Seris arrived without banners.
Without guards.
Without authority.
She walked.
Alone.
Ace watched from the workshop roof.
"…She's brave," he said.
Ravenna crossed her arms.
"Or desperate."
Ace flicked his tail.
"Same thing, different framing."
---
The Meeting
Seris stopped at the threshold.
Did not step inside.
"May I enter?" she asked.
Ace blinked.
Ravenna raised an eyebrow.
Ace nodded once.
"Yes."
That alone shook her.
---
No Throne, No Table
They sat on the floor.
Ace small.
Seris tired.
Ravenna watchful.
Seris spoke first.
"My system still works," she said.
"But I don't trust it anymore."
Ace said nothing.
She clenched her hands.
"I thought removing choice would remove harm."
Ace's ears flattened slightly.
"And what did it remove instead?"
Seris swallowed.
"…Dignity."
---
The Question That Matters
Seris looked at Ace.
"How do you stop it from becoming what mine did?"
Ace didn't answer immediately.
He stood.
Walked to the wall.
Pointed at the duty board.
"See that?" he said.
Seris nodded.
"Anyone can erase it," Ace continued.
"Anyone can rewrite it."
Ravenna added,
"And no one gets punished for doing so."
Seris inhaled sharply.
"That's chaos."
Ace smiled gently.
"No," he said.
"That's consent."
---
The Offer Reversed
Seris bowed.
"I don't want your method," she said.
Ace tilted his head.
"I want your failure modes."
Ace froze.
"…What?"
"I want to know how I went wrong," Seris said.
"So I can warn others."
Ace stared at her for a long moment.
Then nodded.
"That," he said quietly,
"is how this survives."
---
A Dangerous Alliance
They worked for days.
Not on blueprints.
On stories.
Points where good intentions hardened.
Moments where speed replaced care.
Where fear disguised itself as optimization.
Ravenna documented everything.
Ace made one rule.
"No absolution," he said.
"Only accountability."
Seris accepted it.
---
The World Reacts Again
Copies spread.
Not of success.
Of mistakes.
Empires read them.
And hesitated.
Just a little.
Enough.
---
End Beat
That night—
Seris stood under the stars.
"…Do you think they'll forgive me?" she asked.
Ace lay beside her.
"They don't have to," he said.
"They just need to learn from you."
Seris nodded.
Far away—
A system designed to rule through certainty
encountered something it could not overwrite:
A culture that documented its own failures.
And that—
Was far more dangerous than rebellion.