CHAPTER 2

Draceus starts eating in a somewhat large feast with the High-Generals, people who are second-in-command of the Government only below the Lord who is Draceus, as they all talk about the current world situation. One of the High-Generals, Augustus, speaks up,

“Well, if we defeat the ‘Global Revolution’ with the help of the GON, what happens to the UHC? Do we disband them?” Another High-General, Johatthan, replies to Augustus’ question, 

“Perhaps we could annex them! Or puppet their governments, either way works for us!” 

A High-General, Franzus, looks up at Johatthan and raises an eyebrow before exclaiming,

“We could just liberate them, maybe put a treaty that punishes them for what they’ve done,”

Augustus chews for a few seconds before replying to Franzus’ statement,

“If we do have a treaty like that anyways, won’t there be a risk of them disliking it and rejecting our treaty?” All the High-Generals think for a moment when Dracus speaks up,

“As Johatthan said, we officially annex their lands and take over countries with key cities such as cities with major ports or factories, the rest of the territories will become puppet governments under our rule. Sound fair?” Everyone looks at each other and nods as some murmurs among each other before everyone salutes Draceus as they all nod in approval,

“Perfect, let us continue our meal then.” Draceus says, as the High-Generals continue talking amongst each other.

As the meal is finished and servants dressed in red or black suits take the dishes away, the High-Generals shake hands with each other and depart as Draceus walks back to his office. He soon arrives and enters the recently cleaned and polished room and then sits down on his chair but then notices a paper on his table and takes it, he reads it:

‘haPPY bIrTHdaY.’

Draceus raises an eyebrow but drops the paper in a nearby bin, before someone knocks on his office door then Draceus clears his throat,

“Come in,” Draceus says as Lapis enters the door a bit weary before she looks at the door and sighs then walks to Draceus and sits on a chair nearby and relaxing into it. She speaks,

“So, how was the meal? I couldn’t go because I was drunk at a bar down the road, sorry,” Draceus laughs at Lapis’ remark then grabs his mug of coffee and drinks it; he then replies,

“We were just discussing what we are going to do when this war is done,”

“Do they know?”

“No, they don’t, not yet.”

“Alright,”

Lapis looks outside as she stands up from the chair and takes out a paper out of a drawer from her brother’s desk then reads it for a few seconds. She then turns her head up towards Draceus who is looking out the window and Lapis stares at him for a moment before she stands up then reads another paper, before handing it to Draceus. He takes the paper and reads it silently, before looking back at Lapis,

“One of the GON’s frontlines has been pushed back, so why don’t we send some of our own troops?” Lapis says as Draceus puts the paper down before replying,

“That is up to the High-Generals and Military Command, I do not dictate the actions of my military other than major targets or new wars and battles.”

Lapis nods in approval at Draceus’ remark as she stands up, stretches and cracks her knuckles then takes a futuristic steel plate off a shelf, the shape and size of a normal newspaper but covered in all sorts of technology, and presses a few buttons at the back. A hologram is projected, but to Lapis’ shock, it projects a video waiting to be played as she turns to Draceus again and says,

“Hey, uh, this Digi-Plate is acting weird, did someone leave this for you?”

Draceus turns to Lapis and raises an eyebrow before he walks to Lapis and stands by her.

Lapis nervously plays the video, as the hologram becomes pixelated for a few moments before it returns to a high-resolution video and it shows a completely dark room until a dim light is shone onto a table and chair in the room. 

A humanoid figure sits down on the chair, their details and even clothing are too hidden in the darkness to be seen as they stare at the camera for a few seconds until they speak,

“Hello, Draceus Zentalivus, or the Lord of Nexcruzmas, Leviathan of the West or Dictator of the Thousand Years. If you find this message, then send my regards to the recruit for successfully infiltrating one of the most secure buildings on this planet. 

But that is not why this message is here.

This is a warning, your final warning. Your frontlines crumble and crack everyday, Zentalivus. I can sense your allies’ citizens growing tired from this war and it’ll be an inevitability that your civilians too, will grow discontent.

Accept the treaty or blood shall spill from not just soldiers.”

The video cuts as the digi-pad cracks open and a folder with a ripped-off label is revealed. Lapis takes the folder out of the pad as it suddenly starts beeping rapidly, Draceus’ eyes widen as he realizes what the beeping means and rips the pad off Lapis’ grip and throws it out of an open window.

