Chapter 48 - The Golden Puppeteer
They breached the heavy blast doors of the Central Core Sanctum to find a scene of horrific majesty.
The amniotic tank was shattered, shards of quartz glass littering the floor amidst pools of cooling synthetic fluid. Standing in the center of the circular dais was Dr. Cassian Cross, but he was no longer alone on the platform.
Beside him stood Marcos.
The boy was clothed in a dark bio-synthetic exoskeleton, his eyes completely subsumed by pure, blinding computational gold. Fine veins of light pulsed across his neck, cheeks, and fingers. He stood motionless, his expression vacant, devoid of any human emotion.
"You're too late, Lucía," Cassian said, a maniacal grin stretching his face as he rested a hand on Marcos’s shoulder. "The physical breach forced me to initiate the final overwrite. Phase Three: Total Neural Subjugation. He is no longer your son. He is Aegis Prime."
"Marcos!" Lucía cried out, taking a step forward, but Cassian raised his hand.
Marcos moved with terrifying, inhuman speed. He raised his right arm, and an invisible kinetic wave blasted across the room, striking Lucía’s weapon and wrenching it from her grip, pinning her against the bulkhead with an overwhelming atmospheric pressure.
"Marcos, stop!" Mateo screamed, stepping directly into the path of his twin. "Look at me! It’s Mateo!"
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Marcos’s head tilted with the mechanical precision of a machine. He raised his other hand, aiming a shimmering concussive charge directly at Mateo's chest.
"Intruder classified: Biological impediment," Marcos spoke, his voice completely flat, devoid of its childish warmth, laced with the metallic resonance of the dreadnought's core. "Termination protocol engaged."
