Race to the New Land III

Two Days Later, 10th, January/Two weeks in Camp Equinox

"Tell them no, they go through normal channels. I'm not dealing with them, that's what the council for each town and city is for, then it goes to the mayor, then provincial council. If it even makes it to my governors at all, it'll be a hell of a lot bigger than this little problem he's whining about. I don't see anyone unless they're royalty or have a damned good reason." Selene sat back in a chair, propping her chin on a fist while talking through a communication stone. They had started to become commonplace throughout the empire, allowing all government officials easy advice from each other. Not one was allowed to be connected to her network, excluding the kings and queens under her control. Even then, they still had to go through the proper channels.

"But, your majesty, he said he wouldn't see anyone else but you about his business," the mayor on the other side replied.

"Then he sees no one. I'm not changing one of my laws just because he can't play fair with the competition. Local laws can be semi added by you to assist in the development of the infrastructure in your area, not alter the economy for the benefit of one man. Otherwise, it gives too much of an edge. He gets no tax breaks."

"Your excellency, just this once? If he opens another shop here –" the man begged.

"What did I just say?" She interrupted icily.

"I'll… let him know immediately." The call ended as she growled in frustration. "Will, the call's over." Her chief of staff walked in and sat down next to her at the desk as she marked off things in her to-do list.

"That's one of the last for the day. It's getting pretty easy to turn down those beneath you, isn't it ma'am?" he asked.

"I swear, after the ball, some of the aristocracy think they can just buddy up with me as if they can slowly fall back into the old ways, and I'll just somehow go easy on them. Competition is healthy in an economy, it keeps it from stagnating. If they can't adapt to another company producing better quality tools, keep up with their taxes like everyone else or hire people with the proper pay, they need to cut their losses and either retire or get into another business. We're not going to prop up the fat slugs who think money will be thrown at them to keep their employees or work with corrupt policies; those people will just go find new jobs without much issue right now. God, that tax cut would have paid for the maintenance of that town's roads for a year!"

Will leaned back and clasped his fingers together on his abdomen. "Some believe special privilege will still prevail no matter what government comes into power." Selene rubbed the bridge of her nose due to a small migraine, a hand offering some tea to her by a maid as she tried to work through it. "Still getting those after that little project of Orlo's?"

"Ugh… I'm going to be a pill for the rest of the week if this keeps up. This was all to help unlock other tiers surrounding Steampunk." The member of Bronze Team had set up a psychological development appointment to help the woman try and add extra tech layers to expand the secondary branch she had developed so long ago. Before, she had access to Early, Late, Advanced, Super, and Space Steampunk Eras. Now, the empress had access to Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Decopunk, Steelpunk, Atompunk, and Cyberpunk, with a few others added in. The goal of the project was to shift the empire officially into a punkesque future from here on out to go along with the program that Nikola and Grey had devised. The amalgamation of cherry-picked tech would officially allow the people to be Clockworkians, not just in name but in a real society built upon the quasi-magical science. It would streamline the whole process, creating a wholly unique culture that no one would ever see outside their borders.

The outcome was exactly what Selene needed, building a new list that she could use, with unlocking the subgenres not yet performed as the migraines could be compounded with the mass of knowledge from each tier flowing into her brain. When she first gained access to steampunk all those months ago, it didn't cause any pain. This was a forced add on, and her body made sure she knew it. The ruler had joked with Orlo that it felt as if she was unlocking DLC without paying for it and had to go through the headache of editing the code to work.

Beyond the ache in her head, Turnie gave her a clean bill of health. It was lasting for the past few days, making the dev very grouchy and trying to hide it, staying away from most "organic" subjects under her rule. The migraines were slowly going away, becoming easier to deal with and expected to dissipate completely by the end of the week. The only ones allowed near her for a few more days were Eve and the wolves, with Donovan and Melsia along with his son mostly restricted. All communications happened from a stone or not at all. The lights were kept dim to keep her eyes from hurting, and all automatons spoke to her with a binaural beat in the back of their voice that was calming. She was even wearing noise-canceling headphones when not talking to others. There was a unified command given to all automatons that restricted any order given by her to deconstruct themselves if they somehow pissed her off due to the circumstances.

"Can we check to see if the governor –" Selene started to groan out with a hand on her forehead, propping herself up on the desk as she fought through a pulse in her sinuses.

