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The Gamer Chapter 1817 – Cutting Losses
🕑 Added 2025-01-14 21:24:44 +0000 UTC
Moira showed up early.
The redhead had her full battle regalia on her. The wine red tabard, emblazoned with the symbol of the Order of the Golden Rose, covered her plate armour. As a sign of good will, John had sponsored an upgrade for it after the Iron Domain. Said upgrade had come in the shape of materials that the Order’s own smiths had then fashioned into thick pieces of white, brass and gold. The war hammer with the long handle shared the colours, as did the reinforced headband that kept the crimson waves of her tresses tied in a high ponytail. Her shield hung in its pendant form from her neck.
Moira was a religious icon in the flesh. Her Blessing was manifested in a constant, mild corona. Every part of her plate was covered in elaborate decorations. If she had any misgivings with her appearance of opulence, then she had been taught not to show it. As a Warden, she did not show off out of vanity. Her sight inspired followers on the battlefield. The moral value of looking epic should not be underestimated.
A moral value that left John cold, for three reasons. Most importantly, he was too independently minded. He had struggled to find any hold in a shared identity when he had been young and any remaining respect he had by nature for authority figures had been beaten out of him by those who looked the other way when Frank and Vanessa did what they wanted to. Secondly, John was a gamer and, for better and for worse, that meant he was regularly subjected to second-hand epic experiences that somewhat dulled the appreciation for the real thing. Both of these points had their advantages and their disadvantages and both were just part of who he was.
Third was that she was standing in his office.
‘Justinian’s office,’ John corrected himself and let out an audible laugh.
“What is so funny?” Moira immediately asked. Her tone was a reflection of the straightness of her spine.
“All of this,” John answered cheekily and was given an annoyed glare in response. In that gesture, Moira once reminded him of Lydia. Stern women had a steel to them that John found deeply alluring. He nipped that thought in the bud. ‘You’re not looking for more haremettes and you’re certainly not pursuing Moira,’ he told himself. A certain crocodile hummed, pleased. “I find the situation by and large funny.”
Moira continued to stare at him for a few seconds, before stoically moving her gaze to the door. “Whatever you say, Gamer.”
‘Quite formal today. Guess someone is preparing herself to put up a stoic front.’ John leaned back in his chair. He did not care much on how Moira behaved, as long as her presence made Justinian a little more pliable. A modicum of competency had to be drilled into the man.
Said man arrived a few minutes later. To his credit, he was still five minutes early. The moment he entered and his eyes fell on Moira, the annoyed expression on his face brightened to a light smile. “Honoured Warden!” he declared and crossed the distance with such haste, Ehtra had to close the door behind him. “Finally, I will get some competency around me! This vile man has been providing nothing but cynicism and poison!”
Moira’s plate rattled when she took a quarter step away from Justinian. The gesture was enough to stop the blond man in his approach. A moment of shock reflected on his face, turning immediately into hatred directed at John.
‘I suppose him getting shot down is also my fault,’ the Gamer thought, sarcastically.
By now, he only cared to get one or two uses out of Justinian: to use him to root out corruption and to curse his political enemies with such a powerful wielder of incompetence. Being liked by the Latebloomer was an optional goal that John had given up on.
“I will advise as best I am able,” Moira said, stiff, prim, and proper.
“I will be glad to hear it,” Justinian assured, hesitated for a moment, then circled around the table to sit down.
“How did your walking around go?” John asked, sincerely.
“You raised the people of Fusion to be unfriendly and withdrawn,” Justinian answered immediately. That was the delusion he must have arrived at after reflecting on the conduct the day before.
“You are aware that I have only been in power for about 1 ½ years, yeah?” John asked. “I did not raise anyone. We are about the same age.”
“Which only speaks to the fact that wisdom is not distributed evenly between those with experience,” Justinian attempted to deliver a jab.
John burst out into laughter.
The reaction had everyone else in the room confused. Justinian took it as a slight and stared with his usual disdain. Moira’s eyebrows subtly knitted. Ehtra tilted her head slightly. The Gamer continued to laugh, twice as amused because of their reactions. There were insults so absurd in their nature that one could not do anything but find them humorous.
