Morgan had intensive knowledge of the Phenomena Society despite never being an official member himself; all of his facts were acquired through research, stories, and most of all osmosis from Master Alzahrani who had been a Keter there. The Society itself was organized through a meritocracy not dissimilar to Martials Guild, trading martial arts techniques for research and theses and endless amount of office drama.

The Society itself was divided into eleven departments, ten research and one administrative.

The research departments were Malkuth, Technology; Yesod, Energy; Hod, Medium; Netzach, Nature; Tiphereth, Self; Geburah, Warfare; Chesed, Concepts; Binah, Cosmology; Chokmah, Faith; and Keter, a special case.

Finally was Da’at, the administration.

Every Phenom was officially recognized by three ranks designated by the number of ‘zeroes’ they had from one to three, lowest-to-highest: single-zero, Eins; double-zero, Ein Sophs; and triple-zero, Ein Soph Aurs. These ranks determined one’s responsibility.

Eins were the grunts of the Society. Middling researchers that were either too young, too inexperienced, too incompetent, or just plain unlucky and thus were stuck with the hard labor and the most subject to abuse. Morgan himself had a library of horrid accounts of admitted Eins suffering under the hands of their superiors.

Like the Sophs, the team-slash-section leader of any particular project. Little better than Eins but any difference of power went a long way in the Society. Most of these researchers were chosen because they had the tiniest bit more competence than their single-zeroes. Master Alzahrani said they were the most frustrated of Phenoms: not good enough to lead their own projects, crushed between the weight of responsibility and ass-kissing. Many controversies and scandals—such as the frequent suicides—were caused due to poor leadership in the Sophs.

And finally the Aurs: project directors. They had gone through the hoops to have their projects approved of by the Sephirah, and now they were free from mind-numbing research. However the promotion was not a relief of duty but a transformation of one. Research had turned into politics. Vying for budget, resources, attention. Most of all, they acted out of sheer disdain for their peers and so that led to underhanded schemes and tricks.

Ruling above the zeroes was the Sephirah, the director of the department, each approved by the Founder himself. Different cultures existed within each department and that was determined how the Sephirah governed things—though they were all different flavors of disgusting. More importantly, the Sephirah had the power to approve projects and promote Phenoms as needed, allocate budgets and labs, and enjoy their ill-gotten seat and the political navigation packaged with it.

(One story in particular, Master Alzahrani had recounted once, was how the Geburah Sephirah had gained his seat; unsurprisingly given from the department’s purpose, it involved a lot of deaths.)

This was the official hierarchy of the Phenomena Society. There were of course unofficial hierarchical conflicts such as seniority and experience and whatnot. However, Keter and Da’at were immune to these bugs because both were directly led by the Founder himself. The latter was obvious why but the former, not so much.

The Keter Department was special—Morgan liked to refer to them as ‘wildcards’. Isolated from the hierarchy of their inferiors as 'Keter' had no tiers other than itself. It was the singular title all Phenoms dreamt of holding. They yearned for the attention of the Founder to grace them, pin the badge to their chest, and grant them endless freedom in the restrictive hell of science. They had the pleasure of pursuing projects of their own with little restriction, holding a blank check given as permitted by the Founder. But that was not the main appeal of the department. All Keters were assistants of their genius overlord, assisting him personally in his projects. They had knowledge no one else had, resources no one else possessed, independence everyone desired.

As you could imagine, the conflicts in Keter were on a different level. And nobody knew the details of the war. Unlike the other departments, anything that happened inside Keter was kept under lock and key, making it one of the world’s greatest mysteries to date: What was the Founder doing? What were the Keters themselves doing? Only God knew. Even Master Alzahrani had continued and probably still continued to keep secrets of his time then. From what little clues Morgan had devoured, his old master was involved in entities from the Space Beyond.

Like the Comets.

But his study didn’t matter now.

Morgan had used his knowledge and training to arrive where he was today: hilariously hiding from the eight-fourteens to avoid capture like some serial killer. Maybe he shouldn’t have joined Operation Darkspace with that demon; he could’ve been relaxing in Angels Headquarters with the universe splitter and various other materials that Angels claimed before the government or any other guilds could.

As expected, too, the President and his cabinet were hands-off. They wanted nothing to do with the drama and expected it to sort itself out. Cowardly but smart. Still cowardly, though.

But they were correct.

Kosmos was making his plays.

Now it was time for Morgan’s.

“You’re a wanted criminal, boy,” Sephirah Hamidi greeted him unkindly as ever. Standing beside her were two Sophs. Despite their double-zero rank, if they were standing beside Hamidi then they must have some considerable sway in the department. Like how the closest butler to his lord had enormous unspoken power.

