The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 92

Part 15

“By my vow of justice, I will bring an end to this evil among us! Let it stay in Serminak, and let any who want to play The Game of Status go there and leave the rest of us alone! And they can damn well sign over their homes and businesses to their wives before they go! A divorce might be in order as well!”

“I want a list of every non-player who’s suffered a loss of property or wealth to a player of the game, directly or indirectly.” Mark growled as the Revealing ended. “And one of everyone who’s been killed in an unsolved murder or suspicious death.”

“Certainly.” Visinniria smiled. “Would you like that on paper, or can I just give it to you psionicly? There are several thousand names on the lists, after all.”

“I’ll take it psionicly.”

“What will you do?” Falgaroth asked.

“I’m going to form a task force of the finest investigators and psionicists on Kellaran, and we’re going to catch those responsible for causing dissension, diminishing production, and reducing the effectiveness of the military.” Mark growled, becoming visibly angrier. “And we are indeed going to administer some monumental beatings, and get those people’s property back!

“All this is happening under my authority as Lord of Serminak, so I’m entitled to fix it wherever it’s happening, though I’ll be co-operating with local authorities as well.

“This crap isn’t the almost-undetectable playing of the game that Zwak told me about when he proposed it, and it’s going to end!”

“Good.” Visinniria declared with a smile of satisfaction. “For psionicists, you can’t do much better than those you have right here, though you might want to ask Somonik and Grakonexikaldoron if they can spare the time to help.”

“Agreed.” Mark nodded, and looked around at the group. “I hope you’ll all agree to join me in this.”

After receiving their assent, their eager assent in the children’s case, he turned to Sheramiv. “I’ll ask Somonik and Gran myself. Can I get you to invite everyone who was in The Anti-conspiracy Brigade before the war? That should do us for investigators.”

“Certainly, my Prince.”

Mark thought for a moment, shook his head, and turned to Povon. “Look, I’m being an idiot. I don’t even know how you or Zarkog managed to police billions of Sylvan and dragons and so on before all this happened. You’re Dragon Lord Regent of Serminak and referee of the game, and as far as I’ve seen you do a damn good job of it. I don’t think we could have foreseen all this, and you wouldn’t have been in the time-bubble anyway if we hadn’t asked you.

“We’re your team in this, and that’s only if you really think you need our help anyway. I realize that you could probably fix all this without having us interfering in your systems.”

“Thank you, and you’re right.” Povon nodded with a proud smile. “While I could definitely fix this with the resources I already have available to me, it would probably take weeks to get it finished. With all of your help and the Anti-conspiracy Brigade, we should be done in a day or two.”

Somonik and Grakonexikaldoron appeared flying, and settled gracefully to the stone beside the patio.

“Hello!” Somonik called in greeting. “We heard you were back, and we couldn’t help noticing when you mentioned us a few times.”

“Good to see you again, both of you!” Mark returned with a grin. “We were just informed that the Game of Status has gotten a little messy, so we’re going to help Povon clean it up quickly.”

“We’d be glad to have you if you’d care to join us.” Povon added.

“We have a few hours we can spare.” Gran chuckled. “It’s good that you’re back to deal with it. Some in the Council wanted us to intervene, but the question of legal authority was largely ambiguous, and we could reach no consensus on a plan.”

“Who else do you plan on having on your team?” Somonik asked Povon.

“All of us here except Sheramiv, and the former members of The Anti-conspiracy Brigade.” she answered.

“Might I suggest one more person?” Gran asked, then continued without waiting for an answer. “Empress Honey. She’s become quite useful in The Just Alliance recently, and she’s a masterful psionicist.”

“Certainly.” Povon agreed, just as the monarch of The Swarm appeared, along with a few dozen of her forty centimeter soldier-drones, who immediately dispersed and began scouting the area.

She and her drones bore the white and blue Marking of The Just Alliance between their antennae, while the rest of their wasp-like bodies gleamed with a coppery-bronze sheen, and their great transparent wings whirred busily and shimmered like a rainbow. She gently alighted on a low rock wall around a garden patch at the side of the patio opposite the newly-arrived dragons, and fanned herself with her iridescent four-meter wings.

“Thank you. I appreciate being invited to join such a project, and I am honored to work with such luminous persons again.” she psionicly told them.

“A masterful psionicist indeed!” Talia laughed. “Welcome, Empress. You and your soldiers look very beautiful today. Though it was very patriotic when you colored your peoples’ entire bodies with the Marking, I do think you’re much prettier in your natural colors.”

“Thank you.” the great insect replied. “I agree, though that is not what decided me. My workers found our new coloring to be quite disconcerting, and it was reducing their effectiveness. They’re rather simple little darlings, and it was too different for them to adapt to.”

“I’m glad and honored to have you on the team.” Povon told her, just as a blue light appeared over the table Mark had fetched.

“Lunch is ready, stay clear of the table top.” Talia announced.

Everyone seated there leaned back, and a complete dinner setting appeared, including cutlery, dishes, cold pitchers of juice, and several steaming containers.

“How do you police several billion Sylvan and other players?” Alilia asked Povon.

“Most of it is done by subordinates.” Povon answered. “Sergeants, guards, officers, investigators, they’re all watching for infractions and punishing the guilty with a moment’s notice.

“Most of the thefts, scams, and schemes of the players don’t result in what I think of as a ‘critical loss’. If a player loses some of their excess wealth or loses some rank or position, they seldom report it, it doesn’t cause any open dissention or a loss of productivity or military effectiveness, and I don’t have to worry about it.

“Most of the crimes that cause a loss of production are caught by teams of skilled auditors and accountants, and the military command structure is hard to fool about decreased effectiveness.

“I left crimes by players outside Serminak to the local authorities, and gave them assistance if they asked for it. All the players recognize that once they’re out of Serminak, they’re not only subject to Zarkog’s three limitations, they’re still subject to all the local laws. For instance, if a player outside Serminak commits a theft and the victim complains, then the perpetrator gets a beating under the rules of the game, as well as the punishment mandated by the local laws. And, the local authorities may choose to prosecute the crime if they find out about it, even if the victim chooses not to enter a complaint.

“Beyond all that, I’ve gotten very good at listening for certain thought patterns. I only have to act when a crime has been detected and not solved, but I’m more assertive about it than that, so I listen for the trauma of victims as well as the triumph of perpetrators.

“From what I’ve heard so far, Kovink Seg Mivtz hasn’t done anything that requires my intervention. There’s nothing in the rules that says that non-players can’t help players so long as they don’t break the law while doing so, so the gnomes can help him as much as they want. And if the rest don’t like it, that’s too bad for them. If they can entice others to help them, they’re welcome to do so.

“The rest of this is a problem of enforcement, rather than being the result of any major flaw in the system. If those who are overseeing the game were doing their jobs well, then none of the non-players would have been inconvenienced. Killing anyone obviously reduces production and military capability, so we have to prevent that. And as the dwarf woman pointed out, losses to non-players cause dissention in the ranks.

“After we’ve cleaned up all the messes, I will most definitely be re-considering the playing of the game outside Serminak. I may drastically increase my enforcement of the rules on the other continents, or I may do as the petitioners ask and limit the game to Serminak.