready. We'll be heading out to begin taking over the kobold tribe soon." He told her, opening a portal to head out to begin his shift on the monitors.

The moment he left, a new Chris formed, going over his portal points near the kobold tribe, trying to decide where to begin. "Sidulpek, I want you to head towards the kobold tribe and look for incoming hunting parties." He finally announced, opening a portal for her to jump through. "T'ka, you and the capture team will patrol around the edge of the territory in the meantime. Look out for any kobolds, and, well, you know, capture them." Chris continued, opening another portal for them to go through. "As for you guys…" Chris turned to Dyrdek and the combat team. "I'm going to send you guys to a different area to focus on hunting down creatures. I'm going to be getting into crafting ability cores soon, hopefully, and I'll need materials to work with." Chris finished, opening another portal for them to go through.

After the last portal closed, Chris paused. What was he supposed to do? He supposed he could join one of the teams, but they didn't really need him. Plus, that would sort of defeat the purpose of assigning the team leaders. If he was there, he'd just take command. All he really had to do was keep track of them and open portals when necessary, and he didn't need an extra body to do all that. "Huh… Well, this self was rather short lived." Chris muttered to himself, shaking his head as he was about to dissolve it, when his phone received a text. '7 am. My house. Wear a suit.' The short and simple text from David read. "Huh… why do I need a suit?" Chris muttered to himself with a frown, before shrugging. It didn't particularly matter anyways. With the Immortal World, putting a suit on wasn't much different from anything else.

Chris checked the time and it was just past six, so he decided not to dissolve this self for the moment, taking the time to enjoy the bacon and eggs T'ka had brought him and reading a book for a bit, before heading out at six fifty-five. He had a portal point right by the house, so he just needed to walk up the drive and knock on the door.

"Ah, Chris, perfect timing." David greeted him as he opened the door, also wearing a suit. "Come with me." He waved, heading to the limo and climbing inside.

Chris frowned, getting in as well. "Where are we going?"

"Do you remember the mayoral candidate I mentioned before, Salvador Perez? He and a few of his potential supporters are getting together for a small meet and greet, one of whom happens to be one of the best Coresmiths in the City. If you can make a good impression, she would be the best teacher you could ask for." David explained.

"Ah." Chris nodded. "So, you actually decided to throw in behind Perez? I thought you were staying neutral."

David sighed. "Yes, I was, but Belinda decided to give her support to Johnson. If I continued to remain neutral, Johnson would have been guaranteed a win, and I couldn't let that happen. With my support, at least Perez still has a fighting chance, slim though it may be with at least half the Families against him."

Chris frowned. "Wait, the eugenics guy has that much support? Why? That's like… textbook authoritarian bullshit."

David sighed. "It's all about power. The Families have always wanted to add better and better… stock to their genetics. Hell, before I married Abigail, quite a few of the Families were parading their daughters around me in an attempt to get me to marry in. That's actually how me and Belinda first got to know each other. With Johnson's policies, they would actually be able to force powerful ability users to marry into their lines. That's why they support him so much. As for the common people… well, Johnson's campaign is focused on taking advantage of the fervor to 'conquer the Maze' as quickly as possible. The quicker we can accomplish that, the quicker we can end the Trial. A lot of people are willing to give up a little freedom to see that happen."

"Shit… that would not bode well for me and Beth, huh?" Chris muttered seriously. He could already see Beth being forced to marry some random asshole from one of the Families, or even that stupid Daniel dude.

"That's one of the reasons I had to support Perez." David sighed. "I can't sacrifice my daughter's happiness just to end the Trial a bit faster."

"Yeah, but think about how many other people's daughters get sacrificed in the Maze every year." Chris pointed out.

David looked at him with a frown. "Whose side are you on?"

"Logic's?" Chris replied. "See, if you try to argue from an emotional standpoint, you're going to lose. The Trial causes a lot more misery than Johnson's policies will, particularly to the common people. The free choice of a few high-tiers won't phase them in the face of sacrificing their children. No, what you need to do is argue the effectiveness of Johnson's policies. Take the Families for example. Yes, they have plenty of high-tiers, but they also have plenty of mid-tiers, and even a few low-tiers. They've been doing this selective breeding crap for years, even before the Trial was put in place, and it still hasn't guaranteed they'd be powerful. What if the reason our average power level is increasing has nothing to do with genetics? What if there's some other factor that's causing it? Yes, the Trial has caused us to be stronger, but do we really know why? Is it because bad genes have been removed from the gene pool? Or is it because we're bringing back more resources from the Maze? Or maybe it's because the pressure of dying has caused people to train more, and we've simply discovered the hidden potential that was already there, not created anything new. Correlation doesn't equal causation. Maybe there's some other factor the Trial influences that is causing this, and if we found that factor, maybe we could stop the Trial altogether, even before we conquered the Maze."

