Chapter 64 – Comprehension

As the inevitable conclusion of Operation Shakeout got closer and closer, Kairon was trying to scrape together every advantage he could get for his city.

One major wildcard was the tier one wrath brand. He was hoping to get a powerful asset for his city to use. If not, perhaps something for the future to deal with the aftermath.

The problem is that last time, the plane revealed three paths of research. Then, it simply handed him a new advancement on his chosen path.

Which practically amounted to a complete and total gamble. Kairon, for one, hated gambling. Without at least some level of control, planning was nearly impossible.

To that end, one thought kept coming back to his mind. Last time, Sythara had completed her research with a comprehension level. Sixty-five percent. If that was bigger, meeting a new invisible threshold, Sythara had dropped hints that it could lead to actual choices. From a dartboard to a hand of cards.

And without source energy, the sigil experiment wasn’t an option.

Which is why Kairon found himself in the citadel, enjoying a breakfast of stewed ashroot with Sythara.

“So, about what we discussed before,” he began, cutting the silence. “I wanted to revisit any possible way we can maximize comprehension when you commune with the plane.”

“Child, if you get me some helpers, or provide me more time and stop rushing me, I may be able to.”

“I already told you. With the third rookery now complete, I plan to do just that. I have my own reasons to be eager to add void imps to our ranks.”

Kairon wasn’t lying. While research was one facet he expected the voidlings to be able to assist with, so too was the plane’s archaic equivalent of magic. That’s what really made his claws itch. The city lord thought back on everything he’d learned in regards to the six districts and their underlying emotional ties to the plane. Void imps, he was hoping, may be able to harness or even shape those forces. A powerful avenue to revamp his research back into the script of the plane, and the benefits it could bring his city.

Sythara’s eyes had blazed to life. “Yes, Yes! Child, if you give me void underlings, there is much I can do! Maybe even tier two brands!”

The city lord held up one claw, cutting her joy short. “Be that as it may, the soonest those imps would begin to spawn is tomorrow. I am planning on making at least two spawning grounds, which means a duo a day. I need our research done today, however. Not tomorrow. If there’s any chance it can help us with what’s to come, I need it. No, we need it.”

Sythara pursed her lips. “Two isn’t even really enough. I require at least a dozen to make a true difference in my communion.”

“And for higher tiers of research? Like tier two brands?”

“More,” she answered simply.

“I will work on it. For now… Sythara.” He paused, gathering his thoughts. The city lord wasn’t blind to the way both Vorathrex and Sythara displayed their own powerful abilities. Vorathrex with combat, and Sythara with those mysterious shapes on her skin.

Plus her title is Sythara The Unraveler. Which begs the question. Just what can she unravel? Secrets, I presume?

Trying to word it in a way she’d understand, he began carefully. “As a powerful demoness, you do have your own talents granted by the plane, do you not?”

“Of course, child. I am a rank two demon, am I not?”

“Yes, yes.” He thought back to the notification when the second ring had summoned her. So demons have ranks, and Vorathrex is a rank one. Noted.

“And as a rank two demon, in extreme situations like this, what could you offer the city to maybe… increase the comprehension of the wrath brand? What if I told you that I needed it done today, and at a fundamentally stronger level than last time. One that reaches the point where I get actual choices in what the plane provides for the brand. Not just the type of brand, but the understanding that comes with it for new advancements.”

She went very still, considering. Her tendrils swirled around her, skin seeming to go even more pale than usual. “This is quite the request, you understand?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t feel it warranted.”

“Mmm. Always asking, asking, asking.”

Kairon chose to test the waters, so to speak. “As our partnership grows, I think tests like this will come up. With sharing, favors, and compromises. In this case, I’d ask for your share in bearing the burden. And if that isn’t enough…” The demon swiped his claw, Sythara’s pact popping into existence. “I would be willing to consider this a repayment of a large portion of your restitution.”

