The Simulacrum - Chapter 137 - Part 1 (Patreon)

My return from the Elysium was swift. While I was tempted to pay a visit to Kane, I could do that any other time, and I found it more important to return home and keep tabs on the directors while the wounds on their egos were still fresh.

As such, by the time me and Jaakobah returned to the usual balcony, we were already welcomed by an open portal. He must've called ahead, but it worked out perfectly for me. On the elevator ride to the right floor, I did a quick Far Sight round on all the important players, but despite my apprehensions, nothing had happened while I was meeting with the three directors.

I should've been happy about that, but I had this strong, foreboding feeling deep in my bones that told me something was off. If there ever was a time for the Narrative to muck things up in my absence, it was this moment, and things being quiet only made me more suspicious.

In any case, Angie and Josh were still playing Street Kombat in the guy's living room, my sisters and Tajana were unboxing the fidgety spymaster's new TV that I promised her for cooperating (even though she didn't need to do anything at all), my girlfriends were in their homes doing their own things, and there was nothing to not on the troublemaker side either. Crowey was still busy stalling for time with the other Abyssal noble houses, the arch-mages were still busy adapting to acting like teachers, while Percival was… ugh, he came up again.

Honestly, as much as I've been dragging my feet on this subject in the past, I fully resolved myself to do something about him. Whether he would be the first or second priority on my list was entirely dependent on the chief directors' reaction to our meeting, but in either case, I could no longer procrastinate on him. Snowy already delivered him my ultimatum in the morning, so I felt obliged to confront him in person and drive in that nail even further.

But that was a concern for a bit later. First off, after a curt farewell, we returned to Timaeus. Since the portal was opened by the same guy, it led back to the Praetorian Guards' impromptu base of operations, and the moment I arrived, I shifted out of my Polemos outfit, and after doling out a few simple instructions (be vigilant, keep an eye on the neighbourhood, give Josh and Angie some privacy, et cetera), I left the house and walked home.

I could've Phased home right away, but thanks to relentless practice, I could already multitask my Far Sight with some rote activities, such as basic enchantment tweaking or walking, so I didn't dally any longer and threw my point of view over to the chief directors' side.

"… listening to yourself?" was the first shred of a sentence I managed to catch, coming from an exasperated Tsephanyah.

To my surprise, the three of them were no longer in their conspiratory hidey-hole, but in the main meeting room of the Directorate, with the huge round table and everything. Fortunately, my reforms (if they could be called that) apparently stuck with them, and the place was both well-lit, and they didn't wear the stupid cowls either.

In any case, there were only about fifteen people present, including the three faction leaders, which meant this emergency meeting was most likely arranged in a hurry, and only the most important (or least busy) directors were present.

"I have to agree with Director Tsephanyah," the director in charge of the Department of Military Affairs… what was his name again? Was it Gideon?

"You're speaking out of line, Gideon," Savir hissed. More importantly, I managed to remember his name. Yay, me.

"It doesn't make us wrong," the lantern-jawed Celestial general-in-anything-but-name-only scoffed, and there was a quiet but noticeable wave of agreement spreading around the table.

"If the Second True Archon's words are true, and why wouldn't they be," another director spoke up, and while I couldn't recall his name or department, I was pretty sure he was in Mensah's Unorthodox club. "… then we must consider the ramifications of this news and act in unison. We can't afford to act out on our own in a way that would shed negative light on all of us."

When he said that, he was pointedly staring at Savir.

"What are you insinuating?" she hissed, eyes thundering with barely concealed fury.

"You have to admit, you're responsible for forcing the Archon's hand by acting on incomplete information and provoking this 'Bel of the Abyss' on your own."

"On my own!? Don't try to act like you weren't in full support of the plan, Dolion!"

"I might have served as an accessory," the bespectacled director answered with a subdued grin, "But the Lord Archon has fully endorsed my efforts for military readiness. I consider that a clear sign that he didn't hold me to account and that he approved of my actions. The only one who was explicitly reproached was you, Eris, and we all know the reason why."

"Actually," another director chimed in, sounding uncertain. "I'm not sure we have discussed this topic before. Is there a reason why the Lord Archon would be in conflict with the Prime Director?"

