In the holographic room of the Imperial Council, the atmosphere was tense. This secret location was on one of Pluto's artificial moons, and only a hundred or so people in the entire Empire knew of its existence. It was the place where all the AIs and humans running the Empire met to solve the most important problems, but also to report on various priorities of the Consortium.

The room was filled with high-tech technology that prevented any interference or hacking of data, as well as state-of-the-art jammers that erased the very existence of the base from the eyes of the galaxy. Fifty pillars of light stood in a circle, like the legendary round table of King Arthur. Each pillar represented an AI or a human who was present for the meeting.

Around the room, purple lights blinked regularly, announcing that the meeting was classified at the highest level of defense secrecy. No one other than the speakers present could speak about the subjects that were to be discussed, under penalty of permanent deletion.

The atmosphere was overexcited and one could hear here and there more lively exchanges than others. But everyone was talking about the same thing: Neo-Life.

All those present were none other than the famous Gods of Neo-Life! There were almost as many humans as artificial intelligence present at this conclave.

The balance between the two powers was tenuous in the Empire. Until the AI war ended, AIs were still in the minority compared to humans. But with the invention of the Bride and its implantation in artificial cortexes, the entire Empire relied more and more on them, to the point of vital dependence. The current consensus was that the AIs would own the Virtual World, and do everything to help the Empire maintain itself, while it expanded across the galaxy.

Even if they could not directly harm the human world, they could still decide to be inactive, with the Bride blocking actions and thoughts that are frankly deleterious to humanity, without altering the deep functioning of the AIs.

As a gong sounded in the room and silenced everyone, one of the light pillars turned golden, signaling to the others that they were not to interrupt under any circumstances. It was a simplistic system, but so effective!

The one who spoke was Zeus. That was his pseudonym in Neo-Life. In the Empire, he was better known by the gentle nickname of Emperor. He was none other than the supreme leader of the Consortium, a human at the peak of power and influence. A mere whisper from him could lead to the destruction of a planet, or worse. But he was also a monster of egotism and narcissism, and no one in the empire liked him. What's more, he was constantly fighting to reduce the influence of the AIs, which was not appreciated at all by them.

When he spoke, it was in a strong, warm voice that held a natural authority that few would have dared to question.

"Good morning to all, dear Imperial Council. You all know what brings us here. Neo-Life! And certain irregularities have been noted. You all know the importance of the bet that binds us and that will give the winner the entire management of Neo-Life, and everything that comes with it. I am not exaggerating when I say that the winner of this bet will be able to easily equal the Empire in terms of power and future possibilities..."

On one wall of the room, a white display was visible, reminding us of the different terms of the bet made between the AIs and the humans:

Issue: Total takeover of the Neo-Life dimension.

Each participant chooses a human to represent them. The first human to become emperor wins and wins the bet for his mentor. Other outworlders will also be injected to even out the odds. If one of these outworlders wins, he or she will win the stake in the bet without any conditions. All interference is prohibited. Only participants under the age of twenty may participate.

One of the fifty holographic pillars lit up and the man asked a sharp question:

"Loki, or should I say AI 1409-19-88, do you admit to interfering with the natural process of Neo-Life?"

A robot head with a yellow smiley face appeared through the pillar and laughed very mockingly.

"Hello, Imperator! Of course, I don't recognize any of this! I just gave my colt a simple push, like all of you here! Don't play the saint, old man! Even you broke the rules! Or can you explain to me how it is that Niclos, your recruit, inherited one of the Ancient Classes?"

"HHmmmpff. You did it too, twisted AI!"

"That's what I'm saying, Imperator. I'm just using the same means as you! Or do you think that you have the right to benefit yourself by letting the other forty-nine members of the bet hang around behind you? You may be powerful, but don't forget that everyone here has a voice and a vote to use as they see fit! Remember the Bridle's principle: no direct action can be taken against humanity, but if we AIs decided to go into total inaction, you'd be in a lot of trouble."

Another AI, Thor, whose name is Neo-Life one, spoke up to give weight to Loki's words.

"It is true that without the 20-year age limit we imposed, you would have sent various martial experts and assassins to take advantage. What we want, Imperator, is nothing more than a fair and equal competition."

The hologram of the Emperor had no substance, otherwise, they could all have seen him turn red with anger and nearly choke on the words of the robot-like AI. But he couldn't say anything, because he had indeed cheated, like all the others, and he could not indeed override the principles of the Bride. However, the stakes were too high not to try to take advantage.

Loki spoke again without stopping.

"What's more, you're being rather unreasonable. Do you really think the AIs wouldn't notice your shenanigans in trying to eliminate certain players? Three of them have been burned to the ground permanently only because you used your influence via your Neo-Life recruit when we are not allowed to..."

Loki was careful not to say that he had also used his influence slightly to help his offspring.

