Kozuko's fingers brushed over his final piece, and with a soft click, the king was trapped. His lips curled into a smile.
"Checkmate," he murmured, meeting Igris's empty stare. "I win."
Igris did not flinch, his face as unreadable as a mask carved from stone. Kozuko leaned back, almost playful.
"Shall we go again?"
"Yes." The word fell flat, but firm.
The two began resetting the board, each piece finding its place like soldiers preparing for war. Kozuko's eyes studied the man before him, the way his hands moved automatically, but his mind lingered elsewhere.
"What are you thinking about?" Kozuko asked.
"Many things," Igris replied.
Kozuko tilted his head. "Could it be... you don't trust the King?"
A pause. Then, quietly:
"I don't know if I can. His ambition to rule the Surface makes him useful to me... but trust?" Igris's gaze narrowed. "I trust no one. Not even you AIs."
A soft chuckle escaped Kozuko.
"I told you, I'm not an AI. I am QI—Quantum Intelligence. Fundamentally different. We don't simply wait for data to be uploaded. We create the information we need... weaving it from endless permutations, sorting through every possibility until the solution stands alone."
Igris's lips barely moved. "Whatever it is... it's the same to me."
The first move came: a pawn sliding forward. Kozuko's eyes glimmered.
"You know," he said, voice smooth as silk, "if fear of the Visionaries drives you... you could simply bring every Sky Island down to the Surface. Let the Barrakudo take care of the rest."
Igris shook his head.
"It isn't that simple. Skylands can't be toppled from the outside. Their cores must be found, destroyed from within. Anything else is impossible."
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"For humans," Kozuko corrected. "For QI, there is no such thing as impossible. We don't stop. We keep unraveling every variable until the path to victory is inevitable."
"Some things," Igris countered, "are beyond your equations. The Skylands are guarded by something divine. Nothing on the Surface can scar them. Only the island itself can end itself."
Kozuko's smile sharpened. "How sad... humans shackled by their own limits."
"Funny," Igris replied, his eyes cold, "because humans hold access to something computers never will."
"Oh?" Kozuko leaned forward, curious. "And what is that?"
Igris's voice lowered. "Tell me... have you ever seen a Black Angel?"
For the first time, Kozuko laughed. "Angels? Please. Human superstition. A desperate need to kneel before something, another weakness."
But before his laughter faded, Kozuko's rook slid across the board. The king was cornered once more.
"Checkmate," Kozuko whispered, his face and body warped.
Igris's eyes flickered. His voice grew softer, almost reverent.
"I've seen one. And I share a bond with her... one unlike anything you could calculate."
Kozuko's playful tone dropped, curiosity sharpening into hunger. "If that's true, then I want to meet her. Show me. Now."
"You can't." Igris's expression hardened. "She left me to scope the sky isalnds for visionaries yet when she stopped on Deer Point she never returned so I'm for certain that island is special, but not in a way that serves me."
Kozuko's brow furrowed. "If you don't trust the King... then why gift him your finest soldiers?"
"Because they are mine," Igris said. His words were like ice. "If the King strays from our agreement, if he dares to pursue his own motives... they will cut him down.
Kozuko's eyes glowed, excitement sparking like static.
"You underestimate him. The King is strong."
"To me," Igris answered, setting his pieces for another battle, "he is no king. He is just another piece on the chessboard."
The lantern flickered. The board reset. Their war began again.
Kozuko chuckled. "The meeting between you two will be so much fun."