zg_shadows | Lessons in power, part 2

Fairly crap piece of fiction, but it was sitting in my head, more or less, so I decided to get it out onto "paper".

In a disused building somewhere on the outskirts of London, something that looked like a man sat slumped in a faded and battered old armchair.

The rest of his pack still slept, for the sun still shone over the horizon- he could feel it, even though the room was completely shielded from any of its harmful emanations. But he had found, among his many new capabilities, that with very little effort, he could force himself awake early, barely affected by the sun-induced lethargy that used to be the result of doing so. This is power, of the most fundamental sort. Control over oneself.

And so he sat there in the chair, waiting for the sun to go down and the rest of his pack to wake. As he sat there, motionless, patient, his thoughts moved onwards. From internal control and internal power, we derive external control and external power. With external control and external power, we reinforce internal control and internal power.

He gathered his will and projected a command to one of the kine that he had made links with earlier. Instead of writing one name down in a report, they wrote a second one. Utilise what is needed to achieve your ends, but no more: to allow others to see the exact extent and nature of your power will aid them in usurping it. But do not let them forget that you have power.

He considered. There had always been a lack of respect- his illusion was crafted to engender this. But by accepting this lack of respect, was he showing weakness? He paused in his ruminations and sent his will out once again. A second kine decided that they would call in sick the next day- they hadn’t had time off in ages, after all, and they deserved a break.

Returning to his ruminations, he came to a conclusion. It was not weakness if it was a tool to achieve his aims. Still, at some point, a suitable demonstration might become necessary. Best to consider the form it should take. External power, external control is the visible sign by which you will be judged, but do not forget where it derives from.

So, to the matter at hand. He considered his recent acquisitions, and the startling revelation one of them had made. To use a metaphor, it was like grasping a handful of rocks to throw at an enemy, only to discover that one of them was, in fact, a diamond. This tool would be very valuable- he would have to consider carefully what to do with it.

He threw out his will a third time, and a kine decided that, if there was some sign of suitablility, and if no-one disagreed, then the new guy would get that promotion he wanted- after all, the company needed new blood, new ideas to drive it forwards.

His more day-to-day matters concluded, he finally turned his attention to his primary concerns. He required some information to proceed, and knew 3 possible places to find it. Sending his will out, he murmured to himself with what might have been mild amusement…”Let’s see what’s behind Ghoul Number 1…”