Title: Soft Light in the Dark
"Is this what you call peace, Gerald, or just the calm before another storm hits us?"
Laura stood near the edge of the glass terrace, her delicate fingers wrapped around a crystal glass of chilled synthetic wine. The soft glow of the artificial moonlit garden illuminated her silver dress, casting long, elegant shadows across the manicured flora of the Sovereign Estate. Below them, the sprawling neon metropolis of Aethelgard Prime hummed with its usual predatory energy, but up here, sixty stories above the chaos, the air felt strangely still.
Gerald stepped out through the sliding glass panels, his heavy footsteps muffled by the rare, natural grass carpet lining the private balcony. He had unbuttoned his formal collar, rolling up the sleeves of his dark
