UnwillingEldritchHorrorofFortune
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Epilogue: The Return of the Arbiter
🕑 Added 2024-04-10 16:14:31 +0000 UTCJordan felt a chill down her spine when she saw the Arbiter emerge from the transference. W seemed… different somehow, more confident, more dangerous. She wasn’t sure what it was, but that unease quickly left her body as if it never existed in the first place, but Jordan’s experience told her that something had changed. Had her actions truly annoyed the man?
Well, that had been a part of her instructions from the Overseer in the first place, to tease and unnerve the Arbiter so that his attention was always divided. Initially, Jordan had thought that it would be a waste of time and effort, after all, what use was it to purposefully antagonize a being like the famed Arbiter W? She certainly couldn’t see any of his past brilliance from her albeit short interactions with him thus far.
But as Jordan studied the Arbiter at that moment, her opinions were slowly shifting, but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why. W’s physical appearance was the same, he was still wearing that strange alchemical skin suit, and it was still annoying impossible to check on any of the other information about him regardless of what methods Jordan employed. Even the small microexpressions were unchanged in the man, so just what was it that made her so uneasy?
Jordan composed herself, “Welcome back, Lord Arbiter.”
Jordan wanted to add a jabbing quip but she just couldn’t bring herself to do so. Some instinct deep down told her to avoid confrontation at all costs, and to beg for forgiveness. She shook her head and ignored that; she had nothing to fear, the leader of the Central Collective had her back… but why did all of that seem so inconsequential when he saw the Arbiter?
“I’m happy to be back,” W answered with a carefree smile, “It felt like I’ve been napping for ages. But I’m awake now.”
Jordan frowned. What did he mean by that? Instinct told the woman that the Arbiter meant something else when he said that, but she didn’t know what. Something wasn’t right. She should follow instructions and report back to the Overseer immediately.
“Ah,” Arbiter W tisked, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Jordan.”
Jordan frowned harder. How had he managed to break her mental defenses and read her thoughts?
“It’s because your mental defenses are weak,” W answered without being asked, “ And as I said, I wouldn’t report back if I were you. Central Collective Agreement Article 11.51 A, made and signed by all major parties during the last Bargining Agreement, stipulates that each Training Site is to operate as its own autonomous entity unless there has been a major breach in safety, rules, or regulations. Arbicle B states that the actions of any employee operating in their official capacity without breaching the previously stated terms retain the right to privacy, and Central HQ cannot be be informed about those operations. Now, Administrator Jordan, am I breaking any rules currently?”
Jordan scrambled to find the right information about this agreement, and after reviewing things for the fifth time, realized that the Arbiter was correct.
The Arbiter nodded, “I thought so. So unless you would like to be reassigned due to a breach in contracts, then I would keep things to yourself. Of course, you’re free to monitor me to your heart’s content. And I’ll know if you do something not quite ethical in your conducts, Jordan. Trust me on that.”
“Right…” was all she managed to say, “Um, I will not breach any regulations, sir.”
“Good!” the Arbiter smiled, “Now I think that the remainder of the Aspirants will be okay for the time being without me directly interfering. I’ll be in my office if you need me. You are always free to check in with Origin to see if I had done anything wrong, of course.”
Without turning back, the Arbiter strode out of the door, leaving Jordan and the rest of her staff slightly dumbstruck. Everyone could see that the Arbiter had changed somehow, but no one seemed to be able to vocalize what that change was. It was uncanny.
Jordan quickly shoved aside one of her staff and connected to the Origin Matrix. She had to review exactly what had transpired during that brief time the Arbiter was in the Training Stage. Jordan had already told the Overseer about the slight infraction that W made when he helped out some of those Aspirants, but the leader of Central simply told her to ignore it. Was there something else that she had missed?
After checking with the Matrix to see that the Arbiter was indeed in his assigned office, Jordan submerged her conscience deeper into the system in a hope to figure out the cause of her unease.
She reached into deeper into Origin’s network that she had ever done before. In her desperate search for answers, she had managed to catch a fleeting glimps into the emotions of the most powerful machine in existence. For the briefest of instances, Jordan saw what Origin saw, she felt what it felt, she feared what it feared. She felt the approach of Dusk, and Jordan screamed.
Comments
Andrew Chen
So people will buy the next book...? At least this is a minor cliffhanger D:
Toby Lechtenbeger
Why does the end of a book have a cliff hanger
Aloysius
From dusk to dawn, ash cloaked the unknowning in an endless night
DarkLightZero8
Dusk shall arrive
Andrew Chen
Be turned to goon and bathe in the glory of the steaming bath
Memelord Steambath
Be turned to ash and bask in the glory of the growing dusk
LORD SHAXX
Tismon cliff hangers like those are illegal
True_Jolly_Roger
Get scared little morsel.
