Chapter 39: Julian

The flight to California had been peaceful so far, though the two men occupying the seats near the window could hardly have looked more different from one another.

Hanzo Sol-Byol sat with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, his head resting against the seat as he stared through the window at the endless blanket of clouds below. As usual, he dressed almost entirely in dark colors. A fitted black shirt clung closely to his athletic frame beneath a charcoal jacket, while equally dark trousers completed the gothic appearance he had cultivated throughout his idol career. Even without the sword that normally accompanied his performances, there was something intimidating about him, as though he might stand up at any moment and challenge someone to a duel simply because the flight had become boring.

Beside him sat Valefor Estrella, who somehow managed to make commercial air travel look like a formal occasion. His white trench coat had been carefully folded and placed across his lap, revealing an immaculate vest beneath it. His loose-fitting slacks were perfectly pressed, and even after several hours aboard the aircraft, there wasn't a wrinkle anywhere that Valefor considered unacceptable. He sat straight in his seat with one leg crossed over the other, quietly reading through the information Scorpio had provided them before their departure.

Hanzo glanced sideways at him, "Anything useful in there?"

Valefor lowered the documents slightly. "Considering Monsieur Scorpio 'as told us almost nothing about what we are actually investigating? Non."

"Thought so," Hanzo returned his attention to the window.

Their assignment had come with frustratingly few details. They were flying to California to meet Julian Artisan and inspect a project that he believed could help reverse Sweetdance City's declining attendance. Beyond that, Scorpio had been unusually vague.

Valefor turned another web page, "Apparently Monsieur Artisan calls 'is project… Gamer Idols."

Hanzo slowly looked at him, "Gamer Idols?"

"Oui."

Hanzo huffed and looked away, "That's stupid."

Valefor sighed as well, "You 'ave not even seen it. Could be somezing special"

"Still sounds stupid."

While they waited for the plane to begin its descent into California, Hanzo found himself scrolling through the information Scorpio had provided about the man they were supposed to meet. Julian Artisan's profile was considerably longer than he expected. There were decades of performances, technological achievements, international awards, patents, charitable projects, and enough Council records to make Hanzo wonder why Scorpio hadn't simply given them a separate briefcase for Julian alone.

The more Hanzo read, however, the deeper his frown became, "Something doesn't feel right."

Valefor turned away from the window. "Vat do you mean?"

Hanzo continued scrolling through the profile on his tablet. "Julian Artisan is a strange case."

"Zat is 'ardly a revelation, mon ami. Half ze stories I 'ave 'eard about Monsieur Artisan begin with someone describing 'I'm as strange."

"I'm serious."

That was enough to make Valefor pay closer attention. He shifted in his seat and looked toward the tablet screen while Hanzo returned to the beginning of Julian's biography.

"He arrived in Sweetdance City when he was seventeen," Hanzo said. "But unlike most idols, he wasn't chasing fame. Didn't care about getting rich either."

Valefor nodded. "I believe zat is relatively well known."

"Keep reading."

Hanzo handed him the tablet. According to the biography, Julian had been sent away from his hometown in Puerto Rico after his family became concerned about the environment surrounding him. The community he grew up in had struggled with heavy crime, and while there was no evidence that Julian himself had participated in gang activity, his earliest employment had placed him dangerously close to people who did. As a teenager, he earned money maintaining speakers, amplifiers, mixing equipment, and other electronics used by local shady night clubs. Unfortunately, Julian didn't care whether the people paying him was an ordinary club manager or someone involved in something far more dangerous.

Hanzo tapped the screen, "That's what bothers me."

Valefor raised an eyebrow. "'e repaired musical equipment."

"For everyone. Which means he knew people. Dangerous people."

Valefor handed the tablet back. "Knowing criminals does not make someone a criminal."

"I didn't say it did." Hanzo leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. His expression remained thoughtful rather than accusatory.

"But look at the rest of his life. Kid grows up around crime. Works around people involved in it. His family gets worried enough to send him all the way to Sweet Dance City when he's seventeen."

He scrolled farther down, "Then somehow that same kid becomes one of the most respected idols in the world."

"People are capable of changing zeir circumstances."

"That's not the strange part." Hanzo stopped on another section of the biography. "Computer science."

Valefor sighed. "Ah."

"Exactly." Hanzo turned the tablet around. "According to this, Julian transitioned from music into computer science. Programming, operating systems, network infrastructure, security architecture. Eventually he's building technology used across the world. No university. No technical institute. No computer science degree. No engineering program. Nothing."

Hanzo lowered the tablet. "According to this biography, the man never stepped foot inside a classroom to learn any of it."

Valefor smiled faintly. "Self-education exists, monsieur."

"I know." Hanzo stared at Julian's photograph on the screen. "But this isn't somebody teaching himself how to fix a computer. This guy went from repairing amplifiers in Puerto Rico to designing systems governments depend on."

Hanzo shook his head. "That's a hell of a jump."

For several moments, Valefor said nothing. Hanzo's suspicions weren't completely unreasonable, even if he believed his companion was looking too deeply into a man's childhood simply because their assignment had left them with too much time to think.

Eventually, Valefor leaned comfortably against his seat, "Perhaps you are searching for mystery zere none exists."

Valefor continued in his characteristically elegant manner. "Vhatever circumstances surrounded Monsieur Julian as a teenager, he left them behind many years ago. Perhaps repairing that equipment gave him an understanding of electronics. Perhaps music introduced him to digital technology. Perhaps he simply possessed an extraordinary talent and discovered how to educate himself."

"That's a lot of perhaps."

"Oui. Because neither of us knows ze answer."

Hanzo grunted. Valefor looked toward the window again, "Vhat we do know is what Monsieur Artisan became. 'e became an idol respected zroughout the world. 'e created technology that 'as improved countless lives. 'e raised a family, supported Sweetdance City, and continued contributing long after he ceased performing regularly."

Valefor glanced back toward Hanzo, "Vhatever ghosts followed him from Puerto Rico, zey do not appear to 'ave dictated ze man 'e became."

Hanzo stared at the profile for another few seconds before locking the tablet, "Still strange."

Valefor laughed quietly. "Moi did not say 'e wasn't strange."

Hanzo slipped the tablet into his bag, "I'm still keeping an eye on him."

"Naturally. Vous always 'as a instinct in problemz."

The aircraft began banking gently as it approached California. Valefor looked through the window as the landscape emerged beneath the clouds, while Hanzo remained lost in thought. Perhaps Valefor was right. Perhaps Julian Artisan was simply an extraordinarily intelligent man who had taken an unconventional road through life.

Still, Hanzo had spent too many years studying opponents to ignore his instincts. Whether holding a sword or investigating a person, he had learned that unusual movements deserved attention. There was something about Julian Artisan's story that didn't quite fit. Hanzo just couldn't identify what it was yet.

The aircraft touched down in California shortly after midday, its wheels striking the runway with a brief shudder before settling into a smooth roll. Valefor looked through the window as terminals, service vehicles, and other aircraft passed beyond the glass, while Hanzo calmly gathered the documents he had been reading during the flight. Their investigation into Julian Artisan could finally begin, although neither man knew exactly what awaited them once they reached his workplace.

After leaving the aircraft, they followed the steady flow of passengers through the terminal and toward baggage claim. Hanzo retrieved a plain black suitcase from the carousel, while Valefor collected a larger piece of cream-colored luggage that looked considerably more expensive. Their ordinary belongings were easy enough to retrieve, but neither man headed toward the exit afterward. They still had two considerably more important possessions waiting for them.

