Chapter 183

Chapter 183 KAELOS AMBASSADOR OKONKWO Tokyo at night was a symphony of light and shadow, a city that had learned to hold contradictions in perfect balance. I watched it from the window of our diplomatic suite, twenty stories above the Shibuya district, where crowds moved like living fractals through the illuminated streets below. Behind me, Torres paced. He'd been pacing for an hour. "They'll respond," he said for the third time. "They have to respond." Dr. Reeves looked up from her tablet, where she'd been reviewing Collective neural patterns for the past two hours. "They don't have to do anything, Torres. That's rather the point of their entire philosophy." I turned from the window. "How long since we sent the request for audience?" "Sixteen hours," Torres said. "Standard diplomatic protocol suggests a response within twenty-four." "Standard diplomatic protocol assumes both parties recognize the same framework," I said gently. "The Collective doesn't operate on our timelines." "Then