James's Descent Ch. 09

"And could you not... bring them over?"

How did he not think of that? But if he brought eight billion people to a planet with six, eight billion idiots from which most might as well be executed... no, maybe some sample sizes. Some visitors here and there. One at a time, or two, or ten. Not all in one place or they're gonna consolidate and try to impose their stupidity... fewer, let that isolation work against them, integrate them into society one at a time.

"Then I so declare that from now on we shall receive some extradimensional immigrants. Be welcoming, but fair. If they are imbeciles, please do not abstain from executing them. Some are unredeeming. Some just need a chance. But I'll give them one chance. Maybe all they need is a new world to not be held down by the old one."

"I'll let the others know. I can see why you might feel like this. The savior is not saved. I am sorry we cannot do more."

"You've done enough. All I want is for you guys to have a nice life, for everyone to have that fair chance at a nice life... not the gambling to be one of the few to not be prey, but a very equal ability from high to low... to just have a nice life." He could omit this, but James could not lie. "And there's something else. Do with this as you may. I remember... being somewhere else. Not much... faint, barely there. It's like I have to spend a lot of time to reach in and feel fragments... and just feelings. I remember being somewhere else in that time I was absent."

"Where did you go? I admit I was surprised that you did not return immediately."

"Somewhere... I'm not sure where. Maybe I was dead for real and after so long, you guys calling for me brought me back. I mean, the first time it was people calling me that let me do that shift. Probably the same. I remember I was... happy. That it was all right, that I had people there I wanted. That it was good. No details, just... happiness."

"And you came back for us." Deep breath. "You gave that up for us."

"Think it's something I'd do. Notice how you guys fucked up and asked God to let me slide back down to fix you guys. Wonder why more don't return like this. But... it's a huge contrast. I was just... happy. And now I'm not. Don't know if I'll ever be. But I'll at least feel good if you guys keep being a great place to live."

"Then it shall be so. We promise."

"Careful. Someone might come around to break that. But it's enough. Content is the right word for what I feel now. It's fine. It's okay. I see a world of possibility for everyone... hope. Something I didn't have before. I'll keep watch, come around to let you know if something needs doing... or go ahead and do it. Need my fun from time to time."

"James..." The use of his name made the man pause for a moment. He did not forbid it, just... it was like a beacon.

"Note to everyone. Saying that name draws my attention. Don't say it unless you want me there... or at least watching." And so there would be no person in the empire named James.

"And saying The Outsider does not?"

"Well, one's my name, and the other's my job. Saying Caretaker might refer to you, even if you were the only one, but you'd turn your head at your name more often."

"True. And what I wished to say is that all you want, you can ask. I trust that your requests, your actions... will always be things we want done."

"Remember to question from time to time. I might not think things through, or... maybe I'm just testing you to make sure you didn't turn into spineless idiots. Will got voted out fast... never good for that work. I assume he ended there because he'd lean to all the corporate interests."

The conversation would drag on for hours. She assumed correctly that the man had much to say and not a lot of people to say it to. Few think of their god, how he's alone now... with all the friends and family he knew dead and dusted for hundreds of years, sitting up there and dutifully watching over them. He was welcome to talk... and do more... anytime.

From here, the empire could grow... if not in size, at least in quality. New technologies would provide solutions to old issues, a measured government would keep proper and caring order, suitable competition would fight against corporate greed, and the guidance of the caretakers could avoid most people falling into the old issues. They'd remember.

One day, the empire would begin to grow in size once more, take on new and greater challenges, and face off against entities many could not imagine. All under the watchful gaze of the outsider, a god that would resist that temptation despite all odds. Perhaps one day he might fall, but he would last far longer than any before him. He'd break that record before that new era and keep going. But that is a story for another time.

A story possible only because of one man.

*

What is the value of one man? Some might say it depends on the context. One man in the statistics of the annual deaths is but a single data point, only the grouping giving it value. One man in the wild with no other to shape it might mean everything to it, the apex predator to turn the environment around. One man could be meaningless compared to a billion.

James had a lot of time to think as he watched the world go on. He'd see people die, people get born, and people do what they do... the first few were difficult, tempting him to correct every small detail, but he held back. Spying on all the sex scenes he wanted lost its charm after a bit and gained another. There was a joy in watching some people go on with their lives, seeing their successes, their challenges, and their fun moments. He'd tracked down all his descendants, which were many as they spread far and wide. Apparently, he also killed a good amount of them. Being from the outsider's line does not give you special privileges. Good.

But he had a lot of time to be alone with his thoughts. Sure, he could just let the world slide by, "sleeping" for a while until something interesting happened, personal alerts made to draw his attention to those moments. He looked at history once more, in much greater deal, following the lives of select people who have been at the core of some significant events. They all seemed so... disposable. Living a while, dying like all the rest. That was a temptation he would not indulge in. He found that question. What is the value of a man? He saw more than a few to demonstrate how people were not disposable. Many as they were, competing for the same thing in a thousand lives that might as well be interchangeable, each had a flavor, and each could do just one thing to affect everything. He was such a man, but he saw other examples.

That woman who exercised her defiance, gunning down just one security officer before dying... some might think her actions did not make a dent, that defiance against forces infinitely your greater is meaningless. Far from it... she did a lot. Security shit their pants for months at the fear of another dealing them CONSEQUENCES. One old lady put fear in hundreds of armed men. Imagine what two old ladies could do. And that absolute lad who murdered that judge... single-handedly made corruption drop by a good margin. Okay, there were other factors to give it a net increase, but you could just see how that growth slowed down whenever someone dealt them.... Consequences. The great fear of any who believe themselves an unassailable force.

What is the value of one man? Everything. They can be an example, they can be a terror, they can pull one lever at the right time and destroy planets, or they can just be the father of the one to do so. All those people matter because they make a difference. When one stares at the infinite void of space and its millions of stars, consider how those stars fear you, how you can indirectly lead to that star's light being encased in a metal shell and enslaved by the humble human. How if one man dies today, if that butterfly is stepped on, that star could shine unimpeded for another few million years. Each human is the sum of all the actions of those that came before them and a crucial component of the actions those in the future will bring.

And with that, James learned that defiance was not meaningless. Defiance would become his very being. There was another force infinitely his greater that shuddered at the rebellion of one man even while claiming that he could do nothing. That's why they clamped down on every last drop of dissent in 1984. Defiance can bring down gods. One day he might. One day he will. One day, He Who is Everything will have a force opposing him that will replace pain with a new function of the universe. One day an infinity of eternities away.

He would resist that temptation far better than any before him. The century will pass, then another, then three more... then two millennia, and MORE. There was none exactly like him and there might never be again, but he had the unique properties that could let one defy a force so grand, the right opportunities... and a ton of mental power. And through all this, he never lost sight of his ambition. To make a world where hope exists and it is well worth it.

And that is why his people worship the outsider.

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TO BE CONTINUED IN RISE OF THE STAR

... and the epilogue. But the story of James's Descent is one that wishes to focus on the titular character. Rise of the Star shall focus on the development of the Empire from the moment they have achieved spaceflight to what one might consider the climactic moment of their history.... and what came after.

The epilogue will feature distant events that our protagonist will engage in during or after those events, focused around his mission rather than the empire.

Thank you for reading and please consider leaving a comment.

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