Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

"It is with extreme regret that I must inform you that the delegation will be earlier than expected"

"How the hell is that regretful?" Fedrix got up from his bed as his wife read the letter out loud for him

"Honey, the letter was written by none other than Lord Gilfred. He is the one regretting I think" his wife had already prepared for him breakfast, the smell of which had reached his room.

"Eggs?" Fedrix asked as he stood and met his wife.

"Your favorite, dear" his wife answered. Fedrix kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the room. Her wife followed suit and later they were now seated on the dining table.

Fedrix, being the new ruler of his father's estate, was conservative in his spending. The lavish mansion that his father bought him was stripped down to that of a meager manor but he couldn't be more happier to live in such a small yet humble place.

Their manor was made of fine brick, complete with two floors despite him not wanting a second floor. They had a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, two bedrooms and Fedrix's office.

Fedrix's wife was pregnant with their first child and the child was due to be birthed in two months time. Fedrix and his wife were both excited and had spent months of preparation, physically and mentally.

As Fedrix ate his breakfast, her wife started a conversation.

"I think.. we should prepare the names of the baby" she said.

Fedrix chuckled.

"Dear, we had tried countless times to reach an agreement for the name but both of us are quite stubborn, ain't we?" Fedrix said.

His wife giggled, placing the tip of her fingers on her lips. She was modest woman trained from birth to serve even the roughest of husbands. But she was lucky to have been betrothed and married to someone such as Fedrix.

Fedrix was a kind, loving and caring husband who looked after her despite his busy work schedule from time to time. He would cook her meals if she felt sick, he would massage her back when she felt it ache. Fedrix was always there to lend his hand.

Fedrix as her husband motivated her to be the best wife Fedrix could have. She was often worried that if she failed to bear him a child, he might get a concubine. Despite being kind, committed and loving, she was a jealous woman.

Jealous of the fact that Fedrix might have a son or a daughter with his blood and that of another woman. She did not want any of that to happen, she was trained from since she was young that to provide a child for her husband was the most beautiful and honourable thing she could do for him. Not to give him a child would be a disgrace and will be considered a failure.

"I love you" Fedrix said when he finished his breakfast.

His wife blushed, her cheeks became red with embarrassment and she brought out her fan and fluttered.

"I love you too, my husband" she replied.

She watched as her husband got up from the table and took her by the hand.

"Dear, please be careful. You don't want me to miscarry?" She warned. Her husband smiled as she walked her outside.

"Don't worry dear, I just wanted to have a dance with you. I'm leaving for a month or two and maybe when I return, our child would have been born!"

Fedrix led his wife to their front yard. It was a wide area with flowers and a fountain in the middle. The maids and their butler watched as the two waltzed slowly under the morning sun that rose from the east.

"They're beautiful together, are they not?" One of the maids remarked. "Indeed they are" another maid replied.

"Girls, out of every noble family that we had served under. These two are of the most highest of honor and respect. They show their noble traits even to us lowly servants of theirs, tell me, where can you encounter such a noble couple in the kingdom?" The butler said.

"There are none in this kingdom, other than they" the maids replied.

And as Fedrix and his wife twirled and smiled. The carriage that was brought to bring Fedrix back to the king arrived at their front gate.

The driver of the carriage gave the letter provided to him by the king to the guards and the guards announced its contents.

"Our dearest majesty, King Philipp Of Dioz, has requested the immediate presence of Sir Fedrix Of Falfax. They are to be brought to his presence without delay" the guard shouted.

The couple stopped dancing.

"Give us a minute!" Fedrix shouted back.

"Only a minute!" The guard replied after which he gave the letter back to the driver.

"Dear, I'll be going now, pray that I come back before our child is born. I want to be fully prepared!" He told his wife.

"Love, you are a wonderful husband to me and you will be a wonderful father for our child. Be brave, nobody is born ready for such an event like this? All you have to do, is come home" his wife told him. Fedrix could not help but shed a single tear. His wife noticed the tear and rubbed it off.

"Don't cry, you know I hate seeing you cry" his face said.

"I will come back, I promise" Fedrix assured.

"I don't believe in promises, dear. But I believe in you"

Fedrix bid his wife farewell and he was off to the carriage. The butler and the maids went to their mistress who was standing alone near the fountain, watching his husband greet the guards and take the letter from the coachman.

"Miss, it is almost the full morning, it's time for us to return inside" the butler said.

"Albert, do you think my husband will return?" She asked her butler.

"Miss, knowing him since he was a child. So stubborn was he, I believe not even death would get him"

The wife smiled. And as the carriage drove off towards the castle, she could not help but giggle.

"I'll be waiting, we will be waiting for you, my love"

-

Fedrix was sat on the couch of the carriage. He was well on his way to the capital. The carriage reflected the king's wealth as such it was designed with lots of rare gemstones, the cushions were made of exotic fabric and the curtains were purple and violet respectively. The lavish spending on this single carriage was distasteful in his eyes. But, it wasn't his, it was the king's, who knows how much wealth he had personally to spend it all on such luxuries.

Despite his distaste for extravagance, he liked how the coach was comfortable for his b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s. It felt as if he was home. The carriage also had a new invention, it was called hydraulics. These hydraulics ensured that the carriage would be less bumpy on bumpy roads.

"Dioz engineering, I can understand why the kingdom invests so much in research" he told himself.

He was fondling the letter when he noticed that there was a small magic circle to the bottom most edge of the front. It was so small in fact that it was almost invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. If it was not his sharp eyesight, he would have easily missed it.

A magic circle meant that the letter held more contents than what was first perceived. Curious, he turned the letter around and proceeded to rub the magic circle. It started to glow but that was it.

"Maybe this needs a bit more?" He thought.

