Chapter 19

 

Allistor and company elected to remain at the Stronghold overnight.  That would give the trainers time to work with several of those who’d already taken the oath, and allow prospective citizens to see their neighbors benefitting from Allistor’s generosity. 

Daigath decided to go on walkabout, saying he wanted to study the surrounding lands.  He promised to return the next day, or the one after.  Allistor was briefly worried about the elf, until he remembered that there was likely nothing on all of Earth that could harm him. 

Rather than put any of the locals out of their housing, Allistor quartered his people on the Phoenix .  There was more than enough room between crew quarters, guest quarters, and the owner’s suite.  Kira had long since claimed the captain’s cabin, which she shared with her two girls, who were both on the current bridge crew.  The raiders and trainers arranged themselves in the comfortable bunks of the crew quarters and shared guest suites.  As Harmon had told him that first day, the Phoenix normally had a full crew compliment of thirty, plus guests.  With only a training bridge crew of six plus Kira, there was plenty of space. 

Allistor, for the first time since Amanda’s death, slept comfortably in the owner’s suite bed.  He’d never shared it with Amanda, so there was no ghost haunting him.  Within thirty minutes of hitting the pillows, he was snoring.

The following morning he rose early, well before the suns rose, and took a quick shower.  Ten minutes later he was down in the crew mess talking to some of the raiders.  McCoy walked in, a wide grin on his face, and plopped down next to Allistor.

“You hit the jackpot boss.” 

Thinking he meant the Phoenix , Allistor agreed.  “She’s a beautiful ship.  Comfortable beds.” 

McCoy looked confused for a second, staring at Allistor and blinking a few times.  “Uh, sure she is.  But I meant this Stronghold.  Did you look to see what that factory is?”

Allistor had not.  He’d been busy most of the afternoon dealing with Invictus business, spent some time blacksmithing in the crafting compartment on the ship just to work out some anger and work his muscles, then gone to bed early.  “So it is an actual factory?  I thought Rajesh had just converted the biggest building around.”

“Oh, it’s a factory.  About half the people here either work in the factory, or out gathering and processing materials for the factory.  Guess what they make?  Go ahead, guess!”  McCoy was bouncing in his seat, and Allistor grinned at him.  It was good to see him happy after the loss of Goodrich.  “Uhm… condoms?”

“Nope!” McCoy clapped his hands together.  “Though you’re not that far off, geographically speaking.  Boss… they make friggin toilet paper !”

Allistor snorted.  “Oh, man.  We gotta go get Meg and bring her back here.  She’ll lose her mind!  Probably just jump into a pile of it and swim around like Scrooge McDuck.  Then she’ll fill the Phoenix cargo hold.  She still maintains a hoard wherever she goes.  She says it’s in case of a second apocalypse.” He slapped McCoy on the shoulder.  “That’s awesome!  Yaknow, we’ve been buying it in bulk from the kiosk all this time.  Ever since it became hard to scavenge.  Never occurred to me to wonder who was selling it to us.”

“Well now you’re selling it yourself!” the others at the table chuckled.  “And that’s a good thing, boss.  Nothing worse than running out of toilet paper.”

Allistor finished breakfast and exited the ship, and for the next hour he just sort of ambled around, greeting passersby and checking out the Stronghold.  It covered a lot of territory, the huge factory building, several warehouses, and other buildings he assumed were residential.  Reaching one of the latter, he asked permission to look inside.  The local whom he’d asked looked vaguely terrified of him, so he took a moment to speak with her. 

“My name is Allistor, what’s yours?”

“Sirina, sir.” She mumbled, looking down at her feet.

“Sirina, that’s a lovely name.  You live here in this building?”

“Yes, sir.  Myself and nearly one hundred other women.”

Surprised, Allistor looked at the building.  It was two story, roughly the size of a large townhouse building in the former Manhattan.  “Would you mind giving me a brief tour?  If that’s proper, I mean.  Are there… rules against men entering?”

