Chapter Text
Prologue
Nathaniel stood ramrod-straight in the sleek echo of the AEGIS’s administrative chamber, facing the comms screen. Grandmother’s image, cool and regal, regarded him.
“Request for reassignment: denied.”
“On what grounds?” he snapped, losing his usual calm. He had already rerun every likely defection, sabotage, and containment protocol in the sim six times. “I am overqualified for integration scenarios and actively wasting my training window—”
“You are ten,” she interrupted, voice like silk laced with arsenic. “And your brother, who has proven time and again his investment in your wellbeing, has determined you require context. You will attend the public school for your listed age, in the district corresponding to your current cover identity. End of discussion.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’ll strangle him in his sleep.”
“Unwise. He’s a light sleeper,” she replied. “And more importantly, your brother is right. Learn to walk unnoticed in plain sight. It is the oldest and most vital skill we possess.” The screen winked off before he could retort.