David raised an eyebrow at Chris, before shaking his head. "You sound just like Jo. Yes, I'm aware that an emotional appeal would be a losing battle. It's simply one of my motivations, and I can't change that."

Chris paused. "Well, that's fair, I guess. Who's Jo?"

"She's the person you're here to meet." David grinned.

The limo soon arrived at a small venue, stopping to let the two of them out, before driving off. David led Chris inside, and they were greeted by the door by an older man with a large grin. "David! I'm so happy you could attend! I don't know where we'd be without your support."

"I'm sure you'd have figured something out." David chuckled, shaking hands with the man. "You really do have a great team around you."

The man chuckled as well. "That's the key to being a politician, isn't it? You don't have to be great yourself, but you must surround yourself with great people."

"There's greatness in that as well, don't you think?" David replied.

"Well, I would certainly like to think so, now wouldn't I?" The man laughed, before turning to Chris. "Now who might this be? A promising talent you've picked up from the Scouts?"

"Something like that." David grinned. "This is my daughter's boyfriend, Christopher Vincent. He's shown interest in being a Coreforger, so I brought him along to introduce him to Jo, see what she thinks of him. Chris, this is Salvador Perez, the man who, hopefully, will be the next Mayor of the City."

Salvador's expression twitched strangely as Chris was introduced. "Your daughter's boyfriend, huh?" He raised an eyebrow at David, before turning to Chris. "You must be pretty eager for us to win, right? If Johnson's policies go through, Beth will be forced to marry someone from one of the Families."

Chris shrugged. "Eh. I figure if Johnson really gets elected, I'll just take Beth and go live in the Maze. Shouldn't be much of an issue."

"Live in the Maze, huh? Even with Beth's ability, that would be a tough prospect, especially if she needs to protect you as well. Could you really subject her to a life of struggle, just to keep her to yourself?" Salvador asked with a stern look.

Chris got a strange look on his face. "Uh, no, if that was the case, I'd probably just let it go, but I'm confident I can keep Beth safe, even in the Maze, maybe even happy and comfortable. The only real issue would be the lack of social opportunities…"

Salvador frowned. "Young man, I can excuse weakness, but I cannot stomach delusional pride and stupidity. You must have at least experienced the first level of the Maze, and no matter how lucky you are, you must have experienced at least some of the danger of that place. How can you even think of creating any semblance of safety and security in such an environment?"

Chris was surprised by Salvador's sudden stern, almost lecturing tone. "Uh, well, because of my ability?"

Salvador paused. "Your- your ability?" He asked, sounding slightly incredulous.

"I know it might sound ridiculous, but with this kid's ability, plus Beth's strength, surviving in the Maze wouldn't be impossible." David interjected with a thoughtful look. "Still, the amount of things you would be abandoning to do so… do you really think it's worth it?"

"If the alternative is to abandon Beth, then yes, it is absolutely worth it." Chris stated firmly.

David gave him an evaluating stare, before nodding sharply. "Very good." He grinned, before turning back to Salvador. "We should probably stop bothering you now. My apologies for taking up so much of your time."

Salvador shook his head. "It's been my pleasure, really. This conversation has been rather… interesting. Mr. Vincent, it has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He shook both of their hands, before moving on to mingle with the rest of the guests.

David led Chris deeper inside, occasionally stopping for a short chat with one of the other guests, introducing them to Chris as he did, before moving on, he gaze scanning the crowd in search of his target. Finally, his eyes landed on a certain woman, and he immediately began leading Chris that way. The woman, who looked to be around Chris's age, glanced at them, acknowledging them with a smile and a nod, before finishing up her current conversation and turning to greet them.

"David! I'm glad you made it! The party is saved! You know how us intellectual types can get without practical people like you to bring us down to earth." She chuckled, walking over and giving David a hug, before turning to Chris. "And who might this handsome young man be?" She asked, looking Chris over as if studying a potential meal.

