Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
3.46 The Responsibilities we Have

“That went on way too long,” I mention to Chloe as we finally get out of the attorney’s office. “And it just never ended! As soon as I answered one question, he started up with three more. It was almost like I was the one being accused.”

“I think you did great, Sera.”

“Thanks. Still frustrated about it all.” I pause for a half second. “I’m beginning to understand the phrase ‘no good deed goes unpunished’. If I knew I’d have to deal with all this, the path of just–”

“No, Sera. I know they frustrate you, but you cannot just rush into killing everyone who gives you the slightest bit of discomfort.”

“I know, Chloe.” I take a deep breath. “Doesn’t mean I’m upset that I was treated like a criminal for the crime of trying to do the right thing.”

Chloe takes my hand in hers as we ascend a bit higher up than normal. With it being so hot during the heat of the afternoon, the slightly cooler and significantly windier air is a welcome relief. And since our [Vitality] also seems to protect us from sunburn— not to mention that Chloe learned the [Cure Condition] spell at Level 40— there’s no significant downside to our doing so.

Once we’re over the midtown, overlooking one of the many highways that runs through and around the city, Chloe stops for a moment, looking down at the city of nearly half a million. I pause as well, joining her. It’s not quite late enough that traffic has picked up in anticipation of rush hour, but there are still quite a few cars driving throughout the city. Some barreling down the freeway faster than the legal limit. Others crawling along through neighborhoods or stuck at lights that stubbornly refuse to change from red to green.

From this vantage point, nearly fifteen thousand feet up, it’s hard not to see each individual person. Cars look the size of ants, and people are mere gnats. It’d be far too easy to start internalizing this perspective, thinking myself above the common people, looking down upon them figuratively just as we currently do literally.

But when seen another way, I get an amazing, beautiful perspective of the city as a coherent whole. Highways like arteries, main roads like arterioles, neighborhood streets as capillaries. Different districts like the organs in a living being; downtown serving as the brain, sitting on the northern side of the sprawling metropolis. The industrial district on the west side of town, including the burning plumes of smoke as natural gas is burned to power the city’s millions of buildings. Parks and forested areas and entertainment districts would be something like the liver, helping cleanse us of our mental woes after long days at work? I… suppose the metaphor is not perfect, after all.

“Sera, I’m worried,” Chloe says.

“About the court case, the Tower, the monsters the System seems to send every so often? About us and our relationship?” I really hope it’s not the last of those.

“A little about all four of those. But it’s more than that. Sitting there with you, I had a lot of time to think about our role in this world, our responsibilities and duties and… obligations, I suppose.”

“Our rights, and our responsibilities,” I say. “They have to go in equal measure. Protector or not, [Mechanical Angel] or not, my desire to protect notwithstanding, I just can’t see myself eager to continue to protect people who actively persecute us, especially after we’ve protected them multiple times already.”

“Sera, I know it can be hard for you. You’ve grown up with a chip on your shoulder because society hasn’t been fair to you.” She squeezes my hand, and together we enter a free fall, heading further south toward the Jacobs residence. “It hasn’t been fair to a lot of people. I know it might not be my place to say this, but I hope you remain true to those ideals even when they are difficult. Especially when they are difficult.”

I take a long, deep breath. There was a line of questioning that really, really went into some uncomfortable places near the end of the deposition. A series of questions about how one could possibly regulate the actions of a person who is, by virtue of their physical power, completely incapable of being forcibly subjected to the law’s decrees. It’s a question I’ve thought about a lot over the past couple of months, and not one I’ve found a satisfactory answer to.

I know it can be done. From what I’ve gleaned from my reawakened memories, my past self’s mentor— Dr. Madison Mazerie, if I recall— was the strongest person on that planet. Sadly, I have no real sense of her strength other than a very generous lower bound and that she was nearing level 224. But I know enough to know that she had enough power to eradicate all life on that planet were she so inclined. And yet, she didn’t.

I never saw her threaten anyone, other than perhaps indirectly through her presence. And she always treated me with kindness and consideration. From what little I’ve seen of her, she seemed to do the same with others. She held the people under her to high expectations, but also treated them with respect and dignity, despite no one demanding it of her.

But at the same time, I know that humans in this world— especially Americans— have a nasty habit of doing exactly the opposite of whatever they’re told. Especially if it’s the people in power who are doing the telling. And I’m not sure how keen they are about the idea of being lorded over by a dictator, however benevolent, if it’s not a dictator of their own choosing.

And there is good reason to believe that some people, if in my position, would absolutely use their power for personal gain, consequences to others be damned. For that reason, it absolutely makes sense that there be some sort of regulation or registration, or something in place.

