Unchosen Champion

Coop was lounging in Ghost Reef’s citadel, seated on a comfortably contoured bench while waiting for Balor to arrive at their scheduled meeting. Coop savored the relaxing moments while he could, doing his best to ignore the nagging stress at the back of his mind. The civilization shard hovered in the center of the enclosure, emitting a subtle glow that mixed with the filtered sunlight emanating through the edges of the ceiling and the skylight above. Coop had a newfound respect for the sturdy bunker-like structure after his trip abroad.

Previously, he had admired the intricate details that made the final bastion of their settlement an inviting and comfortable place for casual recreation without sacrificing its rugged sturdiness. The decorative brutalist style was reassuring without being oppressive. Even as he relaxed, another group of phantoms held a casual conversation in one of the outer enclaves, letting their sporadic laughter spread into the central chamber, and proving that the place was a pleasant retreat during one of their breaks. They picnicked in one of the gazebo-like exterior bunkers surrounded by trellises that were covered in leafy plants that flourished in the partial sunlight. Elevated angled windows let a soothing amount of golden radiance into their area while lower pillbox slits provided sightlines onto the slanted entranceways.

The disguised protection of the citadel was welcome, but the fact that it was a charming location within their fort was what Coop had always valued the most.

Now that Coop had witnessed the final fate of a civilization shard, he better appreciated the extra security provided by the construction. Losing the shard was less of a hypothetical worst-case scenario and more of a real possibility that would be better avoided. When the Lich destroyed the Yucatan settlement’s shard, it had been like tearing the heart out of the territory. It was a tangible loss that materially impacted everyone interacting with mana.

Coop had previously believed that Ghost Reef could live on without the civilization shard and the settlement territory that it provided. Though his feelings hadn’t completely changed, he understood that the loss would result in more than a simple escalation in monster development. There were all sorts of knockdown effects caused by losing the territory that wouldn’t be evident unless experienced.

He and Jones discussed the details of what had transpired in Central America while they waited, diagnosing the events that had ultimately concluded with power being centralized in the Cult. The archaeologist was keen to delve into the topic.

Jones continued his proposition, like an academic presenting a thesis. “Each settlement is operating in a vacuum, removed from the rest of the world, since pre-mana connections were destroyed. Without broader human institutions, settlements have effectively devolved into isolated primitive societies.”

Coop scratched his head, doing his best to keep up. “But why devolve?”

Jones shook his finger like it was a good question from his favorite student. “The adults have left the room.” He answered with a disappointed shake of the head. “We are reinventing governance and civility as if the existence of a broader universe has reset human morality. The fact that power dynamics had been thrown out the window with mana effectively resetting hierarchies means that a wide range of new arrangements are possible, and unfortunately, many have taken it as an opportunity to embrace their more ignoble characteristics.”

Coop thought his friend’s theory was all very Lord of the Flies with humanity facing a loss of innocence on a galactic level, but given the zeal that many enemies had fought him with, it didn’t feel completely far-fetched. The idea did little to alleviate his concerns for the rest of the planet.

“We only have a few examples to observe, but the more organized societies appear to have had a foundation in previously established structures. New York’s community organization and the West Coast’s militant influence are good examples, but even the structure laid out for our reformed Empress City carries principles that Marcus carried over from his experience in government. You could even argue that the Cult of Chakyum was based on organized religions, though the social contracts were made a bit more literal with addition of mana.” Jones continued.

It definitely got Coop thinking. Would humanity be changed by the new system? The additional influence from outside factions, manipulating the chaos for their own benefit, only resulted in more wild extremes in demonstrated behavior. Maybe people like the Lich or the Champion of Empress City were already messed up before the assimilation, but they might not have acted on their desires without aliens nudging them over the edge. As far as the galactic community was concerned, the assimilation was a land grab. The indigenous population was an afterthought at best.

Coop worried about humanity as a whole, but his focus would always stay on Ghost Reef. The tiny island development would force its way into the future, regardless of what rose up in the ruins of human society. If another group of humans threatened his settlement, they would have to face the consequences. Coop would keep things simple. He was a simple guy with simple goals. It didn’t make sense for him to overextend himself trying to save the world when it would put everything else they had built at risk. Whatever that meant for preserving human society would only be an unintended side effect for someone as straightforward as he was.

Even if the Primal Constructs conquered the planet in place of the other human groups, Coop would do everything in his power to make sure that Ghost Reef stood like a permanent bulwark against the mechanical invaders instead. They wouldn’t have the vastness of space to protect them from the planetary sponsor if the invaders finished the assimilation with control of the rest of the planet, so Coop imagined a continued push for territory. Of course, that was in the case of a hypothetical worst case scenario for the rest of humanity’s experience and only after they survived the Eradication Protocol. There were so many checkpoints they needed to clear first, it almost wasn’t worth addressing, but by keeping their goals uncomplicated it meant they would be preparing for any possibility.

