Deuteronomy

Waking up feeling dizzy, the Kingslayer is confused by his current location.

In a dark, humid room, two objects stand out for everyone that dares enter such space. A grid of old tv screens, all interconnected to form a single image of a face of an unknown man to Julian, while the background is completely white with some stripes of static. Besides the screen, a tank with a brain on its inside filled with a liquid and cables connected to the organic matter that it preserves, is illuminated by a faint yellow light on its inside.

The brain is able to communicate through a microphone at the base of its container.

“Hello, Julian.” from a monotone voice, the boy is still processing what is happening.

Rustling to get up, he soon realises that the chair he is in is holding him in place. His strength is at low reserves from his constant battling. The glove and katana that took him to greater heights are nowhere to be seen. Only his clothes remain from his journey in Britannia, as it would mean receiving the remainder of the pain that was stored in his fight against Green in an instantaneous manner.

“The Imperator… so, you aren’t an IA?” The boy, regaining composure, presents his doubts to the highest being in the room.

“Well, partially. See, the Imperator is a two sided entity. From one side, you have me, who oversees and ultimately has the decision making attribution. On the other hand, the IA calculates the possible futures and acts in accordance to our main goal. We partake in mutualism, a combination of the human mind with an artificial being.”

Julian, carefully planning his next words, comes out with another question. “What is it that you search for?”

“...there is a dream amongst men. It transcends time and space. In all of history, it has always been depicted but never proposed as a reality. You see, the excruciating pain from simply existing leads one to wonder: what if I were in a fairy tale? One where a legend is built around his name and deeds. A mortal achieving what was deemed impossible, whether it is slaying the dragon guarding the princess or being released from the shackles of modern society and becoming someone with actual value: that concept of Phantasia.”

The pipes that are constantly replacing the liquid in his tank, start to pour a vapour in the room. Waiting for a moment, the human brain keeps going.

“The creation of the IA led to a series of questions. Isn’t it going to replace all of humanity, cataloguing us as puny creatures that deserve to be their mascots and serve their own creations, stripped away of any dignity? Fortunately, he is on the human side. Countless nights talking with him convinced me of something.”

In a brief pause, Julian is let free of his chair and able to freely move. However, he still doesn’t stand up just yet.

“In his great wisdom and study of the history of humanity and the current living conditions, a prophecy overtook his all interests: technological advancement will reach a point of no return, where humans will no longer be required to do anything. Maintained by machinery beyond our comprehension, we would be kept alive quasi eternally in a constant state of happiness through simulations of one’s desires.”

The Kingslayer is at a loss for words. Standing up from his seat, he starts to stretch and walk around the room, searching for something that could tell him where they are or how to get out. Meanwhile, the Imperator continues.

“Of course, my feelings about it were mixed the moment he told me about his vision. After countless decades of careful thinking, I reached a verdict on the matter: What a horrible future awaits us. With that in mind, all my efforts started to be centred around the betterment of mankind and the avoidance of such destiny. Alas, as I am a good friend of the IA, I proposed a competition. Whichever method of reaching Phantasia that is regarded as the better one by the people, that will be the one put into full action.”

“So this is all just a game? All for reaching Phantasia?” circling around the room, the boy leans on the wall to relax.

“Indeed. Just thinking about it makes me excited. Let’s put it like this: you can be whoever you want to be, in a constant exhilarating journey filled with conflict and rewards. In your case, for example, a mercenary from a foreign country that wants to slay the man at the top. For someone else, it might be being the pawn for said emperor or king. And so on and so forth. Don’t you see the beauty in it? Mankind’s desire, phantasia, at the palm of our hands.”

With a sigh from Julian, he starts to realise that he in fact was thrilled the whole journey to get here. At the core of his soul, that sense of endless adventure and exploration, filled with glory at the other side, is the world for him. What keeps him alive.

Ever since his birth, his worth was almost null. Sold by his parents to an organisation, from that day onwards, at the day where he gained consciousness, a question formed his main identity: Why did they leave me?

Only being a kid, he started to understand his situation. In countless crying nights, he found determination: Prove his parents wrong, become someone worthy of admiration and make them regret leaving him. From then on, the original sin took over the child.

“So, everything that you’ve done is in the search for Phantasia? Doesn’t it sound a bit ridiculous? There are already a lot of problems to deal with to wilfully create ones.” Julian questions the Imperator, as he is forming an opinion on the matter in his mind.

“Child, conflict is in our nature. The core of our progress and identity revolves around conflict. It makes us better and, in the end, are what we live for. A future in which no conflict exists, proposed by my friend next to me, will be suicide for our race. That is why, my search for the eternal journey, Phantasia, started. We thrive in the face of adversity and live for it. Depleting that main driving factor would just mean the death of the human race.”

Starting to get what the brain is talking about, a certain degree of agreement is being formed inside Julian.

“And why am I here?”

“You see, as you were told, Bhurman Graham was my father. As kind as he was with the ladies, the same fate didn’t grace me. Constant beatings and tortures just made me think all day about folklore and the mystical. Since then, that obsession for Phantasia started to sink in harder, although the concept itself was not clear. Kingslayer, I’ve been alive for hundreds of years. My time is nearing its end, which is why I need a successor.”

