Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

Kjol lead One and Chloe inside the city. There he arranged for a meeting with the two, his motivations were already clear to One who was already scheming on how he could manipulate Kjol and the events that would soon transpire to his favor. The meeting was held inside the Lord's house which was a grand castle located at the center of Bulbon itself.

It was surrounded by bricked roads and refined houses, all of which represented the wealth that the city acc.u.mulated and the apparent rich to poor ratio that was very divisive. When One and Chloe were walking through the streets, since they refused to get in the carriage that Kjol offered, One noticed the drastic difference between the outer districts and the inner district.

Bulbon was a wealthy city but almost all that wealth was owned by the Lord, nobility and the merchants while the rest of the population was impoverished. The two were subject to a wide audience when they were walking through the city. The Queen's Guard was ordered to escort them as they walked past and were the main reason for the crowds that formed wherever they went.

One then concluded that the Queen's Guard was highly respected in the city, or maybe in the entire kingdom and he should find a way on how to deal with them if the need ever came for it.

The meeting was about to begin. One and Chloe were escorted and directed to the dining room of the Lord's House. The dining room was luxurious in its appearance and design, purple and violet linen strewed about over the ceiling, golden stuff placed around and about. Even the chandelier was made of gold that glittered along with the rest of the room.

"A complete and utter waste of money," One told Chloe who had so far been dazzled by the sparkles.

"Mister, why is this a waste of money?" Chloe asked.

Oh, that's right. Judging by Chloe's lack of any meaningful education and her peasant status, she does not know the importance of allocating money towards the benefit of the people rather than self-indulgence, One thought. Seeing that the two were actually alone in the dining room, One decided to explain his views.

"You see, Chloe, I am neither a monarch nor a warlord. But, I am a leader of my own. You may not understand, but although this wealth in and on itself is outstanding, in the long-term it fails to bear any fruit," One said.

"How is that, mister?" Chloe asked.

"To begin with, you need to know of investment," One said.

"Investment?" The curious Chloe's eyes glowed and widened.

"Investing is to commit money to a certain project or any endeavor to generate wealth in the future, and it is darn more profitable than what these people are doing," One went on.

One was basing his knowledge with what Hailey thought him. The art of investing for a long-term benefit that was sure to bear more fruit lit up his mind. It was pure genius in his sense. He applied the teachings to his criticism of Bulbon.

"But, mister, how would that help? Isn't it just throwing away money?" Chloe asked.

"Hm, well in a sense, it is like throwing away your money since investing can also be compared to gambling. You are, in a nutshell, gambling that your investment would eventually pay off in the future but most of the time, there is no guarantee until you see that the endeavor you invested in is showing much promise,"

One did not know If Chloe understood him. But, it did not matter, since just a few seconds after their conversation started, he detected that someone was outside, listening to their conversation.

It must be one of the Queen's Guard, or a maid, or that Kjol, though I am not sure, maybe this will play out to my advantage? One thought.

"Do you understand, Chloe?" One asked.

"No.." Chloe replied with a soft voice.

She's clearly overwhelmed, and it was more than likely that their eavesdropper was also too. One took the opportunity and continued.

"Take, for example, this city. From my observations thus far, it is extremely wealthy and is a hub for trade but it overshadows the fact the one's making money here is leeching off from the poor. Of course, it's business but their business models seem to be going against competitiveness and promote rampant consumerism that is quite unhealthy for the rest of the people here but lucrative to those who control what is sold and what are on the stalls."

Chloe, who at this point did not understand anything at all, just nodded.

Tsk, she does not understand but I hope I make my point clear to the eavesdropper, One continued.

"This is beneficial and lucrative in the short-term but will inevitably cause problems in the long-run. Take for example, what if a rebellion was to tear this kingdom apart and the leaders of that rebellion promised the poor in this city, which I assume to be 80 to 90 percent of the population, to rise up and revolt against their greedy merchants and their corrupt government? What more once they promise to do better? The desperate masses will gather under their banner, and go against them."

One continued.

"These people also fail to take into account that these people can also just emigrate to somewhere else, force them to stay, they may just become slaves rather than consumers of what they sell. But, If they were to actually invest in their upbringing, like for example, pouring money to the development of the outer districts, better facilities, more jobs, higher pay and just the right percentage of taxes, these impoverished peasants would rise to those of the middle class. That means, more money from taxes since there are more people with actual money to pay for their taxes. It all comes towards development, sadly, this is not the case,"

One then stopped his lecture, though he said much and though he knows he had a point, what he said is purely based on his current knowledge provided by Hailey and not because of his own understanding of the matter. He had plans to actually incorporate this strategy of investing to the people once the Machine Empire eventually settled as a state, it was still a long way to go.

