System Change

“Dammit Darvin! I’m telling you, the kid’s not cut out for it. If you do this, you’re basically sending recruits out to die. There’s no way he’s fit for a leadership role.” Kelvin burst through the door to Darvin’s office and began his tirade before the Malaxi even had time to look up from his screen.

“Kelvin! What did I tell you about coming to me over this matter?” Darvin looked up from the studies he was working on and shouted at Kelvin. He was sick and tired of the man always bothering him over the growth of the new human recruit. “The ‘kid’ has the stats, levels, and skills to be one of your Lieutenants already. Not to mention the Titles he received from the system during the tutorial phase for his planet.”

“Like hell I would ever give a soulless psychopath like Jace the rank of Lieutenant. In fact, I want him out of my army. Send him to that fucking bug, Xephos, for all I care. He just about has the emotions of an insect,” Kelvin fell into the seat opposite Darvin.

“You know the Ul’oc do not accept other species into their tribe,” Darvin said.

“Exactly!” Kelvin said. “If you send him to them, they’ll have him killed in a matter of days. Then he’ll no longer be my concern. It’s a win-win, really. If you do that, then you won’t have to listen to me complain about him. Hell, I’ll even owe you one. What do you say?”

“No!” Darvin had almost had enough of Kelvin.

“Well… then send him to Briya or Amelia. Those two are close enough humans. They even have humans in their armies. He’d do just fine there,” Kevin said with a small amount of hope, then muttered almost silently, “He may not die, but at least he’d be out of my hair.”

“Kelvin…” Darvin spoke lightly as he stared directly into the human commander’s eyes.

“Yeah?”

“If you don’t drop this subject and treat Jace just as you would any other system reward given person, I will strip you of your rank and be done with it.”

“What?” Kelvin shot to his feet. “If you do that, then I’ll be…”

“That’s right. The oaths you made will be broken and you will be hunted down. You wouldn’t want that, now would you?” Darvin was serious. Kelvin had made a great commander and a decent council member, but Darvin’s hands were tied when it came to Jace. For placing second on the planet C-182’s leaderboards, he’d earned everything he was getting. It was possible for Darvin to pull some strings, but that would possibly hurt his own status with the system, and he couldn’t have that, especially when he had the feeling something big was about to happen.

“You would do that to me?”

“You would do that to yourself!” Darvin yelled and released his aura—sending a mystical blue wave out from his body. “What is the phrase that the humans from C-182 said? Suck it up and act like a man. Quit whining and do your job.”

“Hmph…” Kelvin fell back into the seat, defeated. “It was worth another try…”

“No, it wasn’t. At this point, you are not trying to rid yourself of Jace… No, you’re trying my patience, and this is the last time.”

“But to give him a command…”

“Kelvin,” Darvin said, causing the man to go silent. “A command is the next step in his progression, correct?”

“Yes,” Kelvin answered.

“It does not matter the size of the command, though,” Darvin continued.

“But the next step is for Lieutenant.”

“No, you’re wrong.” Darvin shook his head. “That just happens to be the step that is tradition. System rewards do not specify the size of command a person is to be rewarded. You can give the kid a small squad to start with, then go from there. If he does well, promote him, if not, then that small squad is as high as he will be able to get, and he will never be in a position to fight for a council position.”

“A small one…” the red human’s eyes widened and brightened at the same time. “I could do that. That’s what? Five people… hmm… he’d have to pick the squad himself… but that could be doable. I could at least get a few months’ break from the bastard.”

“Kelvin, let me ask you a question.” The System Watcher broke the red human council member from his thoughts.

“Yes?”

“You say that Jace is a psychopath and soulless, correct?”

“He is. Have you not seen him?” Kelvin answered.

“I have, but I do not believe you are correct,” Darvin answered. “How many people under your command have he killed?”

“How many has he killed?” Kelvin repeated back. “Three of our own have fallen to him.”

“Three?” The Malaxi smiled. “He is a soulless psychopath, yet has only managed to kill three soldiers in the entire time he’s been under your command?”

“Well… yes…”

“And those three people? Did he go out of his way to murder them cold-blooded?”

“Uh… no. After the investigation, it was determined that they attacked him first,” Kelvin answered.

“And if you look at his records from C-182, while he has quite a high body count, most come from those classified as invaders. True, he has killed others from ‘Earth,’ but I do not see a pattern of him needlessly murdering people for no reason.”

“That…”

“I’m not finished,” Darvin warned. “You also say that he lacks emotions? Yes?”

“Very much so,” Kelvin replied.

“Did you not see that he considered the anomaly a friend? And yet, he did not murder the person responsible for the loss of his friend. If I recall correctly, everything about that would be considered emotional reactions. Especially having or considering a person a friend,” Darvin finished explaining.

“But the bloodlust in his aura. I’ve felt it. It may not be too strong now… but later.”

“The aura is a gift we all received from the system. You, of all people, should know that. I believe you have been under the incorrect assumptions of Jace since you first met him. Yes, he enjoys fighting and killing. However, he does not wantonly murder, whether that is because of a moral code or because he’s following commands, I cannot say. But we have both seen real psychopaths in the system, and he is not one. In fact, I believe that the so-called bloodlust aura that you feel from him is really battlelust.”

