The meeting room was a large space with a podium in the middle facing the crowd. The podium had exactly nine seats, four on each side, with one in the middle. The crowd was not excited after seeing the setup.
They wanted to know why these nine people got into the spotlight but did not. As great fans of Rick and Morty, they knew one of the negative aspects of the citadel. All Ricks had the same IQ, yet countless members of the Citadel were reduced to doing menial jobs.
So, they would never allow themselves to fall into that category. Furthermore, their pride is even higher than Ricks, so how could they admit their inferiority to their counterparts?
Luckily, before everyone rioted or made a scene, they received a message from the Citadel Communication System explaining why these nine people received preferential treatment.
The first reason was they were all Tier 8 or above. Such an explanation was barely enough to satisfy these people. After all, they understood the concept of respecting the strong. Given that their peers had such achievements before them, it was proof of their excellence.
However, numerous variants had weapons or other methods to deal with Tier 8 Mages, so this was not enough. Luckily, the message also provided other reasons, such as these nine people have displayed the highest level of technology, magic, and influence.
These Edwards were not convinced since they were all confident in their abilities. Furthermore, the Citadel did not provide in-depth details of these people's technology nor explain what they meant by "influence."
However, such an explanation was enough for them to calm down and watch the ceremony. Then, everybody became quiet and waited.
A beam of light flashed on one of the seats on the left, transporting one of the Edwards. The man had a robe similar to Dumbledore's, and even his demeanor was similar. He had a goatee that was perfectly trim, making him look older than normal.
"Hello, Edward Bones. My name is Edward Bone," said the man, generating a few cackles at his corny joke. "I'm from dimension C-654. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
A bright light appeared, showing another Edward. However, he was dressed as if from 19th century London; he even had a monocle.
"That guy stole my joke. It's like he knew what I was thinking."
Another chuckle from the crowd.
"They gave me the numbers B-235."
A third one appeared. However, he was dressed in all red with a dark aura surrounding his body; even his eyes were blood-red.
"C-666," he said directly without any other words. Everyone looked at him and did not say anything; they decided to stay away from anti-social versions of themselves; those guys are the truly scary ones.
The fourth person to appear had everyone looking at him strangely, and that's because he was dressed like a Pharaoh from Egypt.
"It's a long story," he said with a wry smile. "On the first test of my multiverse ship, I failed and crashed in ancient Egypt. With no resources and knowledge to fix the problem, I took over and used the magic system and resources of that period to fix the ship.
"Then, one thing led to another, and the rest is history."
People understood this guy belonged to the Empire Faction but was kind of due to an accident. Maybe he assimilated into the culture after years of being a ruler.
"By the way, I'm F-823."
The seats on the left side were filled, so the light brought the fifth person sitting furthest from the center on the right. The man immediately caught everyone's attention since he was elderly with long white hair and beard.
This variant's body exuded a vicissitudes of life that made people understand he had experienced immense suffering in his life. As soon as the variants laid eyes on him, they understood this would be their fate if everything in their lives went wrong.
"I am A-001," said the elderly Edward. "I'm here as a cautionary tale to all of you."
The atmosphere became somber for a moment before the sixth person appeared. It was a man dressed in a more futuristic attire; his outfit bore some resemblance to the Time Lords from Gallifrey in Doctor Who; the ones who appeared during the 13th Doctor, not the old ones.
"I am M-616."
People immediately paid attention to him as soon as he said these words. C-137 and 616 were the numbers these variants wanted the most. Moreover, he also took the moniker M, which should be for Marvel.
For a person to receive that number for their dimension, there must be something special.
The seventh person to appear was also eye-raising. He did not have the signature black hair and blue eyes of the majority of variants. Instead, he had golden hair and eyes. A noble aura of divinity emanates from his body.
"Booo," said one person, followed by the majority of the group; they did not hide their disdain and contempt.
"Come one guy, the Divine Civilization has plenty to offer," argued L-123. Unfortunately, most Edwards had the same disdain for Godhood and Divinity.
In the end, L-123 did not have time to introduce himself, and his dimension number appeared above his seat like the others.