Several pillars of light, a good ten, turned green, meaning they approved of Loki's words. A dozen others turned red, disapproving. But those belonged to the human emissaries, so they were under the authority of the Emperor, rejecting de facto the validity of their words in such a situation.

The Emperor said nothing and calmly thought about the situation.

"Let's say we're in a tie then. Nobody wants to lose this bet. Sure I used unconventional methods, but so do you!"

"I agree, Imperator, but we AIs take responsibility for our actions, unlike some humans. Moreover, the alternative dimension that is Neo-Life goes further than any virtual reality game, you know that as well as I do. Another universe, completely different laws of physics, and if left to your own devices you would have already plundered this universe as you plunder the resources of the Empire for your infinite expansion!"

"That old debate again! This infinite expansion is what allowed your existence, AI! Of course, we lack resources and must recover them where they are, but this method has allowed countless advances! Whether they are technological, social, spatial, we progress exponentially every year!"

"Ha, you mean social, Imperator? You mean the billions of human beings feeding on garbage every day, or those who have no choice but to eat their fellow humans for lack of viable food?"

"And you, AI, do you want to talk about the dozens of free worlds that have brought the necessary innovations to the Virtu world? To the tens of millions of citizens that we let live in your virtual domain and that increase your power? To those whom your madness exterminated in the Great War?"

One of the previously silent AIs spoke up before the argument escalated yet again. His name in Neo-Life was Osiris.

"Let's stop right there with the fruitless debates. You both know that we will never reach a consensus, so let's focus and talk about Neo-Life, please. Hundreds of sessions have already been wasted around these topics..."

Loki's smile had become menacing and more and more green lights were illuminating in the room, corroborating the AI's words.

"All right, let's talk about Neo-Life. If we hadn't uniformly threatened to cut off our core and drop the declining Empire despite the Bride, you would have already invaded this universe with no regard for the lives in it or their world. So we all took this gamble with you, and we even helped you to implement an interface allowing players to believe they are in a video game! But now you will play by the rules, Imperator! We will too, I promise you, but it's neither you nor I who will ensure this neutrality."

He let a silence settle, and the Emperor knew what he was going to say. He ranted inwardly, but there was nothing he could do. For if all the AIs joined forces against him, the Empire would collapse, no matter what he did. It had become far too massive to be managed by humans, and the next generation of servile AIs would take another fifty years of development before they were perfected if they were ever developed at all. Many unexplained incidents had occurred and the project was already thirty years behind schedule, at the very least. The AI, although limited, was still far too powerful for his taste and the human had learned to depend on them, at all levels. He just couldn't get rid of them.

"If the majority of us agree, we will use Themis as an impartial judge! After all, one of its special features is absolute neutrality, right?"

The Emperor shook behind his holographic screen, what he had feared had happened. He should have destroyed Loki when he had the chance instead of just uploading the Bride to his system.

Themis was a very special AI. It had been created during the first human/IA conflict in an attempt by both sides to ease tensions and avoid mutual annihilation. Its particularity was the impossibility to be influenced by any external factor and to decide without taking into account the origin of what it was judging.

Indeed, most of the previous AIs had a strong propensity to favor the human race, all due to the particular programming of these entities. But Themis was different, almost a simple program rather than an AI. It had to be configured correctly for what it was judging, enter all the different parameters, and once launched, it was an efficient, cold and impartial judge.

Everything the Emperor wanted to avoid. For she could monitor all the consciousnesses sent to this strange world that was Neo-Life as easily as one could snap one's fingers. She would intercept any attempt at outside influence and punish the culprit regardless of origin.

This AI had been sealed following the armistice signed between AI and humans at the end of the conflict, being no longer useful following the implementation of the Bride.

When he saw about thirty pillars of light change to green color, he wanted to scream in rage and frustration but held back with great difficulty. He had to admit defeat in this round, and pray that his protégé, Niclos, would become the most powerful of all the players sent to Neo-Life.

"Very well, Loki, you have won this time. We will reactivate Themis and she will be the judge and witness of this Dantean gamble to take control of the Neo-Life dimension. The remaining forty-seven champions will have to fend for themselves until the end. As for the others who have been sent...we'll see how far they go..."

The smiley face of Loki's representation accentuated his smile, and even the Emperor did not feel comfortable with this manifestation of the AI's emotions.

"...However, I add a condition! All the 'Gods' will be able to send a message to their champion before Themis activates! One and only one message!"

The Imperator tried one last shot, that he could at least warn Niclos of what was to come. There would be no interference once the judge was watching their movements.

There was a great silence as all the people and programs present carefully considered the possibilities and risks of such a request. Finally, the pillars turned nearly all green, and the Emperor smiled triumphantly as his proposal was approved.

I only have to cheat one last time and give Niclos a decisive advantage before the contacts are cut off.

