Kael moved cautiously through the narrow corridors of the Null Zone. Every step was a negotiation: with loose bricks, dangling metal, the Seed thrumming faintly in his pocket, reminding him that power, once tasted, never rested.
And then he noticed something strange.
A shadow lingered on the far wall, but it did not move like the others. It did not flinch at his footsteps, nor did it avoid him. It waited.
Kael's pulse quickened. His first instinct was fear, but curiosity, sharper and heavier, pinned him in place.
Then he saw it: a small, crystalline device, faintly glowing, clutched in a pair of hands. The glow pulsed in rhythm with the Seed, almost as if it were responding.
A voice, calm and neutral, carried from the shadows:
"You… should not be here."
Kael spun, eyes wide. A boy, slight and deliberate, stepped forward. His gaze was analytical, unflinching. Not threatening, but impossible to ignore.
"I" Kael began, but words failed.
The boy ignored him, holding the device up. A wave of subtle energy emanated from it, brushing Kael like a gentle tide. The Seed within him pulsed in recognition, slowing its frantic rhythm.
"You are observed," the boy said. "You will not collapse while I watch."
Kael blinked. Observed. Not watched by authority, not judged, but observed. His heart stuttered. Somehow, the act of being recorded, of being seen, made his uncontrolled Authority… steadier.
The boy lowered the device. "I am Oren. Witness."
Witness. The word was unfamiliar, but it resonated with the Seed, coaxing it into a fragile alignment. Kael felt it not fully tamed, but held at bay.
"You… can stabilize it?" Kael whispered, almost in disbelief.
Oren's eyes flickered, calculating. "Partially. Authority grows with recognition. The more you are seen, acknowledged… the more you can impose your will. But power without understanding… it destroys."
Kael swallowed. The truth hit him harder than any failure, any collapse. Every uncontrolled flicker, every death, every glitch in reality it had not been random. It had been a warning. The Seed demanded not only obedience, but attention.
"And… the city?" Kael asked. "The people? The Council?"
Oren's gaze sharpened. "Observation is leverage. Every agent, every witness, every recorded action… it can be used. You grow not just by power, but by who sees it and who fears it."
Kael's mind spun. The political implications were immense. Authority was not only power it was a performance. Every act, every Edict, every glitch in reality could ripple across the city, across factions, if seen, recorded, acknowledged.
The Seed pulsed gently in his pocket, finally obedient for the first time. But Kael knew this obedience was temporary. A single misstep could unravel everything, and the city's indifferent gaze would not save him. Only recognition, careful, strategic, and leveraged… only that could temper the hunger within.
He glanced at Oren, noting the calm neutrality in the boy's eyes. A Witness. Observer. Stabilizer. Recorder.
Kael realized the first law of Authority: to be seen was to exist, to be acknowledged was to grow, and to be unnoticed was to die unnoticed or worse.
The Null Zone was no longer only a hiding place. It was a proving ground.
And Kael had just taken the first step into the web of eyes, recognition, and leverage that would decide not only his survival, but the balance of power in Virellis itself.