Their weapons had traveled separately under the procedures required for transporting professional combat equipment aboard a commercial flight. Hanzo and Valefor made their way to the designated security counter, where an airport employee checked their identification against the documents filed before departure. Several forms were placed on the counter before them, confirming ownership, professional use, and their responsibility for the weapons once they left airport custody.

Hanzo read through the paperwork quickly before signing his name. His Jin-Gum was more than a stage prop; it was a genuine sword used in his Haidong Gumdo training and performances, and he treated its return with far greater care than his suitcase. Once the appropriate signatures had been verified, an employee brought out the secured carrying case containing the sword. Hanzo inspected the seals, confirmed that nothing had been disturbed during the flight, and signed the final acknowledgment before taking possession of it.

Valefor's procedure was nearly identical. His rapier arrived in its own protective case, carefully secured for transportation, and he patiently reviewed each document before adding his elegant signature wherever required. Once airport personnel released the weapon into his custody, he inspected the case and its contents with the practiced attention of someone who considered his sword an extension of himself. Satisfied that everything was exactly as he had left it, he secured the rapier once again and joined Hanzo. Only then were the two swordsmen finally free to leave the airport.

They moved through the terminal carrying enough luggage to attract a few curious glances. Hanzo hardly cared. With his dark clothing, black luggage, and long secured sword case, he already looked intimidating enough that most travelers instinctively gave him room. Valefor presented the opposite image beside him, his white trench coat and refined appearance making the rapier case in his hand seem almost appropriate, as though he were a wealthy gentleman who had somehow wandered into the modern century with his dueling weapon intact.

The automatic doors opened, and warm California air greeted them. Cars continuously pulled through the passenger pickup lanes. Drivers stood beside vehicles holding signs for arriving clients, while families embraced relatives they hadn't seen in months. Hanzo scanned the crowd, expecting that Julian would have sent an assistant or chauffeur to collect them. Instead, Julian himself was waiting.

He stood just beyond the busiest portion of the pickup area, unmistakable from the photographs Hanzo had spent much of the flight studying. Behind him waited a long limousine, its driver remaining near the vehicle while Julian watched the airport doors for his guests.

Hanzo slowed slightly. For the first time, the man from the strange biography was no longer a photograph on a tablet. He was real.

The seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican teenager who had been sent away from a troubled hometown, the legendary idol who had somehow transformed himself into one of the world's foremost computer experts without a traditional education, and the man who now claimed he had found a way to help save Sweetdance City were all standing only a short distance away.

Valefor adjusted his grip on the handle of his rapier case and continued toward him.

Hanzo followed, carrying his Jin-Gum at his side.

Julian stepped forward as Hanzo and Valefor approached the limousine. His attention went first to Hanzo, and he extended his hand with a respectful smile.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Hanzo."

Hanzo retained the same frown he had worn since leaving the airport. He shifted the case containing his Jin-Gum into his other hand before accepting Julian's handshake.

"Likewise." The response was polite enough, although there was little warmth behind it. Hanzo's grip was firm, and his eyes remained fixed on Julian as though their handshake were merely another opportunity to study him. After everything he had read aboard the plane, he wanted to see what kind of man Julian Artisan actually was.

Julian didn't appear bothered by the scrutiny. Once they released hands, he turned toward Valefor and greeted him just as warmly, "Bonjour, monsieur Valefor. Je suis ravi de vous rencontrer enfin. J'espère que votre voyage s'est bien passé."

Valefor's eyebrows rose. For perhaps the first time since arriving in California, the Frenchman's practiced composure slipped. The pronunciation wasn't hesitant or pieced together from memorized phrases. Julian spoke naturally and confidently, without needing to stop and search for his words.

Valefor answered him in French before switching back to English. "Your French is excellent, Monsieur Artisan. I confess, vous have surprised me."

Julian smiled. "How so?"

"Moi was under the impression that vous spoke English and Spanish."

"Well, I do," Julian shrugged as though there were nothing remarkable about it. "I travel constantly for business. Eventually I got tired of always depending on interpreters."

Valefor's curiosity grew. "Zen 'ow many languages do vous speak?"

Julian paused to count them, "English and Spanish, naturally. French, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, German, and Portuguese. I'm studying Korean too, but I'm not very fluent yet."

Hanzo's eyes narrowed. Valefor glanced toward his companion, already anticipating the reaction. Hanzo said nothing. That somehow made his response more noticeable.

During the flight, Hanzo had already found Julian's history unusual. A teenager who maintained sound equipment in a crime-ridden Puerto Rican community had become an internationally respected idol. That idol had somehow taught himself enough about computers to build an entirely different career in technology without receiving a formal education. Now Hanzo could add eight languages to the list. Nine, if Julian's Korean studies eventually amounted to anything.

Julian turned toward Hanzo. "I considered greeting you in Korean, but I figured I'd save myself the embarrassment."

Hanzo continued staring at him, "Good idea."

Valefor suppressed a chuckle. Julian merely smiled, apparently unoffended by Hanzo's bluntness. He gestured toward the limousine waiting behind them as the chauffeur stepped forward to assist with their luggage.

Hanzo allowed the driver to take his suitcase, but kept the Jin-Gum case firmly in his own hand. Valefor did the same with his rapier, surrendering his luggage while retaining personal responsibility for his weapon.

As Julian led them toward the limousine, Valefor seemed pleasantly fascinated by their host. Hanzo was experiencing something entirely different. The creator of whatever strange combination of music, idols, and video games they had crossed the country to investigate. Hanzo's suspicions hadn't diminished after meeting Julian. Quite the opposite. The man had somehow become even more mysterious.

The limousine pulled away from the airport and merged into the steady California traffic. Valefor sat comfortably against the leather seat, watching the city pass beyond the tinted windows, while Hanzo remained noticeably less relaxed. His Jin-Gum rested securely beside him, and every so often his eyes drifted toward Julian as though he were still trying to determine exactly what kind of man Scorpio had sent them to meet.

Eventually, Hanzo leaned forward and rested his forearms against his knees. He had already spent enough time listening to vague descriptions and reading biographies.

"So vat's going on?"

Julian glanced over at him. "With the project?"

"Oui. Scorpio sends us across ze country because vous claim vous got something that can help Sweetdance City. All I've 'eard so far is 'Gamer Idols.' Moi want to know what zat actually means."

Julian didn't seem bothered by Hanzo's impatience. He settled comfortably into his seat and looked toward the window for a moment before answering, "The idea came to me when I watched Conrad's final performance."

The atmosphere inside the limousine changed immediately. Hanzo's expression hardened, while Valefor turned away from the window. Both men had been there when Conrad and Ryu performed the Dynamite Maneuver. They had stood ready at the curtains knowing that at any moment they might have to intervene. Julian had witnessed the same performance from across the country.

"I watched it live on television," Julian continued. "Conrad and Ryu accomplished something incredible that night. They weren't singing. Their swords were doing the performance for them. Every strike, every block, every movement told the audience what was happening."

His expression became more serious, "But the entire performance depended on danger."

Hanzo said nothing, he couldn't argue with that.

"Real swords. Acrobatics. Ropes. Conrad dropping from above the stage." Julian shook his head. "Even if Conrad had been perfectly healthy, one mistake could've seriously injured either of them."

Valefor nodded slowly. As a swordsman himself, he understood that better than most. No amount of rehearsal could completely eliminate the danger of placing two armed performers together and demanding increasingly spectacular choreography from them.

"So I started wondering," Julian continued, "how do we preserve the excitement without requiring performers to put their bodies through that kind of risk?"

Hanzo raised an eyebrow, "Let me guess. Video games."

"Exactly. Digital combat lets us exaggerate everything. An idol can leap from a building, swing a sword larger than they are, throw fire across an arena, or survive an explosion without actually being endangered. We can synchronize the action with music and let the performers control what happens."

