Zell bowed before an ornately carved over-sized desk. His large eyes were fixed on the swirling, elegant pattern woven into the expensive carpet. He was a tall, thin, blue-skinned humanoid draped in an embroidered robe a slightly darker shade of blue than his skin. In his long fingers, he held out a data tablet as he kept his eyes respectfully on the floor. “Lord Delar, I have the list of candidate worlds, as you ordered,” he said. “The second world on the list looks particularly promising.”
A large gray hand with fingers as thick as sausages took the tablet. The owner of the hand spoke in a voice full of gravel, “Tell me about it. What makes it stand out?”
“Currently, it is a non-magical world. It has a single technological sapient species, and several semi-sapient. The technology of the dominant species is approaching the level of artificial intelligence and quantum computing, but is not there yet. They have a population of eight billion, and yet there is no unified world government. In fact, they are quite warlike. They evolved from persistence hunters, and are clever, which should make the competition quite fierce. They use hierarchical social structures, but retain enough individualism to make them highly adaptable.
“They have many disparate cultures, but all of them have mythology and current popular entertainments that include magic and powers, so they should adapt well to the training. The most promising aspect, however, is one of their more popular forms of entertainment, called ‘Video Games’. The training interface could be easily adapted to mimic that form. I’ve highlighted the details in the report.” Zell kept his eyes on the floor as he spoke, not raising them until he heard the single tap on the desk that signaled him to look up.
The being behind the desk was as broad and sturdy as the desk itself. His skin was a thick, weathered gray that reminded the servant of the semi-sapient pachyderms native to the world he had just been discussing, though he would never dare to utter such a blasphemous comparison aloud. He squashed the thought before any hint of it could show on his face. Lord Delar was one of the more even tempered members of his family, but even he would ruthlessly punish any hint of disrespect. He would do it from practical necessity, not with cruel relish as his siblings might, but still without mercy.
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“Excellent analysis, as usual, Zell. The Patriarch wants to try something new this cycle. He’ll be pleased that we’ve found a suitable candidate world for his experiment. If it works, we could harvest the strongest batch of warriors the Aldevari Dominion has seen in millennia.” The Aldevari lord turned his attention to the tablet and began to skim the report. He raised his fingers and flicked them to dismiss his servant.
Zell bowed and backed away from the desk. He walked backward all the way to the door, because turning his back would be an insult to the Aldevari Lord. The spoiled, uncaring, narcissistic, scion of a ruling family who cared for nothing but maintaining their power over everyone else. Zell clamped down on that thought.
Mental affinities were uncommon, but not that rare. He’d been fortunate to find a Mental Domain Core for himself, and so was better able to guard his mind than most, but stray thoughts were dangerous. He had a position with some power and influence. More importantly, he had access. He couldn’t afford to slip up and lose everything he’d gained. With iron discipline, he turned his thoughts away from the plans he wanted to make, and thought only about his more banal duties.
As he passed through the door it slid closed, and he was finally able to straighten from his bow and turn around. As he did, he was unable to suppress the slightest twitch of a grin at the corner of his mouth. The planet he had highlighted would be perfect for more than just the Patriarch’s latest experiment. Zell had carefully curated the information in the report, and the Lords would be too lazy to double check for themselves. The inhabitants of the promising world had a soft spot for underdogs, an irrepressible independent streak, and a love of heroes fighting against impossible odds. With some work, they might just be the allies he had been searching for.
