{Reipon}

Xelan sat on the bed to face Razor in Korac’s body. The curious Prince wanted to know so much about the process. Was Korac still conscious? Were they communicating somehow? And what must that be like? Instead, Xelan focused on the situation at hand and asked, “Where in Enki would Imminent take Rayne?”

Razor stopped gazing at Korac’s nails with a tragic longing and met Xelan’s eyes. “Either New Cinder or the Pantheon.”

From behind Xelan, Tameka pressed, “New Cinder?” Her frown was in her voice.

The Pain Curator sighed, bored with the tedium of the interrogation already. “All of Enki’s continents are test sites for planets within the Vast Collective. New Cinder bears the same ecology as Cinder before they forced Li’s expansion.”

Sagan and Tameka exchanged something that made Xelan glance back at them. Sagan spoke up. “When we went before the Tribunal, they took us to a weird place with vegetation like how you and Nox’s Verse described Cinder. Before…”

Tameka completed Sagan’s sentence, “Before they used the nacre inside Li to destroy it.”

They all looked at Razor, who narrowed his eyes with a twitch. “Yes.”

“Do all the stars have nacres?” Tameka stepped closer to him until she looked down to maintain eye contact. Her disdain overrode the curiosity in her tone. Xelan didn’t dream of holding her back as she took over this interrogation. She asked, “Did the Aegis put them there?”

Razor stared up at her, unthreatened by her tone or proximity. More fascinated by it. “You’re… not what I expected, Tameka. While I appreciate your intellect, I agreed to help Sagan save Rayne. The stars and their potential nacre affiliation have nothing to do with that.”

Tameka looked ready to escalate this, and given her history with Korac, she was the one most likely to hurt him.

Sagan touched Xelan’s shoulder, and he asked, “Is Imminent collecting gas from Monarch 3 hives?” That ought to change the subject and save Korac’s face.

Razor kept his eyes locked on Tameka’s, but his words were for Xelan. “Your genius was so perfect for us. I wished I was successful at recruiting you. Yes, they are. And they harvest it for the reason you’ve guessed.”

Sagan gasped.

Xelan shook his head in regret. He wasted time not warning the Progeny about Imminent and Enki before his death. Surely an army of generated soldiers was their ambition all along.

Tameka asked Razor the hard question. “How many—”

“Millions. Possibly tens of millions by now, but none of them possess the same unique talents as you and the rest of Xelan’s Progeny. It’s one reason Celindria works day and night to unlock her brother’s and sister’s abilities. At the time of my death, the army only consisted of trained fighters Celindria could pilot through volition control. That’s if they still exist.”

“What do you mean?” Sagan sounded suspicious.

Razor tightened Korac’s lips in a thin line of disapproval. “When she’s dissatisfied with a batch, Celindria often eradicates them and starts over. Like an artist with a fresh canvas. Remorse tries to keep her in line, to stop her from wasting soldiers, but she has her own ways, as I’m sure you know.”

Xelan held out a tablet. “Can you draw me a map?”

Razor finally broke contact with Tameka. He sounded bemused as he asked, “You want another one?”

Tameka looked behind Xelan to Sagan. They shared a surprised look.

To them, Xelan promised, “One day, I’ll explain everything in my Verse.” To Razor, he held out a tablet and said, “Please.”

Razor accepted it with laughter sparkling in his eyes. “Where to?”

Xelan ticked the items off, tapping his fingernail on the tablet. “Anywhere you know I need. The progenitor, New Cinder, Celindria’s lab—”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“The control bridge?”

“It exists?” Xelan felt his brows go up. This was monumental. If it exists, and they found it, they might save Rayne. Unfortunately, there was no evidence of it. “I never found mention of it in the Pantheon.”

Razor’s amusement once upon a time was infectious to Xelan. After everything he understood the Pain Curator capable of in the last few months, Xelan found it unnerving. What made his eyes shine so? “Yes. It exists, but I have a request before I lead you right to it.”

Tameka groaned.

Sagan took a step forward and visibly shored herself as a sacrifice to this interrogation.

Xelan was not happy.

Gazing up at her, Razor shook Korac’s head. “No. I’m… done with that. This is for Triss. I want to be there when the baby is born. She’d want me to hold our girl at least once.”

Xelan blew the air from his cheeks. “That’s a big ask, and we have other questions.” He looked up at Sagan. “What do you want from this? We’ll go with whatever you choose.”

