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"Excuse them," Jovan spoke, addressing the awkwardness. "Not many can say they met one of the legendary Primordials. They weren't around a century ago, so you're their first. Now, let's get down to business."

"Right," I said seriously.

I spent a while telling him about our problem and my connection to the First Primordial. Then Viraa introduced herself and showed him the same mental recording of her time on Earth that ultimately led to the creation of the Primordials we knew.

Jovan was at first shocked to hear Viraa, but it didn't last long. He seemed to adapt quickly.

Once everything was said and done, Jovan sat back, taking more puffs of his second cigar as he weighed everything.

"Hm. An alliance... Yes, I can provide everyone with advanced weapons while you Hearts can deploy that army of AI machines you keep to yourselves, and the Sadios can use their massive influence to warn the people. Thing is, if we're all going to be allies, we'll have to combine our resources to stand a chance against a force like that. Meaning we'll need unfettered access to each other's database for intel on the enemy. Especially your branch, since you all possess more intel about the enemy. Without it, I'm not sure I would trust the Sadios. Gustov may be dead, but they're all money-hungry snakes. Then there's your branch. You're all a bunch of bleeding hearts on the surface, no pun intended, so everyone trusts you. But you're almost too nice, and as I mentioned, you all have the only army of advanced artificial intelligence on the planet. Your father has purchased every major institution involved in their creation, refuses to share them, and no one knows why he created them all in the first place – apart from the answer he gives every time he's asked: "For my daughter." Makes me wonder what other kind of secrets your family keeps."

"We're not here to discuss family secrets," Trik voiced abruptly. His voice seemed a bit different, more monotone and computer-generated. "This is a superficial alliance to defend ourselves against a bigger threat. Once we manage to survive, then the alliance will be over."

Jovan and I looked at him quizzically.

"Ah, let me guess, that's information Boman programmed inside you," Jovan stated, no longer surprised. "Probably before you came here."

He looked at me with a "not surprised at all" look.

"Like I said: secrets."

I looked back at Trik.

"Trik, what are you talking about? Did my dad say something to you?"

"I don't know," he responded. "I only know not to give access to anyone. This is only a surface alliance."

"Access, eh?" Jovan said slowly as he stood and walked over to Trik.

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"As I suspected, I could learn some things from you," he said, throwing his arm around Trik.

I was starting to get a bad feeling in my stomach.

"Okay, we're done," I said, standing. "Sorry to have wasted your time coming here, but apparently, more things are going on that my dad neglected to inform me."

"Sit down," Jovan commanded with a boom as seven guards rushed in, weapons ready.

I looked over at Arne, expectedly.

Arne watched as if enjoying an unexpected twist in a show.

"You call yourself Leader. Then lead. How will you get us out of this situation?"

"You come here looking for an alliance, but your dad has no intention of meeting my demands. He even sends an AI that could be spying for all I know," Jovan went on. "All I want is a little information so that I can know whether I can trust you or not. That's not too much to ask for, is it? So..."

Before anyone could do anything, Trik entered his overdrive mode as green energy spewed from his crevasses. But Jovan was even quicker to react as – in one precise and calculated move – he grabbed Trik's floating head and tossed it into a nearby cage perfectly fit. Meanwhile, from the floor, sprung straps wrapped around Trik's body and pinned it to the floor.

Everything had happened so fast that I was still stuck in shock as my brain tried to figure out what was happening. Then it dawned on me. The traps, the cage, how Jovan had moved close to Trik before trapping him...this was planned.

I looked up at Jovan as everything came together.

"You knew he'd send Trik," I said slowly.

"Who, your dad? Not exactly," he retorted. "See, after Death disappeared, I felt something was off. Then, the incident at Brayton Village occurred, and later, Za'Fia was constantly seen near a source of dark energy. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it was Death, so I've been keeping tabs on him. That day you all went to Avarice's convention was when I learned there was a lot more going on than I thought. I watched as my spy died from something Avarice did to him. Until now, I didn't know how the hell he managed to do it, but I knew if the Primordials were involved, it wasn't something to ignore. I tried looking into Avarice, but my men stopped reporting, meaning they were probably discovered and killed. Regardless, before their deaths, I learned that Avarice and his secretary weren't normal and had an army even mine couldn't beat. Then Gustov was murdered, and we were attacked. Then I realized that you and your family were connected to all of it somehow. After learning what kind of person you are and hearing about your visit to the Sadios, I knew you'd come to me next, so I made a few preparations. Since Boman and I have history, I half expected him to show up instead, but then I remembered that he'd rather stay in the confines of his lab and conduct whatever experiments he does all day. But I was fine with that because I knew you would bring him..." he said as he patted Trik's cage. "I got to admit, though, I didn't expect a Primordial to be with you, but thankfully, it turned out to be the one who wouldn't intervene in someone else's battle.

"Now I can finally get some answers I've been dying to know."

"Wait! You can't just pry into his private files," I said abruptly as I stood.

"Why? Because he's Heart property?" Jovan scoffed.

"No. Because he has feelings, too. How would you feel if someone tried to take information from your mind?"

Jevon laughed mockingly as if I were a child who'd said something stupid.

"You give this hunk of metal too much credit, kid. It's a machine. Not a person."

"And how do you think my dad will react when he finds out," I retorted seriously. "If you thought you could beat us, you would've tried taking the secrets you want by now. But you haven't. Because of our army."

Jovan stopped laughing, his face hardened and emotionless as his shades reflected a searing red behind them.

"I think your dad's hands are a bit full right now. Too full to delegate any of his forces to me. He'd be pretty stupid to waste his strength over a robot right now," Jovan stated confidently.

I felt my face heat up as I grew angry.