David rolled his eyes. "Knock it off, Jo, he's spoken for. This is my daughter's boyfriend, Chris."

"Oh, so this is the one who's interested in becoming a Coreforger?" Jo cocked her head, studying Chris in an entirely different way. "What's his ability? Which highschool did he go to? What were his grades? Hold on, actually, let me pull up his file. What's his full name?" She fired off a barrage of questions, before shaking her head and pulling out her phone, pulling up the City records.

"Christopher Joseph Vincent." Chris answered.

Jo began to type it into the search bar, when she suddenly froze, looking up at Chris with a strange look. "Did you say Christopher Joseph Vincent?" She asked, her tone sounding confused, but Chris swore he detected a hint of shock in her voice.

"Uh, yeah?" Chris replied, looking at her strangely.

"Ah, good. I thought I might have misheard." Jo smiled, the strangeness from earlier completely disappearing as she finished putting Chris's name in, pulling up his records. She scanned them seriously, a slight frown on her face as she looked through everything. "It says here you can connect to a world that grants complete regeneration upon death?" She looked up, raising an eyebrow at Chris. "That isn't exactly a Coreforger suitable ability. Otherwise, you seem to be a bright kid, and I could definitely work with you, but without the right ability, it's hard to go very far in Coreforging."

Chris shook his head. "That file is a little out of date. Regeneration is only part of the world's ability. The part I think would be useful for Coreforging is that I can use the world to break an object down into its most basic components, analyzing it completely. I can then reform the basic components into anything I've previously analyzed, in any form I like. Well, as long as I can visualize it. Making simple shapes is easy, but it'd take me a bit to make something like a circuit board from scratch, since I'd need to go through each connection as I did. Of course, if I already had a blueprint for it, it'd be simple as well… I'm good at copying, but creation takes time."

David frowned. "Since when have you been able to do that?!? It completely changes the logistic needs of any squad you're in!"

Chris paused, thinking about it. "Four days ago? I think? It feels like it should be longer, but I think that's just because I've had multiple me's running around. Getting more than one set of memories at once really messes with your sense of time. Especially when you can perfectly recall each and every instant."

David raised an eyebrow at him. "Just how many of you are running around out there?"

"Just two at the moment. This one and the one in the Maze. I don't like making any more than I need, cause then some of me will just be sitting around bored, and I hate being bored." Chris explained with a shrug.

David stared at him blankly for a moment, frowning slightly, before shaking his head. "After we're done here, you're giving me a full account of all the functions of that world of yours, understood?" He stated firmly, slipping into his military voice. This was an order from the commander of the Scouts, not a question from Chris's girlfriend's dad.

Chris nodded sharply. "Yes, sir."

David nodded back, before relaxing, turning back to a slightly stunned looking Jo. "So, what do you think? Can you teach him?"

"I- if- if his ability is what he says it is, then… I can't possibly say no, now can I? Even if his ability wasn't suitable, I'd at least show him a few tricks if he insisted, for your sake. If he actually shows some promise… well, then I would be the one thanking you." Jo replied, finishing with a smile. She then turned to Chris, pulling out a business card and handing it over. "Come by my office tomorrow morning, nine."

Chris nodded. "Thank you. I really appreciate this opportunity. I look forward to learning from you."

Jo gave him another strange look, before smiling and nodding back. "I'm looking forward to it as well. I can already tell you'll be an… interesting student."

After another hour or so of socializing, David and a few of the other guests, including Jo and Salvador, stepped out for a moment to discuss the campaign, leaving Chris with not much to do as he was forced to wait for David to return. Chris looked around, wondering if he should try to talk to someone, or just find a corner somewhere to wait, when he felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see an older man standing behind him with a polite smile. "Hello, I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Doctor Bartholomew Jacobs." He greeted Chris, holding out his hand.

Chris took the hand, giving it a short squeeze. "I'm Chris. How can I help you?" He asked, cocking his head in confusion.

"Well, you see, I'm a researcher, and my area of study is focused on abilities and their origins, how they come to be, how they develop, and so on. My own ability happens to be Reading, which is actually why I approached you. You see, I've noticed that, according to my ability at least, you don't seem to have any ability at all, and I was wondering how that was actually, well, possible?" Dr. Jacobs explained, his brow creasing as he studied Chris with an intense gaze.

