Xiao.

  The name bounced around in his mind like it was made of rubber.

  Xiao.

  Earth.

  The Kuiper Belt.

  The Protocol.

  A searing pain ran through his brain, making him double over. He gagged, pressing his hand to the window in his office for stability, before trying to stand up again. Out below him, the Administration Zone was under full marshal lockdown. Gunships flew by, weapons scanning the surface of Dsynomia, radars scanning the skies. The once active Zone was now quiet otherwise. The monorails had ceased their operation. At one time, there had been little lights of personal vehicles, and those were gone too. It was all just as well. Nobody was allowed to leave their sector anyway. The lights were still there, but the activity had died, leaving a sparkling, empty city below him. High above, his fleet, including most of the Eclipse-class and Kepler-class battlecruisers he had at his disposal, encircled the moon in a defensive position, floating through space like massive blimps through the air.

  At least there was still some loyalty amongst the rank and file.

  TerraGov was getting antsy. But why should he respond, he wondered. What good would it do? They, him, humanity itself was on the path to enlightenment and sublimation. They wouldn’t understand.

  No, they wouldn’t, hissed the voice. What you do you do for them all.

  He was the Arbiter. A hero. A god amongst men. Not only was he the bringer of the future, he was a reminder of the past, he was all and everything at once, he was, he was…

  He was Xiao.

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  Some piece of him, deep down, for some unknown reason, clung to that name.

  It felt like an eternity ago that it actually suited him. There was no name, no better suiting title for him now, than Arbiter. He would be the one to arbitrate humanity’s ascent. He would be the one to account for humanity’s rise to glory. The stars, the very stars would belong to humankind, and it would all be thanks to him.

  You do something noble with your actions, the voice whispered.

  “I do,” he said, his voice strained, as though he were struggling to speak, choking, asphyxiating. “I. Am.”

  Who was he?

  “I am Xiao.”

  No! No longer are you Xiao. You are my Arbiter. My herald.

  A new day was dawning for the species. One of assimilation, of power, of greatness. He turned and looked about his ruined office as though he were Ozymandias himself, gazing upon his kingdom of ruin. But he, he was the exception. He would be remembered. The glass on the floor, the scattered papers, the broken medal case, it all meant nothing. Not even the several incoming message requests from TerraGov could reach him. He was untouchable, in a fortress of ultimate sublimation, in complete control.

  He was the god-king humanity had been waiting for.

  He was…

  Xiao.

  He was Xiao. A father, once. To a daughter. A beautiful, sweet daughter, with a laugh like little butterflies in his ears, and a smile that could carve the sun to pieces it was so beautiful. He knew of a time when he once was happy, like her when she was young. How very long ago that was. When he was a father, a man, named Xiao.

  She forsook you.

  Yes, he thought, or no. Yes. No. He was the forsaking one.

  If only, if only she could’ve seen his grand plan, the future!

  If only.

  But here he was now, truly alone. His military cracking down on his Belt, under his orders. His people disappearing at his whim. His tower overlooking his Administration Zone, as they all barreled toward his future.

  It was wrong.

  Another shot of searing pain cracked like thunder through his head. He grabbed onto his desk to hold himself up as he hunched over and cradled his skull in his hand. Grunting, he cursed whichever deity could’ve allowed all of this to happen.

  There was one answer, though.

  The Protocol.

  Would you be as foolish as to think that it would save your kind, the voice hissed. It is suicide.

  “Yes,” he muttered. “They knew.”

  Of course they knew, all along. They knew everything, and withheld it from everyone. He was the antithesis of that. He would bring knowledge to all. Enlightenment.

  He was the Arbiter of all mankind.

  Nothing could change that now.