“Haaaaa… I needed that today.” John sniffed and wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye. “By all means, you do not need my wisdom, or lack thereof, so check out the work that was left from yesterday.”
Justinian looked at the table, only now realizing that there was a stack of folders thirty centimetres thick in front of him. The girth was more intimidating than it actually was. A lot of the reports had pages upon pages of hard numbers that were interesting to look at but not necessary to reach a decision on the matters they were linked to. In reality, there were about 30 matters that required solving or delegating. Still, a substantial amount of work.
“Your meeting with the Stream Party representatives has been scheduled for lunch,” Ehtra also informed him.
“I… uh… a fine job, secretary!” Justinian attempted to save his stuttering. Ehtra rewarded it with an eye roll, then returned to her usual work. The sanctimonious Latebloomer picked up the first folder and began to read through the foreword. He read through it, then stated, “Advise me on this, great and holy Warden, your radiant wisdom will guide me.”
Justinian made no motion to hand over the file, forcing Moira to get behind the table and check out the file while the ‘president’ still held it. She distracted herself well enough by reading the words. Afterwards, she straightened up again. “A contemptible request.”
“I think so as well!” Justinian agreed quickly. “A proper response would be to have them publicly chastised, would it not?”
“That… is an open avenue.” The reluctance in her word’s was obvious to anyone besides Justinian. Was it the degree of the punishment she disagreed with or was the fact that she was agreeing with Justinian giving her pause?
John knew the feeling. Basically everyone who had ever engaged in anything out of the norm did. Sometimes one met another person that held the same or similar beliefs, but did so in a manner that was just so… off. It forced introspection. To put it simply, no one wanted to be on the same side as the village idiot.
“We could admonish him together. As heads of government and faith, this would send a great correction effect through Fusion and the entire world!” Justinian spoke loudly.
‘You should stop him,’ Stirwin advised.
John had been teetering at the edge of this already. ‘Well, part of being wise is to cut your losses.’ “What, exactly, do you admonish them for?” the Gamer asked out loud.
Moira’s relief at him talking again was audible. She sighed. A noise that immediately made Justinian glare at John. “You were not asked for your opinion.”
“Moira did however ask that you stop pursuing her. Yet here you are, blatantly using her role as your advisor to get her to stand next to you.” The redhead took an immediate step away from the chair when she realized that had been happening. John on the other hand stood up. “Do you know what your primary problem is?”
“You.”
“Cute, but no.”
“Spare both of us the lecture you are about to embark on, fiend, I shall not listen to honeyed rot.”
“Well, maybe you will remember it someday. That makes it worthwhile enough to say it out loud.”
“I said you can spare-“
“Shut up.” John let his annoyance flow outwards. Justinian clenched his teeth against the spiritual pressure created by the Gamer’s emotion. “I genuinely hoped I could show that I’m not evil, but I will have to accept that some people just cannot be shown the error of their ways through reason.”
“I am… not…” Justinian growled, prompting John to double down on his presence.
Moira watched with conflicted emotions in her green eyes as John went to Justinian’s side and fished the folder from his hands. He gave the summary page a once-over, just confirming to himself that the matter was what he thought it would be. “You want to admonish the leaders of the red light district for advocating against any laws that prohibit drug use.”
“Their… horrific life… choices must be… punished!” Justinian declared.
“If the life choices are horrific, the punishment will assert itself,” John stated bluntly and tossed the folder back on the table. “It is my understanding, Moira, that William appreciates fine wine?”
“…My father does have his indulgences,” the Warden admitted.
John nodded. “As do we all. Some of us indulge to take the edge off, others are compelled by their urges, yet others are fully controlled by their worst impulses. It is best to be in the first category, that much you and I will find agreement on.”
Justinian hissed something, but John’s presence kept the syllables stuck in his throat. Casually, the Gamer grabbed the back of the chair and pulled him away from the table. No sooner had they vacated the area, that it began to shift.
“What you do not understand… is much. You would strip people of the right to make their own mistakes and to prove you wrong on your perceptions, because you believe you have it all figured out. That alone, I cannot entirely fault you for. It is in the nature of every people and every state to enforce their morality – it is the lecturing that makes you incapable of ruling.”
