The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]

Sometimes, there were times when Aliana could not believe her luck. She had come out of the meeting with Malam with everything she wanted. And better yet, there would be no blood spilled like in the other Epan insurrections. What Aliana was going to do here would become the new gold standard in overthrowing governments. Well, Aliana was the poster-girl, but it was all Malam’s work. Before this meeting, Aliana had always considered the woman to be a spymaster and nothing else. Arascus’ diplomat, who was confident and persuasive and that was that.

Not anymore though. Over the meal, once Aliana had convinced herself and Malam that this was what needed to happen, then the Goddess of Hatred had truly started to shine. The woman did not contain herself with morality or reasoning. There were no grandiose statements about the nature of power nor was there any need to provide some justification. After spending so much time around Richard, it was a breath of fresh air to listen and watch Malam as the Goddess laid out her creation.

Malam, in the span of an hour, managed to lay out point-by-point plan to seizing power specifically tailored to Allia. It was so simple that a child could follow it. Aliana almost felt bad, because it was everything she wanted and all Malam had asked for in return was a keg of top-end Allian whiskey.

To think that people said Arascus did not reward ingenuity. It was such an obviously slanderous accusation that Arascus did not pay it any mind apart from the times when he could gloat at how wrong it was. And right now, with Jorg Aval nervously showing off his creation to everyone that needed to know. Arascus had allowed the man to come dress however he wished and he had chosen a horrible white shirt and shorts that looked terribly out of place in comparison to the other company in the room.

Arascus, in his standard black Imperial uniform, stood in the side of the room, mainly so that he could gauge the reactions of the audience. It was a dull place, a simple warehouse secured on short notice by Helenna and then guarded by a full division of Iliyal’s men. The elf was here, although Arascus knew the general well enough to realise when the elf was unhappy to be somewhere. He would never show it, but it was obvious in how straight he kept his back and how stern his gaze was that the man thought he had better things to do.

Generals Sokolowski, Zalewski and Ekkerson had been recalled from Kirinyaa for this one meeting and demonstration. The two Lubskan men were the most casually dressed after Jorg Aval. Both men were in dirtied and ashy clothes and grey shirts. Neither of them had bathed for this occasion, although Arascus didn’t particularly mind. Kassandora trained her men to only care about looks when they were going to be judged. Ekkerson stood in full-uniform though, the man had a row of fresh-skin over his face, where he had been healed by a cleric and his hair had been shaved off, but he looked relieved to be away from the Uriamel front. Olephia and Elassa were moving onto their third city tomorrow and Uriamel was starting to sweat. Already, they had accepted yesterday’s proposal. That wasn’t good enough though.

Helenna was here too, because she had to see the Hound-One in preparation for a propaganda campaign. The Goddess of Love had slithered out of her Lubskan mansion in full Imperial uniform, complete with cap and red cape. And finally, Paida, Olonia and Saksma had been brought to attend. They had gotten invitations, but Arascus had not expected any of them to miss today. Jorg finished his presentation as everyone watched the robot move from side to side. “It has a battery life of eight hours for now, but we should be able to mount additional batteries to extend it and the Bureau is looking for more efficient tech in this regard too.”

Hound-One moved the arm on top of its body from side to side as it automatically followed Jorg’s hand. Arascus smiled at it, still impressed. “That is everything.” Jorg said awkwardly and then bowed. Arascus gave them man a few claps. The three humans joined in. The rest merely looked at the robot in confusion.

“If you have questions or suggestions, then now is the time to ask. We have all evening.” Arascus proclaimed loudly, his voice booming through the warehouse. Iliyal made a move first, he looked at the Divines, then stepped forwards after seeing they weren’t going to ask anything yet.

The elf walked to the Hound and walked around it. The robot did not react to him whatsoever. He gave it a push in the same way that Jorg did during the demonstrations. The Hound fell to its side, and then caught itself with a quick movement of its legs. “Impressive certainly.” Iliyal said. “It can move the arm, can it aim?”

“It can.” Jorg said.

“So if I stuck my gun into the hand, would it shoot?” Iliyal asked. Jorg answered in an apologetic tone, as if genuinely sorry that his robot did not live up to Iliyal’s expectations.

“It wouldn’t be difficult to program it to shoot. It throws already and that is much harder.”

“Hmm.” Iliyal said. “And repairs? You said eight hours of battery but what is that in range? Let’s say we got it moving in a straight line, how far would it get?”

“That depends on terrain and speed but…” Jorg did some quick maths. “Over rubble, maybe eighty kilometres? On a straight road, double that.”

Saksma whistled at the news and Olonia looked shocked. Those two were the most impressed by it. “How hard can the terrain be?” And then the elf shook his head. “Actually nevermind, this technology you have. I mean in here.” Iliyal tapped the rectangular body of the hound. “The computer that runs it, how adaptable is it?”

Jorg looked to Arascus and the God shrugged. “I don’t understand the question General.” The engineer replied after a moment.

