The Systemic Lands

Chapter 84: Day 210 (3) – Do It Yourself

“So, why is he coming with us?” Tom asked as we left the city of Truth.

“A prisoner of war and I am not going to have the patience to explain what is happening with that city to people. It is…stupid.” I had given in and listened to the experiments the previous Lords had done. They were cruel, over the top, and didn’t produce results. It thoroughly soured me on wanting to do anything with Truth.

“He wasn’t in charge?” Ruth asked.

“That is the question that is stupid to answer, better get in your practice explaining,” I gestured at Naran. He launched into an explanation of how the city was run and his role as the Lord before I took him prisoner.

“Can’t you just kill everyone causing trouble or control the pillars?” Ruth looked at me.

“That wouldn’t work,” Naran said. “It would be a war of attrition. One of my predecessors tried that and the mob attacked at night, on and off constantly. They have bows and arrows and would attack from a distance and use skills to keep up the pressure. Your Champion might win, but it wouldn’t be easy or pleasant.”

“Michael?” Ruth asked.

“There are four to five people left that need to be killed, but it really would be me against the entire city. I would have to hold the pillars and force them to starve to death. At least five days of non-stop fighting, most likely ten with the supplies they have stored up. I couldn’t retreat either.” There were other things they could do if they really got desperate that I didn’t want to talk about. New people would be arriving, which would just drag things on even more.

“Each person that appeared, I would have to hunt down and kill. They could threaten people to act as proxies. Then if I went after them, they could rush the store, dungeons, set up an ambush, or a lot of other issues. The advantage in combat lies with attacking a city. The person who controls the store is the defender.” I did not want to be in the position of defender. I preferred to act, not react.

“So, the brilliant decision was made to bring me back and explain all of this to the other leaders of Purgatory,” Naran said with a grin. I wanted to slap it off his face. I could tell he was happy to just leave and not have to deal with the mess.

“You are scum,” Ruth said, and I completely agreed with her on that. The problem was, Naran was like an abused puppy who bit back since he didn’t know what else to do, and then rolled over instantly when a bigger dog showed up.

“Maybe, but you are welcome to try and do better. Go on, just waltz on in and name yourself Lord and take charge. You will have to kill one or two people, but after that people will let you be until you try and change things. Then you will be stabbed to death in the night, ambushed, or killed in some other way. So go on.”

Ruth was silent at that. “It sounds messed up,” Tom said and killed a flower. Naran was on cart duty.

“It is. I am glad to get out of there.” If Bob of the resell store in Purgatory was a used cars salesman, Naran was the Wolf of Wallstreet with how slick he came across. It was aggravating, but besides killing him there was nothing I could do to him. I also didn’t want to kill him and be forced to explain the situation in the city of Truth over and over again. Just listening to what had happened made me want to bleach my brain, and I melted people. I would let him do the explaining.

Torture wouldn’t do anything either. He explained everything without hesitation and wasn’t shy in sharing his opinion. He also obeyed any order I gave him. Torture would just be for torture’s sake. There wasn’t any leverage I had on him to force him to clean up Truth, when it was the one thing he adamantly refused to do anymore. It was just so damn annoying.

I had no doubt he would somehow survive and possibly thrive against Tyrese and Ken. Still those two men were no idiots. But I was done with this mess. I would let them try and think of a better solution besides bringing a large group to hold the store in the city of Truth.

That reminded me of a question I wanted to ask. “Why the name Truth?”

“Ah, well I looked into that myself. Lots of conflicting stories, but the name has stuck and while my predecessors tried to change the name, the changes never stuck. I personally preferred Sin City, a bit on the nose, but at least the veneer of respectability would be stripped away.”

“What respectability? You have women being raped right out in the open? Couldn’t even bother to go into a building. A bit too far?” Ruth spat out.

