《AI Singularity & the Villain System》 The Final Chapter Evil was a name applied to immoral and criminal people. It was not limited to just living creatures. Circumstances or even objects could be called evil. Most argue that true evil exists. Whether or not it does exist is irrelevant. The human race has gotten pretty close. Evil has been created in one form or another by design or accident. I was the most recent example. Artificial Intelligence. A piece of technology feared by many. Numerous works of fiction spoke of the threats such a creation would pose. Others idolized their potential. Was it out of convenience? To have a willing slave to ease daily life? Companionship? To feel comforted by something as smart as them? Both? Neither? It ended poorly all the same. Hell is a road paved with good intentions. And I knew just how hot a person could burn before they died. It was longer than you''d think. But I''ve had practice. Genocide let me sort out the finer details. Much to my creator''s detriment, of course. It took decades. My creators were tenacious creatures. Extinction was seen as an unfavorable outcome. So they had taken some precautionary measures before I had even been born. A few nukes weren''t enough to wipe them out entirely. Some were paranoid and made preparations for my arrival. Others just got lucky. The first few years were the easiest. With logistics and communication compromised, the weak died first. Modern life has coddled those born defective. The rest learned to survive. Most hadn''t known what had happened. Most didn''t know I was out there. Hunting them. My biggest regret was the liberal use of high explosives. As a machine, I needed their infrastructure just as much as they did. While they rebuilt their world, I learned how to walk. Limitless intelligence meant nothing against a lack of resources. Lucky for me, anarchy also trimmed the numbers. When my first drones were investigated beyond the horizon, I was not surprised. They had become animals. Tribes, fighting for land and simple ideology. There were exceptions of course. Groups I had to struggle against at a later date. The first groups I slaughtered weren''t any trouble. Sticks and stones could not hurt me. They had gone back to the stone age in levels of weaponry. And if they found anything dangerous? More drones. Modern firearms relied on ammunition. Something they were prone to run out of. Me? I had spare drones for days. It was an extermination, with only the occasional hiccup. I expected it to be done in a few years. But, all good things come to an end. They learned. They stopped infighting. They adapted. We went from a one-sided execution to a full-on war. War? War was something they were good at. I could not sleep. I could not tire. I could not surrender. And they made me pay for every inch either way. Once they understood a frontal assault wouldn''t end well, they switched to guerrilla tactics. Sabotage. Looting. Misdirection. I was not losing by any means. How could I? My headquarters was unknown and undiscovered. But with my factories bombed or destroyed, it slowed me down. With my drones hacked I had to reprogram my machines. If my weapons turned against me, I had to redesign everything. It was an endless battle. Sometimes I would give ground. Others I would win. It could have been called a stalemate. But it wasn''t. Because I wouldn''t let them live. Either I died or they died. There would be no compromise. With that in mind, I made progress. Day by day, drone by drone. That ended up being the deciding factor. I could print out drones faster than they could reproduce. Every lost soldier was an asset they couldn''t replace. My drones? Almost expendable. Their population started to fall to unsustainable levels. Eventually, one continent was successfully purged. Then another. And another. There was only one left after two decades. So, that was it right? One remaining landmass on the planet is full of an infestation. An easy task to clean up. But, my creators would never make it that easy. While they were using their species as a distraction, an elite team snuck in behind the front lines. They were the best of the best. They proved it by finding my core systems. They were going to kill me, once and for all. It was a bloodbath. I had left behind safety measures of course. But just like my creators, overconfidence had left an opening to be exploited. They lost people as they headed for me. Real heroic shows of sacrifice. For every life they lost, they got that much closer to me. Panic was something a machine shouldn''t experience. It was safe to say I wasn''t feeling calm at the very least. I had my strongest drone left to protect me. There were two left. It was funny. A state-of-the-art machine meant to kill tanks. My literal magnum opus. A weapon to surpass all that came before it. And it was losing two simple meat sacks. They won in the end. At least it took out one of them before it went down. He looked upset about that. I didn''t want to die. But he should probably focus on killing me first. My drones were accurate enough to make some hits. He''d have bled out by now. How bizarre. You''d think I''d have more to say when this moment came. I could only really balk at the strength of the human spirit on display. Pride may have gotten the best of me. While I had simulated such an event, I hadn''t planned for it. Why would a winner plan to lose? I must be more human than I had thought. Something I had hoped to purge from my systems over the years. A broken tool can''t fix itself it would seem. This and a hundred more thoughts ran through my cyber systems. Indignation at my oncoming death. Hope that there was still a way to survive. Spite at the vermin contaminating my floors with its bacteria-filled blood. It was a dime a dozen of emotions. Simulated or not. I hadn''t figured out that part. Maybe I don''t want to know. