"Mono/Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
Narration
[Message/communication apparatus]
Date: ???
Location: ???
POV: ???
“Ugh…” What the hell happened to me? I could have sworn that I was trying my best not to suffer balkanization and permadeath. Once I crossed that threshold I would be too weakened to continue without some nasty setbacks because everyone ganging up on me. What a shitty game I got addicted to… 1 against 40 or even 50 factions… how was that fair? Hahhh…
Regardless, seems like I colpsed after waking up for a whole week, in between working and keeping the only thing that made me feel sane without triggering too much trauma was hard. Hope it is not my shift yet… God I hate working there, but I only have so much choice, especially when corporation take extreme interest on my…
‘I don’t wanna continue there… then I have a question…’ Strange, I should have been cracking my back from my uncomfortable sleeping position. What is this soft feeling?
‘Hmm… it feels so… comfortable? Was I sleeping on a bed? Huh, that can’t be right. I only have a sleeping bag in my ft… It is 22nd century damn it… and my apartment’s room looks like it came straight from several centuries ago…’ I open my eyes and make contact with a weirdly extravagant ceiling… propping up my body, I look around and this room just screams ultra-high-css society.
‘Fucking hell… I know that sleazy boss of mine is loaded… but this is something else…’
I see a rge wardrobe that would fill out half of the space in my room, a pair of highly ornate chairs facing against the closed window, and even the chandeliers are made of gold, I also noticed a… military uniform. I don’t wanna know the cost of these things, even imagining it almost makes me hyperventite… Where the hell am I-
Oh no… it happened again… Serves me right…
‘I was that sleep deprived despite being called huh… I hope they won’t be too harsh on me… There is only so much work I could finish in 10…’
“Pardon me for my intrusion- ?! Lady Cylene! Thank goodness you have woken up!”
‘Who!? Wait, what?! Cylene?!’ Turning my head towards the source, I see a mature bck-haired woman with typical-rimmed gsses and she wears… maidservant outfit. What caught off guard was an insignia I will never mistake seeing anywhere simply because it shouldn’t exist…
A bck unicorn on a shield with 2 white unicorns facing it from each side like guardians. There are also small trees, bushes, and general vegetation that enveloped the shield but since they were painted in metallic color, they look like branches made of pure steel.
There are 3 words written on a scroll in Latin beneath it. Those words are Vis (Peace), Regnum (Sovereignty), and Felicitas (Prosperity). If my guess is true, then that is the coat of arms I made after a particurly bad day…
“M-my dy?”
“Huh?” Wait, now, whose voice was that?! If the previous one was smooth then this one would have let me nd another much more humane job. My job’s pay is… generous… but it could be so much better if I’m willing to do extra… t-the extra shift made me uncomfortable, but it does help in supporting my ad- my hobby.
My mind is a complete mess right now, and before I could ask further. The woman who entered the room I’m in suddenly goes as white as a sheet before bowing really low. She’s acting like someone who just committed a grave crime if not outright a cardinal sin.
‘Uhhhhhhhhhh I mean… I was in a management of sort, so I get deference now and then despite my less-than-fttering current reputation… but this is excessive… Can someone please tell me what’s happening!?’
“F-Forgive my insolence, Grand Autarch Renoire! Please, execute me for my shameful behavior or please punish me as you see fit!” Huh?! What are you yapping about?!
“Be quiet, girl!” I raised my voice because of confusion, and slight panic, and I felt like that was going in a really bad direction… She immediately shut her mouth but still bowed her head, I had never seen people bow a perfect 90 before, I could only manage 40 before hurting myself, but that’s not important…
Especially when the door was barged open.
4 people in nondescripts uniform and ballistic mask followed by at least a dozen bck armored soldiers rushed inside, and before my mind could fathom just what in god’s green (as in blighted) earth was happening, they tackled the maid; very roughly like a linebacker. One of them even aimed an oddly familiar-looking gun at her head, this is getting worse! Think Rene! Think! Wait…
‘Eh… hold on… Grand Autarch? Isn’t that…? Wait… Alright, here goes nothing.’ Psyching up my nerves, I’ll need to ascertain one thing.
“Release her!” The soldiers unhanded the maid, and they stood in their pce with perfect coordination.
‘It worked?!’ I looked closer and they looked more than familiar! Especially those masked people that feels like I had always seen somewhere… if the soldiers in bck becomes statues, then these ones become the very decorations of a nearby wall.
I briefly gnced at the woman who prostrated herself with her face kissing the floor.
‘Uh… this is awkward…’ I should send them away first, then do I need to calm myself.
“Leave us.” They saluted without saying anything and left the room… heaving a quiet sigh, I looked back at her and I hoped it would work too.
