While John’s aide-de-camp was delivering the press briefing on the recent operation, Aron, Nova, and the other AIs were in VR overseeing an important milestone in their unification plan.“And with that, our preparations are complete,” Aron said, then stretched his arms above his head, limbered his neck, and heaved a yawn. Even with his enhanced constitution, going through iteration after iteration of proposed government structures had exhausted him. And that was after they had already gone through a number of think tanks composed of veteran political minds in Lab City to remove inefficiencies and reduce the chances of power grabs and coups. Then, after all of that and before presenting them to Aron, Nova ran them through millions of simulations to spot any remaining flaws and smooth them out.Aron turned to the newest AI and asked, “What do you think of the plan, Gaia?”Gaia was the latest “chief” AI and would take up the responsibility of managing planetary affairs, acting as Aron’s
Colossal changes were happening one after another. The world was still dealing with the aftermath of the drug cartel takedowns and mass arrests, and just as they thought everything would be fine once another organization rose up to replace the cartels, a new shock shook them. And while Americans were still dealing with the increased prices for things like heroin, cocaine, and so on, the US dollar, which in itself was already on the edge of the cliff following the recent American surrender, received a final push and finally crashed.Without the backing of the military forces of the US, the big three credit-rating agencies—Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings—quickly downgraded America’s creditworthiness from AA+ to AAA, almost as if it had been planned long before but remained unimplemented due to fear of reprisals. That triggered a massive, unrecoverable fluctuation in the currency market and the dollar began crashing. The dollar crashing sent another round
Through the window of the Edenian helicopter, Alexander saw a large crowd of people who had gathered to protest the unification. Their dissatisfaction was obvious, as was the reason for it; they didn’t want to lose the privileges they thought they had.They thought things like the already failing economy was a privilege, and thanks to being raised on a steady diet of American Exceptionalism propaganda, they somehow believed that theirs was the only country that had the privilege of freedom. Every other country on the planet could only experience a watered-down version of America’s “freedom”, and they would actively reject any evidence that ran contrary to their beliefs.But there was another group of counter-protesters that believed in and supported the unification, as they saw it as the only way to deal with the incoming aliens and the potential threat they would bring with them.“Any large change will always be met with an equal opposition. But there’s always people who will support
“I knew I should’ve expected the unexpected from that brat, but he really exceeded every bit of my imagination,” Herschel Rothschild said. He had been paying close attention to the world leader summit and knew that Aron’s proposal at the end of the first round had effectively killed every other proposal made and stomped it into a mud hole to boot. Sure, they might still pass, but with an imperial government, they would be less “rights” and more “privileges”.An emperor’s majesty could not be defiled. So things like absolute freedom of speech, voting, assembly, bearing arms, and so on would definitely have limits to them and could be revoked for violations of lese-majeste or even on a whim.“What do you mean by that? Couldn’t you have predicted this?” Virginia asked her husband.“What I expected was for him to continue using Romero as a puppet leader while he ruled from the shadows. Kind of like what we do. We have a huge influence over the government and can do almost anything we want
Gaia sighed as she realized the amount of work it would take for Aron and her to push the new imperial government into existence, then to acceptance. {How are things on your side?} she asked Panoptes, who was monitoring the internet.{Judging by how things are going, and not counting the explanation Emperor Aron is going to give tomorrow, the number of rebel groups is going to skyrocket. But hopefully, most of them will lose interest in rebellions once we begin the propaganda push.}{But those that remain will be even more dangerous. They’re the problematic ones,} Nyx interjected. She realized that she really needed to focus on recruitment in the very near future, as her nyxians would be completely swamped with work for the next few years.{The recruiting drive should help,} Nova comforted Nyx.Nyx nodded in agreement, a shock of surprise passing through her as she realized that Nova could read her “mind”. The surprise shortly dissipated as she remembered who it was that birthed her a
“That’s everything I had to say, thank you. I yield the floor to President Trump of the United States.” Alexander sat back down in his seat and Trump immediately took his place.One after another, the world leaders gave their planned remarks, until the last one. Out of consideration for the limited time, they were all limited to two minutes, and none were followed by rebuttals or other “classic” debate formats. Once all of the initial remarks had been delivered, the initial list of proposed amendments was culled according to the majority opinion among the leaders, as well as some common-sense guidelines.The culling process was relatively fast, as it was only to remove redundancies and proposed amendments that were already ridiculous on their face, like the one targeted at age of consent. The rest of the culled propositions were through the majority opinions expressed in the leaders’ remarks.Soon, the list was much more manageable and the first round of voting began. Anything that wa
