Strongest Incubus System

Damon found Varos in the corridor connecting the biological wing to Level Zero. The commander was accompanied by two guards and carried a small instrument case containing the devices removed from Serik’s controls. When he saw the container in Damon’s hands, he approached immediately.

”Is that the sample they were using to locate Liora?”

”Yes. Aria asked us to preserve everything until we understand what they did to her.” Damon handed him the smaller box and looked at the guards. ”How are things upstairs?”

”Serik is still detained. The researchers have been authorized to move only between the laboratory and the infirmary. We still aren’t sure how many agents are in the facility, so I’ve ordered that no one leave Vermillion until we can check the authentication marks.”

”You intend to keep everyone imprisoned?”

”No. I want to prevent any device from being activated while we’re still figuring out how they work.”

Damon nodded. The decision seemed reasonable, although he knew Varos would have difficulty explaining his orders to the officers who still considered Serik the legitimate director. The Order’s men had been trained to obey a rigid hierarchy, and most knew nothing about the experiments performed on Neria or the hidden function of the authentication marks.

”Aria managed to suspend the execution commands, but that doesn’t mean all the marks are safe,” Damon said. ”Have Ester examine the agents before removing any blocks.”

”I’ve already spoken to her. She’s preparing a separate room for that.”

”Good. I’m going to see Neria.”

Varos accompanied Damon to the biological laboratory. When they entered, they found Neria sitting in a chair near the window, with Liora kneeling beside her. Ester had improvised a nourishment system using some of the cylinder’s equipment, but the tubes now ended in a small mobile reservoir instead of remaining connected to the extraction machine.

Neria looked up as Damon approached.

”Did you find where the filaments came from?”

”I did. The machine has been suspended, and the original archive is functioning without Serik’s instructions.”

”And the records?”

”They’re still preserved. Aria is separating the data extracted from you from the ancient documents.”

Neria took a deep breath and rested her head against the back of the chair. Liora seemed to relax for the first time since they had entered Vermillion.

Ester approached with a small container of water and mineral salts.

”She’s still weak. Her roots can absorb nutrients normally, but the rest of her body spent too long depending on artificial nourishment. I’m not letting her try to walk until she’s stable.”

Damon looked at Neria.

”Did you hear that?”

”I did.”

”She’ll repeat it.”

”I noticed.”

Ester gave him a look before handing the container to Neria. Damon smiled faintly and pulled up a chair.

”We found something in the archive. A record about Serik’s origin.”

Varos moved closer.

”The protocol?”

”Yes. It was created as a preservation tool. The first bearer altered its instructions before transferring them to another body.”

Neria grew serious.

”Vaelor.”

Damon looked up.

”You know that name?”

”My mother told me about him when I was little. I don’t know everything that happened, but I remember Vaelor sought out Eir before he began modifying his own body.”

Aurelia, who had just entered the laboratory, stopped when she heard that.

”He went to the Valley?”

Neria nodded.

”He didn’t reach the core. My mother wouldn’t allow it.”

”Why?” Damon asked.

”He wanted her to restore his previous structure without undoing the alterations he had already made. Mom said she couldn’t guarantee the result.”

Damon studied Neria for a few seconds.

”So he wanted to regain his capacity to adapt while keeping the benefits of standardization.”

”Yes.”

”And Eir refused to do that.”

”She offered to show him his previous state. Vaelor wanted a complete restoration.”

Aurelia understood immediately. ”He wasn’t willing to investigate which parts could be recovered safely. He wanted Eir to produce the exact result he had imagined.”

Neria confirmed it. According to the memories she carried, Vaelor had returned to the Valley several times, always accompanied by researchers. On his last visit, he showed signs of physical deterioration and had already begun developing the preservation protocol.

”My mother tried to warn him that he was altering his own structure faster than he could understand the consequences,” Neria explained. ”He said he didn’t have time.”

Damon ran a hand through his hair.

”And he ended up transferring the protocol to another body.”

”That’s what Mom sensed. After that, she stopped recognizing Vaelor’s presence.”

Varos remained silent, looking at Serik’s blocked implant.

”His records continued,” he finally said. ”But we don’t know how much of the original person remained.”

”Exactly,” Aurelia replied. ”And each bearer added other priorities to the protocol. Serik may contain information from Vaelor without representing his current choices.”

Damon stood.

”That means we need to talk to the man sitting in that chair, not someone who died thousands of years ago.”

Ester pointed toward the corridor.