"He's working as intended. The communication stones aren't tracked like our network is, ma'am; there's bound to be some lapse in catching minor issues like this. I would say that equipment is a little buggy, even if they are magical in nature," Will told her. The signal from the mayor shouldn't have bypassed the provincial government and reached her ears. That proved even the makeshift telephone could be a little faulty at times. "Don't blame him, ma'am, they'll see about getting a filter in place for next time."

"Ugh… fine."

[[Selene: *Calling Morlanion Rikter* *Connected*]]

"Uh, yes, your majesty?"

[[Selene: Two things before I go back to not speaking to anyone. First, you are telling the recruits they can pass or fail the inspections? Why?]]

"Because… don't they need to pass them to become actual cadets? They have a chance for training and –"

[[Selene: They wouldn't have been picked for this opportunity. The inspections are there to determine what needs to be worked on, customizing future training for each cadet based on their class. What you called 'exams' are, in fact, exercises to see who can't work through any emotional baggage or personality issues, who can prove they can work as a team, letting us weed out the crap from the ones who can benefit the agency. There ARE psychologists prepared to assist them in breaking through any mental issues at the camp, Morlan. This leads to my next question: Why are you allowing personal trainers outside regular hours?]]

"Is… that a problem?" The older Rikter son questioned quietly.

"I… had wished to ask that as well, Morlanion," Elsei chimed in.

"Not you too, El…" he replied, a defeated tone in the background. "Your excellency, I… I thought it would help with teaching them some Martial Arts skills. I… I noticed that the training I've been receiving doesn't involve any of that."

The dev paused for a moment, the migraine causing her to delay a response along with the lightbulb going off in her mind. There was no training for Martial Arts abilities. None. Everything was for pure skill and drilling into someone the muscle memory to deal with a combat situation, the education and understanding to smooth out a diplomatic situation, or communicating with locals and using investigation techniques on whatever mission they were on. Tier magic could be taught by wizards at the academy, a warrior's special abilities couldn't without finding an instructor or creating them yourself. Morlan hadn't created every skill he used in a battle, some of it was taught by others before the empire took over. Archers would need to have explained to them how to fire multiple arrows at the same time and hit their targets, change them into elemental shots or cause disabling effects to an enemy. Swordsmen would need to understand how to hit various targets with a single strike, how to deflect multiple attacks with a shield, or even footsweep correctly without knocking themselves on the ground. The list kept going on, proving that the Rikter had done something she hadn't thought of yet.

[[Selene: Alright. I'll accept the second reason; however, you need to edit that speech. The only ones that get kicked out at that stage are the ones that actively act like assholes. You're going to scare half of the cadets into believing they're done for just because they don't know how to write in English or fight in a particular stance at the beginning. They have a chance to be something extraordinary, so don't make them panic and fail right before they start.]]

"I… my apologies, your majesty. I'll work on it. I… I'll admit the word used on the instructions you gave me I thought translated to 'exam,' not 'exercise.'"

[[Selene: Then you better talk to me if you're confused about something before you start mouthing to the people who will be under your command. That one word is going to cause them to piss their pants every time they screw up. *Call End*]]

Morlan seemed like a child being scolded suddenly as the line went dead, worried he had aggravated her. Part of what he heard coming from the other side of her communication channel was, in fact, anger and annoyance, but he wasn't the culprit. He was just the outlet for her aggression, which was why she wanted to isolate herself for a while and let the migraines go entirely away. He sighed in relief as he didn't need to be reprimanded anymore.

"I believe the term you would use to describe this is… 'having your balls placed on an anvil and beaten by a hammer?'" Elsei asked, confusing the words in a phrase used by humans.

"Actually, it's just 'she busted my balls' because of a misunderstanding," he replied. He looked as if he was slumping in surrender.

The empress on the other side of the cut line looked over at Will and rolled her eyes. "Now, isolation."

"You were rather harsh on him."

"If half of them accept defeat before they even get through basic, it'll mean he was the wrong choice for controlling the agency. It wasn't just Dina that had that gene section, there are others in that list that are descendants of players. How far gone they are we won't know until they can show their strengths and how far they can go. Scaring them into fumbling a weapon before they can focus on showing what they can do won't get him new agents."

The chief of staff picked up a pair of capsules, handing it to her as she thanked him for the medication. Pain relievers helped, as did suppression spells and psionics, but only so much. This seemed to be an internal issue that couldn't be escaped with a ton of medication, just time. Reliance on external inhibitors didn't seem like it would work, being more a mental problem that she had to get through. It was like her mind was contracted and needed to unwind, like a muscle spasm. "I got a chance to check the list for the courses. You altered Morlan's plan of training as well."

