91 I Can Not Go Mad With You (1/2)
Silent to Esther's snide, Bjorn kept his eyes glued on the Dra Reactor. His mind, though, drifted. Half present, half distant, reminiscing the incidents that led him to this point. One event resurfaced, the time, three years ago, when Lena firmly established her position among Ostria's slum gangs.
On that day, Lukas, Bjorn, Tamara and Lena gathered in a humble house to celebrate. And for the first time in many years, they had no argument. Lukas and Bjorn cooked, while Lena instructed Tamara on how to become a domineering woman. The meal ready, they spurned tables and chairs to sit on the cold ground, warmed by the bonds they shared.
As usual, Tamara clung too hard on Lukas. But on that night, no one commented. They laughed, sang and danced like the merry men of old tales, and pledged to always have one another's back.
But now Lukas was dead. Lena gave up her overbearing ways to become his replacement's loyal servant, and the gentle Tamara instead turned into a wrath-hound. As for him, Bjorn, he awoke the highest grade of mahana gene and received the Technocracy's full training. Prime mahana, junior senator, heaps of glory that failed to fill the gaping void in his heart.
Revenge, devotion. Regardless of the source or means, both Tamara and Lena got new purposes and redefined their lives while he wore a mask, and alone mourned his friend—his brother—in his sundered heart. Perhaps in a decade, only he would remember the name Lukas, drink to his memory, and weep at his tragic fall. After all, the world had no shortage of Lukas. But most didn't even know of their existence.
Still ignoring Esther, Bjorn pivoted on the right and swept his camp. Over 50 students of the academy lay in chains, some gutted, others awaiting their funerals. The technocrats could now steal their identities to deceive their friends or infiltrate their houses. Initially, Bjorn thought that the sight of highborns cowering in chains would make him sneer. It didn't. Rather, they bored him.
His eyes stopped on a slender beauty with black and silver hair, the only one of the lot that remained composed.
”Isn't she your daughter?” Bjorn asked Esther while his blue eyes met Carmen's silver hues. High-ranking Technocrats' children typically belonged to the Technocracy. Cases like Esther and Carmen, where the mother held a senator rank, but the daughter played for the enemy team, were unheard of.
”Yes, but she's too stubborn and can't see the big picture. For her own sake, I need to discipline her,” Esther replied in a slightly distant tone. Sneering at the words, Carmen lowered her gaze and shook her head. While in her infant days, her father used to scare her with frightful tales of parents putting their children in chains and trapping them in dungeons, she never thought the tales would one day become a reality.
The disappointment hidden in her downcast eyes didn't escape Bjorn, but his attention shifted back to Esther.
”What is the big picture? Enforcing the Technocracy's dominion over Arcadia at all cost?” Bjorn asked in an oddly serious tone.
”Naturally. The empire is rotten to the core. So long as the von Skoll dynasty stands, commoners like you, or slaves like my poor mother, will never find peace. The Neo Technocracy's five divisions were established to put an end to our world's mayhem, and return equality to all.
Under the leadership of the Arch Senate, Arcadia will become a paradise where the meritorious are rewarded by dreams and the corrupt cursed by nightmares. If necessary, we can rewire them all. Although we're de facto enslaving the world through Global Dream and Nightmare Manipulation, isn't this little evil necessary for the greater good?” Esther arched one eyebrow, and asked back.
Having heard such words at least 1,000 times since his arrival in the Technocracy, Bjorn no longer found them surprising.
”They trade one evil for another and call it justice—aim to strip billions of free will but call it salvation. And now, even this foreign world was turned into a battlefield to satisfy their goals. Despots on one hand, hypocrites on the other,” Bjorn sighed, and aimed his left hand at the Dra Reactor.
”Integration,” he whispered, white light flashed in his hand, and the reactor shrank to thumbnail size before flying into his palm—vanishing within. Instantly, frowns twisted the faces of Esther and the 12 armored technocrats on the scene. On top of the average mahana's abilities, prime mahanas possessed unique, innate skills. The Blood King, who inherited the characteristics of Kilian's previous body, could use Magic Reversal.
Bjorn, however, could fuse items with his body to rob their abilities and strengthen himself. Never did the Technocrats expect that, a step away from success, their Junior Senator would snatch the reactor from their hands. But as their chests swelled with rage, Bjorn's Dra Reserves increased at a frightening pace, and alongside them, his martial abilities skyrocketed.