He and Jones both anticipated that the other future challenges would necessitate broader cooperation, but that depended on the stance of the rest of the world. Marcus, Charlie, and Camila were apparently hopeful with regard to Neon Park and its allies, but time would tell how others who had been relatively successful could play along with Ghost Reef.

Coop thought cooperation between perceived equals might become even more complicated than the conquests of Empress City and Neptune’s Bridge. He hoped the more diplomatically minded advisors of Ghost Reef were up for the task, because he was already sure he wasn’t. If Jones was right about how settlements were reinventing the wheel, he thought differences would be inevitable. He doubted they would run into many more situations where prominent members of organized alliances happened to have blood relations with his own companions to streamline the settlement relationships.

In any case, the Underlayer Event would be an opportunity for Coop to network a little bit more, whether by meeting people who made it into the underground or by mapping new, more efficient routes to other settlements for future contact. Hopefully, he could provide a positive impression of Ghost Reef and plant seeds for further cooperation, but they all knew he wasn’t exactly a classic ambassador. Instead, his role would be simpler. All he needed to do was demonstrate Ghost Reef’s strength to give them credibility in the long run. Coop felt like that was something he could definitely do.

The discussion with Jones was making Coop antsy to get moving. Forget about all the diplomacy and sociological differences, he just wanted to grind. If he couldn’t chill on the beach or spend more time with his friends he wanted to be leveling. The world was inescapably a complicated place, but he could easily boil down the solution to most of his problems by continuing his progression. Strength would clearly be the light that attracted others to their lighthouse, and it would be crucial to their continued existence in a broader sense.

When Balor hadn’t arrived as their conversation drifted through topics, Coop openly wondered what the hold up was, but Jones had been keeping mum about Balor and the other contracted residents, evidently already being aware of their plan. He was joining Coop for the meeting, keeping him company, but he wouldn’t answer any questions. He continued distracting the Champion by making comments about the various projects around the settlement that had been completed in the last few weeks in an effort to keep him occupied until the dwarf-like alien arrived.

Development was going well. Compared to their earliest progress, it was relatively hard to notice equal amounts of growth, but they hadn’t slowed down just because the Champion, the Viceroy, and most of the settlement’s advisors were off in foreign lands. The newest additions simply filled in the sections allotted for buildings between earlier construction while respecting the green spaces of the fort. The early organization was paying off, letting the human architects continue with previously approved projects that didn’t conflict with the overall plan set in motion by Jones in the beginning.

Physically, Ghost Reef was like a miniaturized cut out of a major city with all of the amenities one would expect. The various sectors were carefully arranged into the condensed island in a wheel and spoke pattern. Districts were loosely formed from large slices in the courtyard, based on the private and public services offered, but every section was united by the presence of residential buildings and parks. Security and comfort continued to be their first priorities, with housing being a natural extension for their safety and convenience. Every resident had access to a private dwelling, and there were plenty of vacancies in anticipation of future immigration.

Coop had to stop and ask Jones if he was joking when the old caretaker suggested that in the long run, they could comfortably have a population in the tens of millions. The bulk of their current population was from the phantoms. They didn’t even have 6,000 total human residents yet, so millions seemed like a complete exaggeration to Coop.

Jones's assertion had come from what was unfolding underground. After breakfast, Charlie and Camila had gone into the pearlescent chambers, beneath the fort, to continue planning for the future development of Ghost Reef. Charlie had really been inspired by the way Neon Park had arranged their underground tunnels and she was taking the lead on Ghost Reef’s continued expansion while Marcus was away. Ever since the pair had returned, they had been exploring the extent of the underground, while starting new Slayer grinds in the deeper tunnels where only a handful of residents had ever visited.

The gist of Charlie’s idea was to maximize the public space in the illuminated chambers, with their glowing pillars, turning the areas that had once been occupied by Ruin Excavators into shared courtyards while the residences would be carved into the walls that Felrog had tunneled through. Each chamber would be transformed into an individual neighborhood, with open central areas that could be decorated and designed into inviting plazas. They would avoid a claustrophobic underground and allow each section to develop its own character by avoiding the most efficient and dense arrangements. Marcus had already started adding their storage in the excess space, and the new neighborhoods would provide further expansion for the services in the fort.

Ultimately, the plan was to expand along the chasm to the Underlayer, however many miles down it went. They would radiate into the chambers that surrounded the chasm’s perimeter, following the glowing pillars that had been revealed during the Siege Event. In that way, they would all remain connected to the surface. If people were going to live underground, they needed easy access to the rest of the settlement. The chasm would be that connection. Charlie and Camila were in the process of clearing as deep as they could go to get a better idea of the full extent of their real estate.

The layout wouldn’t be the most efficient use of space for the dwellings, but the one thing the underground didn’t lack was capacity, and in the case of residences, packing in as many as possible would be counterproductive to the intentions of their settlement. They had to keep in mind that people would actually be living there, so comfort was valuable. Comfort was an essential, if unofficial, Ghost Reef guideline.

