There it is.
Project Marrow. Not asylum. Not facility. Not island. Somethingabove.
Seytan’s jaw tightens, and she can’t help herself.
“This is a mistake,” she says, voice calm but edged. “You’re unleashing unstable variables into an uncontrolled environment.”
Honey leans forward, grin vicious. “Unstable variable my arse.”
Seytan doesn’t look at him. “You’re all property?—”
Valentine cuts in, flat. “Assets.”
The correction is small. Surgical.
It lands like a slap.
Seytan’s eyes flash. “Call them what you want. They destroy everything they touch.”
Valentine’s gaze doesn’t move from us. “Good.”
Seytan’s lips press together. “You’re doing this because of her.”
Valentine turns his head slightly – just enough that the shift is unmistakable.
“Careful,” he says.
Seytan smiles. “Truth makes you nervous now?”
Valentine’s voice stays level, but the air shifts. “Truth makes you irrelevant. We tried it your way, it didn’t work. Your teams have not only failed to bring her back, you have failed to remove her from theArks’memories. You failed. And now we do things my way.”
For a second, Seytan looks like she might tear his throat out with her teeth.
Then her smile returns, thinner. “Enjoy your delusions of control.”
Valentine faces us again. “Here are your conditions.”
He gestures and a staff member wheels in a tray.
Metal. Sterile. Needles.
A click in my skull like a lock turning.
Ghost makes a small sound – fear, anger, both.
“Chips,” Bones murmurs. Not surprised. Just confirming.
Valentine nods once. “Tracking. Biometric monitoring. Compliance enforcement.”
“What’s different to the ones currently embedded in our skulls?”
“Version 2.0. Additional…perks.”
Honey stands so fast his chair scrapes. Guards surge.
I don’t move.
Because I recognise the shape of this.
