The council sat around the table, each with their hands resting in front of them, each leaning slightly forward in their seats. There were ten of them, five men, five women. They were in charge of the entire Invasion Force Division on the planet Nasrien—a planet that controlled ten others within the sector.

“We’ve received an information packet,” said one of them, tapping something on the table, making a hologram appear in the middle of it. It was a scene of destruction. A battlefield, on another planet. “This information has gone out to the entire sector.” The man who’d spoken gestured at the image. “Reportedly, a man from Earth is responsible for killing thousands of E Grades, and a handful of D Grades.”

“Which planet does this information come from?” a woman asked. She had keen eyes, her gaze trailing over every detail within the image, as though she were trying to pin down its origin.

“That information was not a part of the packet.”

The woman made a tsk noise. “They’re embarrassed.”

“Naturally,” said a second woman. “And they should be, to have their security compromised.”

“Embarrassed… or lying,” the first woman said. “This could easily be false information.” She shook her head in disbelief. “It would be impossible for a man from Earth to be able to do this. Two weeks of integration. No information about the System except what they gain during tutorials. Their levels would be incredibly low.”

“And yet thousands of soldiers from disparate invasion forces were destroyed outside a Safe Zone city just yesterday,” the first man said. “How do you explain that?”

“That would be far easier to accomplish than this.” The woman flapped a hand at the image.

“The man claimed to be a True Progenitor.” The first man leant on the table. He looked at each of them. “If this information is true, real, we need to pull back from Earth.”

“True Progenitor,” the woman whispered.

“That is utterly absurd.” There was a hitch in her voice, however, betraying what she might really be feeling. A rare, perhaps unheard of, thing, her feelings being on display. She despised it. She took her elbows off the thick table and looked at the others gathered. “The heads.”

The man grunted his affirmation. “The heads.”

“A message, from someone on this planet. Certainly not someone from outside of it.” The woman’s forehead creased. Though the entire council was purportedly in charge of the Invasion Force Division, most of them tended to look to her when it came to making major decisions. Usually, she liked that. She’d made it that way. Now…

“If we pull back and we’re wrong—” She bit her lip.

“He won’t be happy,” the man said. “We would look like fools.”

“One way to have our death warrants signed,” another man muttered, the first time he’d spoken during the meeting.

The first woman shut her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose. “If this information is correct, and a True Progenitor currently resides on that planet, and we ignore it…”

“Five years isn’t a very long time,” the man who’d muttered a moment ago said. “Could someone really become strong enough to be a problem by the time the restrictions are over? Even if they’re a True Progenitor…”

“If this is true, this man—this Xavier Collins—became strong enough to kill several D Grades in two weeks,” the first man said.

A silence followed. The weight of the man’s words seemed to sit heavily upon them all, as their heads each dropped as though in thought.

“This sector had been around for more than a thousand years,” the first woman muttered. “And a thousand years ago, it was purged. There are theories as to who—or what—purged it. One of them…” She swallowed. She didn’t like showing that she had actual emotions, but if she were going to show it to anyone, it would be the other members of the council. “One of those theories states that a True Progenitor could be the one responsible. That he purged the sector in order to find vengeance.” She motioned at the hologram, the battlefield, the carnage, once more. “This is a message. A warning.” She released a breath. “I cannot make this decision.”

The woman shut her eyes once more.

“I must speak to him.”

~

Alistair Reid couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made a mistake bringing Commander Flinders in on this. The man had resources. Resources Alistair needed access to. But something wasn’t feeling right. The man hadn’t gone back on his word—he couldn’t, there was a contract between the two of them, after all.

But he was no longer including Alistair in all of the decisions.

Once they’d seen what happened to the invaders around the Safe Zone city, Alistair had felt fear. It had settled upon him the power this Xavier Collins possessed. And it was a power like nothing else currently on Earth.

Currently.

He intended to change that.

Alistair barged into the commander’s tent. The man was leaning over a table, seemingly staring at nothing. He was alone, deep in thought, his head cocked to one side. He sighed when he heard Alistair come through.

“I’m a little busy right now.”

“You’ve been busy for hours, and yet still you haven’t let me in on this little plan of yours. You said you needed a bigger trap? And what trap might that be?”

