STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

Corin frowned. “And what makes you think they’ll agree to that? The second they feel threatened, they ’ll cut us off.”

Lyra ’s expression didn’t waver. “That’s why it has to be part of the deal. Free passage, no blockades, no checkpoints. We don ’t accept anything less.”

Corin muttered something under his breath, but didn ’t argue further.

Lucien leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “It’s not just about passage. We need shared utilities —power, water, transport. Life doesn’t stop at the sector’s borders. Engineers, builders, merchants—people will move between sectors. If the Council thinks they can starve us out, we won’t survive.”

Selene nodded, gesturing toward the schematics. “The infrastructure is already there. The city was designed to be interconnected—isolating us would hurt them as much as it hurts us. ”

Harun grinned, his voice laced with sarcasm. “So we’re relying on their greed to keep us alive? Charming.”

Lucien ignored the jab, his voice steady. “It’s not just greed. Some of the best minds in the city are already questioning the system. People who’ve spent their lives building this world but have never been allowed to dream beyond it. If we give them a place to create freely, they’ll come.”

Aarik frowned. “And that’s exactly why the Council will resist. If they see their top talent migrating to the sector, they’ll crack down hard.”

Lyra ’s voice was calm but firm. “Then we make it clear: any interference will be seen as a violation of the agreement. If they want peace, they have to let us build.”

She straightened.

“Here’s what we’re asking for: a sector at the city’s edge. Free passage between sectors. Shared utilities and infrastructure. No interference from AstroSYS. And a grace period—time to establish ourselves without Stewards breathing down our necks.”

Lucien ’s mind drifted.

Outside, he heard a small cluster of maintenance bots whirring down the street, their angular, insect-like forms skittering along the pavement.

He’d grown up seeing them every day, but tonight, they felt... different.

Cold. Detached.

They worked tirelessly —but for what? For a system that ignored the humans beneath it?

Harun ’s voice pulled him back. “It’s ambitious. But it’s possible.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Hell, maybe we can even convince the

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