The Presidential Suite was a chamber of silent, suffocating power. Centuries of wealth were reflected in the dark, polished wood of the furniture and the priceless art that adorned the walls. Seated in high-backed armchairs were the three members of the Meridian Council.
Lord Harrington, a man with pale blue eyes and the weight of a dozen generations in his posture, sat in the center. To his right was Madame Jing, an ageless matriarch in a silk dress, her hands folded calmly in her lap, her eyes missing nothing. To his left was Silas Thorne, the American tech magnate, who radiated an aura of restless, predatory arrogance.
The heavy doors opened, and Raj walked in.
They saw a boy. A teenager in an expensive suit. Silas Thorne barely concealed a smirk. Lord Harrington's expression was one of mild, aristocratic curiosity. Only Madame Jing's face remained an unreadable, placid mask.
Raj felt the immense pressure in the room, the combined authority of centuries of command. But his Sovereign's Aura met it like a seawall meeting a tide, creating a bubble of calm authority around him. He walked to the empty armchair opposite them and sat, his posture relaxed, his gaze level.
"Mr. R, I presume," Lord Harrington began, his voice a smooth, cultured baritone. "We are the Meridian Council. We appreciate you accepting our invitation. We admit, we were expecting someone... older."
"Power isn't measured in years, my Lord," Raj replied, his voice calm and even, carrying a weight that made the Council members sit up straighter.
"Indeed," Harrington conceded, a thin smile on his lips. "Power, as you have so... energetically demonstrated, is about influence. Your R-Corp has grown with a disruptive, chaotic speed. It upsets the delicate balance of the global ecosystem. A balance we have maintained for a very long time."
He leaned forward slightly. "We are here to offer you a place within that ecosystem. A way to integrate your considerable talents without causing further instability. Join us. Your corporation will be given a protected status, and you will be given a role under our guidance. Your ambition will be rewarded, not curtailed, as long as it serves the greater order."
It was the offer of a gilded cage, delivered with the polite finality of a death sentence. Join, or be destroyed.
Raj let the silence hang in the air for a moment before he spoke. He didn't address the offer. Instead, he turned his gaze to Silas Thorne. He activated Predator's Insight.
"It must be difficult to maintain such a demanding public profile, Mr. Thorne," Raj said conversationally. "Especially with the high-stakes, private ventures one might pursue in places like Monaco. Some games carry risks far greater than losing money."
Thorne's arrogant smirk vanished, replaced by a flash of raw panic. His secret gambling addiction, the one that had cost him tens of millions and nearly his reputation, was supposed to be buried forever.
Next, Raj turned to the matriarch. "Madame Jing. Your family's collection is legendary. A testament to a legacy of power and beauty. It is a profound tragedy that some pieces of that legacy, like the Jade Phoenix of the Tang Dynasty, remain... misplaced after the unfortunate events in 1948."
Madame Jing's placid mask finally cracked. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. The location of the stolen Phoenix was her life's obsession, a secret shame known to no one.
Finally, Raj looked at Lord Harrington, the leader of the pride. "You speak of order and balance, my Lord. But the world is changing. History has a short memory for those whose names and fortunes are tied to an old world that no longer exists. There is no greater fear, is there, than the fear of becoming... irrelevant."
Lord Harrington's face, for the first time in what was likely decades, was a portrait of pure shock. Raj had not just rejected their offer. He had reached into their souls, seized their deepest, most guarded secrets, and laid them bare on the table.
The power dynamic in the room didn't just shift; it shattered. The three most powerful people on the planet were staring at the boy opposite them not as an upstart, but as a monster. A creature with impossible knowledge and terrifying power.
Raj stood up, his movement smooth and unhurried.
"You did not invite me here to offer me a job," he said, his voice now holding a note of cold command. "You invited me here to see if I was a threat you needed to eliminate. I am here to tell you that I am not a threat. I am an inevitability."
He looked at each of them one last time.
"You invited me here to teach me the rules of your world. Consider this my lesson to you: The rules have changed."
He turned and walked towards the door, leaving the three silent, terrified sovereigns in the ruins of their own authority. He had not just survived the summit. He had conquered it.