“Could we mount it onto a plane? A tank? A car?” Arascus smiled, this is why he brought Iliyal, because he himself would have never had the thought of automating tanks and cars.

“Oh.” Jorg said. “Yes, of course. Easily in fact.”

Helenna stepped in. “You mean you want robot cars?”

“It would be harder for mass, commercial purposes.” Jorg said. “That… well, we have a man working on that system already. The issue isn’t one of design at this point, it’s of programming.”

“We’ll find the men.” Arascus said and assigned the job immediately. “Helenna, you’ll see to it.”

“Of course.” The Goddess of Love said. “It won’t be difficult when we have this already.” She waved to the machine. “It’s exciting, been a long time since we saw something new.”

“I’m declaring the creation of a new Imperial Bureau of Robotics. Jorg, you’re going to run your own department. If you can’t handle the bureaucracy, then someone will do it for you but we’re going to be funding these projects. That’s why I brought you Generals, because I assume you’ll see any obvious flaws.” Iliyal nodded and shrugged.

“Without field testing, I can’t say much. I don’t like the legs on instinct though.”

“Why not?” Arascus asked, he knew that the engineer never would. It was obvious from how the man was forcing himself not to cower and step back from the elf, a full head taller than him.

“It’s too many moving parts. I don’t need to send this to the garages to know they’ll hate it.” The other human generals laughed at that comment from the elf. Arascus nodded though, it was stupid, but it made sense. With the amount of moving parts in those legs and how thin they looked. Well, it was true, once something went, so did the entire machine. “Personally, I’d prefer something on a chassis and treads.” Iliyal knelt down to the robot as Jorg brought out a piece of paper to write it down. “What are the chances we’ll see better batteries soon?”

“I don’t know, that’s not my department.” Jorg answered honestly. Arascus made a note to focus some research onto that too. If they were going to field robots, then better batteries were needed. And they would serve the civilian sector too.

“Then with a bigger chassis, we could mount a diesel engine on it whilst the battery technology isn’t there yet. For field testing if for nothing else. Produce enough to outfit a division or two for the Rancais invasion and do our field testing.”

“I was considering using them against Anarchia.” Arascus said. “If she steals humanity as Fer said, then what is better.”

“I actually had the same idea the moment I saw it.” Paida said.

“I think we all did.” Iliyal replied with a wry smile. He tapped the Hound-One. “This though isn’t big enough. At best, we could mount a machine gun on it. At best.” He stressed that final sentence and stepped back into rank. “That’s it though.”

“I have an issue actually.” General Sokolowski said. He smiled and looked to General Zalewski. “I think you’ll know what it is?” The man raised an eyebrow as Damian Sokolowski indicated with his palm flat along his belt. And Zalewski smiled too.

“I do.”

“What is it?” Helenna asked.

“The ash goes up to your belt in certain spots.” Sokolowski said as Zalewski nodded along.

“I’ve seen vehicles get lost in it. We have to cut through roofs to get the men out.” The other general added.

“This.” Sokolowski pointed to the Hound-One. “It won’t work, it just won’t. I can see already it’s not cut out for the ash.”

“I wouldn’t risk sending it into an ash storm either.” Zalewski said.

“That’s another one. There’s obviously too many exposed joints.”

“What would you recommend then?” Arascus asked and the two generals looked at each other.

“How far can I go?” Sokolowski asked. “Because realistically, there is no easy change to be made, no quick fix. But if we are working with the realm of fantasy, then have it fly.” Arascus turned to Jorg.

“That’s possible. Easier in fact than making it walk. It will just not be able to carry as much.”

“The biggest issue is scouting.” Zalewski said. “And speed. We use high-altitude drones but in the grey ash, bandits and smugglers blend into the terrain. Something like a helicopter but mass produceable.” Helicopters were already mass-produceable, it was simply that Zalewski and Sokolowski needed a machine for every squad. Land vehicles in the ash moved at marching pace.

“I’ll work on something.”

“This is why we’re creating a Bureau specifically for robotics.” Arascus said. “And Ekkerson? What do you think?”

“I have nothing to say about it.” The general in charge of Kirinyaa’s coasts said. “There’s obvious practical application like pulling wounded men to safety or ferrying ammunition under fire but it is only minor things like this. Realistically, I would rather that we use the manpower and factories to build more cannons and missiles rather than these toys.”

“What if you could devise one that wasn’t this?”

“Then as General Tremali said, I would like to mount it onto a tank.” And then he thought for a moment more. “How expensive are they to make though? Realistically, how cheap could they become?”

“Very cheap realistically. If we got rid of the legs and make them into wheels for urban terrain, then they’d… well, no more expensive than a rifle.” Jorg said.

“They could serve as walking mines, or if we are able to make them fly, then low-altitude bomb carriers or just straight-up suicide drones.”

