267, 2/2

The Non-Combat Zone was the only place that Erick was willing to meet Nothanganathor, so that was where he was going to suggest they meet, but then Nothanganathor suggested it first.

The room was the same as when he met with Shackle and his Underlings; a basic grey stone box of a room inside a grey void. In theory, violence of any sort was not allowed. If violence was detected through any hundreds of different ways, the location would break and both sides of the meeting would return to their chosen starter locations; wherever they came into the Zone in the first place.

And so, Erick stood with Shadow on one side of the grey room.

And Nothanganathor stood on the other.

To Erick’s right side stood Blighter and Seabass, while Lawyer Prime Hadrago stood to Nothanganathor’s right side; Erick’s left. The lawyers were in the center-ish space in the grey room and they already had papers out, sitting on a relatively small, shared table.

And then there was the unexpected person on Nothanganathor’s side. He was tall, dark haired and with dark eyes. He looked rather human, but slightly more refined, with an air of easy power around him that few could match.

Morbion Blackthorn, Emperor of Wraithborne, spoke first, “Greetings, Erick. It is a shame that we have had to meet like this, for I truly do wish to work with you in the future, in ways that will become apparent once I lay out the universe thusly:

“Nothanganathor is willing to take all of the universes beyond the Fractal, starting with the Dark.

“You can have the Fractal with your Benevolence.

“In the short term, to enforce this sort of shift, and only if necessary, Nothanganathor will declare himself as Evil, and I’ll be ripping the Evil out of Wraithborne and replacing it with Benevolence. This will cause the Balance here in Margleknot to radically shift toward Good and Nothanganathor will be radically empowered to do anything he needs to do to repair the Balance. This ‘anything’ means rolling over Margleknot here, Yggdrasil on Veird, and taking what he wants, before escaping to the New Painted Cosmology and discarding his Evil, to become a God of Magic. I’ll have my hands full and some sort of New Evil will rise to fill the void of power left by Wraithborne, and that new power could be anything. This would be what we here in Margleknot call a ‘Grand Trial’, an Upheaval, or any number of other words for it.

“Or,” Morbion said, “You can accept your place as a large power here in the Fractal, Wraithborne converts to Benevolence slowly and safely, and Nothanganathor gets to make the New Painted Cosmology and eventually take over the Small Universes at his leisure.

“We win either way. The only question is the amount of collateral damage.”

Nothanganathor watched Erick.

Erick watched him right back.

Shadow asked Erick, “Shall we entertain this more? Or are we done here?”

Erick said, “Just a bit more entertainment.” He asked, “Will we keep the battle confined to the Veird System?”

Nothanganathor tiredly said, “Powers and people may enter, but none may take this war outside of the Veird System.”

“I agree,” Erick said.

Nothanganathor said, “I want you to know that when I win, these terms will not change. They’ll work to strip Malevolence from this universe after this war. Therefore, this universe needs something anti-corruptive, and your Benevolence is that measure. I always intended to build a True Opposite who can truly ascend to great heights of power and civilization, and keep out the corruption. I will not be stepping in your way beyond this war, and I will attempt not to harm you overmuch. I will still do everything I need to do to win.”

Erick said, “And for the crime of the Sundering, you will be Sundered in turn, Nothanganathor.”

Nothanganathor’s ever-present exhaustion faded a fraction. “I always wondered if someone like you could come out of my plans for a True Opposite without losing someone dear to them through a Sundering event. You almost made it, but then I took your false daughter of Debby, but only because I had to, and only to hit you obliquely, through that false Erick from the dungeons. I tried to strike as soft as I could. Melemizargo and Shadow did not go soft on me at all, when they took my wife, my Ara.”

“People choose who they are all the time, Nothanganathor.” Erick said, “I chose to accept Debby as my real daughter, because she is. You chose to be like this, instead of giving up on your vendetta.”

