“Allow me to repeat what I have already told those who had arrived before you. It is maybe possible that some of your kind have perished, or some important landscape was destroyed by the awakening of my people.”
“I will gladly give my personal excuses to the families of all those who have perished, including compensating them for their loss anyway I can. I will be rebuilding any and all landscapes destroyed to their previous state. However, do not expect even a single coin given to you or the organisation you personally represent. Any objections?”
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The newly arrived guests thought for a few seconds and nodded. They had all felt the immense power that exploded out of Cygislax for a few seconds. They could guess what happened.
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Akhenamen paid special attention to Villia. She was looking everywhere and at everyone. As if she were constantly amazed. He wasn’t surprised; to Villia, this was all a game. A game so realistic and immersive that it felt like real life. Akhenamen was still suspicious of her. He didn’t believe that she was an Authority.
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The System wouldn’t allow any player to start as an Authority when the game launched. So Villia would likely disappear or be erased once Project Rebirth was fully launched. He would hold himself back for now, but he was gonna use [Analyze] on her just before she left.
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“I’m delighted to see everyone is fine with such a solution. Now I will continue where we left off. I do not intend to declare war, to conquer anything. My people will live in Cygislax and Oleron. Our ancestral home. You may all keep anything left in the Prothean ruins in exchange.”
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His “gift” wasn’t really one, as he was pretty sure that no Cygilite would have left their ruin without taking the most important and powerful artifacts, materials, and secrets with them. Most of what remained inside was either worthless or too basic to bring along.
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“We shall remain neutral. I do not know which conflicts oppose which factions. That does not interest me. We are ready to exchange goods and services with anyone willing to accept our neutrality.”
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Akhenamen’s words did not bring any screams of wrath or tears of happiness. Just a silent relief. The Cygilites, allying fully with any faction, would instantly turn their alliance into the strongest on the continent by having three more Authorities. And with Oleron being a hostile land and a death trap for most non-Transcendents, no envoy was eager to claim this land for themselves. It had existed for thousands of years, and for thousands of years, they had tried and failed to conquer or terraform Oleron.
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Seeing no objection, Akhenamen continued.
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“Now we can start talking about potential deals and exchanges with your faction if you so wish. If those words are not enough, I’m willing to sign a contract to prove that we, Cygilites, shall never take the initiative to start a conflict, but we are more than willing to finish it.”
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His words seemed to be enough; someone’s honor was usually enough, as this kind of promise in front of so many powerful beings would be seen as an Oath to the System’s eyes. And breaking an Oath would grant someone the title of Oathbreaker. Something most people would end up seeing when doing an important deal. That kind of title was pretty much a “Don’t trust me” etiquette.
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“Lord Akhenamen… my people would be interested in exchanges of goods, knowledge, and technologies.”
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The Stonelords' envoy swiftly stood up, slamming his thick, rocky hands on the table. He had clearly been waiting for this moment. Akhenamen was familiar with his faction. A sub-race of dwarves who would grant the players access to the subterranean Zenthia called the Deep Roads. They would be one of the factions that would fight for its control alongside the Dwarves (their creators), the Drows, and the Forgotten.
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They had access to a lot of very rare minerals deep under Zenthia. They had deep hatred of the Dwarves and their allies: the Northern Alliance. Their story was quite familiar to the Cygilites, and the exchange of goods with them would bring him many benefits.
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“We are willing to exchange goods and knowledge with the Stonelords, but we’ll take no side in any conflict with another faction present at this meeting. But first allow me to show everyone a simple…presentation of our abilities.”
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All envoys seemed intrigued. They all knew the Protheans and Cygilites had vastly more advanced knowledge and technologies. But none really knew just how advanced it was, even the gnomes only had a vague idea. Akhenamen was gonna make sure all would see the Cygilites true manufacturing abilities with one goal and one goal only: turn Cygislax into the technological and manufacturing center of Zenthia. A place that would never be attacked because of how many people relied on it to function. In a way…Akhenamen was gonna turn Cygislax into China. Without any of the horrible working conditions, Cygilites' factories could function completely independently.
