The quest display hovered in the dark alcove like a small, clinical moon.
Alex stared at it.
"I'm not doing that," Alex said finally, voice low enough not to wake the cubs or the snakelings in the next cavern. "Not like this. Not turning bonds into… checklist items. Drakar isn't a quest reward. Neither is Granite. They're people. They've chosen to stay because they want to, not because some System bar needs filling."
[Host,] System began, and for once there was no smug preening in the tone. Just the flat, careful honesty it had started using since the connection had been torn open and stitched back together. [I am not suggesting coercion. I am suggesting completion. The top-tier classification grants structural advantages—enhanced resilience for the bearer, passive stabilization of the sanctuary territory, grants stronger mate bond and a measurable increase in the threshold's responsiveness to your intent rather than external interference. ]
