A tall, six-foot-tall figure with large muscles, golden hair and blue eyes sat on the grass. He wore the clothes of the royal family, a simple black suit that was elegant at the same time. On his rough but beautiful head a smile as big as his heart sat. It was Kurt looking at his fellow students of the academy.
He had been already one year in this academy and two years in this world. All his needs as a being were fulfilled, he could develop his greatest passion with the full support of his family and the interest of his fellow academy members. At the same time he had his mother always watching over him and taking care of him.
"To our friend the God of Technology!" shouted a fellow student, who was 25 years old and didn't know Kurt's real age. He only knew that he appeared at some point in the academy. Moreover, the only thing his classmates knew was that he was from the royal family. Beyond that, any conversation they had was based on the technological developments that Kurt developed.
Kurt looked at his work with great pride, ignoring the satirical abuses of his peers, in front of him was the first functional aircraft in the history of this planet, it was his month-long project for the annual Academy exhibition and he had cooperated with 3 of his peers. Heinrych, Rolf and Felix.
Although he didn't need the help of these companions the social interaction brought him genuine happiness, making these three friends a slightly bitter replacement for his mother.
"I'm going to try it," Kurt said as he climbed into the plane. Contrary to the plan, his plane did not work with the engine he wanted to make, being forced to build a paraffin based piston engine. Creating a form of air movement he knew was antiquated but it was the most technologically advanced thing he could do with what little technology he had at hand. He knew how things worked and how to create them, the problem was time, only four hours a day to advance planetary technological development was insufficient but he would not willingly spend more.
Turning on the plane's engine, the front propeller began to rapidly increase its speed until the plane began to move. Quickly picking up speed he took to the skies, enjoying the sensation of flying and not hearing the shouts of praise from his fellow pilots.
Turning around Kurt looked down at the world below him, a green world with cities created with an efficient, austere but partly beautiful structure.
With a smile on his face Kurt landed the plane again, getting out and giving high-fives to his companions.
"We're going to win the show for sure," Felix said as he touched the wing of the plane with great enthusiasm.
Kurt knew that he could build better things, much better, and in part his personal pride forced him to create them, he had innovated every day he could but there was so much work to do, so much to teach...
Kurt looked at his three companions, friends even, those who did not truly look at him as a god like so many others but treated him as a human.
"Do you want your name to be immortalized in history?" asked Kurt. In a light, gentle voice.
"Is it not the wish of every man that his name should be immortalised in history?" asked Heinrych, surprised at Kurt's sudden question.
"Yes, but what is the use of having your name immortalised in history? Not to be forgotten? Everybody will be forgotten, some in years, some in millennia, but what is the use of being forgotten if your work is immortal. You cannot understand the world in which you live without your work. I propose not that your name goes down in history. But that your work be immortalised in the pillars of civilisation. That when your name is forgotten, because sooner or later it will be forgotten, your work will be the pillars that help society move forward and live".
Heinrych, Felix and Rolf looked at each other, knowing the impossibilities Kurt had made. When they started the plane project they called him crazy, but not only did he develop something far more advanced than they planned that could even work, but when he explained the reason why he believed it was technologically backward and explained the evolutionary future of aviation as if it was something logical that with a little rationalism could be discovered, they understood that their friend was capable of incredible things.
"I am in" Felix said without thinking, putting his right fist to his heart as a form of commitment to the cause.
"Fuck it, me too, our names will be forgotten but our deeds will not" Heinrich said following the commitment by placing his hand over his heart.
"What a bunch of idiots we are," said the youngest of them all, Rolf. Then he put his hand over his heart.
The hand over the heart goes back to the first Krieg marriage, where the Krieg Emperor proposed to his beloved, promising that if he hurt her, if he failed her, if he did anything against her well being, he would tear out his heart. What in the first centuries became a form of marital declaration advanced to mean eternal commitment to a cause.
Kurt felt happiness invade him, it was a feeling to which he was addicted, like a drug addict who had never felt the pain of giving up his drug he only sought more and more, finding this happiness mostly in his mother and in his companions when she was away. So with a big smile he put his hand on his heart.
"I swear I will make your work immortal," said Kurt.
—-
Kurt looked up at the sky, it was the day of the exhibition and it was in the open field, with his exhibition being the final event Kurt went to look for his mother. He knew she had come. When he saw the figure of his mother, who although much shorter than him was a commanding presence. With her classic military dress and her beautiful golden eyes and hair.
"Mother" Kurt said, raising his hand so that she could see him, she noticed his presence and came closer to him, when they were close enough Tanya hit him on the hand with a small military whip that she always liked to carry.
"I always tell you that you are a mountain on flat ground, you can be seen from miles away, there is no need to raise your hand in such a way, it is rude and unnecessary".
Kurt, who felt no pain from this action, put his right hand behind his head. Touching the back of his neck and laughing a little. Tanya also laughed in response.
