The orbital hotel was a bubble of impossible luxury suspended in the black silence of space. The representatives of The Directory were there, three men and two women who looked more like university professors than masters of the world. They exuded an air of calm, timeless authority.
When Emissary walked in, its featureless face reflecting the starlight from the viewport, the calm cracked. For a fraction of a second, surprise flickered in their eyes. They had expected a person, a negotiation. They were presented with an artifact.
The meeting was conducted in cold, formal tones. The Directory representatives spoke of stability, of resource management, of the "responsibilities of power." They offered The Aerie a place in their system, a seat at the table, in exchange for certain… considerations. Sharing of technological advances, adherence to their unwritten rules of engagement.
Emissary listened, its head tilted in a perfect imitation of curiosity. When they finished, it spoke, its voice a synthesized echo of Mo Chen's own, stripped of all emotion.
" The Sovereign of The Aerie acknowledges your statements. She has one question: Under whose authority do these rules exist?"
The lead representative smiled a thin, condescending smile. "They are the natural laws of power, my dear… machine. They have always existed."
" Then they are obsolete," Emissary replied. "The Aerie recognizes only one law: its own. The Law of Ashes. We did not come here to negotiate our place in your order. We came to inform you of the new one."
It stood, the movement fluid and utterly alien. "The summit is concluded. Do not test the Law again."
It turned and walked out, leaving the most powerful people in the world in stunned silence. Mo Chen had not just rejected their offer; she had invalidated their entire worldview.