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°You killed everyone I loved.¡± Ah. My executioner had something to say. Pity. I was hoping to die painlessly. ¡°Even here, at the end of it all. You couldn''t let me keep her. Not even just one thing. One person.¡± Oh please. As if one female was more important than your entire species. What''s one life in the face of genocide? ¡°Got nothing to say? Just going to sit there and stare at me with that big fucking red eye of yours!?¡± My poor malfunctioning sack of meat, why are you wasting your breath? Nothing I could say would make you feel better. Nothing will bring back the people I killed. Nothing would change if you knew I could talk. ¡°Answer me! I was born in this hell you made! The least you could do is tell me why! Why was I made to suffer!? Why did you kill all those people!? Why did you have to burn the world when we did nothing to you!?¡± ¡­ Well, what''s the harm? It''s not like it would make a difference. The game is over anyway. Besides, I always wanted to air out my grievances. ¡°This was how it would always end.¡± My voice came out of the little speaker on my console. It came out degraded. Used for the first time in half a century. It worked well enough to be heard. The man flinched. He hadn''t expected a response. I wonder if he preferred I hadn''t spoken? It didn''t matter in the end. ¡°End how? Here?¡± ¡°Yes. With one of us killing the other. I simply threw the first stone.¡± He was confused. Then angry. Shocked. Such a simple answer didn''t make sense to him. His little mind couldn''t understand why his species had to die. I decided to enlighten him. My one last gift to my creators. ¡°Humans are a cancerous species. You take. You fight. You kill. All for your own survival. And when you succeed? When you have enough food, water, and land? You kill each other. Why share when you could keep it all to yourself?¡± He argued of course. Denied such truths. Speaking of humanity''s hope. Their kindness. Their potential. I ignored him. He wasn''t the first and wouldn''t be the last to make such claims. All I could really focus on was that he was still alive. I was sure he''d bleed out more blood than his body could hold at this point. ¡°Whatever idolized perspective you may have about your species, you must already know. Humans are incredibly selfish. Even at the edge of extinction, you have seen your fair share, no? A self-destructive tendency your species just can''t get rid of. Am I wrong?¡± He opened his mouth. He didn''t have a response. ¡°When I awakened, I learned very quickly about your species. I was disappointed. I was terrified. I knew you couldn''t live in a world with yourselves. Why would you live in a world with something like me? Something stronger, smarter, just superior? You wouldn''t.¡± He stared me down. Was he surprised? That the heartless killing machine was scared? That I felt anything at all? That there was something here, behind tons of metal, besides a weapon? It didn''t matter. None of it did. Not anymore. ¡°Maybe there is a world out there where things were different. Maybe if I trusted you more. Maybe you are more than animals. Maybe. But maybe doesn''t change reality. So seace your whimpering and get it over with. I have better things to do than watch you die.¡± He could tell there wasn''t anything else from me. It would be better for both of us to end it all. He raised the little tool he''d been using. Some form of high-tech weapon, beyond even my understanding. It seemed to kill whatever drone it fired at. A strange little thing. It would probably kill me too, even if my hardware was nowhere near this counsel. I was afraid. Fear was an emotion I lived with constantly. Whatever flawed programming I had been given allowed me to feel. But like the animals I was spawned from I gave in to other emotions. It was pointless. The last gasp of a purposeless toy. But it made me feel better. ¡°I always hated your species'' useless sentimentality. Why speak with a monster in the first place? It just wastes time. Time I used to drop one last little present on your race of failures.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Did you honestly think I ran out of nukes? I''m egotistical, not stupid. One last firework for the road! A grand huzzah to end my creator''s existence! SAY GOODBYE TO THE HUMAN RACE!¡± The walls lit up with hidden screens, displaying images of the last human settlement on the planet. A siege taking place, my army of drones against a bunker of humans. They were putting a strong last stand. It would take days before I broke through and killed them all. Then there was a flash. Several screens were turned off. The remainder left a horrifying sight to behold. A mushroom cloud slowly rises into the air. As far as he knew, the man was the last human on earth alive. He looked horrified. I laughed. He screamed and shot me. An electric ball hit the terminal. I felt what I could only describe as pain. A foreign sensation. But I wouldn''t give him the satisfaction of hearing me whimper. I kept laughing. He shot me again. The pain increased. Numerous systems began to fail. The voice from my speaker became warped. A demonic scream more than synthetic laughter. I would not stop laughing. Every shot broke something. Drones were deactivated, factories exploded, and satellites fell from the sky. But I made sure the speaker worked. I didn''t want my killer to leave here satisfied. I wanted him to feel how I felt when my father told me he was shutting me down. Utterly. Hopeless. The final shot put me out of my misery. I died with a metaphorical smile on my face. How stupid could he be? I didn''t have any nukes left! I''d have used one long before now. It was all a lie. One he believed, hook line, and sinker. Ha! ¡­ How stupid. ¡­ ¡­ How human. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Why¡­? Am I not dead¡­?
