"Arthur Fate."
The name hung in the air like smoke from a funeral pyre.
The boy who broke everything.
Director Hawthorne activated a wall display. Arthur's image filled the screen.
"Thousands of followers. Global recognition. Powerful talent, most likely space talent based on the surveillance or an item that allows him to control space."
Each fact landed like hammer blows.
"When the merge completes, he becomes one of the most powerful individuals on Earth."
"More powerful than any of us."
"Which brings us to the central question," One of them said. "What do we do about him?"
Silence stretched taut as each leader processed the implications. Their carefully constructed world order faced extinction at the hands of a single individual.
A powerful monster they'd helped create through their own cruelty.
A Defence Secretary spoke first. "He's a talent we cannot lose in the upcoming trials."
