Midgard Company Administrative Hall – South Armathane Time: Day 168 After Alec's Arrival
The main hall was unfinished stone.
No banners. No velvet. No court sigils.
Just a single circular table, wide enough for twenty, and one large map of Midgard stretched across the wall—marked with pins, thread, and sigils in charcoal.
Alec stood at the head of the table, his hand resting on a thick bound ledger.
Around him sat the foundation.
Not nobles.
Not knights.
But builders, smiths, alchemists,scholars, and scribes. Some wore soot. Others wore ink-stained linen. All looked uneasy. Not because they feared each other — but because no one had ever been given this kind of power in this way.
No throne. No titles.
Just sectors.
And one vision.
"Good day everyone" He greeted.
"I'd like to start this meeting by answering the question on everyone's mind"
"Why are you here?"
"Why you?"
"You are all here not because of the past but the future" he paused
"Look around you. Not at the walls, not at the floor. Look at each other. Do you see it? You're not here by accident. You're not here because you were easy to find. You're here because the world forgot to see you—and I didn't.
I know who you are. You're the ones with sharp minds and quiet voices. The ones who solved problems no one noticed. The ones who got passed over for people who talked louder, who played safer, who fit in. You don't fit in. And that's exactly why you're sitting in this room.
The world underestimates people like us. It tells us to wait our turn, to prove ourselves by building someone else's dream. But I didn't bring you here to wait. I brought you here to build—a foundation, an empire, a system that doesn't just make money, but proves a point.
We will be the storm they didn't see coming. We'll build with precision, move with purpose, and act with the kind of intelligence they've mistaken for silence. Every great revolution starts with a whisper. This—this room—is our whisper. And what we build together will be impossible to ignore.
You weren't chosen because you were easy. You were chosen because you were right. You're not just part of this—you are this. The next chapter doesn't get written without you.
So here's what I ask: bring me your ideas, your defiance, your hunger. No more waiting for permission. It's time to start something the world can't afford to overlook."
The Structure
"This is the structure," Alec said.
He opened the ledger.
"Every name in this room will oversee an arm of the company. You'll answer to me. You'll manage the crews, the materials, and the directives. You'll be funded, supported, and shielded from guild interference."
He paused.
"And if you fail, you'll be replaced. No ceremony. No explanation. Just gone."
The room stayed quiet.
"Now," he continued. "We begin."
He pointed to the left wall, where a blank slate board had been divided into sectors.
Then he listed them off — one by one.
The Core Sectors of the Midgard Company: Food & Agriculture,Metallurgy & Metalworks,Naval & Marine Works,Textiles & Fibers,Fashion & Wears,Building & Construction,Research & Development ,Wood & Furniture works,Fuel & Energy,Logistics & Supply,Engineering & Machinery,Armaments & Arsenal,Education & Training,Chemical Works,Glass & Ceramics Works,Poly & Rubber Works,Cosmetics & Bodycare,Communication & Information, Security & Paramilitary,Medical and Health.
He rattled off pre-selected sector chiefs. Some people were familiar with,others unknown and new faces.
Strategic Goals
Establish a core facility for R&D, production, and administration.
Develop basic but high-demand products using relatively simple technologies.
Build local infrastructure and logistics to ensure control and efficiency.
Begin recruiting and training a loyal, skilled workforce.
Start creating a trusted brand under the duchess's protection.
Alec stepped back.
Each name. Each face. Burned into memory.
"You are not cogs," he said. "You are the first gears in a new machine."
__
As the silence settled across the chamber, Alec unrolled another scroll and placed it at the center of the circular table. It bore no crest, no colors — just a single name in dark ink:
The Midgard Company: Foundational Charter – Internal Code and Structural Hierarchy
He began speaking without preamble.
"There will be no titles of nobility within this Company. Rank is earned, measured, and reassessed. The hierarchy is as follows."
He pointed to the scroll's columns.
Director-General – Alec (Full authority, answerable only to the Sovereign Chair)
Sector Chiefs – You(some). All seated here. (Operational independence within assigned domains)
Unit Overseers – To be appointed by Sector Chiefs from trusted craftsmen, scholars, and foremen
Junior Staff & Apprentices – Vetted. Trained. Promoted through merit and examination.
"You may operate freely within your domains," Alec said, "but you do not compete. There will be no power blocs. No fiefdoms within the Company. We rise as a system — or not at all."
He motioned to a pile of folded parchments, each sealed with his personal sigil.
"These are binding accords," he said. "What you'd call in court an Oath of Silence. In plain terms: you do not share company knowledge. Not with guilds. Not with nobles. Not with foreign agents. Not with your lovers, your children, or your gods."
One of the smiths shifted uneasily.
Alec's gaze cut to him instantly.
"I don't care what oaths you swore before this day. If you violate this one, you are out. No warnings. No mercy. No second breath."
He paused to let it settle.
"Breach of protocol is not just betrayal — it is damage to a world that doesn't exist yet. You are not protecting secrets. You are protecting the future."
"And it is tantamount to treason agisnt the duchy. Be warned"
"I am sure well know the penalty for that" He added.
He passed the documents around the table one by one.
"Sign. Press your thumbprint. Then read the final line aloud."
One by one, they did.
"I swear by hand and word and breath to speak only when permitted, build only what is sanctioned, and protect the future I have been allowed to see. If I betray this, may all I build turn to ash."
Each voice, some confident, some cracking.
But all binding.
Alec watched them in silence.
He didn't smile.
He just nodded once.
"You're no longer alone. You're no longer replaceable. And now... you're no longer free."
__
Alec and Serina – After the Council
Later, in the upper offices where plans were still sketched on unfinished walls, Alec walked beside Serina.
She carried a ledger now. A real one. With signatures. With orders. She wore no noble brooch. Just company colors — dark grey with copper trim.
"You've given me too much," she said, half whispering.
"No," Alec replied. "I've given you exactly what you can handle."
"I'm sixteen."
"You're smarter than half this room."
"I'm not experienced."
"That's what makes you dangerous to the old guard. And valuable to me."
Serina stopped walking.
"You trust me?"
"Not yet" Alec said. "I trust what you could become. That's better."
She stared at him.
Then nodded.