"So, this is what hell looks like."

  "One of these days, I'm going to be able to understand your sense of humor."

  "I wasn't joking."

  x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

  The good news was that the ASIC facility was ripe for the picking with Brave gone. It didn't take us long to deal with the place, leaving it unable to aid the ASIC and its efforts. It's a good thing, both short and long-term, given the size of the place. I hesitated to think of just how many resources that thing consumed as part of the ASIC's efforts, and how much material it provided for them.

  Sadly, Lastation was likely dotted with the things. Even if not of a similar scale, the nation had issues with corruption, one of the many things I tried to come down on as hard as I could get away with. Corruption was a blight, a taint, and it was one that the ASIC used to spread its influence.

  With the rich choosing to help such projects? I didn't like having to work with people who were so willing to sacrifice their long-term well-being to make a few quick bucks, but I'd at least gotten most of those in Leanbox on my side. Carrots and sticks were effective. Especially when I made it abundantly clear what the ASIC actually wanted. There were few bigger sticks than that group of crazies wants to end the world.

  Did it feel great to use? Not really. Did it get the job done? Not as effectively as one might hope, but I kinda expected that. Back where I was originally born, being willing to destroy a lot of things for short-term gains was an incredibly common practice. I was used to at least the feeling of disappointment.

  But the fly-back was where the real hard part began. Sorry, did I say begin? That wasn't right. The storm for that had been brewing almost since the fight had ended.

  "What is a cult?" It was Rom who asked the question. I let out a sigh, halfway through a loop, righting myself. I wasn't going to explain something like that while goofing off while flying. Everyone had seen me do it as is, but I wasn't going to make things worse by trying to explain a topic as heavy-handed as cults while flying around like an utter maniac.

  "Cults," I start, pausing, trying to best figure out how to put things. "What you have to understand is back where I was originally from, religion works, a lot differently than it does here."

  That by itself was the understatement of the century. Faith here was tangible. What you prayed to in Gamindustri was real. An active force in the world. Something that one could interact with. Something that, at least, on the level of a pure number, was aware of that faith because that faith was their fuel source. Goddesses were real and could do real work. Back on Earth? Such things were hotly contested. Which faith had it right, and which interpretation had it right? Who at the end of the day, was correct? There wasn't an answer, just a bunch of people screaming at one another that they were right, and the others were wrong. Yeah, sure, there were far more willing to at least try to coexist to some extent. But the loudest voices had the largest shits or something like that.

  "If there is anything like us back home, and that is very much an if, they don't make their presence known," I let out a sigh. "You have a lot of different people, often in the same nation, believing different things, or even slightly different variations of the same thing. A lot of people have answers, or at least, pretend they do. And that's just for organized religion. Cults?"

  I wasn't going to lie, I had my beef on the matter.

  "They tell people they have all the answers, the ability to solve all their problems, and their leaders? Have the charisma to make people believe that they really can solve those problems, that they are the solution. And these sorts of things? They're toxic. They want to spread, but they also want their followers to isolate themselves from their friends and family. To replace that family with a toxic, parasocial connection," I breathed. "The least offensive of these just grift, to fleace their followers for what they're worth. Making money from their little group of followers."

  "And the worst?"

  "Monsters. They completely isolate their victims from their families, and turn them against the people who want to help them get better. They build up a fanatical devotion to the point that if the leader ordered them to do so, they would commit any crime. No matter how heinous, terrible, or monstrous. They would even be willing to take their own lives, long or short term," I paused for a moment. "They manipulate, control, deceive, and kill, and will continue to double down no matter how many times you point out to them that their leaders only see them as tools to use."

  "And where exactly are you going with this?" Uni snapped with a huff, crossing her arms.

  "I'm saying this is something that should be very familiar to everyone listening right now," I said bluntly.

  "You're saying the ASIC is a cult. Or, at least, you view it like a cult from your old home?" Leave it to Nepgear to piece things together. Then again, Uni was not pleased about things, and Rom and Ram were children.

  "It's closer to a crime organization that also is a cult," I shrugged. "But the difference is academical at best, and not particularly relevant."

  I certainly never treated them as much differently. Both could be stopped the same way, an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. Cutting off the need to engage in criminal activities and preventing a cult from preying on desperate people? Those two things went hand in hand, after all. Desperate times made people turn to crime to make ends meet, and the ASIC offered a solution to that desperation. I would almost be impressed by the levels they were willing to go to and just how far ahead they had planned. They really were planning on being the poison while selling the "solution" to the poison. Another thing I wasn't unused to thanks to Earth. So many people that hat trick it was almost refreshing to see it again. At least not as many people have their heads far enough up their asses that they would completely bury their heads in the sand.

  Any credit I could give them only went so far, as they were also trying to end the world as a mission statement. Most of the lower-ranking members didn't, and outside of the most misanthropic, most wouldn't approve, either. Of course, that was something kept under wraps. Even some of the higher-ups didn't know. It even went far up as Brave, though I suspected at least a few below him on the totem pole would have known.

  Judge and Trick likely knew, but I highly doubted either of them particularly cared. Judge liked fighting far too much to give even the slightest of shits about what happened after he won, and Trick was a sick monster that would just be happy to continue his behavior without being touched until the world came to an end. Sick piece of crap that he was. And Magic?

  Again, had next to jack shit on her, but that was only a sign that she was likely more than willing to go through with it her violation. The end of the world. Full stop. Brave was the only member of the higher-ups not aware of what was going on behind the curtain. I would find it sad if it weren't for the fact of his willingness not to see what he had gotten involved with ending the world.

