For three days after the birth of Nomad, Jonah slept.

It was not a normal sleep. He was in a deep, meditative state in the Academy's infirmary. The creation of Nomad, a Grade-6 Progeny being made of pure cosmic concept, had pushed his mind and soul to their absolute limits. The whole experience felt like a never-ending race through the stars, and now his body and spirit desperately needed time to heal.

Vanessa rarely left his side. She sat in a chair by his bed, monitoring his energy levels on a datapad. Her face looked both fascinated by the data and deeply worried on a personal level.

"His psychic energy is stable," she reported to the Headmaster over a private comms link. "But it's... different. It's calmer and deeper now.

While in his trance state, Jonah was not just resting. He was beginning to understand the strange, alien mind of his new creation. He was floating in a calm, dark space, feeling the thoughts of Nomad. The creature did not think in words or images, but in concepts: distance, light, gravity, and a feeling of endless peace. He was bonding with his new Progeny, learning its strange, cosmic language.

While Jonah was lost in his dreams, the war on the ground did not wait for him. The Syndicate secretly made its next move. And it was not an attack on a person. It was an attack on a resource more valuable than any general or politician.

The alarm that broke the peace was not the screaming red alert of a national emergency. It was a deep, beating sound that somehow felt more scary. The deepest level of security had been breached.

An urgent alert appeared on Vanessa's datapad. It was from General Ironwood, his message a single, stark line.

[THE ARCHIVE IS UNDER ATTACK.]

Vanessa was instantly terrified. The Essence Archive. The irreplaceable, magically-shielded library that held the life force of every creature they had ever recorded. It was the nation's supply of all potential power. It was the source for Jonah's power.

With Jonah out of commission, the General gave Seraph a high-priority mission: secure the Archive. At all costs.

________________________________________________

Seraph and Draven moved through the Academy's deepest sub-levels, their boots sounding loud in the plain corridors.

"Physical defenses are holding," Draven reported with a low growl as they went past huge, sealed blast doors. "No signs of forced entry."

"That's what's worrying me," Seraph replied, her hand on her sidearm. She pointed down the long corridor that led to the Archive's main vault. The air in the corridor was vibrating, and the glowing runic wards that were on the walls were flashing and failing.

"They're not trying to break the door down," she said. "They're trying to pick the lock."

"Vanessa, are you seeing this?" Seraph asked into her comms.

"I see it," Vanessa's voice came back, sounding stressed. She was back in the infirmary, but her mind was a million miles away. "I'm connected to the Archive's defense network. There's someone in here with me."

"A person?" Draven asked, confused.

"Yes," Vanessa's voice was tight with effort. "Another Runic Engineer. A hacker. And this person is good. They're carefully taking apart my wards, one line of code at a time. I'm fighting them, but they're... precise. Efficient."

"Can you trace them?" Seraph asked.

"No," Vanessa grunted. "They're invincible. They are hiding their signal using many different proxies. But I can feel them. They are aiming for the control system of the main vault door."

Seraph and Draven reached the huge door leading to the Essence Archive. The glowing runes on its surface were failing, their golden light dimming and flashing. Vanessa was losing the fight.

"We can't just stand here," Draven said, his voice showing how frustrated he was. "If she gets that door open..."

"She won't have to," Seraph said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at a small security camera fixed to the ceiling above the vault door. "Vanessa. Can you give me a visual from inside?"

"The internal systems are locked down... wait," Vanessa's voice was strained. "The attacker is focused on the door. They've left a small vulnerability in the internal surveillance network. I think... I think I can get you a picture. Just for a second."

On a small screen on Seraph's wrist communicator, a grainy, black and white image appeared. It was a view from inside the Archive. Seraph could see the rows upon rows of glowing cryo-tubes, each one holding a precious, captured essence.

The image glitched, distorted, and was covered with static.

"I can't hold it," Vanessa gasped.

But just for a second, before the screen went black, the image cleared.

And it showed a figure.

A person, dressed in uniform, was standing at a corner of the vault, in front of the heavily shielded section that held the most powerful, legendary-tier essences. The person was looking directly at the camera.

It was a woman. Her face looking cold and calm.

It was Silas.

She wasn't there to kill anyone or to cause destruction. She was here to loot their supply. To steal the source that Jonah needed for his creations. To take their nation's most precious resource and use it to build the Syndicate's army.

The realization hit Seraph hard. Silas was not just a killer. She was not just a bodyguard. She was a high-level infiltrator. A rival Runic Engineer. A dark copy of both Jonah and Vanessa.

A new kind of threat. A strategic threat.

The screen on Seraph's wrist went blank.

"I lost her," Vanessa said. "She's gone. She retreated the moment she knew we could see her."

Draven let out a frustrated roar and hit his fist against the wall of the corridor, leaving a small dent. "So that's it? She just gets away?"

"For now," Seraph said. She was looking hard at the now-stable runes on the vault door. The attack was over. But the message was clear.

And the enemy had just proven to them that they could walk into the most secure room in the country, whenever they wanted. They were no longer safe. Nowhere was safe.

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