Gabriel waited for Mason to disappear inside before making a beeline to Tom.
"General, a word?"
Tom eyed Gabriel impassively. The two would never be buddies, but he was somewhere close to Mason's inner circle so the veteran gave him a passing level of respect.
"What's up?" He was only ever formal with Mason and the recruits.
"Before you start the elimination rounds, can I hold some services for them?"
"Why?" Tom didn't have the same suspicions as Mason, but he made no secret of the fact that he thought Gabriel's church services were pointless.
"Well, if a bunch of them are going to die this week they should get right with their gods."
Tom scoffed. "I couldn't give a rat's ass about that, man. I can't waste any time on this or Mason will have my head." They both turned to look at the headless body laying next to the destroyed fountain.
"I get that man, I really do. But they need it - and besides, people who are fighting for religious purposes fight all the harder. You want top-level effort? You have to give them something to fight for. Being scared will make them pick up a sword, but if you want them to go all out you need to give them something bigger than themselves to fight for."
Tom considered his words. "And you think this god shit will do that?"
Gabriel shrugged. "Best case scenario, you get a bunch of Templar Knights who feel like god is on their side and are willing to risk life and limb to prove their worth. If they feel like their deaths will earn them a place in heaven or Valhalla or whatever they'll fight a lot harder than if they're just trying not to die. Worst case scenario, you're just where you are now."
"In my experience, people fight pretty damned hard when they're scared of dying."
"True, but they won't take risks or push harder than they need to to survive. If they're fighting just to stay alive they'll play it safe. If you want what Mason wants - people who rush face-first into danger with no regard for their own lives - you need to give them something bigger than themselves to fight for."
Tom's eyes narrowed. "And what do you get out of all this? I know damned well you're not doing it to save their souls."
Gabriel had known this question was coming one day. No way he was going to reveal the real reasons, but he had to give Tom something believable. Something that, when it inevitably made its way back to Mason, wouldn't have him chained naked in a basement. He leaned in close like he was revealing a secret.
"Okay, listen - I don't want this to become public knowledge, okay?" He smiled internally at Tom's conspiratorial nod. This fucker will be in Mason's harem the instant I leave, telling him all this. "Back before all of this I was a motivational speaker. I know, I know - I don't look like it, but it's the god's truth, man. Nothing too big, I never made it to the big times, it was mostly crypto stuff - trying to get chumps to give me their money so they could get rich quick."
"You don't look rich."
"I did okay. It didn't really matter if they made money or lost it all, I took a commission for helping them make the trades. I convinced them to buy whatever the latest crypto bullshit was and they ate it up. I guess they saw someone that looked like me and assumed that if I could do it, they could too."
Tom chuckled and Gabriel had to resist the urge to punch his smug face. Of course he believed the story - he underestimated Gabriel, just like everyone else had, so had no trouble believing that people would think he was a loser who had just gotten lucky and they could do better. He pushed his irritation to the side and continued.
"So anyway, The System arrives and now crypto is useless. Then The System gave me a bullshit class based on being a motivational speaker. Who the hell needs motivational speeches in the fucking apocalypse?"
They shared a laugh, only Tom's being genuine.
"But I discovered that I just had to motivate people. I gain levels by motivating people to try harder. To do more than they normally would. It doesn't really matter what it is. As long as I can convince them to step outside of their comfort zone and give whatever they're doing their maximum effort, I get some experience."
"What if they die from whatever you're convincing them to do?"
Gabriel shrugged again. "Makes no difference to me. It doesn't matter much if they actually do the thing, I get my experience from convincing them to do it in the first place. If they leave the services fired up and ready to go then I get my little piece."
"So, you're going to convince all of these people to 'step outside their comfort zones' and give it all they got, knowing full well that most of them are going to die?"
"It's a cruel world, man. I'm just doing what I can to survive in it."
Tom chuckled ruefully. "You're a cold bastard, you know that? Respect." He clapped Gabriel on the back. "Do what you have to do, man. Just don't delay anything. I need the first batch ready to go tomorrow morning."
"Understood," he said with a nod. "Send everyone who is in tomorrow's lineup to me after dinner. We'll just keep doing that every night until we've worked through what's left. I promise, man, you're going to be happy with the results."
Tom shrugged and turned away to study the crowd. "Whatever pulls your pickle."
The week went by in a haze. General Tom had told him about a phrase they used in the military that described the week perfectly.
"The days drag by, but the weeks fly."
It was truer than he'd hoped. Every night was four hours of 'service', Gabriel walking through the crowd of terrified people sitting in circles around him, his Tome and Rosary pushed to their limits. He didn't have time for the slow buildup he normally employed, having to crash his way into their psyches without regard for the long term effects. Most fell sway, their fears providing fertile soil for the fear, then comfort, then hope that he doled out in heavy spoonfuls. Some resisted the brute force attacks and shut down almost immediately - those he recommended to Tom to put in the front the next morning.
"They're troublemakers and I am not going to be able to convince them. Hell, most of them would run if given the chance. They're hopeless cases."
Tom had been skeptical at some of the picks. "I don't know, man - some of these guys look pretty determined. I think they could rank up quick."
"Do you want that, though? Ranking up people who are the most likely to try to escape? Or even worse, to try take Mason out?"
Tom scoffed. "Please, I'd relish the sight of any of these sub-10s challenging Mason."
"He might too - at first. But what do you think he'd do if it happened more than once? Twice? How many attempts would it take before he started questioning the guy in charge of their training?"
This got the reaction he was hoping for. "Okay, okay - I got it. They'll be in the first groups. I'll have them challenge each other, and if any survive we'll put them against a group."
It took an effort for Gabriel not to sigh in relief. "Smart move."
"So how about the others? Are they feeling properly motivated?"
"I think so. I think you're going to see better effort out of them. You'll get more if you bring them to me more than once, though. Honestly, the more times I see them the better effort you'll get."
Tom cast a sideways glance at him. "What do you even do to them, man? What do you say to convince them?"
In this, at least, Gabriel could be honest. It felt good to finally tell someone something about his genius. He could never tell it to the sheeple, and there was never anyone left to brag to. "It's actually pretty simple - although you'd have to have my level of skill at doing it to make it work."
White hot anger sparked in him when Tom smirked at that, but he pushed it down like everything else and continued. "First, I stoke their fears a little bit. Really get them to realize the shit situation they're in. You have to make them come to terms with how bad things are for them. Then you calm them a bit, soothe their fears. Let them know they can trust you. That takes the longest time and requires a careful hand. Then comes the most important part."
Tom looked at him expectantly.
"You give them hope. You give them a way out - a way to survive. Not just survive, but to be better. Hell, maybe you convince them that they can be the best!"
Tom's look was wary. "The best? Like 'I can challenge Mason' the best?"
Gabriel waved that away hurriedly. "No, not like that. You - I convince them that they can find salvation, glory, and success if they follow Mason. If they do absolutely every fucking thing they can to rise to the top they will be able to prove themselves to him. Give them hope that they can do just about anything if they just try hard enough. Convince them that they're the lucky ones who can beat out the odds when anyone else fails." He didn't explain that it wasn't for Mason they were being convinced to fight, it was for the glory of whatever god they believed in, and Gabriel was their steward.
"So what happens when they don't?"
"Oh see, now that's the best part. If they succeed then they think I was right! They are convinced beyond conviction that everything I told them was true. That they're the chosen of god and they can do any fucking terrible, horrific thing because god told them to do it. And if they don't? Well, they're dead so who fucking cares?"
Tom actually laughed at that. "You are fucking cold, man."
"Fucking right," he replied with a smile.