Pah, wasn’t relevant.

Morgan shrugged, putting down his book. It’d been a long time since he had visited his old hideout. Like two weeks ago. He glanced at the pictures on the wall of the former Team Luster, of his late Team Leader Jury and that bimbo Hidden. He frowned as a few memories began to resurface themselves cruelly.

He pushed them out.

“If the world knew of your crimes, they’d consider you as the devil,” retorted Morgan before glaring at the Sophs. “Can’t go to the bathroom alone? It was hard enough convincing Silverhonor to let you in, but even I’m getting uncomfortable. It feels like I’m getting bullied by the high school across the street.” He peered closely at the three. “Or the nursing home.”

Hamidi scowled. She had experienced the pain of just entering Glory Guild Headquarters. Morgan made sure she went through the wringer himself. His ‘hiding spot’ wasn’t so much hidden as it was well-protected. In fact on any normal day, this wouldn’t be ‘hiding’ but coming back to Luster’s commune.

Everywhere, there were mementos of his time as a Glory. As much as he would like to be sentimental and grow gloomy at the new reality, the very thing was staring at him. Old and withered and witch-y and definitely bitchy.

The Sephirah, evidently, obeyed and gestured for her underlings to leave and wait outside. They did so without complaint.

“They don’t ask questions. Wonderful.” Morgan pointed out the lounge opposite his.

She sat down also without complaint after brushing off a few pebbles and shreds of whatever-was-on-there. “Has Kosmos given you new orders? Are you finally willing to see reason and concede now that the Guards have the upper hand?”

“No.” Morgan innocently smiled. “We want a deal.”

An eyebrow was cocked. “A deal? You want to negotiate what was always meant to be in our hands? That’s like a burglar attempting to cut a deal with his victims.”

“And who is the victim in this case? Hah, I’m not interested in semantics anyway. I don’t care if you’re not interested; I don’t care how you feel about this initially. I will put forth my proposal and you will listen, you dirty withered hag.”

“Really? Are you going to suggest breaking my collaboration with the Guards?”

“Yes. Absolutely. That is exactly what we want. Instead of working with the Guards, you instead work with us.”

Sephirah Hamidi stared for quite a while at the child, needing seconds to realize he was being dead serious. What he was asking for… That was absurdly ridiculous. The Society had numerous contracts and agreements with multiple agencies of the Guards. They had been building this relationship for decades. Sure, a few disagreements and bitter conflicts occurred over the time but if this deal was made, this definitely would damage the Society as a whole.

These thoughts flew by in Hamidi’s eyes, Morgan recognized.

She joylessly laughed. “You inherited that miserable man’s lunacy. Why would I ever accept these terms from the losing team? The Guards are combing through Angel installations for the materials, Morgan. And you are here, hiding behind that inexperienced Guild Master who can’t decide if she wants to breathe air today or not. It’s only a matter of time before we locate what we seek; to add on, the sole reason why I haven’t reported you myself is because you’re that man’s favorite student.”

Yes and no. Just like us, you cannot fully trust the Guards. Your relationship with them is purely business. After all, you and your peers know best the struggle between the international order and the journey for knowledge. “You haven’t heard everything yet.”

“But going against the Guards is, again, the main item.”

“You’re a smart woman. You’re able to remember what we said seconds ago.”

“Hmph. Say what you want and get this meeting over with.”

“Well…” Morgan heard a notification ring and opened the System. He smiled reading the message. “Oh, how coincidental. Do you know what I just received, Sephirah Hamidi?”

She did not amuse him.

“The very thing that will convince you.”

Morgan took out his phone from underneath his cloak. On the first app he found, he searched for the channel in question and beamed as he saw the first item in the search: a live broadcast, streaming now. He tapped and saw the live chat was already filling up with an absurd number of people, followers of Isabella Alvillar and her journalistic pursuits.

But many here were attracted to the title, of the subject named Kosmos who hadn’t done an interview in years.

“What are you smiling about?” Hamidi questioned him, crossing her arms under her breasts. A slight show of anxiety was hidden behind her wrinkles.

“This.” He turned the volume on high and propped his phone on the table using his old popsocket.

There, they could watch the stream together. Alvillar and Kosmos sat on opposite sides of the frame in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Ordo.

“What is this—?”

“Just watch.”

And they did.

Kosmos spoke on the subject of the investigation, confirming the allegations’ validity. A bold solution, one that could only be certainly successful if it came from his lips. Upon hearing the truth behind Operation Darkspace, Hamidi took several glances at Morgan but kept quiet. They listened to his stance on the arrest. They listened to his righteous anger, his grievances, his pain hiding behind the helmet. Such things held little worth for the Sephirah but it was not she who needed to be convinced with this—that was Morgan’s job.

