Stress Relief

Alexandros speared Absalom through his bare chest. Absalom stared down at the weapon and snarled in pure rage and frustration. He swung his sword through Alexandros' head, but it was pointless.

The light portraying his most hated of brothers flickered and faded out, the exercise completed. It was yet another failure to add to Absalom's growing list.

He stood there for a moment, clad in shorts. The hollow chamber was one of his favourite gifts from a particularly loyal retainer. Quite wealthy as well. It had provided distraction and entertainment in equal measure. At some point, roughly two decades ago, the idea came upon him to program his own brothers into a simulation. While some of his brothers were more than happy to take up an offer for a friendly bout, others Absalom wanted only to tear apart in the privacy and secrecy of his own quarters.

Alexandros, in his own digital way, was his absolute favourite method of relief.

Today, however, it wasn’t enough.

In order to represent his brother's unique powers in a simulation, the only way to provide a similar experience, was to make the hologram faster than even Absalom. The quicker reaction times worked as a false performance of the infamous divination.

Today, Absalom did not want to just win. He wanted to be better than his hated brother. He had set the difficulty of the program at its highest level. He would prove that no matter what, he could triumph over his brother in something.

But it was for naught. Alexandros was now High Regent, while his digital counterpart scored a victory after victory against Absalom.

With an enraged breath, Absalom shouted “Again!“ [[Category:S]]