A Chronometric Defect

He's looking in some sort of folder.

"I've had experiments fail. You know? Quite badly, in fact."

Oh. It's THAT folder.

I know you've screwed up plenty of times. Yet the first time I make a mistake? You're on my case all the same.

"You think I'm saying that because I'm proud? Huh, kid? Like I failed my way to prominence?"

You did.

"Well, maybe you're right."

Huuuuuh?

He looks straight at me.

"The reason I'm here ain't because I failed. It's because when I failed, and I did, I took responsibility for my mistakes. I learned."

I'm not sure you did.

You just said you were proud of your failures.

"Do you know why I still fail, despite having progressed up the ranks?"

Obviously. You're a manager. It's their job to fail upward by taking others' accomplishments.

"It's because I don't try to be a god. I try to be right, but I never act like I'm a god."

I have no idea where this is going.

"Are you a god, kiddo?"

Ah, there it is.

"No, sir."

"Then, I gotta ask. Why the FUCK did you put two volatile experiments in the same city and let them fight it out?"

"Sir, it shouldn't have mattered. We had a mind clamp on both experiments, as per protocol. Both were easily controlled due to poor mental stats. A little too poor, actually. The second was barely able to make coherent decisions; implanting so much of the Dragon God's brain tissues plus the additional serum added at the last minute likely made it incompetent. You saw the path it took around Achiton."

He flips his hand in an annoying way.

"Yeah, I did. After pointlessly meandering around the City Trading Post, it beelines right back to the first experiment. What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, sir. I'm still trying to figure it out. None of my team has ever seen anything like it."

He leans in.

"Why did the mind clamp malfunction? Why did you not call the experiments off right then and there? Why did you not alert someone? Explain yourself."

Well. I hoped there was still a chance for success. I saw no reason to stop. I thought the issues wouldn't get worse. I was distracted. I didn't want to log my first failure.

All true— but not valid excuses.

"Many reasons, sir. None of them stand on their own, but put together I felt it would work out."

He sits back again.

"You felt it would work out. Did you base that on data? Or more of those feelings of yours?"

Damn.

Feelings.

...

"Intuition, sir."

He stares, stunned.

He throws his hands up.

The folder falls onto the table.

*thak*

"For the love of... Son, we are NOT gods."

Ah, fuck. And how. For the first time, I'm worried my manager might actually possess a brain.

"Alright, I failed. How do we fix this?"

He squints his eyes at me.

"Oh, you think you can fix this? You think ANYONE in this room, can fix this?!"

He slams his fist onto the table.

*klam*

He continues, quieter but angrier.

"It's been three days since your little 'mishap,' and the damn monster has conquered three cities."

I glance across the many high-ranking officials seated at this table. He dares insult them, at his rank?

Not to mention, slamming his fist?

"That's bad, but not catastrophic, sir."

One of the military-dressed officials shows a grimace, then quietly writes something on his notepad.

{*sktch-sktch*}

What? What did I say wrong?

My manager leans quite far back in his chair.

"Three destroyed cities would be bad."

He shakes his head, then adds:

"Also a far better outcome."

Eh? What?

"May I ask why, sir?"

He nods to the military official. The official picks up his pad and flips back a page.

*shup*

He coughs.

*koff*

Finally, he begins speaking with the rote precision of a top commander.

"Key asset losses. The rebellion forces of Achiton: defected a few hours ago. Shridenia's sole heir and princess: defected, likely mind-controlled. The world's preeminent Inscriptionist: confirmed eaten; the current leader of Achiton stated this as his primary reason for defecting."

He rubs his hand on his forehead.

"And the worst one. Ughhh."

He's groaning at this loss? Why?

"The Empire's most popular political figure. Also the world's top mage. Worse, ALSO the world's top inscriptionist, since the first one was eaten. She was slated for execution, but our reports suggest she asked to be eaten. We have these images of it... Eating."

He tosses an inscription slab onto the table.

*thok-tak*

He slides it over.

*shhhhhk*

I pick it up and inject my Mana.

These images... What am I looking at?

There's one of the experiment down on the ground, while standing near a corpse. Another of what looks like Ainthia being held inside a clear spell. Then... Holy shit. The whole damn watchtower?

This is the experiment EATING?!

...

...

Uh.

Dragons don't eat like this. Experiment one didn't eat like this. Nothing eats like this.

Here I thought I was partly successful. Now I'm doubting whether I've recreated the Dragon God or if I somehow made something else entirely.

My whole body shivers.

Eugh.

I look up.

"Sir, this is... Surely, unusual. However, I don't see why that's worse than three razed cities."

The military man glances across the table. Another man dressed fully in white, wearing a tall white hat, nods. I don't recognize him. He turns to face me in his chair, then levels his fancy hat a bit.

"I'm the lead handler for the Achiton rebellion. I've lived through the monster's conquest and seen it firsthand."

"I'm glad you made it out, sir."

His gaze sharpens.

"I'm not."

He points to the situation report he's holding in his hand. He waves the clipboard obnoxiously.

"Do you know why my Achiton defected last out of these? Why MY city defected?"

"I don't, sir."

