10. Reward #2
“I was just thinking about YouTube the other day and how I used to love watching so many channels.” Gemma’s fingers intertwined around her cup tightly.
Her eyes were distant as she remembered.
“Reaction and unboxing channels, let’s plays and story times.
But that’s all gone. All television and movies are gone.
Video games and comics are gone. I mean, I guess we can still find some old copies and maybe people might make more, but they’ll be limited.
We might not even know they’re being made because there’s no internet anymore so who will hear about it?
I know I’m forgetting stuff that used to be normal .
And it’s only been five years. What’s going to happen in ten years, twenty or more? ”
Rhalyf thought of the civilizations that the Kindreth had uncovered in the Under Dark.
Some were simply wiped out with no one remaining and only their ruins left behind.
The Kindreth scholars would scour them, meticulously cataloging everything, and then pouring over all they’d discovered.
But the truth was that most of those civilizations were lost forever and would never be known.
While in other cases there would still be a tribe or two remaining, but all they would have was vague histories, fables or fairy tales about the past. They had no real knowledge of who and what they had been before.
Their greatness, too, was lost. Would humanity become like that?
“It must feel worse for you, Finley, and the older people here,” Gemma remarked. “You can remember more than me. Things have changed so much for you and them.”
Finley’s expression was surprisingly mild. “Sure, there are some things that I’ll miss. The internet especially considering how much knowledge was freely available to everyone. That is definitely something I wish we still had.”
“But?” Rhalyf prompted softly.
Finley shrugged finally. “We might have lost a lot of things, but we’ve gained a whole lot more. And we’ll figure out ways to entertain ourselves again. There will be some new versions of YouTube and the internet eventually.”
“Humans born after us won’t know any of those things though. They won’t be the same as us,” Gemma pressed. “They’ll grow up knowing only this . How we are now.”
“Which is?” Rhalyf prompted her this time.
She looked down at her tea. “I don’t know. Everything’s… I don’t know.”
But he had a feeling that she did know. Humans being afraid and unable to take care of themselves.
Human culture being reduced to junk and trash, being slowly eliminated overall.
Humans having to adjust to being second-class on their own world.
It was not a pretty picture and the fact that Gemma saw this at her young age just showed how intelligent and thoughtful she was. , too
Finley reached over and covered one of her hands with his.
“Gemma, we’re going to find our way and our place.
People,” and here he cast a narrow-eyed glance at Rhalyf, “are underestimating us. Think about it. Humanity has never had claws, fur or fangs, but we managed to wrestle the entire natural world to our will from animals that are far better set up to defend themselves. Believing we can’t make this new world work for us is a bet no one should take. We’re nothing if not adaptable.”
Gemma nodded and let out a breath. “Right. Normally, that’s considered a bad part of humanity. But you’re right. We’ll figure it out.”
Rhalyf wondered if that was true though he hoped it was.
“Oh! There’s Sally! Finley, is it okay if I go over and say hello?” Gemma asked, indicating another girl her age who had entered Cara’s Place with what appeared to be her father.
“Sure. We have time enough to shop before we need to head back,” Finley assured her.
Gemma got up and raced over to her friend, leaving them alone again.
This was when the awkward silence fell. Rhalyf was certain that Finley wanted to ask him things about magic.
And he wanted to ask the young man things about Declan and Illithor.
But neither of them felt quite capable of going first.
“So… what exactly is your plan for this evening? What do you need to get here?” Rhalyf finally asked, knowing he needed to slide gently into this.
Finley twitched his glass between his fingers. “Are you really interested?”
Rhalyf shrugged. “Normally? Perhaps not.”
Finley actually gave him a crooked smile. “At least you’re honest about that.”
“Yes, well, I feel with you I can be,” Rhalyf admitted. Finley seemed to react far more poorly to lies and small talk than to blunt truth. “But, as I said, I actually am interested in this.”
Finley lifted his chin up. He had a rather delicate-boned face.
Some would say it almost elfin though really what intrigued about it was the contrasts.
Finley was all peaches and cream complexion with wide blue eyes and a soft, almost doe-ishness about his movements, but then there was his mind.