Internally, another, more calculated play came into mind.

If I frame this just right, I might be able to choose what she uses that pilot experiment on…

At those words, the demoness licked her lips. “How much, exactly?”

“I would be willing to forgive fifty percent of the principal owed in value.”

“Make it—”

“No. Fifty percent,” Kairon said firmly.

With a small pout, Sythara deflated a bit. “Well… Stingy child. I may have a method of finishing the current communion at a higher tier of understanding. However, it comes at a cost. A steep one that I must pay, child. Steep even for what you are offering.”

“I see. What if I was to… add a small token of appreciation? Something outside of our agreement?” he said slowly.

The demoness waved a tentacle. “Well if you were willing to provide me essences for—”

“No,” Kairon replied flatly. “No essence. Not after last time.” He needed the research, but not at any cost.

Huffing, she bit her lips. “But even with the new rules, do you not—”

“Sythara. No,” he repeated. “You’ve proven time and time again that while you are willing to grow and learn, you can not be trusted with certain toys. For now.”

Growling, she tilted her head back, staring up at the tower’s ceiling. “Fine. Then what, hmm? If not essences, what can you offer me that would possibly be worth paying the plane such a price? I can pay the restitution owed in our pact over time, after all. What you are asking is going to have an immediate price on my power.”

The black-scaled demon had already come prepared with an answer for this. While he wasn’t willing to give her essences, he was willing to give her the demonic equivalent of fuel.

“Gold. While it’s not the same sapience as an essence, it does contain a measure of mixed corruptions. As a resourceful scientist like yourself, I’m certain you could find a use for such a thing.”

“I’m surprised, child. The way you stare at that vault made me certain you’d never part with any. And is it not… counter intuitive? That gold is essentially also payable for my restitution?”

Kairon waved casually. “Different value. While gold is valuable, like anything else it is not invaluable. It has a price, and in this case, it is one I feel willing to pay.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “Very well, child. One thousand and we have a deal.”

Kairon nearly choked, amused laughter bubbling from his throat. “A thousand?! Perhaps you’d like the tower and half the city too?” he added. “Oh and maybe a castle of your own!” snorted the demon.

Sythara just stared, not finding any humor in the words.

High pitched laughter filled the tower, the city lord unable to help himself.

“Child, this is not a joke,” urged Sythara.

“No, no, you’re right. Forgive me,” he managed to squeak out. “Just a moment, please!”

It took a minute for the childish laughter to subside, fits of it ripping through his body.

Steeling himself, Kairon focused on the matter at hand the best he could. It took all his willpower, but he finally managed to regain a semblance of control. Wiping a tear with a claw, he breathed in and out, taking greedy gulps of fresh air. “Whew, sorry that was good. I needed that. You know, just for that, I’ll increase the offer I intended. A hundred gold.”

“A hundred?!” she gasped. “That hardly seems fair for what I have to pay.”

“Mmm. It’s all the city can afford. Look around you, Sythara,” he said, gesturing with both arms. “We are early in our development, recovering after business dealings were delayed due to your little snafu, and preparing for the biggest war we’ve ever fought. With not one, but two enemies I might add.”

That was all partially true. For now. If this deal was made in another day, it would be a different story. While they only had a little over two hundred gold in the vault, Kairon had the city moving to four batches of corrupted wood a day. That would rake in three hundred gold per full rotation. Which meant come tomorrow morning, his vault would have over five hundred shiny coins in total.

He leaned back, as if in dismay that it was all he could offer.

“I don’t know. This seems a pittance for what I deserve.”

“You know,” said Kairon, putting his claws on his hips. “I think this is quite fair. Besides, I just had a thought. Have you thought of an appropriate pilot experiment yet?”

“No. But the gold you are giving me might allow some interesting options to surface.”

“It might…” he said. “I just couldn’t help but wonder. If certain alterations were made, like the ones with the spawning grounds, what kind of impact might that have on something like the ritual circle and communion?”

