SL: Chapter 756 – Day 28,325 (Part 2) – The Last Supper

“Cake, cake is better than donuts,” I declared.

“But donuts can be customized for the individual. Cakes are big,” Clarissa argued.

“Cakes can be decorated and customized,” I countered. The conversation had devolved to silliness based on that pointless chapter in the Guidebook.

“A cake shaped like a donut, hmmm?” Clarissa countered and I had to think about that for a moment.

“A donut shaped like a cake,” I countered.

“A donut is a shape. A cake is a cake,” Clarissa countered back.

“Cake is still superior,” I declared with finality.

“A cake made of donuts and donut shape. Two times the donut to cake,” Clarissa whipped out a very strong argument.

“I concede. A cake made of donuts and that is donut shaped, is a win for donuts, not cakes,” I declared.

“Victory, my sugary reign will last forever,” Clarissa said. We then quieted down in the private dining room on her airship. This was most likely going to be our last supper together. I wouldn’t be contacting her unless I found some useful information to share. I would let her know if the corners held anything of interest and then check out the exit again.

“Any plans if I don’t make it?” I asked.

“Escape to the rainbow dimension on an airship and hope to find some place else that is habitable. I will be building up breathings masks and other supplies at a secret base,” Clarissa said.

“You don’t have that already?” I asked.

“Not in the numbers I would want. Who knows how long we would be stuck out there,” Clarissa said.

“Well don’t leave me, if I am still alive,” I joked.

“I won’t, don’t worry,” Clarissa replied with a smile. “I have to ask. Why ask someone to remove an eye to apologize?”

“With regeneration it doesn’t matter, but it is extremely hard to do. But after the Divine Empress, well, it felt ick,” I replied. “How many plans do you have to kill me?” I asked.

“Real plans, or just long shots?” Clarissa asked.

“Real plans,” I replied.

“One,” she said.

“One. Wow. I don’t know if I should be impressed or scared,” I replied.

“Both, of course,” she countered. “You miss your Empire?”

“Absolutely not. Someone else can have headaches of wrangling people. Though, I did like the color coordinated outfits,” I said.

“They were stupid,” Clarissa replied.

“What?”

“They were stupid. It created a class system that just increased tensions,” she said.

“Okay, what about your governors. They were completely useless,” I countered.

“Touche’. We both had our major screwups,” Clarissa said.

“Yes, we did. A shame that we lost so many good people over the years.”

“You should go see Doctor Katz and Michelle before checking out the corners.”

“I thought they wouldn’t want anything to do with me?”

“They might have softened a bit with the occasional you sent them.”

“I sent an initial gift.”

“And I took some out of what you gave me.”

“Thank you. I am a bad friend.”

“You are a bad person, but that is okay. If anyone is going to get us out of this training center, it will be you, Michael.” The silence took over again. After a minute Clarissa spoke up.

“Do want help in exploring the corners?”

“No. Just park my airship somewhere and let me know. With my energy, I can fly around easily.”

“I will do that, in the usual spot. Which corner are you starting with?”

“Northeast, since it will be the closest. After I check each one, I will let you know.”

“Thank you. It will be good to learn something about this place. And…well if the worst should happen, would you want a funeral or something?” Clarissa asked.

“The only one who would be upset would be Young Michael.”

“I would be upset as well.” I shook my head.

“You like me as a thing of power, but not as a person.” She didn’t respond to that comment, which meant it was true. “That is fine. Put a plaque in that old base after we got back from the rainbow dimension.” It would be the closest spot to where my mother had died.

“It is a tourist attraction now,” Clarissa said.

“What? Really?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes. A remnant of a past civilization. A level 3 area isn’t a great hiding place after this much time.”

“Oh. Do what you think is best. If people forget about me after I die, it is fine.”

“I would have thought you would want something elaborate.”

“Maybe. But my ego has been ground down after so long. Maybe a small private service or something to let others know how I died and the truth of this place.” I had accepted that this could be it. Either I would find a way out of The Systemic Lands, or I would perish inside of this holodeck.

“A statue?”

“Your choice, but no one really knows me. Would you want to look at my statue all day?” I joked.

“Probably not. But you have done far more than people realize.”

“True, but there is no use seeking out accolades after my death. I should probably write something for Young Michael.”

“You aren’t going to visit him?”

“He would want to come along. But his heart isn’t set on leaving this place. It is his home. He was born here, it is all he knows,” I said heavily.

“He will be upset.”

“Good. Then that might motivate him to avenge my death. But don’t think I will die that easily. I am Emperor Michael, not some noob that has just arrived,” I joked.

“You went into the unknown before.”

“I had no choice. It was fight or die back then. So many bad decisions. That is the story of my life, bad decisions.”

“You made it this far. Even if you don’t believe in yourself, I believe in you.”

“You were always the better person between the two of us. If we leave this place alive and intact, then we will have to have a dinner again.”

“You are always welcome for dinner.”

