Chapter 11: Let’s Make A Plan

-Alexander POV-

The disturbing news of a planned invasion of Japan had done much to dampen my mood. Well, it was already pretty bleak from having to listen to Bai’s depressing story of how China becoming a giant shitshow.

But now it had hit rock bottom.

My experience with Worm wasn’t that deep truth be told. The majority of my information comes from fanfiction, and a lot of that fanfiction was from people who also hadn’t read Worm in its entirety. Not to mention the fact that the Fandom seemed to have an allergic reaction to anything that happened after Leviathan showing up to Brockton Bay and pushing everyone’s shit in.

So if Japan had been invaded in canon, I hadn’t heard of it.

Was it possible for that to have happened? Sure, an expansionist authoritarian state wanting to grab land from old enemies was a tale as old as time.

But somehow I didn’t think that was the case here.

Bai couldn’t mention why the C.U.I was planning an invasion but I had a decent idea why.

Me, or rather my city.

Hesitantly, almost fearfully, I tapped into the internet and searched for what had happened to Kyushu after I left.

News articles and commentaries flickered past my eyes, absorbed in seconds by my enhanced mind. A deep yawning void echoed cavernously in my gut as I beheld what had happened in my absence.

Oh.

Oh no.

I stared blankly at the wall of my newly crafted cave, idly tracing the small flourishes I had added but my mind was far away from here. It was turning in on itself, fretting over possibilities and decisions I had previously made.

Before I knew it Renji had returned, and began fretting over me like a mother hen. The thought brought a brief twitch to my lips, even as a depressive fog still covered my mind.

A hesitant thought came to me then. Could I? Should I?

I picked Renji up and cradled him in my arms, my chest heaving with aborted sobs even as my eyes remained clear.

Fuck. Why couldn’t I cry?!

I try to breathe. I can’t breathe.

This isn’t my body.

Renji tries to place his arms around me.

He can’t, I’m too big.

Oh fuck.

I try to frown.

My face remains placidly pleasant.

Why?!

Why me?!

I-I can’t…

I just want to go home.

Renji continues to make soothing noises, speaking to me even if I’m in no mind to hear him

For now, it’s enough.

-Renji POV-

He rubs the back of his lieges hand in repetitive soothing gestures, all while desperately using his connection to the web to search for answers.

Bai had already whispered to him what had triggered this, the news that had shook his liege to their core. A black boiling pit of hate sat uneasily in his stomach.

How dare they!

He had been made to comfort, to counsel and to protect his liege who had formed in a world strange to them. Had any enemy been present he would have struck it down in a moment. But there were no enemies here, the wound dealt to his liege was a mental one.

He had been made for his liege, and so he knew them well. Likely far more than they knew themselves. They were strong and kind, but they were also the sort to treasure stability and structure. Being flung into a foreign land creeping towards destruction had horrified them, so they sought distraction.

His liege had found that in their city building.

But now the world had intruded upon that, took their good intentions and stomped upon them repeatedly.

Now, without that comforting illusion, they were spiralling.

But this was no time for that, what his liege needed now was direction. A goal to work towards, and the C.U.I had thankfully provided that themselves.

“My liege” He spoke up for the first time in an hour, the sudden sound jostling his creator to wakefulness.

“We still need to help Bai, and the others.”

The gentle reminder finally shook them out of their panic.

His liege studied him for a few seconds, before their eyes widened and they looked around the room in a fevered daze.

“Bai left the room a while ago, to give you some privacy.”

The news didn’t seem to bring much comfort to his progenitor, only a quiet look of shame.

Best to cut that off quickly.

“My liege, what is your plan?”

A look of tired confusion answered him, but he could already see the gears whirring to life behind her eyes. His liege was a thinker, a builder of complex and refined systems. If there was anyone who could turn the situation around it would be them.

“Okay” they began, licking their lips nervously. “Two problems. The invasion of Japan and the current situation in Jinzhou” his liege continued.

Renji nodded, showing engagement while he allowed his liege to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

“The solution to the latter is obvious, I was already going to do it. Clean up the radiation, erect an unbreakable city to hold back the C.U.I and house the dissidents” They gnawed at their lip.

“But would that be enough to turn back the ships?”

Renji quirked a brow at that.

“Could you not simply defend Kyushu yourself? No amount of ships would ever reach their destination if you did not will it.” He suggested, only to be met with a scoff.

“Ah yes, let’s defend an already unstable situation by throwing an Endbringer into it. That’ll work out great!” A sardonic laugh left their lips at that. “No, I’ve already left enough of a mess by not thinking my actions through.”

His creator looked thoughtful then, a look so serious it could have been crafted out of granite.

It was not an unpleasant look, even if he preferred the quiet laughter she often shared when they were travelling through the tunnel.

