The timer held at thirty-one seconds while the Surveyor waited for Nox to select a registry. Three colored fields remained open above the map table, each one offering a release that would make the other two groups district property.
Nox sent the full screen to Diana instead. Her relays carried the Surveyor's terms into the apartment blocks, beneath the school gym, and across the Authority wall where Serian's roots had stopped at the edge of Parcel Zero.
"Every team sees the same offer. Do you want me to mute the local replies?" Diana asked through the receiver.
"No. Put them beside the timer," Nox replied.
"Fragmented authority produces contradictory records. A single claimant may preserve one function," the Surveyor said, turning its cadastral plate toward him.
"You mean one person gets to choose who loses," he said, leaving all three fields empty.