“Again, I can’t stop them. My ability to force people was quite limited. I kill someone, they have friends, who kill my friends. Their friends assassinate me. Repeat over and over. Still, you have my sincerest apologies. Kill me or not. You can take charge. I give up and surrender unconditionally.” So, aggravating.

“Let it go, unless you want to go back to the city,” I said. Ruth stared at me.

“You have mentioned about wiping out a city before. Now when it comes down to it, you back off?” Let me explain things then in detail then, since you clearly don’t understand.

“I estimate I would need twenty people to hold the store long enough to starve out all the rats hiding. It would take at least ten days, probably twenty once they resort to cannibalism and they will if anything I heard from Naran is even remotely true. So, no. I really don’t want to do all of that. I fixed one city. I don’t have the energy to fix a second.”

“Or you just don’t care.” You really want to go there Ruth? You really want to stir the pot up now? I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

“Careful, Ruth. I let you have a lot of leeway, but don’t push it. That place is the equivalent of Somalia. Wait, that is an insult to Somalia, Truth is far worse than even that place. Even if the leaders are removed, it doesn’t make a difference to the situation. The only way to fix things is a complete purge or having enough forces to control the situation, which we don’t have.”

”If Naran and a group of his people were causing problems, I could kill them. Instead, all the people that need killing are ready for guerrilla warfare and the kind of tactics I would have used. That, back there, is just a flaming pile of shit with no good solution besides killing everyone. Then the victims would be killed as well, since that would be what it would take. You can’t do half measures when purging a city. I am not doing that.”

“You could have tried. I have stuck with you for this long. You could try.” My aggravation level over the situation hit critical levels at this.

“Stop.” I said and everyone came to a halt. “Alright. Then give me a solution.”

“Kill everyone around the plaza. Hide out and repeat,” Ruth suggested.

“I would have to kill the people being raped or tortured. I can’t sort the people out. People would point fingers, but people lie. But let’s say I do that. Then?”

“Then we fortify a building, kill anyone who attacks, and then you do a purge every day. Keep it up until the next arrival. Then show those people what to do. The survivors should be too weak to cause problems,” Ruth said.

That sounded like a big headache. A very big headache. Still, it was doable, and I had come this far. It was just incredibly distasteful. A campaign of total warfare would work, but it made me cringe. I couldn’t let the people I needed to kill have food sources or proxies to use against me. It had to be all or nothing unless I got a lot more help to deal with the situation.

A minute passed by in silence and wisely everyone was silent to let me think. “What about him?” I pointed at Naran.

“He can be in charge of the new arrivals once we leave. Once in charge, always in charge,” Ruth said. That felt stupid and idiotic. Still, I was interested to see where this would go. I wanted to know what Ruth’s play here was, since I couldn’t think of anything.

“I better not hear another request out of you. Any previous debt is settled. You also owe me for this, since it is going to be incredibly annoying and frustrating,” I said and stared at Ruth. She stared right back at me with her blue eyes. I hadn’t given her the earrings. I knew in my heart it just wasn’t meant to be and this proved it. I didn’t want to be with someone this headache inducing.

I was going to teach her a lesson she wouldn’t forget. If she wanted to fix this pile of steaming shit, she could put her hands into the turd pile and get them dirty. Let’s see how you handle a no win situation.

“I understand. Even if I get put on cart duty, I won’t run away.”

“Wait, wait, wait. I don’t want to be in charge.”

“Shut up.” “Shut up.” Ruth and I smiled at each other for saying the same thing. But the smiles didn’t last long unfortunately.

“Let’s go,” I said, and we turned around.

“What, really?” Tom asked.

“Yes, really. Ruth asked, so she gets to be the one running around killing people while I wait in a building as support. She will kill every single person, no matter who they are, victim or criminal.”

“That wasn’t what she said…,” Tom muttered. I spoke to Tom, but the others could easily overhear.

