POV: Vesper
Dawn breaks through the lab's reinforced windows.
I haven't slept. Spent the entire night analyzing Subject Zero's data, searching for the key to stabilizing hybrid transformation. My eyes burn. My hands shake from too much coffee.
But I found something.
A pattern in Subject Zero's neural corruption. His human consciousness didn't fail randomly—it was systematically overwhelmed because the hybrid process targeted the wrong part of his brain.
"Ms. Calloway?" Celeste's voice comes through her cell's speaker. "Have you been up all night?"
"Yeah. But I think I know what went wrong with Subject Zero."
"That's good news, right?"
"Maybe. One of you has to go first."
Silence.
Then Celeste says: "I'll do it."
"You don't have to—"
"Yes, I do. Someone has to be first." She presses her hand against the glass. "Besides, staying defective means execution anyway. At least this way I'm trying to live."
The others nod agreement.
"Okay. Give me today to prepare. Tomorrow morning, we begin."
The lab door hisses open.
My father walks in.
Thaddeus Calloway looks older than I remember. Gray streaks his hair. Lines crease his face. But his eyes are the same—cold, calculating, emotionless.
"Hello, Vesper." His voice is steady. "Morgana said you'd need assistance."
"Why would you help me after everything you've done?"
"Because the Council gave me a choice: help you succeed or watch them experiment on Ivory." He sets down a briefcase. "Whatever you think of me, I don't want her tortured."
"You tried to torture me."
"I tried to study you. There's a difference."
"Not to the forty-seven people you killed!" My voice rises. "And for what? Power? Money?"
He meets my eyes without flinching. "Survival. The Council has existed for three thousand years. When I discovered what they were doing, I had two choices: join them or die. I chose life. Just like you did last night."
The comparison makes me sick. "I'm nothing like you."
"You're exactly like me. We both sacrifice our morals to protect our daughters." He opens his briefcase, pulling out files. "Your mother would be proud of you. And disappointed. Just like she was with me."
"Don't talk about Mom—"
"She was Sovereign-class, like you. Brilliant, like you. And she refused to use her power, which got her killed." He spreads files across my desk. "I loved your mother. But I wasn't strong enough to save her. At least you're strong enough to try saving Ivory."
I want to scream at him. Hit him.
But I need him.
"Fine. We work together. But when this is over, I never want to see you again."
"Deal."
We spend the day preparing. My father explains the Council's previous attempts—twelve failed hybrids over twenty years.
"The key issue is integration speed," he says. "Push too fast and the human mind fractures. Too slow and the digital code corrupts everything."
"I found something." I pull up my analysis. "Subject Zero's corruption started in his memory centers. But if we target the brain's adaptive regions instead, the integration might be smoother."
My father studies my work. "This could work. It's brilliant, actually."
The compliment feels like poison.
"Celeste volunteers to go first tomorrow morning."
"And if it's wrong?"
"She becomes Subject Thirteen. Another screaming prisoner."
We work in tense silence. By evening, we're ready.
"Get some sleep," my father says. "Tomorrow is important."
"I can't sleep knowing what we're about to do."
"Then sit with your guilt. Or accept that sometimes survival requires ugly choices." He heads for the door. "Your mother never learned that lesson. Don't make her mistake."
He leaves.
"Ms. Calloway?" Celeste's voice is small. "I'm scared."
"Me too."
"Will it hurt?"
"Yes. It will hurt. A lot. But I'll do everything I can to minimize the pain and maximize your chances."
"That's all I can ask for."
My phone buzzes. A message from Nyx: "Ivory is stable. Scared but safe. How are you holding up?"
I type back: "First test subject tomorrow. Either I succeed or fail spectacularly."
His response: "You'll succeed. You're the smartest person I know. Also the most stubborn. That combination is unstoppable."
Despite everything, I smile.
Another message: "Ivory wanted me to tell you she loves you. And that she's practicing her hybrid abilities. She can hack into basic security systems just by thinking about them."
My stomach twists.
"Keep her safe," I type. "That's all that matters."
"Always."
I try to sleep but nightmares find me.
At 3 AM, I give up.
Return to the lab.
Celeste watches me. "You're really worried, aren't you?"
"Terrified."
"Good. That means you care." She sits against the glass. "My sister was defective too. The Sanctum executed her three years ago. She was fourteen."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Succeed. Make her death mean something." Celeste's eyes burn. "Turn me into something powerful. Something that proves we were never defective—we were just different."
Her words hit me like lightning.
"I'll do my best."
"I know you will."
Dawn comes again.
My father arrives. "Ready?"
"No. But let's do it anyway."
We prep Celeste. She's surprisingly calm as we connect sensors.
"Last chance to back out," I tell her.
