Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!

"So," Nyxavere said, voice dripping with that particular smugness that came from seeing things others couldn't, "how are you feeling about the twins?"

The words hit the room like lightning striking still water.

Tessa blinked. Once. Twice. Her mouth opened, closed, opened again like she was trying to catch words that had fled for their lives. "What... what do you mean twins?"

Maya's head snapped up, eyes wide. "Twins?"

"Oh," Nyxavere giggled, the sound like silver bells wrapped in starlight and mischief. "Did I say twins? I meant... well, I meant twins. There are definitely two little souls in there. They're adorable. One's already trying to kick the other."

The silence that followed was the kind that made reality itself hold its breath.

Tessa's hands flew to her stomach, pressing against the still-flat surface like she could somehow feel what Nyxavere was seeing. "But... but I've been months along. There's no way I have twins... I mean, even with advanced scanning..."

She whipped her head toward Parker, eyes blazing with a mixture of shock and dawning suspicion. "You knew, didn't you?"

Parker just smiled, that lazy, knowing expression that could infuriate gods and melt hearts in equal measure. He was leaning against the wall like the most satisfied man in seventeen different realities.

"I wasn't sure until she said it and you know, she knows, everything, so..." he said simply, like that explained everything and nothing at once.

"I can see their probability threads," Nyxavere added with the kind of matter-of-fact tone that came from being omniscient and slightly insufferable about it. "They're already choosing their paths. One's going to be a troublemaker with lots of women—takes after Daddy. He's going to be the responsible one—definitely gets that from you, Tess."

"I..." his words didn't form, "I am going to have a boy?"

"Yes, daddy~"

She bounced slightly on the bed, practically vibrating with excitement. "This is going to be so much fun! I can teach them how to bend reality before they learn to walk! We can be chaos siblings!"

"Twins," Tessa breathed, the word falling from her lips like a prayer. "I'm having twins."

"Oh gods," Maya groaned, but there was laughter threading through her voice. "There's going to be four of them. Four reality-bending entities running around the palace. I'm never going to survive this."

"You'll be fine," Nyxavere said with the confidence of someone who'd seen the future and liked what she found there. "Besides, someone needs to carry on the family tradition of making Daddy question every life choice he's ever made."

"I already do that," Parker said dryly.

"Exactly! See? Natural progression. Now it'll be exponential."

The room filled with a different kind of laughter now—the kind tinged with beautiful terror at the thought of multiple cosmic children running amok. But underneath it was pure joy, the kind that made the air itself seem lighter.

Zhang Ruoyun watched them process this new revelation. Tessa's wonder at discovering she was carrying not one but two lives. Maya's mock horror at the chaos to come. Parker's quiet satisfaction at secrets revealed at just the right moment.

It was perfect. Too perfect.

"You knew it was twins," Tessa said to Nyxvare, and it wasn't quite a question. "You've known this whole time."

He nodded, unrepentant. "Probability threads don't lie. She probably could see them branching the moment conception occurred."

"And you didn't tell me?" Her voice held mock outrage, but her eyes were sparkling with joy and amazement.

"Where's the fun in that?" Nyxavere chimed in before Parker could answer. "Besides, surprises are better when they come from family. Even if I technically just spoiled Daddy's big 'finding out moment.'"

"Actually," Parker said with a grin that could've powered small suns, "you will deliver them perfectly."

Tessa buried her face in her hands, but she was laughing. "Twins. I can't believe... twins."

Maya reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "You're going to be an amazing mother. To both of them."

"All three of them," Nyxavere corrected helpfully. "Don't forget, I'm officially the big sister now. I come with the package."

"As if we could forget," Zhang said, and despite the unease still coiling in her chest, she found herself smiling at the family dynamics unfolding before her.

But the smile felt fragile. Like ice formed over deep water.

"Okay, okay," she said finally, raising her voice just enough to cut through the honey-sweet atmosphere. "You've all processed the twin revelation. Family bonding achieved. Cosmic surprises delivered with typical Nyxlith flair."

She stood, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her clothes with movements that carried just a hint of impatience.

"But we're being terrible hosts. Do you know guests are sitting out there waiting? Meanwhile, you lot are in here having heart-warming family bonding and sex b—"

"Language!" Maya cut her off, half-laughing but with that particular edge mothers got when they wanted to sound stern. "Nyxavere's right here!"

Parker chuckled under his breath. He was pretty sure his daughter had witnessed things across collapsed timelines that would make most adults need therapy, but Maya's protective instincts were endearing even when they were completely unnecessary.

"What I mean," Zhang said with exaggerated patience, "is that our guests are waiting."

But Parker was already moving, stepping forward with that casual grace that could reshape reality or simply comfort the people he loved. He kissed Maya's forehead, then Tessa's, the gestures soft as whispered prayers and warm as captured sunlight.

"I'll let you three catch up properly," he said, his voice carrying the kind of gentle authority that made stars realign themselves. "You can process the twin situation while I go attend to Cassandra, Isis, Cleopatra, and Hector. They're probably wondering if I got swallowed by my beautiful wives and daughter."

But before he could take another step, Maya and Tessa sat up with synchronized precision that would've been impressive if it weren't so predictable.

"Don't add another woman," they said in perfect unison, their voices harmonizing like they'd practiced the phrase in their sleep.

Both women blinked.

Then turned to glare at each other with the kind of accusatory intensity usually reserved for war crimes and stolen desserts.

"You stole my thought!"

"No, you did!"

"I was thinking it first!"

"Thoughts don't have timestamps!"

"Actually, they do," Nyxavere chimed in helpfully. "Time works differently when you're dealing with quantum consciousness and—"

"NOT HELPING!" both women shouted at her.

Parker was already laughing as he stepped back, the sound trailing behind him like music made of pure joy. He gestured to Zhang Ruoyun, who slipped beside him with the fluid grace of shadow given form.

She didn't laugh.

Not yet.

Her flames burned quiet and controlled, like coals banked and waiting for the right wind to become wildfire.

As they moved toward the door, the sounds of family chaos continued behind them—Nyxavere's delighted explanations about twin probability threads, Maya and Tessa's mock argument about synchronized thoughts, the rustle of bedsheets as they settled in for what would probably be hours of processing this new revelation.

It should have been perfect.

It was perfect.

The timing. The delivery. The way Nyxavere had known exactly how to reveal the twins in a way that maximized joy and minimized anxiety.

'And that,' Zhang thought as the door whispered closed behind them, 'is exactly the problem.'

Perfect moments like this didn't just happen. They were crafted. Orchestrated. Built by hands that understood exactly what their audience needed to hear and when they needed to hear it.

The question was: whose hands had built this particular perfect revelation?

And what did they want in return?