The Morality System

Abigail still worked nights at Sally's, so I needed something to do during that time. I had the bright idea to walk the streets of the undercity to find evil people with Evil Eye and eliminate them.

I ran into an evil person walking the streets like me after a few minutes. His evil deeds centered around picking up and killing prostitutes. His backstory wasn't that tragic or justified. Women just didn't like him growing up and he never got to date much and was often rejected eventually when he did date.

I didn't feel the need to talk to him. He was evil and I eliminated it. I didn't feel much about it other than the satisfaction of a job well done. I was doing what I set out to do.

I summoned 20 bone spikes and shot them into his body. Then, using my control over the bone spikes, I lifted him off the ground, took him behind a building, and threw him into the refuse heap that accumulated from people throwing out their trash.

[You have defeated Moderate Evil! You have gained 2 justice points (2)!]

[Roll, Upgrade, or Save?]

'Roll.'

[Good Lure: Create a beacon that attracts good people who want to help within a 100-foot radius. Good for gathering potential allies]

or

[Neutral Lure: Create a beacon that attracts neutral folk within a 100-foot radius. Good for creating crowds and distractions]

or

[Evil Lure: Create a beacon that attracts evil people within a 100-foot radius. Depending on the line of sight and distance, they see or sense their preferred target at the beacon]

'I choose Evil Lure and I want to spend my other justice point to upgrade it.'

[Granted. Evil Lure now attracts evil within a 200-foot radius]

I dispelled the bone spikes in the evil guy's body and carried on with my walk. Since it was nighttime, even though night and day looked the same down here, most people were in their homes. This meant that most evil people were in their homes as well.

I came to a house with an evil person in it. This was the perfect time to try out the Evil Lure. I placed the lure in between the evil person's house and their neighbor's.

I watched them get up out of bed, put on clothes and shoes, and head outside. I stood in the dark next to a house across the street. A young woman who looked to be in her 20s stepped out of the front door and into the street.

She was wearing a bathrobe and holding a knife. She crept around the corner of the building and said, "Come here, big man! I have something to show you."

Then when she got to the beacon, she mimed stabbing someone to death. I realized she wasn't miming intentionally. She was seeing her victim die in real-time.

I had seen enough. She had a tragic backstory herself, but her victims had done nothing wrong other than be large muscular men. All of them were kind to her and she murdered them in cold blood in revenge for the one man who didn't treat her kindly.

She was delusional, but she was also killing people, so I had to end it. I drove a giant spike through her body, carried her behind the next building, and threw her in a pile of trash.

[You have defeated Moderate Evil! You have gained 2 justice points (2)!]

'Upgrade Evil Lure twice.'

[You have upgraded Evil Lure 2 times! It now has a radius of 400 feet]

I dispelled the spike as I always did, and carried on. I continued down the street, killing someone every 20 houses or so.

[You have defeated regular evil 4 times! You have gained 4 justice points (4)]

'Upgrade Evil Lure 4 times.'

[You have upgraded Evil Lure 4 times! It now has a radius of 800 feet!]

I wandered around the undercity and hid in the shadows, luring evil people to their doom. I was quick, quiet, and methodical about it. There wasn't much light down here, so it was easy to remain unseen. The only light came from the streetlamps and they weren't very bright.

At the end of my hunt, I counted my victims and realized I ended up killing another 12 evil people. They all reacted to the lure as if they were about to victimize or kill their preferred target. Some of them were disgusting to witness, but this was the job I gave myself. So I steeled myself and took out the trash.

'Upgrade Evil Lure 12 times.'

[You have upgraded Evil Lure 12 times! It now has a radius of 2,000 feet!]

Eventually, I found myself back at Sally's bar to check on Abigail. When I walked up to the bar from the side, something caught my eye. The thermal signature of an evil person was walking around the 4th floor of the old mercenary branch of the Red Tail Fox Company building.

I was a little wary of this because it was probably someone investigating or at least looking around the carnage I created on that floor yesterday. Against my better judgment, I walked over to the building and into the alley. I placed my Evil Lure and hid around the corner, waiting.

After a minute, I heard a nasally, vaguely sinister voice say, "I've got you now, Tom Ketchup."

What the hell? I was their ideal target? I mean it made sense they were looking for the person who killed the branch leadership, but the fact that they knew my name was mind-boggling.

I had to confront this person. I stepped out from behind the wall. The person was wearing a long brown coat and a mask with magical-looking glowing goggles. They were carrying a large staff. It had a circle at the top with a spinning yellow sphere in the middle.

"Who are you? I'm in the middle of a criminal interrogation, so if you could kindly get lost, I'd appreciate it," they said.

"I'm Tom Ketchup," I said. I deactivated the beacon.

"You're Tom Ketchup? Then what was that?" They gestured to the space where the beacon was.

"It shows people what they want to see. Bit of illusion magic," I said.

"I see. Well, since you so boldly announced yourself as Tom Ketchup, I assume you're ready for a fight. Since you've got one coming to you," they said.

"I am, but why don't you tell me your name first?" I said.

"I am Agent Olivia Algernon. I'm investigating the deaths of Dorian, Dulce, Nico, and Bruno, the four branch heads of the Red Tail Fox Company in this district," she said.

"I will openly admit to killing them for their evil ways. As I will do to you for your sadistic torturing of innocent people in your investigations, Olivia," I said.

"What business is it of yours what I do to other people?" She said.

"It's been my business ever since I made eliminating evil my business," I said. "And you are evil. So unless you want to turn over a new leaf, I suggest you get ready."

"I have no intention of changing my ways, nor being killed by some delusional psychopath on a justice rampage," she said.

"Psychopath, huh? That's the pot calling the kettle black," I said.

"Enough of this back and forth. Prepare to be annihilated," Olivia said.

Lightning shot down from the sky and hit her staff. The sphere at the end glowed and sparked. She lifted it over her head and slammed it into the ground and the ground erupted.