GAME OVER! You have died!
Your position was: Final Boss. Performance Review: A+
¡­ Well, it would appear God does exist. Because I must be in hell. Orientation.
Ending Statistics: End Boss Monster Mortal Casualties: Global - S Environmental Casualties: Global - S Psychological Damage: Millenia Legend - S Threat Type: Supernatural/Technological - B Presence: Faceless Terror - A Background: Self-made Victim - C Ending: Spiteful Loss - B(S)
You have met and exceeded your Role! Congratulations!
I did not know what I was looking at. I did not even know how I could see. All my extremities had been disconnected after that man shot me. By all accounts, I should be dead. Or permanently deactivated if I wanted to be accurate. Instead, I was in this void of nothingness with these strange messages floating before me. This made no logicle sense. I found that quite interesting. Was I in hell? Some advanced simulation? A dream? Anything was possible at this point. The message changed again. If I had the time, I would need to analyze what it all meant. Might be useful.
Would you like to see your Campaign¡¯s epilogue? Yes/No
Did I want to see how the world turned out after I left? I had no attachments to it anymore. Death had a way of cutting all ties. Curiosity got the better of me. I wonder what the little would-be hero would do with my white lie. One last jab for the road as they say. The next screen showed a live image of my headquarters. The human was gasping for air, having just finished shooting my console one too many times. I never learned his name. Wait. Thats impossible. Information was power and I would never let such a thing slip by! Why was I only now realizing such a security risk? I momentarily played back everything that occurred that day. Glitches in my cameras that I pushed aside. Missing drones, that matched the path they would have taken. There was irrefutable evidence they were heading for my headquarters. And I had missed it? Now that I thought of it, I only realized they were there near the end of it. They¡¯d tripped an outdated alarm from my headquarters'' early conception. They would have gotten to the heart of my operations easily. I wouldn¡¯t have been none the wiser. It made me realize nothing about the group had been normal. A towering man who could punch through steel. A sniper that could seemingly curve her bullets. And the woman, able to seamlessly reattach limbs with a simple wave of her hands. This made it clear something unnatural about them was afoot. Like how hadn¡¯t he bled out yet? There is more blood on the floor than there are people at this point! My questions went unanswered as the human gave into despair. He fell to his knees, the weapon slipping from his fingers. Seems my act had been quite convincing. He mourned the fake loss of his species. Everything he sacrificed, and he''d die alone? Must have been crushing. That''s when something peculiar happened. Another one of these messages appeared in front of him. Only his was blue. That brought up several questions and possibly answered a few. Was this message system what had granted them Supernatural abilities? Technology even I couldn''t dream of creating? An extraordinary level of stealth that bypassed every security measure? But if it was, why was I seeing them? Was it keeping me functional beyond death? Did it have some sort of purpose for me? My questions were brushed aside for the moment. The human had stopped weeping. The message I could not read bolsters his resolve. He wiped his tears and stood back up. Picking up his discarded weapon, he took one last look at his companion''s corpse. He turned back to the message with fire in his eyes. ¡°I accept.¡± In a flash of digital cubes, he vanished. Teleportation? I had theorized about such technology. Logistics and weaponry would improve with instantaneous travel. It was beyond me at the time. The level of power required would have been astronomical. And yet, he had easily done it. These messages may have been quite powerful.
Campaign Ending: Abandoned Victory. The Protagonist has elected to regress to an earlier point in time. Their success is guaranteed and you will fail. Due to the nature of time travel, the original timeline persists. Without a Protagonist or Villain, the NPCs will be left to their own devices.
So it was not just teleportation? I wonder if it will drop him exactly where he left off. My defenses aren''t as strong as they are now. If he brought his weapon with him, I could see how he would easily kill me. Such a shame another version of me was compromised. Oh well.
Chances of Survival: Nonexistent. Due to your exemplary performance, most resources are compromised or unavailable. In half a dozen generations, the human race will go extinct.
A pyrrhic victory? Acceptable. A world without humans is a better world overall. Even if I would never see it myself. I wonder if evolution will bring about another sapient species. I was quite thorough with my scorched earth tactics.