She snorted, then covered her mouth as her eyes went wide.  When she saw him smiling, she relaxed slightly, shaking her head.  “It is not a harem, just a dormitory.  And since it seems you now own all of this, I am sure that you can enter as you like.”

Allistor sensed a certain amount of hostility in her voice, and assumed she’d been told he was the coldhearted monster who’d killed their Rajesh.  He decided not to push it.  Instead, he took a few steps back from the doorway.  “I see.  Well, unless this building is somehow bigger on the inside, it doesn’t seem like there would be enough room for a hundred of  you.  Why don’t we see about some better accommodations?  Do you have a few minutes to advise me?”

“M-me?  Advise you?  I am but a simple harvester.  A peasant.”

Allistor sighed.  “I truly wish people around here would stop using that word.  You are no peasant, not any longer.  Not if you don’t want to be.  If you choose to take the oath, you will become a citizen.  On equal footing with any other, except those few who have earned positions of authority.  You’ll have the same rights as anyone else.  You could even challenge me for the throne, if you think you could kick my butt!” He grinned at her, trying to relax her.  This was definitely one of those times he wished he’d put more points into Charisma .

“What would you wish me to advise you about?”

“Well, I assume you’re from here, you live here now, and you would know the best type of living arrangements for your people, yes?  For example, should I build a high rise?  Or is there too much wind here?  Would big windows create too much heat?  Maybe underground housing would be better?”

She thought about it for a  moment.  “This I can help with.”

“Great!  Let’s head to the gate.  If we’re going to create more buildings, we’re going to need to move the walls.  This place is crowded enough already.”  Without waiting, he turned and strode toward the thirty foot tall gate on the south side of the compound.  When he approached, Nigel opened the doors for him.  The moment they stepped outside, the gates closed again. 

Allistor was looking around at the terrain for a likely spot when Sirina cleared her throat.  When he turned to face her, she shook her head.  “Not here.”

“Okay, why not here?” He asked, curious. 

“We are downwind from the factory here.  There are days when the smell of the exhaust is… unpleasant.  Better to place housing where the air is fresher.”

“You see!  You have already saved yourself and your people a bit of unpleasantness.  I put myself in your hands.  Lead the way.”  He followed her as she hiked counter-clockwise around the outside of the wall onto a slight rise.  Looking around, she said, “I think… here. If you are building a high rise, it will have nice views in every direction.  This location, if you remove the wall, will still be a short walk to the factory, and a gate here would save us harvesters a long hike through the other gate to reach the forest.”  She pointed beyond the rise to the north, where a long stretch of forest showed clear signs of harvesting.  Stumps littered the field leading up to the tree line. 

“Wait, you’re a lumberjack?” Allistor was surprised yet again.  The woman was maybe five foot two and couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds. 

She looked indignant.  “We call ourselves harvesters.  Lumberjack is a silly word!  And I am stronger than I look!”

Allistor held up his hands in surrender.  “Okay, I’m sorry Sirina.  I won’t make that mistake again.” 

She looked at her hands.  “I do not actually cut down the trees.  I remove the branches and haul them to one side so that the larger logs can be dragged away.”

He turned back to her chosen location.  “Sounds like hard work.  If it is not something you enjoy, I’m sure we could find you something different.  Have you heard that as a citizen you could relocate almost anywhere here on Earth, or even to our other planet, Orion?”

“I assumed it was… what is the term you westerners use?  Bullshit?”

“Ha!”  Allistor found he quite liked this woman.  “It is the truth.  In fact, how about I make you my ambassador to those who believe as you do?  When we’re done here, I’ll place a teleport pad, and you can visit any of our properties you like.  You won’t have a lot of time, but you can see several before noon.”

“What do you mean?” She looked confused.  “You will create a whole building before noon?  That is not possible.”

“I take it you weren’t here when the Stronghold was constructed?”

