My time estimates are always off. I thought this would take 1.5-2 hours tops. Instead it took like 2.5 hours.
It also occurs to me that the "necromancy" is more like revival, which is often attributed to holy powers. Oh well. Mind control probably fits under necromancy-like magics.
Necromancer Kisaragi (2)
Although the temptation may be great, it is highly recommended that one should not resurrect one's friends and/or relatives through zombification, as that process pulls them out of their afterlife and their actions in the material world may affect where they end up after their final living deaths. This is especially so if you wish to start a zombie legion, as legions most often kill other living beings.
If you do choose to resurrect your loved ones, it is advisable to do so after taking over the world, as a soul can only be retrieved from the afterlife once, after which it cannot be stolen again. As a result, reviving a loved one before accomplishing world domination risks their eternal death and/or damnation depending on the choices you force them into.
- The Online Guide to Necromancy: How to Start Your Zombie Legion!
It took exactly two years, three months, two weeks, three days, two hours, and three minutes for Shintaro Kisaragi to take over the world. From his first announced attack to the surrender of the UN, Shintaro's world domination went swell. It had been fairly obvious that Shintaro was going to win the war, given the vast applications of necromancy.
As creatures revived from necromancy appear identical to their original forms, it was nigh impossible to tell who had survived an attack, and who had… been converted. Humans were a social species after all; they wanted to hope that their loved ones were still alive and perfectly well. Shintaro left the zombies in the UN's care for up to a full year, until one day he forced them all into action, seizing control from the inside. It also helped that Shintaro had managed to take control of a vast majority of their nuclear missiles.
Regardless of how, Shintaro had done it. Shintaro had taken over the world, and in that, he found solace. Yet still, because of why he did it, there were those who wished him harm. After all, all the experts on necromancy knew that killing the necromancer would dispel the revived and let them return to the afterlife.
Shintaro thwarted at least six murder attempts and three coup d'eats. In fact, it was ridiculously easy to; because Shintaro had had bugs all around the globe that transmitted information into the supercomputers he'd taken control of. By using their reproductive organs, despite being zombies, the bugs easily replenished their numbers.
Perhaps the UN hadn't expected Shintaro to be capable of controlling several trillion organisms simultaneously, but it wasn't too difficult. By using a network of superior to inferior command, he could relay information instantaneously through the mind link that connected them all.
Some zombies weren't even aware that they were zombies. Shintaro had revived them and not informed them, and locked them in a one-way information pathway. The Prime Minister of Canada had worked nicely for this. Being in the far north, many countries retreated into Canada. No one expected Canada to betray them. It was more like no one expected Canada to do anything noteworthy in general, but that served just as well.
And so, having taken over the world through a rather complex system of complete domination of other life forms, Shintaro had to wonder.
What could he do after?
What was there to do once completing his goal?
What could he do upon achieving world domination?
In the end, it came down to the one thing that Shintaro knew was more difficult than world domination. World peace.
Ayano, his "right hand" had made many suggestions over the years, always pushing the idea of peace over domination. Although Shintaro had never agreed initially, he could see why it would be a challenge.
What peace is depends on the opinion of the one thinking. A scenario peaceful to one may be chaotic to another. Similarly, that same thinking would apply to domination, except one is much simpler than the other.
Domination requires dominating. By overpowering the world's greater countries, that could be described as "dominating", because Shintaro had swept them all with relative ease.
But peace? Peace was still something that Shintaro wondered about. Despite achieving world domination, insurgents were common here and there. Although they would never say it anywhere they thought unsafe, few were happy about the management changes of the Earth. Fewer still were glad to have zombies regulate them, even if the zombies perfectly resembled humans and more often than not replicated the adopted human's speech patterns.
Even if Shintaro had taken over the world, peace was still far from sight. Even kept under one banner, one solid rule, peace wasn't guaranteed.
With the implied challenge from Ayano, Shintaro decided to take it into his own hands to provide this mythical "peace". Shintaro worked day and night regulating the zombies and the humans, negotiating with terrorist groups, everything and anything he could to resolve any conflict that came up instantaneously. Having millions of zombies to help worked, as when told, zombies could effortlessly pitch in as much as their bodies allowed.
It took another six months before things settled down on a global scale. If Shintaro so wished it, zombies didn't need sustenance, nor did they require hunger pangs. By reducing the load on the planet by enormous levels, millions more could eat.
Global warming was a bigger issue, and a much more difficult one. Yet Shintaro managed to abolish fossil fuel usage in those six months.
Shintaro did many things, solving problems left and right. It wasn't long before he could say that yes, he had indeed brought about peace on a large scale.
Still, Ayano could point out new challenges, as the one person Shintaro spoke to on a regular basis. Whether it be the satisfaction level of workers, the tolerance level of the zombies who retained self-awareness, the fear of death, whatever it was, Shintaro worked the miracles he could.
In doing so, Shintaro became the whole of humanity's first great dictator, as well as their most benevolent ruler, his every action prompted by Ayano's humanitarian nature.