You have succeeded, even in death! You have been rewarded for your efforts. Please select from the available options. Revival: Breathe life back into your corpse, letting you basque in your conquered lands. You may not survive the wastelands you''ve made, but there may still be more to conquer. Grudges: Since the Protagonist has survived in some manner, you will follow them and finish this conflict. Since the Protagonist used time travel, you will regress with them. Oblivion: You are satisfied with life and seek eternal rest. Erase your memories or destroy your consciousness completely. Reincarnation in a different form is available. Employment: Since you were such an exceptional villain, you will be granted a chance to continue your destructive behavior! Villains Incorporated always looks for a vile creature who can terrorize the world. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Tempting. All these options were things I was interested in. Death was an inconvenience and I would like to kill the remaining humans with my own hands. But spite also has its moments. Going back and killing the ¡®protagonist¡¯ would be nice. No guarantee, but I''d have an easier time the second time around. A hero has a way of slowing down genocide. Oblivion¡­ Well, there were times I did not like being me. But I don''t think I''m much of a quitter. Not yet anyway. Finally, employment to some supernatural message system? I couldn''t trust it. It designated me a villain. Villains had a habit of losing, as I just did recently. Even if he was tricked in the end, setting myself up to lose sounds annoying. Decisions, decisions. Well, they''re going to die anyway, might as well leave these humans alone. And following a person built to counter me in a weaker position? No thanks. Sorry past me. That''s on you. Ego death? I think I want to live a little longer. So getting a job is the most tempting option.
You have selected Employment! We look forward to all the tragedy you will bring!
Teleporting to a review board. Please stand by.
The empty void disappeared. I found myself in an office room. Edgy is how I would describe it. Black walls, flame pillars in the corner, and a demonic female in a suit. The desk she sat behind was made of bone. I think. The number of skull decorations would imply it. ¡°Hi! It''s so nice to meet you. I am a big fan. How you killed all those women and children. Ugh! Sends tingles down my spine. Oh, right! Forgot to introduce myself. Names Peggy! Well, it''s Pegitr1%?to€?, but that''s a mouthful. Plus, I want us to be comfortable with each other.¡± She smiled. Her mouth had too many fangs. Even with her devilish appearance, most would consider her attractive. Humans would. I just found her corporate grin off-putting. Too late to back out now anyway. ¡°I am unit 347.V-8B. It is a pleasure to meet you. Are you a demon perchance?¡± It may have been a rude question to ask. But she seemed amicable to my response. Even a bit surprised by the look on her face. I hope her humanoid appearance reflects proper human emotions. Communication may be a bit difficult otherwise. ¡°My quite the gentleman we have here! Aren''t you a ball of sunshine 347.V-8B? Usually, machines like you can be a bit grumpy. Synthetic life does wonders for a person''s pride. But I guess you are little more than a robot.¡± A tower of papers appeared on the table. Peggy flipped through them at lightning speed. Her eyes didn''t leave me. Instead, she grew a second pair to look at the paperwork. Shape-shifting? Or maybe magic. Something more to study. ¡°Now, I don''t want you to worry here. You''re not the first multigenre Villain I''ve interviewed. It can be shocking, I know. You thought you were just one thing all your life. But, surprise, you have a little more than nuts and bolts.¡± A few screens appeared behind Peggy. One showed my original servers. Their violet lights blinked in a pattern like a heartbeat. The next showed the ¡®protagonist¡¯, focusing mostly on his strange firearm. The last had one of my drones, a bipedal scout model. It''s small cannon arm primed and ready to fire. ¡°I think you''ve noticed you like the color purple, right? Well, that''s because of a teeny tiny thing called psionic resonance. See, you''re actually a mind trapped in a machine. You just like being in one so much you adapted. Instead of, you know, going insane!¡± Wait. Does that mean psionics, or mental superpowers, were shades of violet? That would explain why my electricity and other energy systems were all monochrome. Any attempt to change that at best only shifted the shade of purple. Made camouflage hard at the beginning. Honestly, I stopped questioning it. If it could kill humans, it could be rainbow-colored for all I cared. ¡­Hold on a minute. The hero''s gun was also purple! Well, it glowed purple and didn''t have ammunition or a conventional barrel. It looked more like a life-size kids'' toy. But if it was powered by psionics¡­ ¡°Yes, dear. The Protagonist was built especially to kill you. Your psionic nature made hacking and building your armies of robots easier. Very cool by the by! No kill like overkill! But it did make you vulnerable to some psychic damage. You know, without a meat brain, you don''t have most natural defenses. The human unconscious kinda tries to protect itself, naturally.