Nothanganathor frowned. And then he made a decision. He began, “Just as it’s impossible to forgive them for sundering my wife, it is impossible to forgive them for cursing me to Obscurity. Even now, the only one truly Seeing me is you. I am glad for that, Erick. You can see who I really am. That is such a rare thing. So watch this.” Nothanganathor took a knife out from his robes, and even though he was several meters from the man, he stabbed Blighter through the heart. Nothanganathor had moved without moving, reaching without reaching, and Erick’s lawyer exploded into Red Static that faded into nothing. “Blighter no longer exists. I could have taken him into my Sign of Power, but I have not. He is gone, just like Debby. Just like Ara.” Nothanganathor held up the knife, showing it was plain and boring… Except it had a red glint to the edge that betrayed Red Depths far beyond the simple metal. “If I need to, my opening move will be distributing enchantments like this across all of Veird. Butter knives, forks, paper that has been cut too sharp. Anything with an edge can take this enchantment. And I can do worse.”

Erick was worse than appalled, and in too many ways to count. No one else seemed to notice the absence in the room. No one else seemed to notice how the Red wiped away some of the papers on the small table; the ones that Blighter had brought. Seabass was still there, and his clothes looked finer, which probably meant a change of history… An Establishment? Yes. That’s what had happened.

To be sure, Erick asked, “No one saw him Sunder Blighter, did they?”

Lawyer Hadrago and understudy Seabass both tensed at Erick mentioning someone they didn’t know.

Shadow just watched.

Shadow had noticed Nothanganathor’s knife strike. She didn’t do anything to stop it.

To be fair, Erick didn’t do anything either. He didn’t think…

He didn’t think that Nothanganathor could do that here in the Non-Combat Zone.

He already knew he couldn’t reverse time here… And that wouldn’t bring Blighter back, anyway. When Nothanganathor Sundered people, he truly erased them from existence. Just like he had done to Debby.

Morbion looked only a little perturbed as he said, “Nothanganathor. Please. We’re close to winning this, and you go and Erase one of Seabass’s understudies?”

Nothanganathor huffed out a tiny, hateful laugh, saying, “I actually Erased your top lawyer, Morbion. Seabass was the understudy. He’s gotten a promotion! I am sure he is happy. Aren’t you, Seabass?”

Seabass said, “I live to serve, Nothanganathor.”

“Quite right!” Nothanganathor added, “You didn’t have to add the comma between my name and your actions, though. It’s almost like you don’t serve me. Which is true enough. You’re Erick’s lawyer. Quite a violation of interests, there.”

Nothanganathor whipped the knife into Seabass’s heart, exploding the man into Red Static. Red Sparks touched across the table again, eating away at all the papers that Seabass had set forth. Now, only the papers from Prime Hadrago remained, and his papers took up the entire small table.

It was as though Erick had never had lawyers from Wraithborne at all.

Nothanganathor’s knife retreated to the inside of his robes.

Morbion looked to Erick, and said, “You really should have taken me up on my offers of lawyers. We could have settled this amicably.”

Erick had watched all of that casual display of power, and had a think. Nothanganathor could undermine everything here in Margleknot, couldn’t he. According to Querkooda and other people Erick had spoken with, this Non-Combat Zone was breakable by Ascended, but not by anyone below that. And yet here was Nothanganathor breaking rules like they didn’t matter.

Fair enough.

What was an Ascended, anyway? A person who was unassailable; that was the typical answer. Perhaps Nothanganathor wasn’t technically Ascended, because there were so many ways to attack him, but he had enough individual powers to make himself a Power-in-effect, if not in-truth.

Erick asked Nothanganathor, “Doesn’t Erasing the lawyers I got from Wraithborne ruin your plot to have Wraithborne turn not-Evil, and thus empower yourself to Evil? Now here’s Morbion, thinking that I don’t want to work with him at all.”

Morbion tensed this time, frowning heavily as he looked to Nothanganathor.

“Erick, Erick, Erick,” Nothanganathor said, “I have also Erased all your talking contact with the Enclave. That is worth more than Wraithborne knowing what is going on, because I can fix Wraithborne easily enough. Now watch this:” Nothanganathor turned toward Morbion. “You’ll be turning Wraithborne to Benevolence and helping Erick take over this Fractal Universe with you probably at the head of that power. I will be turning Evil, officially. Figure out the rest.”

Morbion frowned slightly, but he controlled that expression away. “Yes, Nothanganathor.”

Nothanganathor smiled. He didn’t look tired at all. “See, Erick? This is what you have to contend against. I suggest you accept my offers.”

So it was like that, eh?

Erick countered, “The simple fact is that if you do this too much then I have nothing left to lose, Nothanganathor.”

