127 Duplicity of a King (1/2)

I frowned at Yawm,

“What kind of contract?”

Yawm spread out his arms, “A contract written in the cipher. You’re actually the first being I’ve tried making one with.”

I narrowed my eyes, “Why exactly?”

Yawm pointed at me, “You’re the first sentient I’ve had the need to create one with. Therefore I might have made errors in the text. You may take your time deciphering through it.”

I leaned over it. I gave it a cursory glance before looking back up at Yawm, “Could you give me a hint about what it says?”

Yawm pointed at the first line of the contract engraved in the marble, “This clause states that neither of us will kill the other until the requirements of the contract are fulfilled.”

As he spoke, his markings of the cipher became clearer. By understanding his intention when writing the markings, they became much easier to read. That may be why it’s so difficult to learn the cipher. It could also explain why Schema’s ok with me running around with the cipher on my back. Unless I tell someone what the inscriptions mean, they can’t learn from them.

Yawm interrupted my thoughts by pointing at the next line of the contract, “The first line is obvious with its meaning and intention. This next clause is where it becomes interesting.”

Yawm moved his colossal finger along the plate as he spoke,

“Dimension-C138 will reprogram Schema as he sees fit within the next thousand years. Otherwise, Dimension-C138 will be disintegrated.”

My head whipped up like I just took a mean uppercut to the chin,

“Wait, what?”

Yawm widened one eye and narrowed the other, like he was raising an eyebrow,

“Is there something unclear?”

I shook my hands, “I understood what you asked. I’m asking why in the living hell did you put that in the contract?”

He held up a loose fist, “I understand that you don’t believe in my goal for creating an eldritch hybrid. That’s why it goes unmentioned, as does changing the Old Ones. However, reprogramming Schema to an extent should be well within acceptable terms. It’s also well within your abilities.”

I shook my head, “Fighting Schema is like telling someone to kill an Old One. It’s a lifetime commitment. Don’t you think that’s a bit much to add onto a contract that I’m assuming I can’t break?”

Yawm sighed, lowering his hand, “I understand the monumental nature of my request, but you’re asking a tremendous amount from me as well. By letting you live, I’m allowing someone within Schema’s system to evolve into a true threat. By ending you now, I can save myself trouble over the long term.”

Yawm raised his hands, “But I don’t want to kill you. Despite your affiliations, you’re intentions are forced on you and even noble in some respects. That moral compass combined with your limitless potential, and you can change this galaxy for the better.”

Yawm narrowed his eyes, “But Schema is manipulating you into a machine of his own making. This contract will ensure that he will never take full control of you. Also, you’re current goal involves tearing my heart out. I believe setting up safeguards for myself is wise.”

I cupped my chin, “Doesn’t the whole ‘not killing you’ part cover that?”

Yawm crossed his arms, “It does, but you see, I am in a position of leverage.”

Yawm clasped his hands into fists, “So I intend on using that leverage for my gain.”

I frowned, “So I have to take on your goals or else you’ll kill me?”

Yawm uncrossed an arm, shaking his hand, “Not at all. The contract states that you may change Schema in a way that you see fit. I also gave you a rather lenient time frame. 1,000 years should be plenty of time considering your current rate of growth.”

I weighed my options. If I signed this contract, I would become an enemy of Schema. More than likely, it would boot me from the system. That might not even be a concern over the long term since we met Amara. I could hack myself back into the system just as she has. Besides all that, a part of me wanted to fight Schema.

The quarantine was bullshit since it forced us to fight a hopeless battle against Yawm. We had no chance from the start. Schema killed a lot of people with how he handled the tutorial too. If he gave Earth just a ten year notice, Earth would have avoided most of its growing pains. Something that simple would make a night and day kind of difference.

That wasn’t the only problem either. The whole unknown status was a serious point of contention. Torix, Althea, and Kessiah would struggle with their unknown status forever. What Schema did to the revenants was twisted too. Hell, Schema destroyed Hod’s home race for trying to learn a cipher. To my knowledge, they weren’t even a part of the system yet.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought about what I would make different. I mean think about it. Guilds coming in and enslaving entire races didn’t seem like the best way of modernizing planets. Why didn’t Schema offer lessons and education to new planets before the system activated? Why didn’t he at least give everyone an obelisk so they could figure out what was going on beforehand?