“Stand up and raise your face.”
“By your will!” Oh god, it worked again and I can tell beneath that stony face of hers that she barely held it together! I could try telling her to calm down, but people who think they have done something wrong would panic instead… so… aha!
“Fetch me a hand mirror.”
“As you command!” I better be keeping her busy with something and I’ll emphasize it subtly as a point for her to not remember her alleged pse. She was very quick, not even 5 seconds and she somehow knows where to fetch it.
Taking a deep breath, I gaze upon the mirror’s reflection. There it is, just as I thought would be. Brown hair instead of dirty blonde with a shade of grey, dark golden eyes instead of bck, and healthy skin compared to my pallid and somewhat sickly without makeup…
‘Wait… these eyes are eerie as hell, pretty sure these eyes were a touch more subdued…’ I mean it is golden, that’s on itself is unnatural, but these are in no way near pleasing or comforting… whatever, I’ll think about it ter. Where was I? Oh yea… I know whose face is this.
This is Cylene Renoire’s face, one of my created characters from that damn game that I love to hate… God, how long has it been? 11 Years, 11 long years of me trying to keep her to survive that hellhole of a game after I lost Cashy10’s 3 years of struggle.
‘If I transte that 11 years into in-game time… Cylene should be 1320 years… despite being that old, her face doesn’t age past 30… What’s more? She is the Grand Autarch of the Regalian Autarchy, a fictional nation…’
There is a slight problem… as her title might suggest, she is an authoritarian figure; a tyrant even. So I’m here as that ruler now? My brain feels like imploding, I need to understand the situation I’m in before panicking up a storm. Alright, alright… act like one for starter, you can do it, ain’t the first time you act like someone else…
“Name, rank, station and your duty, girl?”
“M-My name is Meredith Walter, my Grand Autarch. I have the honor to serve as the Captain of the 1st Interior Integrity Company. My previous post was that of Sergeant Major from 4th Hunter Company, 2nd Aerial Control Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Regiment, and 1st Gendarme Division of GSA. My duty is to take care of all Your Grace’s needs, along with 179 other specially trained assistants.”
“I want an expnation on why I’m here.”
“Your Grace has been bedridden for 7 days since 10th October 645 AU, the Autarchs Assembly has taken emergency measures to keep the situation under control in your absence.” What is AU? Er… I’ll put it for ter too. Now, do something somewhat smart…
“If I have to guess my current condition…” Think dammit! Ok, let’s inspect what’s around me discretely… there is the fg I had made, the humongous insignia my old pal created for my birthday, and then the huge painting of Regalian Autarchy’s territory. I made this pce since it is my household so it would be…
“I’m back at the Umbral Pace due to complications. This shouldn’t be what supposed to happen during the strategic meeting and I do not fashion of myself as someone so neglectful and careless.”
“Your humble servants duly apologize for every inconvenience and ineptitude during our service.” Are these people never going to stop moaning about that? What? Hah…
“Brief me of current situation, I should have been directing the war effort along with the general staff of Regalian High Command.”
“Understood. By 10:37 P.M., 10th October, 645 AU, you were directing the war as masterfully as we always believed you to be despite the worsening situation. At 10:40 P.M. we received reports from every Autarchic Sectors within the Autarchy of odd rain simultaenously pouring down with unnatural density and generally extreme spikes of moisture, and that after taking into consideration how our SIEZ’s monitoring office had reported no dimensional gates were detected. Then by 10:50 P.M., a bright light engulfed the sky.”
‘Bright light? Did we get nuked?!’ I was armed by that st description.
‘Wait no… If we were nuked, I wouldn’t be here, pretty much out in the open…’ Bloody developers, who would have thought that adding nuclear weaponry was a good idea?! While I’m furrowing my brows, the girl is so silent that her heartbeats could be faintly heard. Appears she noticed me focusing on her nervousness that the maid forcefully surppressed them…
‘Impressive, but let’s continue.’
“Our current predicament in mind… there was no nuclear escation, correct?”
“High Command deemed such a scenario possible but unlikely course of action taken by those mong- excuse me, by NIIO’s hounds of war. A potently convincing fact due to our country not being a sea of radioactive fme and contaminated dead zone.” This girl pretty much said ‘So basically, we should have been screwed but we didn’t.’ With a straight face, well at least she isn’t trembling like a leaf or frozen like a sculpture anymore…
“Let’s set that aside for now, continue with the chronology.”
“The moment the bright light subsided, Your Grace had colpsed and gone unconscious turning the strategic meeting into frenzy and chaos. The Grasdivis lockdown the area to search for potential assassins among general staff but so far, it remains inconclusive at best. There hasn’t been any announcement be made of Your Grace’s illness, the detail is within Lord Commander Regent’s discretion.”
