As night falls, Morgan flies off to her hotel room. It was a long day, filled with Aura training. We have a few more days while 2nd Squad is still laid up in the hospital.

  I don’t have anywhere to be right now. I rather like this spot by the river, and the stars are still easily visible to me. The starlight reflects off the river on the moonless night, gently twinkling. Though the damage has been repaired, and the city’s lights are on once again, they could never be hidden from my gaze.

  When a non-descript middle-aged woman walks up to me, I keep a thread for the stars. They’re too beautiful to ignore.

  “How can I help you?”

  Her posture is rigid and formal. Arms clasped behind her back, ramrod straight.

  “I’m Director Holden of the National Security Agency. Could I have a few moments of your time, Machina?”

  What does the NSA want with me?

  “I’m not sure what I could help you with, Director Holden.” I say trepidatiously.

  She gives me a polite smile, though it looks unnatural on her face.

  “There’s plenty you can help us with. Please, do you have a moment to spare?”

  There’s something troubling about her, but I can’t tell what it is. Still, she says she needs help.

  “Machina, I’m here on behalf of not just the NSA, but the entire United States government. I’d like to first apologize for the treatment you suffered under Senator Redding. If you do choose to work with us on a more official basis, I can promise something like that won’t happen again.”

  “Why would I want to work for you, Director Holden? Your entire agency is a blight on America. An authoritarian overreach as part of a burgeoning police state.”

  She cocks her head for a moment.

  “Your goal is to save lives, correct? We can help with that. Whatever you think of the surveillance apparatus we have, right now it’s one of the best ways we have of detecting Fractures in a timely manner.”

  She speaks slowly and carefully. Not like a politician, but almost in the way of a practiced speech. Once again I’m glad for the time Morgan has spent with me. The Aura training, as little as I’ve had, is useful here. She’s hiding something, I can tell. There’s a strange dissonance between what she’s saying and what’s she feeling.

  “Not to mention, the US Government can get you where you need to go, when you need to be there. If you need supplies, logistics, or assistance in your endeavors, we’d be happy to help you.

  “Right now you have just a handful of support personnel. Imagine what you could do with a full command staff. With our help, you can spend your time hopping from Fracture to Fracture, slaughtering every monster you find.”

  “And who would decide what Fractures I’d clear? I don’t want to spend my time defending nervous elites who are more worried about their investments.”

  I should have never accepted being brought to Washington. I should have gone straight to New York as soon as I knew it had more Fractures.

  It’s not like they can stop me. No one can.

  I internally shudder away from that thought, and tap back into the thread listening to Director Holden’s words.

  “You would. Of course, if you’d want assistance in planning the best route to clear as many possible, we’d love to assist. But, final decisions would rest with you.”

  “That’s it? You’re willing to be a glorified taxi driver?”

  “That’s correct, Machina.”

  “What if I want to clear a Fracture in Europe? In Asia?”

  She doesn’t even flinch. The only thing about herself she doesn’t have iron control over is her Aura, clearly.

  “That’s your prerogative. Every Fracture cleared is better for everyone. We’d only ask that if there’s any high Category Fractures, or if we start to get overwhelmed, that you come home.”

  “Even so, you’re asking me to cooperate with an agency that has, on numerous occasions, shown itself to ignore human rights whenever it feels like it. You are the Director of the Secret Police.”

  She eyes me for a moment, and her smile falls. Her face smooths into a stern look, steel in her eyes.

  There’s the real you.

  “I suppose it’s time for honesty.”

  Whatever passes for honesty with you, anyway.

  “You’re correct. We’ve— I’ve—done many things I’m sure you find repugnant. I will continue to do them, and will I not apologize for them. I will continue to do my job, through any means necessary. My job is to eliminate threats to the United States’ national security interests. Monsters are currently the biggest threats we face, and you can solve that problem.

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  “If we give you the tools to solve it for us, all the better. You want to protect people, I want the things that threaten them gone. We can work together on this. You may not like what I do, Machina, but you need it all the same. The resources I— we—can give you are immense. You want to make a difference? This is how you do it.”

  She hands me a card.

  “Here. Call me once you’ve decided. Have a good night, Machina.”

  She walks off into the night.

  That same night, a trio of black SUVs stop on the other side of the river, and a trio of Empowered exit. One of them is a 3-Star. Her Aura flares gently in the night. A greeting of sorts, I think. A handshake between peers.

  The headlights of the SUVs gently illuminate her and a pair of what are I assume to be bodyguards as they walk across the river. The light reflects off oil slicks in the polluted river as greasy rainbows, though neither the water nor the pollution touch the trio, or their extravagant clothing.

  All three of their outfits are magical, gently shimmering with Potentia.

  Must be harvested from Fractures. Not even Morgan’s made magical materials yet.

