CHAPTER 6. THE EPIC SHOWDOWN OF MINDS
These days the Orbal Internet was rapidly growing. Thanks to the chancellor's renovation efforts, it was getting installed almost everywhere in Erebonia now, even in trains. Not that Olivert ever appreciated his efforts, apparently he thought that Orbal Internet was spreading on its own, like a virus. But others did. People were happy that for the first time in their lives they could talk freely to all other people across Zemuria. It was a big mystery why everybody in Zemuria spoke one single language, though...
'So, Your Highness,' Osborne said from across the screen. He was currently located in North Ambria, on a short break from the war effort that involved attacking the theocrathical state of Arteria, governed by the Church of Aidios. 'I repeat once again. As you well know, I'm for social and financial and gender and all around equality for our people. I like things to be fair. Given that you oppose me so passionately, pray tell me what you'd do differently.'
Olivert scratched his head, forgetting for a moment that right now he was a prince and not a minstrel. Sometimes he confused his roles. Especially when he was talking to people who were aware of both of those roles, people like the chancellor.
'I'd do the same,' he said finally. 'Oh and I've never heard of financial and gender equality, only of social. But they sound neat. Now that you mention it, maybe I should add them to my list of revolutionary changes, too.'
Mueller Vander winced. He was standing right by, witnessing this hopeless exchange. The man existed solely to suffer as a nanny to a prince and he bore his life stoically. Few would have strength of will to live through it.
'Then why are we enemies?' Osborne said, with a little bit of sarcasm this time. 'Would Your Highness please come up with a reason?'
'You like to annex countries,' Olivert offered.
'By annex,' Osborne frowned. 'Do you mean that they agree on their own to join Erebonia, because they want to partake in equality and progress that their own leaders won't allow them?'
'Don't make it sound so nice!' Olivert looked upset. Not because he cared for those countries, but because he realized that he could lose the argument. 'The ones who agree are the leaders, people with power. Did you ever ask the masses if they want what you're offering them?'
'I don't need to ask, it's obvious what the peasants think. And I care only for peasants. If initially I have to manipulate the people in power to get to peasants what they need, that's fine with me and should be morally acceptable even for you.'
Olivert was sour and salty and all kinds of distasteful by that point.
'Alright, alright...' He suddenly looked like he had a great idea. 'But what about Crossbell? North Ambria? Those were truly scandalous takeovers.'
'Crossbell is going to benefit from my corruption cleansing politics,' Osborne said with confidence the prince could only envy. 'Ordinary citizens will no doubt appreciate seeing the mafia that plagued them booted back to Calvard and many dehumanizing practices from the Backstreet removed. The common folk like food vendors and librarian NPCs will no doubt be happier once they stop working like slaves without days off. Those unregulated work conditions in Crossbell are intolerable. And on top of that, a minimum wage has to be established by the government, with the law fully prepared to punish those who drive their employees like slaves just for basic survival.'
'Chancellor, you make all of it sound so dramatic!' Olivert facepalmed, forgetting to behave royally again. 'But stop exaggerating. The common folk don't live as badly as you pretend they do, otherwise they'd be dying left and right from hunger and illness. But they live, they eat well, they can afford medicine when they fall ill, they have kids, they've got enough money to raise and clothe and educate them. Where is the poverty you speak of? You're just using it as an excuse to push your hidden sinister agenda... And unfortunately, it's working. People love to hear stuff like that, whole crowds can fall for it in but a moment... And they do.'
'We both paid a visit to Crossbell for the World Trade Conference a few years back. Have you taken that chance to see Crossbell for yourself, Your Highness?'
'Sure, I visited the red light district of theirs, the so-called Backstreet,' Olivert shared with a big smile, not realizing that it was probably something rather shameful to admit in front of Osborne. 'I've been there twice during that visit! And I've been to the Old Town disctrict, too, which they called Downtown in the game, but I'm pretty sure it was meant to be called Old Town...'
(As always, there's no need to smear the prince, he always succeeds to be a fool on his own! :-) Well, he did visit those places in Ao no Kiseki. He kept obstinately singing, unwelcome, on top of a decrepit shop until the owner forcefully kicked him down, then ran back to the red light district that he'd professed to take a great liking to.)
'That's not enough for assessment,' Osborne dismissed the prince's knowledge of Crossbell in one go, just like that. 'Have you visited the apartment blocks strewn all over Crossbell? Have you seen that these people don't even have toilets?'
'Really?' Olivert looked surprised. 'They, too?! In Liberl they don't have toilets, either... I know that from Trails in the Sky games, and I've walked all over Liberl, a country which consists of only 5 towns so it was easy to walk all over... Strangely, they do have plumbing: I've seen sinks, just no toilets. They must have group toilets somewhere outside... No I haven't seen those, either... Oh, I know, maybe their custom is to house toilets in basements, away from prying eyes, and so that's why I've never seen one!'