"The monster was too incompetent to properly conquer the city the first time. By this morning, however, the revolt leader submitted after hearing its voice for a few minutes. It talked an entire city into capitulation while not even present."

Oh. Ohhhhh no.

Now I understand.

"It's learning?"

He nods his head.

"You finally get it. If you didn't I'd be concerned about whether you were actually the Emperor's son."

He drops the clipboard.

*psht*

"Then, the reason you're so upset about those personnel losses, is because..."

"Yenim; mind clamped. Siblings assassinated. Except, rather than finishing the job, she ran off. Her mind clamp is strangely dysfunctional, so we need to kill her. Aitos; manipulated. Key source of funding, matchless inscriptionist. We needed him alive at all costs. Ainthia; mind broken. Intel heavyweight, genius mage and inscriptionist, top brass of the Empire's special ops AND punishment divisions."

He puts his head on both hands.

His tall white hat falls off his head, onto the table.

*tak*

"We suspect they've all been eaten. We're not sure about Yenim, but Aitos was definitely dead earlier than we knew."

My manager turns back to me and takes over from the white-suited man.

"Are you starting to understand the magnitude of your fuck-up, son?"

I am, but.

"That's extremely bad. However, I still don't fully see the issue. If those cities were razed, they'd be losses regardless, right?"

The white-suited man speaks up, face still in his hands.

"How do you think it's LEARNING?!"

Uhmm. What?

"I don't follow, sir."

"Right before my asset defected, he said the monster admitted something to him during their communication."

He raises his pale head to look at me; his expression visibly distraught.

He then speaks in a weak, almost breaking voice.

"He said it can read minds."

That doesn't...

"How is...? Even experiment nine can't do that, for all its immense mental prowess."

"We don't know. We suspect its mind-reading has something to do with experiment one's assimilation talent. Except, it's somehow BETTER than the talent experiment one had."

He drops his head onto the table, hitting his hat. His hat flips off to the side.

*thok*

*thip*

He continues, face still on the table.

"It can copy the body and personality. There's no way to confirm anyone who's been eaten until it shows its hand. Hell, one of us could be its puppet right now. I could be its puppet and not even know that I'm already dead. We could kill this thing and it just pops up again in another body, now fully educated and ready to prevent whatever we did to kill it the first time. The situation has become hopeless."

He raises his head off the table, then puts his hat back on. It slants, but he doesn't fix it.

He continues.

"My asset said it was 'already a god' and that I 'should just worship it, if I value my life.'"

I feel multiple chills run down my spine. From nothing to being called a 'god' in three days?

Then...

"Is that why you were asking me if I thought I was a god?"

Several people at the table move and groan.

*shuffle*

*krrt*

"Ergh."

*klat*

"Haaaa."

"Oh."

*kflt*

My manager speaks up.

"Damnit. Did your brain escape? I'm exercising my veto right as your handler under the Emperor's direct authority. You are no longer in charge of this operation."

Whait. WHAT? He was father's di—

He speaks dismissively.

"You may go."

Fuck. FUCK!!! Being stripped of this job is the same as being demoted to commoner! My father will remove me as claimant! He won't tolerate such failings! He never does!

"Yes, sir."

I turn around and walk swiftly from the room.

I need to fix this. I need to fix it before they toss me onto the street. If he was father's direct report then this is going straight to the top. I may only have seconds before the order comes down. I need to do something FAST.

I rack my brain but no solutions are forthcoming. I always have solutions. Why do I not have solutions?!

I look up, my face filled with panic.

I fixate on a placard.

'Lab 104'

"YES!"

I break into a sprint, round the corner, and immediately see a man with a green inscription on his palm. Likely talking with my manager... Handler.

The inscription vanishes. He looks up and sees me running at him, but I'm faster. My hand hits his face and drives his head deep into the nearby stone wall.

*krrrfsh*

I feel a warm trickle of blood.

Ah, how many hours has it been since I've felt this wonderful feeling? No— hurry!

I run over to the nearby shelf and tear the glass doors from their hinges.

*KRRSHROF*

*kon-tinkkssh*

This week's experiment four and experiment nine. I yank these two cages out from the shelving unit—

*chodh*

*shodh*

— then swiftly toss them onto a nearby lab bench.

*chud-shht*

*chrud-sht*

I run over and break both cages.

*KSSHT*

*KSSHT*

I grab a pair of tongs and push them together.

*tink*

They eat each other, then begin to morph and grow.

*ckhk*

*krak*

*krrrrak*

*THOD*

I take several steps back. It's changing quite rapidly.

*KREAAK*

...

*KRAAAAK*

...

#CHREEEAK#

...

#KRRRRRAAK#

...

##THOOOOOD##

...

##HRCKREEEEK##

I look up as my beautiful creation rams the lab's shield. The one protecting the lab, high above its roof.

###HRAAAKEEEEE###

*CHOD-THUND-thrk-tikk*

####THOOOOOOM####

Ha. And it's out.

##THROOM##

The solution was always so obvious.

Why couldn't they see it?

##KOOM##

To beat a monster, simply create a stronger monster.

##CHEEEREEEK##