Episode 6.3 - Human Resources

With some reluctance, we leave behind our swimsuits - dislodging the sand proves harder - turns out sand you grab out of a mine is even stickier than the usual beach kind, haha…
We troop up to the ‘dojo’, that is to say, the large room near the top of the fort where we’ve always done our training sessions. Lila wheels out this big old-school blackboard and begins taping away at it with some chalk. She fits the image of a school teacher pretty well.

 The three of us set up camp, Sek leaning against one of the heavy wooden butresses that line the old stone walls and Eshu plops cross-legged atop a mat on the floor. I’m the only one to bother with a simple chair. Given our small number, casual clothes and the decently large space, we must look like some remedial classroom, a detention group or the like.

“Alright, a map,” Lila says, laying down the chalk and clapping her hands together in a plume of excess chalk dust.

 Sek chuckles as said debris causes her to sneeze, but my mind is a bit distracted by the so-called map. On the upper half, she has drawn a large square; I’m guessing that represents our home. Beneath that, in a long line from left to right, are triangles of various heights - these are most likely the mountain range behind the base. But then she’s also drawn, “Mistress, what are the squares south of us?”

“Huh? The towns and villages, of course.”

“““Huh?””” all three of us unruly students reply in tandem.

“These small ones are farmhouses, the bigger squares are villages and hamlets - this big rectangle is the largest settlement, a market town. Is the drawing that bad?” she adds rather dejectedly.

     I raise my hands placatingly at the wilting demon girl, “No, no, it's not your artistic skill; it's just, what towns?”

“You, you didn’t know there were places south of here?”

“Player homes, too?” Sek adds.

“Nah, this is the southermost of those, at least. I made sure of that. They are ‘NPC’ settlements, as you guys would say. You seriously didn’t realise?”

“Tee-hee, we don’t get out much,” Eshu says, mock-hitting herself on the head like some moe blob.
      “‘Tee-hee’ yourself,” Sek sighs, “If that's the case, why did you build the fort here? Weren’t you trying to keep it as far from the other worlds as possible?”

Lila shakes her head, raising her index finger like some smug professor, “Never put your back against the wall so readily. The mountain range and a couple of miles land south of here create a natural barrier that we could both retreat behind in an emergency and give us some leeway if things ever change. After all, who’s to say another world won’t just appear someday?”

“So the NPCS, the villagers I mean, are our buffer?” I ask, feeling rather uncomfortable about that implication.

“More or less, ya,” Lila nods casually, “That’s rather the point I was getting to. Those metal men will likely head for the large town and use it as their base of operations. We’ll need to set up a constant watch. If they are hiding more forces somewhere, they’ll have to show themselves eventually.             Heck, they may just head straight for this new base of operations to regroup - should be easy enough to spot, eh? I’ll have Tom pair you guys up with some Estolpfo, get some scouting practice in.”

“And the villagers? What will happen to them when their town is occupied?”
    Lila gives me a slow look, “I’m sure those robot guys will find uses for ‘em.”

“Slaves, you mean, forced labour.”

“Certainly that. They’ll need mines and factories if they want to build new forces, which, given the technology of this realm, will be quite the challenge. Heh, that’ll be the least of their troubles, though,” she finishes with a smirk.

I realise my hands have subconsciously balled into fists, “What's that supposed to mean?” I ask rather hotly.

 Lila looks surprised, “Well, there's an entry in the tutorial, something called a ‘B.O.M.C - Bio-Organic-Mass-Converter - all the scout types have one per group. They use it to get power, that electricity stuff, when out and about. ‘Prently living matter generates more power. I’m only guessing, of course, but I’d say they’ll work those folk to the brink of death, then ‘convert’ them into power. It's all very efficient, I must say.”

I turn to Sek, “Is that true?”
    “Errr, I dunno honestly. I can’t think of anything like that in the game, but there were lots of tidbits along those lines in the lore, sure.”

“Ko?” Eshu says, looking up at me with some concern, but now isn’t the time to back down. I return my gaze to an expectant Lila, “Then we should help them, the sooner the better.”

“What? Why would we do that?”

“Because those people don’t deserve all that obviously.”

Her eyebrow shoots up, “Well, sure, but what’s that got to do with us? Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m a demon. Humans should protect themselves.”

“But,” I stutter, feeling thrown off by how harsh that response was. Why is she being so flippant about this? “It's the right thing to do. What benefit is there in letting this happen?”

“I told you, we get ample time to scout them and confirm their true forces. If I wanted just to take them out, I could have five minutes ago, but then if they are hiding more units, they’d scatter and we’d never track them down or know where they might be lurking in future. It's simple enough tactics to monitor our enemies first, then act against them. Once we know their exact forces I’ll bob over there myself and squash ‘em all flat easy.”

“You want to sacrifice dozens or hundreds of people just for some information?”

“More or less ya.” It's then her expression shifts from one slightly bemused, to something devious, “Hey look, if you really want, we can sneak out any villager that catches your fancy; I’m magnanimous, you know, my pets can have pets too, hehe.”

“Bad move,” I hear Sek whisper, but ignore it, eyes firmly on Lila, my anger is rising faster than I can manage, “You know that isn’t funny,” I all but growl at her.

“Alright, alright, but I mean look, you didn’t get all bent out of shape when we watched the one-night war, right? We literally witnessed three whole countries blow each other up. Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people died that night before our own eyes.”

“That’s sophistry. We couldn’t have stopped that, but we could stop this!” I snap back.

Lila frowns, floating over closer to me until we’re nearly butting heads. I don’t get why she’s being like this. I know this isn’t her real logic, I’m sure it can’t be so shallow as this, there must be more to it! So why won’t she take me seriously, talk to me properly?
     “Now look here, you, I am a demon - D E M O N - humans tell scary stories about us, make us the bogeyman under the bed and rightfully so, K’? I took you three in because you suited my plans and took my fancy, but I have absolutely no interest in the fate of the entire human race whatsoever - you got that? If they can’t defend themselves, that's their problem, not mine. And as my possession, it is not yours either! So let’s just drop it and get on with our day, shall we?”

I… I feel so damn frustrated! I want to argue back some, but the words won’t come. I want to shout and cuss at her for being so cruel, for talking to me this way, too! But the words just won’t come.
    “I…”

“Ya what?” she scoffs, her face an ugly sneer she’s never shown me before.

My chair falls backwards, clattering noisily against the stone floor. I step away, making shakily for the door.
    “Ko, wait up,” Eshu calls. She reaches out to me, but I shake off her soft hand trying to grab mine. Sek says something too, but it’s little more than a useless mumble.

“Tch,” I hear Lila click, sounding thoroughly annoyed as I exit the doorway. A few steps into the corridor, I begin to run, my face wet, my mind white with frustration as I make for my room.