With all that in mind, I came to a conclusion. Yawm was probably right about how to handle it. Schema’s tutorial and assimilation for new planets was almost certainly hardcoded into the AI. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so damn inefficient. That meant the only way of fixing it was going in there and changing the code that made it that way.

Still, having a time limit put on my life was disconcerting to say the least. I also didn’t enjoy being forced into bad situations on principle. I put my hands on my hips, a bit disgruntled,

“So if I went out and changed the way Schema assimilates new planets, that would count for this, er, clause?”

Yawm raised both his hands,

“It would. That is the precise kind of change I hoped for when creating that piece of the contract. You remember the problems involved with planetary assimilation as it was recent for your kind. Your perspective gives you clarity. Armed with that clarity, you can advance Schema for the better.”

I bit my lip before sighing, “I suppose fighting Schema over the next 1,000 years is better than fighting you right now. I can handle that, I guess...What’s the next line of the contract?”

Yawm pointed a finger at the third and last line of the cipher on the stone,

“Dimension-C138 will not serve the will of any Old Ones until this contract is fulfilled.”

I reached out a hand to Yawm, “You know you’re busting my balls, right?”

Yawm pointed above and behind him, “There are two fates for those that serve the Old Ones. Either you end up turning into something that is unrecognizable from who you were, or-”

Yawm pointed at himself, “You end up hunted like an animal by those that became unrecognizable. I assure you, Harbinger, that is not a fate you want for yourself. That isn’t even the fate you would want for your worst enemy.”

I turned my eye towards the roof, “What if I already have a mission to kill you. What am I supposed to do then?”

Yawm pushed the contract towards me, “You’ve been offered a quest by an Old One. Think of the offer as an initiation into their world. You’ve yet to take it.”

I didn’t think the situation would play out that cleanly. I sighed, staring at the tablet, “Is that it?”

Yawm nodded, “That is all that I require. I believe it’s a lenient request considering your circumstances.”

I scratched the side of my head, “Do you mind if I take a few minutes to think about this?”

Yawm opened a hand towards the ice chair behind me.

“Take your time. This is a life altering decision.”

As I walked over, I loaded up my message towards Torix and the others. I had no intention of taking on commitments like this just to get Yawm out of my hair. It was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. The strategy wasn’t sound.

A chill ran up my spine, however, stopping me from sending the message. I looked back up at Yawm. He was observing me, an eerie nonchalance emanating from him. Once I looked closer, I found no emotions from him. I couldn’t read through his poker face at all, not even 1%. I raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a questioning glance.

Yawm sat into his chair, steepling his fingers,

“I’m just wondering what decision you’ll make. I assure you, regardless of what you decide, I’m more than ready. I will act accordingly.”

He was in complete control, and he knew it. He was stronger, faster, and better at combat than me. His confidence was terrifying. It made me want to send the message and get out of here asap. It made me want to run and hide in a hole.

My gut was telling me that sending the message was a terrible idea though. Up till now though, my gut never betrayed me, so I listened to it. There was something not quite right about how Yawm was sitting. He was expecting something. I couldn’t tell what exactly. After another minute of thinking, something simple snapped into my head.

Yawm was waiting for Ajax to appear so he could capture him.

It all made sense. If anything, Yawm could’ve observed me the entire time I was here. I didn’t know if he had or hadn’t. I didn’t even know if he couldn’t see Schema’s messages as I wrote them. The guy talked to trees and plants. It’s not a large stretch to say he had plants int my room that acted like spies.

Yeah, maybe a bit paranoid of me to think that, but it was definitely possible. I mean, Yawm’s charisma was incredibly high. He could be putting on a false act so I lower my guard. He could be lying about everything, there was no way of me knowing.

The fact I let my guard down so completely was a testament to that. In fact, he reminded me of this one story I read about in history class. I was reading about a German interrogator during WWII. This guy was the best of the best at his craft, squeezing information out of his enemies like no one else. I thought he was a torturer, but no, he killed them with kindness.

He would isolate spies for prolonged periods then talk to them. Apparently he was friendly, funny, and charismatic. He would become their friends while they were in prison, their only human contact. Once they were buttered up, the spies would let the information slip.