The commander stared at him. “Sit down.”

Alistair almost killed Commander Flinders. Orders were not something he took. “I’d rather stand.”

“Fine. Stand. And listen. Our deal was to kill Xavier. Something tells me you don’t much mind the method of his destruction, as long as it occurs?” Commander Flinders said. The man’s eyes were hard. Steely. Not an easy one to intimidate, despite the fact that Alistair had managed it.

He seemed to care about the deaths of his soldiers. It was easy enough to use such a thing against him.

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“As long as he’s dead, I’ll be happy,” Alistair said, thinking, Then I get to kill you.

“I have a plan.” The man touched a hand to his chest. His forehead creased. His head dropped. “But it’s not something that will be easy to accomplish. There are things I need, and only those who are in charge on my world would be able to provide them to me.” A stone appeared in his hand. “This is a Communication Stone. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with them. I’m currently deep in conversation with someone back on my home world. There are two items I need for our trap to have a chance at succeeding.”

“A chance?” Alistair asked. “A chance isn’t what I’m after. I want a confirmed kill.”

The man’s face scrunched up.

“What?” Alistair took a step toward him. Commander Flinders was hiding something.

“The death he receives is not up to me,” Flinders muttered.

“Explain.”

“Either way, your man will suffer death. However, what kind of death is dependent upon the whims of someone far beyond us.”

Beyond you, maybe, Alistair thought, but did not say. One day, I plan to be beyond any other. A power of my own. The universe in the palm of my hands…

“Explain,” Alistair said through gritted teeth, feeling his frustration mounting.

“It may only end in the death of his freedom, not the death of his body. But trust me… the death of one’s freedom is worse.”

Alistair dipped his head back. “Not exactly what we agreed upon.” Anger flared within him, and again he wanted to deal this man death. But he didn’t. Did it matter, that Xavier would still live? Servitude—for that was clearly what Commander Flinders was alluding to—would be much the same if he was no longer Alistair’s problem.

In fact, the commander could be right. It might be a fate worse than death. That got Alistair thinking about the contracts the System let people create. Got him wondering, on a deep level, what, exactly, he might be able to make people do.

Control. That’s all I want from all of this.

“All right,” Alistair said. “So what’s this plan of yours?”

Commander Flinders stared down at the table he’d been leaning on. “There are two things I will need. First, there is a device. One that locks me and anything I am touching into teleporting to a specific location upon my death.”

Alistair blinked. “That’s an interesting device.”

“The other, is one I’m less sure I’ll receive. A Resurrection Stone. They’re exceedingly rare, coveted by those in the seats of power, for obvious reasons.” The commander paused. “They give one the ability to come back from death. That way, when I do die, it won’t be permanent.”

Alistair smiled. “Come back from death?” That sounded… perfect.

He wondered where he could get his hands on one of those stones.

Maybe he’d swipe it from the commander before the man got a chance to use it. Assuming he was able to get his hands on one.

“I’m liking the sound of this trap,” Alistair said.

Commander Flinders released a breath. “Good. Because you’re going to be the bait.”

~

Justin wrapped his fingers around the cold metal bars. His eyes were shut, his ears perked. It had been quiet, since those guards had visited. They hadn’t wanted to remain down here, with an invisible enemy somewhere within the cell, though they had said they would need to tell Commander Alden Trellot’s father about him being in there.

Still, no one had come.

And no one had opened the cell.

The dead commander still lay at his feet, and he was still no closer to leaving this place. He sighed. Wondered where Xavier, Howard, and Siobhan might be now. What they might be up to. And if they even knew that he had gone missing.

Will they bother to try and save me?

He hated that he’d had that thought, more than once, since he’d been stuck in here.

They won’t even know where I am. How are they supposed to save me? And if they did know… this world doesn’t have the same restrictions as back on Earth. It might very well be impossible to break me out of here…

His mind had been circling these thoughts for hours, now.

He kicked the bars. The metal rang out. A sharp echo off the stone walls, ricocheting down the hallway.

Footsteps. One set, this time. Softer than the guards had been. Justin looked down at his ring. The one that made him invisible. Wondered if he should bother using it.

