SIS B5: Prologue: World Leaders and Troubled Wizard

In the middle of London, in the newly constructed McArthur palace, Alison McArthur sat with her legs crossed and with an expectant look on her face.

Before her stood a man who, much like her, had a crown sat atop his head. This was not her husband however, no. It was the ruler of the pesky little sovereign territory bordering her own known as 'Wales'.

"We've spent a long time discussing it, Empress McArthur," the foreign monarch spoke.

Nodding, Alison replied, "I trust you've come to me with good news then, King Jones."

"Of course. Wales as a whole has decided to join your empire. We recognise that you and yours are not the British monarchy of old. You will treat us in a way which we deserve. We've seen this with the newly unified Ireland. There is no need for war or bloodshed when we should be working together," King Jones responded, much to her pleasure.

Honestly, for Christopher to have suggested she didn't use her Alteration to manipulate every noble family of Wales to support the unification plans was pure idiocy.

Still, despite her lack of empathy, for she had sacrificed it to obtain her esper power, she would not punish her son.

His God-ranked skill was simply too valuable, being able to learn anything he so pleased when he used it.

It made Alison's usage of Alteration's level four ability, Situational Alteration, much simpler. It wasn't exactly a challenge to make things go her way when she knew exactly what she needed to alter, after all.

It was just too easy. 'How that foolish daughter of mine is still barely at level two in Alteration despite her supposed talents is beyond me. She was given access to the family library when she was young, was she not? What a failure, that Madison.'

She shared a few more kind words that she didn't really mean with the king of Wales before she dismissed him.

Now alone, she leaned back into her chair and sighed. 'I'm glad that foolish freak's planet shaking didn't get in the way of my work here, though. It's been such a struggle to unite the islands since the system's coming. Just disposing of the former governing bodies and monarchy were difficult enough as if was...'

Instead, if anything, the worldwide destruction had been a wake-up call for many. They could see how fragile everything was and truly few of them that still remained unskilled or unclaimed by the system.

'That Hamilio monster has one thing right. We need to unify, just not under his flag. I'll make sure of that,' Madison's mother thought to herself. 'Using Madison to take his rule from him shouldn't be hard. Support is down after his stunt with the Truthians and he claims to be more than willing to hand over his crown to someone more worthy. Hamilios are a lot of things, but liars aren't typically found amongst their ranks.'

She quickly dismissed the thought though and returned to her more pressing work; figuring out a way to annex Scotland without starting a war.

She suspected she'd be required to use her Alteration far more than usual for this task, something she didn't exactly mind but it bothered her.

She was no internal energy monster like the more combat-oriented esper family. Regardless, she would manage. She'd have to. They were an annoying lot, those Scots. So desperate for their independence.

'No matter. I have Christopher, after all. I am undefeatable,' she thought with a smirk spread across her aged lips.

***

"They did what?" Emperor Bei asked his general calmly though a hidden rage lurked beneath his cool demeanour.

Looking a bit uncomfortable, the general repeated himself. "India's eight kings have declared war on our glorious empire, Your Heavenly Majesty."

"They dare... Fine, if they want a war, we'll give them one. They've been a thorn in our side for too many years now. To think the system's trials gave them the courage needed to finally bear their teeth..." Emperor Bei muttered in a snarl.

"I'll make preparations right away," the general replied with a salute.

Emperor Bei nodded and dismissed him. Once he was alone in his throne room, he sighed as he felt himself sag into his seat.

"Politics were much easier when the world was terrified of nukes and when the commonfolk did everything they could to avoid confrontation..." He held his head in his hands.

"Where did the days go where I could claim all wrong-doing to be foreign in nature? Where I was seen as a generous god who truly cared for the people? Handling the internet's influence was one thing, the system's in another entirely..." he lamented.

