"Let's welcome our newest member to the Alliance, Henry Thai!"
The Dark Rizzards Alliance, amongst their other assets, of course also had an online server, comprised of various individuals unified by their love of all things Dark.
Henry, or as he was now better known as, "Hen" Thai, was, of course Zhang Lu in disguise. He was welcomed, ushered into the server, with various šand š reacts under his name, although he didn't know why. Maybe his aura of badness was too high?
He turned to Itvasme who was relaxed reclining on a chair next to him and smirking. For some reason she was in a good mood and smothering a laugh, which was strange, but he chalked it up to the fact that she was pleased he had agreed to act as her apprentice and check out the Dark Rizzards for himselfā¦
Oh, she was cute when she laughedā¦
What am I thinking?!?!
Zhang Lu thought to himself.
Focus. He had to refocus.
His main aim was to see for himself what the Dark Rizzard Alliance was likeā¦
Power. Wealth. Ability. Sexual Partners too, but in the end, mainly Power and Wealth and Ability. It turned out that Dark Rizzards were primarily obsessed with such things.
There were many resources left from previous Grand Dark Rizzards, which discussed the "Laws of Power" and how to control people, Wealth schemes that included among normal advice, lots of ways to scam the gullible, Forbidden doping mantras that would give you Strength and Ability without having to invest the time and effort or to make up for a lack of innate talent, Pick-up Techniques, you name it, if it got results, then the Dark Rizzards didn't care about minor things like ethics and morals.
Zhang Lu actually didn't have any overt judgements at this point, since his role was primarily to absorb and understand the situation, and so, he lurked in silence, under Itvasme's supervision.
"So, what do you think? Aren't we justā¦ being honest? All humans desire power, wealth, ability and a future legacy. We just happen to be more openminded, more clear and more determined in our approachā¦" Itvasme, whom he had earlier unmasked, asked him what he thought, and as she did so, it was as if her metaphorical 'mask' also slipped, just for a moment, to reveal someone behind the cold veneer, someoneā¦ real, who wanted him to agree and affirm her...
Zhang Lu didn't reply immediately.
As an author, he knew that his words held weight, no matter how insignificant.
His objective was to learn more about Dark Rizzardry and give it a fair go, so he wasn't just lampooning, or parody-ing something he didn't fully appreciate or understand. But make no mistake.
That didn't mean he was just going to endorse something that was clearly toxic or unethical, or illegal.
For one thing, he might be arrested, or accrue negative karma which would probably end badly for him.
He also recalled the words he was told in his youth...
"Zhang Luā¦ you can doā¦ whatever you like, but in the end, I hope you choose the light, and to do what's rightā¦"
Indeed... as the flashback montage faded, was Old Man Li coming in clutch again?!
But then, he looked at Itvasme. She was waiting for his reply. She looked differentā¦ vulnerable, like she had opened herself up to himā¦ she was thereā¦ beautiful, close, possibly ready to give him that intimacy, that genuine connection which he craved forā¦ and all he had to do was say the right thingsā¦
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Meanwhile Sally was as usual continuing on her path to Ice Queendom, whilst also promoting her project, [Endless Freedom].
There were also ethical considerations that needed to be ironed out, for example what would happen to the babies that were born ex vitro was the main consideration.
Currently, It was only for couples that were unable to have their own children naturally, for example, if it was deemed too dangerous to have another pregnancy after complications from having their first child, and they also would have to demonstrate they had a good track record and or the means to look after children.
Another issue was that whilst she had the Egg Bank ready to go, ex vitro pregnancy raised the issue of what to do if a woman wanted aā¦ specific kind of sperm to fertilize her egg.
At this point, the technology and means of ex vitro pregnancy was still a patented and niche secret, but if the science ever leaked or became viable as a mainstream service, There would no doubt be a black market where genetic samples that were deemed "superior" or which possessed extremely desirable traits would be bartered and sold, leading to a kind of eugenics!
That said, a kind of eugenics already happened anyway with people doubtless choosing their preferred sperm or egg donors, or even arguably through dating, but it raised the concern of say wealthy or unscrupulous individuals making a kind ofā¦ factory of humans, like designer babies made to measure en masseā¦ a crazy thought.
Regardless, to be honest, Sally was also starting to store her own eggs. Which woman wouldn't want to keep her options open for the future, particularly considering her fertile window wasn't forever? This, her own egg bank, coupled with ex vitro pregnancy technology, would allow her to maintain some of her genetic value, as well as the option to have lots of adorable children in the future!!!
She would be lying if she said that the possibility of having different, yet equally cherished, children didn't have a kind ofā¦ interesting appeal!!!
Sally too, like Valentine, was gaining a lot of interest in her project, and the technology was already beginning to help couples in the clinical trials conceive.
But as you could see, there were many potential moral and ethical dangers that needed to be navigated. This was also where Valentine and his Sperm Bank might come in, as if they could combine their influence and forces to establish a system guided by clear rules upholding people's Freedom of choice as well as human rights, only then could it be a truly positive contribution to others.
The only thing left to mention was that of course, all this "Endless Freedom", the egg bank and the ex vitro pregnancy, didn't replace genuine human connection eitherā¦
It couldn't provide those feelings of being Rizzed, of being understood, of being cared for, seen, that she had experienced as Allie. Sure, AI holographic technology was beginning to develop, and no doubt AI partners would become increasingly prevalent, but Sally knew that, for her personally, it wasn't the same thing.
Would she create and order an AI version of 'That Guy', Bob, and then pretend to live happily ever after?!
Nope. If it came to that, she would rather just live with her cats.
Besides, as far as she currently knew, AI and technology wasn't capable of artificially creating sperm or eggsā¦ she wanted the Full Dream - to be with the real daddy of her future childrenā¦
Bobā¦ she said to herself.
As she thought it through along these lines of thought, Sally had finally made up her mind.
She was going to tell him that she, Allie, was Sally. Otherwise she may as well either break it off, or just consider getting an AI 'partner' then, since it wasn't much different from living a lie.
Bobā¦ Sally said to herself quietly.
"You better not let me downā¦"
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