Rise of the Godking

Unbeknownst to Noel and the burly guard, Daneel stood up from his meditative position on top of the huge matrix of crystals and clapped his hands, satisfied with a job well done.

At the base of the crystals, sitting with her back to them was Selene, her eyes still closed and her face showing the pallour of one deep inside a meditative state. In three corners of the room, Mors, Alex, and the old man stood, their attention wandering until now but focused, at the moment, as they watched the two they had been charged with to protect blink, then look around as if everything was new to them.

Daneel was acting out that part, at least, as he couldn't expose that he had been inside a world where only a consciousness could exist multiple times before. He rubbed his eyes, as though he was still adapting to reality, and below him, Selene was going through the same ordeal. Of course, if it was the woman who had latched onto the Will controlling her, no such thing would have happened, but it seemed that they had reached an agreement where Seline would control the body, for the most part.

Getting onto the floor, Daneel smiled and walked in the direction of their targets. Both of them had fallen on the crystals and not been moved ever since, still lying on the glassy substance with peaceful expressions as though it was the most comfortable bed in the whole wide world. The guard, in particular, even grinned a few times, and looking at him, one would believe that he was in the most pleasant dream possible.

Daneel hadn't done much to the man, suspecting that he wouldn't need to. His main target was the bratty kid who had been successfully broken, and if he didn't come back, of course, the guard wouldn't be back, either. Also, anyone with such a personality would want to keep such experiences out of the public eye, and so, Daneel trusted that what happened here would remain secret for as long as they needed it to be, at least.

Feeling the elf's gaze on him again, Daneel frowned. It was getting quite tiring to hide his capabilities from this ancient being, but if he wanted the incredible vault of knowledge that was only accessible to one who belonged to this race, he needed to play along. In fact, the main reason behind it grating on his nerves was that he also considered the elf to be his close friend, and he knew that he could never bring himself to feel good while lying so much to someone he cared about.

It was time to do it again, now, so Daneel braced himself, saying over and over again in his head that it was necessary, and that he would make it up to the elf someway, in the future.

He had to keep up the ruse, so walking to Seline's side, he beamed and said, "Well done! Really, the skill that can be attained with time is remarkable. I never knew that the Will could be used that way, that consciousnesses could be manipulated so…brilliantly! You were incredible! There is so much to learn, and maybe, with this experience, I might even be interested in walking down the path of a Mindmaster, myself! Well, that's for the future, but for now… we succeeded! Good job!"

Seline looked confused, first, and Daneel grimaced as it seemed that she might not turn out to be such a great actor, after all. But thankfully, the woman inside came to the rescue, appearing suddenly from within Seline's mind to bring a calm expression to her face and a steady voice that said, "Of course. You were doubtful whether I could do it, but it all went well. See? You shouldn't question your superiors."

Nodding and trying not to chuckle, Daneel turned to the elf who looked satisfied, for the moment, at least. He was lucky that the ancient being wasn't very well versed in these matters, and hence, he could get away with this lie.

Alex's eyes were on Seline, completely ignoring Daneel as if he didn't even exist. Daneel had seen him frown when that sudden change in character had taken place, but his features were smooth now, again, as Seline returned and nodded, adding her voice to what had just been spoken.

Stepping forward from the part of the wall that the elf had been using as support until now, he said, "There is much I need to learn. When I go back, I will be focusing my studies on this topic which seemed boring when I was presented with it long ago, as I was told I didn't have too much aptitude for the path. I have realized now that knowledge is powerful, whether you can use it or not, so I must gain much more if I am to accomplish anything that I want. So… What next?"

He looked at the motionless body of the brat on the crystals, then, with a complicated set to his eyes, and Daneel knew that there was a question on his mind that he wanted to ask.

Walking to his friend's side, he laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded encouragingly, and sure enough, a few moments later, the elf spoke in his singsong voice.

"How will this event affect the future? His future, in particular, I mean. You told me that you would endeavor to make him realize how much pain he has been causing by inflicting the same pain upon him. You also said that this would not cause him to turn into a blubbering mess, as one might expect in matters such as there. How will he be changed?"

Daneel knotted his eyebrows, surprised at the question as he hadn't expected the elf to be able of dissecting what they had done so much. The answer was ready, though, as he had thought about it before, just like he always did whenever he was fleshing out the details of the plan.

"I always think beforehand about the after-effects of anything that I do. Well, in this case, Jacary tells me that it all depends on the character of a person. Even if someone has grown into who they are due to the influence of everything around them, there is something deep within that is actually formed when one is very young, too young to even understand what these influences are. They will have to fall back on that part of themselves, now. The worst case is that it might rebound, causing him to become someone even crueler if he just throws off the effects of what has happened here…but that seldom happens. I guess we'll just have to wait and see…"

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? You said that we don't have too much time to work with, so let's get on with this evacuation! We need to be gone quickly, right?"

Before Alex's words stopped echoing in the chamber, Daneel looked at all those present and said, "Indeed. The hard part is done, but we must make no mistakes in what follows. All of you know what is expected of you. Act carefully, with tact. In one day, this island shall be no more…and our sacrifice must not be in vain. Let's go!"