Osborne tactfully didn't ask how Olivert dealt with the predicament of having never located a single toilet in Liberl. There were some things he just didn't care to know about the prince.
'Leaving the subject of poor hygiene aside,' Osborne said. 'Apartments in Crossbell are tiny and consist of one single room. Whole families have to live there with no privacy. Neither they can move out, as none of them apparently owns their own home.'
'It sounds crammy... But nobody complains, so they must be fine with it. You're overanalyzing it...'
'And how would they complain? Please share your ideas.'
'A revolt?' Olivert shrugged. 'If they cared to, they'd have revolted long ago. But Crossbell is democratic, so they could succeed in changing policies even without having to take up arms. Their government actually listens to them, unlike some people who just impose their policies everywhere they go... Crossbell citizens have never protested their own government, which means they're fine with how it governed them.'
Mueller sighed. It was clear both to him and to Osborne that Olivert knew pretty little about Crossbell.
'Have you been to the main square in Crossbell?' Osborne asked suddenly.
'Maybe?..' Olivert said without much confidence. 'It think I ran through it a few times... I had to run, you see, a police squad was chasing after me, haha...'
'The main square represents the real situation of Crossbell very well,' Osborne said, not at all surprised that police would be chasing after the prince. 'The main square used to be a sight of beauty in the past. But now, with the recent economical boom, it's transformed into a small place walled in with shops from all sides. The main square is now quite dubiously adorned with huge ugly shop signs. Visiting it is like visiting a market, and that's what Crossbell is these days: a bunch of companies who slavedrive people to make a town full of shops for tourists.'
'Are you saying that economical growth is bad?' Olivert looked at the chancellor in mock dismay. 'I'm sure that is not what you imply, but that's how it sounds... Stop clinging to the past, chancellor, the change is inevitable! Pastoral towns turn into big marketplaces, and that's how it's supposed to be'.
Osborne closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to keep his sanity intact while listening to Olivert.
'I'm afraid you're missing my point, Your Highness,' he finally said. 'Change is not at fault, people are at fault. It's always people, only people. Crossbell allows for a lot of abuse. And when something is allowed, those who will abuse it will come.'
Seeing no indication of agreement on Oliverts face, Osborne added:
'To provide an example, the glaring absence of the minimum wage regulation allows businessmen to work people to the bone, with compensation enough just for their basic day-to-day survival... So that they could come back to work next day.'
'I will say it once again, chancellor: nobody complains. Which means they like it the way it is. Why do you insist on imposing your own will on another country, especially a democratic country? They choose to live like that on their own, it's their free choice. To my dismay, I start suspecting that you actually believe in what you're saying, but I doubt it's as dramatic as you want to think it is. It sounds like a conspiracy theory. Poor people exist, but they can't have all been abused to the point of being poor. I believe that some of them are living under unfortunate circumstances, but others are just lazy.'
'Were you to run for mayor in Crossbell, such speeches wouldn't win you the elections.'
'I know that,' Olivert readily agreed. 'And I'd never tell any of this in public... Instead I'd sing and joke, to everyone's delight! People hate it when you tell the hard truth.'
'Or alternatively,' Osborne offered. 'They hate it because it's a lie.'
Standing silently like a statue, Mueller wondered if Olivert really had some believes about the world or if he was merely rebelling against Osborne by being so contrary. He'd never heard the prince talk like that before. Then again, he'd never heard him in a deep conversation before. The prince didn't normally engage in deep conversations.
'So there is a conspiracy...' Olivert rolled his eyes. 'Those who have power or money conspire to oppress all the rest?'
'Yes, but that's not a conspiracy, that's normal state of affairs,' Osborne nodded. 'For centuries that's how humanity had lived, we aren't much different from animals. What I want is to change that, and you start any change by changing believes. The common folk will never rebel if they continue to believe that nobles and royalties are sacred. Or, in Crossbell's case, that people in power can do whatever they want with that power, provided that they got it legally in the first place'.
'So much talk about money,' Olivert shook his head. 'Money this, money that... You complain how greedy people are, but aren't you the one who is obsessed with topic of money the most?'
For a while Osborne was silent, and then he asked, slightly puzzled:
'I have a question for you, Your Highness: why do you oppose social unequality in Erebonia?'
'Oh, but the word equality has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?' Olivert had a chuckle. 'And I'm a nice person, so I want everyone to be equal! It's morally damaging for people to think they're lower than others, and that's much more important than the drivel you've come up with to win crowds over. I do care for dignity of the people, but I don't care for problems that don't even exist.'
Silence fell and Mueller was sure that Osborne would finally cut the orbal network line, exasperated, but he proved to have the patience of an angel and he said:
'Just for the sake of an argument, let's play a game. We'll pretend that I am right about the situation in our world and you'll tell me what I'm still doing wrong if I am right about it.'