The demoness breathed in sharply. “What? You can do that?!” she hissed.

The city lord raised both his claws. “Let’s just say it is within the realm of possibility to do such a thing for a partner, running a sanctioned pilot experiment, following the guidelines set in their pact. And if you take this deal, I may be willing to stretch out my claws, and offer such an… alteration during a future communion. After thorough discussion, of course.”

“Child, you must—”

“But!” he said loudly, cutting her off. “But,” he repeated again, this time softer, “I need to see proof that you are willing to go above and beyond in experiments such as these. If you were to do so here… To give us a one time boost in the deal we have outlined… I think that may be enough.”

That crazed, thirsty emotion surfaced in Sythara’s pupils. They grew and grew as her thoughts churned.

“I don’t know, child. Those ranks you spoke of? This will not go so far as to drop mine, but it will come very close. This is… risky.”

Kairon dropped one last cherry.

“I’ll even make it two hundred gold.”

Sythara bit her lip, chewing on the offer. Kairon could practically see the logic battling with the manic thirst for knowledge in her mind.

Fortunately, the latter won out. With a resigned flick of her hand, she finally gave her reply. “Very well. I can get you the next level of comprehension, and finish it by tonight. However, this is not something I can repeat. No amount of gold, pacts, or temptations can change that. If you want results like this again, you will need to give me more time, resources, and underlings.”

“Splendid! Just splendid!”

***

While Sythara went off to prepare, Kairon headed towards his afternoon meeting with the DR department. For some reason, Nod had sent word they needed to discuss a pressing matter.

On the way over, he checked his population readout:

Seeing it reminded him of this afternoon’s surprise notifications. Five warriors had fallen. He knew there were risks with the raids, and accepted the cost. Honestly, he was surprised the first two hits had no casualties at all.

I haven’t heard back from gray three yet, but if I had to guess, Brexin either laid some kind of trap, or moved his forces around. Perhaps even putting more competent management near the front of the line. Or, something just went wrong.

For now, he had no idea. But… each fist had six imps. Meaning one was still alive. Hopefully they’d return back with news of what exactly had occurred.

“All in good time,” he told himself aloud. Striding quickly, he passed the newly constructed third rookery in the void district. Warriors returning from late afternoon training were currently bustling inside the door. Raucous laughs, scuffles, and chatters filling the area. The sight of it made Kairon feel a little more energized.

Ahead, his Demonic Resources department chair waited. He waved in greeting.

“Great to see you, Nod. Say, could you please see to it that we post a DR representative in the new rookery.”

“Yes master. Already done! Also, made sign. Like asked. Put by ritual circle.”

“Good, good. That should keep anyone from wandering in without permission. Like I said, I’m really not worried about the circle itself. More some poor imp being assaulted by the plane’s whispers. Or whatever litigation that could result in if the wrong party found out.”

“Yes! Minimize risk!”

Kairon patted his DR supervisor in approval. “Exactly.” The city lord had given the Demonic Resources department a lecture on risk, and why it was bad for business. They’d taken to it with gusto.

“While I have you, have you gotten a sense for the mood of the city? When we only had a few dozen imps, that was easy. But now with over two hundred…”

Nod frowned. “Fervor still sixty-nine?”

The city lord verified on his interface.

“Actually, it fell a percent. Any idea why?” Kairon thought he knew, but he liked hearing it firsthand from Nod.

“War. It make warriors excited. But brood nervous. Talk has spread. They uncertain.”

Kairon put his scaled arms behind his head, sighing. “I thought as much. I just don’t see any way around it. Maybe if our walls were taller, our armies larger, or our city stronger… But we can only do what we can do. For now, keep an eye on it.”

“Yes master!”

“Anything else I need to know about?”

“Actually, yes. Something come attention.” Nod waved his claw in the air, giving a shout. “Bob! Shake! DR business needed! Come!”