The eighth person to appear was our protagonist, Edward Bones G-003. He wore his usual white-gold robe, catching the attention of the group. His robe was not unique since the design originated from a game, and it was called the Archmage Robe. As such, many people had similar designs.
However, the magical lights and beautiful runes sewn on the roble gave him a unique charm.
"I am G-003, and hopefully, your next Council President." Edward resisted every urge in his bones to say he was the [Prime] Edward.
People's response to his introduction was lukewarm at best. After all, everyone wanted to be president. So, who is this guy to say he will be their leader?
Finally, after a few seconds of chattering, a light brighter than everyone appeared in the middle position. A man wearing a black magic robe with golden patterns appeared in the center.
"I am C-137," he declared. Then, he released the terrifying aura of a Tier 9 Mage, suppressing the entire event. The variants did not take kindly to this kind of provocation and responded.
Everyone used different methods, mostly technology and artifacts, to disperse the suppressing aura. The eight individuals sitting next to him were the most successful in this endeavor.
Hmph!
A cold snort resonated in the citadel as a pressure on par with the C-137 manifested. In an instant, the new pressure suppressed C-137 partly. Everyone looked at the source and discovered it was G-003. The odd part is that they did not detect any magical artifact, implying he used his strength to achieve such a thing.
Of course, Edward would not tell them about his Arcane Spark that allowed him to fight above his Tier. So, he only smiled with all the attention on him.
Meanwhile, C-137 made great efforts to control his emotions; his overwhelming entrance was ruined by one person. In his mind, he recalled all the information he knew about G-003.
[G-003: Member of the Empire Faction.
[In a short period, he used his overwhelming knowledge to become the leader of the Alchemist Factions while also significantly influencing the Empire and Magitech Faction. He also has a friendship with the Headmaster Factions.
[Technology Level: Highest Tier.
[Conclusion: Greatest threat to the Council President Position.]
'The threat he posed might be greater than I anticipated,' thought C-137.
C-137 focused on the crowd and spoke:
"I have spent a lot of effort to create this citadel and gather all of you here," said C-137. "As different versions of myself, I'm sure many of you have similar ideas. However, the first who comes is the first to be served."
The variants rolled their eyes at this guy's narcissism. Did he really think he was the [Prime] simply because he was the first to create the council and inherited the code C-137?
C-137 was shameless, so he ignored these people's murmurs and continued:
"I created the Council to allow us to share knowledge, information, and resources. This place will become a platform to aid one another through communication and exchange.
"Then, one day, we will finally achieve our lifelong dream–create a way to travel to other anime, movie, and novel universes."
The variants' eyes lit up. At some point, they all had a similar thought: if the Harry Potter Universe is real, could the other media they consumed also be real? Are they in other timelines, or do they leave the universes entirely before reaching other ones?
They all dreamt about succeeding in such an endeavor, gaining access to countless new knowledge and, more importantly, real anime Waifus.
Edward frowned as he watched these people's reactions and guessed their thoughts.
'Am I really this shallow?' he thought. A goal like achieving Omniversal Travel should be grand and something noble worth pursuing. Yet, it was ruined by these bastards as most of them only think about how they can flirty and sleep with their favorite anime wives.
Suddenly, Edward felt disgusted. Watching these people was like looking at a mirror; he did not like what he saw. The worst thing was he did not see any hope for change. Luckily, he was adept at hiding his emotions as an Emperor, so his facial expression did not change much.
Meanwhile, C-137 had successfully riled up this group of variants, so he continued his speech.
"All of you should know the importance of the Council President. For anyone to sit in this position, they must demonstrate their strength, wisdom, and capabilities as leaders.
"Otherwise, no one will be convinced to hand over such tremendous power to anyone else."
The crown nodded. Even though they did not get to sit in the primary nine seats, no one wanted to give up on the chance of becoming the President.
"I have devised the election based on a point system with two sections: strength and knowledge. The strength section will be worth 100 points, while the knowledge section will be worth 300 points.
"We will begin with the knowledge section."