Mueller felt curious about the outcome of the game. It almost sounded like Osborne believed that one day the prince would inevitably grow up and realize the truth of the situation and wanted to see what else could keep him in opposition.
It took Olivert five minutes to come up with an answer that he already came up with before:
'You annex countries.'
'And what is the problem with that? Remember that we're still pretending that I am right and the circumstances of their citizens are dire.'
It took Olivert five more minutes and he said, with an unusually gloomy face and with great reluctance:
'The problem is that... you're setting a precedent. Someone else is going to abuse your normalization of annexation policies afterwards, someone will much less... ahem... noble goals.'
Olivert paused after calling Osborne's goals noble. It was unusual for him to believe Osborne even theoretically. He tried to think it over for the first time: were Osborne's goals noble or not, separated from everything else? He couldn't come to a definite conclusion, which was quite a disturbing experience for him, but contrary to what you might think, the biggest reason for his indecision was not the moral complexity of the issue, it was ignorance. The prince really didn't know the basic things, like what Osborne actually did to countries after annexing them. For the first time ever, Olivert realized that none of the games ever elaborated on that point at all. Which made it very easy for him to hate Osborne, since he was against annexations, and without anything else to know about Osborne and how he treated people, the situation looked black and white.
'So, what do you do to the people abroad after stealing their countries?' Olivert asked reluctantly.
'You're a member of the Royal Family,' Osborne reminded. 'Surely you've seen all relevant reports on my activities and can judge the result of my actions for yourself.'
Olivert didn't remember seeing any reports. Ever. But he did remember how in Sky: the 3rd he agreed with Osborne that their goals were the same, only the means to achieve them differed. Which meant that he did see some reports before, he just forgot about them completely… It also meant that since Osborne's goals were the same, he was essentially a good guy - after all, Olivert considered his own goals to be good and noble. Naturally. He was a prince, and all princes in video games were good and noble.
'So what are you…' Olivert winced, recollecting all he'd ever read about tropes on the orbal network. '...an Anti-Villain who thinks that Utopia Justifies the Means? The first Totalitarian Utilitarian of Zemuria?'
'I'm a real person, not a character,' Osborned waved off his attempts to label him. 'But if you insist, I'd rather call myself a Designated Villain. My 'means' are certainly not evil. They could be, if abused after the precedent, as you've pointed it, by someone else. But even that would not change their essentially neutral nature. Human beings are the ones who make things good or evil.'
'But what about the future? We've all seen that one single bullet can put an end to everything...' Olivert paused, looked at healthy Osborne, but decided not to sweat the details. '...And then what? People who want to abuse the precedent will come and do it. And they'll tell everyone they're doing it for the same saintly reasons you did, while in reality they'd do it just for money and power...'
Mueller stared at the prince, shocked. Once the prince realized that he didn't know what Osborne did to those countries and a possibility of something good appeared, he was able to switch gears pretty fast and play their imaginary game unhindered by bias. Afer thinking this, Mueller felt sad that once again he was standing there just to think and react to Olivert's and Osborne's verbal exchange. Ever a prop to tell someone else's story.
'So in your opinion, it's better to be cautious and do nothing? Even if you happen to have the power to make a change?' Osborne shook his head. 'Would you even agree with that logic if you were a peasant suffering from poverty and exaggerated taxes? Imagine prince Olivert stroll by your village, dressed in these luxurious clothes you're wearing now, just to say: live out your life as you do, dear man, I'm too afraid of setting a precedent to make it better.'
'That's not what I'd say!' Olivert objected vehemently. 'I'd crack a joke to make him happy... And I'd limit myself to Erebonia, that's all. How peasants in North Ambria live out their lives is not my responsibility. They chose how to live on their own.'
'Then that's the difference between us,' Osborne shrugged. 'I care for all the poor and the neglected, not just the Erebonians.'
Olivert sighed. Osborne certainly had a talent to make his noblest intentions look near-sighted, sometimes to the point of egocentric.
'The bottom line is,' Olivert commented. 'You really don't care that others who'll come after you will turn everything into a mocking parody of what you did. Now that's near-sighted.'
'People's greed and other flaws of human nature is not my personal responsibility', Osborne said. 'Who am I to be on the lookout for their future sins, a god?'
'But you can take this tendency into account,' Olivert insisted. 'And...'
'And resolve to do nothing?' Osborne frowned. 'Now wouldn't that be a vicious circle… Doing nothing allows the worst to thrive off the rest. But if you do something, eventually the worst will take over anyway… So why bother with a temporary change at all? What a defeatist kind of strategy that would be, your Highness.'
