Noah Exploration on the Master side

(Arthur POV)

Watching each participant disappear by one was harder than he'd thought. He didn't know them all and hadn't really spoken to most of them in years, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of guilt. He decided to banish these thoughts and concentrate on the present moment.

"Nola, now that we’re alone you willing to reveal what you have planned for me?"

"Oh Arthur, my dear Master, I hesitated a lot about what to do with you during the various tests. It's customary for the Master to watch the test, judge the result or participate in some way. But why stick to the usual?

The ordinary is deadly boring. In these shows, the Master plays a passive role throughout. That's not what I want for you. No, I'm going to make you a king!"

Arthur swallowed when he heard this, but tried to put on a brave face, even though he couldn't say he was thrilled at the prospect.

"Look at you, you're frail, hesitant and full of preconceptions. You're going to have to change that. And you can't fill a full bottle, you're going to have to start by unlearning what the society you've grown up in has instilled in you," says Nola.

"I'm not sure I want to forget who I am or how I think," Master replied.

"Oh 't worry, I have absolutely no intention of transforming you, or at least not right away. We're just going on a trip and you're going to question your own certainties. Let's go!" said Nola, snapping her fingers.

Suddenly Arthur felt as if he were falling, not floating. It took him a few seconds to adjust to the change in light.

"So how are you enjoying this little trip back in time?" asked Nola. "Did we travel in time?" gasped Arthur.

"Yes very precisely 13.77 billion years ago." "But then that means..."

"Exactly I myself where I should start my explanation, and I thought starting at the beginning seemed relevant. This is the birth your universe, the beginning of matter, time and space as you know them. We are exactly a few seconds after the beginning. The laws of physics appeared in successive ways, as did the first particles. Then it seems to me that your Bible describes well the rest."

God said let there be light! And the light was. Then Arthur witnessed a flash of light so strong that if Nola hadn't protected him, he would probably have been disintegrated.

"Light and the first atoms and molecules began to form. It may surprise you to know that the first atom created was not hydrogen, but helium. Likewise, first molecule helonium. But let's speed things up a bit," said Nola, and with a wave of her hand, the environment around them changed once again.

"It's now 4.6 billion years since the creation of your solar system. What do you think of our ride so far? I know I talk a lot. I'm often criticized for it, but there's so much to say and we're so restricted by your language, how do you manage to say so little I don’t understand?" asked the hostess.

Arthur took a moment to look at her.

She looked like a human being but clearly wasn’t. They were different, but did that they couldn't understand each other? She had a certain beauty for sure, but no, he wasn't attracted to her.

"I didn't think I'd ever witness these events in my life, but I'm not sure why you showed me this," replied Arthur.

"Oh, the answer is simple: it's just to show you how insignificant human beings really are in the immensity of the universe. Your species has focused so much on itself that I thought it important to make this introduction to remind you that you're just an insignificant detail in the grand scheme of things. You're neither unique nor particularly interesting, and you've only been around for a very short time indeed," says Nola.

Arthur took a moment to look at her.

For her, the human being was of little importance, but if she was going to convert him to this idea, it going to prove complicated.

"Let's move forward in time a little bit if you don't mind," Nola says before the scene changes and that they found themselves in a savannah. "The first species of human being appeared 2.5 million years ago. As you can see, there’s little difference between them and gorillas, elephants or birds. These early humans were really nothing special. They were comparable to any other animal species, and there was nothing special about them indicated the development that your species would undergo."

Arthur could only shake his head as he watched the scene. Quite honestly, he couldn't even tell the difference between a chimpanzee and one of the human beings Nola was showing him.

"An important point to remember is that, at the time, there were many different species of human being.

Today, there is only one species of human being left on Earth, the homo sapiens. All the others disappeared tens of thousands of years ago. It's interesting to think why it's your species that has managed to hold its own even among other human species. You weren't the strongest, nor the most skilful, nor even the most intelligent. So, I ask you, what do you think enabled homo sapiens to prevail?" asked the hostess.

Arthur took a moment to reflect. He'd never really asked himself the question. Of course, he'd heard that there had been other species human being, but why had Homo sapiens come to the fore? Intuitively, he would have proposed intelligence as the explanation, but Nola had just said the opposite. He considered various answers, such as numbers, opposable thumbs or adaptability, but finding nothing else he gave up.

"I don't know. I never asked myself that."

"Oh yes, the questions. They're so hard to find. Finding the right question can be enough to get the right answer. To put it simply, what differentiates homo sapiens from all other species is 'fiction'. Homo sapiens has differentiated itself from other species by its ability to work with members tribes other than its own. Normally, a tribe cannot exceed a hundred individuals, but by using fiction, sapiens managed to form alliances and trade with other tribes."

