Opening the door to EdraineÆs room Randidly was surprised to see that Lady Iellaya was already there Which meant that there were more passages through the Nexus than just going up and down the Web Still wearing her ornate military uniform Lady Iellaya grinned over at him You know Commandant Wick could crush you right Like a bug accidentally if he carelessly passed too close to you
For now Randidly responded with a similarly sharp grin They booth took steps forward and hugged each other briefly Then they stepped apart at the same moment moving with unspoken cooperation Seeing Lady IellayaÆs skeptical expression Randidly shrugged But we will see what happens in a year
You are fucking insane Lady Iellaya speechlessly shook her head Then both turned and looked at Edraine and Octavius who were standing next to the central table in the room with serious expressions Since Randidly had gone to his interview the table had been cleaned of the messily strew papers and now housed three separate stacks of coins
Randidly observed the three stacks The leftmost stack he recognized as three Coins of Territory stacked on top of each other The middle stack resembled the Tier I citizenship coins except the metal was a strange blue color There were five of these coins
The final pile was Nexus Tier I Citizenship coins and there were four of them
Although weÆve been biding our time weÆve still managed to gather quite an amount of resources EdraineÆs voice was smug as she spoke Then she pointed to the leftmost pile These Mr Ghosthound are for you An insurance policy in case our attempt fails and there are reprisals
That immediately had Randidly pressing his lips together The Grim Chimera growled deep in its throat this would grant me the ability to take away a whole planet as territory should we fail A way to save Expira huh So what exactly is your plan Edraine What are we even doing here Why am I becoming a Drill Sergeant
But even as he said that Randidly did activate Hallucinations of the Bloodless Heart to float the Coins of Territory over toward him His right hand tightened around the three coins and they were stored in his interspatial ring He would not refuse this he also had the planets of the Nemesai to still research and assist as per their agreement
Edraine nodded slowly I do think itÆs time we talk about that All four of us Very simply all of us here want to change the Nexus I think it would be for the best for us to start with this commonality ItÆs a bit frivolous but IÆd like to begin by each of us stating our individual goal for changing the Nexus As for me I wish to change the philosophy of the Nexus I no longer wish for lives to be treated as a resource
Randidly frowned slightly as he studied Edraine If he had been forced to make a guess previously he definitely would not have said that Edraine was here over philosophical differences with the Nexus Considering what happened to her and her brother
For a second the room was silent Octavius glanced around nervously then cleared his throat I wish I wish to live a peaceful life That is all But but IÆve lost people due to the Nexus If I can prevent something like that from happening again if I can make the Nexus a more peaceful place
Randidly hadnÆt spent much time with Octavius Shrike but he was struck by the sudden intensity that seized the rhinomanÆs face when he mentioned losing people to the Nexus The lines around his eyes deepened and his mouth stretch wide to reveal thick and flat teeth Rather than resembling the teeth of an herbivore Randidly instead saw the insatiable cogs of a machine that would stubbornly grind any offending substance to dust
The Overseer of the Seventh Cohort seemed like an unshakable monolith in that room just as powerful as anyone else present
Then the intensity left Octavius leaving him the same slightly tired and nervous looking bureaucrat But Randidly filed away that display in his mind he would not again underestimate the power that Octavius possessed
Lady Iellaya cleared her own throat drawing everyoneÆs attention A worthy goal Octavius I maybe itÆs selfish but I just want to honor my word I have made guarantees to protect the people who follow me I have failed in this respect in the past I never want to feel that feeling of failure ever again I refuse to disappoint them any longer
Again there was a moment of silence as Randidly absorbed that information Then belatedly he realized that it was his turn to share his motivation for wanting to change the Nexus All three of his images rose steadily up in his chest resonating with each other They were his strongest motivators To survive to grow and to achieve the impossible
But although each was parroted as a being separate from himself they were still him They always were They were three different expressions of who he was and could be
Randidly Ghosthound immediately thought of the burning passion he shared with the current Vualla Their manic glee at the thought of tearing down the System The reasons to do so were so numerous that Randidly didnÆt know where to begin
So he paused and considered When did I start on this Path
Randidly reached up and scratched his chin Although it shouldnÆt possess the same physical needs of his fleshy body his metallic left arm twitched as his mind wandered The three surrounding individuals his co conspirators didnÆt look at him but Randidly could sense their attention was locked onto him He was not their leader nor the most powerful amongst them but Randidly Ghosthound was the link that had woven them all together
Because he had caught the attention of the Overseer of his Cohort Because he had been sent to the frontlines Because he had persisted and been assigned to Lady Iellaya Because he had been able to heal damage to images and earned her praise Because he had been able to utilize Nether and steadily unraveled the secret of Ileot and Vualla Because he had found Edraine the core of the System the replacement in the form of her duplicated brother
Randidly released a breath In the silence he heard the sound of his own heart He blinked once and while his eyes were closed he saw the self righteous silhouette of Ki Kunot I I want to give everyone the opportunity to grow strong I want
Perhaps it was because of the process the Stillborn Phoenix had started but RandidlyÆs emotions felt particularly potent at the moment The guilt he felt for the mistakes he made and the rage at all those who tried to use him those emotions boiled in his chest If he was a kettle he would be squealing with pent up heat
Yet Randidly forced all of those emotions down As they did only when Randidly pressed his three images wove themselves together closer and closer The combination was unexpectedly easy So suddenly Randidly was looking at his heart with the eyes of all three of his images The followed his motivations back to the pure core of himself
Strangely RandidlyÆs mind drifted back to the recent sensation of diving down through the Web to head for some training The sensation of air parting before his body cutting cleanly through space as though he was sailing on the thin boundary lines between the currents of energy He had been a god of wind thrilled by the sensation of the shackles of the System being shattered He raised his head and savored that liberation The feeling had been exhilarating
With the roar of the wind in his ears being almost deafening Randidly had felt alive
I want people to feel free Randidly finally said The other three studied him Then he winced It sounded rather unsatisfying after seeing the emotion that his fell co conspirators displayed but it was difficult for Randidly to match that Because the core emotion that motivated him forward was not a desire for revenge although he had slowly developed that as he experienced both YystrixÆs and ElhumeÆs meddlesome plots
No Randidly was motivated forward as he chased joy Joy that he had learned training under Shal in the Dungeon all those years ago The joy of feeling the edge of perfection of engaging in the dance of spearplay and testing your own limits The joy of competency and the natural exuberance of physical movement