Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

What they hated the most was that, Cedric didn't seem to be bothered by the tension around them. He happily drank his coffee doing god knows what while jabbing at their egos whenever the chance presented itself. It also doesn't look like he's interested in helping.

The worst part about all of this is that, Mark and his lackey provoked the ire of their Supervisors. If they were to let this continue, it would reflect badly on their profiles and lord knows that they couldn't let that happen.

"M-My apologies...I certainly didn't mean it that way! I-I just...I've participated in a similar project like this one and the problem lies with the dent on the core. Since the events are so similar, I thought that it applies to this situation too." Mark hurriedly explained.

He inwardly patted his back for thinking swiftly to make a convincing excuse.

"I'm very sorry about this. I should've asked you first before concluding." Mark bowed deeply in regret.

Yet despite his apology, at least 75% of the people here knew that his apology wasn't sincere at all. He's only doing this to prevent an ever-nastier smear on his profile. He's only apologizing in hopes that the supervisors no longer pursue this matter because he knows that they've got the upper hand.

In short, he's only apologizing for his sake, not because of his actions...

"Yes, Master Mark. You should've indeed asked us first." The Archbishop sighed. "No matter, so long as it doesn't happen again."

Mark and his lackey hurriedly bowed and expressed their thanks to the supervisors for sparing them. But just as they were about to feel relieved, the Archbishop switched things around.

"...but you did say that you discovered another problem. Do you mind telling us more about it? Maybe this time, you've noticed something that we didn't."

Mark chilled at those words. He didn't need to pause to analyze what they implied because he understood it as soon as they were done speaking.

'I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself, Peasant! Impress me and I shan't pursue this matter anymore.'

Cold sweat poured down his back. He just got out of the oven only to go straight into the fire. This day just keeps getting worse for him, it seems.

"I—..." Mark trailed off. An expression of uncertainty marred his face as he tried to make an excuse to shift the responsibility to others.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. He kind of shot his foot here, he bravely stepped forward earlier and took the responsibility he believed he could carry without thinking about the consequences. Faced with said consequences, now he's second-guessing himself.

"Go on, Master Mark. The earlier we discover the problem, the sooner we can fix the lighthouse." The Archbishop pressed on.

'This old man sure knows how to hold a grudge...' Cedric mused inwardly as loudly sipped on his coffee.

Of course, he didn't mind this at all. Mark brought this upon himself so he should get out of it using his own efforts.

Still, this was a good show. It might seem like he wasn't paying attention but in reality, he's invested. After all, people who openly court death are scarce, so whenever they are seen, a good show is bound to follow them.

Knowing that he's cornered, Mark knows that there's no escaping this, so his desperation allows him to concoct a plan that might save him from this situation.

"I indeed noticed another strange thing. However, due to my negligence earlier, I'm not so confident about it anymore. I hope that the supervisors can correct me if I made another assumption." Mark eloquently uttered through his nervousness.

"Go on." Commander Wilson ordered.

"The other prospective problem that I saw, lies in these gears." Mark shuddered as he spoke. There was no turning back after he said this. "More specifically, this gear right here."

He picked up the smallest gear there was, it was about the same size as the Core, just slightly bigger to fit around it.

"Oh? Care to tell us where the mistake is?" The Archbishop challenged.

"...it's this Symbol right here." Mark pointed out, highlighting one of the many runes etched on the smallest gear.

"What's wrong with it?" The Archbishop asked with a raised brow.

"This rune is badly damaged. I am somewhat confident that this rune didn't look like this before. From what I gathered from my minimal inspection so far, I'm assuming that somebody must've used rough tools to clean this gear, causing damage to the runes. This is evident from the scratches I've seen so far."

"If we look closely, the scratch on this specific rune runs pretty deep. The scratch was almost as deep as the rune carving itself. And since it's like that, the program must've likely recognized this scratch as part of the rune itself, causing the gear to malfunction. And since this gear was the closest to the core, it takes priority.

If it's like this, then it shouldn't be a wonder why the whole operation of the program wasn't working properly."

A tense silence enveloped the area. Everyone watched the expressions of the supervisors like a hawk. It seems that they too were deliberating at Mark's words.

"...it does seem likely that this is the problem." The Archbishop's eyes narrowed as he stared at the gear.

"The workers we've hired before the malfunction weren't the best ones, as I recall. It must've been them who did this. They were poorly equipped too." Commander Wilson interjected.

"You kids!" The Archbishop looked at the aides, "Investigate who invited those workers from before. Once you find whoever it was, tell them to pack their things and leave. If they dare to resist, you know what to do. I have no use for useless people in my branch."

Everyone got chills at the Archbishop's ruthless decisiveness.

"Do we sue the workers too, Archbishop?" One of the aides asked.

"No. Just give them a warning and make sure to blacklist them. I don't want those people stepping foot to this place ever again."

"As you wish, Archbishop." The aides replied in unison before leaving to do their tasks.

The old man then looked at Mark and said: "Since you discovered this problem, am I safe to assume that you can fix it?"

Mark knows that look, too. It's an opportunity but also a test. If he passes this, then all previous transgressions will be forgotten and it would look good on his profile. Should he fail, however, it would be over for him.

It should be known that Mark has never been a risk-taker. He doesn't know how to handle failure and is only good at keeping up appearances to highlight his meager skills.

However...the allure of possible success was far too tempting to pass. Therefore, just like how birds die for food, he bites the bullet and dares to risk his reputation to satisfy his greed for more.

"I can carve the runes necessary. However, a new gear is a must. This one would no longer work even if I were to replace the damaged rune." He replied.

"Just as well...we happen to have Master Smiths, Engineers, and Mechanics here. I'm sure they have the tools necessary to make a new gear that could replace this one. Can we rely on you, gentlemen?" Commander Wilson asked.

The Smiths, Engineers, and Mechanics all nodded and immediately got to work. As for Mark, he began analyzing the rune pattern on the gear to make sure that he wouldn't make a mistake.

When they saw them starting, the Supervisors gave them space. The rest is up to them now. Sure, they could've just ended it as soon as the problem was discovered and let their team handle the rest, but since all of these experts were already there, why waste time?

It didn't take long for the new gear to be produced. It was made with exact measurements and materials like the old one. With that done, they passed the new gear onto Mark and allowed him to start carving.

Mark already summoned his tools. He already memorized the pattern and was confident that he could replicate it. He worked fast and fully concentrated. It took him a couple of minutes before he was finished, and after inspecting his work, he nodded in satisfaction.

"It's done." Mark then presented the finished product to the supervisors and both inspected it first.

"Looks good. This should work." Commander Wilson appraised, and the Archbishop was nodding beside him.

"Nah...that won't work."

That voice surprised all of them. They turned around and saw Cedric standing behind them while casually sipping at his drink, though his eyes were focused on the freshly carved gear.

Slurp!

"If you install that, forget about providing light. It will instead convert the energy of the core to produce rabbits made out of psionic energy."

"In short, energy-construct rabbits will start raining in this place."

Slurp!