Chapter 88: The Master's Project

**Reception Bay – Kaldris-Sigma**

They disembarked through the main airlock, escorting Marn Sevil, still silent, the suitcase held tightly in his arms. He wore a gray jacket Zeynn had given him—too big, but he clutched it like armor.

Evelyn walked on his right.
Vykhor on his left.
Zeynn brought up the rear, Blue at his side. The feline scanned the walls, corners, every shadow like it might leap out at any second. Zeynn kept one hand close to his belt, ready to draw.

The reception bay was bright, clean, almost sterile. Decorative plants. Soft ambient music. Everything screamed diplomatic neutrality.

And yet.

Every step echoed too loudly.

A figure approached.
A tall, elegant man, dressed in a long coat bearing the Haelven Collective’s colors, holding a tablet. Well-groomed beard, frameless glasses, and that professional smile that never touches the eyes.

"Welcome to Kaldris-Sigma," he said smoothly. "I'm Envoy Lior Var. I'm here to take charge of Marn Sevil… and the suitcase."

He extended a hand. Marn stared for a moment, hesitated… then nodded.

Evelyn felt her throat tighten.

But Marn was already moving forward, the suitcase clutched to his chest.

"You have the documents?" Vykhor asked, voice neutral, his stare unrelenting.

Lior smiled.
"Everything’s in order. Biometric signature, Collective authorization, high-priority retrieval directive."

He held up his tablet. Evelyn stepped in, checked the data.

Everything was flawless.

Too flawless.

"There’s a security protocol for transfers," Vykhor reminded. "My team doesn’t know it. I want it followed."

Lior smiled again.
"Of course. You’ll see everything."

Marn turned to Evelyn one last time—and smiled.

A real smile. Not the smile of a healed man. The smile of someone who’s made peace with what’s coming.

She took a step toward him.

But he was already facing the envoy.
And the envoy, gently, reached out to touch the suitcase…

Everything unraveled in an instant.

The motion was fast. Precise.

The blade drove itself beneath Marn Sevil’s ribs, in a silence that almost felt respectful.

And the world froze.

Marn dropped to one knee, the suitcase still in his arms, his breath torn from him in a rattling gasp. Blood bloomed through the fabric of the gray jacket.

"MARN!" Evelyn screamed.

But she couldn’t move.

Blue leapt first, placing himself between her and the envoy. Zeynn slid in beside them, grabbing her with one hand and pulling her back, the other already on his weapon.

Vykhor didn’t need to think.

His body moved before his mind caught up.

He launched himself at the envoy.

The impact was brutal. Mechanical. Two weapons of flesh colliding.

The assassin’s blade redeployed, but Vykhor had already read him—his stance, his tempo. He recognized it. That rhythm. That surgical precision.

He’d fought him before.
During the mission against Lord Kryon.

The same man.

"You," Vykhor growled, energy pulsing through the blue veins on his skin.

The envoy grinned.
"You hit faster than before. Someone greased your joints?"

Vykhor answered with a punch charged with kinetic force. The assassin reeled, a gash blooming under his jaw.

"The Master," Vykhor murmured. "He gave us this delay. Waited for us to drop our guard. This was the plan all along."

"Everything is always planned with him," the envoy replied, dodging another strike with feline grace. "He needed Marn to trust you. He needed him brought here… so he could be erased cleanly."

But the envoy had underestimated the kael’tarien’s speed. Vykhor grabbed his arm—and crushed it.

The sharp crack of the joint snapping echoed through the bay. The envoy screamed and dropped his weapon.

But in a final reflex, he hit a module on his belt.

A flash grenade burst.
Light.
A shockwave.

And when the brightness faded…

…the envoy was gone.

Silence.

Then Evelyn broke free from Blue and ran.

She dropped to her knees beside Marn, who had collapsed on his side, gasping, his trembling hand pressed to the wound.

Blood, black and red, spilled between his fingers.