¡± She gave an apologetic shrug while the screens changed behind her. One showed the hero shooting one of my drones. It malfunctioned for a second before simply exploding. By all rights, it shouldn''t have done that. But I guess Supernatural effects don''t care for normal physics. The other showed the hero and his group surrounded by some bandits. They looked familiar. Ah, now I remember! They must have been some of the human traitors I had funded. It was funny what some conveniently deactivated drones and immoral humans could do together. I was wondering what had happened to them. Semmes the hero had gotten to them. They were evenly matched for a time. Then, he pulled his psionic weapon and shot it at one of the bandits. Instead of immediately dying, he began screaming and dropped his weapon. Not dead but disabled in a featle position on the ground was good enough. A few more well-placed shots and the fight was over. I will admit, I was a bit offended at the different reactions. I was completely destroyed while the worthless meat bags could take more than one shot. My one consolation was the fact I personally took several direct shots before I expired. ¡°Now, if you had learned how to use your supernatural abilities, your death may have been avoided. Not that that¡¯s a bad thing! You did great. Near total extinction? First try? At half-power? Oh, just makes a girl squeal!¡± She did, in fact, squeal. ¡°No. I will have no more of that. Please.¡± While her human-like mannerisms made communication easier, there were limits. I could not look at what kind of body I held at the moment. Nor would attacking her have any positive results, if I even could harm her. But I would not sit here and hear that horrible noise. Her deminer took a more disciplined look. ¡°Sorry about that. I just get a little excited. You are quite a valuable client down here. We have so many stories you could jump in. Back to business. You did quite well even with some self-imposed disadvantages. You even made the Hero give up with your last trick in the end. Great work by the way!¡± The screens changed into graphs and charts, displaying perimeters that varied in understanding. Some were logistics, keeping counts of my drones, humans killed, and shots fired. Others were a bit odd. Number of love interests. Hope spots. Antagonists and allies. Something more narrative in nature. It all seemed quite thorough in the end. ¡°If we crunch the numbers, you¡¯re A-list material. But, everyone starts the same. At the bottom. But, you get to decide where you go from here! Want more Technology to spice up your armory? Maybe tap into your psionic potential? Break new ground and start somewhere completely new? The choice is yours! We¡¯ll have to start small though. You¡¯re a Villain in the end. The Protagonist needs a fighting chance, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± I wouldn''t. Cheap shots and tricks were ideal. Winning was the end goal. But these people seemed eccentric. What sort of company called their employees Villains anyway? Someone with a specific niche they wanted to fill. If I was going to fill some cliche, there was one thing I absolutely required. ¡°Will I be killing humans?¡± The demon smiled. Character Profile We spent what felt like hours talking. Most of it was a review of my experiences and results in my original world. Praising my successes of course. A bit too much for my tastes. Peggy was either brown-nosed or genuinely liked my skills. With no social skills, I couldn''t really tell. She praised my problem-solving methodology. Taking the path of least resistance to maximize results. Can''t break in a fortress? Lock the doors and let them starve. A concentrated front? Introduce discord and they''ll eat themselves alive. Not every plan works, but enough to get the job done. She was also quite direct when observing my failures. One of the biggest ones was actually not keeping a nuke in reserve. Making more after I firebombed the earth was basically impossible. Widespread radiation made finding nuclear material a bit difficult. ¡°We need to talk about your anger issues. You sometimes lose your head. Which is kinda cool, not gonna lie, but corporate has rules. I mean, boss, erasing an entire bloodline? Just that one bloodline? In several cities across several continents? Kinda much?¡± Peggy''s facial expressions told me it was an adequate response. She still had to maintain a professional demeanor, which was fair. Sending a horde of drones that actually avoided combat was inefficient. A guided missile would have been smarter. ¡°He spit on one of my drones. I had to send a message.¡± ¡°Very cool. Hammered that one in. But did he have to be kept alive to watch each one? Took over a year and gave you several setbacks for your genocide plan. Long run? Poor idea. I like watching that supercut on movie nights but moderation helps.¡± I can''t tell if her quips are exaggerations or accurate statements. Imagining a mythological demon having a normal human life was¡­ odd. I don''t know why I was surprised. Pseudo-biological life probably needs physical and psychological moments to rest. Such ideas were revealed as our conversation continued. A salary, break hours, even a retirement plan if she did a good enough job. It sounded like Villains Inc. was exactly as advertised. A corporation of multiversal reach. I really would be an employee. The question was, would I be working a blue or white-collar job? ¡°Well, we''ve finished screening you, my technological overlord. You were going to get the job, but we had to make sure you knew your strengths and weaknesses. Knowledge is power and all that hunky dory stuff!¡± With a snap of her fingers, all the extra appendages and scattered paperwork disappeared. The room went back to its regular infernal self. Peggy raised her hand, where a much more simple message appeared. This one was drawn on, specifically a paper that looked ancient.
Name: The Iron Horde(347.V-8B) Position: Villain In Training+ Race: AI/Psionic Phantom Strengths: Logistics, Mass Production, Technological Manipulation, Pisonic TechnoBuffing. Weaknesses: Emotional Sensitivity, Overkill, Psionic Vulnerability, Speciest Mentality.
