{2007ce}

Since Rayne had appointed Jack King Regent of Earth and ruled alongside The Brethren, Celindria had taken little interest in Lucas’ activities.

Until today.

On Cinder.

In a cave system mirroring the one on New Cinder within Li Mountain, Celindria crept in the shadows, following the curious Icarus. He was a mystery to her. Smith, too. They’d served a valuable purpose in Imminent, and as a being known for his relationship with the Mother, Lucas was revered among their organization.

Nonthreatening.

That was how Celindria would describe the Icarus, who was only a few inches taller than herself and built more slender than the usual warrior caste.

In fact, as Lucas stepped from the tunnel and into a cavern, Celindria wondered if he was an Icarus at all.

Concealed, she watched as he approached the stasis pod housed in the chamber’s center. Someone slept within—

“Hello, Silence.”

The Silence? Mother of all in the galaxy believed lost from their cause. The woman who’d died in her search of Ishkur—

Not dead.

Sleeping.

And Lucas knew.

We’ve always suspected him.

We kind of like him.

But he lied to us.

The bastard sat on the cave floor and regaled Silence with the Shadow’s adventures. “They’ve set up this amazing encampment in the Egyptian sands on the cusp of Cinder’s conduit into Earth. Kyle stays at the old fortress, probably preening that he’s occupying Nox’s old haunt. I can’t wait for you to see it. The tents provide food for the Icari from the moment they step foot on Earth. They’re assigned roles and shelter. It’s coming together. I think on my next visit, I’ll awaken you.”

Lucas stood up and went to the pod. His eyes went from sharp to soft as he gazed down at her as if he’d missed her. He said, “This is the first time I’ll try a Probability with you in it. My lucky wild card.” When Lucas closed his eyes, it was in mourning. An emotion Celindria had only felt once. On a breath, he said, “This time is the last time. Please, father… my brothers… Let this work.”

How interesting.

We could report this to Remorse.

Why tell the Tritans? Tell the Shadow. That would be even more interesting.

But we like Lucas, and we want to see Silence raised.

After a moment in the quiet, Lucas left through another tunnel. Celindria waited an hour before venturing into the cavern and peering upon the face of their making. Silence was beautiful and, for some reason, naked. Didn’t she know the pod would stasis her clothing?

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Regardless.

Celindria surveyed the machine thoroughly, looking, searching—

There.

A flaw in the end cycle mechanism kept the pod dormant. It was a delicate function, both keeping her alive and keeping her from waking. With a little ingenuity, one could deplete the oxygen and hinder cognition along with memory.

Finished, Celindria stood over the sleeping woman and said, “I promise to activate your nacre’s retrieval code when we next meet.”

If the accounts of Project Surra were transparent, Silence might be the only being in the galaxy who could understand Celindria’s isolation and solitude from birth.

Celindria placed a hand on the glass, saying, “Until then, sleep well, Mother.”

{Now}

Inside his mind, Cinderken had moaned and screamed for Xelan and Korac to free him, begged for Celindria to set him free. All the while, she’d waited patiently for her opportunity.

Korac was such a sensitive creature, richly defensive of the ones he held dear. The insult Celindria had slurred at Sagan was unwarranted. Slut shaming wasn’t really in the First Progeny’s nature, but it did the trick.

While Cinderken experienced the explosion of agony from the eruption of his face, Celindria had pricked Korac’s hand. She’d made the pin out of Cinderken’s finger bones while she waited patiently for the interrogation to begin.

Oh, there were moments which called for cackling like a villain.

This was it.

How could they underestimate us?

Because they are fools!

We are beyond the Shadow’s understanding.

Celindria opened Cinderken’s laced hands to reveal the delicate blue ribbon with a single drop of dried yellow blood.

Aegis DNA.

Upon a quiet moment of reflection, Celindria considered all things Aegis.

Lucas secreting Silence in a cave felt Aegis.

Rayne surviving Enki felt Aegis.

And earlier, seeing father alive and reunited with his beloved General—That, too, felt Aegis.

They looked so happy.

Are we happy for them?

Or sad for us?

Celindria’s actual body formed out of the Shadows within the cell and accepted the ribbon. Without lingering, she returned to Paradise and traveled to her lab.

Pax waited at the station, prepared, as Celindria was, to revitalize their construct of Nox.

“Sis, were they cruel to you?” After all the stories Celindria had told him of their unkind taunts regarding her malady, Pax always asked after her wellbeing when she returned from the dominant reality.

Celindria faked the warmth in her smile as she said, “No, dear brother. They were cruel to another, and we will seek justice for him.”

“As Elden intended,” Pax said as he joined her at the sample extraction instrument.

Kill him.

No. Pax doesn’t know any better.

We love him.

Cascading Light’s education had introduced her little brother to the dogma of Elden and the Icarean Prerogative. Celindria worked within its confines to weave her narrative and keep him focused on their aims.

Triumph.

It was an emotion Celindria had only heard described by Remorse and Razor. She herself had never experienced such a sweeping updraft of righteous victory. Celindria wished she could feel it now as Pax’s face illuminated with it when the extraction isolated Korac’s DNA from the traces of Nox and whaleshark.

Her baby brother said, “This is such a joyous occasion.”

“Indeed.” Celindria gazed at the chain forming on the projection. “Soon, you will meet your Uncle and the only man worthy of raising you.”

Pax beamed with a little tear in his eye. Celindria rested her hand on his shoulder and gestured toward the slow progress. “While we wait, why don’t we work on a way to bypass the volition vaccines? We have the DNA samples for our targets.”

“Really? You’ll let me help you with it?”

Someone else might feel the need to wince at the excitement in his voice over such an opportunity to work with her. Celindria mostly kept their projects separate, because all of her experiments required careful control. However, some of the samples were less valuable than others were and more suited for the development environment.

With another fake smile, Celindria said, “You can work on Bones while I work on Ross.”

Pax’s face fell again, and he looked reticent to admit, “Sometimes I miss them.”

Kick him out of our palace.

It’s not his fault we dissected everyone he loved.

And if we are being honest…

“Sometimes I miss them, too.”