Chapter 184: Interview
[Day 120]
'I wonder if we should raise the number of Ascendees in each batch...' pondered Vahn, seated at the head of one of three banquet tables, each acclimating around twenty people. Nearly all the Ascendees originating from outside Invirtua had advanced to higher Floors in search of greater challenges and superior quality Enhancement Crystals, so the majority of those who remained were affiliates of the Dragon's Pavilion or those who had accepted invitations to staff the Floor's facilities.
"You've got that look in your eye..." muttered Grayfia, seated to Vahn's right with slightly narrowed eyes and a naturally seductive expression.
"I imagine he's either thinking that each batch of Ascendees should be larger or that there should be consecutive, overlapping Tower cycles to ensure things remain lively," guessed Venelana, seated to Vahn's left but not immediately to his left as Rias had beat her to it.
"Now that we've mostly completed the preparations for the Dragon's Pavilion, that's not a bad idea," affirmed Rias, conceding, "Though, it may be better to wait until the situation in our world has stabilized a bit more. Even the resources obtainable on the 0th Floor were fairly substantial, so I can scarcely imagine how great a commotion it will cause when people return with even more extraordinary items, power, and equipment."
"Fortunately, we have already confirmed that most items acquired from the Tower can't be taken outside the Terminal world. That should prevent things from getting too out of hand and incentivize more people to settle within..." stated Sona, casually cleaning her glasses even though she had special crystal lenses that didn't require cleaning.
"While it is good that items obtained from the Tower can't be introduced into circulation without extra measures being taken, an influx of people entering and settling the Terminal world will invariably lead to individuals grousing about the inequity of allowing certain people to enter the Tower over others," noted Ravel, sporting a smug expression and feeling like a Queen as she had won the right to sit on Vahn's left knee when everyone drew lots.
'She has a point...' thought Vahn, rewarding Ravel's observation by not-so-discreetly cupping and caressing her left butt cheek as he continued listening to the exchange in silence, similar to a King hearing his counsel and advisors discussing foreign and domestic affairs. It would fall to him to decide their course moving forward, but he left much of the thinking to his women as they were far more involved with the inhabitants of Termina and the palace's external affairs.
Though it wasn't a perfect solution, as people would inevitably accuse them of rigging the outcome, Korra suggested leaving things to chance by hosting a lottery. Another, more democratic idea, was to permit people to nominate, vote for, and possibly rescind the rights of Ascendees based on their popularity and actions. Vahn felt the former was fairer, but he felt the latter was better as it made Ascendees accountable to others and highly incentivized them to use their power and the resources they gained to aid their supporters...
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