Record from the Prim Council Consultative Session, Drydays 56th, Year 383 since the Awakening of the Werrens:
“If the Beacon refuses to share responsibility for the modificants, then someone else must take it. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before this savior charade turns into a nightmare for all of us.
We must reopen the debate on their regulation. These Alters are weapons, and weapons belong in the hands of the military, not in the private arsenals of werren... entities who claim divine rights to dictate Prim’s future.
We’ve seen what they’re capable of in Sindar Lad. What more do we need before we realize this is a threat we ignore at our own peril?”
(The voice belongs to Councilor Brodis Hasro. Vote on measures against further expansion of modificant operations: postponed indefinitely.)
Ela, the Beacon
The door opened and three men entered the room.
She immediately recognized Valis. The second was Councilor Brooks. The third was likely an assistant, judging by how he stayed a respectful few steps behind the councilors and kept his gaze nervously lowered.
Ela, who had thought until now that she would be speaking with Valis alone, felt a wave of relief. Councilor Brooks could be terse and sometimes overly inquisitive, but he was always capable of reasonable discussion. She also knew, however, that the Beacon had long ignored his repeated requests for a meeting. She wondered if Tonot had known what Valis and Brooks were planning.
“We appreciate that you finally agreed to today’s meeting. It is encouraging to see the Beacon still has some interest in dialogue, although its recent actions already verge on monologue,” Brooks remarked sharply, far more biting than usual. Ela realized at once that he would not be on her side today.
“How could we refuse? Councilor Noret had a personal invitation from me,” she replied dryly, managing a brief smile when her eyes met Valis’s. “But if I had known you would exploit it to bypass the proper procedures for your hearing, I would have come better prepared.”
It was clear from the start that Brooks had not come for a friendly conversation. In contrast, Valis seemed quite pleased with himself. He clearly took genuine pleasure in having helped circumvent the rules.
“In any case, it will be beneficial for all of us if you add your voice to what you call the Beacon’s monologue,” she added more diplomatically, motioning for them to take seats at the meeting table.
Valis accepted the offer and commented coolly, “I must say, I’m surprised to find there is once again a willingness to listen. Lately, the Council has had the distinct impression that the Beacon has excluded us entirely from influencing Prim’s future. These are strange times, when rules upheld for centuries begin to fall apart.”
“That is merely speculation,” she objected. “The Beacon listens, of course. It’s simply that the Council’s perspective has always been narrow. You do not have the capacity to see the broader reach of our work. And let’s be honest, Councilor Noret. There is a crisis. The southern conflict has dragged on too long, and neither side has had the strength to resolve it. The Beacon disrupted this unwanted stalemate in Prim’s favor.
The fact that certain councilors resist that shift suggests there are other interests at play in this conflict. So the question is, what are they?”
Brooks raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. “I have a suggestion, Mediator. Let’s skip the diplomatic dancing. I’ve always known you were a clever girl, and you know very well why we’re here. The Beacon has long avoided taking responsibility for what happens outside the walls of Prim, and its willingness to address it is absolutely zero. And I’m not talking about the south.”
Ela drew a deep breath and then nodded with understanding. “All right then. What is this really about?”
“Civilian massacres in the settlements.”
Ela frowned but then shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I truly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Settlements burned and wiped out by your modificants,” Valis cut in. “Exactly what I predicted. You’ve lost control of them, and now no one wants to claim responsibility.”
She stared at the two councilors in confusion and shook her head. “I honestly don’t know what either of you are referring to. As far as I’m aware, our modificants have not been deployed anywhere that would risk civilian casualties. And more importantly… why would they?”
“So you know nothing about their little private hunt for the Scavengers?” Brooks frowned. “I can’t decide which is worse. That you’re lying to us now, or that you genuinely have no idea what’s happening behind your back.”
Ela blinked a few times, her mind racing. Through her meco, she urgently searched for any files that might help her. She had heard of burned settlements. Of high civilian casualties. And of the Scavengers. But she had never connected the dots, and she certainly wasn’t aware of any confirmed link between those events and the modificants. Unless, of course, the councilor knew more than he let on.
“The Scavengers have been listed as a terrorist group for some time now,” she said, trying to soften the weight of their accusation. “But as far as I know, they’re primarily handled by civil security forces. Perhaps you’re in the wrong room. You should be talking to the commander of Prim’s Guard. The Beacon has no reason to concern itself with every anti-system lunatic out there, and you can’t deny that’s exactly what Pert Burkhen is. A madman who manipulates the poor with his twisted visions. Nothing more.”
“So you truly have no idea what’s happening behind your back?” Brooks’s voice sharpened with genuine frustration now.
He reached into his coat, pulled out a portable communicator, and sent a data stream to the holographic viewer in the center of the table. In an instant, the horrors appeared before Ela’s eyes, scenes she had never seen before.