He was incredibly sharp and incisive and driven.
There was a ruthlessness underlying that softness, which, in the Kindreth world, would have made Finley both predator and prey.
Which he ended up being would have been determined by how truly ruthless and powerful he could become and how quickly he could accomplish both.
“You’re interested in my game ?” Finley narrowed his eyes at him.
“I’m interested in the Big Bad–that’s what you called him–of your game: Vex. Or rather, I should say, I am curious why you are so interested in him,” Rhalyf explained.
Had Declan told Finley something about himself? Let something slip? But no, the boys seemed completely oblivious to what Declan really was.
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Finley took off his glasses and polished them assiduously with a clean cloth.
“No, not really.”
Finley let out a disgusted sound. “He’s the most powerful Mage the planes have ever known. His heritage is not especially storied.”
“That depends on who you ask.”
“They weren’t wealthy or powerful,” Finley said.
“I mean… according to the books I found. The authors tried not to give too much credit to this, but it’s clear that Vex came out of a no-name family with no contacts and simply earned his way up through out of the box thinking and incredibly hard work.
No one expected anything of him and then… he became what he became.”
Rhalyf pursed his lips. “Put that way, I now understand why he appeals to you. You see yourself in him: someone who can rise to greatness from nothing.”
“Well, no, I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think I could be anywhere near as powerful or anything.
But I admire his doggedness.” Finley shifted in his seat.
“He is also known as the most evil being out there. Even if a fraction of the things claimed about him are true, he’s likely a sociopath, at best.”
“And at worse?”
Finley bit his lower lip. “Someone who knows and feels what he is doing is wrong on a deeply moral level, but does it anyway. He’s able to simply act even if it hurts him, because he feels he must.”
“And you feel that is worse?”
“Yes, because that kind of… of strength is terrifying. The sociopath feels nothing. So it costs them nothing to be evil. But if he isn’t a sociopath.
If he feels and thinks like we do then… then it is through sheer force of will that allows him to behave that way,” Finley answered and looked deeply disturbed.
“Do you expect the heroes in your game to defeat him? If you really played him to form, do you think they could?” Rhalyf asked.
“No,” Finley admitted with a shake of his head. “No, they couldn’t. Not unless…”
“There is no unless, Finley. They couldn’t.”
“Unless he chooses to let them win,” Finley suddenly said.
Rhalyf let out a choked laugh. “Vex allowing someone else to win? I think not.”
“So there would be no reason you could see why Vex would allow himself to be beaten?” Finley asked.
“Not unless it allowed him to win a greater victory down the road. You’ve read about him and thought about him alot, do you really think there could be any other reason?” Rhalyf challenged.
This wasn’t a serious conversation. Or it shouldn’t have been.
He’d been in his uncle’s presence a mere handful of times, but he couldn’t forget any of them.
He’d seen what Vex did to his enemies and what he was willing to do to win.
Finley hadn’t and he prayed he never would.
Yet he found himself interested in hearing what this intelligent, driven young man had to say.
“There was a time in the past when he wasn’t that way,” Finley said quietly. “When he had friends and family he cared about very deeply.”
“Perhaps. But, knowing him, they were likely just pawns in his rise to power or, as I told you, people he collected to keep their power to himself,” Rhalyf shrugged. “So if you want to be true to Vex in your game, your heroes will never win. It will be Vex alone who remains.”
“Well, perhaps you’re right. It will be fitting then, I guess, where I’m having the game tonight,” Finley said.
“Not at the Dawn?” Rhalyf lifted an eyebrow.
“No, I’m…” Suddenly, Finley bit back his words and watched Rhalyf carefully as he asked, “Why do you know so much about Vex? Every Aravae I’ve ever met has only known the boogeyman version of him. They’ve never had anything good to say. But you… you talk about him differently. Why?”
“Maybe I admire him too.”
Finley’s eyes became invisible as the reflections in his glasses obscured them. “Considering how powerful a Mage you are, Rhalyf, that would make you…”
“What?” He asked lightly, but he felt as if he’d maybe said too much.
“Very dangerous,” Finley answered.