Prologue

***

Author's note:

This series, which I will call more of a book, wishes to be the third in the segment that started with Deviant Empire. After half-finishing two separate ideas for what the third should be (and wishing for a grand one after what I consider to be the weak power of What it Takes) I have paradoxically come to a rewrite of an older story of which DE is the far future of. So, this is technically a prequel, but I like to consider it part three of this longer plot, one where people who have read either of the others will find out James's story in detail... and how the empire rose.

I was always so embarrassed to even think of publishing the original version of James's descent, which was spirited, but filled with many things that might cause a bit of pain to readers. I have done my best to maintain the core ideas while giving the story a full rewrite. Already things have deviated so far that it is difficult at times to return to the canon events I wish to maintain, but the idea is the same.

This is only a short prologue to introduce our protagonist.

***

In all consideration, James had a good place. As the man stood on his balcony, leaned against the railing, and looked towards the empty lot just beyond the fence of this little residential property, the thought came after just last month he had a friend come over and show just how bad it could get in the capital of this cursed country. The rent was relatively low, the place was quiet and BIG. It was a studio apartment, but he had better conditions than those with two bedrooms. He could be doing worse. He could be doing a fuckton better.

James Masters stood in his pajamas and bathrobe as the thought of how shitty the world is returned once again. Of how there were people abused casually by law enforcement, of how corruption was becoming a worldwide necessity to even be someone... and of how it was almost a crime to question your government. Some call it an era of prosperity and enlightenment... that might have been true twenty-five years ago, but it was no longer so. A deep sigh while trying to bottle that rage once more. He couldn't do anything.

Smoke finished, another extinguished butt placed in the ashtray as the man slipped back inside to try and distract himself with a long-lasting game that could usually occupy his entire mind. Once, he thought that this colony manager was a hellish game, but once you add five dozen mods and have mastered the loop, the man could build bases so damn good that the game had no way to even put up a challenge. It would be a long time until then... not today. It was 6 PM on a Friday, plenty of time this weekend to maybe get this colony to the point where they had everything in the base proper.

First, time to get a bit more spicy with some sex mods. James considered sex to be a valid part of life, with the whole limitation on straight, bed-only PG-rated "lovin'" to be an insult to all procreation everywhere. People were weirdos and most just did not fucking admit it. Get everything to make this much more immersive. Water, thirst, toilets. OH boy, the vehicle mod is finally in! He didn't notice that. Having to rely on animals is a pain, especially in early game.

It would take half an hour just to get the mod setup right... easier than the other game, mostly because of the workshop. And because most of his mods came from one guy that mostly kept them consistent with each other. Ten of those minutes were spent just waiting for the game to load. Even if his PC was decent for this year, this thing ate a lot.

Only the music of this game could be heard in the studio apartment, occasionally the sounds of the man's presence, typing and clicking. Mentally, he was saying a lot. Though sometimes he might voice those thoughts... to give them strength or evict them out of his head.

Time for the setup for the game... full world coverage, plenty of roads, every faction. The man even went further than usual... giving it a personal taste. Laughing as he came up with the names for some of these.

"Yep, that fits the group of toxic perma-hostile people who look ugly as hell. Wait, no... there is another option. But they're not trying to scam me."

This was the extent of what he could do. Pretend. Pretend that the world was in a state where you could fight against these titanic forces. And in here, you could. Others might have difficulties in facing even late raids... he had a recipe to deal with five armies at once. Hopefully, it was in place by the time he would see armies. Dev mode on... the storyteller could be a bitch at times.

Several namings of the factions into "American Cops", "The Furry Community", and some other things that the man might be amused to see in his game, he could finally hit that generate button and go for another smoke while the game built an entire bloody planet. This wasn't Dwarf Fortress, but it still took some time. His mind was filled more with the thoughts of what sexual deviances would be included in casual play.

What he decided.... Was that this place would both be a very prosperous and pleasant place to live, where it might take visits to ten faction bases to offload their quarterly production of tradeables, where safety and comfort were beyond what the pathetic bases of the others could only dream of... even the vaults would seem like a downgrade. And it would be a place where an ideology of sexual freedom would allow casual and constant engagement between his pawns. All done with minimal cheating... he'd only do it whenever the game was a bitch... whenever it did something that was practically against the rules. A nice place to live and also a place that most might not want to live because it broke the usual rules. Or so his fantasy might go. For now... they would start with nothing. He found that both liberating and a greater show of talent on his part. Frustrating in the first few days... he found how to solve that problem.

Setting up the religion... or ideology... took another half an hour. So much to detail in consistent ways beyond the game's dictionary. The way of True Family would lead to casual sex and great productivity... and endless war crimes against their enemies. This was called a war crime simulator, after all. And if those enemies had even an inkling of humanity he might give it to them, but no matter how he treated them, they continued to do the worst to his people. James had stopped treating Raiders like people five games ago. Now they were almost a resource.

"Let's make this interesting."

The man said those words as he opened the option to prepare carefully. He'd still have naked colonists coming in, but he found the way to solve the naked brutality problem... send more. Three people. And since he put the option to have incest, why not have it from the start as a grand option? He'd make one mother, one daughter, and one son. The mother would focus on the social and the sustenance part... plants, cooking, animals... no, wait... make the son do animal work and the hunting part, he'll be the tough guy. The daughter will be the practical one with crafting and thinking. And some other things.

This was a much better setup than most people had, but James wanted things to go well. As another fun thing... he decided on a self-imposed and grandly deviant self-challenge... to give the game some chance to keep up... and increase his enjoyment. No recruiting. No strangers, no nothing. Maybe he can find a mod to not have those senators... AHA. There was one. He was not the only man to consider that mechanic stupid. He'll apply that after he starts the game... oh, damn... he had to start with it. ANOTHER HOUR WASTED. Deep breath. He could at least note down all his changes and save parts of the setup... the religion, the group of people. Not an hour... thirty minutes. Another calming smoke as he considered his challenge.

His colony would expand exclusively through reproduction. Considering that everyone at the start was related, that would make it one big family... committing some ludicrous amount of incest. Yes, the DLC did punish people who did that with that stupid trait, but he modded that right out. At least get it right if you put it forward. That's not how incest works. Yes, it would certainly apply to what he was about to do, but having any pairing that was even remotely related instantly make children retarded was an insult.

With a double-check that he had everything in order... the man wanted them to be in a boreal area because heating was easier than cooling and that kept malaria away... also the boreal forests gave some pretty good animals to have around. Bless that pack about bringing back extinct animals and the wooly stegos. Right next to a cliff that would soon become his base... mountain bases were inherently superior, even with the risk of infestation... until he got the repeller. Once he could make vault walls, once he covered all those spots that were not thick roofs... this place would be impossible to get in other than the front door.

This plan might take years for the colonists and days for him. The man did not feel that little change in the air... the thing he was started, that force inside him that smiled as the trap was set and baited with the best it had. Something else had plans for how this would go... And only James could decide the result.

After all was ready.... The man pressed the button to start.