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She could work around that, though. Just as she’d done countless times before. It was just a matter of staying vigilant and prepared. That was never going to change, even if these two somehow did.

‘Perhaps I could offer you both a precious relic,’ she said.

‘Oh?’ said Morgunov with obvious interest. ‘I do always love those. What did you have in mind?’

Ideally, such gifts would be valuable but not dangerous. And in Morgunov’s case, it would be better still if it was something that would keep him busy for a while, too. That was usually asking too much, though. From her observations of him, technical complexity was what usually acquired his interest, but it was danger that maintained it.

‘Before I go into that,’ she said, ‘understand that I will be wanting much more than a mere ceasefire.’

‘So dinner and a movie, too?’

‘Amusing. But no, darling. I will want treaties. Written and signed. For every nation currently involved in this conflict.’

‘Mm, sounds like a lot of work. Better be some darn good relics if you’re askin’ for all that.’

‘And how many years of non-aggression will you be seeking from these nations?’ said Dozer.

‘The number is negotiable, as always. But given both of your track records with breaking terms, I am thinking that the punishment for not upholding them this time around should be quite severe indeed.’

‘“Our” track records?’ said Dozer. ‘And what of yours? Or Sermung’s? You speak as if you have spotless histories, when you certainly do not.’

‘Now, now,’ said Morgunov. ‘Let’s not go down that road. We may have plenty of time on our hands in here, but if we start arguing about that stuff again, I’m sure we’ll all still manage to die of old age before reaching any kind of agreement.’

How uncharacteristically reasonable of him. Sai-hee could hardly contain her surprise. ‘Nibas. You had a passing interest in Rainlord culture, did you not?’

‘I did. Why are you bringing that up?’

‘I have a fragment of the Fountain of Lhutwë. I thought that might serve as your relic, if you are interested.’

‘Oooh...’

‘And for Medan, I thought--’

A sudden tremble cut her off. It wasn’t terribly violent or enduring, but given the mysterious nature of this Void State, she couldn’t help but be distracted.

‘What was that?’ said Morgunov. ‘Not another new arrival, surely?’

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‘Certainly not,’ said Sai-hee. ‘You know I always prefer to gamble on peace, however fleeting it might be. But let’s not pretend that you are in such a favorable position here as to be demanding gifts from me. This war has not been going terribly well for your side as of late, and I could make it go even worse. In fact, perhaps you should be offering me something to help broker this peace deal with the Vanguard.’

‘I see your arrogance remains firmly intact,’ said Dozer.

‘As does yours,’ she said.

‘I have a counteroffer,’ said Morgunov. ‘Teach me the secret of how you and Sermy are able to teleport so far, and I’ll call this whole thing off faster than you can blink. Dozy won’t even have to lift a finger to help.’

‘You surprise me, Nibas,’ she said. ‘Isn’t cracking the secret on your own the whole point? Surely, you’re not giving up and asking for help after all this time.’

Morgunov was quiet a moment. ‘...Tsk. I know you’re just tryin’ to play me... but you’re right, damn you. You’re so right, it hurts. Agh.’

‘In that case, tell me and not him,’ said Dozer.

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! No way, no how! If you can’t tell me, then you can’t tell him, either!’

‘Be silent, fool. Your nonsensical code has no relevance to my affairs.’

‘Don’t do it, Saya! No peace if you tell him! I swear!’

Sai-hee tittered again. Admittedly, she did sometimes enjoy how predictable this mad idiot was. But given how much he seemed to hate being called predictable, she also wondered if that was a concession that he was making for her sake. Another component of his strange affection.

Morgunov had to know that she would never give up that knowledge in the first place, least of all to them. If these two gained the power of long-distance teleportation, it would cause no end of new problems. No amount of peace would be worth such an exchange, especially knowing how unlikely it was that such a peace would last.

That was the real trouble when parleying with Abolish. It was always fleeting. No matter what they said, no agreement could be expected to endure indefinitely. But trying to set a more “realistic” time frame was also a trap, because shortening it would only embolden them to break it even sooner.

If she asked for a hundred years, they’d break it within fifty. If she asked for fifty, they’d break it within thirty. And so on and so forth.

That was how their twisted minds worked.

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‘I am amenable to your proposition,’ said Dozer.

Oh?

‘What the--?! Dozy! Bro, c’mon!’

‘I have no personal stake in this war. I’ve thought it was pointless from the beginning. But the fool also has a point. Ending it quickly would indeed be a headache. Can you offer us something to soothe such pain?’

So it was as she thought. This continental war had indeed not been launched with Dozer’s approval. It only made sense, given how disorganized the whole thing appeared to be, but this confirmation was still quite the relief, nonetheless.

If the Living Void had a strongly vested interest in continuing this conflict, then these negotiations would’ve had almost no chance of succeeding, she felt. That man was an entirely different level of obstinate.

Thankfully, despite the rather sudden and haphazard nature of her intervention here today, she’d been deliberating on the matter of peace negotiations for a while already. It was a long-held habit of hers, whenever some new war broke out in the world, regardless of how big or small it was. A mental exercise, of sorts. How might peace be achieved over there? Or there? Or between those two groups? What was motivating the opposing sides? Even if she never ended up getting involved, it always made for an engaging thought experiment.

Whenever Abolish was in play, it naturally complicated matters. They liked to puppeteer things and frequently disrupted negotiations, meaning her people then had to track the bastards down and deal with them directly. Sometimes, that meant further negotiation. Other times, it meant showing no mercy.

And here, things were no different. Higher stakes, perhaps, but no different. With how long she’d known these two, she had a fairly good idea of what might entice them to strike a deal with her. It was really just a matter of how much posturing they wanted to do. How much they allowed their egos to get involved.

Not that she was immune to that herself. She knew her own tendencies well enough by now, too.

It was best to play a bit coy to start things off. ‘How about I promise not to join up with the Vanguard and kill half your men?’

‘Hah! Scary!’

‘An interesting idea,’ said Dozer. ‘A true war involving all of us might actually be worth my time to invest in. But are you sure that is what you would like to gamble on?’

As expected. They could show no weakness, of course. Too often, people mistook her reputation as the Peacemaker for one of having no stomach for war. No spine. These two knew better, but it was still worth reminding them of the possibility--and that she didn’t consider it off the table, either.