The meeting ended after that. There was no clapping or cheering. Everyone just left quietly, realizing that the rules had changed forever. Later that night, Celestine was standing alone by a window, looking down at the glowing lights of the Core World. Vahn walked in quietly behind her. He had seen the whole thing.
"You actually went through with it," he said softly.
"I had to," Celestine replied.
"They are going to hate you for this, you know."
"They already hated me," she said. "Now they are just afraid to ignore me."
Vahn nodded. "You picked the hardest possible way to handle this."
Celestine turned around to look at him. "You were the one who said protection has to be absolute. If it's absolute, then there isn't any room for people to be comfortable and lazy."
He looked at her for a long time. "Are you doing okay?"
She let out a long breath. "No. But I think the Empire is doing better."