Aron, deciding that he had said enough about the downsides of democracy, changed tack and began speaking about imperialism.“Just because democracy has its downsides doesn’t mean that imperialism is perfect. No form of government is perfect except on paper, and we can all extoll the ideals we hold and praise them until they shine. But that’ll never negate the inherent downsides in each form of government.“And the main weakness of an imperial system is the exact opposite issue that democracy has: it functions well on a large scale while tending to fail on small scales. After all, when your governmental authority is vested in a single person, you run into issues like lack of time, as well as an overreliance on others to faithfully report things to the emperor since he can’t be in every place at the same time. “But just as its primary weakness is the opposite of democracy, its primary strength is the opposite as well. Imperialism functions best in long-term planning and projects. After
Aron retook his seat, allowing the next speaker to stand and introduce their preferred form of government. Once all of the proposals were in, the world leaders would vote to see which would be adopted.President after president stood, some of them using every second of their allotted time and speaking passionately about the forms of government that they thought best while others simply announced their support of one of the previously mentioned suggestions. Alexander, of course, had strongly backed Aron’s proposal, which came as no surprise to anyone at all. Those who knew the situation already knew that Alexander was basically Aron’s sockpuppet, while those who didn’t know the situation, or only thought they did, assumed that Alexander was backing the much younger man due to having worked alongside him for a time and received much help and many benefits.Esparia’s president, Jose Inez, also joined Alexander in supporting Aron. After all, why wouldn’t he? He was only the president than
“Seraphina,” Aron began, his voice steady but carrying an undercurrent of authority, “I’m not your enemy—unless you choose to make me one. I understand your anger, your frustration. You’ve lost control of a situation you believed was firmly under your command. But this predicament wasn’t my doing—you’re here because your leader chose to sacrifice you. What I’m offering you isn’t a chain—it’s an opportunity.”Her sharp eyes narrowed, the intensity of her gaze unwavering, but she held her silence. Aron leaned forward, his own gaze unrelenting as it met hers.“You can continue resisting, pushing the boundaries of the mana oath, and enduring needless pain. Or…” He paused, letting the words linger like a challenge. “You can choose to turn this situation into one that serves us both. Your strength, your insight—these are not things I wish to suppress. Quite the opposite. I want them refined, amplified, and put to meaningful use.”He motioned toward the table, where Nova was still doing fina
[Colosseum]Aron and Seraphina stood motionless, maintaining the same distance as at the start of their faceoff. Neither had moved, even during the spectacular fireworks show that followed Aron’s acceptance of her surrender. The only exception was Aron briefly waving to the citizens of his empire watching the broadcast, many of whom were overcome with emotion, crying in celebration of their historic victory. This event marked the first-ever interstellar combat they had participated in, and despite their lack of experience, they emerged as the sole victors.As cheers of triumph reverberated among his people and the disbelief of others lingered, the broadcast concluded. The moment Aron secured his final victory, the Arena itself was officially handed over to him as part of his reward, along with control of the AI referee. Without hesitation, the AI complied with her new owner’s first command: to end the broadcast. Aron had more pressing matters to attend to—a private conversation with a
[Meeting Room]Inside the Zelvora mental network, an oppressive silence hung over the gathered representatives around the meeting table. The events of the day had left them all stunned, their minds racing with the implications of what had transpired. These were not just any representatives—they were the ones who had signed off on the agreements, the architects of their civilizations’ participation in this contest.Now, they were confronted with the brutal outcome of their decisions.Many representatives sat deep in thought, their faces betraying various degrees of fear, frustration, and resignation. Those who hailed from civilizations steeped in selfish political traditions knew all too well the grim truth: scapegoats would be needed. Someone would have to bear the brunt of the blame for the humiliation, anger, and setbacks their civilizations had suffered.For many of them, the path forward seemed bleak. In the best-case scenario, they might lose their positions, exiled from the corr