Oh, right. That was one of Savir's many titles, wasn't it? However, the fact that this question came from someone in her own camp told me two things: they kept the fact that she tried to blackmail me in a roundabout way a secret, and that even with that kept under wraps, her position was greatly shaken. In retrospect, that was to be expected; while we did meet behind closed doors, and our meeting was short, by this point pretty much everyone in the Elysium should've been fully aware of it, and while its contents were a secret, my attitude before and after the meeting no doubt gave a lot of fuel to the rumour mill.

"It was a disagreement personal in nature, and there's no need to discuss it here and now," Tsephanyah covered for her in a heartbeat, though his words were accompanied by a sly look saying 'You owe me one now', once again reminding me that he wasn't much better than the other two, or the rest of the directorate. Scheming, backstabbing bastards, the whole lot.

"Indeed," Savir spoke through gritted teeth. Her complexion didn't look great, to say the least. "For the time being, let's focus on more important details. Such as how to treat this 'Bel'person from now on."

"What is there to discuss?" Mensah cut in, his finger tapping on the table. "Whether he's an Abyssal of this age or an age long past, it's blindingly obvious that he's an enemy of Elysium, and we must treat him as such."

"And what of the Lord Archon's involvement with him?" another director, this time from Mensah's own camp, spoke up, and the youngest chief director all but scoffed at her.

"It is clear as day that Archon Polemos and Bel of the Abyss are engaged in a contest of power and wits we aren't privy to. After what happened the other day, and how easily Director Savir was guided to jump to a specific conclusion by his machinations, it's easy to see that this Bel is adept at manipulating both others and the circumstances surrounding him for his own ploys and benefits."

"Indeed," Tsephanyah noted with a nod. "If not for the Lord Archon's personal intervention, we would be in the middle of a wild goose chase even as we speak, threatening our unity and potentially opening us up for further subversion."

If I was there, I would've been hard-pressed not to shout 'Unity my ass!', but since I wasn't, I had to be content with just thinking it really loudly. But speaking of where I was at the moment, I focused more of my divided attention on where my legs were carrying me and was pleased to see that I was already in my neighbourhood. Reassured, I returned to the scene in the Directorate's meeting room, where Savir was just finishing up a small speech.

"… of subterfuge as you suspect, and he truly did appear in front of me to plant the seeds of doubt in the heart of the Directorate, then we must strive to be even more vigilant, so that the safety of Elysium and its people would not be compromised."

"I agree with the First Speaker," another director, using yet another of her titles, spoke up from Tsephanyah's side. "We need to focus inward."

"Hold on for a minute," another director joined the fray, an older woman with a silly hairdo in Mensah's group. "If anything, we should increase our presence outside Elysium to keep Her Grace Deus safe and provide support for Lord Polemos if necessary. Why else would he have approved the mobilization of the military?"

"Maybe we should wait some time for passions to cool before we request the Lord Archon to state what exactly he's expecting from us?" Gideon, the military's top dog, spoke up next, and he once again found himself receiving a lot of agreement.

"Yes," Savir spoke, sounding borderline soulless. "Maybe that would be for the best."

The meeting went on for a little longer, but there was nothing special discussed afterwards, mostly just repeating the same arguments and going in circles over and over again. So far, it seemed like the Directorate wasn't going to bother me for a while, which would've been good news… but I still couldn't shake off that foreboding feeling. As such, I made a mental note to keep a closer eye on Savir, in case they decided to hold another private meeting and come up with more harebrained schemes.

It was only at this point that I realized that my multitasking ability still needed some refinement, as I managed to lose track of my surroundings and ended up walking past the junction leading to my house. Slightly annoyed, I turned around and headed in the right direction this time.

Seriously, how come doing enchantment-tweaking, which was an infinitely more mentally taxing act in theory, allowed me to multitask with Far Sight so much easier? At least so far as just doing basic operations was concerned? Maybe because it engaged a different part of my brain?

I couldn't be sure, and while I could ask Fred, he was already too busy with other things, such as the secret projects aaand I just reminded myself of another thing I would have to check on. Peabody and Fred were making good progress on it, but I hoped they would give me a proper timeframe for its completion one of these days. It was hard to plan around it otherwise, and I really hoped it would be done before things came crashing down. It would give me so many new options and a solid fallback-plan, at the same time.