She sighed out while responding. "He wanted to use what we've given him, which he's still going through by the way, and add some random boring tournaments. I helped him with some old ideas."

"You added in a battle royale, deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, tower defense, a point capture mode, and I believe a MOBA like team clash system. This looks like an e-sports event."

Selene gulped the pills and looked at him with one eye. "It was a hell of a lot better than what he came up with. You also forgot incursion, warzone, heist, and horde mode, among others."

"I take it he isn't that great at coming up with interesting aspects for educational purposes?" Will queried, raising an eyebrow and smirking at her.

"He can lead, he can fight; he's eager to do what he needs to do, but coming up with a way to get others on his level is… it's not his forte. I never expected him to be an instructor, that's not the position I put him in. Believe it or not, those games are useful for getting them to understand new tactics and strategies they can take into the real training. This smooths the transition. I just hope no one yells out rush B…" She rubbed one of her temples and just tried to not focus on the pulsing ache until the medication activated.

I swear, if the mics in those arenas pick up Cyka Blyat without universal translation, I'm going to laugh my ass off.

"All the cadets have personal trainers paid for… all except Ranger Dina."

"I already planned for that, she got thrown in the deep end without a real chance to get everything together. Hopefully, she can show what she can do in an environment that should help her excel. I called in a favor from a friend at Skuld's academy. He just can't show up for another few days, had to get his course schedules altered to allow this." Both of their attention diverted to a holographic view of the space elevator, completing a shuttle drop off at the top. "Nice, the first shipment of shuttles is good to go."

"With that, Space Station Zero Zero One is ready to assist in the construction of sister sites above," Will commented quietly.

"That, and with their fabrication packages, they can speed up phase 3. Space Station Zero Zero One… not a great name for it, huh?" Selene replied, swapping to camera footage at the top of the elevator, markers popping up of the launches, and the starbases in the far distance. Rockets were still being launched for probes to reach other planets, fire and forget devices now exclusively for exploration and getting as much intel on the solar system. They'd place satellites, drop caches for future installations, then take off with a secondary engine and return. The mass drivers were now relegated to satellite coverage for their planet, able to do it efficiently without any issues. Communications sats were in orbit, not for her use, but to assist the new Einherjar converse when needed. Using the dev's {Communication is Key} channels every time in the future wasn't a viable option, it gave too many chances for them to attempt to dial her up just for the opportunity to talk. While she didn't need to answer, it would still be annoying, hence the new system going up.

The first station that they had now built was already getting the skeleton of the phase 3 structure expanded, with little other than the frame up and ready for additional modules to be connected to. The main design was a diamond split into eight pieces, connected by a latticework of transport beams and small shipyards. "You'll come up with a name eventually; there is still plenty of time before the gravity plate is installed," her second in command told her calmly. He was only partially right in that regard, trying to ease such a minor issue out the door even with phase 3 expected to be finished within three months due to the size. For anyone else attempting such a feat, ten years would be considered extremely fast. Any other nation, whether Earth or this world, would have gone through massive hurdles just to attempt something of its caliber, especially with political parties interfering and companies jockeying for contracts and failing to deliver. The Clockwork Empire had no such need for such antiquated blocks to advancing towards the future, no costs other than the resources used in the creation. They planned something out, they put it in motion.

"Yeah, I'll get to it eventually. It'll be finished before I know it, that's the problem. Now, what's next… the, the fleets that arrived in the south… have they made contact with the Seong Neow Republic?" she said, massaging her temples.

"They have, minor events that don't appear to be much of a concern, though it looks as if more ships are now arriving from overseas. They're building up their camps, starting to construct small forts instead."

"Well, that's not good. They're getting the idea to stay, at least longer than expected."

"Did you read the reports from the recon teams?"

"I have, not much of a defensive line against a concerted assault from any of their opponents, but easy to protect against a republic army," the empress replied, poking at a much smaller holographic projection on the desk. The undead force seemed to be the strongest at the moment, at least until the third fleet finally arrived tomorrow. Then… the skeletons would have some difficulty holding off such a strong 'scouting party' sent to figure out what was going on in her neck of the woods. If any of the new factions decided to just invade the Seong Neow Republic, there didn't seem like much they could do to fight back. Surveillance teams had tracked multiple relatively high-level troops in each camp, with the level 100s arriving on the 3rd fleet from the European shores. Their adversaries would need to up their game in order to somehow combat such a strong force… or request aid from their rulers. "We have recorded messages now, right?"

