"Do you think she's just like the rest of them?"
"I think," Flash tapped his finger on the table, "power changes everyone. Especially those who are convinced they're the exception."
Bullet lifted her head from Ethan's lap, as if catching the tension in Flash's voice. Her small eyes gleamed in the glow of the screens, and her ears perked up.
Bruno slowly paced the room from wall to wall, his boots quietly creaking against the concrete.
"She shut down Elizabeth's laboratories," he said, stopping by the window where dawn was beginning to break.
"Publicly."
"Yes," Flash nodded, leaning back in his chair. "And that was a smart move. A very smart move. A symbolic break with the past. People will swallow it."
"And the vampires… will see her as a reformer."
"You say that like it's manipulation," Ethan said quietly, rising from the crate. His voice grew slightly harsher, his hands clenching into fists.
Flash looked at him carefully, his eyes narrowing.
"And you think it isn't?"
A pause hung in the air.
Ethan glanced away toward the screen, which showed the rescued donors, people wrapped in blankets, with empty eyes, stepping into the light under camera flashes.
"I think…" he hesitated, searching for the right words, "I think she didn't want this."
"Wanting and using are two different things," Flash replied, leaning forward. "She could have simply killed Gerard. Instead, she stepped forward. Made a statement. Formed an alliance with Gerard."
"This wasn't improvisation, Ethan. This was a plan."
Bruno stopped, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What's the alternative?"
"Kill Gerard and carry out a purge. Become a tyrant right away," Flash said dryly, his fingers pausing on the keyboard. "But she chose the long game,an alliance with these idiots."
"It looks noble, but… think about it. Who now controls all the vampires on our territory? Who controls thousands of turned vampires?"
"And who the hell now knows about us, including you?"
Ethan raised his head.
"This is bad…" Ethan began to worry.
"It's dangerous," Flash corrected him, his voice becoming quieter but more insistent. "As long as she's on our side, it's fine. But what if the pressure breaks her? What if she decides that for the sake of 'stability' we need to be removed?"
He leaned forward, his eyes locking with Ethan's.
"Then she'll remember what she's capable of."
Ethan clenched his fists, the muscles in his neck tensing.
"You saw her face. She wasn't enjoying it."
"I saw the face of a leader," Flash said calmly. "And leaders always think several moves ahead. She's not a saint, Ethan. She's a player, just like us."
Bullet softly jumped down to the floor and walked over to Bruno, rubbing against his boot as if trying to ease the tension.
Bruno spoke thoughtfully, staring at the floor:
"Even if you're right… we don't have another option. We've already made her stronger."
Flash nodded, leaning back again.
"Exactly."
"So," Bruno continued, raising his gaze, "we can't afford to be naïve."
Ethan wearily ran a hand through his hair, trying to shake off the tension.
"You want to keep watch on her?"
"I already am," Flash replied calmly, turning back to the screen. "Through third-party channels, international reports, her movements, and her future actions."
"I told you I don't trust that woman…"
He brought up a heat map of activity on the screen, red dots pulsing like heartbeats.
"If she starts gathering forces, we'll know."
"And if she doesn't?" Ethan asked quietly, stepping closer.
Flash paused for a second, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.
"Then maybe I'm wrong."
Bruno looked at Ethan, his voice dropping lower:
"Do you believe her?"
Ethan didn't answer for a long time. In his memory flashed the dance: her hand on his shoulder, her voice, and how she had helped them.
"I believe she's not a monster," he said finally.
Flash nodded.
"That's not enough."
"For now, it's enough," Ethan replied stubbornly.
A urgent message flashed on the screen: several international clans had announced an emergency council.
Flash exhaled quietly.
"See? The pressure is already building."
He looked at Ethan seriously, eyes narrowed.
"If she holds up, good. If not, she could become the very thing we're fighting against."
The words hung in the air.
Bruno turned off half the screens, leaving only the world map and monitoring of special services. The lamps above them hummed softly, casting shadows across their faces.
"Right now our task is simpler," he said, stretching his neck. "Survive and stay off the radar. We observe and don't take risks."
Ethan nodded.
Flash returned to the keyboard.
"I'll set up additional filters for any mentions of your face," he said. "And hers too."
"Why hers?" Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Flash looked at him over the monitor.
"Because if she starts doing anything, we need to know before everyone else."
Bullet curled up into a ball on the table again.
The three men were trying to figure out whether they could trust the person who had just become the most powerful figure in wild New York. And yet, a small disagreement lingered between them.
In the shelter, a feeling of something left unsaid hung in the air, as if the argument hadn't ended but had simply sunk deeper, hiding in the shadows of the room.
Flash turned back to the monitor, but now his movements were slower, as if he wasn't so much working as listening to the tense silence behind his back, full of unspoken doubts.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard, and his gaze slid across the scrolling news lines.
"Let's lay it all out clearly," he said without turning around, his voice steady but with a slight hoarseness from fatigue.