”Then go talk while I prepare to move Neria to a proper room. And no one is to authorize reconnecting her to the archive.”

”I wasn’t planning to.”

”I’m telling everyone.”

Liora raised her head.

”Can I stay with her?”

”You can. But if you need food, tell me. I don’t want to find you passed out beside the chair.”

The girl nodded, satisfied.

Damon and Varos headed to the room where Serik remained detained. Two guards watched the entrance, and the man was still seated with his arms restrained, Ester’s needles keeping his implant partially blocked. When he saw them, he straightened his posture.

”Has the archive been compromised?”

”No,” Damon replied. ”The instructions you added have been suspended. The original records are still available, as are the patients’ maintenance functions.”

Serik looked at Varos.

”And the Phase Three procedures?”

”Interrupted,” the commander replied.

”You have no idea how much work you’ve just delayed.”

”We know enough not to let you carry out the procedure using an incomplete reference,” Damon said.

Serik looked at him.

”You found Vaelor.”

”We found the record of the first bearer. We also discovered that he sought out Eir before creating the first transfer.”

Serik’s expression changed slightly.

”She told you that?”

”Neria did.”

The man remained silent for a few seconds. Damon pulled up a chair and sat across from him.

”I want to understand something. Do you know that the protocol was altered by the first bearer?”

”I do.”

”And do you know that transferring it to the second bearer wasn’t part of its original function?”

”I do.”

”Then why do you keep treating the instructions added later as though they’re the only way to preserve the species?”

Serik rested his head against the back of the chair.

”Because the problems Vaelor identified haven’t disappeared. The biological models continue to deteriorate, and the modern network wasn’t designed to correct alterations made before its creation.”

”That doesn’t answer why you tried to install the protocol in twenty-four patients.”

”Because there’s no safe way to apply a new standardization without a mechanism capable of monitoring the results.”

”You could have monitored the results without installing obedience commands in their bodies.”

Serik did not answer immediately.

Varos approached the table.

”Were the patients informed about the marks that would be created in their bodies?”

”Not in every detail.”

”Then they didn’t agree to the procedure you were carrying out.”

”They agreed to the treatment.”

Varos took a deep breath. ”I’ll ask Mereth to review the consent documents with them when they’re well enough to talk. Until then, no modification procedures will resume.”

Serik turned toward Damon.

”You intend to let the patients die while you discuss authorization?”

”Mereth is keeping the six stable. The other eighteen haven’t undergone any alterations. We’re preserving the treatments they need while investigating how to reverse the damage.”

”Three won’t survive without artificial support.”

”Then they’ll continue receiving support.”

Serik seemed to search for another objection but remained silent.

Damon stood.

”I didn’t come here to discuss the entire future of Vermillion’s research. I want to know how many facilities can execute Phase Three without your authorization.”

Varos immediately looked at his former superior.

Serik took some time to answer.

”Vermillion was the only center with access to the original archive.”

”I didn’t ask how many have the archive. I asked how many can carry out the procedure.”

”Three units received partial versions of the records.”

”Locations.”

”They aren’t prepared to begin a complete reinitialization.”

”Locations,” Damon repeated.

Serik looked at the two of them before answering. One unit was near the Order’s administrative headquarters. The other two were medical centers in different regions, used to evaluate organisms with severe problems in their spiritual circulation.

Varos knew all three places.

”We referred patients to those centers,” he said. ”The reports mentioned experimental treatments, but never the installation of the protocol.”

Serik looked at him.

”The procedures were still in the evaluation stage.”

Damon crossed his arms.

”We’ll need the complete records and the names of those in charge. I also want to know whether any of those units have authentication marks capable of executing local orders.”

Varos was already writing down the names.

”I’ll send teams to inspect the centers as soon as we can establish secure communications.”

”Teams that know why they’re going,” Damon added.

”Yes.”

The two left Serik under guard and returned to Level Zero. Aria had organized the records they had found into three distinct sets: original documents from the first standardizers, medical research conducted at Vermillion, and instructions added by Serik’s protocol. The ancient consultation system remained available, but any attempt to execute procedures had to pass through the restored maintenance controls.

Aurelia was examining the records alongside Mereth, who had finally managed to assemble a medical team large enough to care for all twenty-four patients.

”Find anything useful?” Damon asked.

”A gradual recovery procedure,” Aurelia replied. ”It doesn’t immediately reverse the alterations in the six patients, but it describes how to allow the body to develop its own pathways while we reduce its dependence on artificial circulation.”

