Chapter 680: The will and the means. [1/2]
"Wonderful. Then I welcome you Juno, leader of the Awakened, Open your mouth."
Along with my declaration, the 50-ft Awakened raised the upper half of her jaw. It was as big as a cave. And was filled with hundreds of sharp teeth like those on a shark. I began waving my bloody fist towards the opening.
Drops of my blood sprinkled inward. The sight of her throat and mouth moving at this distance was kind of scary. But knowing who they belonged set my mind as ease. After about a few more minutes, I healed my hand.
"That is enough, now Juno. Call on my name. The keyword is {In the name of Limitless}."
{How fitting. Only by your blood can the monsters leave our nightmares. And only by your name, the one who believed in our worth, can we awaken. Very well. I shall return your trust. IN THE NAME OF LIMITLESS!}
"BROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!"
Along with her thunderous scream, Juno lifted her front legs up and began to kick like a horse. Standing on only her hind legs, it was a frightening sight. If that was not enough it was compounded by the feeling of three thousand souls being consumed.
{This power. No wonder Roach was able to best the former King.}
Juno then lowered her front legs and gazed at me.
{Thank you, Limitless. Both for believing in the Awakened and me.}
"You are welcome. Now let us get down to business."
This officially means, that Juno has joined my allies. Along with the power provided by my {Kismet} I now also held her life in my hands. Feeling I needed to explain it, I tried to speak to her using Technopathy.
[Juno, can you hear me?]
{Hmm? You do not speak yet I hear you? How?}
'Exa, can you please show her how?'
[Yes, my lord.]
{Who? There is another inside my thoughts?}
[Pleased to meet you Juno, I am my lord's servant. I am named Exa.]
{I see. I am Juno of the Awakened, looking forward to working with you.}
It was funny, how this Lizardkin learned in real time. While she is still using my original introduction, she now appended her new designation. She didn't even wonder how Exa was speaking inside her brain. Meanwhile Exa cordially conversed with her as if she was a Reaper.
[Yes, congratulations on being chosen. My lord has high expectations of you. If you do not understand something, please ask me and I will assist you as best I can.]
{I thank you very much Exa. I am unlearned, so I will be asking you quite often.}
[Please do not hesitate to do so. But for now, please switch to Technopathy.]
{Techno-pathy? I do not understand.}
[I will show you something. Please follow it.]
To anyone else, this conversation might have looked weird. For one Juno was grunting and making throaty noises that sounded like she was gagging. Yet only I knew how significant it was.
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This was the first time monsters and AI interacted. And it was only because of my {Kismet} that it was possible. While we could continue to converse via soul, most Phantoms could hear words that used it.
And while only {Interpret} allowed conversing between species, it was not unlikely that there were other {Fates} that revolved around communication. Just like Jo's soulgear {Huddle}.
'Although, if that was true, the main question would be why hasn't anyone figured out that monsters were sentient?'
The fine line between animal and human was the ability to communicate. This was why even if apes, dolphins, ravens and elephants were extremely smart, they were not treated as demi-humans.
Fantasy races in fiction needed the beings to first be able to understand a conversation before they were treated as sentient.
'There were probably some in the past Dearest. Yet even if they did exist, it would not have amounted to much.'
'Indeed. Regardless of if they tried to understand the Awakened, I doubt it would come close to what you are about to do, Beloved.'
'Huh? Why do you girls think so?'
'Because only you would be desperate enough to see them as equals, Husband. Those in power would be careful and enslave them instead. Those without power would have never gotten the chance to begin with. To change anything, one needs two things.'
'The first would be the will do so Beloved. If you didn't even see the potential of the Awakened, we would have just simply slaughtered them all.'
'Correct. The second would be the means to make a difference. Dearest, if we could not defeat Roach, he would have simply killed us all. If we couldn't save Juno, leaving them to die was the only other outcome.'
'Liv and Lilly are both correct, Husband. Without the means to be acknowledge by the Awakened we would have simply died to them. Without the will to challenge the familiar, like George's group, we would have either left them to die or killed the Lizardkin to the last.'
"The will and the means…"
Hearing the words of my harem, made me realize that their words were true. The reason that the world rarely changed was not because if didn't have those that could. Nor that people who wished for change didn't exist.
It was because those that had the means didn't have the will. And those that had the will won't have the means. Ultimately the combination of the two was the only way to manifest change.
[Hello? Hello? Am I doing this right? Exa, Limitless, can you hear me?]
[Well done, Juno! Yes, we can hear you now. This way only those I authorize will be able to hear you.]
Technically what Exa just said was not right. Digital signals were susceptible to interception, that was why encryption was invented. Even cyphers were created when communication officers tried to read the communications of their opponent.
[I see. Thank you for the lesson, Exa. I am grateful.]
[You are most welcome! I look forward to working with you. Congratulations once again!]
"Well fuck, who would believe this Lizardkin can now send text like a human."
Unable to stop myself from commenting out loud, the girls all began to giggle at the absurdity of it all. But I had to get our topic back on point.
[Juno, I had Exa teach you this as I have something important to say.]
[Speak,] she replied curtly.
[The power I gave you, is both a blessing and a curse. With it, I have the ability to kill you with but a thought. Roach accepted this before I gave him my power. Even though, I said I trusted you, I wanted you to know that should you betray me you will be the first to die.]
What I did was cowardly in a way. As no matter how you looked at it, this was a gun to Juno's head. It was different if she accepted the offer when she had a choice.
[I see. It makes no difference then.]
"Huh?" surprised by her response, I ended up using my mouth to express my confusion.
[Limitless, you threated to kill me and all the Awakened, even before you gave me this power. If you now have the ability to do it in an easier manner, it doesn't actually make a difference.]
[Are you not angry that I lied to you? You basically have no option but to follow me now. Do you not resent me for tricking you?]
Juno then began to "laugh" once more. The terrifying sound was accompanied by her striking her scythes together. As always, anyone who saw such a thing would assume she was pissed off as fuck.
[I do not know how Reapers determine exchanges, but the Awakened only follow power. Vampires have the ability to kill me. And you killed them easily. Thus, naturally I cannot go against you. Not unless I wish to die. Yet rather than enslave you wish to ally with us instead.]
She then slowly turned around and face her sisters who were resting.
[Even among our own kin, dying for dark smoke or petty mistakes is an accepted reality. Roach stopped all the infighting among the Lizardkin broods he defeated. This is why I respect him. But somehow, I believe we were meant for more than just to die like this.]
The large behemoth then faced me once more. She then looked me right in the eyes as I remained in midair.