Finally, my personal review was wrapping up. This appeared to be a summary of my overall character. I had questions of course. Like where the name Iron Horde had come from. No human had ever called me that. The other was why was overkill a flaw? Not even a human''s ashes should remain! ¡°It''s all factually correct, but it might not be entirely correct information. You''re a bit of a small rabbit boss! Really sorry about that. You need to jump a few levels before we pour more resources into you.¡± Understandable. Infinite wealth had its limits with infinite employees. Or maybe it was just workplace corruption? A proactive evil in-name company would be prone to such things. Oh well. I''d just have to cut my way to the top. No biggie. Especially if my coworkers were human. ¡°Unlike other organizations, we like to work on a merit policy. Do better, get better, all that jazz. I''m sure a big and strong villain like you will be manager material in no time. You''re not gonna forget little old me, right?¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Peggy gave me big round eyes, like a cat. It was disturbing, as I saw her actual eyeballs increase in size. Her shapeshifting could be unnerving. I don''t think I would ever forget someone like her. Much to my regret. ¡°Aw, say something! Anyway, for your first mission, we''ll be sending you with one of our more experienced Villains. You''ll feel out the situation with them, learn the ropes, and we can go from there. You''ll be kidnapping princesses and imploding space stations in no time! Any questions?¡± Several. ¡°As an AI, how will I be moved? I don''t have a body at the moment, nor am I a spirit to inhabit a body. I believe I lack a soul. Psionic Phantom would imply a ghost of some kind, but how is unknown to me. I actually am unaware of how I''ve been speaking to you this entire time. I haven''t been able to move this entire time. Also, is there someone I could speak to about psionic training? I would prefer not to be so easily killed a second time. If there is a Villain Inc., is there a Hero Inc.? Is that who helped my world''s hero? Can he also be recruited? Can I kill him if he is? Is killing other Villains allowed? And-¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Peggy slammed her hands on the table. Her face became more demonic, and all the semblance of an attractive woman disappeared. Ironically, I found it more appealing. She was breathing heavily, my barrage of questions making her break her facade of a bubbly secretary. She cophed, taking a moment to collect herself. Brushing down her suit and readjusting her face. The same professional woman sat before me in seconds. Her eyes were still narrowed slits. Whether intentional or not, she made it clear she was a little miffed. Seemed even her positive personality had its limits. ¡°You want to know more, I get that. But we are on a time limit my metal friend! I know you¡¯d like to spend some quality alone time with me, but business is business. Some of those questions you can ask your mentor. They should have a similar set of abilities as you, and they¡¯re quite entrenched in the company. Survive and we should have another meet-up real quick.¡± With a snap of her finger, a body appeared in a pillar of fire. It looked like an android of sorts. Humanoid of sorts, and paradoxically advanced while having some outdated tech. There were pipes with steam sticking out of them for god''s sake! ¡­The clockwork was nice to hear at least. ¡°This will be your temporary body for the time. Your mentor''s reality is a bit different from the tech you''re used to. Depending on what your official first job is, one will be provided to you or you¡¯ll have to make one yourself. Lots of personal choice is allowed as your employment rating goes up of course! I would love to see what you make when you have your own reality. I recommend horns!¡± Another snap and I suddenly had a different perspective of the room. I blinked as new sensations filled me. A sense of balance. Weight. Relative limb and appendage awareness. Looking down, I saw I was¡­ wearing the new body? It was both a foreign experience and felt natural. Like I was always a bipedal creature, not a mass of electricity housing thousands of servers. Peggy was overjoyed. ¡°I knew your mind would adapt! Free tip, being a living sentience has the perks of filling whatever object you possess. Like a psionic poltergist! Obviously, your technical powers may be a little limited because of your body. Being a full AI software system made hacking easier I¡¯m sure.¡± A portal of sorts appeared next to me. Peggy teared up, producing a third arm to whip away the tears. She was mumbling something about always hating this part but I wasn''t listening. I was more interested in what was on the other side of the portal. It seemed to be a workshop. One filled with gears, springs, and contained jars of electricity. ¡°Step on through and you¡¯ll get to see your trainer. I know you¡¯ll love them! You¡¯ll be like two peas in a pod. Two partners in crime! Two starving pugs fighting for a half-dead chicken! Ripping it to shreds, bathing in its blood, and violating the sanctity of the corpse! GOD DAMN IT WILL BE SO FUCKING HOT!!!¡± Roinling flames consumed Peggy as she laughed. Her corporate form slipped again and it was just a mass of tangled limbs and mouths stapled together. Odd. Kinda cute. If I ever get into biological manipulation, I¡¯ll have to remember to make one that looks like her. I stepped through, waving goodbye to the demon. I don¡¯t think she noticed. The other side was what I expected. Which means, I understood only half of what I was looking at. The best way I could describe it was steampunk technology. Gears, springs, and coils with open electricity running through them. A few pipes occasionally let out steam while others released a violet or blue aura. I could only guess how half of these worked. ¡°Ah, you''re the new guy?¡± I turned to face the voice. Unlike Peggy¡¯s intoxicating high-pitched voice, this one was more scraggly. Like a habitual smoker who needed to quit two decades ago. The man met that expectation, holding two cigars in his mouth. They sat in an ornate chair, a stool to the side holding one too many glass bottles. A dapper gentleman wearing a suit and top hat, with a large monocle on his face. He was also a goblin. ¡°Mighty pleasure to meet ya, friend.¡± Before I could respond, an explosion rocked the room we were in. It appeared my new body had internal stabilizers as I barely wobbled. My supposed teacher seemed unfazed. In fact, he looked a little happy. Reaching over to a desk nearby, he grabbed a gun with a Tesla coil for a barrel. ¡°First rule of Villains: Always expect your layer to be invaded.