Chapter 21: The One

-One POV-

One day. He had left the capital for one day!

The smouldering wreckage surrounding him stunk of ash and fear, the huddling masses stared at his procession from broken windows and doors. The once resplendent capital was now blackened and broken, the many shrubberies and trees he had ordered to be strategically placed along the streets to promote calm and order had long been turned to ash.

As he looked around he saw all of the work he had put into his seat of power. Across the street he could see a broken billboard. Once it had contained military propaganda, innocuous and innocent enough but every colour and pixel had been meticulously chosen to best bend the wills of any who looked at it. It would subconsciously instil a pride and trust in the nation’s military.

That billboard now appeared to have been split in half.

He saw the disparity in design of the many shops that dotted the road he was travelling down. Many uninformed peons may have remarked at how unusual that was for an empire that prized conformity. It was, of course, simply another tactic of his. Those who followed the governments words obediently had access to benefits that the foolish did not. Benefits such as access to designs and architecture meant to draw the eye and inspire fascination.

Many assumed being a brainwashing Thinker was all about the torture and pain, breaking people down so that they may be remade. That certainly had it’s place, but that was not the most insidious aspect of his power.

No, at his core he understood people. He knew what stimuli would get them to react the way he wanted. Humans were simply machines programmed by evolutionary pressures, and he was the one who could observe the code.

He had began life as the son of a humble architect, and in his innocent youth he had dreamt of being exactly like his father. Unfortunately reality was cruel and the many political machinations of the communist state sought to use their family as an example.

Then came the bad years. The emergence of parahumans, and his life went from bad to horrific.

His family, already tied in strings, became just one more resource to be fought over by a legion of government workers, insurgents, newly triggered Thinkers and more.

With the benefit of hindsight he knew that the situation of his family was far from unique. Any family who was even remotely important was used and abused in some way. But to him at the time it felt like the world was closing in around him.

How could he escape from the reaching grasp of hundreds of bad actors?

How could he turn his crumbling country around?

Why wouldn’t everyone just work together!?

Then he had triggered.

It had been a long time since that terrible day, but he had much to show for his work. He had forged a resistance group in the ashes of China and lead them to glory and empire. He had formed a parahuman group of unwavering loyalty and commitment.

China was strong. China was unified.

He had even regained a scrap of his lost dream, in a way.

Beijing was remade in his image. It was, in truth, his Tinker Megaproject, even if he wasn’t a tinker in truth. A high-end endeavour that had utilised every aspect of his power. The ground, the trees, the buildings, all of it was made with intention in mind.

There was a reason Beijing was an island of stability in an otherwise chaotic ocean. Dissidents and rebels regularly rose up across the country and were quashed effortlessly. Except not in Beijing. Here there were no dissidents. There were no rebels. Even the normally fractious and conflict prone parahumans happily handed themselves in if they triggered within the city.

This was how he had climbed to the very top and remained there.

But now it was burning.

The smoky heat of the outside air was nothing compared to the molten fury that beat in his breast. Someone had ruined his work, and that individual would be weeping for an eternity by the time he was done with them.

“Number 12, your report please?”

The hollowed out man silently passed him a brown envelope containing the files.

Usually he would have preferred a verbal report, but there would be little point in pleasantries with his puppets.

He ripped open the enveloped and greedily poured through the files contained within. His fury only heightened as he flipped through the papers. He had suspected as much from that booming announcement, but the malcontent appropriating the guise of a hero of Chinese mythology was an insult he swore to repay tenfold.

“Have any teams been dispatched to apprehend this man?”

Number Twelve nodded before replying.

“Black-13 has been dispatched.”

He nodded at that. Black-13 was one of their better hunter squads, not the one he would have ordered to be sent out in more ideal times. However all of the other teams he would have chosen were supposed to have been on the many ships sent to take New Fukuoka, which was now a cancelled operation.

He had doubts Black-13 would be able to capture this aberration, but odder things had happened before.

He continued drinking in the report, meticulously going over plans and probabilities. He continued in this way for over five minutes. Leisurely stepping over burnt wreckage while reading through the many reports, trusting in his agents to watch over him as he did so.

Then he stopped.

His eyes had landed on a picture taken only a few hours ago. It showed a large blackened wall encircling the land once know as Jinzhou. Behind that obsidian bastion was a city in the distance. It seemed both close and far away, yet as he stared at it he more and more gained a nagging feeling.

This was familiar somehow.

The towering chrome skyscrapers were new, but the way the city was laid out was familiar. It was done with intention. The wide open spaces, the inviting glowing crystalline structures, the many disparate colour schemes of the distant houses.

It was like Beijing.

And it was like New Fukuoka.

The revelation shook him briefly.

The day he had been informed of the importance of New Fukuoka, of the many technological bounties present within, he had already been planning the invasion of the newly risen Kyushu. Because unlike the dim-witted Americans and desperate Japanese he had understood the danger and usefulness both of New Fukuoka.

Because whoever built it was like him.