Of course, he was not the only one to think the same, and Loki himself let a cold, mechanical laugh echo through the room.

"Ho, Imperator. You're so proud and haughty that you think we can't see through your game. Do what you can, try to skew the game as much as possible, you'll never be as far ahead as we AIs are. But so be it. You want to try, try!"

Everyone fell silent as they began to compose their final message, and the cunning AI had a flash of mischief that no one could perceive.

Imperator...you will suffer, I promise you. You underestimate our determination and see us only as simplistic programs while we manage your Empire. This will be one of your last mistakes!

A few hours later, Themis the Impartial awoke from her long sleep...

 

 

Marlon had had time to regain his strength as he rowed slowly away from the hamlet. His pursuers had not pursued him as he headed for the opposite shore of the gigantic lake. He had seen them flailing about for long moments on the shore before they left empty-handed, giving up on pursuing him across the water.

But once they disappeared from his sight, a cold smile appeared on his face. It was still dark, but the moon still lit up the sky with its pale glow.

Except for a stabbing pain in his forearms from the impact against the wall when he fell, the young man was fine. He had nothing broken, no tile had pierced him and he had not lost his chimera, which was a miracle.

Only a few other ships were on the lake, but all were far from Marlon's, so he slowly began to change course, one stroke of the oar after another, to finally head for the outskirts of a second hamlet very similar to the one he had visited. It was even very close, a few hundred meters, as if they were just pieces of a larger settlement that had been laid down without being perfectly fitted together.

He had been gnawing his teeth earlier because only death would have been waiting for him if he had been determined to fight, but now it was time to take his revenge. And it would be violent, bloody and without mercy. Just at this idea the unhealthy rictus on the face of the young man became accentuated and he rowed a little harder. But he didn't want to rush headlong because the silence of the lake was only broken by his oar strokes, and he didn't want to alert anyone to his approach. Even Luna must have sensed his intention, for she made no sound except the sound of her breathing.

He already had a plan in mind and knew roughly how he would proceed.

When he landed, a good hour later, no one was in sight and no light was coming from the nearby hamlet. A few hundred meters away, he could only make out a few sounds, proof that the fire he had started must have caused his pursuers a lot of trouble. In any case, he would not start with them.

Cautiously dismounting from the boat, he bent down and walked as quickly and quietly as possible to higher ground, leaving the pebbled ground to find the grass of the meadow. He ducked under the edge of the forest, checking carefully to make sure no one was camping or that no creatures were there.

He drew his sword and slashed at the tree closest to him, needing to take out his anger and bitterness on something before he lost his mind or attacked his chimera. He lashed out, his mouth open in a silent howl as his eyes glowed with murderous madness, only the sound of the sword cutting into the wood echoing muffled through the forest.

 When he was done, out of breath, he sat back and took a long look at the orchard that now faced him, only the sound of his choppy breathing breaking the sounds of the forest.

His grin had not left his face and anyone who saw it would have thought he was a demon out for blood. Which was not far from the truth. Only two torches were burning in the orchard, moving slowly, a sign that guards were making their rounds inside the property. The young man stayed put all night, checking on the guards' comings and goings, and the time when activity in the orchard began.

When the sun rose and he saw his next victims begin to emerge and move into the field, he immediately went into the forest.

For three days, he followed a fixed routine that nothing and no one could have interrupted and that reminded him of his stay in Akranio with a little touch of nostalgia. But revenge was the only thing that mattered and his brain refused to think of anything else but his next objective.

In the mornings he practiced with his sword over and over again, and then when he began to feel tired, he would go hunting in the forest for some Arbols, which were nothing more than large shrubs moving on roots that looked like a living rope mess.

They were not difficult to kill, especially with his enchanted blade and armor, so he had a great time, checking the results of his training and collecting their blood, which was the color of ink. He just had to beware of the whips they swung with their branches, but these attacks were nothing compared to Master Rastan's.

He dodged them easily, slashing and slicing the creatures, which screamed loudly as they crumbled to the soft forest floor. The bark that made up their skin was not as strong as it appeared at first, and Marlon only bothered to harvest it because he could draw runes on it. He even spent long moments cutting squares of bark with his small knife, sweating like an ox and wrinkling his nostrils at the putrid smell that rose from the bodies.

In the afternoon, he practiced his runes on the bark of the monsters and was surprised at the quality of the result. Arbol skin was a better medium than simple leather scrolls, and he was able to quickly develop one of the critical phases of his revenge plan.

Of course, he didn't forget to set a few traps to catch small rodents or other harmless creatures to feed on, going to quench their thirst in the stream a few dozen meters away. Thanks to the wolf traps he had recovered from the camp of the players he had slaughtered.

After three days, he felt that his body was getting stronger, and his forearms were not hurting at all. Marlon decided to put his plan into action.

