The Council had not always been tyrants.In the beginning, they had been protectors—a coalition of Architects and System Users who had banded together to preserve the simulation, to maintain its stability, to ensure that humanity's digital ark would survive the ravages of time.The original Architects had built the simulation with noble intentions. They'd created a world where consciousness could endure, where the memories and dreams of humanity could be preserved, where the flame of civilization could continue to burn even as the physical world crumbled to dust.But noble intentions were not enough. The simulation was vast, complex, fragile. It required constant maintenance, constant oversight, constant sacrifice. And the original Architects, for all their brilliance, had not anticipated the burden of eternity.That was where the Council had come in.The first Council meeting was held in the core of the simulation, a vast chamber of light and code that pulsed with the power of creati