His true intentions, however, seemed to have paid off. The moment he finished, the figure outside of the dining room fell to the floor, only for it to stand up and walk away. It seemed like the person has had enough of One's explanation. Will this bear good or rotten fruit, One would soon find out.

Then, he heard snoring to his left.

Chloe had fallen asleep.

Little bastard, One thought.

One did not need sleep, he was also distrustful of the people in the castle. He must not let his guard down. Just to be sure, he scanned Chloe for any poisoning or abnormal magical concentrations within her body. She was fine.

One then concluded that Chloe found his topic boring.

He took the time to take another good look at the little girl. She was still covered in scars and bruises but she was on her way to recovering. One then noticed that her hair was losing its color, changing to that of snow. Her skin and other parts of her body were fine, she was not aging at a rapid pace, rather, her hair was just changing on its own.

Kjol offered them a change of clothes, One declined and revealed his raven black body armor, the cracks that glowed blue and his eyes that had irises that seemed to move. In actuality, what he showed them was his n.a.k.e.d body. Now, One was actually sitting n.a.k.e.d but since he was not a biological human in his entirety, they saw nothing disgraceful.

One was still mostly a machine, an android with a human heart. He knew no shame unless he needed to act that he had, he did not fear other humans but fears those he know would pose a direct threat to him or his mission. His outlook on this magical world was as low as ever. Having easily quashed the Freetan Theocracy with its remaining territories up for grabs and his army marching in full force, he seemed unstoppable.

But magic was still a nuisance, nuisance that he needed to take care of and Chloe was the tool he was going to use to achieve that. One overhead Kjol, even read his lips to confirm what his ears received. Chloe had an immense magical talent and the sudden glow of her eyes that outshined the sun that was above them was already solid evidence.

He needed to learn more about magic in this journey of his, and it was without a doubt that he would be stuck with this little girl for many weeks, months or even years to come. Well, as long as she survives and One prevents any harm from taking her away.

"Meh, I'm sure everything will work in my favor." The words escaped his mouth just as the door at the opposite end of the table slammed open and One stood up in an instant.

"Huzzah! Visitors!"

AN IDIOT!, One thought as he saw the man that slammed the door open.

"It is I! the lord of this wealthy and beautiful city of Bulbon! It is a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet the angels of the GODS AND GODDESSES! O BLESS YE THE HEAVENS"

"What in the actual-" One saw a childish and imm.a.t.u.r.e aura leak from him as if the atmosphere that surrounded him that was once peaceful and shrouded by mystery and the threat of assassination was overtaken by this man's apparent lack of a decent IQ.

And, what was up with him calling them angels sent by heaven?

"Pardon me, the lord was very excited to meet you and the little girl." Kjol stepped inside and walked by the side of the lord. The two then sat down on the opposite end of the long table with One and the lord directly facing each other while Kjol and Chloe were seated by their respective sides.

After they seated, an entourage of maids and some women of the Queen's Guard entered. The maids all brought dishes, glasses, and tableware. The plates were definitely made of silver and laced with gold, One was disgusted at the lack of prudence displayed. It was clear as day that the Lord was boasting the wealth that he and his friends have acc.u.mulated.

The maids were horrifying as they were efficient in their skills of setting up the table and presenting the plates, glasses and the food before marching out in unison, proper posture and formation.

"A well-trained and disciplined staff, I applaud you," One began the conversation with praise.

"Huzzah! I am very glad you liked it. The maids were specifically trained by a captain of the knighthood and oh boy did he do well! -" For a full ten minutes straight, One and Chloe were forced to sit through the Lord's boasting.

And they were not even sure if he was actually the Lord of this city!

Kjol cleared his throat.

"I beg your pardon, guests, allow me to formally introduce the man that has been gleefully speaking to you," Kjol said as he stood up.

He is more of an annoyance that a gleeful person, One was silent in his distaste.

"I present to you, Lord Bugrious The X Of Bulbon" Kjol continued.

"That's me!" Bugrious stood and placed his right leg on top of the table. His hands were full of rings that shined and had different colors, his teeth were also golden and not a single natural one could be found.

It was going to be the start of a long and tiresome meeting between the humans who thought that were speaking to angels, and the angels who were actually their enemies that will soon engulf their kingdom.