The rumors arrived before the person did.
"A town that never collapses."
"A leader who doesn't rule."
"A system without magic."
Ace listened quietly as a traveler spoke.
"…Sounds familiar," Ravenna muttered.
Ace's tail twitched.
"No," he said slowly.
"It sounds edited."
---
The Invitation
They didn't send an army.
They sent a letter.
Simple.
Confident.
Immaculately structured.
To the Origin Node,
You are invited to observe a perfected implementation.
Ace stared at the phrase.
"…I hate that sentence," he said.
Ravenna nodded.
"Yeah. That's a red flag."
---
The Other Town
It was clean.
Too clean.
Buildings aligned.
Paths optimized.
People efficient.
Everyone smiled.
The smiles did not reach their eyes.
Ace felt cold.
"This place works," Ravenna whispered.
Ace shook his head.
"It functions."
They were led to a central plaza.
A woman stood there.
Human.
Calm.
Bright eyes.
"Welcome," she said warmly.
"I am Seris."
She bowed.
"I learned from your work."
Ace's ears flattened.
"…How?"
Seris gestured.
"We removed dependency," she said.
"Standardized roles. Eliminated bottlenecks."
Ace scanned the crowd.
No children playing.
No arguments.
No mess.
"Where's failure?" Ace asked.
Seris smiled gently.
"Not allowed."
---
The Revelation
Seris walked with them.
"Our system detects overload early," she explained.
"People are reassigned before burnout."
Ace stopped walking.
"Reassigned how?"
Seris hesitated.
"…We move them."
Ravenna stiffened.
"Without consent?"
Seris's silence was answer enough.
Ace felt sick.
"You centralized judgment," he said quietly.
"You just removed magic."
Seris frowned.
"We preserved stability."
Ace shook his head.
"You killed agency."
---
The Moment of Horror
A man stumbled.
Just a little.
Immediately—
Two attendants appeared.
Smiling.
Helpful.
They guided him away.
Ace caught the man's eyes.
Fear.
Pure and silent.
Ace's claws dug into the stone.
"This is a prison," Ace said flatly.
Seris's voice sharpened.
"You don't understand scale."
Ace snapped.
"No—you don't understand people."
---
Seris Pushes Back
"You caused this," Seris said.
"You showed the world systems could function without control."
Ace stared at her.
"I showed them trust."
Seris shook her head.
"Trust doesn't scale."
Ace breathed out slowly.
"…It does."
"But it's slower."
---
The Line Is Drawn
Seris straightened.
"Leave," she said coldly.
"This town will endure long after yours collapses."
Ace turned away.
At the edge of the plaza—
A child dropped a toy.
It shattered.
No one moved.
No one helped.
Ace stopped.
Picked it up.
Handed it back.
The child blinked—confused.
Then smiled.
A real one.
The first Ace had seen there.
Seris watched, unsettled.
Ace met her gaze.
"You built something stable," he said.
Then he added—
"And utterly breakable."
---
End Beat
As they left—
Ace whispered to Ravenna.
"…This is worse than the system."
Ravenna nodded.
"It's us, without empathy."
Far away—
Seris watched the town continue flawlessly.
And for the first time—
A crack appeared.
Not in the system.
In her certainty.