Instead the true gem was what came after Kosmos’s rant: his official announcement.

“What…?” Hamidi gasped, breathing heavily and shaking her head in shock. She darted closer to the screen but the stream ended; just like that, all the questions she now had went unanswered. And the only one who possibly had them was sitting in the same room. “What… What is this? What did I just hear? Kosmos, Conqueror, the EX-Rank, never in my days… Oh Lord. You can’t be serious, Morgan! What in the world are you planning?!”

Morgan casually took his phone back and began playing with it. “Ask a better question: what in the world do I know? If you want the answer, then it’s time for a chat.”

The Sephirah was conflicted knowing the price at stake. There would be consequences to her actions but bounty beyond her imagination was a few feet away. Clenching her hands, she exhaled and gave in: “Do not mistake this as an answer. I want to know your terms, Morgan.”

Morgan chuckled and nodded, putting his phone away. “Very well. Let’s establish facts first. Obviously, as Kosmos said, our main mission is the defeat of Sirius Aethfell and his minions. In order to do that, we need to advance humanity to the next technological level.”

“Opening portals ourselves.”

“Yes. It’s the race to the moon again, but instead of the ‘moon’ it’s the entire damned multiverse. I assume the Guards sought your help because you could prove to be instrumental in the research.”

“No one else has more knowledge than me, Morgan.”

“I’d really beg to differ but yes, let’s indulge ourselves in delusions and pretend I’m not a pubescent child and you’re gorgeous.” (She rolled her eyes.) “The first people who invent this technology effectively controls the world to speak dramatically. For our yet-to-be-named organization, we cannot trust the Guards with this power.”

“Will you be any better is the most important question.”

Morgan shrugged. “We hope to be. Morality aside, we cannot do this alone. We need you, Sephirah Hamidi of Binah, to lend your resources and perhaps the Founder himself as well.”

“The Founder…” Hamidi licked her lips anxiously. “Now that you’ve mentioned him, it’s likely he would come to a decision himself. If I accept your deal and if he denies, then I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. We’re focused on you. As I said before, we want you to break off your collaboration with the Guards and ally with us instead; as you’ve seen with Kosmos, the balance is going to tilt in our favor. More importantly, we are able to sweeten the deal better than those awful people.”

“How so? You don’t know the terms of our agreement.”

“You are correct but we both have so many stories. Strict stipulations, obsessive claims and ownerships, stripping of rights. If I had to hazard a guess, although the Society will aid the Guards in the R&D of spatial rift technology, they would have little-if-any say over the specifics and use. Or they betray you outright. The authorities will take control and you are merely puppets, thrown away after your purpose is fulfilled.”

“You’re speaking of hypotheticals and theories, nothing sound in rational thought or logic.”

“But you have wisdom beyond most Phenoms. Tell me, Sephirah, do you really believe the Guards will let the Society—let Binah—do whatever they want—what you want—with the new future? Or will they cross you and burn you to the ground? If it’s a choice between them and Kosmos, then that is not a choice at all.”

She did not answer. She may have even anticipated it from the moment the agreement was settled. At some point, the Guards will attempt to take more and seize more and relentlessly chase after that unified world order they so desperately desire.

But the prospect of this technology was too good for Hamidi to pass up.

Yet Kosmos…?

She finally spoke, “How do I know you won’t do the same?”

“Like I said: we hope to be better. So let this be the first step to a mutually beneficial relationship. You have Kosmos’s word that he will hand over all Angels-owned cosmic materials to the hands of the Department of Cosmology. Or to be specific, you—”

The System dinged for Morgan again.

Kosmos:

Jin Tiehan agreed to hand over Carn and the Cosmic Beast to us.

Morgan hummed. “There has been a new addition: not only that, you will receive the corpse of Fragment Carn and the Cosmic Beast from Martials Guild. You know of Carn, yes?”

She nodded, deep in thought thus far.

“Good, I don’t need to explain. For everything I’ve said, they are yours to use at your own discretion. We officially do not care what you’re going to do with them unless it impedes our joint research affairs. They are yours and yours only.”

“What about the corpses of Tewfik and Pereyra?” asked Hamidi.

Morgan made an awkward expression. “There’s very little remaining but sure. If you want to analyze ashes, be my guest.”

“And Jin Junjie? I’ve heard he suffered the same fate as Carn.”

“If you want to ask Jin Tiehan if you could acquire his deceased father’s body, then by all means do it yourself.”