"Ah, I see. Yeah, my ability can't be read for some reason. Probably because I don't have an ability core? At least, not in my body… I suppose my ability core would be the world I'm connected to, but… I honestly couldn't tell you how that would work." Chris replied, frowning himself as he considered his ability. How did his ability work?

Dr. Jacobs raised an eyebrow at him. "A world, you say? Fascinating! I would love to examine your ability in action. If you have the chance, please, stop by my office sometime." Dr. Jacobs handed him a business card.

Chris glanced at the card, before pausing, his eyebrows raising slightly. "Huh. You work in the same building as Jo."

Dr. Jacobs chuckled. "Well, of course. She is the director of the facility."

Chris frowned. "Really? Isn't she a little young?"

Dr. Jacobs got a weird look on his face. "Young? She may appear so, but that is thanks to her ability. Director Vuntulla has the ability to copy and paste matter. Anything that she touches can be recreated as long as she has a sufficient source of matter to work with, including her own past form. She continually resets herself to the prime of her life. She may look to be in her early twenties, but her real age is at least in the sixties, possibly even the seventies or eighties. The amount of experience she has under her belt is enormous. She is an expert in almost half a dozen fields of study, as well as a Master Coreforger, a renowned songwriter, and a talented political analyst."

Chris's eyes widened. "Huh… that's an interesting use of an ability. But why does she choose to be so young? I mean, wouldn't it be better to be in her thirties, so people might take her more seriously?"

Dr. Jacobs coughed awkwardly. "Well, her explanation is that that age is the best for learning, and being too much older would hinder her development. I think she just enjoys the look on people's faces when they realize they've been talking down to the big boss."

Chris paused. "That does sound amusing."

The two chatted lightly for a few more minutes, mostly just Dr. Jacobs telling a few amusing stories about some particularly arrogant elites who'd been taken down by Jo's ploys. It seemed she was quite the expert at taking down those with high egos. Chris was beginning to look forward to working with her.

"Welcome, everyone, I'm glad you could all be here." Salvador greeted his supporters with a smile, as they gathered together in a small meeting room to discuss his campaign. "Now, as you all know, our major obstacle at the moment is casting doubt on the theory of genetic determination of ability strength. We know genetics is influential in determining ability type, but the strength of those abilities has always varied wildly. The same ability in the same family can vary all the way from the lowest of low-tier, to the highest of high-tier. How can we make a convincing argument that this has nothing to do with genetics?"

Jo stood up next. "I've been analyzing the data, and there are a few factors that have changed since the beginning of the Trial. First, the decreased population. The population of the City has, predictably, been declining ever since the Trial began. Secondly, increased activity in the Maze. Each year, more and more resources are brought into the City from the Maze. Thirdly, the change in culture. Physical training has become more and more prevalent throughout the City as the population places more and more emphasis on an individual's strength." She began, listing the results from her recent studies. "All these factors correlate with the rise in the average power level of the City, however, none of the data is particularly convincing. Our alternate theories don't have enough support to shake the popularity of genetic determinism." She finished with a frown.

"We need a focal point, something to draw people's attention to the issue. Some sort of mascot that flies in the face of genetic determinism." Another member of the campaign spoke up with a serious expression.

David shook his head. "We all know that, but where are we supposed to find someone like that? High-tiers congregate in the Vanguard, and the Vanguard is firmly under the control of the Families. Any high-tier outside the Vanguard is either part of the Families, or their ability is on the weaker end, not convincing enough for a mascot."

The conversation began to move in circles, as everyone knew the problem, but they had no idea how to actually solve it. They knew there were high-tiers out there who could fit the role, but they were all under the thumb of the Families. High-tiers born from low-tiers were usually poor, leaving the military or the Families as their only chance for success. The Families were experts at roping in high-tiers. Eventually they moved on to other subjects, but the meeting ended on a sour note, as no one had a solution to that one, key point.

"Now, tell me about this ability of yours." David began after they got into the limo. Once the meeting had ended, they'd said their goodbyes and quickly departed.

"Okay… what do you know about so far?" Chris asked.

"The healing, the portals, the matter manipulation, and the multiple forms." David replied. "I assume there's more?"