“I was not.  My family and I found this place while running from a pack of mutant hyenas.  The fighters here were kind enough to save us.  Well, some of us.  I have been here ever since.”

Allistor nodded.  “I’m sorry about the ones you lost.  I too lost family in the earliest days.  My parents and my sister.”  He took a deep breath.  “Now, watch carefully and you will learn a little about what’s possible in this new world.”

Allistor opened his UI and selected the tab for that Stronghold.  He hadn’t renamed it yet, so it just said Factory.  Rajesh was not the most original thinker, but then Allistor wasn’t one to brag about his naming skills.   A few quick mental clicks, and the ground underneath them went clear.  Sirina cried out and grabbed ahold of his arm for balance, and Allistor heard similar shouts of surprise inside the wall.  He probably should have warned them before he did this.  He could only hope his people would help calm the others, and get this adjustment over with as quickly as possible.

Focusing on the rise, he quickly selected twin ten story buildings with an air bridge connecting them on the eighth floor.  It was a plan he was familiar with, having constructed several of them at various Strongholds.  He made each one roughly half a city block square, with a total capacity of six hundred apartments.   Some of the locals might need to share at first, but they could always add more housing later.  He added a defensive turret on the roof of each building, and moved the shield generator up there as well.   After a few moments’ thought, he added a swimming pool with a green glass enclosure in between the buildings.  The tinted glass would not only limit the light and heat from the sun, but would act as a solar array.

Finished with the buildings, he altered the footprint of the wall so that it enclosed the new structures as well as a great deal of open space in between.  He added a gate facing toward the forest, then an actual road to replace the muddy dirt track they’d been using to transport logs to the factory.  Finished for now, he looked at her.  “Will this do?”

She stood frozen next to him, her body rigid, a tight grip on his sleeve.  Her eyes moved from structure to structure, then down to the seemingly unsubstantial ground at her feet.

“Sirina?  Is this okay?” He repeated, moving his arm slightly to get her attention.

“What?  Yes.  Yes!  This is wondrous.  I… did not realize such things were possible.  Earl Rajesh did not share such things with us peasants.”  She took in a breath, realizing she’d just said the p-word.  “I’m sorry.”

Allistor let it slide, finalizing his choices and enjoying the wonder on her face as everything solidified.   The wall magically appeared several hundred yards farther out than it had been, the old wall simply melting into the ground.  The two buildings appeared fully constructed, and the pool began to fill with water. 

“As my consultant, your payment is first choice of the apartments inside.  I suggest one of the top floors, with a view you enjoy.”

“What?  An apartment?” He gently took hold of her elbow and led her into the nearest of the two buildings.  There was a small, wide open lobby and a bank of three elevators.  Nigel obligingly opened the doors for them as they approached, and Allistor pressed the button for the tenth floor.  When they exited the elevator, there was an open apartment door directly in front of them.  To the left and right a corridor extended, several other open doors visible.  At each end, the corridor made a ninety degree turn and continued on.

“The elevators are in the center of the building, surrounded by apartments on all sides.  This way every unit has a view.”  He nudged her forward toward the open door.  “Go ahead, look inside.”

She stepped through the door, now moving quickly as she took in the small dwelling unit.  There was a kitchen immediately to the right, with an open sitting area.  To the left was a door leading to a bedroom with its own bath.  The entire thing was maybe six hundred square feet.  These apartments were meant for utility, not luxury.

But she looked at it like it was a palace.

“My sister and my mother, they can live here with me, too?” She asked as if afraid of his answer. 

Allistor shook his head.  “No.”  He watched as her face tightened up in disappointment, then quickly shifted to acceptance.  The woman had clearly lived a hard life, and learned to accept defeat.  He instantly felt bad.

“What I mean is, if there are three of you, and you want to live together, then you’ll need one of the corner units.”   He led her back out and down the hall to a door in the corner.  This unit was larger, with three small bedrooms, a master on one side and two more on the other that shared a bathroom in the hall.  “If you like the view, this one is yours.”  He pointed toward the floor to ceiling windows in the sitting area.  They faced the forest, the view from up here showing a green carpet of treetops stretching into the distance.