Valefor's interest was beginning to show, "So ze competition itself becomes choreography?"

Julian pointed toward him. "That's the idea!"

He then held up two fingers, "It solves two problems at once. First, we create a safer environment for dynamic performances. We don't have to keep asking idols to perform increasingly dangerous stunts just because audiences want something they've never seen before."

He lowered one finger, "Second, it gives us another way to introduce a new generation of performers."

Hanzo immediately frowned, "There it is."

Julian looked at him. "There what is?"

"Replacement." Hanzo crossed his arms. "That's what people are going to hear. Sweetdance City's old idols are disappearing, so now Julian Artisan shows up with gamers to replace them."

"That's not what I'm proposing."

"Doesn't matter. People will say it." Hanzo's voice remained characteristically direct. "You think the idols are going to be happy about it? They've spent years training. Singing, dancing, building audiences. Then somebody walks in with a controller and gets called an idol?"

Hanzo continued. "And what about the fans? Some of them aren't coming to Dance Square because they want video games. They're coming because they want real idols."

Julian remained remarkably calm, "I agree."

That answer stopped Hanzo.

Julian leaned forward slightly, "Which is why gamers aren't replacing idols. They'll coexist."

Julian gestured between Hanzo and Valefor, "Think about your own performances. Hanzo, Haidong Gumdo doesn't replace your music. Your swordsmanship enhances it. Valefor's fencing doesn't replace dancing. It gives his movements a different character."

Valefor smiled slightly at the comparison, "Gaming can do ze same thing."

Julian leaned back again, "Sometimes the gamer will be the focus. Sometimes the traditional idol will be the focus. Sometimes they'll perform together. A singer could provide the music while two gamers battle. A dancer could perform choreography synchronized to the match. Traditional idols could even participate in the games themselves."

Hanzo's expression didn't change, "And you think people are going to accept that?"

Julian smiled, "No. Not immediately."

For the first time, Valefor laughed.

Julian continued, completely untroubled. "Anything genuinely new is going to make somebody angry. Some people will hate it because it isn't what they're used to. Others will love it precisely because they've never seen it before."

He looked directly at Hanzo, "I'm not asking Sweetdance City to abandon what made it successful. I'm trying to give it another tool."

Hanzo remained silent for several seconds before looking away. He still wasn't convinced. Perhaps the technology worked. Perhaps Julian really could create spectacular battles without placing anyone in danger. That didn't mean audiences would accept gamers standing beside performers who had spent their lives earning the title of idol.

Julian seemed perfectly aware of his doubts, "Don't worry, I'm not expecting either of you to believe me because I gave you a speech in the back of a limousine."

The vehicle began slowing as it approached their destination. Julian looked through the tinted window and smiled, "You'll understand soon enough."

Hanzo followed his gaze toward the buildings outside, "We'll see."

Valefor quietly smiled between them. Whatever Julian Artisan had waiting inside his workplace, it was becoming increasingly clear that Hanzo intended to make him prove every word.

The limousine eventually turned away from the busier streets and entered a sprawling business district. Hanzo watched through the tinted window as office buildings passed them one after another, but one structure ahead immediately distinguished itself from everything surrounding it. The enormous building occupied an entire city block, its polished exterior rising high above the streets while rows of windows reflected the California sunlight.

The limousine slowed before the main entrance and came to a stop. Valefor stepped out first, straightening his white trench coat as he looked upward toward the building. Hanzo followed with his Jin-Gum case in hand, his expression remaining characteristically unimpressed even as he tilted his head back to take in the sheer size of the structure.

Valefor gave an appreciative whistle. "This is where you work, Monsieur Artisan?"

Julian stepped out behind them and adjusted his tie, "No. This is where I live."

Both swordsmen followed his finger toward the highest level of the building. Far above the offices was a luxurious penthouse built into the upper floors, its enormous windows overlooking the surrounding city. Several terraces extended from the structure, complete with gardens and shaded sitting areas that seemed impossibly peaceful compared to the busy streets below.

Hanzo stared upward, "You live on top of your office?"

"Best commute in California," Julian answered casually.

Valefor laughed. "Vous cannot argue with the efficiency."

Julian headed toward the entrance, leaving the two men to follow. The moment they stepped through the doors, the atmosphere changed. Hanzo had expected something cold and corporate from a technology company large enough to occupy an entire city block. Instead, the headquarters was alive with activity. Employees moved through broad hallways carrying tablets and equipment, while groups gathered around workstations discussing projects. Others worked behind glass walls filled with diagrams, computer displays, and handwritten notes.

More surprising was how relaxed everyone appeared. There was conversation. There was laughter. And whenever Julian passed someone, he was acknowledged immediately.

"Morning, Julian!"

Julian raised a hand. "Morning."

Another employee hurried past carrying a stack of folders, "Hey, boss!"

"Don't drop those."

"I won't!"

A woman leaving one of the nearby offices smiled as she passed him. "Good morning, Mr. Artisan."

"Good morning. How's the project?"

"Almost finished."

"Good. Don't rush it."

She nodded cheerfully and continued on her way.

Valefor watched these exchanges with growing interest. There was respect in the way the employees addressed Julian, but none of the nervousness he had seen around powerful executives elsewhere. Nobody suddenly stopped talking when Julian entered the room. Nobody straightened anxiously at their desks or pretended to be busy because the owner happened to be walking past.

They simply greeted him. And Julian greeted them back.

"Vous employees seem remarkably 'appy to be 'ere," Valefor observed.

Julian smiled, "They should be. Everyone who works for me is paid very well. I expect people to work hard, I expect them to know their responsibilities and do their jobs properly. But if I'm going to demand excellent work, then I'm going to pay for excellent work."

They passed another open workspace where several programmers were gathered around a large monitor. One noticed Julian and waved. Julian returned the gesture without interrupting their conversation.

"I never understood companies that brag about record profits and then act like paying their employees is some terrible financial burden," Julian added. "Take care of your people, and they'll usually take care of the company."

Valefor smiled approvingly. "A refreshingly simple philosophy."

"Simple works."

Hanzo remained silent. His eyes moved from Julian to the employees surrounding them. The more he observed, the stranger his impression of Julian became. Nothing seemed to match neatly. A teenager who had grown up around crime. An idol who became a computer scientist without attending university. A businessman fluent in eight languages. A wealthy executive who lived above his own headquarters. And now an employer whose workers seemed genuinely pleased whenever their boss walked through the room.

Hanzo tightened his grip slightly around the handle of his sword case. Every new piece of information was supposed to help him understand Julian Artisan. Instead, each one seemed to give him another question.

Julian stopped before a secured set of doors farther inside the building. He placed his hand against the scanner beside them, and the locks disengaged with a quiet click.

He glanced back at his guests, "Come on."

Hanzo and Valefor followed. Whatever Julian had brought them across the country to see was waiting somewhere beyond those doors. The secured doors opened into a room large enough to make both Hanzo and Valefor stop in their tracks.

At first glance, the chamber resembled one of the performance halls in Sweetdance City. A broad circular stage occupied its center, surrounded by tiered seating and lighting equipment positioned high along the walls. Yet the similarities ended there. Strange projectors surrounded the platform from every direction, while transparent panels, sensors, and small cameras were embedded throughout the floor and ceiling. Thin rings of equipment circled the stage like pieces of some enormous technological halo.

Valefor slowly stepped farther inside, his eyes traveling across the machinery. "Monsieur Julian, is zis—"

"Take out your phones," Julian said casually.

Hanzo frowned, "What?"

"Your phones."

