Xalla didn’t want to leave Walter’s presence as the attendants came to finally take them to the Tribunal. It had always felt calm whenever he was by her side, and just feeling his skin on hers made her feel safe and comfortable. If only she wasn’t here on official business!

Still, now that she had finished hearing about the Arbiter’s plans, she realized just how amazing Walter was. Sure she had heard about the legendary Arbiter W’s exploits in the past - you couldn’t find anyone working in Central who hadn’t - but the information she heard second hand were just lists of accomplishments.

All she heard was one emotionless accolade after another, about how many rebellions he had quelled, how he saved this Site from collapse or made these deals with this race. He seemed too perfect in those reports, and Xalla always suspected that a lot of the rumors and reports were exaggerations of the truth, although even she had to admit that if even a fraction of his exploits were true, then he had been an impressive figure for Central, even for Xollon standards.

One thing she wasn’t sure about before was why Arbiter W had stayed as an Arbiter. He was offered various positions of power over the cycles but had turned each one down. But Xalla thought that she could understand why Walter had made that decision now that she knew him better, and more importantly, found out that he was a fellow Xollon.

Like her, he must have wanted the freedom to explore the universe and meet other higher species. Sure the offered promotions came with power, but what was power to a Xollon? Instead, he chose the one position that gave him the option to move around freely, and it was such a position that Xalla had wanted to attain for herself as well. So now that she had seen him in person, and had gotten to know him, if only just a little, she understood how he could have risen to such an exalted status.

There was this intangible charisma that Walter exuded in everything that he did. He seemed like he had plans upon plans, that he had a solution for every situation, and she just knew that nothing could go wrong if Walter was tasked to fix it. Even when Central lost control in that last Trial, and Walter was cut off from all support, he never panicked. He was able to contain some artifact that was able to influence even the Origin Matrix, and he did so while still maintaining his human disguise to boot! The man just seemed to shrug off seemingly impossible tasks on a regular basis; these events were so mundane in his life that he probably didn't understand how amazing even one of his achievements would be for the average person.

Impossible was definitely the right word for it. Xalla couldn’t even imagine how he could have done such a thing in such a feeble body. The whole situation was so secretive that most of the information about the incident had been redacted by the Overseer, and even she, the head of security for the site affected, had only limited knowledge of what happened. Yet before she could even try to intervene and help Walter out, he had already somehow solved the issue! Of course, her outburst also landed her in hot water, but Q was kind enough to “punish” her by allowing Xalla to act as his bodyguard and aid.

Some irrational part of her just couldn’t help but want to help this man, and she still sometimes questioned why he had decided to date someone like her. But it was just more motivation for her to be the best Xollon that she could so that she could one day stand proudly by his side. She was just glad that he liked the little gift she and Raffiel had prepared for him. That insignificant Aspirant David was spreading the Lord Arbiter’s influence rather effectively after she had tweaked his physiology a little bit. She did get a harsh lecture about interfering with the Trials after that though.

Now Xollon didn’t necessarily need worshipers, unlike some of the lesser gods of the minor planes, so Xalla wasn’t sure if Walter would appreciate the extra attention. Sure having some extra peons to help with mundane tasks was useful, but they could get tiresome with their constant needs and prayers. It was the main reason why Xalla had destroyed all of hers. Thankfully, he must have seen her hesitation and silently approved of her actions by establishing a cult in that second Trial.

Plus she also learned of his designation! Xalla allowed her imagination to run wild, against her best judgment. The Devourer of Truth… it just rolled off the maw. She subvocalized the title again, this time adding her own along with it. The Devourer of Truth and the Anguish of Eternity, she thought that it sounded perfect together! And perhaps if they ever have hatchlings of their own, it could take after them both and be the Devourer of Eternity, or perhaps the Anguish of Truth. Or maybe they could have twins, and that way, both options could be used!

Xalla sighed and cleared her mind, well, that’s a bit too optimistic, even for the cheesy Romance shows she watched. They weren’t even an official couple yet. She had the terrible habit of getting ahead of herself and had ruined many potential dates in the past. She resolved to never do the same thing again with Walter.

Xalla’s daydreams were only broken when the attendant led them into the Council Chamber, and she forced her professional mask back on. Although Walter did not give her any specific duties in his plan, she was still tasked with providing backup and ensuring that nothing would harm him.

The four of them walked into the grand hall, up the wide staircase, and approached the podium that faced where the Overseer and his two most trusted advisers oversaw everything. There had been many more advisers in the past, their ghosts still echoed by the empty seats beside the three, but that had been many cycles ago. Unlike the empty Tribunal stands, however, the spectator seats on the sides were packed to the brim with every important figure in Central, and their hushed whispers echoed across the hall. This was the first time so many people gathered all at once. News of Arbiter W's return was overwhelmingly effective at gaining attention.

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The noise only stopped once Walter took his spot in the center of the room.

“Welcome, or should I say welcome back Lord Arbiter W!” the Overseer said, his voice booming, “And I welcome the Grand General Rogue and Master Babylon, who represent the Sponsors for Site 1102. I apologize for making you wait, but getting everyone here screened and seated took longer than anticipated. A cause of celebration, of course, for your arrival has only reinvigorated the souls of all of the important figures of the Central Collective!”