Nothanganathor chuckled once. “Just like me in so many ways! The only difference is that I have everything to gain when I win.” His eyes glinted Red amongst the white, as he said, “I’ve calculated the most damage I can do to you, and it’s that mayor Silverite, that mentor Al, that inquisitor Kromolok, and of course, Poi. If I Erase those pillars, then all of that God Pact world falls around you like a tunnel caving in. You think you’re the first Wizard I’ve had to undermine completely? No, you are not. You’re just the first one to make it up here to Margleknot, to prove that they’re actually capable of following my own plans.”

Erick was practically beside himself, outside looking in, for the threats were too real, the pain was too close, and the war was almost here.

And then he focused.

Erick said, “You’re already turning Evil. On purpose.”

“Ah ha!” Nothanganathor said, “I wondered about that Intelligence Stat; where it would lead. Most of you delved into paranoia, but some turned out like you. Yes. I am already turning Evil right here and now. Understand that I do not want to, but I must come at this from every angle possible, and that includes exploiting the Balance for my purposes.” He asked, with a deadly tone, “Are you turning Good? You should! It might help!”

“It might help you, you mean.”

For when Wraithborne turned not-Evil, it would create a vast Need for the Balance to reassert itself, to fill the hole left by Evil, thus empowering all Evil people and diminishing all Good people until the Balance returned. It was Fate Magic on a grand, horrible scale.

“Ha!” Nothanganathor grinned, and it reminded Erick of Lord Eldraki’s grin, all Cheshire and deep-knowing. “If you turned Good, it would be even easier to fight you. You should turn Good.”

Would Nothanganathor’s plan even work if they kicked him out of Margleknot? Put him ‘Outside of the Balance’?

Surely he would have accounted for that.

He probably accounted for that.

Erick said to Morbion, “You should take your Prime and leave before your malevolent ally decides to Erase you, too. Good luck with your transformation to Benevolence.”

Morbion said nothing. He simply walked backward. Lawyer Prime Hadrago followed rapidly, leaving the papers on the table between Erick and Nothanganathor. They were soon gone.

Shadow spoke for the first time, “The Dark will never accept you.”

“Sure it will.” Nothanganathor said, “It’s mindless until it has a mind and soon it will have my mind guiding it to a new Creation.”

Shadow looked down her nose at Nothanganathor, and then she turned around and left.

When they were alone, Erick asked Nothanganathor, “So what’s the second twist?”

Nothanganathor turned tired again. Was the show over? It probably was. Why was he putting on a show for Shadow? No. Not just Shadow, but also for Erick.

Nothanganathor said, “I’ll give you a week once they throw you back to Veird. See your loved ones. Make your plans. Try to overcome my magics, for you’ll have lots of opportunities to try. And then make the smart decision and help me kill Melemizargo. If, however, you think of taking his Mantle of Magic for yourself, then I will have to do things I do not wish to do. If you make the smart decisions then you get this Fractal Infinity, and I get all the rest.”

Erick stared at Nothanganathor for a long moment.

Nothanganathor breathed in and stood a bit taller, as though waiting for something to happen and preparing to counter it.

Erick said, “There’s no way to get your Ara back, is there? Not even through side realities?”

Nothanganathor sighed out, his eyes clouding. “No. There isn’t. I’ve tried. She’s gone, Erick, completely. When Melemizargo tortured her for information against me… His destruction of her was Complete. All I have of her is a fragmented corpse that is more made of imagery than anything substantive.

“Erick. Please understand this: I was not wrong to kill my mother, or to fight Melemizargo, or to plot to take the Painted Cosmology. Dragons like them are all horrible people. Too proud by half. Too consuming by all. But if I could do it over again, I would not. I lost too much going up against good odds. I would not make such a gamble a second time. Don’t make the same mistakes I made. Take the win, help me get Melemizargo’s Mantle, and live a good life.”

Nothanganathor walked away.

Erick was alone in the Non-Combat Zone.

He took several moments.

And then he left.

– – – –

Erick stepped into his offices again.

Shadow was there. She looked angry. Yggdrasil stood to the side. He also looked quietly furious.

Lady Seraphaka stood to a different side of the room, wearing her usual black and white and gold, but with tiny earrings made of Erick’s black scales he had lost in his first bloody encounter with the Fae Council, with hearing the voice of The Fractal Fairy. She was sad.