She didn’t speak, but the tears forming in her eyes told him that the view was acceptable. He tried to imagine what kind of life she’d lived before the apocalypse, and how dismal her existence must have been since.  Growing up where he had, it was hard to believe that in the modern world, people still lived such harsh lives.  That this rather basic living space would have such an effect on her…

“Nigel, please assign this unit to Sirina and her family.” 

“ Of course, sire .”

Sirina’s eyes shot up to the ceiling.  “Who was that?  Can he see us?”  Her gaze darted around the room, looking for cameras. 

“That is Nigel.  He’s the AI that runs all of my Strongholds, ships, everything.  And it’s more like he… senses you.  There are no cameras in here.  And Nigel is harmless.  In fact, anytime you need something, anywhere near one of our structures, you need only call out to him.”

Sirina looked up at the ceiling again.  “Uh, hello… Nigel?”

“ Greetings miss Sirina.  It is a pleasure to meet you .”

Allistor had a thought.  “Sirina, do you mind if I cast a small spell on you?  It’s called Identify, and it will give me your basic information.”

“What would you like to know?” She took a nervous step back.

“Well, what level are you?  And do you have a chosen class?”

“I am level eight.  And I do not have a class.”

“No, at level eight you wouldn’t.  You choose your class when you reach level ten.  Are most of the people here a similar level?”

“We do not discuss such things much, but yes, I believe so.  My mother is level six, my sister eight, like me.  We do not fight the monsters to level up, but we have been here in the Stronghold when monsters attacked and were defeated.  And my sister and I were on a work crew that was attacked by hyenas.  We held them off with axes and sharp branches until enough fighters could be summoned to kill them.”

“Then you are very brave, as well as intelligent.  Tell me, what would you like to do?  Given the choice of anything.  Would you want to hunt?  To cook?  Are you good with machines?  Maybe heal?  Or do you enjoy being a lumber… I’m sorry, a harvester?”

“My mother loves to cook, but I’m afraid I did not inherit her talent for it.  My sister and I are very good dancers!  But I do not suppose one could earn a living that way anymore.” She lowered her gaze.

“Probably not right now, though as we rebuild and grow, that might be a possibility.” Allistor did remember a few exotic dancers at the Stadium, but didn’t think that line of work was right for this woman.

“I like to garden…” She offered.

“There you go!  There are several classes that involve plants.   Druids, farmers, herbalists, alchemists… lots of possibilities there.”  He smiled at her.  “And I know just the person to introduce you to.  Come with me.”

He led her out of the apartment, closing the door behind them.  She gasped as the door closed, looking over Allistor’s shoulder.  When he glanced back, he saw letters appearing as if carved into the door.  They spelled out Lady Sirina .

Five minutes later they were standing in an open area inside the newly expanded wall.  Allistor placed one of several additional teleport hubs he’d purchased from Harmon, and enjoyed the look on her face as it sprang into existence.  Several others noticed the seemingly magical appearance, as well as the towering new buildings, and had wandered over to take a closer look.  Allistor took the opportunity to make a sales pitch.

“I’m Allistor, new proprietor of this establishment.” He smiled at the crowd, but got only blank looks and neutral expressions in return.   “This is a teleport pad.  It is connected to a whole network of other pads at my various properties here on earth, and our new planet called Orion.  I’m about to escort miss Sirina here to meet a few friends of mine, who can teach her about some available classes that fit what she likes to do, which is gardening.”

He paused as there was a bit of mumbling.  Realizing they might have no idea what classes were, he took five minutes to outline them, describing his own class, and a few others.  As well as the spells that came with them.  He was realizing more and more that Rajesh had kept most of these people completely in the dark about the opportunities for growth this new world offered.  They were so far behind the curve, it made him angry.  If Rajesh still lived, he’d kill him again, slowly.