After rubbing it faster, the magic circle was still not showing anything except a faint white glow.

"Ah maybe.."

Fedrix pressed the circle and much to his delight, the circle moved and embedded itself into the letter. The circle began to glow brighter and the entire envelope transformed into another letter.

The new letter in question was bigger and bulkier than the previous. Fedrix opened it and out came a piece of paper with words from the king.

Fedrix read through it, it was a long letter that had an aura of dread and importance.

All of a sudden, Fedrix clutched the paper with both his hands, crumpling the sides.

Written in the middle of the letter was this sentence.

*I have received word that the metal men are besieging the capital of the Freetan Theocracy. It is their last major city, once it falls and the ruling council is defeated, the Freetan Theocracy will have capitulated...*

*...a border patrol has received word that a carriage of metal men arrived. They claim to be a delegation and wish to speak with us, and so, there has been a change of plans. You and Lord Gilfred will spearhead the talks that will happen at a manor near the northern border...*

Fedrix started to sweat.

"This can't be, why have they sent a delegation as well? Crap! This is going against my plan"

Fedrix's frustrations were soothed once he peeked through the curtains of the carriage.

Beholden before him was the castle, they were near the front gate.

He needed to act cool and well-mannered in front of the king. He folded the letter and placed it inside his pocket.

The front gates to the castle opened and the carriage was granted passage. The carriage made it's way through the spacious outer castle area before stopping at the entrance of the castle itself.

"We have arrived" said the coachman.

The coachman got down and opened the door for Fedrix. The sun was shining bright that morning when they arrived, Fedrix positioned his right palm over his face to shield himself from the bright light as he stepped out.

Meeting him was one of the castle guards. A female warrior named Gina Flora.

"Greetings, Lord Fedrix" Gina said.

"Greetings, Gina. So, where does the king wish to meet me?" Fedrix saluted her.

"The king wishes to meet both you and Lord Gilfred together in the throne room. Since Lord Gilfred seems to be running light, we will first stay at the grand lobby"

Fedrix smiled at the thought of Lord Gilfred's tardiness.

"Well, don't be too harsh on the old man. Old age is a pain to deal with it" he joked.

Gina giggled.

"I'll keep that in mind, Lord Fedrix"

After the friendly banter, Gina along with her entourage lead Fedrix to the lobby inside the castle. Inside, Fedrix sat on one of the couches as he waited.

"Please ask the maids if the Lord wishes for food or refreshments" Gina said before leaving.

"I will" Fedrix replied.

Presented to him was a small cup of tea. Fedrix sipped his tea whenever he felt thirsty.

"I forgot to drink water before I left" he said after he sipped his tea. It was a pretty boring experience with almost nobody inside the lobby but a few guards and two maids who were on standby if the Lord was going to request anything.

Fedrix decided to read the letter again, afterwhich he tried to see if there was another magic circle inside the bigger letter. Much to the disappointment of his expectations, there was no other magic circle.

"So this is all of it, I guess. The king will just explain what else we need to know.. I wonder if the other nobles know of this?..

...speaking of other nobles"

Fedrix called on one of the maids.

The maid approached the lord and bowed.

"Wheee are the other nobles as of this time?" Fedrix asked.

The maid thought for a second.

"Some of the nobles are currently in their estates while the others are in the capital as we speak. I also received word that two or three nobles have marched their men to the northern border for reasons unknown to me"

"Marched their troops to the northern border? Which border?"

"Our border with the Freetan Theocracy, my Lord"

Crap! What are they doing!? Are they trying to provoke a war?! For all I know, the delegation from the metal men must be well on their way there! If they interpret such a military presence as preparation for war against them, we will be doomed! Fedrix thought.

"..thank you, please give me another cup of tea" he said after he chugged down the cup of tea he had.

The maid bowed and took the cup from his hands and went out for a refill.

After the maid left the room, Fedrix stood and walked towards the window. He looked and saw below him the capital. They were on the fifth floor and seeing the city from this high up was also considered a luxury. He saw the three walls, the castle wall, the inner wall and the outer wall.

The outer wall was the least fortified yet was the most garrisoned among all the walls. With such a huge city of 380,000 people. A garrison of 40,000 soldiers protected the city, manned the walls and patrolled the streets from day to night.

"We are indeed a powerful and wealthy country, it is no surprise that not even the biggest of bribes from Yuhin and Herlion have even sparked the slightest of interest with the nobles or merchant class. We already have vast amounts of wealth and this wealth fills us with pride, pride that protects us from the influence of foreigners but also blind us with our own strength and power"

He heard the door open behind him. He turned his back and it was just the maid, bringing with her a newly replenished cup of tea.

"Here is your tea, my Lord" the maid said as she placed the tea on the table.

"Thank you" Fedrix said. The maid bowed and returned to where she was standing with the other maid.

Fedrix walked from the window and sat on the couch again. Pulling the cup to his lips and sipping the warm drink.

"It tastes.. slightly different from before"

But it was definitely not poisoned, he knew because he was poisoned many times when he was young when there was a brief power struggle between him and his cousin.

Speaking of his cousin, after the power struggle, he was found guilty of treachery against a fellow noble of the state and was expelled from the kingdom. The other nobles at the time wanted him executed as he was sure to be vengeful if left alive.

His father, however, overruled them by persuading the king to expel him instead. The king accepted his father's preposition and his cousin was expelled from the kingdom. He was barred entry from any city or village and if reported to have done so will be met with punishment.

The punishment was death.

Angry, humiliated and his sense of honor shattered, he went away with his family.

Looking back, Fedrix felt pity for his cousin though he almost died numerous times because of him. Thanks to him, however, he seemed to have developed an immunity against certain poisons that were used repeatedly on him.

"A small price to pay.."