Strongest Incubus System

Damon really did go train.

Not to prove anything to Ester, although part of him admitted that made the situation a little more pleasant. Nor to test the ancestral connections or check whether some new ability would appear after his recovery.

He simply wanted to hold a sword without thinking about broken ribs.

Jian Yue was already in the courtyard when he arrived. She noticed the way Damon rotated his shoulder before he even drew the sword.

”Ester cleared you?”

”Yes.”

”Combat?”

”Gradually.”

Jian Yue smiled.

”So no.”

”She said gradually, not forbidden.”

”What was her definition of gradually?”

Damon remained silent.

Jian Yue sheathed her own sword.

”Thought so.”

”Generalized betrayal.”

”I’ll get wood.”

”No need.”

”Wood.”

Damon watched her walk toward the rack where the training weapons were kept.

”All of you are becoming authoritarian.”

Xue Mei, sitting on the nearby wall, replied:

”Maybe you’re the problem.”

”Unlikely.”

Jian Yue returned and threw him a wooden sword. Damon caught it with his right hand, rotated it once and felt his shoulder follow the movement without any stiffness.

That alone was enough to improve his mood.

”Five minutes,” Jian Yue said.

”Ten.”

”Five.”

”Seven.”

”Are you negotiating medical training with me now?”

”I learned from watching Neria.”

Jian Yue thought.

”Six.”

”Deal.”

The first movements were slow. Jian Yue did not really try to hit him and Damon did not seek speed. She attacked from simple angles, giving him enough room to block, reposition and check how his body responded.

Normally.

That was exactly what Damon wanted.

On the fourth attack, Jian Yue changed the angle a little faster. Damon moved his left foot back, rotated his hip and deflected the sword.

No pain.

No heat near his heart.

No response from his abdomen.

The connection near the base of his spine also remained quiet.

Jian Yue attacked again.

Damon deflected and answered with a controlled strike that stopped a few centimeters before her shoulder.

”Better,” she said.

”I know.”

”Your right side is still slower.”

”I spent weeks barely using it.”

”So it’s slow.”

”You really like throwing my own phrases back at me.”

”Yes.”

They continued.

Only movement.

Weight.

Distance.

Breathing.

Damon’s body did what bodies normally did when they had recovered: obeyed the training he had accumulated over the years.

No ancient structure tried to improve it.

No connection searched for another route.

There was no need.

When Jian Yue tried a quick level change, Damon reacted on instinct, shifting his center of gravity backward. For an instant, he felt the connection near the base of his spine.

Only that.

A brief sensation.

It did not alter the movement.

Did not add strength.

When he recovered his balance, it disappeared.

Damon stopped.

Jian Yue did too.

”What?”

”Nothing concerning.”

”That usually means something concerning.”

”The lower connection reacted when I lost balance.”

”And did what?”

”Nothing.”

Jian Yue raised an eyebrow.

”Nothing?”

”It became available.”

She understood.

”Like the shoulder.”

”Similar.”

”Are you going to test it?”

”No.”

Jian Yue smiled.

Damon pointed the wooden sword at her.

”Don’t make that face.”

”What face?”

”Ester’s.”

”You’re surrounded by bad influences.”

”Finally we agree.”

The six minutes ended.

Damon tried to ignore it.

Jian Yue took the wooden sword from his hand.

”Done.”

”I was warming up.”

”Exactly why.”

”Five more.”

”No.”

Damon looked at Xue Mei.

”Opinion?”

”She won.”

”You weren’t even paying attention.”

”I don’t need to.”

He decided recovery had destroyed whatever respect he still possessed within Mirath.

Even so, he left the courtyard satisfied.

His body was working.

Not in the way some system considered ideal.

Not according to some lost ancestral state.

Simply working.

That night, Damon went to sleep early.

Serik kept waiting.

The next morning, Aria found him at breakfast.

”Varos asked if you intend to go.”

”Today.”

”Want company?”

”Until Vermillion.”

”He asked for you alone.”

”I know.”

Aria nodded and did not argue.

Damon finished eating before standing.