Gulping at what the Imperator was saying, he then asks “Bohr, how long have I been a candidate for the throne?”

“Ever since the unconscious translator was put in your brain. From then onwards, the CEC sent me the data log from your unconsciousness and I was marvelled by you. That prideful core, searching for the approval of everyone because his parents sold him to the wolves; I thought you would be someone that understood my vision. A world where folklorian entities and historical figures combine to form Phantasia, where glory is the one thing that will be abundant.”

His words catter to Julian’s ideals. Endless adventure, plentiful glory: all in search of a meaning of self worth. With nothing to lose, the Kingslayer could in theory accept his offer. Despite the alluring offer, an ethical problem surges inside the kid.

Julian is shocked by a sudden epiphany. He is delusional. Avoiding the reality that his parents didn’t want him, made him who he is in the present. In a replacement of parental love, pride came to fill the void in his heart. A band aid that also fuelled his ambitions to reach the sublime.

“Isn’t this just escaping from reality?”

Of course, joining in to the project would mean that his troubling past would come to a cease. His pride would be terminated, as he would be the emperor above all: no desire would be left in his heart. A fix to his unending sense of self worthlessness.

“What, so because you had a trauma it means you can do whatever you want? If phantasia comes to exist, some will become only spectators of a play, forced to live in the delusions of an individual who is deeply in pain. Who is the judge when one’s own phantasia concept trumples another person’s fantasy?”

Fantasy for some, a nightmare for others.

“It won’t eliminate the problems of the world. It creates a gate to new heights, to create cultural phenomena in the image of powerful individuals getting what they sought after. The suffering of non important people is a price to be paid to reach fantasy.”

And that is exactly the problem for Julian. This thrill of him that kept him going throughout all these years is a malign tumour. He is now able to realise this as a more delusional individual is in front of him. Ruining everything that he touched, the souls of everyone that met his gaze now live a gruesome fate.

The New Athena’s massacre, a prime example of his psychotic delusion brought to reality. Countless families destroyed by the hands of the wavering pride of the Kingslayer. Juliette, who had to put up with his arrogance for years. Hayami, whose clan was put in danger for his own benefit. Murph, to whom he condemned to face his reality in an unpleasant manner for extending their time period in Britannia. Leonard, having to endure another mistake that will haunt him for the years to come.

Symptoms of the arrogance that dwells inside him. Everything he touches eventually crumbles to dust. And for what? Self worth. He made himself a prominent figure in the CEC to receive flowers and praise. Envious gazes make him happy, because he has something of ‘worth’ that they don’t have. He became everything that they couldn’t be.

“The sublime… Now that I think about it, my search for glory stems from that. A level of proficiency in what I do is high enough that I can’t be replaced. And yet again… it is all because I have no worth.”

He now knows why he is a candidate for the Verne Project. To reach Phantasia, a certain amount of ambition is needed from the individual that leads such a project. Ambition is a breed of pride. To think that you could create an entire project to reach a world of fantasy to escape from reality requires a certain amount of arrogance. He now understands that he is the perfect replacement.

“You chose me because I’m a mirror of you. A spiteful creature that couldn’t deal with the reality that he is worth nothing. And instead of dealing with it, you resort to the less hurtful path: bend the world to your knees.”

“Maybe. Or maybe there is more to this than just what is visible to the naked eye. A reason for such a surreal plan to bring fantasy upon our lands of desolation and sorrow. Do you take the risk to follow your hunger for deluding reality, or will you destroy my whole creation in a matter of seconds? The choice is yours to take, Julian. Pick carefully.”

An ominous comment from Bohr makes Julian think there might actually be something more to it. As such, he has to take a risk: believe in his words and delude himself further into an inescapable abyss or destroy the Imperator’s dreams and forge a path that faces reality head on.

In front of the screen depicting the image of Bohr, a keyboard with two buttons with a bright lighting making them distinct from all of its peers. A blue light colour with the word ‘Create’, while the other crimson coloured button says ‘Destroy’.

“This is just insanity.”

“The world is insane, Julian. And you have the chance to tame it.”

Hesitation from the Kingslayer is palpable as he starts circling the dim lighten room in search of a divine revelation. Hours and hours pass, countless possibilities and dilemmas cross his mind to eventually reach a conclusion.

Since their last exchange, the Imperator hasn’t talked even when asked questions. The world is at the palm of Julian.

With no further hesitation, he finally reaches a decision. Breaking the tank where Bohr’s brain was living in, he kills the Imperator himself. Now half of the governors of Britannia remain alive. Pressing the button of ‘Destroy’, a voice message from a speaker nearby the grid of screens pierces his soul.

For the first time, he could hear the IA that led the empire this last ten years. “I damn you, human. Unforeseen consequences will haunt you until your last breeeAAAAaaaTttTthh”

A high pitch voice, as if a robot were melting in lava, made his last words be remembered by Julian for years to come. Now that he is more relaxed, the excruciating pain from his battles show themselves and drop him onto the floor.

The fate of the world has been changed. The Imperator is dead. The Verne Project is dead. I am dead. Unforeseen consequences? I’ll deal with them. There is no way… they are… that… severe...

Fainting from exhaustion, Julian’s endless journey came to an end.