"Descendant confirmed."
The words echoed throughout the chamber.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
For several seconds, the entire underground facility seemed frozen in time.
Even the unstable heartbeat of the Core felt distant.
Emily stood motionless.
Her mind completely blank.
Descendant.
The word repeated itself over and over inside her head.
Descendant.
Descendant.
Descendant.
Slowly, she looked toward the glowing sphere.
"No."
The whisper escaped before she could stop it.
The Core pulsed.
Boom.
As if answering her.
As if confirming the truth.
Alexander tightened his grip on her hand.
His warm touch grounded her immediately.
But even that wasn't enough to stop the storm raging inside her mind.
The woman from the vision.
Aurelia.
The woman who looked exactly like her.
The woman who had somehow created the Core.
The woman connected to everything.
And now—
The Core was claiming that Emily shared her blood.
Daniel was the first to break the silence.
"Well."