But I just don’t know what that something is. The best I’ve been able to keep up with is some grand council of people of similar power, all operating some sort of Mexican standoff to keep the others from getting out of hand. But that only works until someone gets enough Experience for a class change. The increase in stats is not nothing, but far more important is the potency and flexibility of the new Skills that tend to accompany it.

From [Tinkerer] and [Bullet Time] becoming [Mechanist’s Eye], then [Angelic Insight], and now [Archangel’s Gaze]. [Cybernetic Body] has so much untapped potential even now, and I desperately need to really look into taking full advantage of everything it offers. It already enhances my [Wings of Icarus] and [Mechanical Arm Cannon] in subtle ways that aren’t quantified on my stat sheet, and I suspect that on the next class-up, it might absorb one or even both of those pieces of equipment.

[Angel’s Grace] is an absurd boosting ability, which is somehow outclassed even more by Chloe’s [Saintess’s Blessing]. And both of those are compounded to an obscene degree thanks to [Angelic Bond], a Skill that itself can probably evolve— somehow. And then there are my [Ether] and glyph manipulation and manifestation Skills. On their own, they are nothing much. But together, with [Glyphcasting], they are capable of facilitating some of the most destructive magic I've seen to this point.

Even with all the things I’ve been able to accomplish with these Skills, I still feel I’ve been underusing them to this point. As much as I need to study glyphs and continue my crafting, I need to be working on how to evolve them or combine them further. That, I think, will be the key to growing stronger, better able to continue to effect the world I desire.

“What do you think, Chloe?” I ask, after having relayed my thoughts on the matter. The two of us are nearly over Chloe’s neighborhood now, slowing our approach to not overly disturb anyone outside.

“Hmm. I do think we have an obligation to protect this city— our city. Both from monsters, and from anyone else who threatens it. And I don’t think that obligation is contingent upon how the people here treat us.”

“But–”

“Even if they treat us poorly. We have this power, and I think it behooves us to be better than matching force with force, at least not until exhausting all other options or when it is done in defense of a third party. That’s why I’m proud that you restrained yourself at the pawnshop, and that you are maintaining that commitment to letting the law judge them instead of inflicting summary judgement.”

I sigh. “I suppose you are right. But damn if that isn’t hard.”

“Of course it’s hard!” Chloe giggles as we touch down on her driveway. “Being a good person means committing to being good even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard!”

“Yeah, if either one of us was a guy, it definitely would be hard right about now!”

Chloe’s eyes widen. “Seraphina, that is not what I meant! And don’t think you are going to distract me from this with sex!” She playfully slaps me, dealing a single point of damage. “Not saying I’m opposed to having some fun after a shower. But first, we are going to finish this conversation.”

“Yes, Chloe,” I say, with all the guilt of the girl who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Here’s the thing I think you’re missing. Do you like this world?”

“I mean, good and bad. There are things I like and plenty more I dislike. Isn’t it the same for everyone?”

“Think about it this way, Sera. You like living in a home with air conditioning. You like eating fresh food, being able to get clean water out of the tap, being able to keep your food preserved in the refrigerator, heated in the microwave or oven or stove top. You like hot showers and a warm, comfortable bed with a cute girl named Chloe to sleep with at night.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I do.”

“I bet it’s the same for everyone else who reaches our level of strength. They might not want the exact same world that we do, but they want the comforts of modern society all the same. So we can use that as a way to mutually keep everyone in check. Same way countries that don’t like each other have— for the most part— managed to coexist without too many instances of all-out war breaking out between them.”

“Sounds like warlords with a nicer veneer attached to it.”

“Maybe. But I think we should start not by assuming that people are all evil and want to subjugate the world, and instead assume that there are a lot of people who do genuinely want to do good. Or, at the very least, are not specifically inclined to do evil.”

“I don’t like assuming that people aren’t going to do evil. I think whatever structure emerges should be tailored with the assumption that people are going to push that structure to its limits and attempt to break them for personal, selfish benefit.”

“I understand. But it’s not like we can’t talk with people and get some better ideas on how to move forward. Remember, Sera. You’re not alone. We’re not alone. We have friends and allies and–”

“Yeah. People like Alexey and Nicholas who might not exactly be allies and aren’t exactly friends either, but with whom we have mutual interests and a working relationship.”

Chloe lays her head on my shoulder right after we slip into the front door. “Exactly. As long as we all have mutual interests and are able to compromise, we can make progress.”

I wrap Chloe into a long hug, my wings wrapped around her at a distance. “You’re right. As you usually are. And thankfully, there’s still time before we have to make those decisions.”

“Just promise me that we’ll continue trying to do what good we can, when we can.”

“Yeah. I promise.”