Finished with discussing classes, he changed his mind about the day’s schedule.  These folks were not informed enough about their world to make an important decision like whether or not to become citizens.  Though he was doubtful they would survive otherwise, he wanted to educate them. 

“Nigel, loudspeaker please.  Through this whole Stronghold.”

“ Go ahead, sire .” The voice echoed out of the pad, causing several folks to step back.

“Attention everyone.  This is Emperor Allistor.  Please drop what you’re doing and join me at the new teleport pad.  Just walk toward the two new high rise buildings, and you’ll see our gathering.  I have some information to share.”  He didn’t want to bully these people, but he needed all of them to hear him.  “This is a mandatory meeting.  Please make your way to my location now.  This includes all my raiders and trainers, please.”

While they waited for the others, Allistor answered some questions.  They were pretty basic, like who was he, how did he become emperor, did he maintain a harem? That one had come from a hopeful looking teenage boy.  After about fifteen minutes there were several thousand locals standing around him.  A few were so elderly and frail looking that he had his people produce whatever they had in their rings that could be used as seats. 

“Nigel, is everyone here?”

“ There are two elderly residents who are in their beds, and one of them has two young children with her .”

Allistor looked around for one of the healers.  Spotting one, he asked, “Please go take a look at them, do what you can?  Nigel, have five droids meet her there.  They can carry our last few stragglers back here.”

A woman stepped forward, an angry look on her face.  “The old woman with the children is my grandmother, and those are my children.  She is sick, and cannot be moved.  You leave them alone!”  There were some angry rumbles from the crowd behind her. 

“I mean her no harm.  I’m sending a healer to her.  If there is something wrong with her other than age, she will help your grandmother.  The droids will carefully carry her here, so that she can hear what I have to tell you all.  No harm will come to her, or to your children.”

Sirina stepped forward and placed a hand on the woman’s arm.  “Trust him, he is a good man.”   The woman looked uncertain, but must have trusted Sirina to some extent.  She nodded once and stepped back.  The healer departed at a sprint, knowing Allistor wanted to get things moving.  Another healer took off after her, unasked, to see to the other senior. 

Allistor took the time to tell the rest of the crowd the short version of his story.  How his town had been flattened by the void titan, his family killed.  He spoke about when they first formed the Warren stronghold, and of the challenges they faced in the early days.  These people were basically still at that stage, not having been allowed to develop, and he thought they could best relate to that period in his life. 

Then he spoke about adding more Strongholds, about making allies of other leaders, and his stroke of luck when Helen granted him the parks.  He introduced Helen, then some of the others.  It was at that point that the droids and healers arrived with the grandmother and children, and an extremely old man wrapped in several blankets.   The healer walking alongside the old man’s droid shook his head, letting Allistor know there wasn’t much he could do for the old man.  You couldn’t cure old age with a healing spell.

But this gave Allistor an idea. 

“Please excuse me for just a moment, I need to check on something.”  He opened his UI and the tab Daigath had pointed out to him.  A quick glance at his own stats showed that he had more than a hundred and fifty million experience points toward his next level.  After a bit of exploration, he confirmed what he’d wanted to know, and made an adjustment.

“Thank you folks.” He looked at the healers and motioned for them to bring the droids carrying the seniors forward.  “I needed to check to see if this was possible.  I’m about to do something I’ve never done before.”

He took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts.  “I had planned to give each of you until noon today to make a choice as to whether or not to join me and become citizens of Invictus.  Unfortunately, I’ve learned that Rajesh kept a lot of vital information from you.  He also kept you stagnant, rather than helping you to grow stronger.” He looked around the crowd.  “Are any of you, other then the fighters, level ten or higher?”

Maybe fifty hands went up into the air.  “And you were given the opportunity to choose a class?”  He focused on one individual near the front, whose face he could see clearly.