“We’ll see…” Kelvin stood back up. “I guess I’m off to give that bastard his first command. It’s going to be a loss of some good people, if you ask me.”

“But nobody did ask you. Now go!” Darvin flicked his hand once Kelvin walked out and the door to his office slammed shut behind the man. Finally, he brought his bracelet up to his mouth and said, “Greta, remember my open door policy for all council members?”

“I do,” a feminine voice came back to him.

“Cancel it starting today. If a council member wants to meet, then they must schedule an appointment with you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, and Greta.”

“Yes?”

“Make sure that whatever they have to say is worth my time. I’ll leave it at your discretion.” Darvin smiled. Kelvin had been the only council member to take him up on his open door policy to the point where Darvin found it annoying. But the others also like to have it as an option. Now that it was gone, they would be mad. “And if anyone needs to know why the policy was canceled, you have my permission to direct any and all blame toward Kelvin.”

“Got it,” Greta sent back. “Is there anything else?”

“No Greta, that’s it. Thank you.” With that, Darvin pulled up the files he was so eagerly going over before he was interrupted by Kelvin. He had been digging deep into the history of the system, and he seemed to be getting close to learning some truths. Whether those truths were deliberately hidden, or had just happened such a long time ago, he didn’t know.

But he had stumbled on some things, and he was beginning to get an idea of where the system was going. If what he was thinking was correct, things were about to get very chaotic.

***

“You are to pick five members for your new squad. No more, no less. Do you get it?” Kelvin stared daggers at Jace, who had a freshly shaven head, so his hair wouldn’t get in the way of his fighting.

The man had also upgraded his armor and weapons. Instead of keeping his weapons inside his storage bracelet, the young man had chosen to wear his kukri in a cross pattern on his back. His armor was mostly basic leathers, but now of high quality. It seemed that his time on planet A-73 had paid off for the man, both literally and figuratively.

“I don’t want a squad. I work better alone,” Jace replied monotone, and looked directly into Kelvin’s eyes. “They will just get in the way.”

Kelvin swallowed. The look in the young man’s eyes was that of a predator examining his prey. The only thing was that the person he was treating as prey in their current situation was Kelvin.

Kelvin squeezed his fists. “I don’t care what you want. You can choose to pick a squad, or you can go back to your precious ‘Earth’ and enjoy being a big fish in a small pond. Besides, don’t you want to take my position someday? You can’t get a spot on the council without showing leadership capabilities.”

“That’s not what I want,” Jace replied. “You are what I’m after. If I have to take a stupid seat on some council to get to you, I will. And someday, I will get what I want. I’m coming for you.” The young man gave Kelvin a wide grin and licked the top row of his teeth.

“Well, you can’t do any of that without making a squad first. So, pick.” Kelvin felt some shivers go down his spine. The kid was creepy and would eventually become a problem for the entire system. He just knew it. And none of that had to do with the fact that he seemed to have an obsession with becoming strong enough to take on Kelvin… at least that’s what he told himself.

“Fine,” Jace said, but it sounded more like a grunt. “I can pick any of them?”

“As long as you pick five,” Kelvin replied. I pity the poor souls who get chosen by this monster.

Jace stepped forward and walked through the passage to a room full of higher-level recruits. They were soldiers of all different classes, and there were over 300 of them currently in the room waiting for their next assignment. They were told that there were five spots available for a special unit, which would be a promotion. Technically, it was true. If they functioned well, the height they could achieve would be limitless. Unfortunately, none of them knew what—or rather who—they were getting into.

“Listen up, soldiers,” Kelvin cleared his throat and began to speak. “I want to introduce you to Jace…” For the first time, Kelvin realized that he’d never bothered to find out the man’s name. Kelvin turned his head to look at the young man in question.

“Just Jace,” he answered.

Kelvin drew in a deep breath. “This is… Lieutenant Jace.” It was all Kelvin could do not to spit out the words. He did, unfortunately, have to give the man the rank of Lieutenant. He hated it, but at least he wouldn’t be in charge of anything important. Other than five people’s lives. “He is looking for five candidates for his special squad. If you are chosen, you will be under his care.” Then he looked back at Jace. “Go ahead.”

“Are there any smiths?” Jace asked before anything else. Of course, there were a couple of crafters among the soldiers. As soon as a hand went up, Jace continued. “Do you work with metals? Weapons?” He took one of his Kukri off his back, and the man he was talked to nodded. “Good. Get over here.”

Jace continued this way until he had picked out five people amongst the candidates. In total, he had picked one smith, one healer, two ranged, and a support class. The setup wasn’t too bad, if a little odd. With the squad composition, it would have only a single close ranged fighter. I guess that’s what he’s going for… The kid honestly chose his squad better than Kelvin had predicted. Maybe Darvin was on to something… Kelvin thought. Then he looked back at the five soldiers standing in front of Jace. No… he’s not. I just hope their deaths aren’t too painful.