The fog enveloped the edges of Geneva as eyes met in a soundproofed room. The reinforced glass not only blocked the view of the lake but prevented any electromagnetic waves from leaking the secrets within.
"The data doesn't lie," said the Russian delegate, Dmitri Petrov, passing a rare paper file in this digital age. "Japan is tampering with a power they don't understand."
Across the oval table, American delegate Sarah Mitchell glanced at her Chinese counterpart, Liang Wei. Their alignment was strange, like an alliance of foxes on a rainy night.
"The reports indicate they found something in space," said Liang in his quiet voice. "Not just a meteor or satellite debris. There's a being... or an entity."
In Tokyo, Elyra watched Naira sitting near Azar in their new safe apartment. The girl wasn't afraid of him like adults were. She stared at the markings on his arm as if reading a story.
"Do the stars talk to you?" Naira asked in her soft voice.
Azar looked at her, his black eyes that intimidated others becoming less intense when he gazed at the child. "They don't speak. But they... sing."
Elyra, who was preparing tea, froze when she heard this. This was the most Azar had ever said about the stars. She felt a strange worry. It wasn't just the external danger that frightened her, but this peculiar closeness between the cosmic being and the sick child.
In Tanaka's secret laboratory beneath the JAXA building, the man who had become more powerful than some prime ministers studied a medical report about his only daughter, Yuko. She suffered from an illness similar to Naira's, but he had kept her condition hidden from everyone.
"Mr. Tanaka, Professor Sato is here," his assistant announced.
Sato entered trembling. He knew this summons wasn't for scientific consultation.
"You've been a family friend for years, Kenji," Tanaka said without looking up from the medical report. "And your daughter Yuko loves you like an uncle."
Sato felt a chill down his spine. "What do you want, Ryo?"
"I want you to coordinate with the new research team. They'll be... demanding."
"What team?"
"An international team. Russian-American-Chinese."
Sato stood silent, stunned. "This is madness! You're inviting wolves into our home!"
Tanaka finally looked up. "Sometimes, you need to invite wolves to fight other wolves."
That night, while Elyra slept, Azar felt something strange. He sensed vibrations in the fabric of spacetime, not strong, but persistent. They came from the direction of the room where Naira slept.
He approached quietly and saw something astonishing. The markings on Naira's skin - those that somewhat resembled his own, though fainter - were glowing with a pale blue light. The girl was dreaming, and in her dream, she was creating slight gravitational distortions around her.
This wasn't just an illness. Naira had been affected by Azar's energy, and her fragile body was reacting to it in ways he didn't understand.
In the morning, Tanaka received a call from the hospital. Yuko's condition had deteriorated. The doctor said she only had weeks left.
Tanaka canceled all his meetings and locked himself in his office. He looked at the picture of his daughter on his desk, then at his deceased wife's photograph. All his power, all his plans, all the conspiracies - none could prevent him from being a helpless father.
In a rare moment of weakness, he allowed one tear to trace down his cheek before wiping it away quickly, returning to the iron man everyone knew.
But that moment didn't go unnoticed. The hidden security camera in his office - installed by his new allies - captured everything.
When Elyra learned about the new international cooperation, she went to confront Tanaka. But she found a different man. Not the power-hungry figure she knew, but an exhausted one.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked him. "You're selling out your country!"
Tanaka looked at her, his eyes holding a depth she hadn't seen before. "Sometimes, motives that seem selfish are actually disguised desperation."
Elyra didn't understand what he meant at that moment. But Azar, who could feel the emotional vibrations in the building from outside the room, understood. He sensed the same desperation in Tanaka that he felt in Varos.
Humans were astonishingly complex. They betrayed for those they loved, and loved through betrayal.
And that night, as international storms gathered and strange alliances formed, Azar sat with the sleeping Naira, guarding her not only from external dangers, but from the strange power awakening within her.
He was beginning to understand that his actions weren't isolated events, but were creating interconnected currents in the fabric of human reality. And for the first time, he was starting to feel the weight of responsibility.