"That shouldn’t be a problem; in fact, they wish to speak with you as well. I will arrange a meeting space. Does tomorrow suffice?" Pleased to hear that I was willing to have a meeting with the former military Players, the Commandant was quick to establish a place for us to speak in private.
Of course, I didn’t mind them coming into my room, but apparently, that wasn’t nearly professional enough for the Commandant.
"Sounds like a plan, sir; how goes the plans we set in place pertaining to the players and their integration into society?" Once again, steering the conversation in a direction I wished, I brought up a topic we had discussed many times over the last few years.
Unlike the Returners, the majority of whom were Heroes in the Origin Timeline and thus could be brought under control with a combination of respect and benefits, the players were different.
They had spent the better part of the last decade fighting with their lives on the line, never knowing when they would die, and as such, were basically wild, kind of like how we all were when Arkadia Descended.
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The change back to order and law wasn’t overnight for us Returners, and we had time to adapt and recover, but that wasn’t so for the players. Much like how soldiers and other members of the armed forces fail to integrate into Civilian life after spending their service at war, the Players would no doubt struggle if not given proper aid and guidance.
So one of the first things I did was establish several plans and scenarios for the Government, all the while establishing a basis for how they should be treated because the players were no longer normal people, let alone humans.
Every single one of them practically radiated particles. Living in a particle-rich environment for several years, you wouldn’t even notice the pressure you exerted on your surroundings, and since Every SINGLE ONE of them was at the minimum Mid-Alpha-Rank, problems would arise relatively quickly.
Especially once they noticed their power and strength rapidly draining for seemingly no reason at all.
"As we discussed, the Hero Squads have been split up and are conducting lectures and introduction ceremonies; apart from yourself and the Lieutenant, the members of your squad are handling the more…rowdy batches of Players, as we needed to be a bit more heavy-handed."
"The contents of the lectures are no doubt going to be a tough pill for the players to swallow; they had no idea what they were returning to, and getting out of the tower only to find that the entire state had been practically leveled to nothing and replaced with a giant mountain was bound to cause unrest," I added, with a soft nod.
"Indeed, especially in the case of the many families who were separated." Heaving a tired sigh, the Commandant continued briefing me on the housing situation and how our other plans were being set in motion until only two topics remained.
Resources and Currency.
Thanks to Emilia and Xilia entering the Tower, I knew that Ark-Coins were the primary currency inside the place, meaning that each of the players, although having lost everything they owned on earth, had obtained something far more valuable, it was just they didn’t realize that yet.
Not to mention the abundance of Alpha-Grade items they had potentially gotten their hands on. Even if I had yet to go through and examine all of the players, I knew there had to be more than a few potion masters, smiths, or other people who had picked up one or two trade skills.
Why was this important, you may ask? Well, that’s an easy question to answer. The world was changing, and the quicker the general populace accepted this fact, the better off my situation would become.
"Are you sure about those Coins? I mean, I understand your thoughts about it becoming the primary currency of the planet, given the fact that new towers could pop up and all, but coming from an economic standpoint, I don’t see how they could overcome the US Dollar."
"Sir, that’s because you still aren’t looking at the full picture. Now that the first batch of Players have returned, there is proof that it is possible, as such, more and more people will flock toward the Tower."
"There are already too many people for us to control as is, and even if you bribe a few players into joining up with one of the Military Branches or government positions, that won’t work with the bulk of them."
"Hell, I expect roughly 35-40% will want to return to the tower within a few days after realizing their lives no longer exist here."
’That and particle suppression is a bitch; that alone will have them running back into the tower.’ I thought to myself before continuing to speak aloud.
"If we wish to integrate them into society, the organization I told you about needs to be formed. We can’t stop people from entering the Tower as is, but we can educate them."
"Academies, training facilities, guilds- everything I told you years ago and have been working toward was for this purpose because, without them, chaos will reign faster than you could imagine."
"What we have is over 12,000 highly experienced superhumans, who can easily collapse society as we know it if left unchecked."
"Let’s also not forget that there’s a chance their abilities can be passed down, so if these 12k players start breeding like rabbits, within the next decade, we will see second generation Players being born, and we all know how that snowballs."
"Our primary focus needs to be on two things: Currency/Resource Exchange and education. If we can execute those two with relative success, everything will be manageable for the foreseeable future."
"And if not, then all hell will break loose." Massaging his temples, the Commandant looked as if he had aged at least 8 or 9 years in the short span of our conversation.
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