The Machine God-Chapter 189 - Price of Admission

Chapter 189

Jasmine stepped through the doorway from Astra Omnia into the ESA’s ground-floor atrium wearing a navy suit cut sharp enough to win a case on its own. Heels. Makeup applied with the kind of care that suggested war paint rather than vanity. A document folder tucked under one arm and a briefcase in the other hand.

She looked exactly like what she was. A lawyer walking into the most important meeting of her career, and entirely aware of it.

Alexander extended his hand. “Jasmine. It’s been a while since we last spoke. I apologize for that, I’ve been buried in guild matters. How have you been settling in?”

She took his hand and shook it once, firm and professional. “Mr. Rooke. No apology necessary. I understand how busy things have been.” A brief but genuine smile. “And I’m very happy with the arrangements.”

He gestured toward the far side of the atrium, and they fell into step together. Alexander kept the pace unhurried, wanting the time before the meeting began. The ESA building’s interior was all polished stone and glass, clean lines that spoke of money and authority without the garishness of the hotel district.

“Talia arranged everything for you?” he asked. “Accommodations? Assistant? What about the Astra Omnia card?”

Jasmine nodded. “Talia had everything organized within the first day. She prepared a full operational brief, set up my office, arranged secure communications, and walked me through every active matter Grimnir had on its books.” She paused. “It took me a few days to hire a suitable assistant, but she’s been an excellent addition. Taken a great deal off my shoulders.”

“Good. And working with Talia directly?”

Something shifted in Jasmine’s expression. Subtle, but there. “Working with her was an eye-opener, honestly. She could have handled the negotiations with the Royals herself. The legal frameworks she’d already drafted before I even looked at them were remarkably thorough.”

Alexander chuckled. “Yeah. Talia is something else.”

Jasmine’s voice dropped a fraction. “Yes. She really is.”

Alexander caught the change. The slightest softening around the edges of a sentence that had started professional. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing.

“I understand you negotiated a premium location on Astra Omnia with the Queen herself. Congratulations. That’s quite impressive.”

Jasmine straightened immediately, her professional guard snapping back into place. “I assure you, Mr. Rooke, I did not use my relationship with Grimnir to leverage any sort of preferential—”

Alexander raised a hand as they walked, cutting her off gently. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was being sincere.” He stopped in front of an elevator bank and pressed the call button. “Valerie is quite the character. She typically comes out ahead in any negotiation she makes. I would know. I’ve been on the wrong end of a few.”

Jasmine visibly relaxed.

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open. They stepped inside. Alexander pressed the floor for the mediation suites, and the doors closed.

He reached out with his senses as the elevator climbed. The building’s security was layered and professional. Standard surveillance on most floors, with heavier concentrations near the entrances and exits.

The third floor stood out. Noise dampeners embedded in the walls of every room. Scramblers layered through the floors, ceilings, and exterior walls, generating enough interference to defeat any listening device he could imagine. And surrounding each mediation room, power suppression fields built directly into the structural framework. They wouldn’t stop anyone inside from using their abilities, but nothing was getting through those walls from the outside. Not divination or sensory powers. Not even technopathic ones.

Except his own, of course. But the ESA didn’t need to know that.

Beyond that, the third floor had no other technology. Just lights and the elevator.

He returned his attention to the rest of the building. Eight technopaths, strategically placed, each positioned to cover a section of the ESA’s internal systems. Roughly another thirty Tier 2 signatures were scattered throughout the building.

He doubted that was their standard security complement. Which meant it was for the mediation between two superhuman guilds.

Or rather, all of this because one of those guilds was Grimnir.

He drew his senses back and smiled.

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “Something amusing?”

“I think this is the second most secure facility I’ve been in. After the Superhuman SuperMax.”

She glanced at him for a moment, then apparently decided he was joking and returned her attention forward.

He wasn’t. The only thing the ESA was lacking on site was a Tier 3.