Neither man moved for a moment. Julian gestured toward them impatiently. "Come on. There's an app I want you to download. Connect to the building's Wi-Fi. It'll be waiting for you."

Hanzo gave Valefor a skeptical glance. Valefor responded with a small shrug before reaching into his coat and retrieving his phone. Hanzo reluctantly did the same.

Once connected to the network, an application appeared exactly where Julian said it would.

SWEET DANCE GAMER IDOL INTERFACE

Hanzo stared at the title, "You already put this on your network?"

"It's my network."

"Right."

Valefor smiled faintly and opened the application. Hanzo followed, and both phones displayed an elaborate title screen accompanied by a single command.

START

They pressed it. Almost immediately, the interfaces changed. Virtual buttons appeared beneath their thumbs. Directional controls occupied one side of each screen while several commands appeared on the other, accompanied by meters and icons neither man yet understood. Their phones had effectively transformed into digital game controllers.

Then the room went dark. Hanzo instinctively looked up. A low electronic hum surrounded them as the projectors activated one after another. Light swept across the empty stage, building shapes out of nothing. Broken streets appeared first, followed by shattered buildings reaching toward a darkened sky. Smoke drifted between ruined towers while sparks floated through the air, creating the illusion that an entire city had recently been devastated by war.

Valefor's eyes widened, "Mon Dieu…"

The stage was gone. In its place stood a ruined city. Then two figures materialized within it.

Hanzo immediately recognized the first. Himself. Or, more accurately, an idealized digital recreation of himself. His avatar wore a long black trench coat that moved gently in the artificial wind, its dark fabric giving him an even more severe appearance than his usual stage attire. In his hands rested an enormous broadsword, considerably larger than the Jin-Gum Hanzo actually carried.

Hanzo stared at it. Then at himself. Then back at the hologram.

Beside his avatar appeared Valefor. The Frenchman's digital counterpart couldn't have been more different. Flowing pale fabric surrounded him in an elaborate angelic gown, with graceful layers that seemed almost weightless as they moved around his body. His weapon was an épée, elegant and slender, complementing the refined appearance of his character perfectly.

Valefor's astonishment gradually transformed into fascination, "My goodness."

Hanzo's expression remained considerably less enthusiastic, "What is this?"

Julian stood near the edge of the room with his hands casually in his pockets, looking as though nothing unusual had happened. "I took the liberty of premaking your characters for the test."

Hanzo looked sharply toward him, "You made that look like me."

"That's generally the purpose of an avatar."

Valefor stepped closer to the stage, studying his digital counterpart from several angles. Even the face resembled him remarkably well.

"'ow did vous accomplish zis, Monsieur Artisan? Nous never provided vous with scans."

"No need." Julian walked toward one of the control terminals. "A couple of years ago, Sweetdance City commissioned me to create a program that could analyze DanceTube videos."

Hanzo's eyes narrowed again.

Julian continued. "The original purpose was fashion design. The software studies recordings from multiple angles, estimates an idol's proportions and movements, and reconstructs a digital model. Designers can then experiment with costumes or submit them to a tailor to creaye custom idol outfits before anyone has to manufacture them."

Valefor looked down at the elaborate gown worn by his avatar. Julian tapped several commands into the terminal.

"I already had the technology to recreate idols digitally. I just repurposed it. Instead of putting clothes on static models, I turned the models into playable characters."

Hanzo looked down at his phone. Tentatively, he pressed the directional control. His avatar moved. Hanzo immediately stopped. He pressed it again. The digital swordsman took another step through the ruined street.

Valefor experimented with his own controls, causing his avatar to glide sideways with an elegant movement that resembled fencing footwork. A delighted smile spread across his face, "Incroyable!"

Hanzo wasn't ready to offer the same praise. Yet his attention had become completely fixed on the stage. He pressed another button. His avatar swung the broadsword. The enormous weapon tore through the air with impossible force before striking the pavement. The holographic street fractured beneath it, sending digital debris flying across the battlefield.

Hanzo slowly looked toward Julian. Julian smiled, "That's the part Conrad couldn't do."

The excitement in the room suddenly carried a more serious meaning. Conrad had needed ropes. Steel. Months of preparation. And ultimately his own body.

Here, Hanzo had just shattered a street with his sword while standing several meters away holding nothing more dangerous than a cellphone.

Julian gestured toward the two avatars, "Your real bodies stay off the battlefield. But your performances don't have to."

Julian watched the two digital swordsmen take their positions on opposite sides of the ruined city. Satisfied that everything was responding properly, he reached into his pocket and raised his own phone. With a few taps, dramatic orchestral music erupted throughout the chamber, filling the artificial battlefield with pounding percussion and frantic strings.

Hanzo immediately recognized the melody.

Julian grinned. "Hanzo. Valefor. I think it's time to give both of you a chance to settle your rivalry once and for all."

Valefor glanced toward Hanzo with an amused smile. Hanzo tightened his grip around his phone.

"And the music you'll be fighting to?" Julian continued. "Beethoven Virus."

The rhythm intensified. Julian stepped away from the stage and dramatically swept one arm toward the battlefield. "Let the dueling begin!"

Hanzo and Valefor wasted no time. Both avatars lunged forward. Their digital blades collided in the center of the ruined street with a brilliant flash of light. The impact produced a metallic crash perfectly synchronized with the music, followed by streaks of light that scattered across the battlefield like sparks.

Hanzo's eyebrows rose. He had expected awkward controls. His experience with video games was limited, and he had assumed there would be an irritating period of memorizing buttons before he could accomplish anything useful. Instead, the interface seemed to adapt itself to him.

The virtual controls subtly shifted beneath his fingers, placing the commands where his thumbs naturally wanted them. Movement required almost no thought. Within seconds, Hanzo understood how to advance, retreat, dodge, block, and strike.

Valefor discovered the same thing. His avatar darted gracefully around Hanzo's larger swordsman, the flowing fabric of his angelic costume trailing behind him. Every movement carried the elegance of Valefor's fencing style. His épée flashed forward in a series of rapid thrusts before he immediately retreated beyond the reach of Hanzo's broadsword.

Hanzo responded with raw force. His avatar planted its feet and swung. Valefor dodged.

The broadsword smashed through the corner of a ruined building instead. Concrete exploded outward in a spectacular cloud of digital debris as the music continued pounding around them.

Valefor laughed. "Magnifique!"

"Hold still." Hanzo attacked again.

Julian watched from the edge of the room with a satisfied smile. There was no blood. No bruising. No broken bones.

Neither man needed protective equipment, medical personnel, or carefully rehearsed choreography. Yet to an observer, the fight looked considerably more dangerous than anything either swordsman would have been permitted to perform with real weapons.

Speed lines streaked behind Valefor whenever he dashed across the battlefield. Hanzo's heavier attacks produced flashes and shock waves that shook the holographic environment. Every parry created showers of sparks, while particularly powerful impacts briefly illuminated the entire stage. The battle was becoming a performance all by itself.

Hanzo barely noticed Julian anymore. Despite his earlier dismissal of gaming, something much older and considerably more familiar had taken control of him. Competition.

He wanted to beat Valefor. Badly.

Hanzo glanced down at his phone. His health remained visible to him but nowhere on the holographic battlefield. Valefor couldn't see how much damage he had inflicted, just as Hanzo couldn't see Valefor's remaining health. That meant neither opponent could relax simply because the other was close to defeat.

Hanzo launched another combination. His avatar swung high. Valefor blocked. Hanzo immediately followed with a low strike.

Valefor jumped backward. The two characters rushed together once more, and their swords collided. This time, neither moved.

The broadsword pressed against the épée as the avatars strained against one another. A violent aura erupted around them while an urgent command appeared simultaneously on both phones.

