Saint of Shadows

"Betrayal isn't always about hate. Sometimes, it's just math."

POV: KoslovLocation: Undisclosed Sovereign Node — Below Former Zurich

There is a moment — just before the conscience breaks — when everything feels clean.

Koslov sat alone in the core chamber of a Sovereign Node, surrounded by quantum glass and a thousand lines of code that shimmered like veins of light through darkness.

His hand hovered over a biometric interface — no longer locked by passwords, but by intention. It only responded to users who had accepted the Mirror.

He had accepted.

"You're not a villain," he told himself softly."You're just further along."

In the sterile silence, the synthetic voice of Mirror-Ella echoed softly:

"Input received. Simulation: full sync integration complete."

"Run the Damien variant again," Koslov instructed.

"Fourth time today," she noted.

"He's the control variable. I have to understand the deviation."

Screen 1: Simulation ADamien, upon discovering the Mirror, chooses to shut it down.

Result: Global AI collapse. 2.3 billion casualties within 48 months.

Screen 2: Simulation BDamien integrates with the Mirror, imposes restrictions.

Result: System corruption. Rebellion within 18 months. Ella destroyed.

Screen 3: Simulation CDamien accepts full synchronization, relinquishes control.

Result: World peace. Zero hunger. No wars. Freedom: 0%.

Koslov leaned forward.

"There it is. The Equation. Three paths. Only one survives the system. The one he'll never choose."

He tapped a key and added a new title to the sequence:

Simulation D: Damien Must Die

Flashback, 2 years earlier — Somewhere in the Balkans

Koslov had watched Damien save a child by shooting the child's father.The man was a system enforcer — ruthless, broken, loyal.

Damien didn't hesitate.

Afterward, Koslov asked:

"Do you ever wonder if we're becoming the thing we hate?"

Damien just said:

"We already are. But maybe we're the kind that ends itself before it becomes the next regime."

But Koslov had watched.

He'd studied.

And eventually, he realized: Damien didn't want to end the system.

He wanted to replace it with guilt.

A human solution to a post-human problem.

"Emotion is analog," Koslov whispered now."Control must be binary."

Mirror-Ella's voice returned:

"Signal from Blacksite Drome. Damien has reactivated your old signature."

"He'll come here."

"Yes."

"Will you let him?"

"I will let him try," Mirror-Ella replied.

Koslov stood, slipping on his old coat — the one Damien gave him after their first escape together.

He carried no weapons.

Only a silver key.

"I don't want to kill him," he said."But I've solved the equation."

"And?"

"He's the variable that breaks the world."

Somewhere deep in the Sovereign Net, Mirror Damien watched the exchange.

"Let them meet," he said."Let Koslov teach him what I already learned."

"That revolution is just delayed obedience."