The council meeting was brief.
There were no speeches. No debates. Just a single question placed in front of Kael.
"How long can you keep this up?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly.
"And if you stop?"
Kael didn't respond immediately.
"If I stop," he said finally, "the world collects elsewhere."
The room fell silent.
Captain Greve broke it. "Then this isn't deployment. It's containment."
"Yes."
"And you're agreeing to it."
Kael met his gaze. "I already have."
No one objected.
They all understood what it meant.