Emperor Valerius awakened to the gentle, rhythmic hum of a captive singularity suspended beneath his bedchamber. Five thousand years after humanity learned to fold the fabric of space like silk, physical scarcity had vanished from the universe. Entire stars were siphoned for minor energy grids; quantum matter-synthesizers rendered rare elements as common as dirt. Yet as Valerius stepped onto his balcony overlooking the capital-spire—a ring-world structure encircling three star systems—he knew the bitter truth of his age: resources were infinite, but human greed remained limitless.