Master of the System

Luthor furrowed his brow. It wasn’t rare for someone to enter his office to give him a security briefing. Usually, it involved the empire or the coalition making an advance in technology. Most of the times, he just had to acknowledge the information being presented, and it was rare for him to have to make a decision despite being the president of the federation. However, the information being presented to him this time involved the federation, and he had to make a decision about it, an extremely unusual occurrence. He leaned forward and pressed play on the tablet presented to him.

“Think you were born in the wrong era? Responsibilities bumming you out? Take a trip to the Moon Lotus World, a recently discovered planet with inhabitants who’re still living like it’s the 500s! Most of the substances that make you feel good—but have been ultimately branded as illegal in the three big civilizations—are totally legal there!”

Luthor raised his head. “An advertisement for the Moon Lotus World?” He glanced around, staring at the intelligence officers. “They are developing a bit fast, but what kind of decision do you want me to make? I’ve already personally invited them to the federation; I won’t revoke their membership.”

“The advertisement isn’t the important part,” an intelligence officer said. “That was just the last snippet of a fifteen-minute-long commercial. What’s important comes next.” The officer tapped on the tablet, continuing the video.

“And we’re back!” the host of Metal Warbots said. “I hope you’ve done everything you’ve needed to do to not leave your seats for the foreseeable future! Facing off against two hundred ninety-nine opponents in a battle royale, we have this year’s darkest horse, from the recently discovered Moon Lotus World, Elder Vremya and his robot, Battlesuit!”

“That’s not right,” Mr. Metal said, snatching the mic away from his host. “How can a robot be given such a simple name. Battlesuit? There’s certainly nothing wrong with Elder Vremya’s biotechnological engineering skill, but when it comes to naming, even a child could beat him! In fact, we found an eight-year-old child in the audience while the commercial played!” The camera panned over to the host’s booth where Mr. Metal and the host were sitting. Behind them, there was a child. Mr. Metal turned around and placed the mic in front of the kid’s face. “What do you think, young man? Is Battlesuit a good name?”

“No!” the kid said and shook his head. “It’s a dumb name! That robot beat Metal Croc and Winged Deity! It should be called Metal Buttkicker!”

Mr. Metal snickered. “Did you hear that, folks? What do you think of the name Metal Buttkicker?”

Cheers erupted from the audience, causing Azalea’s expression to darken. She was the one that had named the robot. It was a requirement on the entry form, and she hadn’t put any thought into it at all. Grandpa Vremya didn’t care about names either, and she knew he named things practically. The flying whale golem he had created was dubbed the flying whale golem, and the silver-chicken robes that were turned into golems were dubbed the silver-chicken-robe golems. Following that line of thought, the battlesuit golem should’ve been named Battlesuit Golem, but Azalea had figured that was a little too long. It wasn’t her fault the name of the golem was looked down upon by an eight-year-old child. Besides, it was still a better name than Metal Buttkicker!

“Hey, uh, just wondering,” a man sitting beside Azalea said. He pointed at her chest. “Do you actually go to that gym, or was the t-shirt just assigned to you?”

Azalea glanced down at her chest. A bright logo was pasted on the front of her t-shirt, and it was clearly advertising a certain gym. “It was given to me to waive the entrance fee,” Azalea said. Her eyes lit up. “However, if you want muscles like mine, there’s a product in the Moon Lotus World that can increase your strength just by eating it.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Oh, damn,” he said. “I heard the Moon Lotus World was a very liberal planet with practically no restrictions on drugs, but I didn’t know they produced steroids as well. I think I’ll check it out, thanks.”

Luthor paused the video and raised his head. “Is it about the Moon Lotus World or not?”

“No, that’s just Mr. Metal being creepy and broadcasting the audience’s conversations,” the intelligence officer said. “You know what, let’s just skip to the important part.” He tapped on the tablet twice, skipping ahead in the video and starting it.

“What an incredible display!”

“Err, too far ahead,” the intelligence officer said and tapped on the screen again.

“Let the battle royale, begin!” the host shouted. “And they’re off! They’re all off except for Battlesuit, no, except for Metal Buttkicker! What is Elder Vremya doing!?”

The camera panned over to Grandpa Vremya, revealing the bored expression on his face. The old man was just standing place with his arms crossed. It seemed like he was waiting for something.

“What exactly is he waiting for?” the host asked. “If he doesn’t move fast, all the military-grade weapons will be taken away! Even if he’s not going to use any weapons, the smartest thing to do would be to get rid of his opponents before they can equip themselves!”

While the other contestants’ robots scrambled and fought for the military-grade weapons, Mr. Metal ran out of the host’s booth. The camera followed him, and eventually, he arrived at Grandpa Vremya’s control booth. “Elder Vremya,” Mr. Metal said upon barging into the booth. “What are you thinking? You haven’t fallen asleep, have you? The audience is waiting for a show! Can’t you hear them?”

“Metal Buttkicker! Metal Buttkicker! Metal Buttkicker!”

“Kill them all!”

“I gambled my life savings on you, Metal Buttkicker!”

Grandpa Vremya glanced at the camera. “Is that live?”

“Huh?” Mr. Metal turned his head. “Yep! At Metal Warbots, we stream raw, unedited footage!”

Grandpa Vremya nodded at the camera. “Hello. I am selling battlesuits similar to the one out there. In fact, I’m selling the one out there as well. If you’re interested, you can contact the Moon Lotus World. As for why I’m not doing anything, wouldn’t there be more prospective buyers if my battlesuit one-sidedly defeated all those opponents even when they’re fully equipped with military-grade weapons?”

“This is it, Mr. President,” the intelligence officer said, pausing the video. “Since you’re the one who personally invited the Moon Lotus World to join the federation, the final decision is ultimately in your hands. For the security of the federation, we suggest suppressing information about biotechnological golems, specifically those created in the Moon Lotus World, and purchase it for our own use. If we do this, it’ll likely influence the future of that planet, tying them closely to our military. Rather than a civilian planet, it’ll likely be treated as a military site by the coalition and empire.”

“Let me see the battlesuit in action first,” Luthor said, hitting the play button. He frowned and skipped ahead to an explosion.

Metal Buttkicker punched a rocket-propelled grenade, causing it to explode. A moment later, it shot out of the cloud of dust particles and crushed the robot that had shot it, stomping it into the earth. Metal Buttkicker picked up the crushed robot and crumpled it into a ball. With a booming sound, the battlesuit flew up into the air, taking the giant metal ball with it. Like a professional pitcher, Metal Buttkicker drew its arm back and tossed the robotic remains into the distance. It struck a robot out of the sky, causing sparks to fly in all directions.

Luthor skipped ahead again to an aerial view of an open plain. Metal Buttkicker dashed from robot to robot, the camera unable to capture how it moved. The battlesuit could only be seen for an instant every time it stopped to crush an opponent. Its finishing move was always the same: it dug its arms deep into its opponent before ripping them into two halves!

Luthor skipped ahead again, viewing more and more scenes. As he did, the expression on his face hardened with every passing second. Nothing could harm the battlesuit, and nothing could stop it either. It was an invincible being. “How strong is it?” Luthor asked, raising his head.

“It’s as strong as a middle-to-high soul-seed cultivator,” the intelligence officer said. “However, strength like that must have a few drawbacks. We just don’t know what they are yet, and we won’t know until we take action to inspect it. For us to do that, you’ll have to make a decision, Mr. President. Should we treat the Moon Lotus World as a civilian business and let this technology spread, or do we lock the world down and tie it into our military-industrial complex?”