Sagan glanced back at Razor, who acted on his best behavior. No leering glances and searing smirks. He left Korac’s face and body neutral. To that, she said, “It’s an acceptable request if Korac agrees.”

After a pause, where Razor’s eyes darted about as if searching for something, he returned to them, saying, “He wants everyone to know he doesn’t like it, but agrees.” Rolling his eyes, Razor sighed. “He also wants everyone to know—wants me to say this—that he thinks I’m an asshole for putting you, Sagan, in this position.”

She actually broke into a smile meant for Korac. For Razor, it fell as she said, “Answer their questions and draw their map to the control bridge.”

“Anything for you, Seamswalker.”

As he stared at her, Razor’s eyes filled with such intensity that Xelan intervened by jabbing the tablet. “Map. Now.”

Tameka grimaced as if disgusted with the entire affair as she pressed the interrogation forward. “Who is Silence, and why does she want Rayne?”

Razor spoke while drawing. “I don’t know all the details. She was Primary Quet’s project that he established once the Tritans found us. The Aegis designated some space in Enki for a lab to make things right between them. Surra—”

“Surra?!” Xelan gaped.

“—Escaped. She fled to Cinder, met Elden, and well… I suppose she’s—”

“My grandmother.”

Tameka smoothed her hand over Xelan’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head. He leaned into it, grateful to share this revelation with her. All of them with her.

“Uhm…”

They both turned and looked at Sagan, whose eyes were wide and her mouth was open. After gaping like a fish for a few seconds, she confessed, “I told your grandma I thought she was hot.”

Pablo, who quietly checked in now and again, barked out a laugh from the doorway. “Same, Sagan. Same.” At their glares, he returned to working quietly.

Even Razor chuckled in Korac’s voice. “No one would blame you. If I recall correctly, she was quite beautiful. Nacres preserve regular beings for millions of years after maturity. It’s a gift that has led to more than one comical, romantic encounter—”

Razor tilted his head to the side as if listening before sharing, “Korac tires of my musings and would like to continue the interrogation or cycle me so he can quote, ‘Take Sagan back to our room and cleanse her of this unpleasantness.’”

Sagan blushed.

Tameka groaned. “I don’t need to know this.”

Xelan muttered, “How do you think I feel?” He’d expected to share any information regarding Silence directly with Kyle, but right now, he squirmed at the notion. Pushing all that aside, he asked on a long shot, “Do you know how to end the Weapon in Rayne without killing her?”

“Don’t you know? You perfected it, after all.”

Xelan closed his eyes. The room went very quiet and very still. A vacuum built pressure in his ears until they begged for sweet relief.

Someone else please say something first.

When no words came, Xelan opened his eyes to find Razor glancing between the three stunned friends and beyond to the one in the doorway. He didn’t look entertained or smug, only curious. He didn’t know the damage he’d just caused.

“I wanted to wait for my Verse to tell you, so that I could explain everything in context.”

Tameka inched while turning away from Razor and looking down at Xelan where he sat on the edge of the bed. She looked hurt, and it killed him. She said, “I accept knowing you on your terms. I have enough faith in you to know that if you could save Rayne, you would have shared that information by now. Anything else is a distraction and not helpful to our mission.”

Sagan reached out from his side and squeezed his shoulder. “After working with Korac on his Verse, I understand not everything can be told like a confession. There’s a story, and yours must be very complicated. We’ll wait for you to feel ready.”

Xelan’s heart expanded until he sighed with relief from the guilt he carried. It was his greatest sin, and he didn’t want to share it this way. How ashamed he was at the hands of that manipulation. How wrong he’d been about everything.

“Thank you for understanding.”

Tameka glared at Razor with contempt as she asked, “So, do you know how to end the Weapon or not?”

Razor gazed up at Tameka with respect transparent on his face. He contemplated for a long stretch of silence before answering, “It depends.”

Tameka’s eyes flashed. She ground out, “On what?”

“Was Imminent successful in infecting her with Dr. Suarez’s virus?”

“Fuck me!” Pablo cried from the entryway.

Xelan nodded.

Razor’s eyes went grave, and he sobered completely. He looked only at Sagan as he said, “I’m afraid there’s no way now. You can’t even remove it. The Weapon will detonate if you try, causing maximum devastation in the event of her death. That virus is so thorough you can’t even affect the fuse. She is a Weapon.”

“I don’t believe you.”