It had been a few days since the scuffle between the mutated Valen and Vald.
All news about the event had been buried and the world had moved on, just as intended.
At a certain tall building in the District, one would be drawn to the headquarters of the Viper family where only the elite could venture.
Within this building, automatic doors creaked open with a beep, revealing a long, dark chamber illuminated by violet lights embedded on the walls.
At the far end, a semicircle of steel chairs faced a massive screen—its surface dead black until motion stirred it to life.
Luna and Vlad entered this room, their boots tapping against the sleek, almost reflective tile floor.
There were other people, but apart from Luna and Vlad, no one else was physically present, rather, as they approached, the screen flickered once... twice... and then snapped into a sharp mosaic of 49 boxes, excluding their's.
Each of these boxes displayed the faces of someone from the other districts, leaders of their respective families like Vlad and Luna.
They were arranged in a cold, grid-like pattern.
Some wore military coats, others ceremonial robes, and a few didn't even show their real faces, they just wore masks with a symbol or pattern.
The 50th square, in the center, was a grey static-filled box, marked only by a single pulsating sigil, the majestic eagle of the eagle alliance.
There was no face, no name, just a presence that seemed as if that box loomed larger than the rest.
For a moment, everyone was painfully quiet, leaving only a "shiii" sound sign filling the room... Static.
And then it spoke, the box in the middle.
It was a metallic, rasping voice, layered with faint echoes as if more than one being was speaking at once:
"Good… evening. Livestock managers."
The term hung in the air like a disease, and upon hearing these words, Luna clenched her fists by her sides.
Vlad on the other hand, remained motionless, his expression unreadable, as he listened to the voice continue.
"It is the 11th, I want your Quota reports. One hundred units of the human species. Has it been fulfilled? Or... are you all still indulging in petty distractions like sympathy and culture?"
"This is Neil of the First District. We have completed our quota, a total of 102," one box lit up as a person spoke.
"This is Gwen of Second District, we have completed our quota, 100," another spoke.
"...88."
"...97."
It became repetitive, each district leader giving their reports in clipped, robotic tones, soon it reached Vlad's turn and he began.
"This is Vlad of the Forty-Second District. We have completed our quota, 107."
After Vlad finished speaking, Luna continued, "This is Luna of the Forty Eighth District. We have completed our quota, 123."
"Luna, why are you speaking from the Forty Second District?" the voice asked immediately after Luna spoke, its tone unreadable.
Letting out a breath, Luna responded with a bow, "I had grown bored of my duties and ran away wanting to enjoy myself. I am terribly sorry for my incompetence, Your Excellency."
"District 14. Your numbers are down. Again." The voice moved on, addressing district leader.
Quickly, a trembling voice replied, "Y-yes, Your Excellency, fewer people qualified-"
"Zzzzzzzzz!"
A sudden zapping sound stopped the man from speaking, and if one focused on his number fourteen, they would notice that the man displayed on it was spasming, his face contorted in pain as he slumped, but he was not dead.
"Hmm, it would appear that he lied. Why do you lot sometimes forget your place? Lying Will ONly INCITE PUNishment from your world brand. THE MARK OF THE SLAVES!" The voice said in a tone that alternated between elevated and calm.
Then there was silence, an eerie silence that was accompanied by static, before the voice returned and spoke.
"Our private intelligence division has uncovered... unauthorized curiosity. It appears that a group of humans in District 6 has obtained knowledge about the Slikion evolution chain. Knowledge that does not belong in cattle minds, but I will overlook it for now."
One of the screens showed a sweaty man with pale skin and sunken eyes bowing deeply.
"I-I offer my deepest gratitude, Your Excellency, for your mercy. It won't happen again-"
"It never should have happened," the voice interrupted, then the grey box expanded slightly, zooming outward as if to address the entire council.
"Why… is the normal human internet not yet scrubbed clean? Why are there still traces of stories? Comics? Primitive lore? Fiction? And how do you even pronounce this? Is it Hen-tia?"