Mereth pointed to a representation of one of the most severe cases.

”We need to evaluate each patient separately. Some channels were fixed in positions that don’t correspond to the body’s original structure. Trying to undo them all at once would be dangerous.”

”And how long will it take?”

”I don’t know,” Mereth replied. ”Weeks for some. Perhaps months for others.”

Damon nodded. It wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, but it was better than an impossible promise.

”Do you need anything from Mirath?”

”Researchers familiar with independent spiritual circulation,” Aurelia replied. ”And specialists capable of evaluating organic adaptations without forcing a predetermined structure.”

Damon thought of Jian Yue and Mu Qing. They could contribute to the treatment, provided they agreed and had access to the necessary records. Chen Mo could also help examine the protocol’s filaments, although Damon had no intention of bringing his void anywhere near a patient before understanding the risks.

”When we get out of the blocked region, I’ll talk to them.”

Aria looked up.

”We also need to establish an independent storage system. If the records remain only here, anyone who takes control of the facility will have access to everything.”

”Can you prepare copies?”

”I can, but I won’t remove medical documents without identifying which ones contain patients’ personal information.”

Varos agreed. ”The research records need to be preserved. Individual medical records will remain the responsibility of the clinical team.”

Damon looked at him.

”You’re starting to give reasonable orders.”

”I’m still the commander.”

”For now.”

Varos almost smiled.

When Damon returned to the biological laboratory, he found Neria in a smaller room, settled into a bed near a window. Ester had managed to replace the cylinder’s nourishment system entirely with a mobile reservoir, and Neria could already move her arms without feeling the tension of the artificial filaments.

Liora sat beside her, eating fruit that one of the researchers had brought from the infirmary.

”You’re eating again?” Damon asked.

”Yes.”

”Great. I was worried.”

”Did you bring more?”

He looked at Ester.

”She’s learning from me.”

”Unfortunately,” Ester replied.

Neria watched the two of them before turning her attention to the small box Damon was carrying.

”Is that the sample that was in the archive?”

”Yes. We’re taking it to Eir. She’ll be able to recognize its origin without having to touch either of your structures directly.”

Neria extended her hand but stopped before reaching the container.

”May I see it?”

Damon opened the box and brought it close enough for her to examine the preserved root. Neria studied its greenish color and the small red marks on its surface.

”It was taken from me.”

Liora set her fruit on the table.

”Can you feel it?”

”Not anymore. But I recognize the structure.”

Damon carefully closed the box.

”Then we’ll keep it as part of the evidence.”

Neria nodded and rested her head on the pillow.

”When can we go home?”

Ester examined the reservoir’s indicators.

”If your circulation remains stable, we can arrange the trip tomorrow. But you’ll need transport and someone to accompany you throughout the journey.”

Liora took her sister’s hand.

”I’ll go with you.”

”I know.”

Damon brought over a chair and sat across from them.

”Before we leave, I need to ask something. Does Eir want to receive all the records we found?”

Liora closed her eyes for a few seconds. The veins in her arms turned green, but nothing changed in the walls or floor. When she opened her eyes, she replied:

”She wants to know what they did. She doesn’t want you to bring the machines.”

”Great. I didn’t want to carry those things, either.”

Neria smiled faintly.

”And she wants to talk to you.”

Damon grew serious.

”About Vaelor?”

Liora nodded.

”She said you don’t need to recover the ancient structure to understand what happened to your lineage.”

Her answer left Damon silent for a few seconds. Ever since Eir had shown him the diagram of his body, part of him had wanted to discover how far he could develop that ancestral structure. But the experience at Vermillion had demonstrated the problem with trying to obtain a result before understanding the process.

”Then we’ll talk,” he replied. ”Just talk.”

Ester raised an eyebrow.

”I’m going to hold you to that promise.”

Damon looked at her.

”You hold me to all of them.”

”Because you make so many.”

He smiled and stood.

For the first time since they had entered Vermillion, the group had a decision that didn’t depend on destroying something, confronting another enemy, or accepting an unknown alteration. The patients would continue receiving treatment, the records would be examined by people capable of questioning the procedures, and Neria could return to the Valley with her sister.

Serik remained alive and detained. His protocol had been suspended in the archive, but the alterations made over thousands of years were still present in bodies, institutions, and records scattered across the world.

Damon did not intend to resolve everything before leaving Vermillion.

He only needed to make sure that, when he left the facility, no one there would once again treat a person’s recovery as authorization to decide what they should become.