This great empire would take years to fall if ever, and the only seemingly possible cause for its fall would be Shintaro's death. Even then, that was years away. Shintaro was in his mid twenties by the time he had fulfilled both the tasks of "World Domination" and "World Peace".
As Shintaro was able to control the growth and development of those he had resurrected, or anyone whose mind he'd infected, Shintaro had allowed Ayano to age naturally alongside him. Although Shintaro had told her that he could make her virtually immortal, with a perfect metabolism and whatever body she wished, even to get rid of the menstruation cycle, Ayano had declined it all. Shintaro supposed that Ayano wanted to be the her she would've been, had she grown up in a different place in a different world.
Despite this, Ayano was still oddly herself, even after all the years of domination and peace and warfare. Shintaro found himself comfortable around her, the only human being that he felt this way towards.
Then Ayano combusted.
Literally.
Shintaro had given Ayano one thing he didn't give to a single other living human in the world: privacy. Through some way or another, every single human in existence, and quite a number of the larger animals were under watch by some form of zombie, whether it be a fellow human, or an insect or other animal. Yet Shintaro had told his zombies to shut down their sensory input to his mind when they got within a certain distance of Ayano, as to preserve her privacy.
This, Shintaro supposed, led to their downfall.
Shintaro had had no time to think about this while alive, of course. Shintaro had been much more agitated about Ayano's death, lividly outraged at the event in life. In death though, ignoring the burning hot baths, Shintaro had plenty of time to think.
"Ayano is dead sir." The oddly calm voice of a mindless zombie resounded through Shintaro's headset.
Dead? All zombies were dead. Shintaro wondered if the mindless zombie had been told to say that by Ayano. Ayano was, after all, the only person who could send orders to zombies involving him. This particular mindless one was programmed to tell news or information in the complete truth no matter the circumstances. Still, it was odd for Ayano to exercise her privileges over other zombies.
"Ayano was always dead." Shintaro replied in a monotone. He stretched, cracking his back while he was at it, and went back to playing his FPS.
"Ayano has died for a second time sir. You know what the second death means." The mindless zombie's voice came over the headsets again.
Shintaro froze. Indeed Shintaro was well aware of the fact that if a zombie dies for the second time, they cannot be resurrected anymore.
"Sir, I am not lying. Ayano accidentally let a fireplace grow too strong, and she was set alight. No zombies were allowed to transmit you this information, as the ones in the room were also burnt before they could exit the perimeter required to transmit to you. Although the cleanup crew finished repairing the room, we were unaware Ayano had been in the room until we recently checked the security footage a minute ago. Ayano Tateyama is permanently dead to this plane of existence."
What? Ayano was gone? The momentary shock was strong enough to let Shintaro almost die to his not-quite rival, Lightning Dancer Ene. Shintaro was down to twelve health when he obliterated the opposing avatar. Close.
"That's a funny joke." Shintaro told the zombie. "Tell Ayano she almost got me."
"Sir, this is not a joke."
"Shut it." Shintaro hissed into the headset.
"Yes sir."
Shintaro browsed through his database of knowledge, as provided by the sensory inputs of trillions of living organisms, a number that was constantly growing. He narrowed the input down to the zombie in charge of watching the monitors, another nameless mindless zombie.
Shintaro watched, as Ayano was burnt alive. The fire spread quickly, too quickly. Ayano had been taking a nap in front of the fireplace, and it caught so rapidly, engulfing the woman almost immediately. Shintaro watched, as Ayano struggled to get to the door, but failed. Shintaro observed her demise, the room's natural anti-fire countermeasures much too late to change anything.
"Dammit!" Shintaro swore, tearing off his headset and throwing it across the room, not caring that the fragile material had shattered into two. Just like his mind.
Shintaro felt the urge to hit something. Anger, frustration, hatred, all of these welled up inside of him, just asking to be let loose, to be free in the world.
So, Shintaro let them. Shintaro let out his anger, in person, through the zombies he controlled, through every possible form he knew. Maybe it was childish, to be so infuriatingly mad over one's death, but Shintaro had never prided himself on maturity. After all, hadn't world domination been a dream of his turned reality?
And so, Shintaro pounded his firm, neat desk with his hands, ignoring the pain that rose from his bloody appendages. Around the world, millions of humans followed suit, letting off their stress by doing anything they felt would make them feel better.
In five short minutes of utter anguish, Shintaro had managed to cause six hundred thousand deaths. Only human deaths, mind you, not zombie, not any other life forms. Just humans. Then the pain flooded back into Shintaro's mind and he shut off his connection to the zombies.
Why was Shintaro so worked up? It was the loss of one zombie. He had lost millions in the war, and gained billions back. If it was because of her status as a zombie, then there was nothing to regret in her passing. If anything, it meant that the current safety standards were sub-par and needed immediate rectifying.
But Shintaro evidently hadn't seen Ayano as just a zombie. Who was she to him?
Who was Ayano Tateyama to Shintaro Kisaragi?
