Chapter 15: The Forbidden Interface
The descent into the Seraphim Vault was conducted in silence.
The ship Veldaric piloted cut through the dark layers of orbital debris like a ghost—its exterior reflecting no light, its engines whisper-quiet. Below them, the ruin of a once-forbidden sanctuary slowly revealed itself: twisted alloys, dead satellite rings, monolithic towers frozen mid-collapse, all locked in geosynchronous orbit like a tomb.
Julien pressed his forehead to the glass, heart pounding.
"I can feel it," he murmured.
"So can I," Veldaric said grimly.
The entry to the inner sanctum required a genetic scan. The door recognized Julien instantly. Not as Julien Deton—but as Aureline.
The vault lit up the moment his boot touched the threshold.
Runes flared along the walls. Ancient code unraveled from the air itself. And in the center of the chamber, protected by a shimmer-field of golden containment, floated the Interface—a skeletal, partially dismantled mecha cockpit humming with restrained power. The veins of the metal glowed with a light that pulsed in rhythm with Julien's heart.
He stepped toward it, dazed.
"She called this The Throne," he whispered.
Veldaric stayed close, one hand near his weapon, the other gripping a data limiter band.
"She tried to build a sentient warframe that bonded to a bloodline," he said. "They said it drove her mad."
"No," Julien said, barely hearing him. "It made her divine."
The Interface thrummed. It responded not to sound, but to will.
And Julien's soul had begun to unravel.
Symbols burst from his fingertips like light bleeding from a wound. The same voice—Aureline—rose in his ears, no longer whispering, but singing in command code. The machine answered.
The containment field cracked.
"Julien, stop!" Veldaric barked, moving forward.
But Julien couldn't stop. His body arched, fire lashing through his veins, Cipher blooming along his skin like a second skeleton. Glyphs laced over his throat, across his chest. His feet lifted from the ground.
> ACCESSING SOUL-SPOOL: AURELINE-ROOT
MEMORY UNLOCK: 37%
SYNC INITIATED…
Then came the scream.
Julien's—high, hoarse, and full of pain. His body bent back too far. Bones glowed beneath flesh.
The vault began to collapse inward.
Veldaric moved with terrifying speed. He flung a limiter band around Julien's neck. Then another across his wrists. He pressed his palm to the boy's chest and activated the suppressant glyph.
"I said enough!" the marshal roared.
The light shattered,from his vision.
Julien crashed to the ground, gasping—barely conscious, skin steaming. Veldaric dropped beside him, gathering his burning body in his arms.
Seeing Julian like this Valdaric feel broken , like he is slipping from his hands his reach , and he hates the thought of it . His anger showed on his face clearly.
"Next time," he growled, holding Julien against his chest, "you don't walk into a throne without me."
Julien, dazed, whispered against his collar.
"I didn't walk in,"
he said. "She called me home."