The arbitration had always been the price of admission. Alexander had known that from the moment he proposed the idea, only for the leader of the Throne of Scales to accept immediately. Whatever Maximilian had prepared, whatever play the Dragon Lord intended to make, Alexander would sit through it. That was the trade. Legal entry into Dubai, legitimate cover for the Gabriel Cross operation, and in exchange, he’d give Maximilian his meeting and deal with whatever came out of it.

He just hadn’t anticipated putting Jasmine in the middle of something she wasn’t briefed for.

Alexander reached into the elevator’s systems and gently seized the drive mechanism. The elevator slowed smoothly to a halt between floors.

Jasmine glanced at him.

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He turned to face her. “There is a possibility that you’re going to learn sensitive details during the mediation. Things I haven’t shared with you yet.”

She met his gaze. “Mr. Rooke, everything discussed in that room falls under attorney-client privilege. I take that obligation extremely seriously.”

Alexander shook his head. “That’s not what concerns me. I’m worried about how you might react to what you hear.” He paused, choosing his words. “I was planning to read you in eventually, once Grimnir was ready to announce certain things publicly. Part of the delay was about trust, but it was also about giving you time to get to know us first. So that when we told you something that sounded absurd, our word would carry enough weight for you to believe it.”

He held her gaze. “This situation is a small oversight on my part.”

Jasmine studied him. She didn’t fill the silence with reassurance or questions, just waited with the practiced patience of someone who had spent years letting other people talk themselves into corners.

A lawyer skill. Silence as a weapon. He respected it, even aimed at him.

“Afterwards, I’m willing to answer any questions you have,” he said. “But during the meeting, I need you at your best. Regardless of what you hear.”

“You need me wearing my court face.”

He frowned. “Court face?”

She smiled. “It’s like a poker face. Only meaner.”

Alexander laughed. “That’ll do.”

He released the mechanism. The elevator resumed its climb.

The elevator doors opened.

The reception area was smaller than he expected. Plush carpet absorbed the sound of their footsteps. Privacy-tinted windows lined the outer wall, letting in diffused light while blocking any view from outside. As he’d sensed, there were no screens. No holographic displays. No extra technology of any kind.

The receptionist behind a curved wooden desk glanced up from a ledger. Pen and paper. Not a tablet in sight.

Clever.

Maximilian was already waiting.

The Dragon Lord stood near the desk in his guild uniform, black with gold trim, perfectly pressed. His golden hair was pulled back, and his posture carried the same controlled intensity Alexander remembered from every encounter they’d shared. The man looked as if he’d been awake for hours, prepared for days, and intended to win something before lunch.

To his right stood a man who looked like the opposite of everything Maximilian represented. Tall and gangly, maybe six-three, wearing a Throne of Scales uniform that hung on his narrow frame like it had been borrowed in haste. His hair was uncombed, dark circles sat heavy beneath half-lidded eyes, and his posture suggested he’d rather be anywhere else.

The man’s gaze found Alexander at the exact moment Alexander glanced at him. Their eyes locked. The timing was precise enough to be uncomfortable.

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

To Maximilian’s left stood an older man with a full white beard and a generous build, dressed in a tailored suit that probably cost more than most people’s cars. He held a briefcase in one hand and carried the easy confidence of someone who had won more arguments than he’d lost. Maximilian’s lawyer.

Alexander glanced down at himself. Yesterday’s dark slacks, wrinkled everywhere. The button-down shirt he’d thrown on that morning, sleeves still rolled to his forearms from the night before. He hadn’t even looked in a mirror.

He stifled a yawn. It had been a late night. A good one, but late.

A fourth man waited nearby. Also in a suit, though less expensive than the lawyer’s.

“Morning, Max.” Alexander crossed the carpet toward them, hands in his pockets. “No Jules?”

Maximilian regarded him with a flat expression. “I wonder why.”

