Page 158 of Damsel in Disguise

Every emotional fluctuation observed.

The report reads less like a homicide investigation and more like a scientific study.

Subject A.K. demonstrates elevated protective aggression.

Subject exhibits willingness to employ lethal force when attachment figures are threatened.

Emotional hesitation period measured at under seven seconds.

Empathy retention remains intact following homicidal action.

Candidate adaptation exceeds projected thresholds.

Jesus Christ. They weren’t trying to stop it.

They were collecting data.

My eyes continue moving anyway.

The unexpected termination of Subject D-17 yielded valuable candidate-response metrics.

Incident produced substantial increases in resilience indicators.

Attachment fixation toward Subject A-01 intensified following the event.

Candidate demonstrates capacity for lethal action while maintaining psychological cohesion.

Candidate viability reassessed.

Classification elevated.

The reports become increasingly detailed over time.

Ariella killed a Synthète, and the Dominion not only observed it but also analyzed it. Not only that, but afterward, they promoted her to be the next candidate.

Fucking Delilah. She did report internally in the meantime of fixing herself. Whatever tiny shred of sympathy I might’ve had for her vanishes.

Further down, another classification catches my attention.

Heir Compatibility Review: ACTIVE.

The blood drains from my face.

Everything clicks into place with horrifying clarity.

Why the Crown chose now, after all these years, to reveal he’s my biological father.

Why he suddenly spoke of legacy.

Why he demanded an heir.

And why that conversation happened immediately after Delilah failed.

Delilah was never supposed to be the end result. She was just proof of the concept—the prototype.

And now they’re preparing to move forward with someone they consider better.

The conversation between the Crown and me wasn’t about Ariella, yet somehow she occupied the center of it. She’s the kind of contamination the Dominion identifies, studies, and ultimately weaponizes.