"Well, show me that project you were so proud of," Tanya said, looking around. People had come in their thousands to see this exhibition and no wonder. Alfred the director had made a big deal about this event after seeing Kurt's exhibition.
"You'll see it at the end of the exhibition," said Kurt, putting his hand on Tanya's shoulder.
"However there are a lot of other interesting things, let's go see them together".
Tanya, who felt as if she was being swept away by a tornado, followed Kurt's footsteps, who kept jumping from one place to another, talking in detail about every exhibit on display. Tanya could only smile. In two years he had become a more than physically capable man. But Tanya feared that this physical development did not apply to his emotions or his understanding of the human being. However, the smile and unconditional appreciation given by Kurt let her abandon such thoughts. They would have years together to show him the darker side of the world.
Let him be happy for as long as possible, that was what a mother did, wasn't it? She thought to herself whenever she thought of having to give Kurt a reality check.
With a little grimace that no one saw, Tanya shook the thought away again. Kurt's happiness was partly addictive to the people around him, as if he had a constant aura about him.
Minutes passed, until it was late afternoon and Kurt went to his exhibition, bringing with him Tanya who was amazed at the sight of the plane that looked like one from the second world war.
"This is your invention? It's a great invention, flying the skies will be convenient, and can be used for war as well. I'm already imagining the benefits of absolute air superiority," said Tanya. With great enthusiasm at the sight of it. Which surprised Kurt because... How did his mother know what this device that had never been seen on the planet was for?
Kurt, who never took his arm off Tanya, wiped his smile for a second, looking at his mother while she was talking about the qualities of this device and its uses.
Why does mother know all this? he asked himself. He knew his mother wasn't him, so it was strange that she knew things she shouldn't know.
"Mom," Kurt said, cutting off Tanya, who turned to look at her tall son.
"What's wrong Kurt?" She asked. Kurt thought about asking for a second, but ignored it, putting a smile on his face again.
"It's nothing, I love you mom," Kurt said, to which Tanya was shocked and looked back at the plane.
"I love you too... son," she said in response. Both ignoring each other's strangeness for the happiness of the family that they both were
—-
Kurt was walking with Felix, his other two friends had to leave for their respective classes.
"And when are you going to bring those books you talked about," Felix said. This was because Kurt promised to bring them books written by him for the paths to take for the future. Kurt laughed and gave him a light tap on the shoulder.
"Over 50 books written, believe me don't look forward to what I will give you, because when I give it to you you will have to read it so many times you will hate it," Kurt said. Aware of the curious nature of the scientist but also of the irrational nature of humanity.
"OK, OK, I get it," said Felix. However at one point he stopped, Kurt looked at him curiously as he began to panic.
"I have to go, sorry, I have a date with a beautiful girl and I have to walk from here for 20 minutes, bye!" He said, starting to walk fast and then started to run. Leaving Kurt alone, who watched as all his friends left him alone for the first time and his mother was not by his side.
"Being alone makes me feel bad," He said to himself, walking out of the academy and sitting in the front park, waiting for his mother to arrive in the car.
Kurt began to slowly tap on the balcony, for every minute that passed he began to feel a little more desperate, as if being alone with himself was making him contract in on himself.
"Hey Kurt von Krieg, prince of Krieg," said Colonel Adler, approaching him and taking away the oppression Kurt was feeling.
"Hello, Colonel Adler," Kurt replied with a big smile. Colonel Adler was in charge of his security and gave him four soldiers to accompany him to the academy. Although he always ignored them since they didn't talk, they didn't do anything. Just walking, for Kurt they didn't even exist.
The colonel stood by his side, Kurt, fearing that the colonel's silence would be the same as the silence of his soldiers, brought up a topic of conversation.
"What is war like?" He asked, to which Adler turned, giving Kurt a small smile.
"War is horrible, it is the most disgusting possible event a human can suffer. And yet it is so addictive at the same time," said the Colonel, remembering old battles.
"I remember one battle, the battle of Reusden Mountain. I assaulted a fortress embedded in the mountain with my group, the adrenaline rushing through my body as I charged and the sweet taste of victory as I raised the Krieg flag on the mountain. The camaraderie, the victory, the fighting for a greater cause makes war addictive, it may also be that as human beings we have something wrong with us. I thank God every day that fear exists, otherwise war would be twenty times more brutal," finished the Colonel.
Kurt thought about what the colonel said, camaraderie, he loved camaraderie as much as he loved developing technology.
"Do you think I can go to war?" Kurt asked.
Albert lifted his shoulders.
"It's entirely up to your mother."
—-
Eating dinner I read the reports from the front, on the main battlefield, the Drunao plains we were falling back, a million casualties in the last enemy offensive, we need more soldiers and more artillery. I will have to expand the railway lines to allow more logistics to reach the front.
Kurt guffawed, probably to get my attention, so following his wishes I raised my head and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.