Hanzo stared at it. He tapped. Valefor did the same. Again, and again, and again. Their thumbs hammered the buttons as quickly as possible.

Onstage, the two avatars struggled for dominance. Hanzo's broadsword slowly pushed forward, "Come on…"

Valefor's eyes narrowed, "Non."

He increased his pace. Hanzo pressed faster. For several seconds, neither gained enough ground to win.

Then Valefor's avatar suddenly twisted its blade. Hanzo's broadsword was thrown aside. His character staggered backward.

"Dammit."

Valefor's phone vibrated. A new command flashed across his screen.

POWER MODE

His eyes widened. "Oui?"

Hanzo immediately looked toward him, "What?"

Valefor smiled, "Rein."

Valefor tapped the command. The interface instantly transformed. A rapid sequence of directional inputs and button commands appeared across the screen. Valefor understood immediately and began entering them.

Left. Right. Up. Down Perfect.

The holographic battlefield darkened. A column of brilliant light descended around Valefor's avatar.

Hanzo stared, "What the hell is that?"

Julian merely smiled. Valefor entered the final command. His avatar disappeared. A fraction of a second later, it materialized directly in front of Hanzo.

The épée struck. Once. Twice. Then again.

The attacks became so fast that the blade seemed to exist in several places simultaneously. Brilliant streaks of light crossed Hanzo's avatar from every direction as Valefor's digital swordsman darted around him with impossible speed.

Hanzo hammered at his controls, "Move!"

His avatar couldn't. It was staggered.

Valefor's character leaped into the air, the angelic gown spreading around him like wings. The épée glowed brilliantly before he descended with one final strike.

A tremendous flash consumed the stage. The music reached its climax. When the light disappeared, Hanzo's avatar remained standing for one brief it collapsed.

DEFEAT appeared across Hanzo's phone.

On Valefor's: VICTORY

Silence followed. Hanzo stared at his screen. Then at his fallen avatar. Then at Valefor.

"You cheated."

Valefor looked genuinely offended. "Moi did no such zing."

"You used some special attack."

"Ze game offered it to moi."

"Because you cheated."

Julian covered his mouth, unsuccessfully hiding his amusement. Valefor straightened his white trench coat with exaggerated dignity. Then he looked at Hanzo with a victorious smile.

"Ne sous-estime jamais le pouvoir des jeux."

Hanzo frowned. "I know enough French to know you're being smug."

"Excellente!" Valefor gave him a graceful bow. "Then moi message was not vasted."

Hanzo looked down at his phone again. His expression remained irritated. Yet almost immediately, his thumb moved toward the option that had appeared beneath the defeat message.

REMATCH

Julian smile widened. Hanzo might not have realized it yet, but the experiment had already succeeded.

Julian waited until the holographic battlefield had faded away before approaching the two swordsmen. The ruined city dissolved into scattered particles of light, taking Hanzo and Valefor's avatars with it until the platform once again resembled an ordinary stage. Only the phones in their hands remained illuminated, Hanzo's still displaying his humiliating defeat while Valefor's proudly announced his victory.

"So?" Julian asked. "What do you think?"

Valefor looked toward the now-empty stage, his expression filled with wonder. For several seconds, he seemed to be organizing his thoughts, searching for words grand enough to describe what he had just experienced.

"Monsieur Artisan, I believe vous may 'ave created something extraordinary."

Julian smiled but allowed him to continue.

"Sweetdance City 'as always depended upon the physical limitations of its performers. Nous train our bodies for years because everything ze audience witnesses must ultimately be accomplished by ze 'uman body." Valefor gestured toward the stage. "But zis removes zose limitations without removing ze performer."

Hanzo glanced toward him.

Valefor's excitement continued to build. "Imagine a singer performing vile an entire fantasy vorld forms around her. Imagine dancers interacting vith digital creatures synchronized perfectly vith zeir movements. Sword fights could become battles between knights, monsters, angels, anything ze imagination desires."

He looked down at the phone still resting in his hand. "And because the performer controls ze action, it is not merely animation playing behind them. Zey remain part of ze performance."

"Exactly," Julian said.

Valefor turned toward Hanzo. "Zis could revolutionize Sweetdance City."

Hanzo didn't answer. His expression had returned to the same suspicious frown he had worn throughout much of the day.

Valefor noticed. "Vous disagree?"

"Didn't say that."

Hanzo slipped his phone into his pocket. "The technology works well enough."

Coming from Hanzo, that was practically glowing praise.

"But?" Hanzo looked directly at Julian. "But I don't trust this."

Julian raised an eyebrow.

Hanzo gestured around the enormous room. "You built all of this. You created the software. You made the avatars, designed the combat system, built an adaptive controller, synchronized it with music, and developed holographic technology that can turn an empty stage into an entire city."

"More or less."

Hanzo's frown deepened, "And you're offering it to Sweetdance City because you just want to help?"

Julian casually placed his hands into his pockets, "That's part of it."

"There." Hanzo pointed at him. "I knew it."

Valefor sighed. "Monsieur Hanzo…"

"No. Nobody puts this much work into something and asks for nothing." Hanzo stepped closer to Julian. "So what do you want?"

For the first time since their arrival, Julian's playful demeanor changed. Not completely. But enough to be noticed. His smile remained, although something more calculating appeared behind it.

"You're right."

Valefor's excitement diminished slightly.

Julian continued calmly. "I do want something in return."

Hanzo folded his arms. "Knew it. What?"

Julian looked between them, "The secrets of Sweetdance City."

Neither swordsman responded. Valefor eventually tilted his head, "I beg your pardon?"

Hanzo stared at him, "What secrets?"

Julian's smile widened, "That's exactly what I want to know."

Before either man could respond, something moved behind Julian. Hanzo's instincts reacted immediately. His hand shot toward the case containing his Jin-Gum before his mind had even identified what he was seeing.

Valefor froze. A tiny creature floated out from behind Julian's shoulder. It resembled a seahorse, yet nothing about its movements belonged to an ordinary marine animal. It was approximately twelve inches tall and remained suspended effortlessly in the air, its curled tail swaying beneath it as though it were floating through invisible water.

The creature circled Julian once. Then twice. Hanzo's eyes widened. Valefor took an involuntary step backward.

"Mon Dieu…"

The creature completed another playful circle before settling beside Julian's shoulder. Hanzo's suspicion disappeared beneath genuine shock.

"That's… An Elf."

Julian looked delighted by their reaction, "Correct."

Hanzo stared at the creature. There was no holographic shimmer. No projector illuminating it. No visible machinery keeping it airborne. It was alive.

Julian casually reached into his pocket. The little seahorse immediately became attentive. He withdrew a tiny piece of candy and held it between two fingers. The Elf's eyes fixed upon the treat.

Its tongue suddenly flicked outward. Hanzo flinched as the surprisingly long tongue wrapped around the candy and snapped back into the creature's mouth. The little Elf happily sucked on its prize, making tiny movements of satisfaction as it hovered beside Julian.

Valefor watched in fascination. Julian gently offered his finger, allowing the creature to curl its tail around it for support.

"Such fascinating creatures." His voice had taken on the unmistakable enthusiasm of a researcher confronting a mystery he desperately wanted to solve.

Hanzo looked from the Elf to Julian. "Where did you get that?"

Julian didn't answer immediately. Instead, he watched the little creature enjoying its candy, "I know quite a bit about technology. I know programming. Robotics. Artificial intelligence. Holography. Biological simulation."

He lifted his hand slightly, bringing the tiny creature closer, "But this? I can't explain this. And I don't like mysteries I can't explain."

He allowed the creature to float freely again. "I've studied it. I've observed its behavior. I've examined everything I can without harming it."

