{Cinder | 7,000,000 Years Ago}

Surra told Elden of Enki and the Tritans. Of their schemes and her part in it. Of her desire, not for revenge, but for freedom which neither she nor the people of the Twelve Worlds could obtain as long as those men still held power in Enki. Ishkur was their only hope.

But Elden heard other words from her lips. He wanted to negotiate with them and broker peace through words. No matter how many times she explained the Probability Matrix and how no thread ended in peace that way, he believed in a fate outside of Cascading Light’s reach.

They worked together to split the nacre and upgrade the species. They worked together to build an empire. But Surra worked alone to build an army. In such time, Elden came to call her Silence.

A name apart from her identity as Project Surra. One that threatened an end to all things. A name she loved in secret.

While Elden played leader with his Coalition, Silence trained and organized the Icari—specifically the females. It seemed poetic to bring peace through their underestimated and nurturing nature on a battlefield.

Then Remorse came.

Silence stood over a humbled Primary and glared at the Icarus who’d interrupted them. “Umbra, I demand to know how you recognize this foreigner?”

Also on his knees, Umbra bowed deeply to the floor. “Mother, we—”

“Mother?!” How could he know of Silence’s old life? Her purpose?

With his face kissing the red floor, Primary Rem answered, “I have done much in your name, seeking your praise. You who created a galaxy and who led the way to Cascading Light. Initiates such as Umbra come from far and wide to be in the service of the Probabilities. Of creating more.”

Imminent.

Silence kept them on their knees as she considered his words.

As if sensing the direction of her contemplation, Primary Rem pleaded, “Who else would send your father with a sabotaged suit to ‘reason’ with you?”

His words reverberated through the very hall where Silence conceived for the first time of her own design. Not the Tritans’. They took so much from her, she never thought she’d desire another child enough to carry and deliver again.

Silence stood now before him, pregnant and still unafraid. “What do you gain, Primary Rem?”

He braved raising his head to meet her eyes. “In my sorrow for the wrongs I’ve committed against you and so many others—I can see it now in the Matrix—I claim a new identity much like you, Silence. Please call me Remorse.”

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Could a Tritan even grasp the concept of guilt and self-doubt?

The Primary, on his knees, searched her eyes. “Tell me about the black fire. What did it say to you?”

Silence understood now. “You’ve embraced it and drew others to its beckoning?”

Umbra dared speak to the floor. “Only a select few are shown its mysterious. We all desire to know the influence and outcomes of our lives.”

The pulse in Remorse’s neck fluttered at Umbra’s audacity before the Primary said, “You were the first being to know. You are the start of it all, and it saved you from Primary Quet’s oppression. What did it tell you? And does it oppose my proposal for an alliance? For Ishkur?”

Cascading Light unveiled mysteries, but could two men such as these ever understand the simple message Silence sought from it? The pitiful need that gnawed at her and the base of every being? In truth, Remorse’s alliance—this Imminent—presented new and advantageous Probabilities to Silence’s pursuits.

So, she answered their question. “It told me I could be happy.”

{Enki | Opal Mezzanine | Now}

On the projected screen, Remorse’s pet rose onto the platform, making its way to Rayne with alarming agility. Silence expanded the screen to watch its approach. Smith and Lucas stared with equally rapt attention—

“What is that?” Lucas asked, frowning and staring harder.

Smith pointed and exclaimed, “Do you see Rayne’s shadow? It’s moving—Is that Nox?! Silence, that’s your grandson.”

The girl’s freed shadow took the shape of a man Silence had never met, but empathized with, sprung on Squilly and rode him back into the ocean. Meanwhile, Rayne screamed after Nox, disposing of the remaining soldiers in an army she decimated on her own. Truly, the girl’s shrieks grew more desperate, bordering on terrified.

With a thunderous roar, the beast broke the surface and released a beautiful spiral of gray arterial spray. The wound was impressive and fatal, sending it crashing back onto the water’s surface without a pulse.

And still Rayne screamed for Nox—

“There.” Lucas gestured at Rayne’s back.

Nox’s outline, painted on the platform, took on a three-dimensional form, and stood at her back. Meanwhile, she called to him three more times before he announced himself. “Behind you.”

Style.

Something Nox clearly inherited from Silence. She appreciated it, but their interactions bewildered her. Lucas and Smith both focused on Silence’s face, while Nox and Rayne played beyond them. Affection. Warmth. Sacrifice. They shared these things between them. It suited the smile they exchanged.

Noticing her observers, Silence raised a brow. “Yes?”

Lucas answered while Smith smiled in his quiet way. “We understand your reticence to support Rayne when she executed your kin, but it seems as if she gained your ability to hold multiple nacres. She chose to hold his.”

This was similar to Silence’s making. One she didn’t understand until Remorse explained to her about Primary Xhi and Lon. Absently, Silence touched a hand to her chest and absorbed the rest of the scene. Rayne closed her eyes and looked out to the sun while Nox pressed his back to hers and took a step back until he melted into her.

Smiling.

Savis’ eldest son had a beautiful smile.

Has.

Silence fidgeted with the pendant of Rayne’s blood over her nacres. Regarding their observations, it was true. Her main concern for distrusting Rayne dissolved with that smile.

But what more could Silence do? Rayne was free, Para was released, and the others were on their way to rescue Pax—Including the Atheneum. Everything fell into place with minimal damage to the Shadow.

So far.

Soon, Silence would emerge to complete her mission. Smith and Lucas would take care of the rest. In the meantime, let Remorse, Abresson, and Celindria entertain themselves as the last members of the befouled Imminent. In their last hours.

Cascading Light’s truth waited for Silence.