Ayano Tateyama was many things. To define her as one would be an insult to her character.
Physically, Ayano Tateyama was a zombie, one of the first Shintaro had ever brought back from the grave, and the one he'd possessed for the longest. She had been with him through thick and thin, bad times and good times, from the start to the end.
Ayano Tateyama was also a humanitarian, someone who genuinely cared about the welfare of others. Ayano was nice, kind, and considerate. She was so much like a view of one's "ideal" human, except for the lack of book smarts. Ayano Tateyama couldn't do math to save her life. Fortunately, computers could, and she could use computers.
Ayano was so many things. She had been Shinaro's only constant companion throughout the years of world dominating. Ayano had been the only person who'd stayed by his side the whole time, and hadn't attempted to kill him. Ayano had been his best friend, no perhaps a bit closer than that. Or was that just Shintaro's imagination?
Did Shintaro want them to be closer? Had he perhaps, felt attracted to Ayano Tateyama? The woman had been beautiful, but did Shintaro feel that way about her?
It only took a few minutes of denial, pushing the matter away and rejecting the truth for Shintaro to realize.
Shintaro Kisaragi had loved Ayano Tateyama.
The one life Shintaro had truly cared about, was Ayano. He wouldn't care one smidge if the rest of the world burned, so long as Ayano still found reason to smile. Of course, Ayano being Ayano, she wouldn't want that.
How many of Shintaro's actions had been because he wanted to please this wonderful girl?
Too many.
How many selfish deeds would Shintaro have committed without her guiding presence?
Too many.
But now that Shintaro thought about it, he had done his fair share of "good" throughout his life, even if guided by Ayano. So maybe, just maybe, they would both end up in the same afterlife, in the same side of the spectrum between good and evil.
Shintaro reached down, lifting a floor panel to grab hold of pistol. He raised the pistol to his head, feeling the cold metal on his scalp.
Shintaro had a choice.
He could, on the one hand, kill himself. By doing so, Shintaro would restore the proper order of things in the world, at risk of starting World War Six through the system's total collapse. However, there stood the slim chance of Shintaro reuniting with Ayano, the one person he cared about, who was no longer in this plane of existence.
On the other hand, Shintaro could keep going, following Ayano's beliefs and principles, the idea that universal happiness is a form of peace. He could keep the law, the systems, and gradually shift the dependence of the system on zombies to another force in preparation for Shintaro's eventual death.
On one hand, selfishness.
On the other, the public welfare.
In the first, there was the possibility of meeting Ayano sooner than later, if at all.
In the second, there was the guaranteed chance of being able to regulate and modify the world's current organization to one better suited for the world as a whole.
Shintaro didn't even need to think: he knew which one was more important to him. A grin graced his mirthless lips as Shintaro Kisaragi, the necromancer, the dictator, the humanitarian ruler shot himself clean through the head and collapsed to the ground.
When Shintaro next felt anything, he was at a junction, and he saw two gates.
One was bright, shining like a light, a stairway leading up to heaven, with a more convenient elevator placed beside it most likely for those who couldn't walk.
The other was a gate of literal darkness, a charred trail leading into the ground. Steam emerged faintly from the hole, like a volcanic vent.
Shintaro knew which side Ayano would be. Ayano would be in Heaven, having walked through the gate of light and up the stairs into the brilliant eternity that awaited her. That was what she deserved.
But what about Shintaro? What did he deserve?
Shintaro had done good, yes, but how much of it was of his own volition?
How much of the planet-wide good that Shintaro had spread was because Shintaro wanted it to come to fruition?
If Shintaro were to be truthful, very very little of it. World domination doesn't normally match up with world peace, nor would zombie legions and mind control, or nukes and missile warfare. Sure, one could argue that in the end, everything had turned out fine and dandy, but what about his motives? Did Shintaro ever set out to do good in the first place?
The answer, Shintaro knew, would be no. He hadn't. Shintaro had wanted to take over the world for the fun of it. He had resurrected Ayano in the first place for no purpose other than to grow his legion.
Shintaro knew, in his heart, that he was no benevolent force.
Shintaro knew he belonged in Hell.
With that thought, Shintaro found himself being guided towards the dark gates leading down into the abyss. Shintaro's body moved against his will, ignoring his brain's impulses, controlled by a power greater than anything Shintaro had ever known. Shintaro knew, at that point, that he would never see Ayano Tateyama again.
Surely Ayano would be up in the sunny paradise of Heaven, enjoying the rest of her eternity as she so deserved.
And Shintaro? Shintaro would serve the rest of his life in neverending torment.
It was cruel, but just. Shintaro knew he was not a "good" person, not by any standard or ideal.
The verdict was fair.
The verdict was honest.
The verdict was lawful.
Yet deep down, somewhere in that dark room Shintaro called a heart, he had wished for that light again, to see Ayano Tateyama once more.
But he never would again.
Goodbye, Ayano.
More happy endings!
Plot twist: it's not actually the ending.