A security guard bursts through the door and raises his rifle, and fires a bullet at the beeping digi-pad as it explodes mid-air then it causes a small ball of smoke as it slowly dissipates into the wind.

A group of security guards rush in and aim their rifles, before they realize that the threat has passed. As Draceus and Lapis are escorted out of the office safely by a security guard while the others search the room with a stand-by bomb squad, the two look at each other as High-General Franzus runs up to them,

“I’ve heard what happened, are any of you injured? A medical team is on standby, I can contact them if you wish,” He says as Draceus glances at Lapis before he shakes his head as he responds to Franzus,

“No, none of us have been hurt by the incident, but I’m more concerned over the security that you manage in my Office,” Draceus says, Franzus gulps nervously then responds,

“I apologize for my carelessness over management in security, please forgive me and I promise I will not repeat my wrongdoings ever again.” Draceus stares at him for a few seconds like a vulture spying on their prey before he nods in approval and responds,

“Very well then. Do not slip up this time, or I will not be so kind to you. Let this occurrence be a warning to not mess up, do you understand?” Franzus stares in fear before bowing in agreement, as Draceus turns his attention back forward as Franzus walks quickly away.

As Lapis and Draceus, with some guards escorting them, walk along the hallways of the Office, Lapis takes out the folder and hands it to Draceus as she comments on it,

“Whoever was in that video used the digi-pad, which exploded, to transport this folder to us. What do you think the folder contains?” Draceus looks at the folder and gestures for a soldier to walk to him. Draceus hands the folder to the soldier who then cracks the folder open, the soldier’s face is suddenly sprayed with a green mucus from within the folder as the soldier screams in pain and claws at his own melting face then the guards look behind them in shock and confusion as one of them pulls out a handgun and fires three bullets into the dying soldier’s head. Lapis backs away in shock as Draceus stares at the corpse of the soldier then the open folder as the other soldiers start to call backup, Draceus looks around and then at Lapis as she comments on the situation,

“Oh my, they get bolder everyday, don’t they?” Lapis says, Draceus sighs as a crew of janitors along with mechanical humanoids, two meters tall with a thin frame, wearing hazmat suits arrives and start to clean up the mess and transport the corpse of the soldier away. The mechanical humanoids cautiously pick up the folder and place it into a glass box with a steel bottom then seal it away then walk off.

Lapis and Draceus continue walking until they arrive to a large reinforced steel door, with a card-reader and a speaker next to it along with many security cameras on and near the steel door then Lapis checks her screen-watch, a watch-like device that wraps around her wrist with a holographic screen that can increase or decrease in size, and then starts walking away after waving Draceus goodbye. Draceus looks back to the door and glares at it as the speakers turn on, a rough and masculine voice speaks through it,

“Password and identification card?” Draceus turns his focus towards the cameras as he stares at them with a cold and emotionless expression, the steel door swings open instantly as a short man covered head-to-toe in augmentations of his flesh with metal and technology bows nervously towards Draceus before saying,

“I apologize for not recognizing you, my Lord. Please forgive me for my ignorance!” Draceus stares directly at the cyborg-like man before walking past him and into a long concrete descending staircase with dim lights. Draceus continues walking as he hears the steel door shut close behind him, then he soon reaches the end of the staircase where it opens to a small train station-like underground area, with the staircase leading to a platform within the station. Further within, long and winding steel beams on the ground stretched from one tunnel to the other like a train track as Draceus looked around the station, he glanced over the marble floor and walls, the steel ceiling and pillars.

It was all white and too bright, Draceus thought, as he looked at a poster pinned onto a pillar. He walked closer it to see it, as he stared at the face of the previous Lord before himself with their chiseled chin and stern yet unnerving eyes along with their smooth-looking beard and rested eyes; Draceus looked above the face and saw words in big red bold, 

‘FIGHT FOR THE HOME THAT CARES FOR US ALL!’ 

