Chris Gives Skylar Full Authority

In His Chamber – 

Chris Blackwood's POV

The room tensed.

My declaration cut through the air like a blade.

"In fact..." I said slowly, turning from the hologram, "I don't need mercy."

I looked Skylar straight in the eye. "I don't want empathy. I want results."

Everyone shifted slightly. Even Christiana's smirk faded.

"Skylar..." I said, stepping toward her, my voice low but final, "I'm putting you in charge. Handle it."

Her eyes widened—just a little. Enough for me to see I had caught her off guard. Good.

"You're the only one who still remembers what the people used to feel before we took it all. Use that. Manipulate it. Shape their hope. Then break it."

I turned to the others.

"Christiana, you're her sword. Do nothing unless she commands it. Classic, be her strategist. Don't argue—just win. Amara, silence any whisper of doubt. Feed the networks false peace. Let them believe the Empire is calm and fair."

Skylar stepped forward, her voice level.

"And what will you do, Chris?"

I smiled faintly.

"I will disappear from the public eye. Temporarily. Let them think the king is watching from above. Let your hand be the light they cling to. Then twist it into a cage."

The room was silent.

Skylar nodded, a slow, dangerous nod that told me she understood.

"They want hope? I'll give them a stage. I'll let them speak. And I'll make them believe they're being heard... right before I slam the door shut."

"Good," I said, stepping away.

"The Empire needs a mother now. One that will cradle them until they suffocate."

I walked to the shadows of the chamber, my final words echoing as I vanished behind the steel doors:

"Let the world bow to Skylar Blackwood. The people will think she is their salvation. But in the end... she will be their lesson."

End of Executive Session. Project Silence: Underway.

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