The other woman blinked in surprise, her gaze darting back to Damian, who finally stepped forward with an air of authority. He extended his hand in a professional gesture, a cool smile on his lips. "Alex Smith," he repeated, his voice calm and collected. "As Beth said, I’ll be in charge here from today. And you are?"

The woman hesitated for a brief moment before accepting his hand with a nervous smile. "Anabella Sharpe," she replied. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Smith."

"Anabella," Damian repeated with a pleasant smile. "Good to meet you. From today onward, you’ll be the senior lab assistant. Beth here," he gestured casually to the fuming woman beside him, "will be the junior assistant."

The shock on Anabella’s face was immediate, her eyes darting back and forth between Damian and Beth. Meanwhile, Beth’s face turned a deep shade of crimson, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. The humiliation was palpable. Not only had she been demoted, but she was now outranked by someone she likely considered inferior—a mere assistant.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Beth muttered under her breath, her voice a low growl, barely audible.

Damian’s smile never wavered as he turned his attention back to Anabella, ignoring Beth’s fury. "I trust you’ll be up to the task, Anabella. I’ll need someone who’s reliable and detail-oriented to assist with the experiments. Someone who can help get things done without any… complications."

Anabella nodded quickly, clearly eager to stay on Damian’s good side. "Yes, understood," she replied, her voice steady but cautious. It was obvious that she sensed the shift in power dynamics and was adjusting herself accordingly. He needed someone like her—an ambitious, people-pleaser type who would do whatever it took to stay in his good graces. Someone who wouldn’t challenge his authority, but instead work hard to maintain her newfound position.

Beth, on the other hand, was seething. Her lips pressed into a thin, colorless line as she glared at the floor, barely able to contain her rage. She had not only been stripped of her position but was now placed under the authority of someone she likely saw as an inexperienced outsider. To make matters worse, Anabella—whom Beth probably considered beneath her—was now her superior.

But Damian had chosen his new senior assistant for a reason. Anabella struck him as the type who would follow orders to the letter, eager to please and unlikely to cause trouble. Beth, on the other hand, was exactly the type who would sabotage his work if given the chance, clinging to any hope of regaining her former status. Elevating Anabella was more of a tactical move than messing with her. If Damian was going to survive and thrive in this new environment, he needed someone loyal, or at least desperate enough to curry favor. Beth, with her wounded pride and grudge, would be too dangerous to trust, but in a subordinate role, she was less of a threat.

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"Good," Damian said, his voice cool and measured. He turned to Beth, watching as she struggled to compose herself. "Lead me to… my lab."

Beth, biting her tongue so hard she could have drawn blood, turned without a word and began walking toward the lab’s entrance, her movements stiff and jerky. Damian followed at a leisurely pace.

The lab itself was spacious, filled with high-tech equipment humming with purpose. Monitors lined the walls, displaying complex data streams, while sleek metal tables held various experimental setups. Damian saw a board with notes meticulously written and organized.

As they entered, Anabella hovered near the door, still glancing between Beth and Damian with a nervous energy. Beth remained silent, standing near one of the workstations, her hands trembling slightly as she gripped the edge of a table.

"So, Anabella," Damian said, breaking the tension, "let’s get started. I want a full report on the current Ray Sphere projects, focusing mainly on any issues with component durability."

Anabella nodded quickly, moving to one of the nearby monitors and pulling up the relevant data. "Yes, of course. I’ll have everything ready for you in a few minutes."

Damian watched her work, his mind already spinning with plans. The information he needed was within reach. If he played his cards right, he could gain valuable insight into the workings of the First Sons and, more importantly, the Ray Sphere technology.

He turned his attention to Beth, who was still fuming silently. "Beth," he said, his voice carefully neutral, "organize the notes from your previous experiments. I want to review everything to see what’s been overlooked."

Beth gnawed at the inside of her cheek, her eyes flicking to him with thinly veiled contempt. But she obeyed, muttering under her breath as she began gathering files from a nearby cabinet.

While it was undoubtedly enjoyable to see someone so prideful reduced to this state, Damian had made his decision for pragmatic reasons. He knew Beth was smart, perhaps even dangerously so, and he couldn’t afford to have her plotting against him. On the other hand, Anabella—eager to prove herself and too timid to challenge him—was far easier to control.

This new position would allow him access to more than just lab data. If he could integrate himself deeper into the operations here, it could offer a strategic advantage. And with Kessler keeping a close eye on his progress, Damian needed to ensure every move he made was calculated.

As Anabella handed him a tablet with the initial project reports, Damian smiled. "Good work. Let’s see what we can uncover here."

As he began reviewing the data, he couldn’t help but think of the old saying: “Power is not just about control—it’s about how you use it when you have it huh? I’d change it to something like knowledge alone isn't power—true power lies in the willingness to use it, shaping your path toward what you desire.”

Damian's thoughts simmered as he scanned the data Anabella had provided. The Ray Sphere’s energy output fluctuated drastically with each test. From the data he was looking at it seems that the highest energy output was when Cole used it. Usually, the Ray Sphere could only transfer about 20% to 35% of the energy when used but in Cole’s activation, it managed to reach 79%.

He scrolled through the reports, his eyes quickly picking out anomalies and inconsistencies in the experiments. Most of the failures came down to one recurring issue: durability. Components couldn’t withstand the raw force of Rayfield Energy for long, as if the energy itself was too volatile, too wild to be contained. His earlier suggestion, about using debris charged with RFE, wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment idea—it had merit.

Damian closed his eyes and pulled himself from this line of thought. He had dived too deeply into the persona of Alex Smith. While his mind and thought process were useful Damian didn’t really want to become a First Sons scientist. He needed to grab some RFE-charged debris, the data, and not get caught leaving.