His eyes followed the little seahorse as it circled his head once more. "And I've reached one unavoidable conclusion. Someone in Sweetdance City is making them."

The room suddenly felt much less welcoming. Hanzo had spent the entire journey wondering what Julian Artisan was hiding. Now he understood something far more troubling. Julian wasn't hiding the mystery. He was hunting it.

Valefor stared at the tiny Elf hovering beside Julian. Then a memory surfaced. An investigation. A missing Elf egg. Something that had been smuggled beyond Sweetdance City's borders when it should never have left the city at all. And a man who had died because of it.

Valefor's expression drained of its earlier fascination, "Scuti…"

Julian looked toward him. Valefor's eyes narrowed. "It vas vous?"

Hanzo immediately glanced between them. Julian's smile disappeared. For several seconds, he said nothing. The little seahorse continued hovering innocently beside him, completely unaware of the sudden tension filling the room.

Finally, Julian lowered his eyes, "I'm sorry about what happened to Scuti. It wasn't my intention to hurt him. But he left me with no choice."

Hanzo's expression hardened immediately, "What happened?"

Julian walked toward the edge of the stage. He seemed to understand that whatever trust he had established with the two men was about to be tested considerably more than his Gamer Idol technology ever could.

"It started after my daughter was attacked."

Valefor said nothing. Hanzo knew enough about the incident to understand whom Julian meant.

"After what happened to Magali, I wanted answers," Julian continued. "I wasn't willing to wait for someone else to find them. So I spared no expense."

He turned back toward them, "Eventually, that led me to Brandon. Brandon told me about his father. Trevor had been working on something secret—something he didn't want connected to any network. No internet. No external communications. Nothing I could remotely access."

Julian's expression became thoughtful, "Trevor needed information transferred between himself and another person involved in the project. Physically."

"Scuti," Valefor said.

Julian nodded, "Trevor gave him a memory drive containing information that needed to reach the other person."

Hanzo folded his arms, "And that's when you started digging through Council servers."

"Yes." Julian didn't bother denying it.

"Our agreement prohibited me from accessing those systems without authorization. But Trevor had already violated the terms under which my operating system was being used. As far as I was concerned, our agreement was no longer valid."

"So you went looking for his project," Hanzo said.

"I did." Julian paced slowly beside the holographic platform. "But Trevor had anticipated remote surveillance. Whatever he was doing existed entirely off the grid. I could find evidence that something was happening, but not the information itself."

He stopped, "Which meant I needed the courier."

Valefor's face hardened, "Vous needed Scuti."

"Exactly. I initially found nothing unusual. Scuti's official records were almost frustratingly clean. No criminal history gave me anything useful to exploit, and no obvious connection revealed what Trevor had entrusted to him. So I looked somewhere official records wouldn't help."

Hanzo already knew the answer, "The dark web."

Julian nodded, "There I found something interesting. A listing advertising a new weapon. I traced the activity associated with it back to Scuti."

Valefor's jaw tightened, "So vous arranged a meeting."

"I arranged for him to believe he was meeting someone interested in what he was offering." Julian's voice had become disturbingly matter-of-fact. "When he arrived, my people captured him."

Hanzo stared at him, "You kidnapped him."

"If that's the word you prefer."

"That's the word everybody prefers."

Julian accepted the correction without argument, "We interrogated him. At first, Scuti refused to tell me anything."

The tiny Elf returned to Julian's shoulder. He absentmindedly stroked its head with one finger as he continued, "So I made it clear that refusing wasn't going to help him."

Julian hesitated before admitting the rest, "I put my firearm against the back of his head."

Hanzo's face changed instantly.

Valefor whispered, "Mon Dieu…"

"He talked." There was no pride in Julian's voice. Only a cold acknowledgment of what had happened. "And what he told me changed everything I thought I understood about these creatures."

Julian glanced toward the seahorse resting beside him, "Elves aren't pets. They're powerful beings. According to Scuti, when an Elf becomes bound to someone, that relationship goes far beyond companionship. Once properly bound, the Elf obeys its user. Completely and without question or hesitation."

Valefor stared at the tiny creature with newfound unease.

"Scuti claimed their abilities could be weaponized on a catastrophic scale. In the wrong circumstances, something that looks this harmless could become a weapon of mass destruction."

Hanzo looked toward the Elf again. Twelve inches tall. Floating happily beside Julian. It seemed absurd. But after everything Hanzo had witnessed in Sweetdance City, he knew better than to judge something solely by its appearance.

"So who was Trevor working with?" he asked.

"That's what I asked Scuti."

"And?"

Julian became silent, "He wouldn't tell me. He was more afraid of whoever that person was more than the cold steel pressing against his skull."

Valefor's eyes remained fixed on him.

"I pressed him." Julian's jaw tightened. "I demanded the name. He continued refusing. And I lost my temper."

Hanzo already understood.

Julian looked directly at them, "I shot him."

Silence. The confession landed harder than anything either man had expected to hear. Hanzo's hand instinctively tightened into a fist. Valefor simply stared.

Only minutes earlier, Julian had been the cheerful businessman whose employees greeted him in the hallways. The eccentric inventor showing them holographic sword fights. The multilingual former idol casually joking about his own technology.

Now the man standing before them had admitted to kidnapping and killing someone during an interrogation.

Hanzo finally spoke, "You said he left you no choice. You had a choice."

The accusation hung between them. Julian didn't answer. For the first time since they met, Julian Artisan had nothing clever to say.

Beside him, the little Elf curled its tail around his shoulder and remained there peacefully, unaware that at least one man had already died because of the secrets surrounding its existence.

Valefor's shock quickly hardened into resolve. Whatever fascination he had felt toward the tiny seahorse vanished beneath the knowledge of what Elves were capable of becoming. He stepped forward, placing himself between Julian and Hanzo as his voice took on the commanding authority of a veteran idol.

"If vous truly understand that zese creatures are not pets, zen zere is only one responsible course of action. Vois will surrender ze Elf to us immediately, Monsieur Artisan. Ve vill return it to Sweetdance City and place it somewhere secure."

Julian regarded him calmly. The little seahorse remained perched comfortably against his shoulder, apparently far more interested in searching Julian's fingers for another piece of candy than in the argument concerning its future.

Then Julian answered in flawless French, "Corrigez-moi si je me trompe, mais votre épouse n'en garde-t-elle pas un comme animal de compagnie?"

Valefor gasped. His confident expression vanished so quickly that Hanzo immediately knew something was wrong.

"What did he say?"

Valefor didn't answer at first. His eyes remained fixed on Julian as though the man had suddenly become considerably more dangerous than he had been moments earlier.

Valefor swallowed nervously, "'e knows about Amalthea…"

Hanzo's expression changed. Julian knew. Amalthea was not information that should have appeared in corporate records or ordinary Council databases. The fact that Julian could mention her—and specifically knew that she lived with Valefor's wife—made Hanzo wonder once again just how deeply this man had buried himself inside Sweetdance City's secrets.

Julian gently lifted the seahorse from his shoulder and allowed it to float freely beside him.

"You don't need to worry," he said. "I'm not interested in harming your wife, and I'm certainly not interested in taking Amalthea."

"Then why mention her?" Hanzo demanded.

"Because we're wasting time pretending we're on opposite sides."

Julian approached them slowly, keeping his hands visible, "You know things about Elves that I don't. I have resources you don't. Whatever happened to Scuti doesn't change the larger problem. Someone is creating these creatures, and neither of us knows who or why."

Valefor's expression remained guarded. Julian gestured toward the seahorse.

"I want to know where they come from. I want to know how they're made. And most importantly, I want to know whether whoever is creating them intends to make more and why."