In any case, I soon arrived at my front door, and passed through Snowy's wards without any problem. By this point, we had a four-layered system, with the outer barrier encompassing half the neighbourhood and serving as an early-warning system in case some ne'er-do-wells, like Tajana's Fauns, tried to snoop around. In comparison, the innermost layer was apparently sturdy enough to withstand mortar fire, if the class rep's assessment was to be believed.

Some may call that overkill, but my motto was always 'Expect the worst, prepare for the even worse', so I had no complaints. More importantly, once I came inside, I realized that we had guests, since there were two pairs of unfamiliar large boots under the wall hanger in the entranceway.

"Welcome back!" Penny greeted me from the living room, sounding even more excited than usual.

"I'm home," I greeted her as I walked in, and then nodded at the guests on the couch. "That's unexpected."

"Welcome home, My Liege," Arnwald greeted me while awkwardly holding a controller. Morgana was sitting by his side, holding another one, while Penny, Snowy, and even Tajana were lazing around and watching them play Super Bash Siblings, another game my sisters bought for Penny's game console. It wasn't exactly Street Kombat, but it was more family-friendly, that's for sure.

"Did you get roped in?" I asked with a smirk, and the Knight let out an awkward cough.

"Since my mission is to act like the father of the Dunnign household, I deemed it necessary to engage in family activi—" His eyes suddenly opened wide as his character was sent flying off a platform. "Sister Morgana! I was talking to our liege!"

"Serves you right for not being vigilant," she responded with a smile as amused as I'd ever seen on her face.

"That 'mission' is kind of over though," I pointed out, but Snowy of all people came to their support.

"Didn't you say that the child protective services would pay us a surprise visit later?"

I wanted to point out that, so long as I kept tabs on their dots, there would be nothing surprising about it, but Penny doubled down.

"It was our idea! This way, we can get used to acting like a family, so we'll be prepared, whenever they show up!" My knightly sister punctuated that with a toothy grin, and then pointedly glanced at the Abyssal spymaster. "Especially you! You need to put in more effort!"

"But… I'm not part of this…" Tajana tried to object, but Snowy interjected before she could gather steam.

"You're a family friend staying with us, so it's natural that we would treat you as part of the family."

"I… suppose…" she muttered, and it finally dawned on me this was probably yet another step in their ongoing efforts to subvert her and make her switch sides. I had to give it to them, they were both persistent and creative in their methods.

"Exactly!" Penny proclaimed smugly, her smirk once again reminding me of the princess, though even after fully acclimating to her being my little sister, she still wasn't half as cute as my girlfriend. Well, fine, maybe that was an overstatement. About… sixty percent as cute? Give or take five.

She must've realized I was staring at her, since her smirk was soon replaced by a confused expression, and then the proverbial light bulb lit up over her head.

"Brother? Do you want to play too?"

"I… can't really. I have stuff to take care of," I stated, already thinking about whether I should drop by the secret base of the dockyard hideout first. Or maybe just spend the evening focused on Savir and the others?

"Oh, come on!" my sister protested and stomped over to grab my hand. "What's the point of practising being a family if you aren't here?"

"That… That's right!" Snowy joined her, much to my surprise, and grabbed hold of my other hand. "We're family, right? That means we should look after each other and spend time together."

"Right! You even promised to hang out with us, and that we would go somewhere to play!"

"Penny," Morgana spoke up, sounding just like a tired mother. She was really taking to the role, it seemed.  "Don't hassle His Majesty. He's busy."

"But he promised! Right, Snowy?"

"Y-Yes," my Abyssal sister nodded, albeit a touch hesitantly, and as if waiting for her response…

"He did!" Tajana exclaimed with a finger in the air. "I was in the room! I remember!"

"You see?" Penny spoke a bit more confidently when facing Morgana, but she wasn't the one who responded first.

"Maybe we should join as well?" Arnwald floated the question, prompting Dame Gorgon to turn a pair of narrow eyes at him. "What I meant to say was that, since we're assuming the roles of a family, going on a trip in a public space would both reinforce the illusion, as well as serve as good practice for when those government workers return. It's all for the sake of training."