Xalla gazed at the thing called the Overseer. He was a strange creature, all things considered. Even her Xollon senses couldn’t see past the veil that shrouded the man. It made his features blur and shift like billowing smoke, and even his size couldn’t be properly measured. It extended to the clothes that he wore as well, they were ever-changing. Sometimes it was a royal robe, other times it turned into a beggar’s cloak, never staying in one shape or color for long.

What was annoying for Xalla was that she couldn’t properly assess the Overseer no matter how hard she tried. There wasn’t a whole lot of ways to deceive a Xollon’s senses, especially for someone of Xalla’s caliber, but the figure had somehow managed. That made him dangerous.

“Thank you, Overseer,” Walter replied, his beautiful voice calm and assertive, “but I am not here for pleasantries, nor do I care for them. Why am I called here?”

The Overseer laughed, “Always the pragmatist, Arbiter W, I see that hasn’t changed since your disappearance.”

“Get to the point,” Walter stated.

“And as rude as ever,” the other man chuckled, “But you are right. Let’s get to the main point, that is why so many of our esteemed guests have taken time off their busy schedules to be here. You, Arbiter W, are here to represent Site 1102 on the matter of the abnormality of the Second Earth Trial. And as much as I would love to hear an explanation on why you were gone for 10 cycles, this is not the time or place for that discussion.”

Walter nodded, still looking impatient, “What do you want to know?”

“You were present in that Trial and saw firsthand what had happened there. You know that our monitoring process was hindered by the abnormality, so why don’t you give the people here a summary of what happened.”

And Walter did as he was told. Xalla was also interested to know exactly what events transpired, as she was only able to take disjointed glances into the Trial. She already knew that he was able to convert a huge portion of the population into his worshipers, that kind of event was hard to miss as a Xollon, but she didn’t know how he had done so without revealing any of his Xollon abilities.

He had managed to use the outdated title system to gain the trust of the locals and launch an offensive against the source of the corruption: the Shard. Xalla wanted to know more about this object, but it seemed that Walter’s knowledge of it was also incomplete. He only knew as much as the rest of them here, that it was somehow able to affect the planet it was on, as well as the Origin Matrix.

The Overseer interrupted Walter’s explanation, “So you’re saying that you have never seen this Shard before, or know anything else about it?”

“Nothing that Q wouldn’t have already told you,” he answered calmly.

“Yet you were able to somehow contain this object?”

Walter shook his head, “Not contain, I destroyed it.”

For the first time, the mask of cool the Overseer had on started to slip and he almost shouted, “You did what?”

Walter remained nonchalant, “I destroyed the source of corruption. It was a hazard to Central’s operations, and had the ability to influence Origin.”

He stared directly into the Overseer then, his tone challenging, “Why, did you want to have it for yourself?”

The Overseer gritted his teeth, “No, you did… exactly what you were supposed to do, given the situation. I applaud your dedication to your work. However, if you encounter these Shards in the future, you are to contain and bring them back to Central. They are valuable research material.”

Xalla scoffed at that. As if this man wouldn’t use the Shards for his own gain, especially if it had the ability to change Central’s greatest asset. There was no one in the audience who didn’t understand his true intentions, but without proof, they also couldn’t voice those thoughts.

“So there are other shards out there?” Walter asked with a raised frill, “And why are you not tasking other Arbiters and staff to get rid of them, or in your case, securing these shards for ‘research’?”

“Because, Lord Arbiter W,” the Overseer said again, trying in vain to hide his growing frustrations, “None of the other Arbiters or Administration staff were able to even approach these Shards, let alone destroy one.”

Once again Xalla was amazed that Walter was able to so casually do something that no one else could. It was almost as if the Shard had just invited him over given how easy it was for him to solve this problem, as ludicrous as that sounded!

“So let me ask you once again, Arbiter W,” he continued, “How was it that you were the only one who was able to do what all my other staff could not?”

This time it was Xalla’s mentor who spoke up, “Oh come now, Overseer, this wouldn’t be the first time that Arbiter W has done the impossible. You can’t expect him to just give up the secrets to his success.”

The Overseer thought for a moment but nodded in the end, “That is true. We will speak more on this matter at a different time, away from so many guests.”

Walter shrugged. He seemed like he didn’t have a care in the world, as if all of this current situation was completely beneath his notice. And in some ways, that was true. Xalla knew that he held no love for Central, and it was only a matter of time before he integrated back into Xollon society. Central was dying, it was plain to see, and a small part of Xalla was a little sad that she might lose her little security gig in the foreseeable future.

Perhaps it was finally time to search for a home of her own, preferably somewhere close to her parents in the countryside. While she liked the bustle of the city, and her current hectic work environment, there was just nothing like the nice and quiet of the great outdoors. Hopefully, a small part of her thought, Walter would like it there too.

The Overseer’s voice brought Xalla out of her delusions, “Which brings us to the next point that I want to discuss.”

Here it was, Xalla thought, the part where Central would try to derail Walter’s experiments and rope him into more politics. No matter what happens, there was no way that Xalla would stand to lose Walter and see him transferred to some backwater dimension or war front, but she trusted in his ability to solve this issue himself.

But if worse came to worst… she and her mentor had plans of their own.

“For your continued service, and for brilliantly solving this crisis in Site 1102,” the Overseer said with a smile, “I am using my authority as the Head of the Central Collective to reassign you from your duties at the Training Center and into a more valuable position by my side at our Main Headquarters.”

He stared directly at Walter, “This is not a request.”