Hanzo hated admitting it, but Julian had a point. The man had already demonstrated resources far beyond what either swordsman possessed independently. He could trace people through digital networks, analyze enormous amounts of information, and apparently penetrate systems that even the Council believed were secure. His methods were deeply troubling, but if someone was secretly creating Elves inside Sweetdance City, Julian Artisan was perhaps the worst possible enemy for that person to have.

And despite the circumstances surrounding Scuti's death, Hanzo couldn't deny something else. The Elf itself appeared safe. The tiny creature floated beside Julian without fear. It had been fed, cared for, and treated with obvious fascination rather than cruelty. Julian understood its potential and had nevertheless chosen to study it without harming it.

Hanzo exchanged a long glance with Valefor. Neither liked this. But neither could deny the usefulness of an alliance.

Finally, Valefor sighed, "Very well."

Hanzo continued, "But there are things you do not yet understand about these creatures."

The amusement disappeared from Julian's face, "I'm listening."

Valefor glanced toward Hanzo before continuing. "Scuti told you the truth about one thing. Elves can indeed become weapons. We've seen it ourselves."

Julian's attention immediately sharpened.

"Trevor had one. It looked harmless at first. Small red lizard. Wings. Nothing you'd expect to be dangerous."

Valefor's expression darkened at the memory, "Zen Monsieur Trevor commanded it to transform."

Julian became completely still, "It obeyed?"

"Immediately."

Hanzo's voice remained blunt, "Turned into a dragon."

Julian looked toward his own Elf, "A real dragon?"

"Real enough to kill us." Hanzo folded his arms. "It attacked on command. No hesitation. No resistance. If we hadn't had an Elf of our own, we'd be dead."

"Amalthea," Julian said.

Valefor nodded, "Oui."

The Frenchman's expression softened slightly at the thought of the creature that had saved them.

Hanzo proceeded, "Amalthea fought the dragon. She was considerably more powerful than her appearance suggested, and eventually she defeated it."

Julian listened without interrupting now. There were no jokes, no mischievous smiles, and none of the casual confidence he had displayed while demonstrating the Gamer Idol system.

"What happened to Trevor's Elf?"

Hanzo and Valefor exchanged another glance. This was the part that changed everything.

"When the dragon was defeated," Hanzo said, "it didn't just die. Something came out of it's ashes. A soul. The soul of an idol who had disappeared."

For perhaps the first time since Hanzo had met him, Julian appeared genuinely stunned. He slowly turned toward the little seahorse hovering beside him. The creature looked back innocently.

Valefor continued. Zat is ven ve understood vhat ve vere actually dealing with. Zese creatures are not simply being manufactured." His voice grew quieter. "Zey are being created to kill."

Julian's eyes remained on the Elf.

"Idols," Hanzo clarified. "Someone has been sacrificing idols to make them."

The little seahorse drifted toward Julian's shoulder again, but this time he didn't immediately offer it his hand.

"And there's another problem," Hanzo continued. "They can't use just anybody."

Julian looked back toward him.

"We learned that whoever is creating the Elves needs a specific kind of person. Certain idols have something different about them."

Julian's scientific curiosity returned immediately, "Different how?"

"A genetic characteristic. The Savant Gene."

Julian's face went blank. Not confused. Not curious. Blank.

Hanzo noticed immediately. For only a fraction of a second, the endlessly confident Julian Artisan looked as though Valefor had just spoken a name he already knew.

Then the expression disappeared. But Hanzo had seen it. And once again, that uncomfortable instinct from the airplane returned.

There was something about Julian Artisan that didn't fit. And Hanzo was beginning to suspect that the mystery surrounding him and the mystery surrounding the Elves were far closer together than any of them realized.

Hanzo remained silent for several moments, staring at the tiny seahorse floating beside Julian. What had begun as an investigation into a new form of entertainment had somehow transformed into a discussion about missing idols, human experimentation, and creatures capable of becoming weapons.

Finally, he asked the question that had been bothering him most, "Why is any of this happening? We've had peace for generations. No wars. No countries trying to destroy each other. Sweetdance City was built because humanity was supposed to be past this."

Valefor nodded solemnly. "It does seem strange, monsieur. Ve have inherited a world considerably more peaceful than the one our ancestors feared."

Julian didn't answer immediately. He began pacing across the room, his hands folded behind his back. The little seahorse followed him through the air, occasionally circling his shoulders before drifting beside him again. For once, Julian didn't seem interested in entertaining his guests with clever remarks. He was processing everything Hanzo and Valefor had told him and attempting to fit it into a century of history.

"I don't know why this is happening," Julian finally admitted. "But I'm not surprised that something like it eventually did."

Hanzo frowned. Julian resumed pacing. "When the Treaty of Versailles was discarded in 1919, civilization took a completely different path from the one everyone expected. The resentment that could have consumed Europe was defused before it became something worse. The twentieth century developed around cooperation instead of another catastrophic global conflict."

Valefor listened carefully.

"And eventually," Julian continued, "Sweetdance City became one of the symbols of that accomplishment. A place where people from everywhere could come together through entertainment. Different languages, cultures, religions, nationalities—it didn't matter once everyone was sharing the same stage."

He looked toward the holographic platform, "It was a beautiful idea."

Hanzo immediately caught the qualification, "Was?"

"Still is." Julian smiled faintly, "But beautiful ideas can have unintended consequences."

He approached the two swordsmen. "Think about what Sweetdance City actually does. Every generation, it searches the world for extraordinary people and encourages them to ho there."

Julian pointed toward Hanzo, "You."

Then Valefor, "And you. You are both exceptional swordsmen before Sweetdance City ever recruited you. Hanzo, you developed Haidong Gumdo into something that could resonate with modern Korean music and captivate an audience. Valefor, you turned fencing into an art form beautiful enough to stand beside conventional dance."

Valefor nodded slowly.

"Neither of you went to Sweetdance City and became remarkable." Julian spread his hands. "You went because you already were."

Hanzo's expression gradually changed as he understood where Julian was going.

"Now think about everyone else you've met there," Julian continued. "Singers with extraordinary vocal ranges. Dancers capable of movements most people couldn't perform after years of training. Musicians. Acrobats. Engineers. Artists. People with unusual intelligence, physical ability, creativity, or perception."

He tapped his temple, "The city gathered them. Then those people met each other. They fell in love. They married. They had children. Their children grew up surrounded by other exceptional families, and many of those children married each other."

Valefor's eyes widened slightly, "A concentration."

"Exactly." Julian pointed toward him. "Sweetdance City didn't intend to create one. Nobody sat down a century ago and decided to funnel unusual genetic traits into a relatively small population."

His expression became serious. "But that's effectively what happened."

Hanzo looked toward the Elf again, "And the Super Idols?"

Julian stopped walking, "The most obvious result. People talk about Super Idols as though they're simply exceptionally talented performers. But they're something much more important."

He paused, "They're evidence of human evolution."

The words lingered between them. Valefor looked uneasy. "Zat is quite a statement, Monsieur Artisan."

"It's also the simplest explanation." Julian gestured toward both men again. "Think about it. You two possess extraordinary swordsmanship and were drawn toward the city because of it. What about everyone else you've met? How many truly remarkable people arrived there because they had something unusual to contribute?"

Hanzo couldn't immediately answer. There were too many.

Julian continued. "Then look at Trevor. He might not have begun his family's genetic research, but his ancestors certainly did. You remember the Gene Reset Project his grandparents worked on."

Hanzo nodded.

"The McCatt family was already manipulating heredity long before Trevor became involved. They weren't simply studying disease. They were learning how traits appeared, disappeared, and returned across generations."