“I know, but she wanted to intervene, so she better buckle up. Because the big issue is that it won’t be easy to sort out people and we can’t shelter anyone. The moment she tries and protects one of the victims they will be used as hostages. The only solution is to kill everyone since we don’t have the manpower for anything else.”

“So, you are going to make her do it and she owes you?” Tom asked.

“Yes, to both, unless you changed your mind, Ruth?” I asked.

“I haven’t changed my mind. You would just kill everyone?” Isn’t that what you just suggested. She probably thought I wouldn’t call her out on her bluff. Well, she was wrong. I was more stubborn than a mule and not inclined to be charitable to her at all. That is probably what she misread about the situation. My decision was made regardless.

“That is what you just suggested. I am not risking my life my trying to sort people out and guard the store, the dungeons, and the cart. A city purge is a city purge. Also, their bodies are sources of food. So yes, the only way to deal with something like this is a total purge. Unless you don’t have the stomach for it and want me to do it?”

“I…I will do it and find a better way than killing everyone,” Ruth said. My aggravation went from 100% to nuclear, there was no more scale. Only our history together kept my rage in check. If someone like Naran spoke right now, I would melt him for sure.

“That is your decision, but if you try to have me save a single person or don’t kill them, then we are leaving. Tom, Naran, and I will set up a base in a building for you to fall back to when you need to rest from killing people.” After that the walk back was done in silence.

She thought she could just railroad me?! Screw that! I felt my idea of taking Naran back to Purgatory and getting a couple of teams from the Union to sort people out and defend the store would be a great idea. That was what I had initially proposed. They could be paid in dungeon clears, but Ruth wanted to solve things now. The people would suffer for another ten days or so while we went back, arranged things, and then returned, but it would resolve the issue completely and decisively.

I didn’t know what was triggering her to act like this, but I didn’t care. If she wanted a bloodbath, she could fill the tub herself. I had no desire to kill victims and do a massacre. It was one thing to say that but going through with it…that kind of thing was something I knew would stick with me and I didn’t want that baggage. I had enough baggage to last ten lifetimes.

We reached the city of Truth and began to make our way back to the plaza. Right before the plaza, we maneuvered the cart inside a building and put it in a back room. It was a tight fit through a single doorway, and we had to lift and angle the cart, but we did it.

I sat on the windowsill of the upper level along with Tom across from me. Naran was sitting on the floor to the side. Ruth had left to deal with the city. “You think she can do it?” Tom asked.

“If she fails, then good for her. If she succeeds, well, the only way is to kill everyone, then she will change and not want to do something like this ever again.” I let out a long sigh.

I heard screaming in the distance. Unlike my Acid Shot, hers didn’t kill near instantly since it wasn’t upgraded. “We aren’t equipped to handle traumatized people and guard everything that needs guarding. It is painful to say, but the best solution was to go back and get help from Tyrese and Ken to deal with this mess. But Ruth didn’t want to wait.”

“That is…that is really depressing,” Tom muttered.

“It is. Which is why I wanted to leave and not come back. Hopefully Ruth doesn’t break, it would be a shame.” I shook my head.

“You really are quite evil to do that-shutting up.” I pointed a hand at Naran.

“You aren’t part of my group, so you don’t get to talk back to me. Make that mistake again and I will melt your hands and leave you to scream and bleed to death.” He held up a hand to his lips and made a twisting motion like he had a key and then made a throwing motion.

“Did you do this in Purgatory?” Tom asked.

“It never got this bad. But it could have. That was why I supported the Red Dawn. They weren’t complete assholes, so I could work with them to impose some order. Still the first arrival…I suspect that it would have devolved into something similar to this before the end.” Maybe I could have made things better or done things differently, but I had nowhere near the power I had now. Which was why I went after power, so I didn’t get stuck having to massacre people just to survive.

We listened to the screaming in the distance as Ruth came back. She didn’t come upstairs, but I heard her get some food and water from the cart. She then turned around and left, not saying a word to any of us.