Unlike the surface, they weren’t limited to the space within a confined area. They could essentially continue to expand downwards indefinitely, so long as their settlement territory kept up. Rather than expanding horizontally beneath the reefs, into the dark caverns, they would be creating an underground tower with the fort at the very top, like a crown poking through the surface, lit by the mana infused pillars that surrounded the chasm. It would be considerably different than what humans were used to, but it seemed like the better alternative to building sprawling neighborhoods in subterranean darkness to try and make traditional residential sections with only mana to keep them together. As a policy, they tried to avoid complete reliance on mana.

Balor’s Underlayer Gateway could essentially be used as an elevator to future layers of the settlement. Stairs would be an alternative, spiraling up and down the perimeter of the chasm, but Coop’s experience with the Grand Tomb of Chakyum had him seeking a more expedient method as well. If the gateway worked like Jones had described, they would have virtually instant transportation from Balor’s Tower to the surface of the Underlayer, however many miles below it ended up being. Each level could be added to the column, transforming Balor’s Tower into the anchor point of a series of gateways. Teleportation sounded much better than climbing thousands of stairs, but the stairs were a necessary backup plan in Coop’s opinion.

In any case, they were talking about embedding thousands of apartments into the perimeters of the individual glowing underground chambers that circled the chasm. Each level had four natural chambers connected to the central chasm, providing plenty of illuminated real estate. Coop had only ever gone to the first level when he fought Ruin Excavators during the Siege Event, but obviously, the chasm kept going.

Overall, the chambers were shaped like the leaves of a clover, and could be expanded outwards, further into the smooth tunnels formed by Felrog, to increase their size. They were already naturally reaching below the outer walls of the fort, where they had managed to build an entire city, but Coop would need to visit the chambers again before he could fully accept they had that kind of space underneath the fort.

Coop was successfully distracted. Jones had him considering the dimensions of their underground territory instead of waiting for Balor. The pearlescent chambers were significantly taller than a regular floor, so the dwellings dug into their exterior could comfortably be four rather spacious levels. The chasm also easily extended miles into the underground, so they were talking about hundreds of layers of four stacked apartments, maybe even thousands, depending on how many miles down they were talking about. He had to concede that Jones was actually being conservative when he suggested millions could become residents of Ghost Reef. Thankfully, they would only be adding one layer at a time, or Coop was afraid he wouldn’t recognize his own settlement before too long.

Shaking his head, Coop brought their focus back to the matter at hand. “Alright, where the heck is Balor?” He asked, interrupting their distracted imaginings, ready to get the show on the road. Cozy dwellings surrounding idealized public courtyards connected by teleportation gateways were all well and good, but he wanted to make sure they would be safe so that the vision could be made reality.

Jones glanced to the space above the shard, casually gauging the height of the sun through the skylight as he responded. “Should be here by now.” He admitted with little concern entering his voice.

“I feel like if it's bad news I’d prefer if he just ripped the bandage off.” Coop complained.

Jones sighed. “It’s not good or bad news, but it is complicated.” He explained. Coop made a face, unsatisfied by the unclear comment. “You’ll see.” Jones concluded, avoiding a fulfilling elucidation.

It only took a few more minutes before Jones spotted Balor and pointed him out to Coop. He was coming from the north rather than from his workshop to the south. Coop raised his eyebrows when he spotted the alien stonemason walking down the main road that he had built himself. The squat resident stomped past the anchoring columns of his newest project, Balor’s Tower, across Balor’s Bridge, and into Balor’s Citadel. Coop shook his head as the many contributions of their first recruit really sank in.

Balor had expected to show off for primitive beings when he was contracted for an assimilation, but humanity was far more advanced than he had anticipated. The basic fort walls had blown his mind, being built without the use of any mana at all, but that didn’t stop him from demonstrating a proud work ethic and proficiency that ended up defining the city that Ghost Reef was becoming. The settlement was a mixture of influence from Jones and the stonemason, incorporating the alien’s experience while maintaining respect for local historical preferences.

Now, the primary stonemason of their city marched through the settlement, surrounded by his creations, shining in magnificent plate armor with an enormous two-handed hammer slung over his shoulder. Phantoms stopped what they were doing to watch him go, speculating about what was happening. His expression wasn’t one that gave the impression he was just showing off. He was deadly serious.

The end of Balor’s weapon was nearly the size of the entire dwarf and Coop wouldn’t be surprised if it exceeded his heaviest morning stars. Only Balor’s head was unadorned by armor, but a grated helmet was braced in the crook of his other arm, catching light with every step. It was polished to a perfect shine.

Balor’s bushy beard contrasted with his dazzling breastplate and Coop found it interesting that the rock solid alien wore armor at all. He seemed like the type to have natural protection if he ever needed it. Being fully decked out in the plated armor made him seem like someone else. Rather than a stonemason, he looked like a warrior prepared to face a raid boss with no expense spared on his equipment.

A knot formed in Coop’s stomach, tightening as he observed his friend’s solemn march. The pieces started to click together. Balor was like a decorated soldier on his way to meet his commanding officer, dressed for a long-earned retirement. It really felt like Coop would be sending his friend off one final time.