The austere command center of the Vigil Citadel felt different this time. Astra was no longer a lone petitioner before a single Sentinel. He stood in a vast, circular chamber where the walls themselves were interactive data-streams. Arrayed around him in holographic form were seven other Sentinels, their designations scrolling past too quickly to read. This was the Council of Vigil.
Sentinel-7 stood slightly ahead of the others, its role as his initial point of contact granting it a de facto position as his advocate.
"Architect Astra," a synthesized voice, a chorus of the seven council members, echoed in the chamber. "The data from Breaches Kappa-77 and Theta-4 has been analyzed. Your methodology, designated 'Creative Reclamation,' represents a paradigm shift with a projected 0.0001% chance of long-term success."
The number was meant to be discouraging. To Astra, after eons of certain failure, it sounded like a miracle.
"That probability is infinitely higher than your current course," Astra replied, his voice calm in the face of the dispassionate council.
"Correct," the chorus acknowledged. "Therefore, the Silence Fleet proposes a covenant. A limited, trial integration of your paradigm into our operational structure."
A holographic schematic appeared between them. It detailed the creation of a new branch within the ancient military order: The Mender Corps.
"You will act as the founding instructor," Sentinel-7 stated, its individual voice cutting through the chorus. "We have identified seventeen candidates from across the multiverse whose psychological and energetic profiles indicate a high potential for your techniques. They will be retrieved and brought here."
The list scrolled past. Astra saw a diverse array of beings—a water-bending mystic from a world of endless oceans, a crystal-shard entity that communicated through harmonic resonance, a bio-mechanical philosopher from a race of sentient plants. They were artists, philosophers, and engineers, not soldiers.
"You will have one standard galactic cycle to train them," the council chorus continued. "Upon completion, they will be deployed to contain five designated minor breaches under full Silence Fleet oversight. Their success rate will determine the future of the Mender Corps."
The terms were strict, the timeline punishing. They were treating the salvation of reality as a quarterly performance review.
Astra looked from the list of candidates to the impassive council. He understood their caution. They were handing matches to those who had only known darkness, terrified the new light would burn them all.
"I accept," Astra said. "But on one condition. The training will not occur here."
The council's silence was questioning.
"This Citadel is a monument to duty and despair. You cannot teach someone to mend a thing if their only environment teaches them that everything is broken. The training will take place in a neutral location. A place of foundation and growth."
He already knew the perfect place. A world he had built himself, where the very air was infused with the principle of the Unbreakable Compact.
"The trainees will be brought to Vesper."
The holographic forms of the council flickered, processing this unforeseen variable. Bringing outsiders to a hidden, secure location was a massive security breach in their protocol.
"The risk is—" the chorus began.
"—necessary," Astra finished. "If you want them to learn to build, you must show them something worth building. My world is the proof that the philosophy works. It is the ultimate lesson."
After a long, static-filled silence, the council chorus spoke its verdict.
"Request granted. The candidates will be delivered to the coordinates you provide. The Covenant of the Vigil is struck. You have one cycle, Architect. Do not fail."
The holograms vanished, leaving Astra alone with Sentinel-7.
"You challenge their every axiom," the Sentinel observed.
"Axioms that lead to a dead end must be challenged," Astra replied. "We are not just mending breaches. We are mending a philosophy. And that requires a different kind of workshop."
He transmitted the coordinates for Vesper. The most unlikely university was about to open its doors, its curriculum written by an architect, its students gathered by soldiers, and its final exam graded on the integrity of the multiverse itself. The Covenant was made. The teaching was about to begin.