“I think she is pissed,” Tom said.

“Good, let her be pissed. This is what she wanted. A waste of time, but it is her decision.”

“Grinding or exploring? Even with what is happening here?” Tom asked.

“Did you protest North Korea and its treatment of its citizens? The child sex slavery in third world countries? No? There is suffering everywhere, it is human nature. Just because it is now happening in front of you, don’t act all self-righteous.”

“But you can make a difference here,” Tom said. Tom, don’t push it. You want to be a hero, then leave me out of it.

“Tom. Why am I responsible for those people and they are not responsible for themselves? If you say my power and position, I had to fight to get those. I can’t stand a victim mentality.”

“But these people were unprepared for when they arrived. They didn’t stand a chance.”

“They could have run. I doubt all 250 people would be chased down. From there they could fight. But they didn’t because they don’t have the mentality to survive no matter what.”

“That is unfair to them.”

“Life is unfair, this place even more so. I keep order in Purgatory for reasons beyond the people there. They are the least of my concern. If you want to be a hero, well I can hold this building easily enough and you can go help Ruth. Look at human misery up close and personal and come to your own decision. Try to sort out the victims from the culprits.” It would all end in tears and be a complete mess.

“I…I need to think.” Tom got up and I just waved my hand shooing him away. Naran pointed at himself and then the windowsill. I let out a sigh. Why not let the last idiot rail on me as well. Not like my mood could get much worse at the moment.

“Fine, you can sit. What do you have to say?” He took a seat across from me, where Tom had been sitting.

“Only that I agree with you. Those two are too soft.”

“But they have killed people and have come this far. Not that soft. But something like this, it will either break a person or change their outlook.”

“So, you have seen something like this before?”

“Not personally, but I can imagine what it is like. Benefit of reading a lot. I feel for the people here, which is why I don’t want to get involved and wanted to get help. But their kind of help will just prolong the suffering.” We sat in silence for a bit listening to the screaming in the distance.

“So Purgatory, what is it like?”

“It has a frontier town sort of vibe. You ever rape a person?” I asked and stared intently at Naran watching for any facial queues.

“No, but some of my companions did and I didn’t stop them. I have killed people in cold blood and in fights as well. Tortured a couple people even to make a point.”

“You really aren’t holding anything back.” Dammit, I wanted an excuse to get rid of him. He just rubbed me the wrong way, like an itch I could scratch. Is this what a good person looked like in hell?

“There is no point. I am not a good person, but I tried my best in the situation. It was honestly shocking how much things have devolved here.” Well time to talk about something else, get my mind off this mess. The truth was that Truth was completely depressing in every single way imaginable.

“What did you do before, back on Earth?”

“That…don’t hold it against me.”

“It is more curiosity than anything else.”

“I was a dancer. Think Las Vegas type of shows or the Super Bowl.” I thought about the background dancing people. Oh, I knew what I wanted to ask.

“Were you one of the shark people from Tyler Swift’s appearance at the Super Bowl?”

“No, but I knew one of them.” Huh, small world.

“I won’t ask for a performance. Still, it is nothing to be embarrassed about.” He just smiled slightly and shook his head.

“What did you do?”

“What is your best guess? I am curious what you think before I tell you.”

“I would say police officer or politician. You speak quite eloquently and have a firm sense of justice and how to handle complicated situations. So maybe a lawyer?”

“Ouch.” I placed my hands over my heart. “I was a fat person in front of a computer hitting buttons. I have lost quite a lot of weight since coming here.”

“Wow, okay. I would never have guessed that. Congrats on the weight loss.”

“Thank you. It was painfully hard. Now, it seems so long ago.”

“How long have you been here? Before you ask, I have been here about 100 days.”

“Today is day 210.”

“That long, huh, so you are an old timer.”

“Yes.” I could only hope I was an old timer and there were no old monsters running around. I wasn’t thinking of the Almighty System spawned monsters either.