My Infinite System.

The holographic news feed in Renick’s office replayed the same impossible images from a dozen different angles. The man, Marc Black, walking on air. The colossal fist of energy. The tower collapsing into nothing. The peacekeepers turning into silent dunes of sand.

Renick couldn’t sit still. He paced behind his desk, his perfectly styled hair in disarray. ”They did it. They actually did it. They destroyed the Omni-Stellar headquarters without breaking a sweat.” He stopped, pointing a shaking finger at the screen. ”That... that wasn’t technology, Finn. That was something else. They’re more dangerous than I ever thought. We have to do something. Contain them, expose them, something!”

Finn, pale and silent, just stared at the hologram, his mind unable to process the scale of the power on display.

”No,” a calm voice stated from the doorway. ”You won’t.”

Kaela Selyn stood there, having entered without a sound. The light from the hallway caught the crystalline filaments of her hair, making her seem like a specter made of starlight and sharp edges. Her violet eyes were fixed on Renick, and for the first time, he saw no placid curiosity in them, only a cold, hard finality.

Renick spun around. ”Kaela! You saw what they—”

”I saw,” she interrupted, her voice low and cutting. She stepped fully into the office, and the door hissed shut behind her, sealing them in. ”I saw one man reduce a corporate fortress to dust and turn a security force into sand because they annoyed him. And you think we should ’do something’?”

”We can’t just let that stand! The power imbalance... it’s unacceptable!”

”Unacceptable?” Kaela let out a short, humorless laugh. ”Renick, you are not understanding the reality of the situation. Those people are not just ’dangerous’. They have abilities that rewrite the laws of physics. They are Omega-rank beings.”

The title dropped into the room like a lead weight. Finn visibly flinched.

”A theoretical classification!” Renick argued, desperation creeping into his voice. ”A myth!”

”Was that a myth?” Kaela gestured to the frozen image of the smoldering crater. ”That was one of them. One. He could unmake this planet without straining himself. Now, think. What can the other four do? The tactician? The silent one? The leader?” She took a step closer, her gaze pinning him to the spot. ”We have no Omegas in our ranks. Nobody in this galaxy does. They are the first. They are living, breathing WMDs that can think for themselves.”

She let that sink in for a moment, watching the color drain from Renick’s face.

”The Guild,” she continued, ”for all its bureaucracy, is not stupid. They will see this. They will try to recruit them, offer them a seat, try to bring them into the fold. And I know they will refuse.”

”How can you know that?”

”Because a group with that much power doesn’t answer to committees. This planet, this sector... it’s not their final destination. I don’t know what they’re looking for, but it’s bigger than our corporate squabbles.” She leaned forward, placing her palms on his desk. ”So, while they are here, you will do nothing. Nothing to provoke them. You will not spy on them. You will not attempt to contact them. You will not even look at them sideways from across a street.”

Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper. ”Because if you do, if your ambition threatens to bring their attention down upon Helios, I will not only cut you off and throw you to the wolves...” She paused, ensuring every word landed with the weight of a promise. ”...I will have your entire bloodline exterminated to ensure no trace of your catastrophic stupidity ever endangers this company again.”

The air left the room. Renick stood frozen, his mouth slightly agape. He had heard Kaela be calculating, even cold, but he had never heard this... this utter ruthlessness. It wasn’t a threat made in anger; it was a strategic pronouncement, as calm as ordering a shipment of parts.

Finn looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the universe.

Kaela straightened up, her expression smoothing back into its usual neutral mask, though the intensity in her eyes remained. ”This is not a negotiation, Renick. This is your continued employment. This is your life. Do we understand each other?”

Renick, his bravado utterly shattered, could only manage a weak, shaky nod.

”Good.” She turned to leave, but glanced back one last time at the hologram. ”Clean up that feed. I don’t want the raw data circulating. Let the news agencies have their edited versions. The last thing we need is every two-bit mercenary in the sector seeing this and getting ideas.”

As the door closed behind her, Renick slowly sank into his chair. The image of the sand dunes where men once stood was burned into his mind. He looked at Finn, who finally met his gaze, his own face a mirror of stunned fear.

They had wanted to play with giants. They had just been shown they were only playing in the sandbox, and the real giants had just arrived to take back their toys.

Drifting Leaf Inn

The common room of the Drifting Leaf felt different now. The celebratory air from the crowds was gone, replaced by the quiet hum of a crew preparing to move. The soft, pulsing light from the living walls seemed to beat in time with their own quickening pace.

Reia sat at a small table, the glow of her datapad painting sharp angles on her face. ”It’s done,” she said, not looking up. ”Funds have been transferred to every reputable freelance operator I could find on the net. They’ll be hitting Omni-Stellar assets from here to the galactic rim. It won’t put them back together, and it’ll scare off any other corp thinking of moving in on their territory.”

Lucian, who had been checking a gear pack, gave a single, firm nod. ”Good. That buys us space.” He straightened up and looked at the others. Silas was already shouldering his bag, Evelyn was helping Lira with hers, and Marc stood by the door, a silent, imposing sentinel.

”Alright, listen up,” Lucian said, his voice low but carrying. ”We’re done here. We’re leaving. Now.” His eyes shifted to Lira and her uncle, Midas, who stood together, a mixture of fear and hope on their faces. ”You’re both coming with us.”

He walked over to them, kneeling down slightly to be on Lira’s level. ”We have a safe place. It’s called Earth. You’ll stay at our home, the Citadel. No one will find you there.” He then looked at Marc. ”Once we’re clear, I need you to throw a cloak over the whole planet. Make it a ghost. I don’t want any eyes, corporate or otherwise, finding them.”

Marc gave a grunt of acknowledgment. ”Consider it done.”

There were no long goodbyes, no dramatic speeches. It was the simple, efficient movement of people who had done this before. They filed out of the inn’s organic doorway, leaving the soft glow and the quiet hum behind, stepping back into the neon-drenched chaos of Varros Prime, ready to vanish into the stars.