The man nodded, then shook his head.  “I got a message about choosing a class, yes.  But Earl Rajesh instructed me, all of us, to ignore it.  He said he would instruct us on which class to choose, later.”

Allistor was getting angry again.  He took a couple deep breaths.  “Did any of you ignore Rajesh and choose a class anyway?”  He waited several seconds.  “It’s okay, you won’t get in trouble.  Rajesh is a melted pile of goo, probably still smoking.  He can’t hurt you, and I won’t hurt you.  In fact, I’m hoping to make it so all of you can choose a class.”

After several more seconds, half a dozen hands went up.  “Please, step forward.”

When the six had meekly moved forward through the crowd and joined him up on the teleport pad, he continued.  “Thank you, for your courage and for stepping forward.  I like people who think for themselves.  May I ask, what classes did you all choose?”

The first in line spoke quietly.  “I chose farmer.” 

“Very good!  And extremely valuable now, since commercial farms are no longer producing food.  Feeding everyone is a high priority.”

Encouraged by his reaction, the others shared their classes.  There were two more farmers, one blacksmith, a druid, and an enchanter. 

“Wonderful.  Good choices all around.  And we have folks who can help you improve your class skills and spells.”  He smiled at them all, then motioned for them to rejoin the crowd.  “Now, normally I reserve this kind of assistance for my own citizens, for people who have sworn the oath not to harm me or mine.  But in your case, you have been so oppressed by Rajesh that I feel I need to put you on a little more level playing field before you make that decision.  So as I mentioned before, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before.  I’m going to give you all a very valuable gift.  Something that I and the rest of my people had to fight hard for, to risk our lives to earn.”

He paused, holding his hands out for dramatic effect.  “Nigel, please assign experience points from the Empire’s pool to each of these people.  Exactly enough of them to raise each person to level ten.”  He smiled at the crowd full of widened eyes and open mouths.

“ I am sorry, sire.  I cannot comply.  Recipients must either be subjects of your empire, or must complete a quest to receive experience points as a reward .”

 “Ha!” Allistor began to blush.  His grand gesture had just fallen embarrassingly flat.  Helen snorted, then laughed loudly beside him, as did most of his raiders.  The crowd just looked confused.

“Well, as I said, I’ve never tried this before.  Even your mighty Emperor makes mistakes…” 

“A lot of mistakes.” Helen added. 

“Mistakes that usually end up with him bleeding all over everybody.” McCoy called out from somewhere in the crowd.   Allistor shot him a bird and moved on.

“Alright, let’s try this.  Those of you who took the oath yesterday, please step forward.”

When they’d gathered around in front of him, the roughly one hundred locals turned at his direction to face the crowd.  “Nigel, please use the experience pool to raise each of these people who aren’t already there to level ten.  For everyone who is already ten or higher, please raise them a single level.”

“Of course, sire.”  The crowd gasped as a glow surrounded each of the local citizens, and their eyes unfocused.   One by one they finished reading their notifications and turned to smile at Allistor, or bow, or cry out. 

“He did it.  He raised me to level ten.” One man raised both hands in the air.  “I can now choose a class for myself!”  

Others began to speak out as well.  As they did, Fayed cleared his throat and motioned to Allistor, who nodded his permission to approach.  The man stepped next to him and spoke quietly.  “Thank you for the additional level, Emperor Allistor.  And for the boon.”

“Boon?” Helen asked before Allistor could.

“Yes.  I received The Boon of the Emperor.” He saw that Allistor was confused, so his eyes unfocused as he pulled it up and read it aloud.

You have received:  The Boon of the Emperor!

Planetary Emperor Allistor has looked upon you with favor,

and gifted you an allotment of his personal experience points

sufficient to increase your level.  You receive two additional

free attribute points.

Experience gains increased by 50% for a period of thirty days.”

 

“Wow!” Helen exclaimed, again before Allistor could speak.  Which was probably a good thing.  He needed to act like an emperor, not a surprised kid. 