Chris nodded. "In addition to all that, I'm also completely aware of everything that happens in my world, as well as the area within a meter of any portal points I've set. I also have a certain level of awareness of the things I own, but it depends on the functions of the object. For example-"

"Hold on. Objects you own?" David asked incredulously.

"Ah, right, you don't know that part. Well, essentially, I can attach things to my world, letting me move them in and out at will, even without a portal, track their location wherever they are, access any feature such as a mic or a camera to monitor the area around them, and if they're alive, I can even mutate them." Chris explained.

"Mutate? Wait, alive!?! You can connect living beings to your world?!?" David exclaimed in shock.

Chris nodded. "Yup. And it makes them just as unkillable as I am in the process, as well as letting them mutate, as I said earlier. The only downside is they're forced to obey any command I give them, so they're essentially my slaves. Nice when it comes to the creatures in the Maze, but kind of a heavy price for people. Well… most people." Chris added with a frown as he remembered Debra, and her exuberant attitude towards his control over her.

David raised an eyebrow. "Have you actually done this to anyone?"

Chris sighed. "Only one, and it wasn't on purpose. You see, if someone is in my world, and they express wholehearted submission, such as saying they'd do anything to repay me, and meaning it, they're automatically connected to my world, and once it happens I can't disconnect them. I happened to run into a woman with terminal cancer yesterday, and I wanted to see if I could cure it. Once I did… well, how would you react if that happened to you?"

David nodded. "Understandable. Now, explain this mutation you've been talking about."

"Right, mutation. Well, essentially, the world continuously collects information on the experiences of those connected to it. It can perform some minor alterations when healing someone after they die, but that's just optimizing what's already there. Once enough experience has been collected, the world can give the person an entirely new form, giving them a better, more powerful body, or at least more suited for the purpose they're looking to accomplish. This kobold I captured just got bigger eyes, because he has a hypnosis ability that requires eye contact." Chris explained, before frowning. "Huh… My other kobold also mutated weirdly. She turned straight into a human. I wonder if it's a kobold thing…"

"Into a human? Really?" David asked incredulously.

"Well, close enough, you know? She still has the lizard eyes and her nails are sharper than seems appropriate, but otherwise, yeah." Chris nodded.

"Why would that happen?" David frowned.

Chris froze, flushing slightly. He coughed in embarrassment. "Uh, well, there were some… misunderstandings, about her duties as one of my subordinates. You know how the creatures in the Maze live, right? Apparently she just kind of assumed that one of the things she'd be responsible for would be… well, you know. Never going to happen, obviously, but she didn't know that. Thankfully, Sidulpek is too scared of me to think that way, or I'd have two of those on my hands."

David frowned. "Hold on, how many creatures have you subdued at this point?"

"Eleven. Two goblins, Two kobolds, six imps, and a slime." Chris answered. "Though, I'm currently working on taking over a kobold tribe, so that number should grow soon."

"Have you noticed any issues as you subdue more and more creatures? Any difficulty in keeping them under control?" David asked with a serious look.

Chris frowned, before shaking his head. "No. If anything, my subordinates are becoming more submissive as time goes by. Like they don't just have to do what I say, but they actually want to."

David's frown deepened. "So you're saying you can control as many creatures as you want? There's no strain from subduing more? Not even a slight tension?"

Chris shook his head again. "Nope. I mean, it takes some effort to actually connect them to the world, if they resist, but I just get a headache for a bit, then no more issues."

David glared at him for a moment, before turning and shaking his head, refusing to even look at Chris. "That is some bullshit."

"Well… yeah, kinda." Chris nodded. "I'm pretty sure if you give me enough time, I could get the entire Maze under my control."

"And how much time is enough?" David asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Chris frowned. "I'm actually not sure… see, there's still some difficulty in actually subduing the creatures. I think I'd only be able to subdue a couple dozen a day, depending on how resistant the creatures are, and that's with help. With the sheer amount of creatures in the Maze… it'd take me a while."

David looked at him weirdly. "What if you were just trying to get through the Maze? How long would it take you to reach the surface?"

Chris paused. "As long as it takes to walk up there? I can't die, you know. As long as I keep going, eventually I'll reach the surface. As for actually fighting my way up there… I don't think it should take too long. I just need to keep subduing stronger and stronger creatures, as well as increasing the strength of the creatures I already have so… maybe a year?"

David looked him over with a thoughtful look. "How would you like to help Perez get elected?"