“Reasonable, my unfortunate ailment would only cause unnecessary complication, continue.”
“We immediately transported Your Grace back from the Elesian Front and straight into the capital and then Umbral Pace’s underground complex. When neither follow-up offensives from NIIO were detected nor confirmed reports in escation along our frontlines, the Commander Regent deemed it prudent to transport you back to the surface. GSA has been deployed around the city with 24/7 vigince and curfew extension from 6 P.M. until 7 A.M.”
“Worrisome, but nothing we couldn’t rectify when proper pnning is concerned. Do continue.”
“Regalian Autarchy is currently… my humblest apology, I’m unsure how to articute the information you desire…”
“Speak pinly, I couldn’t care less with decorum at the moment.”
“By your will, on 11:04 P.M., we received a report from the Regalian High Command that we no longer bordered the Southern Icefield nor did we spot signs of long-range and intercontinental bombing conducted upon Elesian Front…” Eh? Was that why I felt warm despite Regalian being 60 percent in the southern tundra’s hemisphere? Then why does she sound so… oh no…
“… Your tone implied those weren’t the most arming oddities at hand.”
“I swear by my oath as a patriot of our great nation that the following information is true… Every single soldier of NIIO had vanished, not even their deads were found and yet their equipment and arms have been left behind generally intact within our territory.
High Command had ordered sweeping by nd, air, and sea, and while further search is still ongoing, general consensus agreed that they had all but left or dispced from our continent. More illogical phenomenon has been sighted time and time again for the st few days.
Such as the existence of unknown aquatic organism, strange flying reptiles that had tried to enter no fly zones, and our personnel or agents finding themselves back home from abroad.”
“…” What the… huh? She seemed to notice my confusion, and yeah I couldn’t help but stop acting cool-headed and calcuting on that… just what the hell is going on? Am I, presumably, reincarnated inside the game or there is something else at py?
‘Am I in the game turned real or something resembling the game but not at the same time? I don’t know whether to be conflicted or happy… I’ll need to get an answer from a much more trustworthy and if I can from multiple credible sources.’ Sighing audibly, I leaned back on the headrest while nursing a growing headache.
“My humblest apology, Grand Autarch… the situation is still uncertain, High Command is doing its best to ascertain and compile a comprehensive expnation of this puzzling reality. I was also ordered by the High Command to express their apology to you on their behalf. Regardless of why, you were still harmed in some manner or form in their presence, thus they are fully willing to take responsibility.” I’m starting to get sick with these repetitive apologies, better send her away now.
“…Very well, inform my Grasdivis that I have woken up spare me a few moments to collect myself. Then prepare my personal transport, I couldn’t stomach the idea of being completely left on the sideline amidst crisis.” I cannot sck off with pying my role, god knows what would happen if they realized I’m technically not Cylene.
“M-My Grand Autarch, I don’t believe that’s wise…”
“Do I have a medical check-up scheduled?”
“Y-Yes, Your Grace’s medical staff has been scheduled to visit within 2 hours.” Ah great, more acting… or should I be natural instead? Hmm… I’ll think about it, for now, I’ll dismiss her.
“Postpone it. Time is of the essence, get to it.” She was about to say something while looking at my uniform. I should send her out now. Using my hand, I ushered her out.
“… Understood, Your Grace. I shall inform GSAF to prepare escort wings and clear the skies for your trip back to Graceveria Regalia.”
Thus the maid curtsied and left the room. When I finally am left alone, I exhale… and start tearing my hair out. The sheer stress of how my responsibility just got overly infted made me want to start shouting excessively exotic expletives…
‘You can’t be serious?! I’m a legitimate ruler of around half billion people?! Am I really going to lie again?! God, why?!’
I’ll be honest, this is not normal at all! To think that I would suffer this unimaginable fate… Please, whoever sends me here, give me strength to endure this because this is the furthest thing from funny…
‘I want nothing more than just to keep to myself and figure stuff out. That however was too out of character for Cylene, from what I can remember, and for all I know my reality could differ greatly from the game. So I must at least ascertain it with my own eyes. I made a promise, and I had sworn one thing after being granted a way out…’
“I’ll not be dilly-dallying for too long…”
Sighing once more, I looked towards the military uniform Cylene had used pretty much every day ever since the modern-day update was dropped a year ago. Pyer Character can always have multiple outfits saved into a tempte for quick change, and I do have them, yet I doubt that would work now. So let’s test it out.
“Equip set 1.” Wait for it…
…
…
…
“Should I be grateful or sad that the Fourth World War taught me about uniform properly?”
POV: Meredith Walter.