Lady Aelorika was closer to the center of the room. She wore flowers and vines and soft green fabrics. She was angry.

Lord Dakka was there, casually rusting on a couch, looking hopeful.

Lord Eldraki stepped away from a white wall, his outfit turning from the white of the wall back to the dark colors of high-court fashion. He happily said, “Nothanganathor has won! Are you going to fight the inevitable?”

Erick scowled. “What do you want, Eldraki?”

Eldraki smirked. “Dropping honorifics?”

“Probably. You’re the cause of this. You, specifically. The rest of you three, in part. I am starting to see less and less worth in courting this Fae Court.” Erick asked them all, “You are aware that Nothanganathor Erased two people in your Non-Combat Zone, yes? My lawyers from Wraithborne, Blighter and Seabass. The ones who spoke to you all in the Council Chambers all those times, and—”

Erick stopped.

Erick had seen a lot of people die over the years. Seeing Blighter and Seabass Erased like that still got to him. Deeply. From the expression of the fae and of Yggdrasil they were all aware of what had happened. The fact that the Non-Combat Zone had been violated was only really bothering Yggdrasil and Seraphaka, though. Aelorika was having some trouble but not a lot. Eldraki looked positively enthusiastic.

Erick said, “I’m sure Blighter and Seabass were not good people. That doesn’t matter. They did not deserve to be Erased. No one does.”

Silence.

Erick began with, “Can we discuss what you said earlier, Yggdrasil?”

Yggdrasil nodded.

Erick tried not to explode as he asked, “So that purge of Nothanganathor from Margleknot needs to happen before the war, so that he cannot get resources from here and be empowered by the Balance.”

Aelorika said, “If we did that he would be outside of our Authority. It would prevent the upcoming Grand Trial of Margleknot, but it would harm everything else to come, no matter the outcome of this war. We’re not banishing him Outside of the Balance.” She said, “Take heart, instead, that Wraithborne is changing to Benevolence, Erick.”

Aelorika tried to contain her joy at the swing toward Good. Seraphaka joined her in that emotion, while Eldraki and Dakka both quietly ignored those positive emotions. Yggdrasil was pensive. All of them were thinking most about Margleknot.

Shadow was judgmental and hateful.

Erick identified most with Shadow right now.

Aelorika asked, “Will you fight?”

“Yes,” Erick said.

“It will be difficult, and mostly impossible if you go up against him in a straight fight,” Aelorika said.

“Yeah. That sounds about as expected.” Erick sarcastically asked, “You want to help against Nothanganathor?”

“Yes,” Aelorika said.

“Yes,” Seraphaka said.

“Yes,” Dakka said.

“Nope!” Eldraki said. “I quite like Nothanganathor’s plan to take the Dark while you get the Fractal. You could do that, too, you know. Take over the universe with Benevolence. Close all holes to corruption. Erase slavery. End the Balance of Good versus Evil and send us all into chaos. Make Benevolence fracture into a trillion variations, and cause untold expansions and destructions into this Infinity. Bring about more suffering, alongside more of everything else.” He smirked as he listed off horrors alongside good things, like all of it was a great enjoyment to him.

Erick looked at Eldraki.

And then he punched him, his fist meeting fae flesh like a column of iron meeting meat jelly.

Eldraki went spinning, flying into the wall of the room whereupon he slapped into the white wall like a sack of meat. Bones snapped. Blood spilled. Eldraki slipped down to the ground, groaning softly.

Dakka laughed loudly and happily while Seraphaka grinned.

Aelorika said, “He deserved that. I hope it made you feel better.”

“It did, actually,” Erick said, feeling calmer. “I still feel terrible about everything, and right now that feeling is focused on Blighter and Seabass because they always dealt fairly with me, as far as I know… Why was an un-Ascended person able to do that?”

With a quiet dread, Yggdrasil said, “He has a lot of different abilities, stolen from a lot of different lands.”

Erick almost asked what kinds of powers Nothanganathor had, but it didn’t really matter. Nothanganathor was a Wizard at the height of his power, and that told everyone more than enough.

And then Eldraki’s right hand moved brokenly, lifting up above the guy and then acting like a puppetmaster’s hand, twitching fingers over the body and then moving upward, picking up Eldraki on invisible strings and setting him back on his broken legs. Eldraki’s right hand twitched, and Eldraki’s body healed fast. When the healing was done, Eldraki’s eyes lit up once again and his mouth smiled as he held his right hand above his head, like a dancer. He took a bow.

