Chapter Eighteen - Part One - Heirarchy

In the end, Atreus agreed to hold off on telling the High Tower - the headquarters of the Chosen - about her until she was 'strong enough'.

He didn't specify what 'strong enough' meant, but Leta assumed that it would come in time.

At Ismene's insistence, they decided that the rest of the day would be spent recovering from today's training and learning more about Leta's powers. Atreus secluded himself in his room to review what had transpired in the last hour and plan how to best handle the news - both for the Sect and for breaking the news to the High Tower.

"Is the High Tower that bad?" Leta inquired, "It sounds bad."

Ismene shrugged, both hands holding onto her cup of espresso with the same energy of a raccoon with something shiny, "The High Tower is just a place, it's the people in it that are the big thing. See, Chosen have Sects that are all over the world. Think of them like your local American Legion or Rotary group - they represent the organization their designated area and do what they do for the community. In our case, it's preventing the Blessed from hurting civilians and exposing us to regular people. The Sects report to a Governor, who's basically a Regional Manager, and the Governor reports to the Senator."

Leta frowned, "Are you saying that Governor and Senator are Classes?"

"Stupid, huh?" Ismene snorted, "But it is what it is. Both have high Persuasion abilities are are built to be adaptable planners, but couldn't fight off their own shadow when it comes to physical abilities."

Allister chuckled from the kitchen as he was making himself a tea, "I met the Governor of our area once when I was first assigned ta Athens. If you could imagine a human bowling ball with legs, that's what he was. I'm shocked his skinny chicken legs had enough power to hold up such a large body."

"Anyway," Ismene raised her voice, "The Senator's report to the Council of Crowns, which are the Kings and Queens. Those classes are super, super rare. Like, in total in the world there are only six. Two Queens, and four Kings that are not to be messed with. I'm talking final boss mode kind of crazy. They are physically and mentally the strongest of any of the Chosen with some myth level Talents."

The notion had Leta morbidly curious. If there were Kings and Queens, where did she fit in all of this? Gada had said that she was a Monarch, but it seemed like the position of actual 'monarchs' had already been filed.

'Where does this put me in the hierarchy?' She asked her nanite interface.

[THE MONARCH CLASS WAS INTENDED TO BECOME THE PINNACLE OF EVOLUTION BY SLOWLY CHANGING THE GENETIC AND MENTAL CAPABILITIES OF HUMANS TO THAT OF AN ATLANTIAN. AS AN TRANSITIONING ATLANTIAN, ALL CLASS SYSTEMS ARE MEASURABLY WEAKER AND NATURALLY SUBSERVIENT TO THE MONARCH CLASS. IN TERMS OF A CLASS HIERARCHY, THE MONARCH CLASS IS ABOVE THE RULER CLASSES.]

She blinked. 'Does that mean that they answer to me?'

"Any questions?"

Leta tensed as she was brought back to the real world by Ismene's question. She'd nearly spaced out of the conversation that she'd been having with the Priestess.

"You seemed deep in thought. I was wondering if maybe you were confused about something.

"Um, no I think I got it. Sects report to Governors, Governors report to Senators, Senators report to the Crowns. Just… trying to figure out my place in all this."

Not exactly a lie, but only scratched the surface of what she was trying to understand.

Ismene smiled, heavy eyes hinting that she was slowly starting to crash again.

"Don't worry, doll. You're crazy important. I'm not talking about the 'you're special' that every mom gives their kid when they come back from school with some really ugly art. The future's I've seen have some crazy endings and a good solid majority go very badly if you're not there to stop it."

Leta blew a breath out and muttered snidely, "No pressure there."

Ismene reached a hand over the table and sloppily tried to put a comforting hand on Leta's arm but ended up slapping the table.

"You're gonna do fine." She slurred, then went face first into the table and immediately started snoring.

Allister rolled his eyes. "A moment, lass. Let ma put her ta bed." He apologized as lifted the Priestess from her seat and carried her off.

Once more alone, Leta turned her attention back to her nanites.

'Gada?'

[AS THE APEX CLASS, THE RULER CLASSES WOULD BE MORE INCLINED TO FOLLOW COMMANDS GIVEN BY THE MONARCH. HOWEVER, THE HOST CURRENTLY DOES NOT HAVE THE COMMAND SKILL SOFTWARE YET. THAT IS A SKILL THAT CAN BE ACQUIRED LATER WHEN THE HOST AS GAINED A HIGHER NANITE CAPACITY AND ACCLIMATED TO OTHER REQUIRED SKILL SOFTWARES.]

Oh boy.

'Command… as in I CAN force them to do as I want?'

[CORRECT. THE COMMAND SKILL SOFTWARE IS A HIGHLY EVOLVED VERSION OF PERSUASION WHICH OVERRIDES ALL OTHER COMMANDS OF A TARGET'S NANITES TO PERFORM A SPECIFIC TASK. SUBMISSION TO THE COMMAND SKILL WAS REPROGRAMMED INTO ALL CLASS SYSTEMS IN ORDER TO ENSURE SUBSERVIENCE TO THE ATLANTIANS THAT THEY WERE MEANT TO SERVE. THE HOST SHOULD TAKE COMFORT IN THE FACT THAT ONLY ATLANTIANS AND THE MONARCH HAVE THE ABILITY TO COMMAND.]

'Yeah, well, that's not really comforting.' Leta thought, fingers twisting in concern.

The old saying 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' came to mind.The idea that she could tell people what to do seemed cool, but could very easily lead to a tyrant.

Or worse.

The notion that someone could even remotely have absolute power meant that there would be people who wanted that control as their own.

One out of nine American presidents had been assassinated.

Just under 22% of all rulers were murdered by the people they lorded over.

In her case, regicide was a real possibility.

Leta chewed her lip in worry.

She may be turning into an alien species, but she was human enough to guess that the Crowns would try to kill her if it was discovered that she could control them.

Ismene's insistence to Atreus that he keep her existence a secret was hopeful, but Leta didn't know how long that was going to last.

'Gada, can I Persuade Atreus to hide me?'

[THE HOST WOULD NEED TO SCAN THE TARGET IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY IF PERSUASION IS POSSIBLE. HOWEVER, THE GENERAL CLASS IS KNOWN FOR IT'S UNWAVERING FOCUS, WHICH MAKES MIND ALTERING SKILLS SUCH AS PERSUASION DIFFICULT.]

Leta gulped. 'So what do I do to keep the Crowns from finding me?'

[RUN, AND PRAY TO THE ATLAN GODS THAT THEY DO NOT FIND YOU.]