Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

Set up

           <Just a little chaos.> Qiron answered. <We Watchers desire negative emotions to feed on and make us stronger. We've been watching this world for some time and I think you are a perfect agent of chaos for us.> There was a pause as they considered.

           "Well, he's not exactly wrong." False's other self said. "We are chaos." "That sounds like what hermit False said... in the dream..." False trailed off as she realized. "You gave us those dreams, didn't you?" She could almost feel 2 smile. <Clever you. It takes Herodias way longer to suspect my actions.> "Hey!" Jimena shouted in protest. Qiron laughed pleasantly.

           <Now, I see you already preparing for a fight against the other False. Why not also fight for me? And I'm sure Herodias will want to feed on the negative feelings herself. The constant fear and paranoia that you exude is delicious but it is getting rather repetitive. At least the other half of you can help with this.> False and Jimena looked at each other.

           "What do you want us to do?" Jimena asked cautiously. <Nothing right now, as of yet. But there are things happening that can easily brew up war if handled carefully. These empires are rather volatile. But when I tell you to do something you will listen. Understood?> No one said anything.

           <Understood?!> Qiron raised his voice and Jimena winced slightly. "Yes." Herodias answered. "Yeah," Jimena mumbled. <False?> 2 turned to her next. False paused, thinking about how threatened Jimena had looked. It's chaos. We can handle it. And we'll still have room for our own plans. Her other self pointed out. And we need to help Jimena. False nodded. "Understood." She said. Then there was silence and they realized that Qiron had gone.

           "Jimena? Are you okay?" False immediately asked, moving to her. "Yes." Jimena answered clippedly, rubbing her head. Then her face scrunched up in another migraine but this one passed away surprisingly fast. "There. Does that feel better?" Herodias asked. Jimena nodded. "Okay, now you can thank me. Sheesh, our psyche is incredibly damaged."

           "You got rid of it?" False asked curiously. "Sort of." Herodias shrugged. "It's not exactly an easy thing to explain. But remember that this is my mind too." Then she seemed to retreat into Jimena's subconscious. "Well, we've got some clocks to finish." She said surprisingly brightly. "The clocks?" False echoed. "Yeah, the ones in a chaotic pile on the table over there." Jimena said, pointing.

           Now False remembered. "Right." She said. "We need to fix them." Jimena giggled. "Once we're done this whole place is going to be so confusing for any visitors." She said. Not that we'll have any for happy occasions. False's other self said.

           Together they took the clocks apart and changed the times on each of them. False's idea was to make each clock say a different time for confusion and tick almost simultaneously but not quite. The end result was a constant rhythm of ticking that was rather pleasant to hear from several clocks that each told a different time.

           "Now that we're done," False said, "Time to put this all over town. My house had too many clocks anyway." Jimena fingered the copper watch on her wrist. "Time to put the clocks all over town? Did you make a pun on purpose?" "I don't think we did." False said as she went out.

           Some time later the whole town was full of the ticking chaos, but while Jimena found it childishly fun, False felt like she needed something more. "Traps." Her other self spoke aloud. "We'll set up traps for when other people come." "Do we have to?" Jimena asked with a strange tone in her voice.

           "If we're going to listen to 2," False said, "And cause chaos, then the others are going to fight back against us. There's no one in Cogsmeade anymore other than us so we have a lot of unused space. Space we can use to set up traps." Jimena considered for a moment then grinned. "What kind?" She asked.

           So they set about converting the once peaceful empire into a minefield of traps all set up and ready for the unwary. Tripwires that threw self tightening nets of barbed wire when pulled, street lamps that electrocuted those who touched them for even an instant, devices strapped to tree branches that launched deadly dripstone spikes at passerbys, pit traps in the paved roads that opened up under pressure and sealed again once someone had fallen in. All concealed within the quaint but deadly town.

           When False had decided that they'd set up enough traps, she and Jimena retraced their steps to make sure they memorized where every single trap was. They didn't want to be caught in their own trap. It was getting dark by the time they'd finished and they headed home, deciding it was prudent to not leave the house as much as they'd used to.

           "So Ginny, that means you don't go around chasing squirrels in the park anymore." False said warningly. The cat rolled her eyes and scampered off. "And I suppose we'll have to do trade deals outside of Cogsmeade now, just in case." False added, mostly to herself. She thought of the bumbling but lovable sheriff stumbling into one of the traps that they'd set up and shuddered.

           What trade deals? Her other personality asked. No one's going to trade with a serial killer. Get a brain, False. False frowned. It was understandable, but... She pulled on her elytra and flew to her iron farm. In her office there was a book of deals and purchases and sales that she had made and she checked it. After a certain date trades had dwindled off and there were fewer and fewer notes and barely any profit.

           "See?" The other False said. False read through the book again. "But what am I supposed to do with all the iron now?" She wondered, shooting a glance at all the iron ingots that would never be sold now. "Since when do we only use iron for trade?" The other False asked with the secret smile that indicated a good idea. "It's about time you used your own export for yourself, don't you think?"

           Slowly False saw the idea and grinned. Of course. Iron golems. She had never created the automatons herself as of yet; they were notoriously expensive to craft and their redstone circuitry that made them think was incredibly hard to code. Cogsmeade's export was iron, but it was being stolen from a lot and False had been too worried that her trades would fall through and not profit her enough.

           But False had a lot of free time on her hands and none of her iron would be going anywhere. So she took up the growing pile of processed iron and began to tinker. A redstone wire here, hammer an iron plate there, screw in that screw, and then False had a fully functioning iron golem after a whole night's work. She smiled at the ten-foot-tall automaton that shyly offered her a flower.

           "Thank you," False told him, taking it and sticking it behind her ear. The iron golem beeped in happiness and False, tired as she was, couldn't help but smile even wider. "You'll be the first of an army," Dhe said, beaming at him, "An army of chaos that can protect us. I know you'll do well."

         The iron golem patted her gently on the shoulder and offered her another flower, but False could feel the restrained strength in its metal hand. She smiled again, albeit a little less pleasantly this time. "Don't worry," She said. "You don't have to restrain yourself around me. I can handle it. Now to make more of you."