Oskar had not been idle during the seven days that this "workshop" was being built.
He had reached out to other district bosses and asked for their opinion on the matter, consulted his own people, and even visited the area surrounding 9280 himself.
The biggest issue was that he didn't know what exactly was going to happen when this thing was done. The Ascended has said that it would be something similar to a school and factory, but instead of simple assembly, he wanted to build weaponry.
All the people he talked with about this came up with the same answer.
"He's insane, don't go near him. The Government will track him down soon and execute him."
The issue was, Oskar knew that this wasn't the case.
Due to his unique circumstances, he knew that his own knowledge would be superior to what anyone in the Outskirts could come up with.
Everything that was known about Awakened and the Nightmare Spell was filtered through a massive wall of propaganda. After all, the only way to access such information was with Government technology in places like libraries.
For this reason, the same lies and inaccuracies kept getting repeated over and over. The image of Awakened being determined heroes was largely accepted far and wide.
Though a few of these powerful individuals had come to the Outskirts to cause havoc, Awakened were still seen as paragons by the masses.
As far as he knew, Oskar himself was the only one who knew their true nature.
The paragon heroes might as well be non-existent. Maybe at the start of the Spell, there were a noble few who helped others out of the goodness of their heart, but Oskar knew better.
Most Awakened were not vile or good, they were simply normal people who were unlucky enough to get infected by the Spell.
After reaching the 2nd Rank, they would get a mundane job in the Dream Realm and relax during the day.
It made sense.
If one had seen a Nightmare Creature up close, then any sane person would do whatever it takes to never see one again.
Even those who responded to Gate Crises were mostly there just to make money off their kills, or because the Gate was too close to their home and they wanted to protect their investment.
For that reason, it was a hard rule that anyone who went beyond the 2nd Rank was at least moderately insane. They had to be in order to face down such monsters.
Such people were dangerous, and they were almost certain to face some kind of mental breakdown at one point or another.
And despite what the Government said, the number of these insane individuals was a lot higher than they let on.
…Oskar was never lucky.
He knew that whatever this Ascended had in store for them, it wasn't going to be good. He just hoped that it would be limited in scale, and that he could work around it.
Despite the fact that the Ascended was like a god compared to someone like Oskar, there were still ways to exploit him. He was a person after all. And even with a fractured mind people could be manipulated.
It was an incredibly dangerous game to put himself directly in front of this guy, but if he called from a device, he had no doubt that the Ascended could track him down and kill him for that disrespect in less than an hour.
Oskar looked down at his pipe and his knee started to bounce quickly. Arms crossed, he regarded the thing coldly. He had kept it, and any other drug like it locked away for the past week. The cravings were painful, in fact they were tearing him apart. His thoughts were impaired greatly, but through sheer force of will he managed to still be more cognitive than he would be otherwise.
"Do I stay cold turkey and look like a deranged lunatic or have a small hit and come in all charismatic, calm, and cool."
Of course, he had already made that decision.
He took a long drag, longer than he had intended, and let out a large breath of pale smoke.
Then, he repeated his mantra which he had been saying for the past week with repeated resentment and ferocity.
"Fuck my life."
…
Oskar had a vague idea of what he would be dealing with. He knew that this "workshop" was actually going to consist of multiple buildings. He couldn't fathom the purpose, nor could he believe the scale of what a single Ascended and Awakened could accomplish in such a short amount of time.
…though, an eerie note had been given to him as well, one that helped explain the progress to a small degree.
The Ascended did not sleep.
Of course, since they were beyond humans, the Ascended (like Awakened) had a drastically reduced need for sleep, but staying awake for a week straight, working constantly, shouldn't have been possible without any simulants.
Oskar grunted in astonishment as he stepped foot on the freakishly clean and beautiful pavement. It was made out of strange stone.
Though Bitz had not initially realized that this stone was not of this world, Oskar was confident he could have figured that out as soon as he'd laid eyes on it.
Despite his position, he was very knowledgeable about a great number of topics. More so than anyone in the Outskirts ought to have.
The gradient of the stone and its color indicated ancient origins. Something that could likely only be found in the lost continent of North America.
That place had been long uninhabited by humans ever since a gate of the 6th Rank appeared there, causing hundreds of millions of lives to be lost.
It was the only instance of such a Gate having appeared, and it would have been an apocalyptic event if the Cursed Nightmare Creature kept chasing humans across the planet. Fortunately, it made its home in that continent, and did not seem likely to make any moves so long as nothing disturbed it.