“That’s a good one.” Iliyal affirmed as Arascus looked over the four generals with satisfaction. The robot was grand for now, but it needed practical application and there was no one better at practicality than military men like this. Suicide drones? That was something Arascus would never think of, but once said, it was simply obvious. Mount a powerful explosive on this, and even Anarchia would be blown up.

“This machine.” Iliyal said as he pointed to the Hound. “I don’t like, make it bigger with the capacity to carry multiple backs, then it can be an ammunition carrier.”

“We could have it carry steel plates too to serve as portable barriers.” Zalewski said as he made a motion of slamming a plate into the ground. “They wouldn’t have to be big, only enough for a man to crouch or lie down behind but thick enough to stop small arms fire.”

“That’s another way it could be used.” Iliyal said as he looked to Arascus. “But I still have the issue of cost. These are luxuries and toys, more heavy vehicles would be far more beneficial now.”

“In the short term, yes.” Arascus agreed with the elf. Iliyal wasn’t even wrong, the Hound-One was impressive kit and yet it was useless as anything but an expensive toy. Everything they had discussed here was merely theory. Yet Arascus could see a future where it was one man commanding a whole squad of these. And he could see a future where Paradeisius and Tartarus once again overwhelmed the Empire through sheer numbers. The bottleneck in advancement had always been the number of people. “But it’s decided already so make use of them.” Arascus said.

“Then I will. Everything that was covered should be taken into account.” Iliyal said to Jorg. “Automated tanks should be last. Work on flying drones and squad-level supply carriers first.”

“I will make sure it’s done.” Jorg said as Arascus stepped in. He could tell the humans were finished by now, so the nitty gritty details had to be covered.

“The Imperial Bureau of Robotics, the IBR for short, will be headquartered in Doschia.” Arascus began. “It will be financed by Imperial coffers without a token of investment. Magicians will be brought in to assist with construction, a compound location is to be selected within a week, it is to be ready for service within the month. That is ready for service, not completed. Two different things.”

And Arascus got into the details. Lubska, without many trained engineers, would step in to takeover from Doschia’s simpler industry in order to free up Doschia’s factories and engineers from production of common products. Doschia, on the verge of collapse, would be given a de-facto monopoly on robots for the immediate future, until other nations stepped in. Although a Lubskan branch of the IBR would be opened too and a Rancais one too. That latter one had to wait until after the country was freed though. There was some slight discussion. A Doschia would train Lubskan engineers to pass on the talent, but Olonia did not demand any concession.

But it was Helenna’s job that was the most important here. Arascus had only explained the basic details, but the woman would need a private meeting later to make sure she understood exactly what they were doing here. For now, everyone was told about the sheer secrecy of the operation here and how not a word of the Hound-One was to be spilled to anyone. And Arascus thought of what he wanted to say to Helenna because Hound-One’s real purpose was not to serve as some technological stepping stone in the advancement of better robots. Instead, this robot was going to be a spiritual leap for all mankind. It had to be. Chances like this only came about once in a blue moon, Arascus would not let it pass again.

If Divines were shaped by mortal ideals, stereotypes and thoughts about a subject, then how far could the concept be pushed? Elassa and Kavaa, both Worldbreaking-breed, were both bitter and spiteful. There had been plenty of philosophical written about the true nature of healing and why Kavaa’s hurt. The fact it did may have even forever tainted the notion of painless healing and made it a dream. Yet Arascus had always gone with a simpler solution as to why Kavaa’s healing was so painful. She had come out of a time when the world knew nothing but pain, so she had permanently stained by that notion.

Likewise, the idea of a subservient Divine to be wielded, as farcical as it was, already existed. The Weapon Divines, like Aslana of the Sword and Labrys of the Axe, were tools to be used. They were powerful individually and they were full of character, but their power came out when they were wielded. They needed to be held in mortal hands, because only mortals needed to hold weapons and then they were bound to be wielded by their user. If someone managed to trick Aslana into becoming her wielder, the woman would not be able to stop whatever slaughter was wrought until she was dropped.

Arascus would have once given up on the theory, but Allasaria had taken the last step. She had proven it was possible to indeed manufacture a God. Waeh. The God of Servitude and of Humility, who apparently had been the total opposite of Arascus in every way, even down to the fact he had lost. And if Allasaria, the petulant Goddess of Light, could do it, then why could Arascus, the glorious God of Pride, not?

Arascus greatest theory would be put to the test with this robot dog that walked from side on the stage. A Divine subservient in nature, made to amplify and work for humanity rather than lead them. A Divine that was not the conception of subconscious but a design work of planners. A Divine that, if it worked, would serve as the basis for the mass production of Divinity. It did not have to be powerful, it did not need powers, it did not require some blessing. All it needed to was to exist, because once it existed, it proved its own existence. And once that barrier of artificial, mass-created Gods was broken for the first time, it would not be rebuilt. Belief would validate itself and become certain, objective truth, and then it would only be a matter of time to create a second. A third. A fourth, tenth, hundredth, thousandth and millionth.

Not a God of Machines but the first God-Machine.