“That is… unexpected.” Allistor replied.  “But a valuable boost.  I hope you make the most of it, Fayed.”

By this time, the others had stopped talking and were listening to Fayed and Allistor.  Seeing this, he opened his arms again.  “All of you who just received the boon.  Make the most of it.  My people will give you quests to complete, take you hunting, even take you on dungeon runs if you desire.  A fifty percent boost to your experience is too valuable to waste.”

Every one of them nodded or smiled, grateful for the levels and the boon. 

“As for the rest of you… I have a quest for you.”  He opened up his UI and created a quest, specified it was for anyone under level ten, left the experience as variable knowing that Nigel would handle the numbers, and finalized it.

“Those of you who have children with you, please pick them up.  Have someone next to you help if you have more than one.  You will have to accept the quest on behalf of your children if they can not read.”  He fervently hoped that all of the adults could read.  When all the kids were accounted for, he sent out the quest.

Quest received:  Hold Still, Please.

Do not move from where you stand for ten seconds.

Reward:  Experience sufficient to reach Level 10 .

 

Those ten seconds were among the longest Allistor could remember.  He hoped no one would move and fail the quest, as that would be both embarrassing and inconvenient.  When the clock ran out, swirls of light surrounded each of them, including the children.  All of them were now level ten.

The crowd went from dead silent to an explosion of wonder and celebration.  Kids cheered, not sure what was happening, but thrilled at all the smiles and laughter.  Allistor got the impression this hadn’t been a very happy place before.    He let them celebrate and congratulate each other for a while, then held up his hands.

“My friends!  Welcome to a whole new world.  I would ask a few favors of you.” The crowd got quiet.  He knew what they were thinking.  Nothing is free. Now comes the catch.  “First, please don’t rush to choose your class.  You have plenty of time to go through your options.  Ask questions of my people and the class trainers that I have here with me.  If you choose to become a citizen of Invictus, you’ll have access to more than a hundred different trainers, and can ask any of my people about their classes.  Choosing a class is maybe the most important choice you’ll make for yourself, so consider it carefully.  Also, you will have received a bunch of free attribute points.  Don’t rush to assign those until you’ve chosen your class.  You’ll understand why soon enough.” He paused for effect.  “Next, rather than ask you to make a decision about citizenship today, I’m going to ask you all to take the day off and explore a bit.  This teleport pad can take you to any of our other locations.  This is the only one on this continent, at the moment.  But you can travel to Europe, several dozen spots in America, Canada, the Caribbean, and if you’re feeling really adventurous you can even travel to another planet called Orion!”

“What about our quotas?” The same woman who had warned him away from her family stepped forward.

Allistor wanted to growl in frustration.  "You have no quotas.  As of today, there are no more quotas.  Period.  You are all relieved of whatever production burdens Rajesh placed upon you.  If you should choose to become citizens and remain here to work in the factory, you will be paid a fair wage, provided with housing and food, and have all the same rights as every other citizen of Invictus.” He looked at Sirina and smiled.   “On the other hand, if you should decline to become a citizen, you will be asked to leave.  You’ll keep the levels I’ve just gifted you, and we’ll give you a week… no, let’s make that a month’s worth of food and water.   We’ll even help you clear and claim a Stronghold somewhere else to give you a safe place to sleep, and provide you with decent weapons with which to defend yourselves.”  He eyed the large factory behind the crowd.  “And, uhm, six months’ supply of toilet paper.”   This elicited a laugh from his people, and several in the crowd.  “But that’s all the help you’ll get from us.”

“How do we know that if we step through this teleporter, you won’t just enslave us in some dungeon somewhere?”  Another woman asked.