To say Aron was surprised would be the understatement of the gigaannum. The announcement had obliterated every scenario he had meticulously crafted in his mind. In all his time spent in simulations, preparing for countless contingencies, not once had he considered the possibility of the Xor’Vaks surrendering—least of all without a fight.Their pride in their strength was legendary, surpassing even the vaunted arrogance of the Valthorins. For a race that reveled in their dominance, surrendering, especially on such a grand stage, was unthinkable. This sudden reversal of expectations hit him with such force that he could practically feel the metaphorical veins in his temple throbbing from the sheer shock of it all.The audience’s collective astonishment mirrored his own, but none felt it as acutely as Aron, whose carefully laid strategies now seemed almost laughably over-prepared in the face of this unanticipated twist.The largest part of Aron's shock wasn’t just the surrender itself bu
The minutes passed quickly for the viewers, their eyes glued to Aron as he sat unmoving in the same meditative position for over fifteen minutes. Speculation ran rampant on both sides, fueled by curiosity and tension.For those in the Empire, the consensus was that Aron was in VR, likely meeting with family or key figures. Many debated who he might be speaking with, guessing that he was either calming worried loved ones or strategizing for the next fight.On the other hand, viewers from the Astral Conclave harbored a mix of anxiety and intrigue. They questioned whether Aron was recuperating in preparation for the upcoming battle, enhancing his focus and mental clarity, or if his recovery from the previous fight was incomplete and he was still in the process of healing.But their speculations ceased to matter as Aron opened his eyes with five minutes remaining in the waiting period. Calm and deliberate, he removed the glasses from his head, placing them back into their container. His n
The moment the fight was officially declared over, Nova acted without hesitation. She immediately dispatched the collector ship, equipped with a medipod, to retrieve the Trinarian fighter's body. Simultaneously, she ensured Aron could rearm himself with a fresh set of nanomachines. For the first time, this process was being done openly, marking a significant shift.Previously, nanomachines had been classified technology, their existence kept strictly under wraps. However, that secrecy had been unintentionally broken when Nova used them to cover Aron’s exposed body during a critical moment, prioritizing his dignity over confidentiality. As a result, while the technology remained shrouded in mystery, its existence was now officially acknowledged, albeit without disclosing any further details.Aron retrieved a small canister from the ship and opened it, revealing a liquid-like substance inside. Pouring it onto his hand, the substance behaved unnaturally, defying gravity as it began to sp
"Him alive is better than dead, right? I can use his live brain data to study how they use their spatial abilities—it might even help accelerate my plans if things go as intended," Aron said as he stood over the fainting Trinarian fighter.{True, having him alive presents opportunities. But dead men cause no problems, while the living carry infinite potential for chaos—especially one like him. If our spatial lockdown isn’t enough to fully contain his abilities, he could use them long enough to cause catastrophic damage, even if it means enduring the backlash,} Nova replied, her tone laced with caution. She wanted to ensure Aron was fully aware of the risks he was inviting by sparing the fighter's life.Usually, Nova would have been in favor of keeping him alive—it meant more data for her to process, analyze, and extrapolate from. But spatial ability users were in a league of their own when it came to danger. Even a dead one would yield enough data to at least satisfy her curiosity for
“Nova,” Aron called out in his mind the moment his eyes snapped open, rapidly collecting information and orienting himself, realizing he had finally left the enigmatic place the system had sent him.“Nova,” he called again, this time aloud, his voice carrying a commanding weight as it echoed faintly in the arena. Receiving no response to his first call, his sharp gaze shifted to his surroundings. It didn’t take long for him to notice his current state—nearly naked, save for the swarm of nanomachines that had begun assembling around him.{The system had ejected me, sir,} Nova’s voice finally came through, calm but slightly delayed as the nanomachines completed their task. They prioritized covering his lower body, forming a sleek pair of trousers, as there weren’t enough surviving nanomachines to reconstruct full armor. His chiseled upper body remained exposed, glistening under the lights of the Colosseum, much to the awe and unease of the spectators.Nova’s pragmatic choice left Aron l
Following Nova's orders and the AI referee's approval, the mana stone carriers swiftly began moving toward the Colosseum. As the first ship arrived and entered, it wasted no time, promptly unloading its entire cargo of mana stones before departing to make way for the next carrier to do the same. The process was conducted with remarkable efficiency, ensuring a steady flow of mana stones into the Colosseum without any unnecessary delays.The process continued as over fifty ships unloaded their cargo of mana stones, an act many from the Conclave viewed as both excessive and wasteful. With each successive ship, the pain of the Conclave's viewers grew, particularly when the fifth ship alone had already matched the quantity of mana stones used during the Colosseum's initial construction. Yet, they didn’t stop there; instead, they went on to unload ten times that amount, as if mana stones were an endless resource, leaving the Conclave citizens bewildered and horrified by such apparent extra