The first kingdom noticed on a Thursday.
Which annoyed Ace, because Thursdays were for rest.
"…No," Ace said, squinting at the horizon.
Ravenna followed his gaze.
A banner approached.
White fabric.
Gold trim.
Perfect stitching.
Too perfect.
A formal delegation.
Ace sighed and rolled onto his back.
"I told you this would happen," he muttered.
Ravenna crossed her arms.
"You stabilized a town that survived hostile reality enforcement."
Ace closed his eyes.
"…I stabilized people."
"Same thing," Ravenna said.
---
The Visitors
They arrived with escorts.
Knights in polished armor.
Mages with layered redundancies.
A scribe already writing before questions were asked.
The lead envoy bowed.
"By authority of the Kingdom of Valenreach," she said,
"we request an audience with the Architect."
Ace froze.
"…The what."
Ravenna coughed.
"They mean you."
Ace sat up sharply.
"No."
The envoy tilted her head.
"Our intelligence indicates a non-magical stabilizing entity operating here."
Ace pointed at the baker arguing with the dragon over ventilation.
"That's a community."
The envoy smiled thinly.
"Communities do not survive reality pruning."
Ace's tail twitched.
"They do if they're allowed to learn."
---
The Offer (Again, But Bigger)
They didn't threaten.
They proposed.
Resources.
Protection.
Recognition.
A formal role.
"You would consult," the envoy said.
"Teach our engineers."
Ace narrowed his eyes.
"And when I leave?"
The envoy hesitated.
"…We will retain the knowledge."
Ace nodded slowly.
"And centralize it."
Silence.
Ace stood.
"Then no."
The knights stiffened.
The envoy's voice cooled.
"You don't understand the scale of what you're rejecting."
Ace met her gaze.
"I do."
He tapped the floor.
"You want resilience."
He pointed outward.
"We're building anti-fragility."
The envoy straightened.
"That's not governance."
Ace smiled.
"Exactly."
---
The Real Threat Reveals Itself
As the delegation withdrew—
Ace felt it.
A pressure he hadn't felt since before.
Not from the system.
From people.
Ravenna noticed his ears flatten.
"…Ace?"
He exhaled.
"Empires hate things they can't monopolize."
Far away—
Other places flickered.
Not failing.
Not thriving.
Watching.
Learning.
Copying.
Ace felt something dangerous forming.
Not a villain.
A movement.
---
Ace Makes a Rule
That night—
Ace called a meeting.
He climbed onto the table carefully.
"New rule," he said.
"No exporting solutions."
Groans.
Ace raised a paw.
"We teach principles only."
"How to ask better questions."
"How to build redundancy."
"How to notice load-bearing people."
Ravenna smiled slowly.
"…You're decentralizing yourself again."
Ace nodded.
"On purpose."
---
End Beat
Later—
Ace lay on the roof, watching stars.
Ravenna sat beside him.
"…Do you think they'll leave us alone?" she asked.
Ace flicked his tail.
"No."
"But that's fine."
He closed his eyes.
"This time, we're not the only ones who know how to adapt."
Far away—
A system designed to control worlds
logged a new category it could not suppress:
CULTURAL RESILIENCE
And somewhere—
Another tired person
felt the weight shift
and realized they weren't alone anymore.