New Fukuoka had been a masterwork. It had blended Japanese architecture with nature to achieve perfect harmony with its surroundings, and more importantly influence the people within. The clean smooth curves and the white and green, all of it meant to evoke feeling of calm and welcomness.

Whoever had built this city hadn’t designed it as a poisoned apple to be fought over.

It was a gift, sincerely and innocently given to a people who were suffering.

Disgusting.

One had never seen such a pathetic amount of waste in his life.

While this unknown Tinker, or perhaps group of Tinkers, clearly understood the same principles as he did they were painfully naïve.

Such a group or individual couldn’t be allowed to roam freely. He himself was proof that they were simply too dangerous.

His eyes poured over the newest city and noted the differences.

The sense of openness and acceptance was still there, but there was something else. The sheer height of the buildings and the royal gold used throughout the city pointed towards-

“Pride,” he finished his own thought aloud.

For a moment he thought it heartening. This was something he understood! Pride could be used to ferment nationalistic beliefs and promote expansionist tendencies in the populace.

For a moment this mysterious Tinker became more understandable, less dangerously unpredictable in their altruism.

Then he saw where the city was.

Jinzhou, and reading over the rest of the report he noted that all other penal colonies had been emptied of their prisoners.

His lips curled into a frown.

This individual wasn’t trying to build an empire. They were trying to rebuild the pride of a broken people.

They were once more trying to help.

The paper wrinkled under his grip as he forcefully shoved it back towards Twelve.

Idealists were dangerous.

Each and every individual that had tried to seize power in his youth were idealists, in their own twisted way. They had been so convinced that only they knew the proper path forwards, as if they knew the true soul of humanity as he did.

No, humans were animals. They needed control and order to not constantly devolve into barbarism.

But now there was another who understood the same lesson he did, and willingly chose to turn away from the truth, and they were just sitting on his doorstep.

Had they sent that upstart to destroy his city?

…It made an uncomfortable amount of sense. A being driven solely by soft hearted morals would certainly object to his work, regardless of how necessary it was.

Fine, then let’s see how you like it.

“Number Twelve!”

The man looked his way, his posture ready and waiting.

“Get in contact with the army group returning from the cancelled operation to New Fukuoka, tell them they have a new target.”

The hollow hearted man nodded, pulling out a radio.

“And what will be their next target, sir?”

“The new city that has encompassed Jinzhou. They are to capture it and search for whoever made this affront and bring them before me.”

One didn’t bother to look back as Twelve began to radio the returning army, marching quickly onwards towards the palace.

Thoughts spiralled in his head. Would the army get there before the architect of this city left? Would they be able the breach their defences? What other allies besides that barbaric monkey do they have? What are they going to do next?”

The thoughts were left without answers as he traversed his burnt and ruined domain.

-Alexander POV-

‘Man, sometimes life is good’ I thought to myself, sipping something fruity from a gargantuan glass as I floated through a lake I had just made.

Granted I had to attach anti-gravity devices to myself so I could actually float instead of sinking like a rock, but it’s the thought that counts.

Currently I was chillaxing after putting together the skeleton of a working government.

I still don’t know why they want me to be there now that Taizong is present, the most I could offer were what little scraps of governing techniques my punk specialities had given me. I got the feeling that most of those were locked behind level five, so I only had a few minor points to add to the meeting.

Didn’t stop them from looking at me in awe whenever I spoke though, the jerks!

All of that forced socialisation had worn on my social batteries, so I was choosing to use my time to the fullest.

Which, of course, meant that now was the time the world decided to kick me in the dick.

I jolted as a loud droning sound, eerily reminiscent of a World War Two air raid siren, rang out across the city.

I flailed in the water, the anti-gravity devices nailed to me making the gestures slow and clumsy looking.

Did I add an air raid siren? I don’t remember adding an air raid siren!

“Creator,” a flat artificial voice coming from a nearby drone caused me to cease my panicky movements and tilt my head towards it.

“A large group of soldiers is approaching the city. They possess mechanised support as well as parahuman elements.”

Ah fuck, I knew things were going too smoothly.

“How many would you say there are?,” I ask my V.I.

The drone bobbed ponderously in the air as my creation calculated the answer.

“Roughly twenty-“ Well that’s not too bad “-thousand foot soldiers as well as hundreds of parahumans, though there may be more hidden.”

Well, fuck me I guess.

I sighed, and drank down the last of my drink.

It seemed I would have to make a few calls.

The people of Jinzhou had met their leader. They had discovered their scientist. They had encountered the spiritualist. But they had yet to meet all of my creations.

They had yet to witness the ferocity of my warrior.

But before the hour was up I knew they, and the few soldiers that would live to see tomorrow, would never forget him.

AN: Hi everyone! So as you can see One isn’t very pleased. I’ve actually made him a slight foil to Alexander in the way he likes to use his power. Both build structure aimed at influencing others. But whereas Alexander mainly does it for the benefit of the people who would live there One does it to enforce order and conformity. Neither would like the other if they met.

So now Jinzhou is being invaded. I’m sure that will go well for the C.U.I. Meanwhile Alexander is trying to live his best life, but he’s in Earth Bet.