Chương 42: Chapter-42

I kept a version of me with Perith. I wished to observe this statistical outlier. So I did. Occasionally I reported back. The evacuation of Elup was very orderly. At least compared to the evacuation of Weqlan. Perith actually seemed happy, even with me looming over his shoulder. Occasionally I would remind him that I might take his life at any time. I would manifest the sound of my voice in the air next to his ear, and I would say "I might kill you now." And maybe he would stiffen.

But then he would look around, shrug, and move on with his day. I decided that one data point was not enough. So I began splitting off other copies of myself. And I attached them to other soldiers, and many peasants, and many of the upper class, whispering in their ears that I would kill them for their bodies to see how they would react. Most asked for more time. I would grant that request. I would repeat my statement at a later date to see their response. Others asked for mercy.

I asked why they deserved mercy when I had shown none to so many others. Their reasons were many, varied, and mostly flawed. I could see the flaw in their reasoning. But I granted them a reprieve anyway. I told them that I was giving them time to set their affairs in order, and that I would take their bodies when they were required. And then I observed them. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Some were strangely serene, like Perith Someody.

There was screaming and shouting. There was crying. And some people just closed their eyes and waited for it to happen. And when it didn't? They would start moving again, frightened, but they would proceed. And strangely enough, some of them seemed energized by the experience. Many did put their affairs in order. Some changed their behaviors drastically. Others did not. Of course I also continued to take the corpses I required during this time, but I had already gotten most of those.

The control group, those whom I was tormenting, I simply left a version of myself with to observe. Eventually I would have to combine myself. I would have to prune my memories. And watch many parts of me die. Last time I did it one by one. I think this time I will make it so that ninety percent of myselves die at the same time. And I will observe the effect on the survivors. It will be interesting to see what they think. Meanwhile the army went village to village, house to house, hovel to hovel, street to street.

They pulled the reluctant and the unwilling out of their homes and dragged them in formation to the nearest shelter and they locked them in. Most went without too much complaint once they realized they were not being murdered or conscripted. I do not think they realized I was locking them into the shelter for years. They had food. I had been stocking food for years, anticipating a difficult war with Weclan. I threw that and the livestocks into the shelter as well. When it was finished?

I marched the living soldiers into the bunkers as well. And I made the undead stand guard outside to make certain nobody escaped. The parts of me that were studying individuals whom I had lied to about being selected for their bodies would be separate from the rest of me for a long time. I wonder what they would remember when we recombined. I realized something. They might not want to recombine. I realized I had to prepare for the possibility.

I had to prepare for the idea that I might become two, three, four, or infinite versions who did not wish to recombine or share certain memories. Or delete certain memories. As I thought of this. I realized that this line of thinking brought me options I had not seen before. New ways of thinking might open up. And I realized that I had already created an opportunity for this event to occur.

I just needed to perform my soul death ritual before I allowed myselves from Weqlan to return, and then have them do the same thing. How would that change my thinking? I was excited to find out. Excitement. What a strange feeling.