She noticed.

”You’re doing that on purpose.”

”Doing what?”

”Finishing your meal before going to deal with a problem.”

”It’s a new skill.”

”I’ll record it.”

”No.”

Shortly afterward, Damon, Aria and Jian Yue crossed through Transfer.

Vermillion remained different from when they had first entered.

Fewer agents.

Fewer blocked doors.

No alarms.

The corridors still had that unpleasant clinical appearance, but now doctors moved around without armed escorts, boxes were being removed from the old research areas and red markings identified sectors closed off by the audit.

Mereth met them near the main entrance.

”He’s waiting.”

Damon looked at her.

”How are the patients?”

”The three who depended on artificial circulation remain stable. One of them has already reduced support by eleven percent.”

”Good.”

”It’s slow.”

”Better.”

Mereth nodded.

Varos appeared shortly afterward.

He was not wearing a commander’s uniform.

His suspension of authority remained in place.

Even so, agents made room when he passed.

”You came.”

”Eventually.”

”He asked twice if you’d refused.”

”He should’ve asked three times.”

Varos did not smile.

”I don’t know what he wants.”

”Good.”

”You think that’s good?”

”I’d rather go in without someone explaining what Serik thinks.”

Varos indicated the corridor.

”He’s in the old evaluation room.”

Jian Yue crossed her arms.

”Any risk?”

”Not physical. The archive blocked all external administrative access, his marks were isolated and there are two barriers between the room and the rest of the facility.”

Damon looked at her.

”I’ll be fine.”

”I know.”

”That was easy.”

”I didn’t say I’m leaving.”

”Naturally.”

Aria also remained in the corridor.

Damon entered alone.

Serik was sitting in front of a table.

No chains.

No machines connected to his body.

His appearance remained practically the same: a man who looked a little over fifty, brown hair already marked by gray strands, posture too controlled for someone who had been held in detention for several days.

He raised his eyes.

”Damon.”

”Serik.”

The man remained silent.

Damon pulled out the chair on the other side and sat.

”You asked.”

”Yes.”

”Then talk.”

Serik observed him for several seconds.

”The council decided to end my succession.”

”I heard.”

”You agree.”

”Yes.”

The answer came without hesitation.

Serik did not seem surprised.

”You don’t even need to think?”

”I already did.”

”You don’t know all the information accumulated within me.”

”I also don’t need to know it to decide whether someone should receive you by force.”

”It wouldn’t be by force.”

Damon rested his arms on the table.

”Then who would be next?”

Serik fell silent.

”There is no candidate.”

”Exactly.”

”Someone compatible would be selected.”

”Who would accept knowing exactly what happens after twenty or thirty years?”

Serik did not answer.

Damon waited.

”We don’t know the degree of erosion in each bearer.”

”Then you can’t explain the full risk.”

”No.”

”And you call that consent?”

Serik looked away for the first time.

”That’s not why I asked you here.”

”Good.”

Silence returned.

Damon did not try to fill it.

Finally, Serik spoke:

”Vaelor believed preserving a model was insufficient.”

”I read that.”

”He wanted to preserve the capacity for change.”

”I read that too.”

”That part was correct.”

Damon nodded.

”Probably.”

”I turned it into something else.”

”Yes.”

”Risk standardization. Preventive correction. Bloodline control.”

”Yes.”

Serik looked directly at him.

”You don’t intend to make this more comfortable.”

”You asked to speak with me, not a priest.”

For an instant, something resembling humor appeared on the man’s face.

It disappeared quickly.

”You represent what Vaelor tried to preserve.”

Damon immediately replied:

”No.”

Serik went quiet.

”I’m a person carrying fragments of an ancient architecture. There are or were others. Arvell probably had dozens. Maerin had descendants. Don’t turn this into a story about me.”

”I didn’t intend to say you were unique.”

”Good.”

”But you rejected restoration.”

”Yes.”

”Even though you had access to an earlier state.”

”Because earlier doesn’t mean better.”

Serik tilted his head.

”And yet you preserved ancient structures when they appeared.”