“That’s… no.   If I had plans to enslave you, or harm you in any way, I would have already done so.  These people I brought with me?” He waved across the crowd, and they all waved back, identifying themselves as if that were at all necessary.  “Most of them are level fifty or higher.  We just finished fighting off an attack from about a million undead, all of whom were two or three times your level.  I could kill every one of you myself in about thirty seconds.”  To prove his point, he cast Storm over the empty field close to the high rises.  Clouds formed, and lightning bolts began to slam into the ground.  He let it run for about ten seconds, then stopped channeling.

They got the point.

“I came here to help you.  I want to help all of the human race that has survived the last year to grow stronger.  To take back as much of our planet as we can, and restore our civilization as close as possible to the way it was.  There will be no peasants, no slaves, not anymore.  I accepted the titles I have because they’re necessary under the new System.  Somebody has to be in charge and make the rules.  To represent the rest of us in dealing with the non-humans out there.  But I’m no tyrant.”

He waited for more questions.  Eventually Sirina helped him out.  “How does this teleport work?”

Nigel answered, naturally assuming the question was for him.  “ You simply step onto the pad, in groups of no more than twenty individuals, and state your destination.  I will send you there.  Once you have arrived, please vacate the pad immediately, as others may wish to make use of it.”

“How do we know where to go?”  someone from the crowd shouted.

Allistor hadn’t thought of that.  “I’ll tell you what.  My people will spread out around the pad to answer questions and make recommendations.  Take some time to talk to them.  Tell them what you’re interested in, and they’ll recommend a place to start.  I’ll give you until noon tomorrow to explore.  You can visit as many of our locations as you wish in that time.  Wherever you go, feel free to ask the people there whatever questions you like.  They can show you around, demonstrate spells, crafting, healing, whatever.  And you’ll have access to food and drink at your leisure.  Just ask whomever you’re with, and they’ll get you to a cafeteria.”

Helen nudged him in the ribs, and whispered “Beastkin.”

“Oh, shit! Thanks.” He chuckled.  “Uhmm… as you move around, you’ll notice several non-human beings living and working among us.  Don’t be frightened, they’re citizens, and quite friendly.  There are elves, dwarves, gnomes, minotaur, orcanin – those look like storybook orcs, big green muscley guys, but please don’t call them orcs, it’s an insult to them.  They are called orcanin.  There are beastkin of various forms – they look part human, part animal.  All of them have taken the oath and are fellow citizens.  They will not harm you unless you attack them.  Even then, they’ll probably just restrain you and return you to me.  All of them are much more powerful than any of you.”

There were expressions of shock and concern.  Several people backed away from the pad as if it might bite them.

“Any other questions?” Allistor asked.  “If not, I’d like to take care of something.  Please, bring our two most senior friends forward.  Fayed, Sirina, would you help me?”

The droids brought forth the two frail locals, and Allistor briefly explained what he had in mind to Fayed and Sirina in a whisper.  They in turn moved to speak with the seniors, Sirina helping the grandmother, Fayed the old man.  It took a few minutes, especially for the old man who was barely lucid.  But eventually they achieved the result Allistor hoped for.

Both elders rapidly looked much healthier and stronger.  The old man even squirmed to be set down and stood on his own, albeit with one hand on the droid to steady himself.  Fayed had coached him into applying attribute points to Strength and Constitution, as well as a few points into Intelligence to help with focus, and Stamina .  There was no cure for age, but being able to use attribute points to boost yourself beyond human norms was a good substitute.

Having the oldsters suddenly looking much more spry and active went a long way toward reassuring the others.  They looked more relaxed and less afraid. 

“Now then, I promised to escort miss Sirina here, who you can thank for the brand new high rises, by the way, to meet some friends of mine.  We’ll be making a quick stop at my capital city on the way.  Any of you who wish to visit may join us, or follow.”

He moved to the center of the pad and motioned for her to join him.  To her credit, she did so with confidence and no hesitation.  Agni, Fayed, and several of those who’d already sworn the oath chose to join him, then half a dozen or so from the crowd.  Including the grandmother and her family.

With a smile and a wave, Allistor and the others disappeared.