  "And that has what to do with Brave, exactly?" Uni was still not getting it.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  "The hardest part of getting someone out of a cult is just that. Getting them out of a cult. A cult is going to isolate someone from their emotional support network, cut them off from their friends and family, to make sure the only 'friends' and 'family' you have are part of the cult, completely and utterly," I pause. "Can you imagine, how difficult it is to pull someone out of that? To have them refuse to listen to what their ears and eyes tell them because they were simply told to ignore it? Or worse, told how to think their way through things so they don't have to come to that realization? That they're being lied to and manipulated. How do you keep doing your best to try and help them, but they keep choosing to double down, refusing to see what lies in front of their face? All because if they do so, the worldview they've built up for and around themselves starts to crumble away. Because if they were wrong about this person or group or people, then everything they've done is for nothing. The emotional stress, the self-inflicted losses, everything you've worked for is worth less than nothing. That is the position that Brave is in. If he admits he is wrong about the ASIC, even for the slightest moment, that means he's wrong. He's been wrong for who knows how long. How many people do you think there are that are willing to admit, even for the slightest of moments, that their entire worldview, and the actions they have taken, have all been built on a foundation of lies? The answer is, the overwhelming majority of people. Most people don't want to ask themselves that question. Most don't even consider it, even for the slightest of moments. That's where Brave is right now."

  I let the silence hang in the air. I wasn't even going to touch on how disingenuous 'for the children' tended to be most of the time. Brave, at the very least, seemed to have his heart in the right place, but his mind and the organization he chose to serve? Yeah, no. I hoped that he would come to his senses at some point, but that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.

  "So, you're just going to give up?" Uni glared at me.

  "No. I just realize that if Brave wants to unplug his head from his ass," Rom snickered at my words, but I moved on anyway. "It will be because he has chosen to do so of his own volition. None of us are going to be able to change his mind. None of us can do it for him. If he is going to do better, then it will be because he has chosen to do so. No more, no less."

  x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

  Of course, just because we had arrived back at Lastation's Basilicom, didn't mean that was the end of it. Far from it. Well, it was the end of the fairly heavy topic of discussion on cults and an example of why Earth could sometimes go bite an ass, but that wasn't the biggest deal in the world anymore.

  What was a much more pressing matter was the fact that IF was not exactly happy. She had her reasons, don't get me wrong. But flying was the fastest route there, and well? Trying to carry everyone in the party was simply an impossible task. Well, not exactly, but it was problematic enough that I didn't want to try it. If we had been attacked by Brave in transit, things would have gone a whole lot worse.

  And frankly, speed getting there was always going to be a factor. I had no clue how long Brave would be there for. While Uni was largely reckless, getting there as soon as possible was the smarter play long term. We drove him off.

  With Trick hiding who knows where, and Brave likely to be licking his wounds, that left Judge and Magic as the only two high-ranking members of the ASIC active. And given how Magic didn't seem to exist most of the time, it was really just down to Judge.

  And we could take that. Not easily. Without me being able to drop my hardest-hitting attacks onto him, it was never going to be easy. But again, it was going to be a five-on-one, at minimum. That was an uphill battle, even for a brute like Judge. He certainly could take a beating, but we had numbers on our side.

  Still, the prospect made my heart thunder against my rib cage. Nerves ate away at the back of my neck, sending shutters down it. It wasn't because of the fight, either. Or even the Graveyard, for that matter. Yeah, the Graveyard was going to be a problem, but it wasn't what made me nervous. We were on the edge. Everyone was so close to getting their older sisters back. I was so close to getting Vert back.

  I wasn't looking forward to that conversation. Yes, we had been on the mend, before Vert was captured by Magic and locked away in the Graveyard. But that was three years ago. Three years was a long time. A considerable amount of time. What would she think about things? How long it took for us to finally get around to rescuing her? And more importantly, would she approve?

  Would she approve of the changes I made to help fight the ASIC? Would she approve of the policies I came up with and implemented? Would she approve of how I chose to fight the ASIC to keep Leanbox safe?

  I didn't know the answer to that question. I really didn't. Chika would know, but at the same time, I was equally scared to ask. Chika knew Vert better than anyone else. Quite possibly, too well, one may argue. But I didn't want to ask her because learning it from Chika may have just been worse than hearing it from Vert's own mouth. Sure, I could trust Chika to tell me the truth, but the fact she might have been willing to go along with stuff that she knew Vert wouldn't approve of?

  May just be enough to break my heart.

  I would rather hear Vert's disapproval from her own mouth, rather than anyone else. I hoped she wouldn't. I knew some of my measures could be somewhat heavy-handed, but with the ASIC being what it was, a damn cult, trying to do right by the people was the only solution I had. When we are powered by faith, my mind could have no other options. No other path. Trying to keep people happy and earn their loyalty, while being harsh to those who decided to abuse that good faith for their own purposes.

  If she disapproved, I wanted her to let me know. To tell me so. I hoped it wasn't the case, but the amount of changes I'd had to make. It probably felt to an extent a different country now. At least behind the scenes. That was going to be a pain to even partially revert, but much of what I had done had been made necessary by the ASIC and the ASIC alone. With them gone, reverting them would be necessary. A pain, but a needed one.

  But that was my own thoughts. I couldn't imagine that anyone else also had their doubts. Little insidious whispers tickled at the back of their minds. The torments of every mistake and screwup that was made over the last three years. Which were no doubt numerous for every party, including myself. Things we could have done better. Steps we could and should have taken.

  Not helped by IF being generally annoyed at us. I understood why she was annoyed, but Brave couldn't match all five of us, and easily could have been gone if we didn't arrive quick enough. I'd rather have him off the board for the time being, especially if we were going to make a move on the Graveyard soon. I would have suggested going after him anyway, even without the excuse of his conflict with Uni.

  Then came a flicker, which broke me out of my thoughts, as a hologram of Histoire appeared in the air. At that point, I didn't need to hear anything else.

  It was time.