”I didn’t preserve them. My body kept them.”

”You didn’t remove them.”

”Because they’re not causing problems.”

”Then there is value in continuity.”

Damon finally understood where he was going.

”You’re trying to compare my body to you.”

”I’m asking where the difference is.”

”Easy.”

Damon leaned forward slightly.

”My body finds an alternative and I can choose not to use it. You find a variation and decide what should happen to it.”

Serik remained still.

”I was created to preserve.”

”You were created to record and prevent the distribution of incompatible models. Then they started putting you inside people, and you started deciding what incompatible meant.”

”An oversimplification.”

”Yes. Still accurate.”

Serik looked at the table.

”If succession ends, a form of continuity ends with me.”

”Yes.”

”Thousands of years of integrated decisions.”

”The records remain.”

”Records aren’t experience.”

”No.”

”Then something will be lost.”

Damon nodded.

”Yes.”

Serik seemed to expect resistance.

None came.

”That doesn’t bother you?”

”It does.”

”But you accept it.”

”Some things end.”

Serik fell silent.

Damon continued:

”You’re confusing preserving information with preserving authority. They’re not the same thing.”

”My ability to interpret the records will also be lost.”

”Then document how you interpret them.”

”It’s not enough.”

”Probably not.”

Serik raised his eyes.

Damon shrugged.

”There is no solution where nothing is lost.”

That seemed to affect him more than the previous answers.

”That is exactly the flaw we tried to correct.”

”I know.”

”Loss of knowledge. Loss of adaptation. Loss of continuity.”

”And it ended up creating people imprisoned for one hundred and seventeen years.”

Serik did not answer.

”No one needs to deny what you preserved that was useful,” Damon continued. ”But preserving everything because some part might be useful is exactly how you ended up preserving mistakes alongside functions.”

”Do you believe the records should remain complete?”

”Yes.”

Serik became attentive.

”Even the correction decisions?”

”Especially those.”

”Why?”

”Because hiding the bad part only makes it easier for someone to repeat it later.”

Serik observed him.

”Then you would defend that before the council?”

Damon realized.

”That’s what you wanted.”

”In part.”

”You already asked.”

”Yes.”

”And they don’t trust you.”

”No.”

”With good reason.”

”Yes.”

Damon leaned back.

”I’m not going to defend the continuity of the protocol.”

”I didn’t ask.”

”I’ll defend keeping the records intact, with no hidden executable capability, and with auditable access.”

Serik slowly nodded.

”That’s enough.”

”Doesn’t seem like everything.”

A few more seconds passed.

Then Serik asked:

”Do you know my name?”

Damon frowned.

”Serik.”

”That’s the protocol’s name.”

Damon became still.

The man looked at his own hands.

”Before.”

”No.”

”Not even Varos uses it.”

”Then tell me.”

The answer took a while.

”Maelor.”

Damon kept the name.

”Thirty-two years ago, I was Maelor.”

”Was?”

Serik — Maelor — closed his hand.

”I don’t know how much of him is still here.”

Damon did not answer immediately.

”Did you agree?”

”To the succession?”

”Yes.”

”I agreed to carry Serik.”

”Did you know about the erosion?”

”I knew there would be integration. I didn’t know how much.”

”Then it wasn’t complete consent.”

”No.”

Damon observed the man in front of him.

For the first time, it did not feel like he was speaking to a millennia-old protocol.

It felt like he was speaking to someone who had spent thirty-two years not knowing exactly where his own person ended and a chain of seventeen bearers began.

”If there is no successor,” Maelor said, ”Serik ends when I die.”

”Yes.”

”And Maelor?”

Damon remained silent.

”I don’t know.”

The answer made the man raise his eyes.

Damon continued:

”Maybe too much has already changed to separate them. Maybe you’re still Maelor and Serik. Maybe you’re something else now.”

”That doesn’t help.”

”It’s the answer I have.”

Maelor exhaled.

”Did you learn that from Eir?”

”Partly.”

”She could restore me.”

”No.”

”You didn’t even ask.”

”And I won’t.”

”Why?”