Eldraki stood back up, still smiling, saying, “Great punch! Didn’t know you had it in you!” He dropped the pretense of being happy. “Everyone gets one. I will allow you a second one at some undefined point in the future because we are being overly harsh on you— I recognize that— and yet you are rising to the challenges set forth by Nothanganathor and all others.”

Erick said, “Fine. Get on with your proposal, please.”

Eldraki instantly said, “Give your Valkyries to Dakka for use against corruption and we’ll put the full weight of Margleknot against Nothanganathor.”

Erick looked to Dakka. “You want the valkyries?”

“I’ll take a copy, if that’s all you want to give!”

Erick looked at them all, asking, “What kind of ‘full weight of Margleknot’ actually exists?” He added, “Or, more importantly, why are you all still treating this as though it’s not a big deal? That you shouldn’t throw your full weight behind preventing Nothanganathor’s rise to power in the multiverse?”

Eldraki chuckled. “Because there’s nothing wrong with Nothanganathor’s rise to ultimate power!”

Aelorika said, “We cannot condone his actions and yet we cannot go fully against him, for he has threatened us without threatening us regarding corruption events out in the rest of the universe, and ultimately, if he were released from his Curse of Obscurity, he would be a force of stability.” She said, “And so, he remains In the Balance for now. He remains in our power, and in our power, we grant him power in return, just as we would do for you.”

Erick frowned.

“If you want to fight him and absolutely win, Erick, there are other ways to fight,” Eldraki said, grinning. “The best way I can think of is for you to become Evil in Truth, perhaps focusing on civilization expanding as a means for debauchery and pain and hate? Throw some Benevolent Slavery in there, too! It would ruin Nothanganathor’s plan to take advantage of the Evil Swing coming up the line,” Eldraki grinned wider as Erick glared at him. Eldraki added, “Or you could learn Time Magics in ways other than Establishment! Actually visiting times previous! Of course, you would have to learn how to hide your mana and power, which would likely be impossible due to everyone being able to see you, but doing that sort of magic would be a way in which Nothanganathor does not operate. He’s all about Establishment, just like you.”

“He’s such a fucking mirror, isn’t he.” Erick had a thought. “Let me guess. Nothanganathor works with you and Dakka, primarily, but Aelorika is his antagonist here because she’s all about the plants and I love plants, while Seraphaka is mostly ambivalent toward him. He really is some sort of True Opposite shit.”

Eldaraki’s grin went wider, past his face.

Aelorika frowned a little.

Dakka laughed.

Seraphaka raised an eyebrow, asking, “And?”

Erick said, “And that means none of you are taking this seriously.”

Which was apparently the wrong thing to say.

Without anything changing at all, the room suddenly felt like a violent jungle as Aelorika declared, “We are taking this more seriously than you could ever know.”

And then Aelorika pulled herself back.

It took Eldraki a moment to pull his grin back to his face, to stop appearing like a True Monster. Dakka had been scratching at the arm of a lounge chair, causing the chair to bleed, but that stopped, too. Seraphaka pulled away from the desk she was seated against, and the desk, which had been solid gold, turned back into normal wood.

Yggdrasil looked tired.

Shadow looked happy, oddly enough. Why? Oh. The Council had revealed some of themselves. Erick had knocked them off of their pedestal slightly.

Erick reevaluated.

Erick began, “I want to foster a good relationship with Margleknot and the Painted Cosmology…” Erick had so many things he could say, but he chose to cut to the chase. “But you’re making it awfully hard. Nothanganathor unBalanced Margleknot. I brought it back. Nothanganathor has poisoned your systems with Contracts and Slavery, and I’m getting rid of that. Once Nothanganathor is gone, Shadow and I will be bringing the Painted Cosmology back, and we won’t have to do experiments to get it back. Shadow can just do that as soon as she can reconnect with the remnants of the Painted Cosmology and we have some time to set up some magics and a whole bunch of stuff. I plan on expanding out from Veird’s system with great bounty and civilization, making new spheres around new stars and all sorts of stuff like that. And yet you wish to go along with the guy who has Sundered a universe only to bring it back in his image, and then go on and kill and capture other universes.