Olivert sighed again. It was impossible to argue with the chancellor. Osborne simply refused to believe in Utopia, unlike what Olivert had originally thought of him when he pinned him to the Utopia-Justifies-The-Means archetype. On the contrary, Olivert realized, he was dead sure that whoever comes next would end up destroying all he'd worked for. Thinking like this, a temporary change he hoped to make was not an entirely bad idea. It mattered little what kind of precedent he sets, if those after him would bring suffering to the world anyway. With or without the precedent.
'Your world is a cold and awful place to be,' Olivert finally said. 'Why don't you try to have some faith in people.'
Rufus Albarea was taking a break from commanding the troops, as well. Just like Mueller, he was listening in, but after the last sentence of the prince he left, more or less content. While the chancellor wasn't looking, he went to his room, dug up a secret orbal phone from his stash and dialed a line to Calvard.
'Everything should be fine,' he reported. 'The prince showed some promise during the test, but at the end of the day I'm much better than him when I fake agreement with the chancellor's values. I'm quite sure that he's going to hint at me as his unofficial successor today. He trusts me more than anybody else in the world.'
In worst traditions of all video games, he suddenly laughed in a 'mwahaha' way, marking himself as a hidden villain revealed. He didn't know why he wanted to laugh like that, it sounded stupid and out of place, but something or someone made him do it.
Then he felt a sudden uncontrollable urge to share some awkward exposition with the person on the phone line:
'When I gain his power for myself, I'll make sure to ruin this country, president Rocksmith of Calvard Republic! I'll announce the first ever Erebonian elections, win them and make sure that Erebonia is so weak that it's no threat to you! I'll run it into the ground with my intentionally incompetent governing! Mwahaha!'
'Why are you explaining what we both already know, Rufus?' The voice of someone, apparently president Rocksmith, sounded concerned. 'And why the creepy laugh? Are you feeling okay, my son?'
Rufus paled.
'I am... your son?' he whispered, dumbfounded. 'Are you serious, president? Please tell me that was just a figure of speech.'
In worst traditions of video games, the president confirmed that he was his father. After all, not only Rean should be able to have a Luke Skywalker moment. With central characters, a trick like this is pandering, the 'I'm-a-child-of-an-important-man!' kind of pandering, but how does a reveal like that feel about a mere NPC? Oh poor Rufus, he now suffers just for us to see and judge the effect of misplaced pandering. He is officially a martyr. R.I.P.
'But I already have a father!' Rufus screamed, still struggling with the truth by wielding the only tool left at his disposal: logic.
'Too bad for him,' The president was merciless. 'That means he's been a damn liar to you, all your life!'
Canceling the orbal phone call, the president chucked. He had no idea that an April Fool's joke like this had already led to one mental breakdown. Rufus was so gullible and fun to mess with that the president couldn't help himself and played along.
'...'
That was what Mueller eloquently thought to himself. The conversation almost turned friendly, or as friendly as a conversation between enemies could be. Friendly in its own twisted way.
'That's right, heretic!' Olivert raged. 'I'll describe your heathen ways in a song, for all to know!'
That outburst happened because the chancellor mentioned the Church and Olivert suddenly remembered that he was waging a war against the Church of Aidios. Like, right now.
If the voting system was to be installed soon, like Osborne wanted, and the Orbal Internet Debates ever became reality, Olivert wasn't going to be a conqueror of people's hearts. Not with jokes and songs, Mueller thought, not with jokes and songs.
He wondered why Osborne decided to spend so much time to talk to the prince today. They've never talked for so long before. Heck, outside of short political arguments, they didn't talk at all and were strangers to each other.
'Time's up,' Osborne said all of a sudden. 'I have a Church to crush.'
Olivert was pacing the room frantically. He needed to stop the chancellor, but he didn't know how.
The army was loyal to the chancellor and not to him. The royal family was mostly just for show in Erebonia these days (all thanks to the chancellor!), so even the emperor couldn't override the war with the Church. The war wasn't popular among the highly religious population, but Osborne's general popularity helped to keep the outrage at bay.
The people whom the prince could ask for help, like bracers, policemen, and various NPCs from previous games, would most likely act like disbelieving villagers at the end of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. For he already invited all of them before just to sit one war out. Even the Ouroboros members were in jail. Dammit. Olivert didn't know why they'd ever agree to help him, but they were in jail anyway. Dammit!
'The Arseille is ready to take off,' Mueller reported, walking into the room. 'I'll ask again: why don't you start using public transport, like the chancellor did since Sky: the 3rd? Arseille costs us a big chunk of taxes to be at your service all the time.'
'I'm a prince, how can I use public transport!' Olivert shook his head in disapproval. 'What would it do to my image?'
'I undertand, but the taxes...'
Olivert was gone before he could finish the sentence.
The prince felt despondent, and the only thing that he could do right now was fly to Liberl and visit Sherazard Harvey. As useless as it was for his country, seeing her would give him, personally, some peace of mind.
