Or perhaps, they were testing her?
"Your Excellency!" With every frantic update from his staff, Director Kaelen's face grew another shade paler.
He had no choice but to pin all his hopes on her.
Serena gave an exasperated sigh. "Don't yell at me. It won't do you any good. I'm not an actual deity who can miraculously fix a broken system with zero access."
"Friendly reminder: if Specimen Seven actually wakes up, ten million dollars won't even begin to cover the damage."
"By then, no matter how much you offer, I might just walk away."
"I love money, sure, but I refuse to ruin my own reputation on a lost cause."
The director's face twisted in agony.
Her message was painfully clear.
If he stalled any longer, The Panacea would abandon them.
Once Specimen Seven went rogue right in front of The Sterling Sovereign, the value
of all the living assets would crash, the organization's credibility would be destroyed, and his head would be the first on the chopping block.
"Capacity at sixty-three percent!" a technician cried, his voice trembling violently. "The restraints are showing abnormal stress fractures! Recommending immediate activation of the Tier-Two Suppression Sequence!"
"Do not activate it," Serena commanded.
Startled by her sharp tone, the technician froze.
Director Kaelen gritted his teeth. "Why can't we activate it?!"
Serena met his furious gaze with cool indifference. "It's not just experiencing a random psychotic break; it's being forcibly awakened by an external frequency. Injecting a Tier-Two suppressant right now will cause a catastrophic clash between its neural chip and biological reflexes."
She paused, tilting her head as a wicked, almost sadistic smile spread across her lips.
"If you're lucky, Specimen Seven will experience immediate brain death. If you're unlucky, it'll rip every single one of you to shreds before the brain death kicks in."
Director Kaelen forgot how to breathe.
The surrounding security guards went pale, their grips instinctively tightening on their rifles.
Kaelen's face was a mottled mask of panic.
Giving her the clearance was too risky.
But withholding it meant Specimen Seven could tear through the room at any second.
He felt like he was losing his mind.
Just as the director teetered on the edge of a total breakdown, Nicholas, who had remained silent the entire time, let out a low, distinct chuckle.
The sound was jarringly out of place.
Instantly drawing the terrified attention of everyone in the room.
The man stood there, radiating an air of effortless dominance and aristocracy.
His sleek black attire accentuated the natural coldness of his features. His dark eyes were half-lidded, betraying zero emotion.
Yet, when his gaze finally fell upon the director, Kaelen felt an inexplicable, bone- deep chill.
"So, is this the level of sincerity Project Zero-Transit offers me?" Kaelen's throat tightened painfully. "The Sterling Sovereign..."
Nicholas looked past him, locking eyes with the thrashing anomaly inside The Observation Theater. "To think that Project Zero-Transit's highly anticipated finale asset is of such pathetic quality. Trut laughable."
The director rushed to defend the organization.
But Nicholas couldn't even be bothered to look at him. His voice was deathly calm.
"I pay millions to see an undisputed masterpiece, not to watch an organization
accidentally destroy their own merchandise."
Feigning total boredom and
irritation, he turned as if to leave. "If
your so-called preview can't even maintain basic asset stability, then there really is no point in me
attending the auction at
Whiteelife
Harbor."
Panicking, Director Kaelen lunged forward to block Nicholas's path, stammering out a desperate plea. "The Sterling Sovereign, please! This is just an unforeseen glitch. The organization will handle it immediately."
"Handle it?" Nicholas's lips curved into a cold sneer, his dark eyes devoid of any warmth. "It seems the only person here capable of handling anything is currently locked out of your system."