John gave the chair a push, sending Justinian rolling to the middle of the room. In the same set of seconds, the temporary workstation that the Gamer had put together was replaced with the regular desk. He pulled his chair back and sat down. The room looked much better in that position.
“Power does not entitle you to lecturing people. It is relationships that do. If someone destroys themselves with bad choices, it is not the job of the state to be the moral actor, but of those that are around that person. Lovers, family, friends, those have the right to tell someone that they are on the wrong path. If all of that fails and that person becomes a nuisance to the broader community, then and only then does the state get to intervene in force.”
John spun halfway to Moira to prompt her to give her input on the matter.
The redhead appeared contemplative. She circled around the table, not to stand besides John as she spoke. “The President may be indulgent in many matters, but he is not unwise,” the Warden stated. “For as much as we desire people to be as close to the Lady’s perfect image, we cannot hammer them into that shape from the outside. Excesses must be trimmed, but that which disappoints cannot be treated the same way as that which harms.”
“I understand…” Justinian pushed out.
“You do not understand anything.” John interlocked his fingers, then placed his chin on top. “You just say you do because the woman that you want shared an opinion. I’m not overly condemning you for that in isolation. However, I have to reiterate: she has no interest in you. It would be most graceful of you to walk away.”
John loosened his emotional aura. Lurching forwards in the chair, Justinian nearly fell out of it. The force he had been subconsciously straining against was suddenly gone. Left behind was only a room with three other people in it.
While the sanctimonious Latebloomer gathered his breath, John continued on, “Naivety chokes, cynicism strangles and only the wholesome are truly free,” he cited the prophecy he had made before all of this. “Remember that. To act because you do not know better and to not act because you believe you know better both will leave you gasping. The better world you desire does not come about on the base of-“
Justinian turned into a beam of light. Magic sword at the ready, he descended on John. A second flash of radiant light filled the room before the first had ebbed away. A tower shield as tall as John was moved between him and his assailant.
A look of betrayal appeared on the blond man’s face. A final, total acknowledgement that the Warden was not on his side. Moira, for her part, had lost any awkwardness. There was no taint to her steel when she pushed Justinian back. The Latebloomer was flung across the room. He readied himself to jump at John again, the hatred raw on his face.
“-force,” John finished his sentence, just as Ehtra’s hand slammed into Justinian’s face. The First of Hatred spun once around her own axis before slamming the man into the floor. The magical nature of the Building kept the ground from breaking, even as the structure shook.
Justinian was sturdy, that much had to be acknowledged. He gripped his sword again, attempted to stab at Ehtra, only for the ancient weapon to ram her own Astrotium blade through the blond man’s forearm. He screamed and finally let go of the armament.
Ehtra got on her feet and scornfully stomped down on Justinian’s other wrist. The bone broke with a sickening crunch. The First of Hatred scowled still as the man screamed, putting her weight on the crushed joint.
“Enough,” John declared hurriedly. He had meant to stop her even before she broke his wrist, but the First of Hatred had acted first. “Step away, Ehtra.”
“Tsk.” The grey angel gave the sanctimonious Latebloomer one more glance, before stepping away. Her sword, she left in place. Blood stained the Gamer’s gleaming floor.
“You act first, think later. You are so convinced you have it all figured out that you cannot fathom not pursuing ‘justice’. You’re not even useful as someone to sniff out corruption, because you’re incapable of dispensing with the question of what you want. Ask yourself what others want from you, then you might see some advancements in your life.”
“Are you done?” Justinian growled.
“No. You’re under arrest,” the Gamer stated bluntly.
“Tyrant.”
“You just tried to- why am I even trying…?” John pinched the bridge of his nose. This whole thing had been idiotic. He considered killing Justinian then and there. He would be a thorn in his side… but Lorelei had assured him Justinian would top out way before he could become a threat to John himself. ‘It really just is better to curse my enemies with his incompetence,’ he thought and teleported over with Magus Step. He pulled the sword out of Justinian’s arm. “Ehtra, see to it that he is given a swift trial.”
“You’re too good to creatures like him,” Ehtra stated bluntly.
“Maybe,” John agreed.
