Fear is the key that opens the gates.
Choice is the factor that declares who shall pass.
The midnight hour of the Collector's visitation seemed very thin—like the fabric of the world had been pulled and not all of it was returned to its original state.
Even darkness seemed to be unable to settle down and was moving on the walls instead of being kept by them. BLACK LOTUS was not commanded to work two on and two off, it was simply a case of survival of the fittest; the instinct had finally conformed with the situation.
Something had caught sight of us.
And it was watching.
I was in the command room with Akino and Dragon, our domain map was the only image available between us, and its light was broken up thus. The routes, the choke points, the watching and the controlling—everything we claimed was faintly lit. Everything beyond it throbbed red.
Moving closer.
"They are not trying to see how far they can go," Dragon said in a low voice. "They are analyzing the way people act."
Akino's fingers made one tap on the surface of the table. "Collectors do not engage in negotiations with gangs."
"No," I said. "They are in a bargain with the concept of inevitability."
Akino observed me then—not as a ruler evaluating a tool, but as a person seeing the gap between two cliffs. "What was the price and the offer?"
I paused before answering.
The truth is more influential if it is postponed.
"A net work," I replied. "Order without signs. Power without land."
Dragon's face became hard. "What about the price?"
"Not to be a local anymore."
The room got silent like it was covered with ash.
Akino made a long sigh. "In that case, they are not aware of us."
"Your understanding is there," I said. "They are still learning about me."
That was the biggest threat.
Dawn was the time for the assault.
Not noisy. Not overwhelming.
Very exact.
Three strikes at once all over the edges of our territory—supply runners caught, lookouts put out of action without the alarm being triggered, one advance line so quietly cut that it took several minutes and proper investigation before anyone knew it was gone.
Zero corpses.
Zero blood.
Just nothingness.
"They are removing the unproductive parts," Dragon commented when the reports started to arrive.
"Eliminating the inefficiencies."
Sasha hit the wall with her fist and uncontrolled fires burst out her body. "Cursed ones. If they want a war—"
"Not at all," Akino quickly interrupted. "What they want is compliance."
Then I sensed it.
A draw.
The same force as earlier, but it felt heavier—like a hand was gripping the whole city.
[GLOBAL EVENT PENDING]
NOTICE: MAJOR FACTION ALIGNMENT IMMINENT
The system was not giving us a warning.
It was giving us a notice.
I faced the exit, "I'm going."
Akino never asked where.
"Don't let it happen by your self," he said.
I turned towards him. "This part only succeeds if I do."
Dragon was in doubt but then he made a single nod. "Get me proof."
They were waiting for me at a place where the ruins made an amphitheater—tower ruins encircling a plaza that was blackened long ago by fire. Five figures were standing at equal distances among each other, cloaks were marked with the same shifting symbols. In the middle of them was the one I had seen before.
The Representative.
"You are here," they said with a smile.
"I would not like to be threatened without reason," I said.
They waved their hands and the air became alive. Pictures were created—live photographs of far territories. Cities ruled by Collectors. No disorder. No gangs. Neat lines. Efficient killing.
"Order," they stated. "On vast scale."
"And the price?" I inquired.
They grinned. "Freedom."
There it was again.
The dust in the mouth of every ruling power.
"We are not asking for your approval," they kept on saying. "BLACK LOTUS will be taken over sooner or later. Akino will be given a seat at the table. Your people will not be harmed."
"And I?"
Their eyes became sharper. "You are the odd one out. The shadow that is not attached to any throne."
My shadow stirred irritably.
"Then I will state my terms," I declared.
They chuckled, softly. "You have no power."
I moved a step closer.
The shadows became darker—more solid—until the square was feeling like it was under the water. One of the Collectors was fidgeting uncomfortably.
"I calmly stated, you believe that power is the ability to control the most." "You are mistaken."
Then, with the motion of my hand, I darkened the place.
The darkness that had been lying flat on the ground rolled back and then rushed upwards—not towards them but to the space dividing us. The sound went away. The light got warped. Even the system had some trouble processing it.
[ERROR: LOCAL REALITY FLUCTUATION]
Their self-control broke down.
"This is your admonition," I said further. "You cannot assimilate BLACK LOTUS. You have to go around us."
The grin of the Representative disappeared. "And what if we do not comply?"
I did not move my gaze from them.
"Then I will no longer be local."
This was the first time—
They went backward.
Not withdrawal.
It was a sober judgment.
"This is not the final chapter," they said.
"Definitely," I replied. "It's already set."
They turned into lights and the plaza was left in a sad state that of ashes where once the reality had been and still was thick.
As I was getting back, Akino was just where I had expected he would be—waiting for me.
"Well?" he enquired.
"They are not going to harm us," I replied. "At least, not now."
"What about later?"
I looked into his eyes. "They will come after me when the time comes."
Akino pondered over his thoughts for some time before he spoke.
He said, "BLACK LOTUS is with the one who is theirs."
I replied, "That's exactly what they have failed to realize."
Turning my back, I cast a long shadow in front of me.
"I am not looking for support," I whispered. "What I require is a separation."
However, I could now sense it more than ever—the fear had put up walls around us.
Power had brought us into the limelight.
But the next stage would not be won through fighting over territory or by rivalry among gangs.
The critical factor would be the decision of the shadow that was protecting the lotus—whether to stay under it or completely darken the world.