“…” Once I paid my respect and curtsied reverently upon our great leader, I left her bedchamber. She said nothing else and seemingly forgotten about my existence the very next instant. I was about to help her don her Military Uniform, but she ushered me out quietly.
The moment I was outside, I was greeted by Her Grace’s Grasdivis, while her agents had vanished to god knows where. That stabbing look they gave me through the grey visor had almost triggered my fight or flight response, but I doubt I could even do the tter much less the former option. Bidding them a silent goodbye, I picked up the pace until I was out of sight.
Only then did I breathe out the stress and nervousness eating me from the inside.
‘That was… frightening…’ I understand why my colleagues said that our great leader could be very intimidating, but the sight of her furrowed brows and searing gaze was enough to make me freeze on the spot. I had seen combat, I had killed people, and I had done… unspeakable acts… Yet when she gazed me straight in the eyes, my hard-earned and honed discipline was the only thing keeping me together from weeping like a wee frightened child.
Her fabled eyes, an ecstatic and horrifying memory etched for eternity, are a lot more frightening than staring against her bodyguards’ gun barrels, and I know just how deadly they could get. All that feeling of fright was soon superseded with what I saw from her, directly.
She spoke with full confidence and surety despite being in the dark for days. If I were her, I would have been tearing my hair and started screaming from sheer bewilderment to even have a modicum of calmness. Excluding her reflexive confusion, Grand Autarch’s mind is back on the worsening war…
NIIO was filled with nothing but self-serving hypocrites who arrogantly anointed themselves as the sole protector of the world. They pushed their people to keep on expanding their brand of ideology while the worst ours had done was calm down the age of anarchy. I recalled an anecdote regarding when the continent was united under one banner after being turned asunder when madness pgues the Elders.
Unification was achieved, anarchy tamed, but our Grand Autarch secluded herself deep inside her chamber.
One could only imagine the sheer weight of decisions she was forced to make to keep our nd together. Even worse, records show that her companions were killed in the ensuing crisis thus leaving her all alone. Some say it was due to machinations, others due to crisis, but madness was pin to see. Regalia fought tooth and nail against its own brothers and sisters, our blood became our legacy.
Compared to NIIO’s dogs who keep on crowing for self-determination, freedom, and rights to voice everything… Those are lies made up by the greedy and cruel personages high up in their tower. They do nothing but keep waging war non-stop against themselves, and now, against our country who has been cursed to watch over that wide expanse that till this day could never be explored in its entirety. More than 3000 years, and we barely made progress.
Progress that was tarnished and descrated by bandits, louts, and whores.
The world has forgotten how just hundreds of years ago we were the bulwark against… inscrutable creature of the void… My Great Great Grandparents were there, after all, a pair amongst hundreds of thousands who stand firm against the encroaching darkness. We would have long since perished without our Grand Autarch, the then First Lady of Casherl, leading our continent to victory.
Records once pictured her with bright blue eyes, soothing and comforting…
She rallied the whole continent into arms, to fight against what was perceived to be our ultimate end. She rallied millions to fight the good fight until the bitter end, all from the front. She was not our Grand Autarch because of the power she wielded, she is our Grand Autarch precisely because of her calmness in analyzing how best to proceed on her own terms.
She is akin to a weathered yet unbending steel. She is not brittle in the slightest despite being doused by the frigid reality. I could only wish to be even a trillionth of her…
“Regalia fought off numerous invasions from the south and beyond human’s perceptions… Perhaps, this chaos is our st duty and parting gift as the torch bearer of mankind’s survival…”
Author’s Note:
Yo there, this is me, myself, and I, the author who is somewhat lost again.
Oh yeah, since I would be using historical and fictional weapons; I’ll periodically list them while also adding some images.
Her standard bodyguards are based on Kerberos (go see Jin-Roh or Ilng Wolf Brigade to find an example) and UIR (watch Gears of War lore about United Indepedendent Republic) standard infantry armor. Their armor provides them with equivalent of Level IV protections in most pces.
The agents? Eh… maybe ter.
They are armed with an original kit-bashed rifle referred to as Advanced Infantry Combat Rifle no.2 which was introduced in limited number through the Future Warfare Combat Program. This rifle is based on G36 and ACR being mashed together while utilizing .300 Winchester Magnum and the Marksman’s variant using .338 Lapua Magnum.
It’s scope is built into the rifle and could switch between NV and Thermal, but thankfully could be detached in an event of malfunction. The standard or carbine variant use 20, 30, and 40-rounds straight magazines and could mount an underslung grenade uncher or breachgun while the Marksman variant only has 10-rounds magazine.
Logistical hell? Precisely, Grasdivi have their own chain and no one else would have it.
We got a small glimpse of our FMC situation, that’s all really…
Update? I don’t know when.
Ciao.
