Serious

I settled more comfortably in the plush chair. 

I was ready to begin a battle of wits against someone whom I could not claim to understand. The smallest mistake could lead to my death. As I looked at the Alchemist, a part of me felt the fear of death for the most absurd reason for the first time. 

If I died, I would not get to see Kyle again. 

The moment the thought came to my mind, I felt nauseous. 

How could that be the first thought that came to my mind when I thought of my death? I had never been afraid of death before, or I would not have ended up in strange situations. I did not want to end it, but I had never gone out of my way to survive. 

Yet, the only time I felt the instinct to survive was because of a dangerous mad scientist who looked at me like he wanted to tear me open and devour me. He had also expressed his desire to keep me in the creepiest way possible. 

I dug my nails into the flesh of my thighs subtly, using pain to force me to focus on the Alchemist. I could not afford to have these unnatural thoughts about Kyle, especially at this moment.

I needed to use every part of my mind and soul on this discussion. 

I would deal with my madness later.

The Alchemist did not notice my turmoil. I did not expect him to. While he had put some effort into 'acquiring' me, he did not see any true value in me. He was only doing this on a whim or testing me. 

I did not mind.

"Why did the Kingmaker meet with you?" The Alchemist asked, placing his elbows on the desk and holding his hands in a steeple with his fingertips. 

I shrugged. "It was not voluntary on my part, obviously. If I can summarise the entire experience simply, I would say that I am a fun conversationalist, and he wanted to talk with me."

The Alchemist stiffened with anger, his large eyes looking a little crazy. "Are you going to take this seriously? I am sure you do not want to experience the less-than-gentle techniques that I could have used to interrogate you."

I looked back at him. "I am serious. Based on what I know about you and your exploits, it is likely that you used technology to identify people with whom the Kingmaker has met in the recent months or weeks."

"You came to the conclusion that I was able to get an audience with the Kingmaker because you somehow obtained footage of me entering one of his buildings, the black tower. I was driven there in a nice car, so you assumed it was voluntary."

It was an easy guess because I knew what kind of technology he used and how he exploited it to 'keep an eye' on the world. The island and the temple barely had any technology except for the Kingmaker's secret surveillance room. 

It was a natural assumption about where he could have gotten images of me and connected me to the Kingmaker.

The Alchemist leaned back in his chair almost involuntarily, but he kept his composure. 

"You are correct. I was able to track you using the traffic cameras. As far as I know, you attended a meeting for a women's chapter of the Order of Paragons. Everyone knows that the Kingmaker has strong ties to the Order of Paragons." 

"I would also say that the entire thing looked pretty voluntary to me. You were not followed by anyone inside, and there was no gun held to your head at any point. You went into the chapter alone and stepped out of the place alone."

I sighed at his simplistic way of thinking. "If you were able to find and kidnap me, you must know a little about my life. Have you found any evidence that I am religious to the point of going to that kind of place? Were you even able to find out how I ended up in that city?"

The Alchemist looked a little embarrassed. I could tell he was not able to find out anything because the confusing flight I took with Sister Agatha was in one of the private planes owned by the Order of the Paragons. 

And those living religious relics were cultic about their privacy. 

I sighed before I continued talking.

"The problem with people who deal with 0s and 1s is that they discount the importance of understanding humans. It is the reason they pursue artificial intelligence from machines instead of appreciating human cognition. Reality is not always what you can see with your eyes." 

"You have worked hard for your power and money, and that is admirable. However, you will never be as powerful as the Kingmaker because he not only has money and power, but also controls people because he understands their hearts."

The Alchemist was offended this time and formed the face of a petulant child. 

"Anyone with power and money can control people," He retorted with repressed anger. 

I smiled with some pity. "Unfortunately, it is not true. You have tried your best to find out what you can about the Kingmaker, so you should know that people with power and money bow before him as to a god."

"Individuals and organisations offer him money freely for him to pursue his goals, however nefarious. He does not have to beg them. He has made people believe in the world he wants to create, and they trust him blindly."

"He is the one who made sure that the Mad King is in place. He is shaping the world without being loud. He does it by manipulating the laws through the lawmakers he controls in order to bring his vision to reality. And I would bet that this is the reason you are looking into him. You are afraid that he has too much legal power."

I raised my brows in challenge, waiting for him to deny it. 

"I just want to know if he will interfere with my business." As expected, the Alchemist did not respond directly to my claim, probably not wanting to reveal a weakness. 

I smiled. "That is also true. You have business with the Mad King, but you have realised that he has considerable influence on the policies and laws. Unfortunately, you and the Kingmaker can never agree on some core beliefs."

"You know, I find it a little funny. You and the Kingmaker have both envisioned a future world that is surprisingly similar yet cannot be more different. You are different sides of the same coin to the point where it could be the tale of a hero and a villain."

"Who is the villain, and who would be the hero?" The Alchemist asked with genuine interest.