Even for a heartless scientist, she visibly cringed at the thought and shook her head, signaling she wasn’t going to push any further even if Jin Tiehan was spoken of. Worse: he might even say yes and give up his father’s corpse…

Morgan shivered and decided to stop thinking about that maniac. “Anyway moving on. The one item we have specific terms for is the universe splitter. It will be in our joint custody for the purposes of spatial rift research and we will use every security measure to have it stay that way. And once we invent a method to travel the stars, we will keep this a secret until further discussions are had. We can chat the specifics at a later date when the world calms down.

“But most important of all…” He paused, taking a break to breathe. He glanced at the pictures of Team Luster. “We will put Conqueror on the table. We want to know how and why he was able to kill Kreutz so easily, so naturally we assumed it was cosmic-related. Essentially-speaking, you will have the privilege of studying him. Have you caught all of that?”

Hamidi suddenly stood up, restless, and began pacing around. “Let me restate the terms so we are clear: in exchange for the collaboration with the Binah Department and the Society itself, you are willing to hand over cosmic material from Angels and Martials…” (“Glory and Royals are yet to be determined.”) “...to my ownership and thus you relinquish all responsibility. However the one item you hold special is the universe splitter, where we will both own it. Then finally, you will give us the opportunity to study the future EX-Rank Slayer. Did I miss anything?”

Your ex-husband is also traveling the stars, but that’s an issue once you accept and the ball gets rolling. “You did not.”

The first term, where they gave up their hard-earned cosmic materials, was decided because they were too much of a burden. However by offering them to the Society, they had converted a thorn into a boon. By doing this, if the Guards ever had issue, their attention would not be put on the good guys.

As for the universe splitter… That was a different beast to tackle.

And Alexander hadn’t consented to this for obvious reasons, but that was the price he now had to pay.

“Okay.” Hamidi stood jittering in place, doing her best to squash down whatever excitement she felt. “If I say yes, when will I receive the materials?”

Morgan looked at the broken clock on the wall. “Would now work?”

“Now?” she stuttered.

“Yes, now. Do you really think we’re dumb enough to keep our most valuable items in Angel-owned territories knowing the Guards were sniffing around?” Morgan chuckled and wiped his lips. “They were here all along. Everything Angel owns is with Glory Guild and the only people who knows about this are myself, Silverhonor, and Rector who approached me with this idea to begin with. We can literally visit your bargain right now, and once you say the word, Jin Tiehan will teleport his shipments in and you’ll have everything.”

“So if I accept, you will hand them to me as simple and quick as that?”

“As simple and quick as your transporters allow.”

“You’re grossly attempting to pass hot materials onto me.”

“You will not own them any other way.”

Hamidi hissed foreseeing the possible problems her way. This, though, was comparatively small considering the largest obstacle: the Global Guards and the Founder. The former had already been considered earlier. Betraying them was bad for the whole Society. The latter… Well, if the Founder did not approve of this deal then there was little Hamidi could do.

Yet with the necessary desire to persuade him for the safety of her own position, if she came with the merchandise and the first privilege of research…

If there was one thing Master Alzahrani emphasized when speaking of the Founder, it was his intense selfishness and his willingness to break long-term relationships without a care.

Traveling the worlds, speaking with the EX-Rank Slayer, who wouldn’t be excited by those prospects?

The Sephirah knew this. If they wanted to be independent of the Guards and pursue greater scientific freedom, this was it. This was how.

“I want your answer now,” Morgan told her. Because once the Guards knew the Society had turned on them, an avalanche of failures would follow. “Everything I’ve stated will be yours, no strings attached. Present them to the Founder. Tell him he could visit Conqueror himself once he wakes up. He would certainly love the gesture.”

Suddenly, a sinister smile crept up his face. “If not you, then I’ll try my luck with another Sephirah. One who would enjoy the research possibilities and earning good credit with the Society’s greatest genius.”

“Hah, don’t resort to those threats. You want my answer? Fine.” She glowered. “Fine! I brought transporters with me to Ordo. Tell Jin Tiehan to deliver his things here!”

“Kosmos will be happy to hear this,” said Morgan cheerfully before standing. “I’ll show you where, and if you would be so kind: please also take the universe splitter and place it in your care for the time being.”

“Anything else?”

“Not currently. I’m still thinking—”

A new message in the System.

Montana:

Red alert, the 8-14s are here. Someone leaked.

Morgan smacked his lips. “Did you tell the Guards I was here?”

Sephirah Hamidi scoffed. “Of course not. I told you I didn’t. Are they at the gates?”

“I think so.”

“Then hurry and take me to the merchandise before they put your small hands in cuffs.”

“Yes ma’am.”