As it spoke, the voice hissed at its word like it was a slur before continuing, "I have only read of this system in theory. Pages upon pages of content—unfiltered noise. I was assured it had been annihilated, can you lot, not manage the livestock?"
A crushing silence followed after those words like a cursed accusation had been made, no one dared speak, for fear of becoming the example, but that only stirred anger.
The Excellency's voice boomed, seething now:
"You were told to erase it all. To strip the flesh from their imagination. And yet... their little tales still crawl beneath the surface like vermin. I SHOuld PuNIsh You ALL!"
A murmur of panic stirred in the council, but before it could erupt, Luna stepped forward, her voice level and precise:
"Your Excellency, forgive me for speaking, but the human Internet is unlike anything designed by efficiency or order, we were able to wipe everything from the surface, but there are servers that we have no access to, the dark web, the deep web, the lower you go the harder it is to track or remove content, and we were also ordered not to shut it down."
After those strings of words, she paused, letting it settle before adding, "To fully wipe all traces of lore from the Internet, we have to destroy it."
Once again, silence dominated, like it was the only thing known by the voice.
Then said voice spoke, ignoring Luna completely, "Vlad, what happened? Are you trying to kill all the potential livestock? For the first time in more than a decade, I hear that a Skilion managed to EVOLVE IN YOUR DISTRICT, UNDER YOUR WATCH, DESPITE THE RESOURCES ALLOCATED TO YOU!"
"The-"
"Zzzzzzz!"
Before Vald could respond, a faint glow appeared on his back visible through his thigh suit.
The large man fell to his knees, his brows furrowed and his face contorted, light groans of pain escaping his lips as his body trembled.
After a moment, this episode stopped, allowing Vlad, who was now drenched in sweat, to breathe in sharp exhalations.
"You have always been a sturdy one, Vlad, if only you were not a servant, now speak, what happened?"
At that question, Luna, who was in the room, felt her heart skip a bit, her eyes glancing at Vlad while thinking, "fuck, fuck, fuck, he can't lie!"
Meanwhile, Vlad appeared far more calm, his tone steady as he said, "You will find no explanation worthy enough for my mistake Your Excellency, I am ready to receive punishment."
"By the next quota, I want 200 humans from you. If you cannot get them to me, I will dispose of you," the voice responded swiftly, its voice followed by a long beep that signified the end of the meeting.
"My God," one of the leaders on screen collapsed in his chair, letting out a breath of relief.
The other leaders had much the same reactions; everyone was relieved, albeit, some were more composed than others.
The fear wore off soon after, and the leaders began relating to themselves.
This interaction was less about socialization and more like a necessary exchange of information in the interest of survival.
"I see, so what do you suggest would be a proper alternative to my information leak problem Sir Neal?" One of the District Leaders spoke.
"Your grip on law enforcement is not strong enough, although his Excellency and the higher board require us to be lenient there are methods we can use." Neal responded.
"What do you mean? I'm also having the same information leak problem," one added.
"Well, we can't directly enforce the laws on them, and the law enforcement will only confiscate the material if it's found,; there is hardly ever a case of arrest, as they too find the law bizarre," Neal continued.
"It'll all be easier if we told them the truth," another interjected, but was ignored.
"So what is your method, Sir Neal?" Another one spoke, prompting an answer from Neal.
"A method I have employed is inserting my own agents into the law enforcement over time, this way I was able to take care of issues more directly," Neal spoke with a breath before adding, "Unlawfully killing the offender seems to yield the best results but there is always backlash."
"I see, that sounds plausible, and even if there is backlash, the council won't do anything as we never directly interfered, and we are trying to create the order they seek-"
"Can you guys hear yourselves? You sound like animals," Luna suddenly interjected, her brows furrowed.
"Don't act like a hypocrite, Luna, you're just like us," one of the leaders said to her, inciting a laugh from the others.
In all this, Vlad remained unspeaking as though he was in deep thought, but in reality, he only had a single thought in his mind, 'I wonder how that kid is doing."