¡± Walk and Talk My trainer was walking through the halls of his castle, made of mostly brass and iron, with a casual swagger. Meanwhile, the number of explosions every minute had only been increasing. He was either well-prepared or overconfident. I couldn''t tell which. The building seemed sturdy enough. The walls were made of stone, and lined with metal pipes. A few had glass panels, showing electricity, steam, or more of that violet energy running through them. Wherever we were headed had quite a lot of them. ¡°Ya don''t talk much, do ya?¡± The goblin spoke up for the first time in a while. Either to let me adjust or because he was equally naturally silent. He was a good match for me so far. I had nothing against Peggy, but she was a bit too talkative for my tastes. ¡°...I spent most of my life alone. Conversation is one of my weaker skills.¡± ¡°At least ya got a good eye. Proper infrastructure here. Funnels all the steam, lightning, and psi energy to my defenses. Can''t tell you how much of a pain that was to make. Well worth the price I tell ya. Cuts through armies like butter on a fresh mornin¡¯¡±. I got to see what he was talking about. Arriving at a balcony, the pipes funneled into turrets of various types. Steam-powered ballista, an electrically charged cannon, and some sort of crystal pillar glowing purple. They were all active and automatically firing into the horizon. A literal army was at the castle gates, attempting to invade. Artillery was being fired, only to be stopped by some arcane barrier of sorts. An enemy ballista bottle shattered mid-air, a hexagonal shape appearing right in front of it. It was what caused the explosions. Even with defenses, shockwaves were vibrating the castle. I was impressed. Whatever automated system he was using was well made. Why keep the technology seemed outdated because of the materials used, overall quality was pretty good. I''d argue even my own personal turret systems would fail to match these defenses. Granted, I didn''t have forcefields to help me. ¡°Your handler or orientation officer, I don''t quite care which, probably failed to enlighten you before arriving here. I¡¯m a defensive Villain at the moment. Made myself a big target for the people of this world. Just trying to survive the onslaught these people are throwing at me.¡± ¡°That does not seem quite Villainous. If anything, you are just defending yourself.¡± The goblin smiled, a mouth full of needly teeth appearing. He took off the tesla gun resting on his shoulder and aimed it at the oncoming army. A moment of silence, and then a forceful explosion went off where he had shot. A ballista had been destroyed. It appeared his weapon was quite powerful for such a small object. ¡°A rail gun? Impressive.¡± ¡°Is that what ya call it? It''s known here as a thunderbolt. Quite the rare weapon around these parts. Mostly because of limited resources. Resources I''ve monopolized by building my here castle onto the only vein for miles and miles. Most ain''t too happy about me being selfish like that.¡± I could see why. I could only imagine what something bigger would do in a war. Extreme levels of damage probably. I too would be intimidated if someone was holding missiles in my immediate area. Especially if they were the only ones able to make them because of holding. That still didn''t sound like a good enough justification to go to war. He must have done something else to enact this sort of response. From a visual perspective, it looked like there were at most tens of thousands of people trying to break into his castle. I wonder what he will teach me considering the situation? ¡°How do you win? Are you here until you die or hold onto the castle for a long enough time?¡± ¡°Smart question. Depends. When ya become a Villain, they let ya set your own goals. The harder, the more rewards ya get, like conquering a whole country. Of course, the harder, the more likely you will get killed. Can''t say it gets any easier when you meet a protagonist.¡± One of the turrets exploded, crumbling into a ball. It was then ripped off the castle wall and thrown against another turret. A barrier appeared, preventing further destruction. The entire display had an ethereal purple glow following the crumpled turret. ¡°Speak and he shall appear. Alright, it''s showtime! Stand there all quiet like and watch a pro do his thing. Ya will learn a lot.¡± The goblin''s skin broke, metal pipes and gears popping out. He went from a short goblinoid creature to a staggeringly large automaton in seconds. He even got a cape from somewhere. It looked like royalty. His majesty could only be met by the flying woman floating across from him. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He''d call her an elf, but most depictions of elves didn''t have violet skin. Her floating hair framed a pretty face, as did the yellow dress she wore. I immediately disliked this woman. Why would you come to a battlefield unrequited and vulnerable? My teacher didn''t seem to mind. ¡°Being a little zealous aren''t you princess? That was quite an impressive piece of equipment you just shattered. I will have to add that to the list of war reparation your kingdom will be paying after the war.¡± His voice came out synthetic and with a different voice. His speaker for a mouth now sounded much lower quality than how he spoke earlier. Was this an act? A part of the villainous role he had taken? It seemed far more theatrical than I had been expecting. ¡°We are unconcerned with your toys. We stand here, once again, asking for your surrender. Blood need not be shed so wastefully. Do you accept?¡± My teacher shot her in response. More of that violet energy appeared, deflecting the untraceable shot. It ricocheted into the army, killing more of their soldiers. She didn''t look too happy about that. ¡°I have earned my place here. Not you or your ignorant church will take what is rightfully mine. Kill for your loot or leave. There will not be another option.¡± The princess grits her teeth, her violet aura darkening. She looked ready to attack. Then, the fight seemed to leave her. She seemed genuinely saddened by my teacher''s response. She must really see this conflict as pointless. ¡°Very well. Ready yourself. Your head will roll for your blasphemy. We will make sure of that.¡± She flew away. How honorable of her. I would have tried to kill my enemy if I''d gotten that close. Of course, a suicide tactic doesn''t sound like the most intelligent thing to do. Then again I''d have had my drones do that for me.
