Genetic Ascension

Nathan found himself feeling absolutely suffocated. The projection shook in the air almost like a television struggling to establish a connection.

A cold sweat poured down Nathan’s back. It felt almost like his Will was being pulled through the hologram, forced to stand before Sylas and bear the weight of his rage.

He forced himself to take a shaky breath. But before he could speak, Sylas still took the initiative.

"I don’t know what you two want to do, or why you’re hiding yourselves away in the Grimblades. Maybe there was a fissure in the family long ago. Maybe there are enemies on the outside you don’t want to know about your plans. But what I can say is that the truth doesn’t matter.

"Today, I came here for one reason.

"Kill Lucius Grimblade.

"If you cross my bottom line, the next time I come to murder someone it will be you."

Nathan took another breath. He had come to understand why Sylas was being so aggressive. He knew about the AI.

But he also realized something else… Sylas had changed.

The Sylas he had modeled would have never come here for the sake of killing Lucius. The change had caught him off guard, which was why he had miscalculated, making a decision he shouldn’t have.

Sylas was already resistant to being used by Archibald, directly rejecting his asks. However, even back then, Nathan had felt that there was a chance that Sylas might side with them, it would just take some convincing and some laying out of benefits.

The man didn’t want to be the pawn of plans he had no understanding of. That much was understandable and there was no reason for them to have a falling out about this.

Unfortunately, he seemed to be toeing exceptionally closely to Sylas’ bottom line.

The Sylas he knew might shrug this off for the sake of potential benefits, and maybe he still might in the future. But right now, Sylas was drawing a very clear boundary.

Something had truly pissed him off this time and the man had reached his breaking point.

When Nathan came to this point in his thoughts, he calmed down completely.

This Sylas was wilder and more unpredictable… but in Nathan’s opinion, he was far less dangerous.

Before, he didn’t know where Sylas’ bottom line was, he didn’t know if Sylas was capable of a breaking point.

But now he knew that it existed. And for someone who planned out his every step, this was the greatest gift he could be given.

"I understand." Nathan said after a long while. "In that case, I will not say anything more on the topic. But I will give you two tidbits of advice as an offering of peace. I hope that can help us smooth some things over.

"First, Astrid and Malachi do not have a particularly close relationship with Lucius, but this event will inevitably reach their ears. I’m sure you understand what that means." Stay updated via empire

Sylas didn’t reply, but he understood what Nathan meant.

Those two were the only ones left and they were currently fighting it out for the heirship position. It was clear and obvious to Sylas that the Grimblades likely wouldn’t start displaying their true strength until they had a head they could all rally behind.

The limitations of Mortimer spoke for themselves. If the man could have taken action, he would have already. The fact he didn’t meant that he was likely suffering the same restrictions the trio of Clypsians on the Celestial Wall had.

Until they could decide their leader, there were many hidden underworkings of the family that wouldn’t be able to trigger… and Sylas had suddenly become one of the best opportunities to prove themselves.

Not only would Sylas surely have a great deal of Treasures on him, his head would prove their competence.

But ultimately, this wasn’t news to Sylas. These were things he could guess on his own.

Nathan’s second point, though, was far more interesting.

"Second, if, hypothetically, there was a deposit of Metarock under a volcano, and this deposit was protected by a formation laid by an unknown Race of people and was the subject of treaty agreements. This deposit would also, hypothetically, be highly guarded, wherein every key to such a location would be carefully labeled so that anyone with access to it would be carefully monitored."

Sylas didn’t react once again.

These were both things that he had already figured out. They were much too obvious.

Why would Archibald be in the same Demon Village as Azrael if not to find a way to steal his badge and gain access to the deposit of Metarock?

The reason Archibald asked Sylas to go was probably because he knew that the key would be on Sylas’ person.

What was more curious was why Archibald hadn’t taken it for him, and the answer to that was just as evident as why Mortimer didn’t take action.

He couldn’t.

Sylas turned away from Nathan, walking right through the barrier that had been so good at stopping everyone else.

Glass Aether flashed and all the blood that coated him iced over before shattering to pieces, falling to the ground in a murderous rain.

Nathan could only watch in silence until his hologram also slowly faded away.

…

Nathan’s eyes opened to find his body drenched. All around him, bits of pieces of tech, tubes, and stainless steel were either strewn about or the key part of fixtures.

He pressed a hand on his chest, feeling that his body really didn’t want to cooperate with him today. Even long after Sylas was no longer in front of him, the imprint was practically seared onto his mind.

Finally, he looked up to find a man tinkering. He hadn’t even reacted to much of anything.

"It failed." Nathan said.

"’Tis a pity."

Nathan fell into silence, not knowing how to follow up.

"What should we do now?"

"We wait. In time, he shall have need of us. Elsewise, the Metarock shall find itself in hand more… pliant."