If I ever met a human that inherently trusted government, I’d send them to medical. I don’t even trust my own government even when I have the authority to overrule them. I’ve been wrangling this ‘new’ government into shape for nearly twenty years, and despite having the executive and legislative branches working to a satisfactory degree, I can’t get the planetary Governors or my Consuls to ratify a fucking judicial branch of the government.

  “QUIET!!” I shout into the room of gathered politicians and administrators during our yearly full Forum meeting. I am so fed up with them today that I let a little bit of my Imperial Command talent leak into my voice. “I threatened to decree the judicial system if you couldn’t figure it out amongst yourselves, and that time limit is nearly up. Forum after next, we will have Imperial Justices to rule on Empire concerns and solar system level adjudicators to keep me from having to weigh in on every petty trade dispute.

  “You should be embarrassed that it has come this far. Yes, it is my duty as Empress to stay involved in the Empire and its People, but you Governors should take some fucking responsibility for managing your planets and settling disputes between your settlements. That is why I created the House of Governors after all.”

  “Empress, the costs that we’ve projected would be prohibitive.” says Consul Mercer, head of my treasury, trade advisor, and least importantly, my father.

  “Ten years, you have made that argument. Ten years, the Governors have found ways to live comfortably while complaining about the burden of taxes on their populations. Nearly twenty years I have funded this government out of my personal finances in some form or another, and none of you have even considered ways to pay me back—you just want me to give more.”

  I take a look around the room making sure to eyeball my loudest opponents before continuing. “And so I have. I have privately initiated an audit. I’ve paid a ruinous sum to a non-government team to comb through each and every one of your lives to see if thou doth protest too much, or if there is genuine trouble afoot.”

  I was hoping to bait someone into an outburst. Fooey.

  “How dare you!” Aww, my founder’s day present has come. “We were elected by the people on our planets! What gives you the right to . . .”

  “You have!” I smile as I shout. “With no judicial system in place, I am the only authority with teeth!” I smile my creepy-ass pixy smile to emphasize my point. “You serve at my pleasure, and I’m not surprised that you would protest, Garrick, you pocket almost a quarter of the yearly government stipend to Atropos.” A woman in a cowl sitting next to me leans over to whisper more info into my ear. “And you take kickbacks from the shipyard and the mining station around the gas giant?” I tsk loudly and waggle a finger in the fat bureaucrat’s direction. “Stealing from me and the people? I’m just going to fix that.” I make a show of interacting with my interface, even though I don’t need the visible gestures anymore.

  “There we go, accounts and assets seized. Good news everyone! I found several million credits for civic projects!” I beam at the seats in front of me, watching several of my government’s officials squirm in their seats, while a few more attempt to leave with some excuse or another to find a shield enveloping the room prevents them from leaving.

  Five Astorian Forum members are relieved of duty and will be deported to Earth for their crimes. An additional two have had some of their assets seized, totaling nearly 100 million credits with the deported criminal contribution. When I have my fill of grandstanding I let the shield up and security forces storm in to apprehend the ten I’m getting rid of. I get a sick satisfaction watching them put cuffs on my father. I knew that he would overreach at some point, I’m just surprised it took this long.

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  I knew when I hired him that he would be the best man for the job, but also knowing my father, it would chafe him to work for me, especially since he ignored me early when I chose a career that wouldn’t benefit him financially. That and he turned a blind eye to all of the torture and harassment my mother put me through. Speaking of that bitch, a few extra menus has her listed as an enemy of the Empire and a notification in her interface that she has been banished to Earth.

  “Mother,” the cloaked figure next to me says. “Was that really necessary? Did you have to banish Grandpa?”

  “Have to? No. But in ten more years he would have made a significant move of some sort. The man is clever enough to keep his larger plans from me, but by your investigation I could tell he was gearing up for something. All my life he was trying to be the most influential congressman in the US, the biggest fish in the pond he lives in. I figured I’d put him in a different pond instead of dealing with the hassle.”

  “Sure, but his connections will be hard to replace. To that end, so will the four other people you fired.” She scoffs at me.

  I wave my hand at her, shoving aside her concerns. “We’ll hold a special election on Atropos and Asphodel for new governors, until then, I’ll take over the system manager duties for Moiriax and you can do the same for Hades.”

  “More responsibility? Don’t I have enough to do as a cultural liaison and head of your wildlife containment programs?”

  “Well, yes, but until you tell me what you want to do with your life, I will continue to assign you work that I know you’ll enjoy parts of so that you can get a paycheck and have money of your own.” I know these things are important to her, even though she is loath to admit she doesn’t mind my taskings.

  “And you have no agenda or endgame for these assignments?”

  I chuckle at that. “Of course I do. Eventually, I want you to be capable of being Empress Regent while I have to disappear for decades to serve the Matrix.”

  “EMPRESS REGENT?!!?” She shrieks at me. My eyes shoot wide in fear of who may have heard that. I grab my daughter’s hand and teleport us to my suite in the castle.

  “I mean, I was toying with the Temp-ress title, but it seems a bit silly.”

  “The name is not the point, mother! I don’t want to rule!”

  I spin on her and lock my eyes onto hers. “Then what do you want, Zia?! Tell me and I would be willing to make anything you need available to make it happen.”

  “I wanted to fight beside you! But when I got hurt, you got scared and committed genocide to keep it from happening again.” I know what I did, and I’m not proud of it, but hearing Zia use it against me in an argument feels like a spike in my chest. “Even when I achieved tier 2, I thought I would still get the chance to fight beside you, essentially wasting the ascension that are most important for early development. So I don’t know what I want to do now, Mom. I want to fight, so I do. But there’s nothing out there that would make my past choices feel meaningful.”

  “I’m so sorry Zi zi.” I sigh and try to embrace her. I get a light shove and a teary daughter in response. “I’ve been thinking about when the next fight will be too and I’d like to discuss what sort of influence we could be on the galactic scale with you in the future. But for now, I’m a little angry and jittery and feel like getting into a fight on Elysium. Care to come on a hunt with me?”

  I see a little bit of hope and then a flash of fear in her eyes, but she nods anyway. She knows the kind of abominations I hunt these days and my brave daughter agrees to come with me. I’ve devoted the better part of twenty years building this Empire and helping it support itself, so perhaps it’s time to re-focus on the relationships I’ve failed to maintain.