The Rifts of Psyche by Kyle West (i love reading .txt) 📕

the moment you see me? Why won’t you show me your face? Why would I ever trust someone who thinks slavery is acceptable, Queen Ansaldra?”

She watched him for a moment, seeming to consider. It was hard not to wilt under that gaze.

“Psyche is a mage prison world, Lucian. If we are ever to be strong, we need a strong ruler. And yes, there is a system of hierarchy on this world. Order is needed. I am that order. Without me, this world would devolve into barbarism within weeks.”

“You are a despot, then. You rule with fear.”

“Out of practicality. My ethos, or even your ethos, has nothing to do with it. What causes a civilization to persist? That’s a question I’ve been dealing with for over five standard decades since the Free Mages were exiled here. And what we’ve learned is that no civilization lasts where all of its members are equal participants. Human nature precludes that, as humanity discovered in the latter half of the 21st century with the fall of the so-called “Great Democracies” and the start of the Climate Wars. Even as far back as that dark time, we’ve had the capacity, the technology, and the resources to ensure no human being went without. That no human being had to work if they didn’t so desire. There was enough food, enough money, enough homes for everyone to live in plenty.”

“Is there any point to this?”

Though Lucian could not see her, Lucian could feel her smile. “And yet here we are, in the 24th century, and these evils still persist. Unless humanity has somehow solved them since I’ve been on this world, which I highly doubt. What does that tell you, Lucian?”

Lucian saw where she was going with this. “It doesn’t mean you need to have slaves.”

“That word is just semantics. I would argue that a so-called citizen of the League is just as much a slave. Trapped in their circumstances, given just enough food, money, and entertainment not to rebel, because their masters could never tolerate a society where the unwashed masses might look the de facto masters eye to eye. A society can only evolve when technology or will allows it. Here on Psyche, our resources have limited us to something that would be the equivalent of the Bronze Age on Earth. How do you build a Bronze Age society without slavery?”

“Simple. You choose not to.”

“Ah,” the Sorceress-Queen said. “But if I hadn’t, someone else would have. Is it not better for me to do it, the one who is strongest? And even if I wanted to end slavery, how long do you think my society would last if no one wanted to mine or reap the crops? Tens of thousands would starve, and the society would come crashing down, creating a hell far worse than the ones Daran slaves endure every day.”

Lucian didn’t have an answer for that. It only felt wrong, though he couldn’t explain the reason why.

“Even assuming what I’ve done is wrong, or done purely because I’m an evil woman,” she said, “what if by so building this society, I someday give my people the chance to escape this world? For the mages unjustly consigned here to no longer be prisoners?”

“Escape from Psyche is impossible.”

She chuckled. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Not with the Orb of Psionics. The short answer, Lucian, is that the human mind cannot conceive of a society without hierarchy in some form. And the larger the society, the more impossible it becomes to ensure there isn’t an underclass, even when humans develop the technology to eradicate it. We simply can’t tolerate the thought of no one being worse off than us. It helps us sleep at night.”

“You’re wrong,” Lucian said. “The Rifters are equals. There are Elders, sure, but everyone has an equal part to play.”

“You’re speaking of tribes, Lucian. I’m speaking of civilizations. Tribal government simply doesn’t work at the level of empire and planets. It never will. A strong hand is needed. Class systems are needed. If not materially, then because the human mind simply cannot think differently. The only way humanity will consent to be equals of one another is if you take everything from them. And the only way you can keep a society stable is by nurturing the greed and pride of the elites.” She paused. “What’s more, I intend to build an empire based on strength. And we need to be strong if we are ever to leave this world and have magekind regain its freedom, its power. Imagine an empire encompassing not just Psyche, but a dozen worlds. A hundred worlds. A society ruled justly by the mage class. A society without the fraying once all the Orbs are gathered.”

Lucian knew that she and him would never see eye-to-eye. “Having a vision like that is dangerous. Are there any limits on how far you would go to enact it? If there are no limits, then I don’t see how you can ever see yourself as the good guy.”

Though Lucian couldn’t see her face, he could sense her displeasure. “You’re missing the bigger picture, Lucian. More is at stake than you know. The Unarcane would see us dead if it were in their power. So what if a few of them are slaves here on Psyche? They have made us slaves, and have done far worse. They would punish us, kill us, simply for how we are born. How is that justice?”

“It’s not justice. But what about the average person suffering under your rule who had nothing to do with past wrongs? How is it fair for them?”

“There are always victims in war,” the Sorceress-Queen said. “And this is a war of ideology. Not all of them would be slaves. They would not even go by that name. When we reach beyond Psyche, we will no longer need slaves, because we will have the technology again. But the Unarcane can never be as high as the Mages. After all, we are the next