"What do you mean by fiction?" asked Arthur.

"Money, law, property, human rights, religion, nations, minds, the law of the market, everything that is not science or fact, real. It's these narratives that enable homo sapiens to work with perfect unknowns. Homo sapiens not only communicates about reality, but also manages to describe imaginary realities. This enables them to plan, to imagine myths and laws. It's this communication about everything and especially about anything that makes homo sapiens love to chat so much."

Arthur didn't know what to say.

"Of course, it wasn't enough for homo sapiens to invent stories. The difficulty lies in convincing others to believe in the stories they tell. This has enabled homo sapiens to cooperate and work together on a scale of millions of individuals. Over the centuries, an incredibly complex network of stories has been woven. Within this network, fictions such as countries not only exist, but accumulate immense power. These imagined realities are not lies. Unlike a lie, an imagined reality is something that everyone believes. As long as this common belief persists, the imagined reality exerts a **** in the world."

Arthur looked at her with gaping eyes. He hadn't imagined the Leprechaun's reasoning to be so refined.

"Why are you explaining this to me?" he asked.

"Because I believe in you, and I want to give you the intellectual weapons to build your own story, your own history. It's up to you to decide what the final story this new world will be. Of course, the show and the audience have part of the power, but in the end, you too will decide the final destination of this season," replied Nola.

Deciding the fate of the world? Could he do that? It was hard enough to himself becoming king, but to rule an entire planet was just unthinkable.

"Unless you'd rather I made all the decisions with the audience, and you were content to live on sex and pleasure?" proposed the hostess.

Honestly, it was tempting. It would be easy to have to accept such a situation, especially there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Why bother with rain if you can't control it? That would be even better, since he wouldn't even be the one to suffer the most unfortunate consequences. If only he could forget his morals and ethics...

"No, I couldn't..." he murmured.

"What's the ? Do you want to give me your opinion? Maybe you have some suggestions? Unless you want to continue being passive. Don’t worry, I'll take care of you," continued the Leprechaun.

"Nola Stop. Okay I get it."

"Did you understand? But what did you understand? Have you decided to try and impose your vision of things like a real monarch? Or are you content to be a ceremonial monarch like the European constitutional monarchies?" asked the hostess.

"You're right, I don't behave like a king or a leader, but can you really blame me? Rome wasn't built in a day. Can you really give me a little time to adapt? I've never been much of a leader," Arthur commented, trying to buy himself some time. To do what, he had no, but buying time seemed like a good idea.

"You won't get me that way, Arthur. I know you. I've studied you. I know how you think better than you do. You're a human being and so for biological reasons you don’t like to change your mind or be wrong. So I don't think I can change your mind either.

easily. Oh sure, I could extort some effort from you under duress and threat, but then you'd be like a robot to whom I'd given instructions. No, I want you to initiative and make suggestions," replied Nola.

"... ok, can we continue this conversation somewhere more comfortable? All I want to do right now is sit down," asked Arthur.

"Of course," replied Nola, before teleporting them to what appeared to be the Moon. Or rather, on comfortable leather armchairs on the Moon.

"Okay so now that you're more comfortable, will you stop running away from my questions?" questioned the hostess.

Obviously, he sighed. How could he answer these questions if he had no idea of the answers?

"You wish me to be a king, an emperor, a leader. You wish me to rule this planet like a true sovereign. You wish me to rule 'my harem'. But did it cross your mind that I didn't have a clue how to do that? I don't know much about relationships, and I know even less about governing a country. I haven't the slightest idea of what's important or superfluous. And I still know nothing about this show, this planet or magic. In short, you ask me to be king, and I tell you that even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know how to do it," concludes the Master.

Nola didn't answer right away and seemed to think things over, which made Arthur smile as he considered it an argumentative victory.

"To put it simply, a king's main role is the authoritarian preservation of social order, combining the functions of chief judge, warlord and guarantor of a society's cohesion. I'm proposing that train to become a king, since you feel you lack experience. We're going to concentrate on 3 areas," Nola announced, before continuing.

"First, Authority. A king must be obeyed. So, I suggest you start by practicing giving orders to your harem. 1 or 2 orders a day at first, then we can increase the pace."

"Secondly, a king be a supreme judge, so I'm going to involve you in the judging of future trials. I'm counting on you to be objective or biased, after all, that's part of the privilege being king. You can be arbitrary. If you prefer one girl over another, there's nothing to stop you from favoring her."

"Finally, a king has a duty to maintain cohesion and harmony in his kingdom.

I'm going to **** you to take the time to talk, spend time, sleep and see more with every member of your harem. Oh yes, it's going to be great. So now our time together is coming to an end, let's see how our candidates. I hope you're as excited as I am about the outcome," Nola declared enthusiastically.