”Because you just said you don’t know who you are now. I’m not going to hand that decision to someone who might choose an old state for you.”

Maelor remained still.

”If you ever want to talk to Eir, talk to her. If you want to ask what she can see, ask. But don’t automatically turn ’Maelor from thirty-two years ago’ into the correct answer.”

The man looked at his hands again.

”Then what do I do?”

Damon almost laughed.

”You really picked the wrong person for that question.”

”Even so.”

”Live.”

Maelor raised his eyes.

Damon continued simply:

”You’re not going to be transferred. No one is asking you to choose a successor. For the first time in thirty-two years, maybe you can find out what you do when you don’t need to prepare the next continuity.”

”I’m detained.”

”Relevant detail.”

A short laugh escaped Maelor.

Real.

Damon smiled.

”When the investigation ends, the council decides what happens to you. Until then, you can start with the basics.”

”Which would be?”

”Choose what name you want them to use.”

Maelor remained silent for a long time.

”I don’t know.”

”Then don’t choose today.”

Damon stood.

The conversation seemed finished.

Maelor spoke before he reached the door.

”Vaelor was wrong.”

Damon turned.

”About many things.”

”About thinking he didn’t have time to change slowly.”

Damon waited.

”He had months. Maerin needed years. To him, that made her path useless.”

”Yes.”

”I repeated that for centuries. If a solution couldn’t work fast enough to eliminate the risk, I considered it inadequate.”

Damon nodded.

”Urgency turns many things into justification.”

”You used to do that too.”

Damon went quiet.

Serik knew from the records.

And he wasn’t wrong.

”Yes.”

”Did you stop?”

”I’m trying.”

Maelor looked at him.

”Then maybe it’s possible.”

Damon opened the door.

”That seems like a better conclusion to keep than several of the previous ones.”

Outside, Jian Yue was leaning against the wall. Aria was sitting farther away with her notebook closed, a display of self-control Damon decided not to comment on. Varos remained near the other door.

He approached.

”And?”

Damon looked back.

”He wants the complete records preserved.”

”They were already planning that.”

”He wants a guarantee that the shameful part stays too.”

Varos understood.

”So they don’t clean up the history.”

”Yes.”

”And you agree?”

”As long as no one hides another executable protocol in the middle of it.”

Varos nodded.

”I’ll take it to the council.”

Damon started walking.

Varos followed for a few steps.

”Was that all?”

Damon thought about Maelor.

”No.”

Varos waited.

Damon looked at him.

”Do you know his name?”

Varos frowned.

”Serik.”

”Before that.”

Silence answered first.

”No.”

”Maelor.”

Varos stopped.

Damon kept walking.

Behind him, Varos said nothing.

Maybe that was another conversation that needed to happen without Damon.

When they returned to Mirath that afternoon, Ester asked how it had gone.

Damon handed the sword to Jian Yue before answering.

”Administrative.”

Ester raised an eyebrow.

”You crossed all the way to Vermillion for an administrative conversation?”

”Yes.”

”And no one tried to kill you?”

”No.”

”You didn’t destroy anything?”

”No.”

”You didn’t come back injured?”

”No.”

Damon took the wooden sword Jian Yue offered him.

Ester stared at him.

”That’s disturbing.”

”I thought so too.”

He entered the courtyard.

Jian Yue took position in front of him.

”Six minutes?”

Damon raised the sword.

”Ten.”

”Seven.”

”Eight.”

Jian Yue thought.

”Eight.”

”Deal.”

Damon smiled.

Maybe that was what had been changing.

Not fewer problems.

Not fewer difficult decisions.

Only the possibility of letting some things end, allowing others to remain incomplete and choosing which ones deserved attention at that moment.

Serik could end without all the knowledge ending with him.

Maelor could still not know who he was.

Neria could return to Eir without making the previous distance a mistake.

And Damon could train for eight minutes without turning it into an attempt to discover the next secret hidden inside his own body.

Jian Yue attacked.

He blocked.

No ancestral connection reacted.

Damon smiled even more.

That was perfectly fine.