Chapter 21: The Mercy of a Sovereign
The silence that followed the fall of Malphas was heavier than the sandstorm outside. Carson stood in the center of the library, the hilt in his hand now pulsing with a steady, heartbeat-like glow. The white light had faded, leaving only a faint shimmer around his silhouette.
He turned his gaze toward the entrance, where the prisoners were huddling. His eyes landed on Maya.
She was shivering, her eyes darting between the withered Malphas and the god-like figure of Carson. When his gaze hit her, she instinctively tried to flatten herself against the floor. The greed that had flickered in her eyes when Malphas offered her a place in the capital was gone, replaced by the realization that she had bet on the wrong side of history twice.
"Carson..." she whimpered, her voice cracking. "I... I was forced. They would have killed me. I always knew you were special. I told them... I told them you were a genius..."
Carson walked toward her, his boots clicking softly on the crystalline floor. Every step felt like a drumbeat of judgment. He stopped three feet away.
"You told them I was a 'tool,' Maya," Carson said quietly. "You told them I was a rat who didn't belong in the light. Do you remember the Apex-7? The 300 units?"
"I'll give it back! I'll do anything!" she sobbed, reaching for the hem of his coat.
Carson stepped back, his expression unreadable. He looked at the other forty-nine prisoners—men and women whose hands were calloused from the same labor he had once performed.
"Aura," Carson commanded.
"Yes, Sir?"
"Transfer 10 million units to each of these people, except for Maya. Arrange for a private transport to take them to the Emerald Isles. Give them homes, healthcare, and a lifetime of security. They were the sacrifices today; let them be the masters tomorrow."
A chorus of shocked sobs and prayers erupted from the prisoners. They looked at Carson as if he were a messiah.
Then, Carson looked back at Maya.
"As for her... give her 300 units. Not a cent more. Drop her at the transit hub in the New Seattle slums—the exact spot where my Uncle Silas left me thirteen years ago."
"No!" Maya screamed. "You can't! It's a death sentence! The gangs... Viper's men... they'll find me!"
"Then you'll have to learn the 'Ten-Unit Hunger,' Maya," Carson said, his voice devoid of malice. It was just a statement of fact. "If you survive, perhaps you'll find your own 'Flow.' But you will never see the light of Cloud-Reach. That is my mercy."
With a wave of his hand, a gravity-gate opened. The prisoners were gently lifted and moved toward the surface, Maya's screams fading as she was pulled into the darkness of the transit-tether.