"Now the Earth has cracked thanks to that insane Hamilio. My youngest son has become a silly sage while my eldest is busy squashing rebellions across the empire. Rebellions caused by that foolish Fan'er's leader. Why does he get to crack the planet and then suddenly people think Heaven's Mandate is being enacted? Now I have to deal with the Indian kings and their forces as well?" He felt defeated before even going to battle.

The emperor of China had a lot on his mind. Every day his thoughts changed and his attitude shifted. Having to bear so much weight on his shoulder wasn't easy.

If he couldn't do it though, then who could? Only he could lead China to true prosperity. At least, that's how he saw it in his mind. No one bar he was fit to rule the greatest empire Earth had ever seen.

No foolish thoughts of unification from an American upstart would change that. Nor would the lingering threat of Japan's new empire. Neither would this new declaration of war.

***

"Everything is going according to the plan," Davido said to himself.

He smiled sharply as he watched the television in his office with all of his attention.

His perfect son had so flawlessly handled the Truthians, just as he knew he would. The way Darenzo had so confidently owned up to being responsible for the new ravines that littered their homeworld... Well, it elated Davido.

"Getting them to agree to place a Door of Fortune in your lands truly was a worthwhile endeavour, even if it cost me more than I had planned to shatter all futures where you didn't clear it yourself," Davido said to his son who was thousands of miles away and couldn't hear him as he smiled widely.

During that very same conference where he had admitted guilt, Darenzo had even said he'd personally come to Europe to negotiate with his father, to negotiate with him. Not now, of course, but once he had finished gaining full control of both North and South America.

The mere thought of how much his emotionless yet hate-filled son had grown over such a short time frame gave Davido goosebumps.

His eyes turned golden for a moment before returning to normal. A future had been crushed in that very moment, but that took no effort on Davido's part.

"All is well. I expected you to do more after having joined Darenzo's side, Father. I don't even have to try to thwart your efforts, hahaha! How weak are you that you can only counter my futures twice a day? You're only helping me further my own goals. The goals of the family. The true goals," Davido cackled madly.

He slowly got up and brushed a hand through his hair. "This silly little trial will end soon. Your true journey will begin shortly, my precious, perfect son. They have almost arrived."

His smile only grew. "I need to go leave him a letter. It would be rude of me not to considering the questions he'll have upon his return."

***

"Oh no, oh bother. This isn't right..." Seven mumbled to himself as he arched his furry eyebrows in concern.

Seven was a strange person, even by his own accounts. How common was it for a Beavrundian to be a mage? Very uncommon.

How common was it for a Beavrundian mage to own a floating tower that could travel through space? Even less common than being a mage.

How common was it that a floating tower owning Beavrundian mage was actually a peak existence that the system cautiously allowed to exist within its territories? Well, you get the point.

What was truly rare, however, for Seven to be so flummoxed. This hadn't happened since he was rejected at the annual dam-building competition at his homeworld 17,653 years ago. A poor memory, to be certain.

It was one of the primary reasons he just let his magical tower float through space instead of anchoring it anywhere in particular. He never wanted to meet that shallow woman ever again. Reject him? What a fool.

"This isn't right at all," Seven repeated himself as he double-checked his instruments.

He had just finished a very complex set of magical calculations that predicted a cataclysm of undocumented proportions was soon to happen.

How soon? He didn't know. It could be the next day or the next millennium. Cosmically though, it would be soon.

Even he, in all of his magical might and wisdom, couldn't see the start nor end of this spectroverse-shaking event. It could end everything that was, could, or even had been. And he knew next to nothing about it! Truly bothersome.

All he knew was that its source was living. That was it. Nothing more. It wasn't a natural occurrence waiting to happen, no. It was a person. A ticking time bomb, so to speak.

Meaning if he could find it, he could stop it... Maybe. He wasn't sure. "I need to do more calculations..."

And thus, the human-sized beaver wearing a long robe and a pointed wizard's hat got back to his work, just as concerned about his and everything else's continued existence as he was just a few moments ago.