“We need something big, but not threatening. We need something that’ll make the C.U.I uncertain enough that they’ll delay the invasion.”

A grin wormed its way onto their features. It was a devious thing, like the smile of a friend who had a secret only they knew.

“Golly gee, if only something big and weird happened right outside their capital! That sure would be strange wouldn’t it?”

Renji allowed himself a smile to match his liege’s.

“Why, that would be most unfortunate. But a city alone won’t accomplish that. They’ll simply invade.”

“Nah, on its own a city wouldn’t accomplish anything. We need to think bigger.”

Renji felt a shiver crawl up his back at the tone of his creator’s voice. It was darkly cruel, a sadistic pleasure that could only come by causing those you hate great pain.

His progenitor was clearly taking the attempted invasion of their creation very personally.

“It seems you have an idea, but what do you plan to do about the people already squatting upon your island?”

The smile that cut across his liege’s throat died at that. An unsure look crossed their face.

“I don’t know. I would have preferred for the Japanese Government to have taken over the island, but from the news reports originating from the PRT Mount Ooe appears to be returning refugees from their territory and settling them in the city.”

Ah, Renji understood. His liege found the group loathsome, but what they were doing admirable and even in-line with their own wants.

Of course they would be unsure.

“I’ll wait for now, see if they screw up. At the moment I have to deal with the C.U.I.”

She turned to face the wall once more.

“Please bring Bai back into the room, I’ll need some information if this is to work.”

He bowed, hiding a smile of relief as the earlier depression was washed away in his liege’s planning. He knew it might return at some point. But if it did he would be there to show them that they wee nt alone.

-Alexander POV-

Plans and probabilities blurred in my mind as I listened to Bai speak, a program in my mind cataloguing the information away.

Ah yes, plan ‘Fuck The Fascists’ was proceeding well. I had memorised everything I needed for this plan to work, and I had twelve hours until the ships were due to set off. More than enough time to get everything into place.

This would have to be big, and not merely ‘city’ big.

It would have to make the C.U.I sit up and take notice. It would have to be an enormous existential threat that simply couldn’t be ignored.

SilkPunk Level 3- A mesh of magic and technology with an aesthetic that mirrors East Asia. It is a mesh of both technology and poetry where art has meaning beyond simply beauty. Includes magical rituals, technology and spells capable of effecting entire regions of land. Use with caution.

To say this upgrade was a game changer would be an understatement. With just the slightest but of set up I could effect far more than simply my city wide use of Matter Manipulation. Areas of slowed time, shifted perception and alien geometries were mine to command, and could be practised on the level of a small country.

As long as it fit into the mythos of East Asia and the initial setup was complete there was little I couldn’t do.

‘Oh but Alexander’ I hear you ask, ‘How are you going to complete that setup in twelve hours?’

A good question from the voices in my head!

The answer was fairly simple.

The ground in front of me shakes as a metal orb ponderously rises from the ground. It unfolds into a collection of reaching mechanical arms and blinking cameras for eyes.

Drones.

Drones that were connected to me through my nanobots.

They weren’t just ordinary drones either, they were full of every field of technology I could fit into them. The magics I had cast upon them was no less potent. Together they produced a nimble agent of death that could fly, inscribe, teleport and become almost completely undetectable.

They would be the ones that would enable me to carve the foundations of my work.

A place where the downtrodden could stand, look the C.U.I dead in the face and then spit upon them.

I had already sent a dozen or so out towards the boundaries of Jinzhou to begin inscribing. A hundred or so would join them swiftly. More still would fly South-West to find an area of interest.

Once I finished producing drones I would have my own work to do. A weapon that would take ten careful and painstaking hours to complete, even for me. But with luck it would allow me the confusion and hysteria I would need to complete my work before interference arrives.

I breathe in.

I breathe out.

I open my eyes, let’s hope I’m ready.

The drones fly high, the plasma jets giving them lift falling silent before disappearing entirely as the drones seem to blend into the surrounding sky. Behind me Renji and Bai stand watch. Renji looks on quiet and proud, his eyes still darting towards the horizon with his hand on his sword.

Bai is more amazed, outright gaping at the drones being produced in the dozens, looking to me with a feeling I can’t quite describe. It’s certainly not love but it’s not quite admiration either, it seemed to stand at some odd middle ground between them. I said nothing, unsure what to say to the woman who was pinning all of her hopes on me.

I look to the sky

It would be enough.

It had to

AN: Bit of a shorter one this time, exhaustion from work is still kicking my ass. But in better news I’m less depressed than I was and I’m finally starting to enjoy myself again. If work continues it’s current grind I may only be able to get out one chapter per week, fortunately I’m fairly certain next week will be calmer for me. Thanks for all the support guys, and give me your best guess at what Alexander is planning.