The Mechanist didn't ask questions.
He didn't need to.
The moment I granted him unrestricted access to Earth Kingdom resources—metal, coal, refined stone, elite benders for testing, Dai Li protection—his mind went to work faster than any forge could burn.
Entire districts beneath Ba Sing Se were quietly repurposed.
Officially: infrastructure modernizationUnofficially: industrial sanctums
No banners.No insignias.No paper trails.
This wasn't Earth Kingdom technology.
This was mine.
I made one rule very clear to him.
"You are not designing weapons for a nation."
He paused, confused.
"You are designing weapons for an idea."
That idea?
A force that could exist after the war.
Not Fire Nation.Not Earth Kingdom.Not conquest.
Balance—enforced, if necessary.
The designs evolved rapidly.
Reinforced metal armor light enough for elite benders
Earth-assisted transport vehicles—silent, durable, adaptable to terrain
Gliders redesigned into high-altitude reconnaissance craft
Restraint weapons meant to incapacitate benders without killing them
Early chi-conductive alloys—experimental, unstable, promising
Nothing flashy.
Everything efficient.
An army that didn't need numbers—only superiority.
While the Mechanist worked below the city, I worked above it.
The White Lotus had noticed me long ago.
You don't seize Ba Sing Se without setting off spiritual alarms.
But unlike Long Feng, I didn't fear them.
I invited them.
The meeting was quiet. Deliberate.
A Pai Sho table. Tea. No guards.
I didn't posture. I didn't threaten.
I spoke plainly.
I spoke of:
The stagnation of the nations
The inevitable collapse after the war
The burden the Avatar is never prepared to carry alone
The need for custodians, not rulers
I demonstrated—not my strength—but my restraint.
Earthbending precise enough to reshape a table without spilling tea.Energybending controlled enough to let them feel it without touching them.Knowledge of lost techniques no one had spoken aloud in decades.
When one of them tested me—
I let them.
And ended the match before it truly began.
Promotion came quietly.
No ceremony.
No announcement.
Just recognition.
I became a high-ranking member of the White Lotus, trusted not because of power—but because I understood something many of them feared to admit:
The Avatar alone is not enough anymore.
In private, some of them spoke to me honestly.
"If the Avatar falls…""If the world refuses balance…""If the cycle breaks…"
I didn't reassure them.
I answered.
"Then someone else must hold the line."
That was when the idea took shape.
Not an Earth Kingdom army.
Not a Fire Nation rival.
But a White Lotus-aligned military force—unofficial, deniable, disciplined.
A sword that would never seek a throne.
Only balance.
Late that night, standing above Ba Sing Se, I watched the city breathe beneath me.
Factories hummed quietly below ground.Elite Dai Li trained in silence.Engineers tested designs that would rewrite warfare.White Lotus masters debated philosophy—unaware they now had teeth.
I wasn't replacing the Avatar.
I was preparing the world in case the Avatar failed.
And when Aang finally returned…
He wouldn't inherit chaos.
He would inherit structure.