The CORE-NET was no longer a test. It was the new bloodstream of the world.
Thought-transmissions were common now. Diplomats sent agreements without speaking. Artists shared emotions as color. Farmers predicted weather through mental pings from the sky.
Zayden Core had created more than just a network — he'd created a species upgrade.
But not everyone saw it that way.
---
The Great Council of Monarchs — Secret Conclave
Inside a candle-lit stone chamber sat twelve of the remaining old-world rulers. The King of Vathrand, Queen of Elowin, tribal warlords, temple heads — all with the same question burning in their eyes.
"Can he be stopped?"
A voice growled from the darkness.
"He doesn't command armies… yet all our people bow to his products. His network reads their minds. Their dreams."
"They call it progress," Queen Elowin said bitterly. "I call it enslavement in silk robes."
The Draconian emissary hissed from the shadows, scales glinting:
"Zayden Core is a temporal violator. If he's not stopped… time will fold in on itself."
A silent vote was cast. The result was unanimous.
"Send the Shadow Priests. Let them test his defenses."
---
Meanwhile — On a Cliffside Villa
Zayden sat with Seraphina under a blood-orange sky. The villa overlooked the glassy sea he'd desalinated and revived.
He handed her a small device — a memory link band.
"Try it."
Seraphina hesitated, then placed it on her wrist.
In an instant, she felt what Zayden felt:
His awe when he first saw medieval people taste ice cream.
His fear when the Draconians' ship appeared in orbit.
His silent, aching admiration… for her.
She gasped. "You feel this much… for me?"
Zayden smiled gently.
"You're not a page in my story, Red. You're one of the pens I write it with."
Her eyes welled up. But she looked away, guilt biting her heart.
He trusts me too much.
---
Elsewhere — Lyra
Watching from a distance through a telescopic drone mirror, Lyra clenched her fists. She hadn't seen Zayden look at her like that in months.
Her mind raced:
She's dangerous. I don't care how gorgeous she is — I'll win him back.
She messaged M.A.I.A. through her private access channel.
"Track Seraphina. All behavior anomalies. Send to me only."
M.A.I.A. hesitated, then responded:
"That's against Zayden's core protocol."
Lyra's reply was cold.
"He didn't program me. He fell for me. I have a right to protect that."
---
Final Scene — Late Night at the Enterprise Tower
Zayden stood on the balcony of his ever-expanding tower. Below, medieval cities were lit by future-lamps. Flying carriages hovered silently. People danced to beats he brought from a time not yet born.
But inside Zayden… something shifted.
A flicker of loneliness.
He looked up at the stars.
"Is this really peace? Or just… beautiful silence before a war?"
M.A.I.A. responded in his mind.
"Peace is never the end. It's the illusion between conflicts."
A small smile returned to Zayden's face.
"Then I guess I'll need stronger illusions."
---
End of Chapter 24