Draceus inspected the details of the poster before he walked away and checked his watch. Suddenly, as Draceus looked away from his watch, spherical and white levitating pods the size of a two-floor train carriage rushed down the tunnel at a speed comparable to a bullet. Draceus tried covering his face as the wind of the speeding pods annoyingly blew at his face and clothes but then the pods started slowing down until it halted. The pods’ doors open up as it reveals a luxurious and fancy interior with red carpets and gold-colored walls, along with mahogany furniture and silk-woven cushions that decorate the room too. A High-General and a group of women and men in suits carrying folders, files or laptop bags exits from a pod on the left, they all notice Draceus and bow to him as the High-General salutes to him, the group then walks off with the High-General leading them. On the right, a tall and bulky man with cybernetic legs wearing a military uniform walks out and glances at Draceus then the two make eye contact for a moment as the man salutes to Draceus. He looks up and down at the man before he comments and says, 

“I see that you’re out of the wheelchair and received new legs, good for you,”

The man smiles with glee and chuckles then checked his watch before replying,

“Indeed, technology can do miracles nowadays!” The man exclaimed with joy as Draceus replied back, 

“Very good, are you here to help organize the military parade tomorrow?” He asks, then the man nods in response. Draceus nods back understandingly as the two give their farewells before the man walks away, the pod in the middle’s doors finally open as it reveals an even more luxurious interior with paintings and glass cases of jewelry and expensive accessories.

Two soldiers dressed in body-covering armor walked out and stood either side of the pod’s entrance as a ramp was produced from the floor of the pod, Draceus glanced at the two soldiers and walked into the pod. He sat down on a couch with soft cushions and a lavish frame then the soldiers marched into the pod and stood guard on either side of the doorway, the ramp retracted back as the doors shut close and the pod started speeding off into the dark tunnels and then Draceus looked outside at the window behind him and saw watched the view of Nexciria pass by. 

He watched the bright lights of Nexciria turn dusk back into dawn as the buildings touched the heavens and the city stretched far beyond the horizon, he watched the dark crimson flag of Nexcruzmas, the size of an entire skyscraper, wave in the wind above most other buildings on a tall and shining pole. Soon, however, the view was suddenly interrupted by a tunnel and forced Draceus to look back at the interior of the pod. He stood up as one of the soldiers looked up and quickly grabbed a remote that sat within a cupboard and turned on a large screen on a wall, it started playing a live game show as Draceus smiled and sat back down and watched the show.

The pod slowed to a stop as Draceus woke up from a nap then he looked up as the guards stood their ground, the pod doors slid open revealing a station with similar appearance to the one below his Office in the city of Nexciria. He stands up as the guards follow behind him on either side of Draceus, they walk past: a group of journalists who whisper among each other and some take pictures of Draceus before they salute to him, a man in a tight suit and tie with an angry red, almost bulging, face who then bows to Draceus and then a cyborg, almost fully robotic despite the human head and upper torso, walks by before noticing Draceus and bowing to him. He continues walking down the station while being escorted by the guards until he arrives at a row of elevators with different people exiting and entering the elevators, the anthem of Nexcruzmas began blaring from the speakers as everyone turned to Draceus and saluted towards him. The triumphant orchestra of music continued playing for a few more seconds until it ceased, everyone then bowed to Draceus until they continued on with their business. He looked around as the area slowly became more emptier then he entered an elevator and looked around the interior. Behind Draceus and the two guards was a clean mirror, and on both sides of the three were railings attached to the walls, beside the elevator doors was a screen instead of the usual pad with the number of floors assorted into buttons. Draceus waited patiently as the guard on the right of him removes their glove revealing rough-looking skin and a hand of flesh then they pressed their index finger onto the screen, the finger was scanned as the screen closed and reopened on the same height of the guard and the guard’s helmet visor opened up to reveal a mechanical face comprised of all smooth and futuristic metal-like skin. Their eye was scanned by the machine as the elebators began moving, the guard put their glove back on and their visor closes as a holographic screen depicting their elevator appeared infront of the door as they watched it descend down until arriving at a network of tunnels with other elevator moving around the tunnels.

Draceus and the guards stood in silence as the elevator moved horizontally in the tunnels until one of the guard spoke,

“I am sorry for asking so suddenly, my Lord, but is it not odd that the public does not have this level of technology within their grasps?” Draceus turned to them and responded,

“The one thing that defines humanity is innovation. What does innovation create?”

