A delighted smile spawned on the Arbiter’s face as the members of her Council found a small piece of unity. Seeing that Knalzark was suddenly eager after realizing Frost carried not one, but multiple keys to follow through with their ambitions against the Impuritas caused her great relief.

It was a small glimpse of intricately woven the Ateliers will function in the near future. Multiple projects would be erected at once, and it was up to them all and most importantly herself to ensure that these pillars did not collapse.

Her grin was permanent as a sense of nostalgia washed over her. Satania picked the pieces of the table and stacked them atop what was left of her section, creating an unstable pillar held only by a miracle.

There was an air of displeasure surrounding the ram-horned Demon. Michaela’s pleasure was always the source of her discontent.

Beholder E. progressed the Council.

“I will leave the matter of the healers last. Now that we have a direction regarding the Coins and the stolen magic, I want to shed some light on the happenings of the Nex Megaloplis. The Adventurers and the civilians of our Cities. Its inhabitants are in a perilous state.”

“C3, C4, the City of Spades and H10 are the immediately notable ones.” Galia informed. “D5 and D7 took considerable damage. An Eye had also fallen between D5 and D6. H4 and H9 also have major problems relating to resources. The City of Spades is self-explanatory. You’re already fixing things in the City of Clubs.”

“That we are. People are a valuable resource. Allowing the Nex Megalopolis to delve into what the City of Spades has become will only cause more problems. That ‘Heart of the City’ was created by their collective woes, as the Amalgam has claimed.”

“Hmm… if we want to keep them out for good, then must we keep people alive? I can’t do that.” Umbra giggled. “How many of us have the means to help aside from Justica Arms?”

“Hold that tongue, Demon. What I am saying is that we should at least offer guarantees as we do in the City of Clubs. It’s no surprise that exceptional healers and many administrative personnel come from our cities. We are at the least risk of Corrupted as a result.” Beholder E announced. “It also coincides with the Amalgam’s vision of how we handle the world moving forward. At least in our current limited sphere.”

“The Nex Megalopolis is a fortress. My Eyes were enough to keep them all in check –!” Knalzark was then swiftly interrupted by Jury.

“– People already call the Nex Megalopolis their home. Without them ImpulseWorks Sites wouldn’t be able to exist here. What you’ve given them and what you’re saying are two different things, because if you truly thought of the Nex Megalopolis as a fortress then why did you give them the trains?”

“They were initially for the Ateliers planted here. Even we must maintain appearances. It’s meaningless to interpret my intentions through empty gestures of kindness.” Knalzark rapidly refuted. “You are ultimately correct. This is the home of millions. From what we’re aware of, a purge or any similar process will only tempt a Corrupted to emerge.”

He didn’t call it an atrocity. Just a process.

“To them the world must feel inferior.”

I find that hard to believe because he mentioned he has to keep up appearances. All Beholders do in some way. But then again, that could be because of the Arbiter and each other.

“Civilians provide valuable ambient Nex.  From my understanding, the Impuritas have helped generate it through their invasions. There was little incentive to intervene.” Promised Oath uttered. “The Golden Index and Inflow Direct were the only ones that made efforts into protecting its outskirts. Now that things have come to this, this negatively generated Nex is more harmful than it is helpful.”

“It cycles back to the already formed resolution of Oboros Infinitas.” Marionette spoke coldly. “Lessen the atrocities is what you wish, is that right 2.71?”

She whispered the beginning numbers of the mathematical value of ‘E’ when referring to the mechanical Beholder.

“My reasoning goes beyond just the Amalgam…” He didn’t elaborate. His voice trailed off into a soft, grinding churn as the bubbles that invaded his glass coffin paused. “… there is something I wish to realize for myself. I’ve partially extended my protection of the Doves to my citizens. I want to know what would happen if we were to do the same.”

He had no mouth or voice box that allowed him to make inflections, and yet his words carried emotion.

No… it seemed to beg to be filled with emotion.

“The Nex Megalopolis is the culmination of our efforts. We cannot allow the roots that create impurities and the corruption to fester again. We have lost too many for our negligence. We can no longer underestimate the power of a common flame.”

… if they were like this back then, then I wonder if Calfasio could have survived. We’ve seen exactly what a common flame can do.

“What ifs are dangerous thoughts.”

Yeah. Painful as well.

“This is regarding Brandar. Can Act X join the effort?” He then asked Marionette.

“Emvita is a different political sphere. It’d be selfish excuses if I were to refuse. I can. This also leads us to our agenda. We can tie both loose ends with one string.” The woman shuffled in place, revealing another pair of arms from beneath her elegant coat. “We can make life more tolerable for those that follow the Scripts. In exchange, we require more Actors to offset this. Can we rely on the Repenetrs to enact the will of the Fate Mechanism?”

Satania offered a number of Repenters to be forced into adhering to the Scripts. Not all of them, however, as Satania did not wish for Act X to extend their hand any deeper into their operations.

“Very well then. I can make do with this.” Marionette’s smile revealed a void within her mouth.

“Resources won’t be hard to move around. It’s something Justica Arms and the Golden Index can handle.” Beholder Descartes said. “It has little to do with us to begin with.”

“How can we further bolster the Nex Megalopolis then?” Knalzark asked before they could reach a resolution.

“By developing it directly and working together. It’s not difficult to conceive.” Jury offhandedly slighted them all, annoyed that seemingly no one could how simple the answer was. “Venturing into more than just the Eyes for protection is another start. Having the headquarters of more Ateliers is another way to bolster the Nex Megalopolis.”

“More importantly, we will be gaining many more Moons in the coming future.” Frost promised, already considering several people at the top of her mind.

Namely, the Demi-humans they saved from Grandis. The Serum S survivor would make a powerful Moon, however, Frost also understood that this was ultimately their choice.

“We have an agreement then? A collective push to protect the people of the Nex Megalopolis?” No one had anything else to add. While it was not unanimous, it was now enforceable and most importantly punishable if one of these Ateliers was found to be violating this resolution.

And as a caveat, this extended to beyond the Nex Megalopolis.

The problem was that they had no way to enforce it elsewhere. The only body that could was Justica Arms as their Branches were located around the world. Once the Hyperlink Relay Sites were reinstated there, Frost and Time Reverberation would have a much easier time.

She vowed to never allow anything like Divas Pass to occur again.