"Not a chance. Let's make history."
I look at my father. "Start the integration sequence."
"Sequence initiated. Neural bridge forming. Code injection in three... two... one..."
The machine hums.
Celeste gasps.
Code floods into her system—streams of light flowing through her veins.
"Heart rate spiking," my father reports. "Neural activity off the charts—"
"That's normal. Her brain is adapting." I watch readouts frantically. "Come on, Celeste. Fight through it."
Her body convulses. Eyes roll back. Veins glow silver.
"Neural coherence dropping," my father warns. "Forty percent. Thirty. Twenty—"
"Hold on!" I adjust the integration speed. "Celeste, focus on my voice! You are human! You are choosing this!"
Ten percent neural coherence.
Five percent.
Then something impossible happens.
The coherence stabilizes at three percent.
Holds.
Begins climbing.
"She's adapting!" my father breathes. "She's integrating without losing herself—"
Celeste's eyes open.
Glowing silver. But focused. Aware. Human.
"Did it work?" she whispers.
I check readings. Stable. Coherent. In control.
"It worked. You're the first stable hybrid in history."
Celeste looks at her hands. Code flows through her skin, controlled. Beautiful.
"I can see everything," she whispers. "Every electronic signal. Every data stream." She looks at me. "Ms. Calloway, I can feel them. The Council. They're watching through cameras right now. And they're terrified."
"Terrified? Why?"
"Because you just proved defectives aren't failures. We're the future." Her smile is fierce. "And they can't control the future."
The lab door bursts open.
Morgana storms in with guards. "What have you done?"
"Created what you wanted. A stable hybrid."
"No. You created something outside our control parameters."
"I followed every protocol—"
"You gave her free will! Hybrids are supposed to be controllable. She's independent." Morgana points at Celeste. "You were supposed to fail! We were going to use your failure to justify experimenting on Ivory directly."
The pieces click.
They never wanted me to succeed.
"Release my daughter. I fulfilled my part."
Morgana laughs. "You really think we'll let you leave? You've proven we're not necessary. That tamers can evolve without our control."
She pulls out a device. "Kill them. All of them."
Guards raise weapons.
Celeste moves faster than any human.
Guards' weapons short-circuit. Equipment explodes.
The other four test subjects step out of their cells.
Doors I unlocked last night.
"You're not the only one who can play dirty," I tell Morgana.
The four defective tamers attack.
Chaos erupts.
My father grabs my arm. "The emergency exit. Now."
"I'm not leaving Celeste—"
"She'll be fine. You won't. Morgana will kill you."
Celeste sees us moving. "Go! I'll hold them!"
My father and I run.
Halfway to the exit, he stops.
"What are you doing?"
He pulls out a detonator. "Buying you time. This facility has explosives. I'm activating them."
"That'll bring the whole place down—"
"You'll have ten minutes to escape." He presses the detonator into my hand. "I'm sorry. For everything. Tell Ivory her grandfather loved her."
"Wait—"
He runs back toward the lab.
Drawing them away from me.
Sacrificing himself.
"DAD!"
Explosions rock the facility.
I run.
Through corridors, past collapsing ceilings, toward the surface.
My phone buzzes. Nyx: "I'm detecting explosions. What's happening?"
"Facility's coming down. I'm escaping."
"On it."
I burst through the final door.
Dorian's helicopter waits. Nyx manifests beside it, waving.
I run.
Behind me, the facility collapses inward.
Taking my father with it.
Nyx pulls me into the helicopter.
"Ivory?" I gasp.
"Safe. Waiting at the apartment."
I look at the ruins below. "I created the first stable hybrid. Proved defectives aren't failures."
"Your father?"
"Dead. He saved me in the end."
Dorian's voice: "We have a problem. Multiple Council facilities are activating. They know what you did."
"Let them come. I'm done hiding."
"They'll send armies—"
"And I'll build an army of hybrids to fight back."
My phone rings. Unknown number.
I answer.
"Impressive, Ms. Calloway." A male voice. Ancient. Powerful. "You've proven hybrids can be stable. We're interested in negotiating."
"I don't negotiate with people who threatened my daughter."
"Then let me make this simple. We have something you want."
My blood freezes. "What?"
"Check your messages."
A photo appears.
Celeste. Alive. Captured. Surrounded by enforcers.
Below it: "Trade yourself for her. Tonight. Midnight. Or we turn the first successful hybrid into our weapon."
The call ends.
I stare at the photo.
"Vesper?" Nyx asks. "What is it?"
I show him.
"It's a trap."
"I know."
"You can't go—"
"I have to."
I smile.
Not a nice smile.
"I'm going to do exactly what they least expect."
"Which is?"
"Win."