The crash forensic data revealed something worse.
The helix-frequency override used an obsolete protocol.
A design originally drafted—
Twenty years ago.
By Dr. Orrin Kade.
Lucian stared at the projection in silence.
Seraphine's voice trembled slightly.
"He's imprisoned."
"Yes," Lucian said.
"Then who—"
"Someone who has access to his early research."
Across the city, in a hidden substructure beneath the Lower Spiral, a shadowed group studied the same data.
They called themselves:
The Null Collective.
Genetic purists.
Anti-Architect.
Believers that engineered bloodlines had destabilized natural order.
And they had a symbol:
A broken helix.
Interrogation
Lucian visited Dr. Kade in detention.
The scientist looked older than eighteen years should allow.
"You're running out of time," Kade said calmly.
"For what?"
"For the system collapse you built."
Lucian's voice hardened.
"Did you engineer the crash?"
Kade laughed softly.
"If I wanted your heirs dead, they would be."
Lucian did not doubt that.
Kade leaned forward.
"You're not the only one who knows how to manipulate helix frequencies."
Lucian's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Kade smiled faintly.
"You never noticed how many of your own turned against you."
Compound Dinner — Political Meltdown
That evening, the Orsini joined the Vale family for formal dinner.
Tension crackled across the table.
Grandfather Vale declared:
"This is war."
Orsini patriarch responded coolly:
"War implies clarity."
Dorian whispered loudly to Cassian:
"At least the explosion was symmetrical."
Lyra kicked him under the table.
Valentina leaned toward Vesper.
"Do you always compress walls when nervous?"
"I was not nervous."
"You were soaked."
"That was physics."
Aurelio, across from Kael, said quietly:
"If this was internal sabotage, your family's encryption protocols were breached."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"Are you implying something?"
"I am stating a fact."
Lucian intervened before escalation.
"Enough."
Vesper looked between them all.
"They want us divided."
Silence.
She continued.
"They engineered something that triggers suspicion."
All eyes shifted to her.
Kael studied her carefully.
"You sound certain."
"I grew up around people who survive on manipulation," she said evenly. "This feels similar."
Valentina nodded slowly.
"Then we hunt together."
The first sign of alliance.
Fragile.