Serena raised a brow. "What do you think?"
Looking at the girl's unapologetic, radiant smile, Nicholas chuckled.
Playing along seamlessly, he said, "As long as the price is right, I imagine Ms. Panacea can solve just about anything."
Serena shot him a look of absolute approval and gave a quick thumbs-up. "Spoken like the true mastermind of the Obsidian Dark Web. You catch on fast, Mr. Blackwood."
Her lips curved into a smirk. "The ten million dollars the ship just offered? That's the fee for handling Asset 07's little meltdown."
"Saving the life of the Sterling Sovereign, however, is a separate invoice."
She stated it with absolute, unwavering confidence.
Director Silas Kaelen stood there, speechless.
What kind of time was this? A lethal bioweapon was about to break loose, and these two were casually negotiating a business deal?
Was he seriously the only person in the room panicking right now?
Nicholas's thin lips curved slightly. He played his part to perfection. "Name your price."
His tone carried a casual, aristocratic grace, yet there was an undeniable, almost indulgent warmth layered beneath it.
He even added, "My life is quite valuable."
The corners of Serena's eyes lifted as a satisfied smile bloomed across her face. "Then let's wait until the Sterling Sovereign survives this. After that, we can take our time discussing exactly how much your life is worth."
Standing off to the side, Kaelen felt like nothing more than a useless piece of furniture.
By the time he snapped out of it, Serena had already turned her attention back to the console.
Her fingers flew across the interface as her gaze locked onto the Observation Theater. "The only way to stop this is for me to go inside and manually sever Asset 07's Sentinel Target-ID Module."
Kaelen froze, instantly on high alert. "Absolutely not!"
"The observation doors cannot be opened under any circumstances. If you go in there and accidentally access Asset 07's core data—"
"No. It goes against all of Project Zero-Transit's protocols."
"Which is exactly why you need to open that door," Serena cut him off.
She paused her typing and leveled a deadpan stare at the director. "Or would you rather wait until Asset 07 fully awakens, shatters that glass, and slaughters the Sterling Sovereign right in front of you?"
Kaelen's lips trembled, the color draining from his face. "T-There has to be another way..."
"There isn't." Serena pointed sharply at the cascade of data on the screen. "The system overrides in there are too massive. Hacking.
through them from the outside net
would take far too long By the time I regained c control, Asset 07 would be fully awake, and it would be game over for everyone."
"If I don't go inside, I can't sever the target lock. Unless, of course, you want to bet your life on your brilliant" technicians who couldn't even detect a Ghost Frequency Overlay?"
Kaelen's face turned a sickly shade of pale. He had no counterargument.
Of course he didn't want her in there.
The Observation Theater was the most highly restricted zone for Living Assets.
If The Panacea went inside, she might access Asset 07's deepest data banks. She might see secrets the ship's administration desperately wanted to keep buried.
But the agonizing reality was staring him in the face.
Asset 07 was locked onto the Sterling Sovereign.
If anything happened to their most elite buyer, Project Zero-Transit would be utterly destroyed by the fallout.
"Director Kaelen, I am the target."
Nicholas finally spoke, his deep voice slicing through the tension.
He stood tall and imposing, an intrinsic, bone-deep authority radiating from him. The sheer predatory weight of his presence sent a violent shudder down Kaelen's spine.
Nicholas slowly lifted his gaze. "If anything happens to me on your ship, I assure you, I have the resources to make Project Zero transit disappear from the high seas forever
*
He delivered the threat with chilling indifference.
And it was that very calm that made it entirely terrifying.
"Mr. Blackwood..." Kaelen's voice trembled.
Nicholas looked down at him, his expression unreadable. "I hired The Panacea to
save my life. Now, open the door."
"If anything goes wrong, the liability is mine."
Kaelen's mouth opened and closed silently.
He was handing over security clearances layer by layer, and now he was being
forced to let an outsider into the Observation Theater.
What if she used the chaos to steal Asset 07's core data?
What if she smuggled something out?
What if she tampered with the weapon itself?
...