Beth Riley had always been ambitious. Too ambitious. That was the problem. She never allowed others to be above her and always did what she could to drag those on top down so she could crawl her way up the ladder.
Damian had seen it the moment she looked at him with suspicion. It wasn't just the fact that "Alex Smith" had suddenly become competent; it was more that he had become better than her. And Beth Riley couldn't tolerate being beneath someone else, especially someone who she deemed beneath her.
Now, in the sterile white glow of the lab, she sat at her workstation, her fingers gliding across the keyboard, her face locked in a deep frown. She had been running checks, reviewing files, and cross-referencing every experiment "Alex" had worked on.
She wasn't searching for errors. She was searching for him.
Damian didn't make mistakes, but Beth was looking for inconsistencies that shouldn't exist. The little things that would expose him as something other than the man he was pretending to be and she was getting close.
It was time to remove her.
Damian approached her station, his expression carefully neutral. A data tablet rested in his hands, filled with fabricated results for the latest Ray Sphere energy tests. "Beth," he said, his voice smooth and businesslike.
Beth didn't turn around immediately. Instead, she took her time, finishing whatever she was typing before finally acknowledging him. When she looked up, her eyes were sharp and cold. "Yes?"
"You've been running independent checks on my work," Damian said flatly, placing the tablet on her desk. "That's unnecessary."
Beth scoffed, leaning back in her chair. "I like to be thorough," she said. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
Damian smiled. "Not at all. But I have a project that needs your expertise. Something only you can handle."
He saw the flicker of suspicion in her eyes, but her ego wouldn't allow her to back down.
"What kind of project?" she asked.
"Anomaly tracking," Damian said smoothly. "We're running new simulations on how the Ray Sphere interacts with unstable energy sources. I need someone experienced to run the calibrations. That means you."
Beth narrowed her eyes. "And why not Anabella?"
"Because you're better than Anabella."
That did it. The irritation in Beth's expression flickered into something else—pride. No matter how much she despised Damian, she still wanted to be seen as superior.
"Fine," she said, standing up. "Show me what needs to be done."
The lab had a containment chamber—a sealed, radiation-shielded room where they stored RFE-charged debris for testing. It was soundproof. Isolated. Once locked, no one could enter or leave without proper authorization.
Beth followed him inside, glancing around at the glowing fragments of rock suspended in containment fields. "This is the test site?" she asked, unimpressed.
"Yes," Damian said. "We need to measure energy stability in controlled environments. I need you to check the containment logs."
Beth sighed, moving toward the nearest console. "Alright, let's get this over wi—"
He struck.
Before she could finish her sentence, Damian's biomass shot forward like a spear, a black tendril piercing the base of her skull before she could even scream. Her body convulsed, her fingers twitching as her consciousness shattered.
Her memories flooded into him.
Her life experience with friends and family.
All the knowledge she had learned.
Suspicion. Doubt about Alex Smith.
Her backup plan. She had been compiling inconsistencies in a hidden file.
A message to Anabella. A warning that something was wrong.
She had been right to be afraid.
Beth's body merged into the biomass spear, dissolving into Damian's form. Her mind, her skills, her essence; they were all his now.
And now, for the final step.
Within seconds, a blob of biomass separated from Damian, and an Infiltrator formed in Beth's place. A perfect replica of Beth Riley. Same sharp features, same piercing eyes—but now completely under Damian's control.
"You understand your orders?" Damian asked.
The new Beth smiled—a flawless imitation of the real one. "Of course," she said. "Continue as normal. Keep Kessler and the First Sons from digging deeper. And when you leave… stay behind and feed information to you. However, if need be sacrifice myself to facilitate your escape."
Damian nodded. It was perfect.
He returned to the computer that Beth was using and began accessing all her files. Finding her hidden report Damian began wiping every trace of Beth's private research. Her suspicions, her logs, her side project that she wished to propose—all gone.
The last loose end was tied.
As Damian and the new Beth left the containment chamber, the lab's security alarms suddenly blared to life.
[Security Lockdown Initiated.]
[Unauthorized breach detected in Sublevel 3.]
Damian immediately played his part, looking around in confusion as the lab was thrown into chaos. Scientists froze at their workstations, guards rushed toward the security monitors, and the intercom crackled with urgency.
"Dammit," one of the senior researchers muttered. "What the hell is going on now?"
This was probably Kessler. He was creating a fake security breach. A test to see how people would react.
Damian knew this was his moment to shine—or to fall.
He turned to Beth. "Start securing the data logs," he ordered. "We can't afford to lose any records if this breach spreads."
Beth nodded and hurried to a terminal. Anabella hesitated, glancing between them. "What if the breach gets in here?"
"It won't so long as we do our jobs," Damian said. "Focus on the work."
Kessler was watching. Somewhere, he was studying how people reacted to pressure, and how they handled the unknown.
And Damian would make damn sure he passed the test.
Half an hour later, the alarms stopped. The lockdown was lifted.
Then, a voice rang out over the intercom: "Alex Smith, report to the executive lab. Immediately."
Damian felt a slow grin spread across his face.
It was time to meet Kessler again.
And this time, he would have to be even more careful.