"Grey and his intelligence division have been tapping into the messages sent back and forth between all factions. The NPCs previously noticed are a part of a group from a 'Tomb of Nazarick,' controlling a place called the Sorcerer Kingdom. An Ainz Ooal Gown controls it; it is unknown what race he is, but given the undead presence, he may be mortally challenged and at least partially a necromancer as well."

Selene pulled up the report file on the desk, flipping the image up and floating in front of her. "They met a priestess, looked like a Miko or Kannushi. No harm to her?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does if we can discern how aggressive they are to the locals. If they don't care about who they murder, then we can consider them hostile if directly met. If not, then… I dunno."

Will adjusted his seating posture and leaned against the side of the leather chair he was in. "I thought you would be mentioning resurrection for those killed by them."

"Not about to waste resources on a country that technically doesn't like us right now, doesn't like anyone actually. There's also no guarantee they wouldn't raise her as undead. Any word on a second ambassador being sent?"

"Gala hasn't sent one, studying the etiquette closely and the reason the first failed. It seems part of the reason the shoguns were insulted is when our envoy decided to not give up the sidearm she had, per our tenants of never giving high-end weaponry to an inferior being outside of the empire."

"Aren't our weapons smart guns anyways?" The dev queried.

"They are, we put quite a bit of effort into making sure that all military supplies can't be used by anyone outside our government. They can't open our containers, use weapons, get in bunkers, deactivate mines, they can't even force their way into unmanned depots… the list goes on."

"Huh. I guess we're just being careful they can't somehow refuse to return the weapons back to the ambassador once she tried to leave."

The chief of staff reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a very human gesture he picked up when he got annoyed with some events that transpired. "That is the problem we are worried about. If it's super shiny, they want to keep it because it's more than likely worth more than anything they have, or it's some magical artifact they don't normally have access to and believe it will make them stronger. It gets old." The idea of even one pistol being considered a game-changer worth more than a king's ransom to another nation confused the automatons. Gold and platinum to them were resources for construction, not trade. They understood why a treasury was needed but didn't like the idea of using some random circular object to buy goods. Will had recently made his stance clear on believing an eventual removal of a physical currency economy would be useful for the empire. Paying citizens with precious metals just to get them to work seemed like an antiquated system, where greed could still take hold. Just looking at the Church of the Golden Faith added evidence to his case. The main issue was trying to work up something that didn't need to be physical, but was fair and could be slowly integrated.

He also had a personal belief that all weapons needed to be removed from the civilian's hands. Rapiers had become the new norm with the well to do, just to show they had the wealth to carry one. Old long swords or broad swords were being smelted down, the jewels and gold reused for other items to display their lavish lifestyle. Akuchi, the Secretary of Commerce, believed if they eventually introduced a form of Clockpunk now that Selene could unlock it, they'd replace the rapiers with wind up watches on their wrists, top hats with a built-in light, high heels for women that had smart pressure panels inside to make it easy to walk around. If it became chic, then just about anything could nudge out whatever the people wanted to carry around. Nikola had expressed disdain for how fashion changed so quickly, believing they were easily swayed like sheep. While the empress wanted to snap at him for that, she somewhat understood what he was saying. Even she couldn't keep up with the fashions that were cropping up.

However, the butler Cameron kept a close watch on who was wearing what throughout the empire, sending data to Jeeves for new dresses. Whenever the dev needed to go out, crowds would be there to see what she'd be wearing. "The shogun that threw the ambassador out, it wasn't a monkey, was it?" the empress questioned.

"One of them was. The others were a tiger, wolf, lizard, and rabbit. All were type 1 on the morphic scale." That meant they were mainly human with some animal characteristics, possibly had a tail even. The Clockwork government had to start tagging anthropomorphs with their scale designation due to not having it in reports would cause confusion when explaining who someone was or what to expect when meeting them. Type 1 was near-human, Type 5 was a talking animal. Everything in between was a varied blob of fur or skin. They were theorizing that Type 1s were considered the higher caste. In comparison, the Type 5s were considered the poor talking animals that seemed to like the idea of sneaking off to the empire and becoming new citizens. Even Gazi had admitted a few were now appearing in his kingdom, though they were still quite rare.