Moira stepped forwards and whispered a quick prayer to the Lady. A soothing light enveloped Justinian’s arm. “Thank y-“
“Shut up,” Moira snapped at the Latebloomer. “Just… shut up and comply. That’s the only path that you can take right now that will not disappoint me.”
Justinian left the room quietly.
“Well, wasn’t that a shitshow?” Momo asked. The fairy maid pushed the door to the room open with elbow and shoulders. She had been waiting behind it for most of the talk. It was her that had pushed the buttons necessary to revert the office. That she came in with a bucket and a mop was not quite expected though.
“Not all of my ideas are brilliant past the theory,” John admitted with a sigh and scratched the back of his head. “The incompetence of some people…”
“Am I really like him?” Moira muttered out loud.
“In the same way that I’m like Osman – are you familiar with the name?”
“The prince of the Great Sultanate?” Moira asked.
“Yeah, that one. Both of us like sex, harems, and being the dominant person in the household. We have many shared traits on that basis. He, however, views women as his genuine inferiors. He thinks that men are preordained to be the leaders of the household and the political realm.” Moira’s eyebrow went higher and higher.
“So, a sexist?” Moira asked plainly.
“Less of one than his father, but yes.” John returned to his chair. “The point is that you can have a lot of overlap with people on the surface without having the same foundation. My current love life is an emergent property of a variety of interplaying factors that have somehow coalesced into the happiest situation a man could find himself in. Osman presumes that the happiest situation a man can find himself in is what he deserves and he therefore aligns the pieces to make it so. I desire, he demands. You desire a world in which all follow the Lady’s teachings, because you have found the underlying principles to be best when enacted voluntarily. He demands a world in which all follow strict morality, because he has decided that it will be best for everyone. From the outside, your goals seem similar and you will certainly agree on what to do with the worst offenders against your desired order. Once it comes to sorting out the internal, however… things get muddy.”
“But you absolutely sound like him,” Momo added to the Gamer’s monologue. The rag she had used to mop up the bloodstains landed back in the bucket with a splash. “That’s my maid work for the day.”
“Much appreciated.” John patted his lap.
Momo puckered her lips. It did nothing to obscure the intense pink. It was not a natural colour, too bright and uniform. It was also imminently kissable. The chancellor of Fusion, after teasing him with her prolonged pondering, decided to place her butt in the offered space. He was the seat, but the cushion was most certainly placed on top of him.
“Guess we’ll have to reinstall you now,” Momo pointed out.
John blew air out of his nose. The protocol to end this experiment early had been in place from the start. While John had not expected Justinian to be so incompetent to be thrown out after, effectively, one day in the office, he had anticipated potential violence. A press release had been pre-written.
John had another look at it and changed some formulations to reflect some additional humility. It was an honest move. It was also made with the knowledge that the experiment had been unpopular in mind.
“I’ll have to ask Nightingale to meet with those Stream Party representatives… can’t have them feel insulted for being invited over and then left waiting.” John immediately went back to work. “I apologize to have called you in just for all of this to come to an end.”
Moira was still contemplative and sighed. “It is for the best this way. Would you mind if I remained? I do not mind if you engage in your usual activities.” She made an off-handed gesture at Momo. “Just keep it under the table.”
The offer had John doubting his ears for a moment. ‘The drift is real,’ he thought and considered the offer. ‘Well, she might as well get used to it and it’s far from the worst thing that happened so far.’ “You heard her?” John’s tone made the implied order a question. He did not know if Momo had the time or desire to follow up at the moment.
Momo rolled her eyes and remained seated. The ‘make me’ went unspoken, yet was clear in the bratty frown on her face. A snapped finger, a whispered command, and Momo slipped under the table with enthusiasm not even a $10’000 hooker could have pretended to have.
For all of the annoyances it had, life was pretty good.
Comments
Giovani Gonzales
I think this outcome is more authentic to be honest. John generally has no issues turning his worst detractors into at least begrudging collaborators if not outright allies or friends. It's really long overdue that he found someone who hates him so much that they're completely unable to accept him but is also not evil or threatening enough for John to be justified in just getting rid of.
LOLZMAN
Kinda sad that Justinian was such a disappointment was hoping for him to realise his shiitness but I guess that's not to be.
FluffyButt Sr.
Thank God that's over. I wonder what the fallout will be.