Settlements burned to the ground. Bodies mangled, charred. Burned just enough that you couldn’t tell who they had been, but not enough to forget they were once people.
Ela felt her throat tighten. Tears threatened to rise, but she fought to keep her composure.
“What makes you think this was done by modificants?” she asked, voice level despite her unease.
“We have an eyewitness,” Brooks replied calmly, and the hologram shifted. A young boy’s face appeared. He sat hunched forward, hands in his lap, eyes avoiding the camera.
“They came… really fast,” he began softly and wiped his face with the back of his hand. “My mom… she hid me under the floor. She had this little cellar. Just before it… before it all started.”
He fell silent and lowered his eyes.
“She was crying. Told me to… to stay there, not to move. Said… said it would pass.”
He swallowed hard, the words catching in his throat.
“What did you hear?” came a voice from offscreen.
The boy hesitated. Then blinked, and continued in a whisper:
“They were arguing. I heard someone yelling at them… something about the Scavengers. They were asking when they’d show up. But no one… I guess no one gave them an answer.”
He gripped his knees tighter and stared into the distance.
“Because then… then it started. This awful screaming… and then… they were shooting, I think. Loud bangs. The walls were shaking… I could feel it even down there.”
He shivered.
“It was like everything was falling apart. Everyone was yelling… I heard explosions…”
He trailed off and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
“And then I… I smelled smoke. That horrible smell. Something was burning,” he whispered, quickly lowering his head as if ashamed of the words.
“What did the people who did it look like?”
The voice was careful, but the boy still flinched.
“They were… all in black. They had… they had those big helmets.” He hesitated, searching for the right words.
“No faces. Just black glass where their faces should’ve been. You can’t tell if… if they’re looking at you. But you feel it. You feel it completely.”
He went silent again, staring into nothing, as if he could still feel their stares even now, hidden behind the dark visors.
Councilor Brooks deactivated the recording and looked at Ela, who was visibly shaken.
“This looks like something that is actually happening. Something you claimed couldn’t happen. Exactly what we feared.”
“You see, Mediator, and yet I heard it from you directly, how the modificants are protecting innocent lives,” Valis added, his face stern. “What did that little boy or his parents do to deserve being murdered by your killers?”
“Believe me, I’m trying to understand what it is you’re showing me,” she said, fighting the rising panic in her chest. “And I’ll be honest. I have no idea what to say to that.”
“Try saying the Beacon won’t just stop it, but will take responsibility,” Brooks suggested.
“If it turns out that something like this is actually happening…”
“But it is happening, for crying out loud!”
The assistant, whom Ela had completely ignored up to that point, interrupted them unexpectedly, taking everyone by surprise. Valis raised an intrigued eyebrow at the boy’s audacity, while Brooks turned sharply toward him, ready to snap. But Ela had already parted her lips in shock.
At first, she didn’t recognize him. But that voice. The way he spoke…
“Ked?” she whispered his name in disbelief.
He looked so different. Two years older, his face marked by scars, hair trimmed, clean, dressed in expensive clothing, almost unrecognizable. But the voice, that she could never forget. Her heart pounded wildly when she realized that her brother was truly standing in front of her.
“Are you deaf or just blind?” Ked ignored Brooks, who hissed at him to be quiet.
Valis lounged back in his chair, visibly enjoying the spectacle.
“Out there, your modificants are murdering regular people. They storm into homes and burn entire oases to the ground if they suspect someone has given the Scavengers supplies. Do you understand that? Death… for feeding our children. Just like that boy in the recording. Those people you saw dead? They were like your father. Like us. They’ll wipe out all of Karhen Rouz if they find out Gramp still has old friends there.”
“Ked… Ked!” Ela tried to calm him down, realizing how deeply distressed he was.
“Ked, by Fate, I never said I didn’t want to do anything. But the world isn’t black and white. We need to form an investigative commission and objectively review all the evidence before we decide what to do next.”
She cursed inwardly. Even to her own ears, that sounded hollow.
“A commission?” Brooks scoffed, though his eyes remained cold. “So we’ll solve this with paperwork? That kind of bureaucratic cowardice I expect from the Council, and I’ve grown used to it there. But hearing it from the Beacon? That’s a novelty.”
Ela scowled. “We can’t just point fingers. We need witnesses, proof. You can’t seriously expect us to…”
“To what?” Ked snapped at her, furious. “What do people like you think we are? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the Scavengers are a reaction to what’s happening right here? I get it, you live in the Beacon, too high up to see what’s going on below. I just never thought you’d forget where you came from this fast.”
“That’s cruel,” she shot back, wounded by the accusation. He had no idea what she was dealing with. “You can’t compare your personal grievances to the problems we’re trying to solve.”