  The woman, tall and striking with olive skin and dark curly hair, continues to glide across the water. Her leather boots and silk dress ghost along the surface, neither of them leaving so much as a ripple across the water. Emeralds, Amber, gold, and other precious metals glimmer both in the light and in my vision.

  All of it is magical. Every ounce of metal, every carat of gemstone, every stitch of fabric glows with Potentia. Every bit of it disgusts me.

  That could have been a weapon. A research project. An Opus. It could have been something useful. Instead, it’s opulence, greed and wealth.

  A flag pin is above her heart, one I recognize.

  One that promises slaughter.

  An eight-pointed black sun made of onyx on a gold background, all trimmed in verdant green made from ground emerald. It too is magical, another waste of something that could have saved a life.

  An envoy of the Empire of the Sun, a burgeoning empire led by three Ascended stands before me. They’re hellbent on conquering all of Africa. They claim it’s in the interest of ‘safety’ and ‘order’. The mass graves and razed cities claim otherwise.

  Not all monsters come from Fractures. Some were here already.

  The envoy gives me a deep bow, and her bodyguards do as well from afar.

  “Greetings, Ser Machina. My apologies for meeting like this. You’re a difficult man to get into contact with.”

  A lie. I actually have my own email domain. I don’t hide it either. Comes in handy.

  I don’t reply, and she takes it in stride.

  “I’m Envoy Kassa Haliu, though you may call me Kassa, if you wish.”

  She gives me a perfect smile that would have set my heart a flutter a scant few months ago. As a 3-Star, her beauty is literally superhuman, both Olympic athlete and supermodel. Now I don’t care.

  “What do you want, Envoy Haliu?”

  “I would humbly request a private audience with your august self, Ser Machina. His Majesty, Emperor Berhane would offer you great rewards, should you pledge yourself to his service.”

  “What?” I ask incredulously.

  Envoy Haliu misinterprets my confusion as interest.

  “Emperor Berhane would grant you your own lands, wherever they may be. Should you fight under his name, he would bestow you your homeland—”

  “No, no. You misunderstand me, Envoy.”

  “Apologies, Ser Machina—”

  “I’m shocked you would think I’d ever accept. Let me be clear, Envoy. I will never work or fight for or listen to your so-called ‘Emperor’.”

  Her smile grows brittle, and her bodyguards tense as I advance on her, one lumbering step at a time.

  “Your Empire is a brutal, murderous war-machine. It brings nothing but violence and death. It’s not any better than the monsters it claims to fight.”

  “We bring order, Ser Machina. Like you!” She says, sweating.

  “No, Envoy. Not like me. You bring order through fear, destruction, and slaughter. Just because we have the same vague goal does not mean anything else aligns.”

  My Aura bears down on her, her bodyguards, on the very world around us. Blades of grass wilt under the weight, and ripples of water flee from me, racing across the river.

  “I will never accept tyranny, murder, and fear in the name of order and safety. The apocalypse doesn’t justify atrocity, and your empire is guilty of many. I hope your Empire burns, and something better rises from its ashes.”

  Her two bodyguards fall into the river with a splash, my Aura breaking their concentration. Even the so-far unflappable Envoy is shaking with fear, and I pull back.

  “Now fuck off, Envoy.”

  She shakily walks back over the river without another word, pulling her two bodyguards back onto the surface. Her return is much less graceful, and her wasteful, gaudy outfit becomes soaked. The convoy drives off into the night.

  President Drayson leans forward on the couch in the Oval office.

  “How did it go, Director Holden?”

  “Worse than we hoped, better than we feared. He didn’t dismiss us outright, but he definitely doesn’t like us very much.”

  Drayson rubs his forehead, trying to stave off a headache.

  “Senator Redding has dug us a deep hole.”

  “Actually, this wasn’t his fault. He doesn’t like my Agency or the methods we use.”

  “Should we have sent someone else to talk to him?”

  “Possibly, but what’s done is done. The path forward is to prove what we can do for him.”

  “What would you suggest?”

  “We put together an action plan, and move the assets needed to carry it out. We use our intelligence network and diplomatic connections. We have analysts work up an optimized route. He wants to ignore the borders and close Fractures wherever? We get him that. Canada doesn’t have any Ascended and they have more ground to cover than they have people. They’re running ragged, I’m sure they’d be happy to have his help.”

  Drayson gets up, pacing around the Oval Office.

  “He’ll want more than Canada. You said he’s been all over the world? Let’s get him into every single one of those countries.”

  He returns to his desk and calls an aide over the intercom.

  “Get me General Briggs, the Joint Chiefs, and my State Department. We’re putting together a war plan for Machina.”

  He looks back at Holden.

  “Let’s show him what we can do. Hopefully no one gets to him first.”