The guards looked at each other then both responded with different answers. Draceus smiled as he continued talking, 

“Neither of those. Curiosity, questions, theories and conspiracies. Yes, curiosity is a trait defined in most life on this world but it leads to unwanted questions. ‘Why not have that when we can have this?’ or ‘If they have this what if they have that?’.” The guards looked at each other as Draceus looked at the hologram of the tunnel system then continued again,

“More questions, most unanswered. More people will be compelled to ‘keep digging’ for more answers and attract attention from the public, hence causing civil unrest. You don’t want a mob of paranoid conspiracy believers to be marching on our streets, do you?”

The guards nod in unison as Draceus, again, continued talking,

“That is why we control what we give: we control their internet, we control how much rations are given, we have an eye on everyone. That is why the public don’t have this level of technology in their hands. It is so we can keep them under control, like maintaining a pet.” Everyone stood in silence as the elevator arrived to a stop. The doors open leading to a hallway with navy blue walls and a crimson red lower half of the wall, the floor is a smooth brick-tiled floor, the hallway splits into other corridors as signs hang on each corridor entrance. Draceus and the guards begin walking down the hallway before entering a corridor with a sign reading ‘AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY’, the three arrive at a checkpoint-like area as they see the walls transition to a dark grey color and they keep walking until they stop at a double door made out of wood with steel hinges and doorknobs.

Draceus enters a large conference room with a long table and many chairs with a gigantic TV screen that spanned from wall-to-wall, he looked around until the High-Generals approach Draceus and unanimously salute to him before one of them speaks first,

“My Lord, we have studied the contents of the folder, it is a detailed treaty for the end of the war, I suggest we show this to the Province counc-“ the High-General is interrupted by Draceus as he objects and says, 

“Do not. The Province council will think we have grown weak and attempt to hold a referendum without my order. We will keep the folder a secret until further research and notice, do you understand?” The High-Generals look at each other then nod in agreement as another High-General speaks, 

“Shall we go see the papers? We can’t decide what to do without knowing what it has,” Draceus looks at the High-General and nods as the Lord and High-Generals start walking towards the conference table. Draceus sits down on the furthest seat at the end of the table in a particularly more fancier chair as the other High-General sit on the other chairs, a robot that stood silently in the corner of room begins walking as it dispenses a folder for each person sitting; Draceus hesitates to take the folder before one of the High-Generals comments, 

“Do not worry my Lord, these are only copies. The original has been discarded.” Dracus nods as he cracks the folder open and takes out some paper documents and puts them neatly in a pile, the other High-Generals do the same. The first High-General, Augustus, reads out the first document and says,

“First, we must take blame for starting the war and hereby be internationally recognized for starting said war.” The High-Generals murmur among each other, Augustus continues speaking,

“We must surrender all POWs and forfeit any physical object that we have taken, such as weaponry or ammunitions, back to the U.H.C,” The High-Generals turn to Draceus, who is reading along with Augustus who continues,

“Internationally recognize the U.H.C and the Revoluti Parti’s legitimacy as both an official coalition and government voting party,” Augustus says as the High-Generals murmur to each other again, one of them speaks up and asks,

“Revoluti Parti? What is that?” Another High-General responds to their question and says,

“Must be what the terrorists are calling themselves, silly name. Acting all important,” Augustus clears his throat which catches everyone’s attention. He continues reading out the papers, 

“Pay reparations of …”

He stops talking suddenly, as everyone turns to Augustus in confusion; Augustus nervously continues talking and speaks,

“Eight-hundred and seventy billion Oblis, this price goes for the rest of the Global Order of Nations, so does the rest of the treaty.” 

The High-Generals and Draceus read through the rest of the documents, all of them finish reasing as a discussion sparks between the attendees, 

“This war has been going on for ten years now! We must-“

“This treaty is ATROCIOUS! The Provinces will not stand to-“

“How will the G.O.N react to this if we show this to them?! I’m sure they’ll-“

“SILENCE!”

Draceus shouts as everyone turns to him and stops the argument, he puts the documents away as he silently waits for a moment before speaking,

“No. I deny this treaty. Relay the information of the documents to the other members of the G.O.N, get their opinion on the matter,” the High-Generals nod as they unanimously stand up and salute to Draceus before they all leave, he is left in silence within the room.