The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

And snuck in a more chill episode for a few laughs

Episode 5: Hypotheticals

Spoiler:

It had been two weeks since the attack on the Eon Academy, and to Jon’s relief, outside of the phone calls to angry parents he had to make, those two weeks could not have been any more uneventful. Classes happened on time, the students behaved themselves (mostly) and progress was being made with the students. Whilst the pecking order in terms of their skill was mostly unchanged, they were all progressing at a similar rate, though Justin and Dylan took a little more work from Jon to be able to get them to improve at the same rate as the others.

It was the Saturday of the fourth week, when Abbee suggested the five trainers do something together. The fact that three of them would finish at noon on a given day, whilst two would have afternoon training sessions made it difficult enough for them to do anything as a group. By the time Charlotte would finish her Monday training session at four in the afternoon, Abbee would be starting hers, and by the time she returned, Charlotte wouldn’t want to leave the Academy to have to be back in less than an hour for dinner. Throw in how exhausted people tended to be on the days they had one on one training, Chris and Justin tending to disappear and head into Mossdeep whenever they both had an afternoon free, Charlotte’s myriad of extra training by herself, and Dylan’s tendency to just spend every free moment by himself in his room, Abbee was shocked at how difficult it was to get everyone together outside of classes.

So when she realized on Saturday afternoon that Chris and Justin were not heading into Mossdeep, and Charlotte had finished training for the day, she pounced on the opportunity, suggesting the group watch a movie. After a lot of convincing (and the four of them knocking on Dylan’s door until he realized he would probably save time by just watching the movie with them, compared to waiting for them to give up and leave him alone), they sat in the lounge of the common area, booting up Netflix on the TV, before proceeding to debate over which movie to watch.

Chris wanted to put on a slasher flick, which Abbee was deathly opposed to, and whilst he didn’t say anything, Dylan went pale at the suggestion. In response, she suggested a romantic-comedy, which Justin was dead against, though Chris was oddly quiet, given how opinionated he was. Justin then proposed a sci-fi movie, which caused Charlotte to roll her eyes, before she herself suggested a post-apocalyptic film. Dylan remained silent the entire time, wishing one of them would just pick a movie. It got to the point where they got the deck of cards Jon used on the first day, removing the Queens of Hearts and Diamonds, and the Kings of Spades and Clubs, the queens representing Abbee and Charlotte respectively, and the kings representing Chris and Justin, shuffling the four cards, before having Dylan, who hated being the center of attention, draw one.

When Dylan drew, revealing the King of Clubs, everyone groaned as Justin cheered, before starting the Science-Fiction movie. As the movie was starting, Abbee ducked out of the room, going to the kitchen to make up a bowl of popcorn, before returning shortly after the opening scene, placing herself on the couch close to Dylan. Charlotte turned from her spot on the floor, looking back, as Abbee earned a slightly intrigued glance from Charlotte, before her attention returned to the screen. Justin seemed captivated by the film, whilst Chris sat on the couch in a manner that must have been detrimental to his spine, seeming to struggle to be interested.

The film itself was about a lone-extraterrestrial being, with technology beyond what was real, whose ship crash-landed on earth, and was unable to return home. The alien used the technology it had to blend in with the humans, trying to figure out if there was a way to send a message out to its own kind, and realizing that the technology it needed didn’t exist in the possession of the common people, however world governments did have access to this. The alien then began using its technology to move itself up the chain of command, earning itself more and more authority and power, all with the goal of being able to get access to what it needed to send out a message and be picked up by its own kind. However, by the time it was in a position to send the message out to its own people, the power and authority it held had changed it, causing it to continue to use its advanced technology to gain more power, setting its sights on ruling earth. It eventually succeeded, becoming the leader of a united earth, however the power and authority put it under a spotlight, making it increasingly difficult to keep its true identity hidden. Eventually it was caught out, and despite its advanced technology, was captured and experimented on, leaving earth without a leader, and the fallout of the revelation causing devastation to earth's inhabitants. As the credits rolled, Justin was the first to speak.

“So what did you think?”

“So unrealistic,” Chris said, before opening his phone.

“It’s science fiction Chris…” Charlotte muttered, as she turned around to face Chris and Justin. “You know what fiction means right?”