“Now I’ve heard a lot about you all, all across Margleknot. You’re the enforcers of civilization and everyone is scared of you.

“And yet you’re scared of Nothanganathor.

“Why?” Erick asked, “Is it, perhaps, because he is a boring old man until someone gives him a reason to be cruel, and he relishes inflicting terrible pains on people? The only time I saw him be something other than a ‘tired old man’ today was when he was taking joy in killing Blighter and Seabass, to show me what he could do if he needed.”

Dakka laughed. “He’s a bastard, that one! Doesn’t do proper war; that’s his only failing. He slaughters his enemies dispassionately. You use your enemies to do the slaughter. Much more fun that way.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

… So that was Dakka’s non-answer. Erick wasn’t impressed.

The other three Old Fae of the Fractal Cosmology were similarly non-impressed with Erick’s words, and probably for reasons far beyond what Erick could suss out on his own—

Erick realized something.

They were never going to admit that they were scared. That this whole thing terrified them something deep. Fairy Moon was scared of Soul Magics because they were the one thing that could kill her permanently… or at least change who she was permanently. Sundering probably didn’t work on her.

Would Nothanganathor’s ‘Erasure’ work on her? On any fae?

Maybe not completely, but well enough to scare them?

Yeah.

Duh.

… Okay. That was fine.

Erick could work with that.

He didn’t need to change the universe. He just needed to save Veird and end Nothanganathor’s threat.

Okay!

Focus achieved.

Erick said to Dakka, “I’m not giving anyone a copy of the magic that I am going to be using against Nothanganathor, and especially not a neutral party that is working both of us against each other.”

Dakka smirked. “Give me a copy of the spell and I will ensure the resulting soldiers are only used against corruption events, to organize populations away from problem centers and to strike back at corruption. Those conscripted warriors will always know of Tir Gael and the Apparent King as their creators. You can still use it yourself however you wish.”

Aelorika spoke up, “It would only be used with Council approval.”

Seraphaka said, “We would not use it lightly, but we will use it extensively.”

Eldraki said, “And in return, you’ll get what you came for; assistance against Nothanganathor.”

Aelorikia said, “We’re losing a big weapon against corruption either way this turns out, Erick. We need another one. You get to be that weapon. Your valkyries are just a small part of the weaponry we expect to get from you.”

Erick just stared for a moment.

Shadow and Yggdrasil both watched. Shadow seemed to think it was a good deal. Yggdrasil looked hopeful that Erick would take the win.

Erick decided to take the win.

He briefly dove into his soul, copied the [Blood of the Valkyrie] Benevolence crystal, and then came back to the moment, to hold out his hand and express that copy into the air. The Benevolence crystal was a spherical white gem with inner fire that shimmered red-grey-gold-black.

Dakka breathed deep, the fae of rust and war steadying himself, as he reached forward and held up a hand.

Erick placed the copy of the spell into Dakka’s grip—

– –

Erick stood with the Fractal Fairy in a world of different paths that hung in the air like stained glass.

They were all paths for the Valkyrie. Some paths held valkyries that were scared and alone and lost; those were closed off. Some paths had corrupted valkyries going to war for corruption instead of fighting against it; those paths faded from possibility. Some paths existed where valkyries were born in places that they needed to be, their powers growing in the face of looming corruption threats; those paths solidified. All paths collected and then led to Tir Gael, or to Veird, or directly to Erick, with the person inside the valkyrie war machine being reborn along the way, and making their way toward better lives than those that had come before.

It was a Path being written and enforced, like the Path Erick had taken to make [Gate]. A Fae Path through reality, being written by the greatest fae of this Fractal Universe.

The Fractal Fairy nodded.

– –

Erick let go of the crystal.

Dakka eagerly took the crystal, his eyes glinting with rusted-iron depths. He grinned, and Erick heard war on the wind. And then Dakka breathed out, relaxing, sighing, as he twisted his hand and the crystal vanished. He smiled softly. Dakka said, “Welcome to Margleknot, Erick Flatt. Let us discuss how we can assist each other in our war efforts. For starters, how about we help you learn how to reinforce the Script, to make it so that Erasure cannot happen within that space? That should remove Nothanganathor’s main threat. He could still, of course, simply kill people, but shouldn’t be about tricks.”