Selene popped her eyebrows up for just a moment in response, swapping to other data on the desk. "Ok, well, if we can, we can, if we can't, we can't. Gala can watch for an opening in the future. Now, where was I with all of this…" she asked with a slight sigh heard in her voice. The woman stretched her right arm at the shoulder, hanging it out as if it was being carried, then tapped through the next set of reports, checking on the rest of her schedule. Juliet wanted to meet with her to have an in-depth discussion on how to build the future cities, on the ground, air, and water. Grey was already dropping propaganda for the citizens, riling them up with the hype that they'd get to see something unveiled that would be massive eye-openers. If they knew that they could get the chance to live in one of them, have a new home with modern amenities if they just treated their fellow citizen with understanding and gained a higher education, most would swarm the schools or beg for the 'enlightenment vacation' that wasn't ready yet.

Just then, Eve opened the door and slowly walked in, looking around and finally locking her little eyes on her mother. Dahlia was right behind her as the girl ran to the side of the desk and tugged on the empress's sleeve. "What's up, munchkin, finished with school today?" her mother cooed as she closed her desk system down and glanced at the child.

"Uh-huh."

"What'd you learn today?" The dev turned and clasped her hands together, trying to engage with her daughter and hide the discomfort the migraine gave her.

"I learned… multiplication?" Eve said, looking at Dahlia for confirmation that was what she had been taught. Selene blinked long and hard at hearing that, realizing she was further along than most six-year-olds would be. "And… I learned how to make a times table. Uh… I got to try… division, too?" her tutor nodded at her and smiled, the chopsticks in her dark blue bun seen as she did so. "And… I learned some new big words. Trans… tran… transformation? And… prof… profession. There were others, but… those were easy to remember."

"Multiplication! Wow! You think you understand it well enough?" her mother questioned.

"I think so. Do I?" Eve looked back at her tutor again.

"She has a good grasp of it; we just need to expand on it tomorrow," the battle maid responded. That told the empress her little girl was possibly about to surpass most citizens in the empire within the next few days, at least with mathematics. There were no grades given, Dahlia would continue with the same course until Eve had a firm understanding of what needed to be taught. Obviously, there were no other students to worry about, so they could spend as much time on a given subject as required.

Her mother gave the six-year-old a gentle pat on the head lovingly. "Did you have lunch already?" Selene asked as the girl's long white hair was ruffled a little. The princess shook her head and giggled. Her tutoring only lasted the early hours, having a much more efficient education plan with interactive courses to keep the child interested in learning. The 'classroom' had holographic walls and floors, letting her instructor build full-sized dioramas they could walk around in to see everything. A separate automaton band was recording background music to emphasize each scene, depending on what was shown. The remainder of the day was used for other activities. The main focus was math, English, different languages, science and alchemy, and an hour of Q&A where Eve could just ask questions about anything. History was on a need to know basis, for the time being, not wanting to scare the child with the idea demons nearly flooded the world only a few months ago. "Ok, why don't you head down to eat, and… I'll catch up?"

"Can we play today?" Eve asked, hoping her mother could find time in her day to do something with her. The entire week was packed with meetings, including the official signing of Tal Salunbal secretly integrating into the Clockwork Empire. Gazi was going to come with Emira, who was furious he hadn't talked to her before making the joke. He was begging for Selene to talk some sense into his wife and not have him sleep on a couch.

"Oh, I… tomorrow, honey, I guarantee tomorrow."

"Okay…" the child seemed dejected at hearing that, looking down at the floor for a moment.

The empress winced at seeing her like that, but the chance of the little girl squealing during playtime might cause worse migraines. "Why don't you… try out your new bicycle?"

Her daughter looked up suddenly, excited to get a chance to learn how to ride. It still had training wheels, and she didn't exactly have the balance just yet or grasp how to steer effectively, but it was still fun. "Can I?"

"The gym has enough space for you inside. I promise I'll spend a bunch of time with you tomorrow, ok?"

"You promise?"

"Pinky swear." The empress put out her pinky, letting her the girl wrap her own around it.

"Jungle gym?" Eve put out, hoping Selene would accept that as an activity.

Her mother smiled at her and sighed. "Sure. You want to do pirates and navy again?"

"Yeah!" the kid nodded quickly. Usage of the hologram pods on a wooden mockup of a frigate for a naval ship battle was the kid's favorite right now, akin to a virtual reality game. Even being so young, her daughter was a bit adventurous, enjoying fighting with a toy sword or small gun. It wasn't that she was becoming a tomboy, however, as the ship itself had to be pink, the fake cannons had to be lime green which fired confetti, and Eve tended to have small tea parties before the battle while wearing a pirate hat. The princess had standards. Those standards also went for her mother, having to wear a pirate hat when drinking fake tea as well.

