"So you're not optimizing on this metric, that's good."

"If I was doing that, my empire would be a giant flaming mess, possibly literally."

"And that would be undesirable on so many levels."

"Yes!"

"Are there - components of mercy, here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, hm, you like torturing people but you don't require that they be unhappy about it even though that's the typical result, are there things that come apart like that here?"

"Mm... maybe, but it's hard to say, I'm not used to thinking about it in - out-loud terms."

"I'm really curious to hear about it if you ever come up with anything."

"I'll let you know if I do."

"Is mercy the only - unusual item, or was it just an example?"

"Most of the problem is mercy. When I took all the elements and then killed my father to become Emperor, that was about - needing to seek power - but I've sought enough power by now, even if I found something else as big as self-dedicating all the elements I wouldn't feel like I had to take it. —that's also what I was talking about when I said that being Emperor is what things being important is for."

Thoughtful pause.

"I think if I couldn't be Emperor without having to do the work, I'd want to get out of it, but as it is I've got a solution that works and I don't see a reason to stop. And I would be so annoyed if I let someone else have a turn and they somehow managed to do a worse job than me, or even just do some particular thing wrong that I've learned not to..."

Nod.

Shrug.

"Do you think you feel like you have enough power on a permanent basis or might it come up again someday?"

"If it comes up it'll be something like 'something threatened the empire and I needed more power to deal with it', there'll be an actual practical reason, it won't just be that I wake up one day feeling like I should have two world-spanning empires or something like that."

"Oh good."

"Yeah."

"Any other things?"

"Not that I can think of but it's hard to put into words, I could be missing some important nuances."

Nod.