"So why have you chosen the human race, then?" Van asked.
"Oh, that is because I have longed to get more of this kind of job done, but I have found it impossible to have creative directors from my own race," the Emperor said. "Without independence, a creator cannot truly create. Humans are fiercely independent and violent. So, I have been searching long and hard for the right ones to bring aboard my vessel. They must conform to a specific list of traits, however. They must be strong. They must be cunning and capable, able to adapt to any problems in front of them. And above all, they must be able to take the initiative. Of the list that I have, no one has been anywhere close to as qualified as you, Van."
"Me?" Van repeated as he shook his head. "No way. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed by a longshot."
"Perhaps not," the dragon agreed, "but you are strong. You are cunning and, above all, you show your creative side time and time again. Even as you struggle in vain against the likes of my race, you have somehow managed to elude my forces at every level. We like to follow the rules, you know. I created a system to find the best, though, and here you stand."
"So what, you're just willing to hand me a job?"
"A job? Hahaha, no, sir. I am not asking you to work for a gas station or to be an accountant. I am offering you godhood. You see, Van, I am eying at least six other races right now, but our operation takes quite some time to engage. We can't be everywhere at once, and in fact, I can only be in one place at a time. I want to expand my reach. So, I want to offer you the power to be the creative director over a new world. I want to offer you the chance to become a god, like myself."
"How would that even work?" Van asked.
"Our systems are far more advanced than your own haptic systems. You will be able to inhabit the world 24/7. There is a time dilation system we have developed, courtesy of one of our garden races. It will allow for you to exist inside of the game for an infinite amount of time while you craft the world. It took me, I believe, a total of a calculated ten million years to shape this world we are in. The passage of real time was somewhat close to that of a week. I am offering you the power to create a world in which you will revel. And then, after you are finished with your task, you can sit back and run the entire show. You can move things around, or participate as an actual part of the game if you'd like. You'd of course need to learn the culture of the race, but you have time for that, as well."
Van wasn’t sure what to say to the alien. There was something of a temptation in him to take the offer seriously, but he knew that he could never do what was being suggested. Regardless of what Neil believed about him, he'd never sell out his own race just to enjoy the power of being in total control. Still, perhaps there was another way of defeating this dragon. It appeared that he and he alone was the sole controller of the Draco race. He was directing them, and they would obey whatever his demands were. Perhaps there was some way Van could get aboard the ship and unplug this guy. It was a somewhat insane idea, but with the way things were going, the Iron Dragons didn't have a chance to win an all-out fight.
"Your words are intriguing," Van said. "And when I am to get aboard this ship?"
"Ahahahaha," the dragon laughed. "Am I an infant? Do you believe that I was born yesterday? Friend, you and I both know that you have no pure intentions here. You inquire about getting on my ship so quickly. Do you think you can just find some way to kill me? I admire your defiance all the way to the end."
"Can you blame me for trying?" Van asked.
"No. Instead, I commend you for trying," the Emperor said. "Stay by my side for the evening, Van. For though you will try to kill me and fail miserably, I shall allow you to live. Once you have lost everything, there will then be no reason for you to refuse me."
"Why are you doing this at all?" Van asked. "What drives you to so mercilessly destroy worlds that have done nothing wrong? To kill countless innocent people?"
The dragon looked at him for a moment and its grin slowly began to fade. "You must understand something, Van. To reach the top, it was the greatest struggle of my life. To move so undetected in a culture, a world that despises who you are. To be different is to be worthy of death. When I got to the top, when I saw that as long as I spun my words the right way, they would do whatever I demanded, it was intoxicating. There was a feeling beyond anything else I could describe. The first conquest was just an excuse to escape. I felt that, if I convinced my people that we needed to go to another planet, I could slip away onto this new world and find a home. But then I arrived. I saw how much of a mess that planet was. They were divided, at war with one another, mercilessly fighting and allowing famine to overtake them. Without a leader, someone to see the big picture, they would be condemned to obliteration. So, I stepped in and took charge."
Van felt a shiver run down his spine as the creature continued to speak.
"And I realized something – once I had asserted dominance over that world. I realized that perhaps it was my destiny to go beyond simply fleeing my own people. That perhaps I had been placed in this universe for a reason. And that reason, my friend, is to lord and rule over all living things. We create these gardens so that I may rule the worlds with efficiency. Their lives improve and I… I grow in power."
"But how is that any different than your race killing its young because they were independent?" Van asked. "How are you any different from them?"
The words seemed to anger the Emperor a little. He shifted and growled, baring his fangs. For a moment, Van thought the beast was going to attack him, but instead the Emperor regained his composure.
"I suppose someone would think me cruel for my decisions," the Emperor said, "but I have been fair and sporting. I have allowed every race to prove themselves worthy to me. I have allowed them to fight tooth and nail to get to the top, just as I had to fight. And those who show me that they have the strength to live, who earn the right to be different from the rest of their race… they are the ones who inherit the world. They are the ones who are my children."
"You're a monster," Van said. "An absolute monster.'
"Am I?" the Emperor asked in return. "Or am I a god? You are watching me transcend even now. At midnight, the world will melt down to pieces and then will be rebuilt in my image. I will wave my hand and my chosen few will inherit this earth. And you? You can begin your own path to divinity if you so wish. Or you can fail to kill me, and perish with the billions of others who are unworthy of my radiance."
Van shook his head. He had no idea what to say back to this creature. It was clear that, while it had the independence which was missing from the Draco as a whole, it still had the same kind of unethical view of the universe. Still, this revelation was good news. This meant that they didn't need to kill all of Draco in order to stop the invasion – they really just needed to kill the Emperor. If he died, then the Draco collective would have no idea of how to move forward. But the question was… would it stop the imminent destruction that was to be unleashed on the world?
Sang stood before the large army of players who were shouting war cries. They were rowdy and excited, slamming their weapons together and asking Sang when they would be teleporting. She was standing on the western wall of one of their secret hideouts and overlooking the population. There were nearly 1,500 players who were willing to put it all on the line to save their planet from either aliens or terrorists. A lot of them believed the terrorist angle, but there were also others who were adamant that the real threat was Draco. Either way, they were ready for a fight, and she couldn't help but feel proud of Van. He had managed to put this entire army together by the skin of his teeth, and it was a fierce enough group that she genuinely believed they had a chance.