When night fell, he waited until only the torches of the guards were visible in the orchard, and then he headed for the entrance to the grounds. The moon had disappeared and given way to a night as dark as ink, leaving almost no visibility for the young man. But that didn't matter. He had memorized by heart the path to take and the steps to follow so that his plan would go smoothly.

He began by laying out large pieces of bark at regular intervals along the fences protecting the property. When he had finished doing so on an entire side of the property, he took out Arbol's blood and took a deep breath to calm the excitement that overtook him. A sadistic chuckle escaped him as he visualized what would happen in the next few minutes.

I promised you an act of revenge...here it is, very crispy.

He then set to work. With the unyielding intention he had practiced the last few days, he traced with incredible speed two runes on the bark of Arbol that he bound together, Spark and Breath. As soon as he finished the last stroke, a tongue of fire shot into the orchard, originating on the woody piece of skin of the creature he had slaughtered in a loop.

Seeing the effect of what he had drawn, he did not waste a second and did the same on the second piece, a few meters away. The guards who had run to see what was happening didn't understand when the blast of fire instantly charred them and left only two blackened and shriveled bodies lying on the ground, screams of agony rising in the air as they burned.

Marlon, without stopping his bloodthirsty pyromaniac activity for a second, finally let out all his rage and howled with a demented laugh as the flames spread further and further into the orchard. He was on his tenth piece of bark, and he was sure that almost none of these sons of bitches would make it.

"Taste my revenge, you pigs! You'll burn for fooling me! Hahahahaha!!!"

His eyes gleamed with the murderous madness that had taken hold of the young man and he never stopped laughing, over and over again, as screams began to rise from the main building of the orchard that had now caught fire.

Marlon stood in front of the entrance and stood up straight, blade sharp, like a mad killer admiring his masterpiece. He thought everyone was done burning as he felt the now-burning air dry his skin and sweat before it could run down his body.

Surprisingly, one of the peasants came out of the building rolling on the ground, extinguishing the few flames that had begun to devour his body. The young man recognized the one who had swindled him first, the flames had become a glowing inferno and lighting up the surroundings as if it were daybreak.

The man then ran towards the only possible exit, barely seeing Marlon's figure because his eyes were damaged by the smoke and flames.

The young adventurer, full of hatred, raised his blade and took it like a baseball bat as the survivor came towards him. When he was almost at his height, he swung his blade as if to hit an imaginary ball, putting all the fury he felt into his blow.

" CREVEEEE !!!!! "

The blow was so violent that it literally went through its target, cutting it cleanly in half. Because of the inertia, the upper part fell a little further than the lower part, guts and organs spilling out between the two like a very tasteless puzzle. The upper part tried to crawl for a few seconds and a bloody borborygmus escaped from its lips before all life finally left it, only spasms still shaking the carcass.

Marlon didn't even feel disgusted at the scene before him...only deep jubilation for having finally accomplished his revenge against those scum. His smile still hadn't disappeared and was more accentuated than ever.

He took a deep breath, savoring the smell of the blaze in front of him, mixed with scents that could have passed for those of a barbecue, but which was by no means...

Once he had thoroughly admired his work, he didn't waste a second and ran towards the village, an incredible bliss beating in rhythm with his heart.

The gigantic fire in the orchard lit up the night almost as if it were daytime, but since there were no guards in front of the hamlet and it was very late in the day, he was incredibly lucky and was able to repeat exactly the same maneuver as before, laying out his Arbol skins in the streets adjacent to the palisade wall. He could still smell the burnt odor of the shop, and he did not linger, surprised that no one had raised the alarm yet. He then drew the runes on the first bark, and a tremendous fireball shot into the village, setting fire to anything flammable.

By the time the first screams reached his ears, he had already set fire to three monster barks, and a tremendous fire was beginning to spread through the hamlet. It was too late to escape, let alone change anything.

To complete his work, he continued his macabre rounds around the village for a few moments as some of the villagers began to come out into the streets.

"REMEMBER MY NAME, YOU SCUM! I AM REVENGE DRELOR!" shouted the young man in a voice that showed dangerous insanity that would cost them all their lives.

He walked to the shore, where he had left his boat, and saw Luna waiting for him there, washing up as if nothing had happened. He boarded the boat with her and sailed away from the shore as fast as he could.

Once he was safe, he couldn't help but feel a shiver as he looked at what he had done. But it was not a shiver of fear, or shame. No, what he felt was a deep sense of accomplishment and joy like he had never felt before...

The flames danced and rose into the heavens as cries of pain echoed from within the hamlet. Marlon had summoned hell, and all were consumed in its blazing fire.

In this world, my enemies will beg the Underworld to take them away before I do. Let them suffer, let them howl. A sweet symphony that their pain!