Alexander chuckled and stopped in front of him, offering his hand. Maximilian took it. The handshake was firm, brief, and carried the weight of two people who respected each other enough to keep things civil while acknowledging they were on opposite sides of almost everything.

“This is Jasmine Sharp,” Alexander said, stepping aside. “Grimnir’s legal counsel.”

Jasmine moved forward and shook Maximilian’s hand with the kind of composure that made her navy suit look like armor.

“It’s good to meet you, Ms. Sharp.” Maximilian gestured to the older man beside him. “Werner Brandt. He represents the Throne of Scales in legal matters.”

Brandt extended his hand to Jasmine with a warm, almost grandfatherly smile. She shook it.

Maximilian turned slightly. “And this is Logan.”

No last name. No title. No explanation. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Alexander extended his hand toward Logan.

Logan looked at it. Then looked back at Alexander’s face. He didn’t move.

Alexander held the offer for another beat, then shrugged and let his hand drop. “Alright then.” He turned toward the fourth man. “And I’m guessing that makes you our mediator.”

The man stepped forward. He was of average height, neatly groomed, with an Emirati complexion and dark eyes that projected practiced neutrality. “Rashid al-Muhairi. I’ve been assigned to facilitate your mediation proceedings.”

“Rashid.” Alexander nodded. “Pleasure.”

“The pleasure is mine, Mr. Rooke.” Rashid clasped his hands together. “Before we begin, I should explain my role. My ability allows me to generate clones of myself that retain all of my knowledge and professional training. They do not, however, possess any powers of their own. When our sessions conclude, the clone facilitating your mediation will dismiss himself, and everything discussed will go with him. I will retain no memory of your proceedings.”

Alexander chuckled. “What is it with all the cloning around here? The ESA agent following me last night could clone herself too.”

Rashid nodded, unfazed. “You’re referring to Agent Kaur. I’m familiar with her abilities, but they’re quite different from mine. Her clones share a linked consciousness and powers. Mine are independent and disposable.”

“And we’re just supposed to take your word on that?”

Rashid turned to the desk and picked up a folder, holding it out. “My abilities have been independently verified by one hundred and thirty-eight truth-detecting superhumans, representing both hero and villain organizations across forty-two countries. The full list and my powers are a matter of public record.”

Alexander didn’t take the folder. “Is Paul on the list? The Queen of Hearts’ Truthseeker?”

“He is,” Rashid confirmed. “Paul verified my claims personally during my initial accreditation three years ago.”

Alexander smiled. “Good enough for me. Shall we?”

Rashid set the folder back on the desk. “Of course. Right this way. We’ve reserved Room One for your proceedings.”

He started walking toward a hallway that curved along the outer wall. Alexander fell into step beside Jasmine, with Maximilian and his people following.

“As a reminder,” Rashid continued as they walked, “mediation is scheduled for one week, during which you have exclusive access to my services. The period can be extended to a second week, though this incurs additional fees for both parties.” He paused. “Please also be aware that any agreements reached during these proceedings are considered legally binding as a matter of galactic record. They carry enforcement weight beyond the UEG’s jurisdiction.”

Jasmine spoke up. “What enforcement body has jurisdiction in the event of a breach?”

Rashid glanced back at her with a look of mild approval. “The Galactic Council’s Arbitration Commission. Enforcement actions can include sanctions, asset seizure across all Council-recognized territories, and in extreme cases, revocation of galactic trade and transit privileges. Mind you, that is exceedingly rare. It’s the same framework used for inter-species treaty disputes.”

Alexander looked at Jasmine. She met his gaze and gave the smallest nod. He had a feeling she already knew the answer to the question. Perhaps she’d asked for his benefit.

Rashid stopped at a door marked with a simple brass numeral. “Here we are. Once you enter, I’ll generate the clone who will serve as your mediator for today. From that point forward, I will have no knowledge of or access to your discussions, and under no circumstances will he exit the room.”

Alexander pushed the door open and walked inside.