But what was the point? They knew he was in here. Maybe he could talk his way out…

The footsteps grew steadily louder as whoever it was neared his cell. His heart thudded in his chest. Being inside this cell, feeling so defenceless—it was the exact opposite of how he’d been feeling when taking down the invaders in that camp.

If I survive this, if I get out of here, I’m going to ensure I never feel this way ever again.

Justin knew the chances of that were slim, and looking slimmer by the minute.

The person walking toward his cell was a woman. She stopped a step in front of the bars, turned neatly to face him.

“I see you no longer wish to hide,” the woman said.

She’s not Commander Alden Trellot’s father.

“You already know I’m in here. I’m not sure I see a reason to hide anymore.”

The woman smiled. “Wise words. This certainly makes things easier.” She took a step toward his cell, until she was standing an inch in front of the bars. She glanced at the dead woman within the cell. There was no emotion on her face. “You are from Earth,” the woman said.

Justin said nothing.

“You are stronger than you should be,” the woman said.

Again, Justin said nothing.

She stared at him, her eyes boring into him. “You are not from another invasion force. How did you become so strong so swiftly? Strong enough to take down one of my camps?”

“Your camps?”

The woman smiled. “Good to know you are listening.” She began pacing from side to side. “Do you know why Commander Valian had a device that brought you here?”

“So you could kill me?”

The woman chuckled. “That is a possible outcome of our chat, but it isn’t my most desired one. If you are a native, strong enough to take down the commander, it means you could be valuable to us, and there are ways we have of making you do as we wish.”

She’s talking about contracts.

Justin swallowed. He didn’t want to die. But he also didn’t want to serve the enemy. Hopefully, there’d be something in between. “Why would I ever want to serve you? You attacked my planet, enslaved my people.”

The woman shrugged. “That is the way of the worlds. The way of the Greater Universe. Something you and your people will likely find out the hard way.”

“We aren’t like you,” Justin said, though admittedly, he wasn’t so sure about that. Humans on Earth had been invading and enslaving for thousands of years before the System came. Still, he liked to think that wouldn’t be the case anymore.

Perhaps that was naive, but he’d rather think of it as idealistic.

“I could be your friend, you know.” The woman smiled. “This doesn’t have to be a bad situation for you. If you’re an asset to me, then giving you the resources you need to become stronger is in my best interests. With my knowledge, access to items, spirit coins, protection, you could thrive.” She leant forehead, her face brushing up against the bars. “The contract need not be permanent. A five-year contract seems most appropriate. When the restriction on your planet is lifted, we will no longer need your services.”

Justin shut his eyes. A part of him—a very small part—couldn’t help but be tempted by the woman’s words. The world had changed since the System came, and Justin had already discovered that he could change with it. He had the uncanny ability to turn off his conscience when fighting the enemy. Something… he didn’t really want to share with the other members of his party. Something he wasn’t sure they would understand.

Working for this woman, this planet, might be his only way to survive. And a five-year contract, when he had the potential to live for thousands of years? It was but a blink of an eye…

But it was only a small part of him that was feeling this way. A very, very small part. He would never betray Earth. And beyond that, he would never betray his friends.

Besides, Xavier would kill him if he ever found out. That made him chuckle a little.

The woman frowned. “What’s funny?”

“You’re making a mistake,” Justin said. “I’m not going to help you.” He leant forward, gripped the bars again, as he had been before she’d come here. He stared directly into the face of someone who likely could kill him with her little finger.

There was more he wanted to say. Threats he wanted to make. He knew he wasn’t going to survive this. But that didn’t mean he wanted to out Xavier, and his power. The man had gone to great lengths to hide his strength.

Still, there was a small, satisfied part of him that knew even if he died here, if Xavier should ever discover who was responsible, the True Progenitor would take revenge for Justin.

Maybe not today, or a year from now, but in time, Xavier would be more than strong enough.

The woman dipped her head back. “Confident one, aren’t you?” There was a bit of recognition in her eyes, like something had just clicked in her mind. Then she smiled. Not a warm smile. No, this was the sinister smile of a shark, baring its teeth.

“Do you know a man called Xavier Collins?”