Chapter 9: Like Father, Like Son

There were six of them seated in the Aetherwing's passenger lounge—Lucan, Lyra, and four others Lucan didn't recognize. No one spoke much. Most simply kept to themselves, adjusting their straps or glancing idly at the slowly dimming ceiling above.

Captain Kaela stepped in through the side corridor, hands behind her back, posture relaxed but firm.

"Alright." she said. "Flight time to destination is approximately ten minutes. Straight-line distance: 5,789 kilometers."

Lucan blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Don't worry." she added, reading the confusion on his face. "It'll be fast—very fast—but this vessel is built for velocity compression. You won't feel a thing. Cabin pressure, temperature, and gravity will remain stable throughout."

"...So basically, a flying illusion." Lucan muttered.

"Basically." the captain confirmed. Then she tapped her watch. "Initiating launch protocol. Keep your hands and curiosity inside the cabin."

She gave them a nod and disappeared toward the cockpit.

The low hum beneath Lucan's seat deepened.

A soft shimmer passed over the walls. The lights above dimmed slightly and the cyan glow along the corridor began pulsing in steady rhythm.

Lucan felt it before he saw it—the gentle lift of the Aetherwing hovering off the hangar floor.

"Stealth initialized." the ship's system announced in a smooth, genderless tone.

Outside the tinted canopy, the world blurred. Not like motion blur—more like heat rising off pavement on a summer day. Like a mirage.

It felt… unreal.

A rustle beside him.

"Here." Lyra said, holding out a small, wrapped toffee. "Try it. Dark choco. Helps with Vein drift for first-timers."

Lucan took it, eyeing it suspiciously. "This helps with speed?"

"No. It helps with you being annoying about speed."

He smirked and popped it in his mouth anyway. Bitter, smooth, and oddly satisfying.

Lucan leaned back into the seat and glanced up at the domed ceiling again—still rippling faintly like thin glass underwater. "We're really flying almost six thousand kilometers in ten minutes?"

Lyra nodded. "The Aetherwing's legal outside HQ. You're experiencing Vein-accelerated space compression. That's why it feels nothing like moving."

"Sounds like cheating." Lucan muttered.

"Isn't that what HQ does best?"

He gave her a sideways glance. "You're not wrong."

Within minutes, the outside blur began to dissolve. Slowly, shapes returned—first like ghosts, then like reflections in glass, then solid.

Below them, a city appeared—compact, geometric, and dark metallic. Unlike anything Lucan had seen. Roads—were glowing tracks, layered at different heights. Buildings curved inward, forming concentric circles that spiraled toward a central structure: the HQ.

It wasn't massive, but it was dense—jagged black and gray plates fused together, veins of shifting white light pulsing through its surface like breathing. The closer they got, the more Lucan felt the weight of it pressing on his chest.

Then something even stranger happened.

Hundreds—maybe thousands—of turret-like devices rose from hidden plates on rooftops and towers surrounding the HQ. Long, railgun-style weapons rotated toward the Aetherwing in synchronization.

Lucan tensed. "Uh…"

Lyra said, unfazed. "Just a welcome scan."

The ship's comms activated automatically.

"Vessel: Aetherwing-07. Clearance code: KTV-614-G6. Priority route confirmed. Lower defenses."

A beat passed.

Then, in perfect rhythm, the railguns lowered and disappeared back into the city's shell.

"Landing route cleared."

The Aetherwing slowed, gliding forward over the layered platforms.

Lucan swallowed, watching as the tower grew larger—less like a building and more like a heart plugged into the world.

The Aetherwing touched down without a sound—its landing gear barely touching the platform.

The cabin lights brightened.

A soft chime echoed overhead: "Docking complete. Exit granted."

The rear ramp hissed open, and cool, synthetic-smelling air drifted in.

Lucan stepped out with Lyra close behind, blinking as the matte-black surface of the landing platform gave way to the massive structure ahead. The HQ tower loomed over them—closer now, its skin of segmented plates softly pulsing with thin white veins, like the building itself was alive.

A small team awaited at the edge of the dock—three individuals in dark formal suits, collars high, each wearing a polished Vein-linked badge embedded just above the wrist. Their expressions were neutral, professional, but the air around them carried weight.

The woman in the middle stepped forward. "Lucan Vale?"

Lucan nodded, unsure whether to speak.

Without further greeting, she raised a sleek scanner to his eyes. A beam of blue light flicked across his retina.

[Retina Confirmed: Lucan Vale – Clearance Pending – Flagged for Manual Review]

She gave no reaction to the result. "Please remain still."

She turned to Lyra, repeating the process.

[Retina Confirmed: Lyra Vesryn – Tier-3 – Companion Authorized]

The woman stepped aside and gestured down a corridor flanked by guards.

"Follow us. Do not separate."

Lucan exchanged a glance with Lyra, who nodded. They walked.

The interior of HQ was… nothing like he'd imagined.

The first hall pulsed with soft overhead lighting, stretching far and curving into another hallway. As they walked, they passed several open rooms behind clear walls—each filled with Vein-linked activity.

In one, a group of trainees—were sparring. Their movements were unnaturally fast, fluid. Vein lines glowed faintly along their arms and necks, reacting to strikes, redirects, and blocks.

In another room, holographic projectors ran detailed simulations—planets, biological scans, combat models, ancient runes—all shifting and responding to finger gestures in real time.