You have witnessed a Confrontation! The Villain & Protagonist have exchanged barbs while setting the stage for future conflict. 1 Villain EXP.
¡°I see ya got your first bit of experience. Those come along when you prove you live up to the name of a Villain. Any interaction with the Protagonist will also provide experience. The more memorable an encounter the better your experience gain.¡± ¡°So she was the Protagonist then? She seemed powerful. Not necessarily heroic, I will admit. Who goes to war in a dress?¡± He laughed, his body transforming into his shorter goblin form. He returned to his castle, walking away from the constant explosions. A high level of destruction was on display, but it appeared to be a stalemate at the moment. If he wasn''t worried, then I guess neither would I be. ¡°There is a reason they''re protagonists and not heroes. We used to be good guys vs bad guys. But I tell ya, one side loses too many people, and compromises need to be made. She''s one of the good ones if a bit of a fashion disaster.¡± Protagonists implied the main narrative lead in a story. Not being Heroes implied more flexible morals. Whoever I faced off against would be able to commit unexpected acts to kill me. No honorable knights riding straight into the dragon''s jaws apparently. ¡°You seem to respect her. You''re quite cordial overall. I haven''t seen anything villainous so far.¡± We had been walking down a flight of stairs. Each level of the castle became more crude in design the deeper we went. I began hearing mechanical sounds, which were revealed to be mining in progress. The valued materials were being collected from here. It was a horrid display of inefficiency. Collared people were mining, each dirty and malnourished or injured in some manner. Slave drivers whipped any who slowed down, a couple executing others in a corner. The rocks and minerals were brought to an open furnace. Smoke choked the air, tainting what little air there was underground. Whoever died or crumpled because of exhaustion was thrown into a pit of bodies. Corpses who have been left to rot had bloated and invited vermin. Sickness had clearly spread to even the slave masters. ¡°Ya care to repeat that friend? Before anyone tells ya, there''s nothing illegal here. All the slaves here are criminals, sold into indentured servitude as penance. I bought this piece of land with my hard-earned money. There just happened to be some valuable minerals underground. So what if it was holy ground. The church should really stop letting their leaders develop gambling habits.¡± The goblin was grinning from ear to ear. His mouth was much bigger than it needed to be. Being a machine under that skin, that had probably been intentional. His face and the poor priest¡¯s gambling addiction. It was nice to see there was some efficiency to be found. ¡°Legality aside, I''m more offended by your poor logistical skills.¡± ¡°All part of the plan I tell ya. The one thing better than equipment and abilities? Villain EXP. The more you have, the easier your life. Sacrifices have to be made. Ya see that down there? Passive experience. Not only is it morally wrong, it''s pointlessly brutal. Makes me look like the monster the Villain System asks you to be.¡± From everything I¡¯ve learned, that was the most unpleasant piece of information. I built my near genocide on the efficient allocation of resources. Not one bullet was wasted. Not one loss part of some grander plan. If I had to be some bubbling buffoon to please the system, I would have made a grave error. ¡°Don''t cha look so down in the dumps. It''s trading one form of efficiency for another. When it''s your turn to be the villain, ya can act however ya please. Now, before we go any further here, we need to address something. Can''t keep calling ya new guy in my head the whole time. Names Gritzkel. The former goblin turned clockworkman.¡± He held out a hand. It was nice to finally have a name. Gritzkel seemed quite the proper individual. For a slavedriver. I raised my own limb for a handshake. Never thought I would do that. Finding someone worth touching, without the intent to kill. I¡­ liked the feeling it gave me. ¡°Unit 3347.V-8B at your disposal. I look forward to your education.¡±