"Gotcha. Now, go get something to eat, I'll trail behind in a little bit." Selene gave Eve a kiss on her forehead then watched the girl follow the maid out of the office. "The rest of the agenda isn't immediately pressing, is it?"

"We'll clear your schedule for today. Giles is coming to meet with you involving updating the blacksmith guild to new eras sometime this week, bringing it into the future. That won't happen until the experience project is completed, but the basic layout can be finished. You have a request for that interview from Delfie again, which you keep putting off. At the end of today, you have time set aside for using the orb to get closer to level 500. There are also minor offers on the table for you to check," Will told her. She wanted to test if there was a restriction at that level, keeping her from going further. The highest level she knew of in Divine Apocalypse was a player at 2,946, almost six times what the dev was trying to reach. That would be proof that there was a barrier quest she needed to complete.

"Offers?"

"Three invitations for dinner at respective wealthy family estates, one offer of courtship… some requests for the opening ceremonies of certain statues, some artists wish to paint your portrait."

"Uh… for the first three that's a no thank you, for the fourth not a chance in hell, for the ceremonies it depends on if it involves memorials or not, and finally, I'm not sitting for eight hours in one spot for someone to build a reputation as the court artisan. That's just asking for a slew of torture I don't need in my life. If they want, a holographic decoy can be placed on a chair, and they can paint that, but that's as far as it goes."

"For the first three, worried they won't cook things well enough?" her chief of staff asked jokingly.

"I doubt they'd be able to hold a conversation that didn't involve me having more knowledge about the subject matter right now. That's not ego talking either; the tech tiers I have, the reports and information I get from all of you… I outgun even the rich and famous right now in what is known in the empire."

"Do you have all the juicy gossip about a particular person's hair or wardrobe, their scandalous outings in the middle of the night? Who is starring the lead role in a play, or who they are dating?" he quipped back.

"I'd be bored out of my mind and leave on the spot if they resorted to any of that. Besides, I'm probably going to take the injection ARC is whipping up for elementary level education."

Will raised his eyebrows. "Ma'am, don't you already have a degree?"

"Two, I double majored. Still, some things aren't exactly covered in all schools, depending on where you lived. Not to mention some things you forget. I'd rather not say this in public, but there are a few areas of expertise that I'm not as fluent in compared to a fifth-grader, same as other adults. Most of the injection might be useless if it's custom-designed for each tier of education, but it'll fill in the gaps for me."

"Well, beyond those small notes of insignificance, another town is acting rather prejudicial towards other races. They aren't trying to get slaves per se, but instead raising costs for anyone that isn't human, almost forcing them into debt. Then, the mayor is allowing indentured servitude."

"Fuck. That. Noise. Donovan put clauses in the anti-slavery laws that forbid just that. Paid servants are allowed, provided the contract allows the person or contractor to cancel employment at will. Raising costs due to someone's skin color is also forbidden, the Double Standards Act we put in place expressly makes that illegal, preferential treatment is only offered from companies with memberships that provide discounts that are clear and concise. Are these people stupid or just don't read what they are allowed to do?"

"I think they're looking for loopholes in what we have in place. The revisions we send out are more than likely being ignored, with those ignorant thinking it's the same thing as what was read to them beforehand." Will looked up at the ceiling, ready to speak again. "The governor already sent in security to deal with the situation, locked the place down, and got everything under control. Looks like they'll need a new mayor voted in, assuming the rest of the people don't keep acting as if they can stomp all over someone else just because they are different. It's going to be an ongoing problem until these generations die off."

Selene pushed her bangs back with one hand and blew air out of her mouth. "Oy… census report had a detailed analysis of who may have that outlook in the empire. Something like 51% is perfectly fine with new races joining, 24% hate it, the remaining 25% don't really care."

The automaton looked down at her and chuckled. "Did you read the other data thrown in there? They were very in-depth on what was asked, along with body behavior and tonal inflection tracking."

The empress groaned. "Sort of, I kind of skipped some of it as the report was like 2800 some odd pages in length. I was flying to the White Palace when I was focused on it, then forgot to finish. Can I get the cliff notes?"

"Yeah. 74% are happy you're in charge, 19% don't care unless you cause them to lose their way to support their families or some other thing, 7% hate your guts. If we put that into perspective, out of 13 million people, that's less than a million who wish for you to up and die."