Despite how insane it might sound, it was actually far more likely that this stone came from the Dream Realm than such an horrendous place.
As Oskar continued, he made note of the buildings' architecture. This was not something he was well versed in, but he could tell that they were built well, as they were reminiscent of the buildings in the city proper.
These buildings also received a layer of the Dream Realm stone on the outside, coating it into the same greyish-black.
The cleanliness of it all combined with this monotone color made Oskar feel as if he was dreaming. The pounding in his chest was reminiscent of what one might feel when they are in a Nightmare, and they know that something would soon be jumping out to scare him.
Sure enough, a voice cut through the air. Except it didn't come from in front. Inexplicably, the voice came from behind him.
There had been no obstacles where the Ascended could have hid behind. Oskar had no idea how he managed to reach so close to him without making a sound.
"Hello there," the Ascended said.
His voice was deep and uncomfortable. Oskar was surprised that the kid didn't soil himself when he talked to this guy before.
Oskar halted in his tracks, quickly composing himself before he turned to the man with a benign smile on his face.
"Hello," he said. "I heard that you wanted visitors around this time. I admit, I am a little scared about facing someone like you, but I felt compelled to answer to your summons."
Oskar did not try to act innocent or naive. In his experience, Awakened had to be treated in a very certain way. They had to feel in charge of the conversation, but it would bore them if the one they talked too was meek.
He had to kowtow a bit, but not enough to make himself seem pathetic.
It was a fine line between respect and reverence.
The Ascended tilted his head in an odd way.
"Is that so? Well that makes me glad! I know I can be rather intimidating at times, but I have been trying to be more approachable as of late," he smiled. "I am The Judge, but you can just call me Judge."
He seems very laidback. Almost casual with his voice…but I can't look him in the eye. I feel like there is a pressure weighing me down. A certain amount of banter might be good, but I can't be outright insulting or disrespectful. Oskar quickly deduced all of this in a mere second.
"Ah, I have heard about that from Bitz, the boy you met earlier," Oskar reached his hand upwards and scratched the back of his neck. "Though it may be very rude, I regret to inform you that there is already someone in the Outskirts who has taken that moniker, so a different one has started to spread."
He inadvertently tensed as he waited for the reaction.
The Ascended went completely still and silent. With nothing for a hundred meters in every direction it was as if time had stopped completely.
"Hmmm, what is this new moniker then?" he said in a neutral tone.
"Well, no one wanted to disrespect you by calling you something completely different, so in order to differentiate between you and the other district boss, they have been calling you The Red Judge."
This was true…to an extent. There was indeed another "Judge" in the Outskirts. It was a powerful name that invoked a certain authority. But he was from a far away district, and it wouldn't lead to many issues among the people in the 9000s.
However, it did cause issues in Oskar's own circle. He talked with the other "Judge" often enough that he was getting himself confused when talking about the Ascended. He didn't want to get in the habit of calling him "Mr. Ascended" just in case he wanted to be actually referred to by the title of Judge. So instead he had created the title "Red Judge."
This was largely due to the giant sphere of red that had crossed the sky and entered the 9280 Block. It was impossible to tell what it was, but Oskar was certain that it was being controlled by the Ascended. Given its color, he decided it would be easiest to simply add the adjective.
…Also Oskar thought it was quite cool.
This was something he would take to his grave though, as it was much too embarrassing.
Fortunately, the Ascended seemed to agree with him.
"The Red Judge?" he said with a slowly growing smile. "Well this too is fitting. It will work nicely."
A booming and bass-like laugh echoed throughout the area, causing Oskar's bone to tremble.
"You can call me Red then…to avoid confusion."
Oskar felt himself smile slightly. It was nice to hear him accept the new title with grace, but something still deeply bothered him.
A feeling of subservience and deference to this Ascended was building slowly but consistently within him. The man's very presence was simultaneously revolting and alluring.
And he still hadn't looked him in the eyes.
Something mystical was affecting him.
But if there was one thing that made him different from everyone else in the Outskirt, it was the fact that (even amongst millions of mad men) he was one of the most insane individuals that lived here.
With an effort akin to moving a block of concrete, he raised his gaze.
What greeted him was a yawning abyss. His eyes were wide and his skin seemed to be pulled tightly against his face. He was unnaturally pale and somehow ugly despite being an Ascended.
But what was most entrancing of all were eyes. Eyes that had undoubtedly been changed by his Aspect.
The rings of yellowish-orange seemed to flow in an endless current.
It was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.
Still, he forced a smile on his face.
"It is nice to meet you, Red. My name is Oskar."