Lucan's eyes were wide the entire time.

"Do they learn all that here?" he whispered.

"Some had it from the start. The rest were thrown in and told to swim."

The hallway kept going—door after door, zone after zone. Not once did they stop.

Eventually, they reached a circular gate—like the entrance to a vault. Two of them stepped aside as the main official scanned her wrist across a slot. The metal retracted with a low groan.

The final gate hissed open.

The space beyond was colder than the rest of HQ. The floor was a polished obsidian black, almost reflective, and the walls arched inward, forming a chamber with a high ceiling ribbed by steel veins. Soft pulses of cyan light moved like breath across the edges of the panels.

Lucan stepped in first, his boots clicking against the floor. Lyra followed in silence.

At the far end of the chamber, a circular table rose from the center like a pedestal. Around it stood three officials in sleek black attire. But only one stood at the head.

A woman.

Mid-forties, sharp features, platinum-streaked hair tied in a strict coil. Her presence wasn't loud—but felt like gravity before a storm.

"Lucan Vale." she said without preamble. "Welcome to HQ."

Lucan's brows knit. "You're the one who sent the message."

"I did." She stepped closer, stopping just opposite the table. "I'm Director Selene. Oversight Division. We've been… waiting."

"For what?" he asked warily.

Selene's gaze flicked to the Vein mark on his wrist. "For a return we thought might never happen."

Lucan didn't respond..

Selene tapped the panel in front of her. A holographic screen blinked to life, projecting two moving images—grainy footage of a battle scene from decades past. A man and woman, surrounded by chaos. The woman held a baby in her arms. The man turned to shield them.

The man looked exactly like him.

"Your father… was once known as The Vale" she said. "And he made sure no one could ever forget that name."

Lyra stiffened beside him.

Lucan's throat felt dry. "What… is this?"

"Truth." Selene said. "Or at least part of it."

The screen shifted again—now a map of Nirvenn's zones, zooming toward a collapsed sector near the Fold. A red mark blinked where the footage was originally recovered.

"From our interpretation Twenty-four years ago, your parents escaped from a war zone near The Vortex."

Lucan stared at the image.

Selene's voice softened. "They didn't just run. They erased their past to protect you. You were the only child ever recorded to show a dormant Tier-0 status. Until last night."

Lucan's throat was tight. His fingers twitched.

Selene's words echoed in his head: "Tier-0."

He barely noticed Lyra turning toward him, her eyes wide—shocked. He'd never seen her caught off-guard like that before.

He spoke low, steady. "Play the full feed."

Selene hesitated, then tapped the panel again.

The hologram flared back to life, this time expanding across the center of the room—casting flickering light across every wall.

The footage was raw. Grainy. But seem real.

It showed a battlefield—shattered terrain, twisted sky, bodies littered across a warped plain. Energy blasts ricocheted like silent thunder.

At the center of it all, one man.

Lucan's breath caught.

The figure moved like gravity bent around him. Each time the enemy closed in, the air itself seemed to screeching, twisting into force that ripped through armor, flesh, and machine.

At this point he wasn't fighting but erasing.

More people swarmed. He slaughtered them all.

Then the feed froze on a clear face.

Eyes. Jawline. That same defiant frown Lucan had seen in the mirror.

His father.

Lucan staggered back, a sharp pain spiking behind his eyes.

The Vein screen blinked open on its own with all RED:

[MEMETIC INTERFERENCE DETECTED]

[Fractured Memory Node]

[VEIN UNSTABLE]

[INTERFERENCE // ERROR // ERROR // ERROR—]

A sudden pressure collapsed in around him.

His body jerked. His knees hit the floor.

And everything went black.

Silence.

Then—a rush of wind. Screams swallowed by white noise. Images slammed through his mind like shattered glass.

A child crying. A woman screaming in a collapsing dome. A hand reaching out, glowing white. A blade of light.

A name.

Lucan.

Lucan.

You are not meant to—

Darkness again.

Lucan's eyes snapped open.

The chamber was gone.

No—still there, but destroyed. The lights above flickered, many smashed. Walls were cracked, some sparking. Data panels hung loose, half-melted.

Bodies littered the room.

HQ officials—at least a dozen—were scattered across the floor, groaning, twitching. Two near the wall were missing limbs. Others just... weren't moving at all.

Blood slicked the floor near the center console.

Lucan was standing.

Breathing heavy.

One foot pressed down hard—on someone's chest.

He looked down.

Selene.

Her coat was torn, bruises blooming across her cheek and jaw. Her Vein badge was cracked, the glow is gone. She was unconscious—but alive.

Lucan's hand was raised. His fingers were clenched.

He turned slowly—realizing he was gripping onto something.

No. Someone.

Lyra.

He had her by the throat.

Her body hung limp in his grip, barely breathing. A long slash trailed across her temple, blood crusting at the edge. Her hands had dropped to her sides.

Lucan's eyes widened.

He froze.

Then—slowly—he let go.

Lyra dropped to the floor, crumpling at his feet.

She didn't move.

Lucan stood there, trembling.

His eyes scanned the chamber again—scorched walls, twisted metal, ruined bodies. Pain. Destruction. All of it… from him?

He took a shaky step back.

"What did I do…" he whispered.

Lucan's breath hitched, and the fear finally settled into his bones.

[End of Chapter 9]