When neither answered, Kairon put a claw on Nod’s shoulder and instead used Sovereign Eye to mentally command the duo. As his supervisor said, they were already inside the new rookery, dealing with the chaos.

Even with the mental orders it took them several minutes to untangle themselves and make it out.

“Sorry master! New warriors are… eager! Need safety train,” said Bob as he and his partner dashed up to meet them.

“Yes! Need monitor,” agreed Shake.

Kairon wasn’t too concerned, but Nod wasn’t satisfied. “Add to agenda! We discuss at meeting!” commanded the little imp.

“Yes supervisor Nod!” they both replied in unison.

The city lord smirked. Of all his supervisors, Nod was turning out to be the most strict. Even Shiny didn’t require workers to refer to him by title. Nod, however, had taken his Demonic Resources responsibilities seriously. Compliance, risk management, and internal affairs were the heart of them after all.

Nod cleared his throat, then looked both ways. The four of them were in the middle of the void district, out of ear shot from any of the late day’s workers or warriors. Seeing that, he continued.

“Master,” he began slowly. “We identify issue.”

Kairon cocked his head. They’d already reviewed their charts this morning, which meant that Nod wanted this kept even out of Bean and Shiny’s ears.

“What kind of issue?” he asked curiously.

“Internal.” Nod glanced at his underlings, who both crossed their arms. “Give assessment. Code name purple,” he said.

At the term, both imps stiffened.

Kairon arched an eyebrow. They have code names now, do they?

Shake spoke first. “Risk assessment… Moderate.”

Bob licked his lips. “Disagree. Assess risk… High.”

Shake rolled his eyes. “We discuss this. It—”

Nod held up a claw. “Enough.” He turned to his master. “As hear, risk matter. At least moderate.”

“I see. A big issue, but one you didn’t want to bring up with the other supervisors? It must be quite sensitive then? Just what is it you’ve uncovered?” asked Kairon quietly. On the outside, he maintained the expression of a quiet leader in contemplation.

However, on the inside, he was pumping his fists. This is exactly what I want from my DR manager! Auditing even the auditors, and knowing when to bring an issue to me, and when to share it with the council.

“First, need clarify. What policy with… supervisors.”

Kairon didn’t even have to hesitate. “We are all held to the same standards. No matter the imp, demon, or warrior. Why? Do you believe one of your fellow supervisors has broken one of our policies?” In fact, beyond the residential and building regulations, they really didn’t have set policies. Yet. Only some rudimentary rules.

“Ah, not quite,” explained Nod. “More like… How master say? Bend? Yes. Bend rule.”

“More one supervisor,” chimed in Bob.

Nod gave him a look.

“Multiple? Truly?” clarified Kairon.

Exhaling, Nod finally stopped tip-toeing the line. “Bean and Shiny.”

“Bean and Shiny?” asked Kairon incredulously. “I thought you meant Fang, Boney, or the major demons. But those two?” Now he understood why they hadn’t brought this up earlier. Shiny and Bean were his top performers.

“Explain,” he said firmly.

Instead of answering, Nod opened a claw, revealing a small piece of cloth. He handed it over.

Kairon peeled it open, revealing a small bunch of bright purple grub. Humming quietly, he inspected the substance. It was a mossy, earthy mixture of luminescent plant life, mixed with some unknown worm like creatures.

“What is this?” he asked finally.

“Food.”

“Huh?” Kairon sniffed it, before tentatively biting the grub. It tasted… good. Surprisingly good. He found the look of the stuff not to be to his liking, but the taste was actually quite pleasant. The textures danced on his tongue, before being swallowed down. An earthy, slightly tangy aftertaste remained on his lips.

“Interesting. And I take it that this is the source of this rule bending?” Kairon was starting to piece together what was happening here.

“Yes,” said Nod simply.

“Tell me what you know and why you believe it to be a risk.”

“Meal time rules. Orderly, line, measured. Imp fed, we track. This is…” trailed Nod.