“Evelyn…” he rasped, eyes clouded.

She shook her head, already pulling an emergency kit, fingers barely shaking.

"You’re staying with me, you hear? You're breathing. So you stay."

Blue settled beside them, guarding the space.

Zeynn knelt opposite, one knee to the floor, eyes scanning for the slightest movement.

"We secure the bay," he said. "Protect the intel. And Marn."

Vykhor returned, rage burning in his eyes.

"Is he alive?" he asked.

Evelyn nodded without looking at him.

"For now."

Marn barely opened his eyes. He tried to speak.

“No,” Evelyn cut in. “Don’t talk. The system could still be active.”

He gave her a weak smile.

But this time, it wasn’t the smile of a dying man.

It was relief.

Because he still had seconds left… and something to say.

The chaos had gone still.

Around them, the bay was frozen. No guards dared approach. The security systems were locked—disabled by Vykhor’s countermeasures. The envoy had vanished, but his shadow lingered.

Marn Sevil trembled on the floor, breath short, face paler by the second.

Evelyn pressed compresses to his wound, muttering orders to her own hands, refusing to meet his gaze. Because if their eyes met…

She’d see what she didn’t want to see.

Zeynn stood silent behind her, Blue pressed to his side. The feline no longer growled. He watched. Like an ancient sentinel before a sacred threshold.

Vykhor didn’t speak.

He stood there. Solid. Steady. His presence holding reality together.

But Marn spoke, voice raw and pained.

“Evelyn…”

She shook her head.

“Don’t. I can still— I’ll stabilize you, I—”

“No,” he whispered. “You know I won’t make it.”

She froze.

Her hands trembled. But she pressed harder against the wound. More out of instinct than hope.

“This was planned. From the beginning. He didn’t want me to talk. He… he knew I’d find the courage here.”

He opened his eyes—faded, but clear.

“It’s him, Evelyn. The one who started the project. The one who designed your future… before you were even born.”

She stopped breathing.

“Who?”

Marn looked at her. Really looked.

“The Master.”

Silence.

Then he continued, each word ripped from his soul:

“He’s not just a scientist. Not just a man in the shadows. He’s the architect. Of the lab. Of the research. Of you.”

She recoiled slightly, frozen.

“He created you… to rule in his place. To be his weapon. His voice. His will.”

The tears came without warning.

Marn placed a trembling hand on her cheek.

“But you… you’re none of that.”

He smiled. A real smile. Calm. Peaceful.

“You’re a free woman. Alive. Brilliant. And you built your own path.”

His gaze slid to Vykhor, into the shadow where he stood.

“You’ve got a captain who respects you. A beast who protects you. And a… boy who loves you but won’t say it.”

His eyes flicked to Zeynn for just a moment.

Then back to her.

“So… I can go.”

His fingers brushed the suitcase.

“Keep it safe. It’ll serve you.”

Evelyn clutched his hands.

“No. Not like this. Not now. Not you…”

“You… saved me, Evelyn.”

And in his final breath:

“Thank you… for giving me back my humanity.”

His body slackened.

And he was gone.

Evelyn stayed frozen for a moment.

Then she screamed.

A raw, guttural sound. Wordless.

She collapsed against him, forehead pressed to his still chest. The tears came, unstoppable. She hadn’t cried like that since Griffin. Maybe never. Because Marn wasn’t her father.

But he had been one when she needed it.

And Zeynn understood.

He understood what it meant. To cry for someone you barely knew… but who saw you. Who called you by name. Who gave you a place in the world.

He stepped forward.

And placed a hand on Evelyn’s shoulder.

Just that.

No words.

But it was enough.

Behind them, Vykhor remained standing.

He watched his My’Lari grieve.

And he saw her strength—not in how she resisted the pain, but in how she lived it. How she mourned a stranger because she refused to become a machine.

Because she was stronger than her origin.

Because she was Evelyn Ashcroft.