“The Beacon has problems? That’s news to me,” Valis said bitterly. “I thought everything was perfect up here, Red.”
Ela sent Valis a mental curse so harsh it would have blistered paint.
“I’m trying… I’m trying to be cooperative…”
“Yeah, well, cooperation is a pretty dangerous trait in your case,” Valis sneered. “Last time you tried to be cooperative with me, I ended up with a broken rib.”
“That’s enough… all of you,” Councilor Brooks cut in sharply, sensing the entire meeting was dissolving into petty squabbling. He tried to bring them back to a discussion that actually mattered.
“Look, we have a clear problem here and I demand the quickest possible solution. We’ve got everything. Footage. Witnesses. Not just that boy, but your brother saw firsthand what modificants are capable of. He was one of those who found and rescued the boy from the recording. And more testimonies will come.
Right now it’s just a rumor spreading among the people, but the Beacon needs to address it, and it must do so without delay. Because if it doesn’t, the public will tear you apart. And I’d like to remind everyone that those same people sit on the resources the Beacon relies on. You need them on your side. Are we clear?”
Ela drew a deep breath and nodded. “Of course we’re clear. But I’m just a Mediator. I facilitate contact. So we will need time for the Circle to review your evidence and investigate whether the modificants were truly used for illegal operations behind all our backs.”
“I’ll gladly provide further proof. What I’ve shown you is just a fragment,” Brooks nodded. “And if I were you, I would move quickly. This has the potential to become a scandal of monstrous proportions. That’s why I’m here, Mediator. None of us want the Beacon to turn from protector to tyrant in the eyes of Prim’s people.”
Ela swallowed hard, unable to respond. Her gaze shifted to the polished wall of the chamber, where crimson ripples shimmered across the surface, betraying her distress.
She had once believed the Beacon stood for safety. Now, she didn’t believe in anything. It was a quiet moment.
Seren appeared again, standing behind the three visitors.
“Those modificants were sent by Nylen. These pieces of evidence will give us leverage to strip him of influence. Ela, this is exactly what Tonot wants and needs.
If we want to succeed, we have to eliminate as many obstacles as possible, and Nylen and Lazzal are two of them.”
The words sent a tremor through her. She could feel her hands trembling. She closed her eyes, fighting the war within herself.
She couldn’t go against the Beacon.
But she couldn’t allow innocent people to keep dying because of it either.
And if she helped them… she would be denying everything she had done up until now.
When she opened her eyes, her face was calm again. Composed. Confident.
“All right. I want you to know that everything I saw and heard today—I take it seriously.
First, we need to investigate who sent the modificants to those settlements, and why. And based on that...” she paused,
“...based on that, we will decide how to proceed.”
Valis smirked. “So if it turns out to be one of your big shots, you’ll sweep it under the rug like always? That’s not the kind of solution we’re asking for.”
This time, unknowingly, he was right. Thanks to Seren, Ela now knew exactly who had sent the modificants. And she also knew Nylen would never give up his position willingly. A crisis was coming. One that would be hard to overcome. But maybe…with the Council’s help?
“How we deal with the guilty party must be decided by the Circle,” she said curtly.
“If the Circle determines his guilt, he will be punished, regardless of his rank.
In the Circle, we are all equal.”
Ked exhaled in relief, unaware that Ela had just polished the truth. Perhaps there had once been a time when things worked that way, but that balance had long since been broken. Still, even Councilor Brooks gave a satisfied nod, and Valis, for once,remained silent. That alone she counted as a win.
“Submit an official request, support it with testimonies... and I will arrange a hearing with the Circle.
If it’s confirmed that modificants were misused, we will work together to repair the harm that’s been done.”
“For now, it’s just words,” Brooks said dryly, though it was clear he was, on some level, satisfied.
“Remember that we’re watching closely. If the Beacon tries to weasel out of this, we’ll be forced to release all the evidence.
And I’m sure you can imagine the consequences.”
Ela merely nodded. She knew it wasn’t an empty threat.
Everyone rose. Brooks offered her a respectful gesture, which she returned. Ked, her own brother, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward and threw his arms around her. He hugged her tightly. Ela felt a jolt. It took all her strength not to cry. Confused, broken, and frightened by everything she had just heard and could never have prepared for. As he pulled away, he whispered one short message in her ear:
“Don’t screw this up.”
She was alone. Only she and her reflection in the mirrored wall remained. She took a deep breath to fight back the tears and tried to calm herself, but it was difficult.
“Tonot will be pleased,” Seren noted softly, standing just a few steps behind her.
And suddenly Ela felt a chill down her spine, the sense that far more had changed today than just the Council’s stance toward the werrens.
Maybe the entire world she thought she knew was starting to fall apart.
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