“I know it’s not meant to be but come on,” Chris retorted. “Anyone with half a brain could have been able to see that he wasn’t human. If this were real, he wouldn’t have lasted a week before being caught, let alone become the leader of earth. Makes it even more stupid, because if he played his cards right, he could have, without being caught...”

Dylan watched the exchange awkwardly from the other couch, though most of the awkwardness coming from Abbee falling asleep halfway during the movie, head resting on his shoulder, and not knowing whether to wake her or not.

“Okay then, if you were the alien in the movie, how would you do it? How would you take over earth?” Charlotte asked, before muttering. “This will be good…”

Dylan breathed a sigh of relief as Abbee started to stir, noticing where she was resting, before quickly sitting up straight, looking slightly embarrassed.

“In all honesty, I don’t know why he bothered about the secrecy,” Chris explained. “Think about it, you look at movies where the bad guys are pirates, and the ships usually have cannons on them to defend from other ships.”

“Your point…”

“Well, if his race were travelling in space, it’s pretty likely other races were as well, and you aren’t going to fly across the galaxy unarmed. Surely his ship had space age weapons on it to defend against attacks, like the ships in the pirate movies have cannons,” Chris explained. “Blow up enough cities, make your demands, and they will be bowing at your feet in seconds.”

The door to the lodge closed as Jon walked in with a slightly concerned look on his face, carrying a few dishes containing that evening’s dinner.

“You lot aren’t planning terrorist attacks are you?” Jon asked, half jokingly.

“We just watched a movie about an alien trying to take over earth, and Chris reckons he could have done it better,” Justin explained, as Charlotte piped up.

“Yeah that could work, except for one little thing…” Charlotte explained. “The whole reason he was on earth was because his ship crashed and couldn’t fly…”

“Well the supercomputer on it worked, right?” Chris asked. “He was able to hack into the birth registry and create a file for his human disguise with no issue. Surely hacking into the government's nuclear missile programs would be a cakewalk for him?”

“So what I am hearing is that Chris only enjoys Michael Bay movies, and that’s because he needs the explosion to keep his attention…” Charlotte retorted.

“Well how would you, oh genius of world domination, take over the world if you were him?” Chris asked sarcastically, as Jon went into the kitchen to get the oven heating up that night's dinner.

Charlotte was silent for a moment before speaking.

“I would find a safe way to reveal myself,” Charlotte explained. “Maybe using the supercomputer to put out a broadcast for the world to see.”

“So you become public enemy number one?” Justin asked.

“No, I’d get footage from the attack that left my ship damaged and caused me to crash into Earth and show that. Tell everyone that the attack happened close to earth, and that I was a messenger sent to warn earth of the impending attack from this other race of aliens.”

“Then I’d offer their leaders my own knowledge in creating weapons on earth to defend against the attack, in return for my own safety,” Charlotte explained. “Little do they know, I’m just building a personal armoury, and once I believe they have no way of defending against me, then I’d start extorting power from them. Let them know the only reason I am not turning the weapons on them is my own good graces.”

“S**t…” Justin muttered as Jon entered the room again, leaning by the doorway, looking amused.

“How is that any different to what I said?” Chris asked irritably. “I talked about using alien weapons and you used that to make a Michael Bay dig against me…”

“The difference is that my core idea didn’t have a gaping plot hole, or involve nuclear fallout,” Charlotte retorted.

“Eh, I still think there are better ways…” Justin explained. “You get power by force, and you just put a giant target on your back. They find a way to kill you, and everything is good. You wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.”

“So what would you do?” Abbee asked, curious by the conversation.

“Like Charlotte, I’d reveal myself pretty quickly, but in a safe way,” Justin explained. “But I would use my technology to help people. Sure enough these aliens have the cure for cancer, or some miracle antibiotic that can kill any bacteria or something?”

“Sure…” Charlotte said, more so to hear where Justin was going with this.

“First I’d help just out of the goodness of my heart-” Justin began as Chris scoffed. “But once they get used to it, I start asking for something in return…”

“First it will be small things the government could offer. A roof over my head, comfort, security. Things that would allow me to have a life here, that seem reasonable, that wouldn’t be too difficult for the people to provide…” Justin explained. “But as they become more accustomed to it, I will offer more incredible things, but be asking more in return for it. Things like power, and authority, and I will be public about what I offer. With millions starving being solved by some space-fertilizer I have that can make crops grow anywhere in a day, would people really let their governments say no to that?”