"I've heard about Colonel Adler and the war... I was wondering if I could join the army?"
No mother would let her son go to war and I will be no exception.
"You can't join the army, take advantage of your great gifts to develop your passion," I said, brushing the matter off and continuing to eat.
"Why not?" asked Kurt.
"Because in the army authority is absolute and so is a family, if you are not able to accept my authority over you as a mother you will not serve in the army. Apart from that I don't want you to die or get hurt in the war, war is hell".
Kurt did not seem happy with the answer if not continuing to eat was any indication. Two years old and he was already at that age. How consuming it was to be the mother of a child with his characteristics.
"I am an adult and as a superior being I am practically immortal against any weaponry the enemy may have, I alone if I wanted to could end the whole war".
Superior being? How many lives I had to live with Nazis, the disgust they gave me was absolute, earned with years and years of fighting for their cause. And now my son, whom I reminded every day that he was not a God, was beginning to think that he was a superior being.
"Superior being? You have only been created by an unknown entity, that doesn't make you a superior being nor the people around you inferior beings" I said, stopping eating and putting the utensils back in their proper position.
"I never say that others are inferior beings, only that I am superior. Not because of false beliefs but because as you yourself see mother, I grow more efficiently and better than a normal human, I have physical and magical abilities superior to any human, I have knowledge that no human knows. What am I then if not a superior being?"
I was failing as a mother if I let my son become a Nazi, first he would call himself a superior being, then he would consider the rest inferior beings. Of course, he might not think that now, but time would make him think that.
"You are a human, that's what you are, there is no such thing as a superior being or a God, do you consider that your qualities make you a superior being? Am I a superior being compared to other humans because of my magical abilities?"
Kurt stood up, pointing upwards and making the things around him float, yet it was such a gentle float that the water did not spill from the glasses and the food barely moved.
"You and I can do this, but many can't, doesn't that make us superior to them? Not them being inferior if not us being superior. Not implying that they are bad but we are exceptionally good? Isn't that what you always teach me? The lazy one gets nowhere, the hard worker gets to the top? Isn't the worker who gets to the top superior to the slacker who stays at the bottom?"
I looked him in the eye, he seemed convinced of what he was saying, I took some time to notice his characteristics, in my first world he would have been compared to a Greek God for sure, and he spoke with the same arrogance as one.
"The difference is that the lazy one does not work by choice and the one who works hard does so by choice, it is not his born qualities that make him better or worse but his own effort".
Kurt picked up the floating glass of water, drinking it and setting it down on the table, at the same time he rearranged the table with his magic.
"So you admit that if some people are superior to others, why do you deny my superiority?"
I bit my lip, his argument, he had directed it towards a specific comment, knowing what my response would be to counter argue. How clever he was, I thought with a touch of pride.
"Because the superiority that you talk about and the one I talk about is different, the human that makes an effort is superior to the one that doesn't make an effort because of merits, you talk about how you are superior because of your birth, that in conditions unknown to me has given you these abilities. You should never be considered superior because of factors beyond your control".
Kurt then smiled.
"But isn't it true that those who try hardest are those who can because of their birth and circumstance? He who has arms is superior to he who has none because his circumstance allows him to try harder. Therefore, being of a birth that gives you better characteristics than others does indicate that you are superior, because you are more likely to be able to make an effort and work exceptionally hard. So being superior is not just about effort or not, but about your birth condition as well. I was born with an extraordinary condition that allows me to be superior to all mankind at the same time that I have made the decision not to be a lazy slob and to make an effort. Therefore according to your own arguments and logic I am a superior being".
My damn son had played me, he's been leading the whole debate to this point and I've fallen for it like an idiot. And the worst thing is that he is partly right. However it was a dangerous mentality that could lead to dark sides. For my son to become a Nazi or similar would be the worst possible thing. He would first say that he is superior, then call others inferior. Then he would justify that since they are inferior and contribute nothing, executing them is the most practical decision.
Throughout history the great dictators used this strategy to convince the population and their army to commit the greatest atrocities possible. My son was pure and innocent. I trusted him so much that I knew his intentions were pure and he probably just wanted to prove his point. But this mentality could evolve into something that if I tried it would force me to kill him. I would rather kill my son than have him turn into a fucking Nazi.
"When you turn thirteen I will allow you to join the army as an officer, but first you must come here".
I stood up and Kurt approached me.
"On your knees" I said, Kurt got down on his knees in front of me, putting his face at the level of my chest.
Using my mathematical magic, I gave him a slap that forced his head to turn, as if he didn't believe it hurt,he put his hand on his cheek.
"I'm going to teach you humility by force, my son."
Remembering my second life, what little I remembered of it I smiled. With my eyes cold as death and a smile that many would describe as devilish I looked at my son
"You may not know what humility is, but believe me, when I'm done with you you won't know the meaning of the word arrogance."