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Akhenamen stood up, the walls around him started to shift and ripple before suddenly lowering themselves, the ceiling rising higher and higher as the floor started to change, taking massive factory-like shapes, instantly starting to produce not just weapons or armors, but even powerful arcanic materials, camouflage, and shield tech arrays.
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That was just on one side; the other showed mechanical warp gates that could transport not just a few people but would instead create a stable passageway from which an entire army could walk through. Able to track anyone going through them. Be locked with a simple command and more. Powerful terraforming machines are turning desert sand into a flourishing field.
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“We Cygilites have known war for longer than some of your races have existed. Now we seek only one thing: prosperity. We can offer it to you too. We simply ask for materials, arcanic research, data of all kinds!”
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A simple deal, it was in the end what that presentation was trying to accomplish… As for the results of that presentation?
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“The Pyrax Empire would be interested in obtaining blades, armors, and having our fields terraformed!"
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“We offer twice more than whatever Pyrax will be offering!”
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“Fuck off, Lucius!”
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“The merfolks would be deeply interested in your automated defenses to protect our cities from Abyssal raids!”
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“Your arcanic materials production would be a great addition to my people.”
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“Do you think you could make holographic projections? It would deeply help my students!”
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Akhenamen felt like he was a teacher in a classroom; everyone was talking over each other, rivalries flared when seeing their eternal rivals or enemies trying to acquire anything that could reinforce them.
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Before Akhenamen could even speak, it was the envoy of the CBZ, the golden dragon, who spoke first and quieted the entire room.
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“SILENCE! Let Lord Akhenamen speak! Bunch of children… Lord Akhenamen, we of the Centralized Bank of Zenthia offer our cooperation in any deals that will be finalized here. We also offer a proposition to link the Cygilites to our bank right away. Free of charge, of course.”
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“I would be glad to do so, Lord Aquilius, but we should do so later. Let’s not slow down my guests. To all who will wish the Cygilites help… do write it as is required by the bank of Zenthia. Checked by Aquilius, and if Lord Aquilius could help an old construct like me obtain the best deals, I would be deeply grateful to the CBZ.”
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***
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Akhenamen had to admit, having one of the direct backers of a continent-spanning bank checking your commercial deals and helping you negotiate the best possible deal was a true cheat on its own.
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His thoughts might be working far beyond what a human could conceive, but it did not mean he had miraculously obtained knowledge related to being a good negotiator. Most of what his future self had given him were plans for weapons, armor, new bodies… stuff to lead a war and strengthen himself. Not how to actually be a bureaucrat.
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Aquilius' past was unknown, but if someone told Akhenamen he had been an assassin, he would have believed them. The Golden Dragon was a real cutthroat in business, making sure every deal was advantageous to the Cygilites without restraining the benefits obtained by the other factions too much.
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One entire day passed where all factions came out with their own form of deals. Some very minor items like the Adventurer Association, are looking for Appraisal Lens, Holographic Quest Boards, and Medi-Gels. The purpose of each of those is easily guessed from its name.
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Some like the “big three” (Covenant, Empire, and Alliance), having obtained weapons, armors, and some more personalized requests. The most popular product being the Warpgate, that were soon named the Cygi-Gates, every faction had asked for a private network of them to be built within their territories with the guarantee that Akhenamen would keep every network fully separate.
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The Council of Zenthia was coming to an end, and the great changes that would come in the following years would change Zenthia forever. The Cygilites' work would become fundamental mechanics used by the players: the Cygi-Gates, the Appraisal Lens, and Medi-Gels.
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The Cygilites would become the “mysterious robots of Zenthia”. A real mystery that would fascinate the players for quite a few expansions. All are wondering what the lore of those strange constructs could be.
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And Villia, her eyes twinkling with marvel, was seeing its birth. There she knew it… with such developed AIs, so much realism, such amazingly integrated mechanics to the lore… their games were gonna be a fucking hit.
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