“I know. But checking things out has to happen. I am pretty good at fighting and energy control nowadays.” I picked up an apple on the table and tossed into the air. A flick of my hand and it was instantly cut. I had a plate under it catch all the pieces. I set it back on the table. Clarissa gave me a polite little clap. She then picked up the plate and inspected the pieces.

“The cuts are perfectly spaced.”

“I practiced a lot over the last couple of decades. The Astrologer wishes he had my control. The Divine Empress could only beg at my feet.”

“There is still something out there that is stronger than you and the Avatar.”

“I know. I can only hope my technique makes up the difference. Any news?”

“No. I have had my people checking everywhere, but they are not in any city or low level zone. The map rooms were used to a great extent to check everywhere.”

“A shame. But expected. Nothing is ever simple or easy. I wish this was like a video game, where there was a clear sign pointing to the boss or finish.”

“It is an alien video game.”

“Aliens. They clearly had no concept of planning for bad outcomes. That is why there are emergency exits in buildings, or at least on Earth.”

“Perhaps they didn’t think one was needed, or it is filled with monsters. I…I worry after what happened with Michelle.”

“She got better and I am stronger than she was back then. It is also my last choice. I will open things up and see how many I can beat.”

“Or your head will melt.”

“Or my head will melt. That would be a horrible way to go. But I can’t just spend forever grinding. I can’t.”

“I didn’t realize it was that bad. The crew didn’t chat with you?”

“What is there to chat about after thousands of days? They rotate out, but the distance between us was too much.”

“Ah, I might have given them precise instructions, sorry.”

“No need to apologize. But I can’t wait around forever for this place to fall apart. What if the store stops working? Or the air isn’t breathable anymore? That would mean death.” We both knew that even if something worked one day, that was no guarantee it would work the next.

The rest of the people could think everything was fine and someone would handle the problem, but for Clarissa and myself we knew that wasn’t the case. We had gone through enough heartbreaking situations to know that our lives were hanging by a thread compared to the immense powers we were dealing with.

“And if you do gain admin powers? What is the first thing you do?”

“Not find out how the mystery meat is made,” I joked.

“Really?”

“Hmm. Hopefully a way to stabilize things and get more concrete answers than cake and donuts. I mean seriously. Why is that even included? Completely useless and pointless.”

“Well, I have copied everything down. So maybe you will get some inspiration, or it will act as a key.”

“Doubtful. The only thing it will do is make me want some sugar. Maybe when I leave this place, it will be a collector’s item for aliens.”

“Hopefully. The fact there are monsters isn’t a good sign for any kind of civilization.”

“Probably took some experiment too far and made something that made other things.”

“That seems like a big mistake for beings who could make this place.”

“The more powerful the individual or aliens in this case, the bigger the mistake.”

“A shame the book didn’t include pictures of this Collective.”

“Based on the name probably gathering up everyone they could find and putting them into places like this. The long designation for this place indicates there is more than one.”

“But they probably don’t connect. That would contaminate any kind of control.”

“Yep. Since there was a ceiling there is probably a wall as well. Going to find that corner and see if I can punch through or something.”

“That might not be a good idea if monsters are out there.”

“Only on the last corner then. So, the one in the Northwest, which is probably hiding something based on how this place is shaped.”

“And you aren’t going there first?”

“It is also the longest distance from a zone. I would also like to get a baseline of what a corner is like before heading out that far. And if something does come out, it will be far from any zone as well,” I explained my reasoning.

“At least you are thinking things through.”

“I might be tired of grinding, but I haven’t become stupid Clarissa. I am not going to just let myself be killed or everyone else if I can help it.”

“From a nobody, to a villain, to emperor, to hero.”

“Villain, really?”

“Well to our enemies you were one.”

“Well, they can rest in pieces. I don’t want to deal with that nonsense again. I swear the plots and schemes gave me a headache. And I know I did such things against the Divine Empress. But against that much…Divine Empress, she was too much Divine Empress.”

“Using her as a descriptor.”

“Against her interior decorating skills, scheming was necessary, and she punched me into the stratosphere.”

“And you crawled your way to a city. I know.”

“It is impressive, even if no one appreciates the classics.”

“Well try not to get your spine broken this time.”

“No promises. But I will make anyone or any alien I am facing regret it. Especially the Avatar. She has a lot coming to her. A lot.”

“I would say let it go, but I know you won’t.”

“Absolutely not. She is the worst. I don’t want to get into all her crimes, but she is truly the worst. I don’t care if I am blasted by the Almighty System, but I swear she is going to die once I lay eyes on her. There will be no mercy. No quarter. No questions. No talking. Just death. Instant annihilation death. I will cut her up into tiny pieces and then vaporize those pieces.”

“Specific and final.”

“Indeed. No torture. No half measures. She dies and I am done with her. I would choose to get along with the Divine Empress before the Avatar. We could bond over how she turned the Avatar into a human nugget.”