The variants pondered and agreed with this election method. After all, they do not value strength as much as knowledge and magical capabilities. To these people, it's only a matter of time before reaching Tier 10.
"How will the knowledge section proceed, and how do we make sure there is no cheating?"
"Great question," said C-137. "We need fairness, so there is no better method to ensure such a thing than Artificial Intelligence. I will send the codes to the AI that will be used for this test. You can test it to ensure there are no problems."
'Another test?' thought Edward as he received the source code for this artificial intelligence. The variants that have not developed AI or even created technology-based AI will lose great advantage in this process.
'Morgana, what do you think?'
'The core of this program is a magical language that uses Ancient Runes from the Old Age at their base. It is interesting but nothing revolutionary. However, the program has certain traps with a few unique runes.'
'Unique? How?'
'They seemed to be an entirely different system than magic. Furthermore, something about them seems familiar. Give me a moment.'
Morgana took a moment before saying: 'I remember. The Death God's memory.'
'Guzznad? No, you mean Herpo.' They haven't received the latter's memories yet.
'Yes. Herpo had the idea of creating Divine Runes by combining Divine and Magical Civilization. He had a prototype, but he never got to it. The hidden runes resembled the finished version of the prototypes.'
'So, my theory about C-137 was correct?'
'Most likely.'
'How long do you still need to finish scanning his body?'
'I need to ensure he won't notice anything, so I still need a few more minutes,' replied Morgana.
'It should take some time for these people to analyze the source code for the AI, so use this time.'
'Aye, aye, sir.'
About three minutes later, Morgana appeared inside his mind again:
'I've cracked the hidden traps.'
'What do they do?'
'They are hidden commands to be biased toward people of higher Tier,' she explained.
'That would explain why he was so flamboyant about revealing his Tier 9 level,' sneered Edward.
'What do you want to do with this information?'
'Let's wait and see if other people will catch these traps.'
'I'm sure some will do,' said Morgana, looking at L-123. As the only God here, he might find the source code's secrets.
'He might have found it, but it doesn't mean he knows what they do. After all, he doesn't appear to study magic much and focuses more on Divinity.'
'Yes, with your arrogance, he won't say anything if he only catches it and cannot understand what it does.'
The murmurs continued for the next three hours. The variants swiftly and methodically deciphered the code of the AI. Many people became frustrated and embarrassed when they failed in this endeavor. There is no greater humiliation to these people than losing to their variants.
'This place is really a clash of humongous egos,' commented Morgana, and Edward ignored her out of embarrassment.
"Time is up," said C-137. "I'm assuming everyone agreed with using this AI?"
No one answered for a while. The people who deciphered the thing did not find any faults. So, C-137 smiled and prepared to continue:
"I have a problem," said Edward, drawing attention to him.
"G-003, what's the issue?" asked C-137 calmly.
"These hidden codes showed biases towards people of higher Tier. Please, remove them," said Edward as he visually pointed out the faults in this code. And now that he showed these people the answer, they quickly checked and realized he was correct.
"It seems there were some problems with the technician who created this program," said C-137, removing his fault in this matter.
"If you say so," replied Edward.
"We will fix the problem now that we found it," continued C-137, who ordered people to change the program. Half an hour later, a new and unproblematic AI was created and running.
The AI manifested in the form of a white holographic cloud. The citadel could not decide on an appearance for it, so they chose this boring and neutral design.
"How do we proceed with this test?" asked someone.
"Simple," replied C-137. "Contestants will display their greatest magical accomplishment and present it. Everybody else's job is to decipher said creations and see if they can be understood, replicated, or find flaws.
"Based on the crowd's response, the AI will create a numerical value as a test point."
Everyone pondered the rules of this test and found it fair. Whoever is the leader must be the most knowledgeable out of everyone, as only such a person could be the Prime Edward Bones.
The only issue with this test is it might take a while before a final winner.
"If anyone does not mind, I would like to go first," said C-137, making everybody roll their eyes again. This man's plan was obvious–he wanted to overwhelm everybody with his knowledge and make them convinced he should be the president.
Such arrogance was truly unrivaled.
C-137 waved his hand to show a magical formula to everybody.
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