“Eventually, I wouldn’t be a guest from outer space, who is just sharing what he has, but instead a god to the people, who can help them deal with all of life's unfairness and unpleasantness, if they make it worth my while…”

“That is some twisted s**t…” Chris muttered, as Charlotte murmured in agreement. Abbee looked at Justin in horror.

“Haven’t you got a conscience?” Abbee asked, shocked at what Justin described.

“It’s just a hypothetical,” Justin replied. “What about you? How would you do it?”

“Kinda similar to you, but completely different,” Abbee said. “I’d use the technology I had to help them, but ask nothing in return.”

“The point is to take over earth Abbee…” Justin said.

“It doesn’t have to be a hostile takeover though,” Abbee explained. “I’d help the people however I could, do more for them than their current leaders ever really could…”

“I see where this is going…” Jon said with a grin from the doorway.

“Like you said, cure diseases, prevent them if I can, solve world hunger, use the technology to build houses for the homeless,” Abbee said. “The things the politicians spend too much time arguing about and get next to nothing done. I’d do more for humanity in a matter of months than governments do in decades. So when the time comes for countries to choose a new leader, who do you think they will want to elect?”

“But that’s just a country, we’re talking the world,” Charlotte explained.

“That’s just another step,” Abbee continued. “Once I am ruling one country, others will see the eutopia I have created and want to be part of it. They could see their own country, with all the issues it has, or see mine, with none, and choose to join us. What’s the point of independence if it just means you’re the muck at the bottom of the barrel?”

“I think you’re being a bit optimistic about how willing people will be to follow you…” Justin retorted.

”It’s just a hypothetical,” Abbee replied, slightly mimicking Justin’s tone from earlier.

“I think you’re all overthinking this…” Jon said. “I know a simple way to rule the world…”

“What’s that?” Abbee asked.

“This alien has a government hacking supercomputer right?” Jon asked.

“Yes…”

“I’d make their currency worthless,” Jon explained. “All of it. The only reason people are willing to help eachother out these days is because money is involved. People could try bartering goods and services, but really, how much of you would be willing to trade your possessions instead of currency? Everything you have, you have because it has some purpose or value, and to trade or barter using that means you lose it. Meanwhile, money is this arbitrary concept, that only has value because everyone agrees it has value.”

“I’d remove all value from their money, and let them squirm a little, having to have to pay for the necessities in goods and services they really don’t want to give, then offer to give their money its value again,” Jon explained. “It would come with a cost, but I might even give it back anyway, only to give them a taste of what they are missing, before taking it away again and negotiating. Even if I wasn’t official ruler of earth, I’d basically be in charge anyway…”

“You’re almost as bad as Justin…” Abbee said, shocked to hear Jon’s ideas.

“I got most of that idea from a TV show,” Jon replied. “Anyway, dinner’s ready.”

Chris, Charlotte and Justin went to get up, as Abbee interrupted.

“Wait!” She called out. “Dylan hasn’t told us what he’d do…”

“What would you do Dylan?” Jon asked, now probably the most curious anyone there had been during this entire discussion.

“The whole movie was about how he needed the government’s technology to send a message into outer space to get taken home, wasn’t it?” Dylan asked somewhat nervously.

“Yeah, exactly,” Charlotte confirmed.

“Then when he decided to get into politics, didn’t he use his alien supercomputer to hack into a bunch of places, including the government, to make records of himself being a real person?”

“Yeah, he did,” Justin said.

“Then I’d just have the supercomputer hack the government equipment to send out the message from the start,” Dylan explained. “I’d get picked up in a few days and go home.”

Dylan got up and made his way to the kitchen as the others all took a moment to process what he just said.

“Wait, was that plot hole there the entire f**king time?” Chris asked angrily.

“I think it was…” Charlotte confirmed.

“Then why didn’t the alien just do that?” Justin asked, finding himself more confused.

“I think it’s pretty simple,” Abbee explained, as Jon smiled, reaching the same conclusion she had.

The other three looked at her, wanting to hear her explanation.

“He didn’t shift from wanting to go home to wanting to rule the earth,” Abbee explained. “Deep down, part of him wanted to rule the earth from the beginning, and that got in the way of his common sense…”

Abbee walked out, with Jon following, as the other three stood in the lounge trying to process what had just been said.

“Next time, just put on the goddamn slasher flick…”