The lecture hall of Horizon Primary Academy did not feel like a place for children. The air was thick with the ozone scent of high-grade capacitors and the low, rhythmic thrum of the building's atmospheric stabilizers.
Kaelen sat in the third tier, his crimson thread vibrating at a steady Level 5. Next to him, Mina Valerius adjusted her haptic interface, her silver thread shimmering with a calm, rhythmic pulse. Around them, two dozen five-year-olds sat in a silence that would have been impossible in the Old Era.
Centuries ago, a five-year-old's brain was a chaotic storm of emerging language and unregulated emotion. But these were Ribbon-born. From the moment their first Thread manifested, the Ribbon acted as a secondary neural lattice a biological "overclocking" system that accelerated synaptic firing and data indexing. They were children in stature, but cognitively, they were already entering early adulthood.
The Lecture: The Architecture of Power
Professor Vane, a man whose Loom-phase resonance cast a scholarly amber glow, activated the central projector.
"To understand the world," Vane began, "you must understand the Fabric. And to understand the Fabric, you must understand the Veyron Lineage."
A holographic bust of a man appeared—sharp features, silver-gray eyes exactly like Kaelen's, and an aura that seemed to swallow the light around him.
"The First Scientist," Vane's voice grew respectful. "His name was Alaric Veyron. Before the UCC, before the Twelve Families, there was only Alaric. He didn't just 'discover' the Ribbon; he encoded its logic into his own DNA. The Gift of Compression—the ability to pack dimensional space without instability—is a Veyron trait. Every member of the Veyron house carries a microscopic fragment of the original code that stabilizes our entire civilization."
Kaelen felt a chill. He looked at his hands. He wasn't just a boy; he was a walking stabilizer for the universe's physics.
The Twelve Pillars and the UCC
The projection shifted, showing twelve distinct family crests orbiting the Veyron center.
"As humanity expanded, the Veyron lineage branched. The Twelve Sovereign Families emerged, each specializing in a domain of the Ribbon's potential," Vane explained.
Veyron (Vale): The Architects of Integration. They ensure that all systems can coexist.
Drakmor: Masters of Heavy Mecha Frames and brute-force reactors.
Aetherion: Pioneers of Mecha Intelligence and adaptive AI.
Valerius (Mina's House): The Guardians of Fortresses and Universal Nodes.
Solaris: Creators of Star Reactors and energy synthesis.
Forgeclast: The shipwrights who build the Gods of War.
"But power creates a vacuum," Vane continued. "The Unified Council of the Cosmos (UCC) was formed to manage those who are not born of these bloodlines. For the millions without Sovereign DNA, the UCC provides the Genetic Contract System."
The hologram displayed a tiered list of assets.
"If you are a commoner with a Level 100 Thread, the UCC grants you a Tier 200 Combat Armor. If you reach the Strand Phase, they lease you a Personal Mecha. But you never own it. The UCC maintains the 'Master Code.' They distribute mechas, ships, and destroyers to ensure the workforce remains productive and the border remains guarded, but the true technology stays behind the Family vaults."
The Silent War
"Why the secrecy, Professor?" a student asked. "Why not give everyone a War Fortress?"
Vane's expression turned grim. He waved his hand, and the bright lights of the classroom dimmed. A red-tinted map of the Universal Membrane appeared.
"Because the universe is under siege," Vane whispered. "Beyond the Core, the Unified Dimensional Corps (UDC) fights a silent war against Hostile Universes and Fragmentation Entities. The Twelve Families don't just rule; they contain. The Drakmor mechas aren't for show—they are the wall. The Valerius fortresses aren't prisons—they are the anchors that keep our reality from being sucked into the void."
He looked directly at Kaelen.
"The Veyron family has the most dangerous gift of all. Compression. You don't just build the wall; you decide how tight the bricks are packed. If a Veyron fails, the math of the universe fails."
The Realization
Kaelen leaned back, his mind racing. His accelerated brain was already processing the terrifying scale of his inheritance. The Genetic Contracts weren't just about control; they were about safety. The UCC was a leash on a species that was evolving too fast for its own good.
"They expect us to be the next generation of anchors," Mina whispered, her silver thread vibrating with a hint of fear. "But I just want to sing, Kael."
"Maybe singing is a way to stabilize the frequency," Kaelen replied, his crimson thread pulsing with a new, deeper understanding. "If the universe is held together by math, then music is just math that feels good."
Mina looked at him, surprised. "You really do see everything as a system, don't you?"
"I have to," Kaelen said, looking up at the holographic map of the war-torn border.
As the bell rang—a physical, analog sound designed to ground their hyper-active brains. Kaelen realized that his childhood was over before it had even truly begun. He was a Veyron. He was a piece of the First Scientist's code.