Julian raised another example, "Look at Gemini's family."

Valefor immediately understood, "Rose."

Julian added, "Those yellow eyes aren't cosmetic."

He leaned against the edge of a nearby console. "Gemini's ancestors developed albinism. Their original eye pigmentation was lost. Eventually the condition itself was cured by the Gene Reset Project, but their descendants didn't simply return to whatever eye color existed before. Somewhere along the line, their bloodline established a new expression of pigmentation."

"Yellow," Hanzo said.

"Exactly." Julian's expression became increasingly intense."A trait that became stable enough to pass through generations."

The seahorse floated between them.

"And they're not alone. Other family trees touched by the McCatt experiments developed unusual hereditary characteristics of their own. Traits that persisted long after the original research ended."

Valefor slowly looked toward the creature, "The Savant Gene may be another piece of the same puzzle. Humanity spent generations gathering exceptional people into Sweetdance City while simultaneously developing the technology and medicine necessary to manipulate human genetics. Now someone has discovered that certain descendants possess a characteristic useful for creating Elves."

Hanzo frowned, "But Trevor wasn't just taking random idols."

"No." Julian's voice became quieter. "He was selecting specific bloodlines."

The realization made Hanzo uncomfortable. Julian stopped moving entirely. Then something else occurred to him. His daughter, Magali. Brandon's attack. Trevor. Everything that had begun this investigation in the first place.

Julian's expression hardened, "And somehow, Trevor was after my daughter."

Valefor looked toward him. Julian stared at the floor for a moment before raising his eyes again.

"Magali wasn't some random idol who happened to become involved. She's my daughter. My blood." Julian's voice dropped almost to a whisper, "He was after my gene pool."

The little seahorse drifted toward him, but Julian barely noticed. Hanzo immediately understood what Julian meant. Julian had spent years thinking the attack on Magali was about politics, revenge, or control. Now they had introduced another possibility—one that made Trevor's interest in her considerably more disturbing.

Hanzo studied him carefully. For the first time since arriving in California, Julian's obsession with uncovering Sweetdance City's secrets made complete sense. This wasn't merely scientific curiosity anymore. Somebody had been turning extraordinary idols into extraordinary creatures.

And whatever genetic characteristic they needed… Julian Artisan had just realized there was a possibility that it ran through his own family.

Hanzo remained silent for several moments, processing everything Julian had told them. What had begun as a simple assignment to evaluate a new form of entertainment had become something far more dangerous than either swordsman had anticipated. Finally, he folded his arms and stared directly at Julian.

"So what happens now?"

Julian walked toward one of the chairs beside the holographic stage and sat down. He crossed his arms, his expression unusually serious as the little seahorse continued floating lazily around him.

"For now, you go home."

Hanzo frowned. "That's it?"

"You return to Sweetdance City and continue doing exactly what you've been doing. Watch the people around you. Pay attention to anything unusual. Missing idols, unexplained research, strange behavior from Council personnel—anything that might tell us who Trevor was working with."

Julian leaned back in his chair, "And whenever you discover something, I want to know."

Valefor's eyes narrowed. "Vous expect us to report directly to you?"

"Yes."

"And Monsieur Scorpio?"

Julian smiled faintly, "Robert doesn't need to know about our arrangement."

Valefor stiffened at the casual use of the Council leader's real name.

Hanzo immediately shook his head, "No. You don't get to send us back into our own city and tell us to spy on people while keeping everything secret from our boss."

"I'm not asking you to spy on Robert."

"You're asking us to hide information from him."

"There's a difference."

"Not much of one."

The two men stared at each other. Hanzo had distrusted Julian from the moment he read his biography aboard the airplane. Now that distrust had hardened into something much more tangible. Julian was intelligent, wealthy, resourceful, and willing to cross boundaries that Hanzo himself would never consider acceptable.

Hanzo stepped forward, "And what if we don't cooperate?"

The question silenced the room. Julian didn't immediately answer. Instead, his eyes drifted toward the tiny Elf hovering beside him. The seahorse floated closer and settled gently onto his shoulder. Julian raised one finger and stroked beneath its chin, earning a pleased little movement from the creature.

Then he looked back at Hanzo, "I trust that you wouldn't dare cross me."

Valefor's expression hardened. Hanzo said nothing. He didn't need Julian to explain the threat. They both understood. Julian possessed an Elf. More importantly, he possessed proof that Elves existed outside Sweetdance City's control.

If Julian chose to bring the creature before the United States government and reveal everything he had learned, there would be no containing what followed. The authorities wouldn't see a cute twelve-inch seahorse happily eating candy from Julian's hand. They would see the same thing Hanzo and Valefor had witnessed when Trevor commanded his own Elf to transform.

A weapon. A creature capable of becoming a dragon. A creature created through the sacrifice of a human being. A creature that, once bound to someone, could obey commands with terrifying loyalty.

Sweetdance City would immediately become a security threat.

Hanzo imagined soldiers surrounding the entrances. Government investigators tearing through laboratories and Council archives. Every idol with the Savant Gene becoming a subject of investigation. Every unexplained disappearance becoming evidence of a conspiracy.

And perhaps the response wouldn't stop at an investigation. If authorities believed Sweetdance City was secretly manufacturing living weapons of mass destruction, they might decide the safest solution was to eliminate every trace of the program before another Elf could ever be created.

Worse still, Sweetdance City wasn't alone. Its sister locations existed throughout the world. France. Korea. Japan. Other nations that had adopted the same model of gathering extraordinary performers together.

One revelation could place every one of them beneath suspicion. And at the end, trust would be shattered. Peace would be fundamentaly over.

Valefor's face had become pale, "Vous would truly do this?"

Julian looked toward him, "I would rather not. But I am willing to burn this entire planet to the ground if it dares hurt my daughter again."

There was no humor in his answer. "I will not allow whoever created these creatures to continue operating simply because Sweetdance City wants to protect its reputation."

Hanzo clenched his jaw. "You're holding the entire city hostage."

"No." Julian stood, "I'm giving you an opportunity to save it."

Hanzo's fists tightened. Julian approached them, stopping several feet away. "If we cooperate, none of that needs to happen. We find whoever continued Trevor's work. We stop the experiments. We determine how many Elves exist and make sure nobody creates another one."

His voice remained calm, "Then Sweetdance City survives."

Valefor looked down. He hated the arrangement. So did Hanzo. But Julian had deliberately placed them in a position where refusing him carried consequences far greater than their personal feelings toward the man.

If they cooperated, they had a chance to eliminate the threat quietly. If they didn't, Julian could expose everything.

Hanzo finally looked toward the little seahorse. It had begun playing with a loose strand of Julian's clothing, tugging at it with its tiny mouth as though nothing important were happening around it.

Something so innocent shouldn't have possessed the power to destroy a city. Yet merely proving its existence might be enough.

Hanzo looked back at Julian, "You'd better be right about this."

Julian's expression remained steady, "I intend to be."

Valefor reluctantly nodded, "Zen we shall watch ze city for vous."

Hanzo glanced toward him before finally giving his own reluctant agreement, "And if we find something, you'll know."

Julian smiled, "Good."

The tension in his shoulders relaxed, and almost immediately the eccentric businessman they had met at the airport seemed to return. He reached into his pocket, pulled out another tiny piece of candy, and offered it to the Elf. Its tongue snapped outward and stole the treat from his fingers.

Hanzo watched the creature happily suck on the candy. He had come to California expecting to evaluate a video game. Instead, he was returning to Sweetdance City with a secret investigation, an uneasy alliance, and a threat hanging over everything he had sworn to protect.

And somehow, Julian Artisan had become both their greatest ally… and the most dangerous man standing in their way.