“Just imagine, if I had the ability to give the 99% whatever they wanted, I could have been High General as well!”
Trismit had been going on for hours about how nice things had turned out. In his brief existence, he had never, ever been so well pampered. He had been given all the food he had ever wanted, he had been allowed to enjoy various spa treatments and today was the first time Trismit had ever experienced a hands-on massage. As far as he was concerned, things were great.
“You mean, rather than working hard and working upwards?” Retvik grunted.
While Trismit was genuinely feeling pretty good, Retvik had been incredibly moody, not just towards the guards that were holding them prisoner in the lush, pampered tower, but to Trismit as well. It was clear that something was wrong, but as far as Trismit was concerned, his friend was annoyed because of his headache.
“Pah, as if all the former High Generals worked hard…”
Retvik tutted, vaguely annoyed at Trismit’s statement. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well…” Trismit paused, realising that he may have just indirectly insulted Retvik. After all, his brother had been the previous High General, only to be un-democratically thrown out due to the actions of the same godly being that was keeping them both prisoner. Admittedly, Trismit had somewhat forgotten about the whole dictatorship thing.
“Well, what?”
“Um…” Trismit scrambled to think of an answer, then decided just to be honest. While he and Retvik had both been disconnected from the Rethan Secret, the telepathic network that connected all Rethavok together, he knew that Retvik knew something was up. “Well, if I am honest, it is not like the High Generals ever did anything… for, well, me. I was put through heck through most of my life and it took you to save me. They let that corruption go on for all that time. What makes it worse is that the corruption while High General Elkay was alive was at its lowest. Things were far, far worse when Photeianos was alive.”
“Luckily for us all, Photeianos is definitely dead.”
“We execut-”
“He had been working for Kenon this entire time. Rethais killed him when he challenged Rethais for the title of High General.”
“Huh.” Trismit trailed off. A guard wandered in, eyeing them both. Trismit’s smile returned as he waved the guard over. The two of them had been calmly relaxing in a tranquil water pool, with flowing fountains and rivers all over the place. “Ser, could we have something nice to drink?”
The guard nodded. “Of course, ser. What do you fancy?”
“Something sweet and milky! Like a milkshake. You want anything, Retvik?”
“No thank you…” Retvik grunted, flicking water around.
Trismit shrugged. “Make that two caramel milkshakes. I am thirsty.”
“Of course, ser.” The guard nodded again, then scurried off. Trismit beamed, then turned back to Retvik.
“Why are you such a grumpybutt in the face of pampers and niceness?”
Retvik closed his eyes, lowering himself down into the water. “I would be fine if the pampers and niceness, as you call it, was all based on merit, the upwards mobility of the common vok and democracy.”
“What, rather than inheriting a lot of your awe and power from a generational genetic experiment?”
“What do you…”
“You know exactly what I mean!” Trismit smirked. “You are acting somewhat high and mighty for someone who lived in a society just as corrupt as the Voidlord’s new society…”
“Trismit, I think Kenon’s mind-control is getting to you…” Retvik interrupted. “Say what you want about the corruption of previous leaders, but I think we can both agree that literally mind-controlling the vast majority of one population and making them loyal to you is a little bit different from the nepotism that I accidentally spurred.”
Trismit blinked, then abruptly fell silent, the smile instantly disappearing from his face. The door opened, interrupting them both, as a guard tiptoed in and placed two caramel milkshakes next to Trismit. The guard smiled and waved, before leaving the room, locking the door behind them.
“Wow… I fell into that trap hard… No wonder everyone else… just… goes with it… That mind-control is… strong…”
“We have to be…”
“Careful, obviously!” Trismit snapped, his mood dropping. “By the Light, I did not realize just how persuasive it all is! Promise me, Retvik, you will not let me do that again, yes?”
Retvik nodded calmly. “Of course, Trismit…”