“Off the books is the term you are looking for,” supplied Kairon.

“Correct. Off books. Not know how much. Not know if safe. Not even know where from. Represent risk.”

For several seconds, Kairon just stared at Nod. He was about to commend the imp for his incredible leaps of logic when it happened. Like Boney, then Shiny, a tiny string of energy slid from the ground and melded into Nod’s back. The imp gave no reaction or indication that he felt it, but Kairon certainly did. He nearly cheered.

Universal. I know that feeling. Or lack of it, really. It’s the universal district. Oh my, oh my. The city lord had been hypothesizing about the growing connections from his other managers, and had hoped this might happen with Nod. But for it to be the one, most unassuming but simultaneously interesting of the six districts? He grinned internally.

“Nod, this is splendid deduction work. I’m very proud of you. Do you know how Bean and Shiny got this?”

Shake chimed in. “They dig. Holes.”

“Ohhhh,” breathed Kairon. “That makes sense!” Visions of the ditch Sythara had fallen into, along with other numerous holes that started speckling spots on his domain came to mind.

“Should note. Not free. Imps trade for,” added Bob.

“They’ve developed their own form of currency? That’s wonderful!” replied Kairon, a real smile pushing at his scaled lips.

“Really? Seem… rule break,” tried Nod.

“Oh, it is. Even our rudimentary rules are being bent like straw in the wind to make this happen—” he started, cutting off. Kairon nearly gasped, a sound like lightning crackling in his mind.

His plans and schemes shifted into place. A new piece entered, making what was previously an uncertainty far, far more palatable.

In his mind, he recalled the relevant clauses. The list of titles, and the one he wanted. And the requirements to get it…

This… This is it. This is the path. No longer is it up to chance. This would solidify everything. And perhaps bring some other tasty rewards along for the ride…

He tilted his head back, laughing.

In front of him, the DR trio shuffled back and forth, not sure how to react.

“Master? Is okay?” Nod asked, frowning. A disapproving line crossed his face. “This not joke. Very serious. Risk. I tell you,” he urged.

Kairon got himself back under control, putting his claws on his hips. “Sorry, sorry. Yes, master is fine.” He breathed out. “First of all, you are correct. This is risk, and normally should be dealt with accordingly. But that action doesn’t consider the bigger picture. Sometimes, we have to do things that do represent risk. In this case, what Shiny and Bean are doing actually helps solve our temporary food issue. We’re entirely out of jerky and rarely have fresh meat. It’s just the ashroot. Until I can get a proper kitchen and more diverse food sources, we’ve heard the complaints. That said… Have you seen any sign of addiction, illness, or side effects from the grub?” he asked.

Nod, Bob, and Shake all glanced together, before unanimously shaking their heads in the negative.

“Good. Then here is what we’ll do. Monitor it for now. If you find cases of illness or addiction, tell me immediately. Otherwise, let it be.”

His DR department looked surprised. “Master, this very irregular,” argued Nod. “How regulate? You taught manage risk. This risk.”

“Mmm. Think of it this way. If we cut this behavior out, it not only punishes Shiny and Bean for their brilliant entrepreneurship, but it also opens the door for something worse to take its place. Honestly? A free food source and source of entertainment for our population? I see no reason for this to be an issue.”

“But the rules—” started Nod.

“Yes, yes. Trust your master on this, my little manager. Can you do this for me?”

Nod looked unhappy, but he also pondered his master’s reasoning.

“I try,” he said at last. “But not like!” he added, shaking one claw.

Kairon rubbed the imp’s bald little head. “I expect nothing less.” Internally, another, even deeper motivation had surfaced. One that dwelled even under his schemes, plans, and contingencies.

Time after time, it was becoming clear that when his imps took action and embraced a form of behavior contradictory to their basic nature, his domain responded.

Which means if I let my supervisors continue as is, won’t that connection grow stronger?