"On second thought," Morgana mused with a hand on her chin. "It might not be such a bad idea. His Majesty could also use some time away from the daily worries of the Ordo Draconis and his other obligations."

"Let's go on a trip tomorrow!" Penny hit the iron while it was hot.

"I had some plans for tomorrow," I tried to cut in, but I was immediately met with Penny's dejected puppy stare, and after a moment of confusion, my other sister twitched in realization and joined her act as well. "… But I guess I'll just do it in the evening."

My grumbles made my knightly sister jump in excitement and she offered a high-five to Snowy, who belatedly returned the gesture. After that, she started at her palm for a second before she walked over to Tajana, and held it out, forcing the Abyssal woman to also give a high-five.

Once that ran through the entire 'family', I couldn't help but shake my head.

"Fine, I'll think of something." Following those words, I pointedly glanced at Tajana. "But what should we do about her?"

"Oh, right. We can't take Tajana with us yet."

Snowy sounded a touch dejected, and that immediately flustered the hapless spymaster.

"M-My Lady, don't be sad! I'll just watch my dramas, as always! You should go and have fun with your… family?"

Honestly, the way she was getting more and more caught up in the flow, only vaguely questioning the situation, made me wonder if we were subtly gaslighting her. That was something only bad guys do, and we weren't bad guys… but then again, doing that to get someone away from the actual baddies (read: Crowey and his ilk) wasn't a strictly nefarious thing, so… Eh, I'll just chalk it up to 'morally grey' and call it a day.

More importantly, Penny seemed to be in deep thought until she suddenly snapped her fingers.

"I have an idea!"

"Everyone, brace yourself," I jested.

"Brotheeer!" my knightly sister pouted, and if she was closer to me, I was sure she would've stomped on my foot. "I'm serious! It's a good idea."

"Let's hear it, dear," Morgana prompted her, but it only caused Arnwald to raise a brow.

"Dear?"

"I'm playing my role," she answered seriously. "As the mother, it would be strange if I kept calling everyone by their name all the time." She paused and pointed at the man sitting next to her. "Speaking of which, should I also call you 'dear'?"

"That's…" the man muttered, audibly stumped. "That… would be quite nice, actually."

"In return, you could call me 'My Morgana' again," she said, with just a hint of mischief.

"I would never be so disrespectful…!" he protested, but then cleared his throat, and I couldn't help but hear a muffled 'Maybe in private' under his coughs.

Ignoring the two adults who definitely needed to get a room, I turned back to Penny and gave her the go.

"We should invite Uncle Roland over! He gets along really well with her, and he'll make sure she won't try anything while we're away!"

"W-W-We don't get along at all!" Tajana protested at once, even more flustered than usual. "A-And, in the first place, I've been behaving well all this time, haven't I? Why would you think I would do anything like…"

"It's all right, Tajana," Snowy comforted her by holding her hand. "I trust you."

"My Lady…"

The third adult looked at my teenage sister with the kind of starry-eyed fawning that would've been weird even the other way around. Sadly, her expression only lasted for a moment before she spoke up again.

"But I think if Uncle Roland is around, you certainly wouldn't be bored."

I still wasn't entirely clear on how I felt about Snowy adopting Sir Griffon as her 'uncle', but my misgivings were nothing compared to the dejected moan escaping Tajana's mouth.

Meanwhile, the man on the couch offered me his controller.

"My Liege? Would you like to play?"

"At this point, might as well," I said with so much enthusiasm, if my excitement could be turned into water, it could water at least two whole petunias. Yay.

Since I was caught up in this family web, I figured I might as well play aloud for a while, just to keep my sisters happy. That said, I wasn't completely neglecting my duties, as even while I played, I was taking short Far Glances at people, just in case there was a new development. I figured that if I could do that while enchanting, and sort of do it while walking, then it should've been…

"Oh! Sister Morgana is truly good at this game," Arnwald noted with a sagely nod just as my character was sent flying off the screen.

Yeah, this was a complete disaster. But to be honest, I preferred this kind over whatever else was looming over us. At least this one made Snowy laugh. That automatically made it better than whatever this ominous thing I could feel in my bones was.