The main gate of Rian’s apartment building opened slowly, revealing a black luxury sedan that stood in stark contrast to the dull buildings of Shoreditch. The back door opened automatically, welcoming Rian into a silence that felt heavier than usual. He climbed in, feeling the cold leather seat embrace his still-trembling body. Behind the tinted glass, the London night moved like a familiar nightmare. Streetlights chased one another, shadows twisted between old buildings, but to Rian, everything was data. Numbers. Potential threats. No longer a view.The Aura-Link system whispered softly in his mind, mapping the optimal route to the location Victoria had sent. It wasn't the quickest way, but it was definitely the safest. I made sure to avoid deserted roads and areas without any security cameras. I had to carefully think through every single turn and intersection. Yet, beneath those perfect calculations, his mind rebelled. The voices of Marcus and his "mother" buzzed in turns, binding h

Victoria looked at Rian in an unusual way. It wasn't the gaze of someone lost in thought, but rather the look of someone weighing exactly how far they were willing to go. There was something behind that silence, a decision being formed in a place no one else could see.Then she walked. Slowly, without haste, toward a wall panel on the side of the laboratory. Her finger touched the surface gently, and the air in front of her seemed to fracture.A holographic projection expanded in every direction like a flower forced to bloom in a single breath. Technical schematics stacked upon one another, winding neural network diagrams filled the space between them, and logos from a long-forgotten era drifted at the edges like the remnants of a dream that hadn't fully faded."My father... his full name was Professor Alistair Sterling."The Aura-Link flared at the edge of Rian's vision. Data appeared silently, overlaying the real world with a layer of information only he could read.[Professor Alist

Victoria stared at him, her eyes sharp. "You're pale."Rian couldn't speak. His feet felt as if they were frozen to the floor. On one side, there was Victoria, whose world had just shattered before her very eyes. Her stoic face was now fragile, like cracks in an ice mirror. On the other side, there was his mother, whose last memories could slowly fade away, until one day Rian wouldn't remember what he had once longed for.The Aura-Link system pulsed in his eyes, sending waves of information. She's already fragile. Proceed. Exploit."Rian? What's wrong?" Victoria stepped closer, a wary expression eroding the fragility on her face. "Is this about Marcus? Or is there something else you're hiding?"Rian found himself breathing too fast. His lungs felt tight. He had to lie. He had to choose the right words, very carefully, so that his lie would sound like an uncomfortable truth. Something technical, something painful, something that would trigger Victoria's protective instincts.Victoria r

Rian saw the data behind his eyes, a bright green line of light guiding him toward the most effective lie. He needed a reason. A motivation. Something to make her believe that everything her father had done was for her sake."He said your father..." Rian paused, his voice faltering. He swallowed hard, forcing tears to gather at the edges of his eyes. The guilt was real. The tears were performance. "He said your father was trying to protect something. Something precious. And that you were... part of it. He said this secret would destroy you if you never learned the truth."Victoria went still. Her eyes widened. Shock, fear, and something far deeper churned behind them."What secret?" she whispered. "What has my father been hiding from me?"Rian knew. This was the bait. This was the open door. All he had to do was push."He said, to protect you, to protect his legacy, he hid the final key somewhere no one would ever think to look," Rian said, leaning in slightly, his voice dropping to a

"It's beautiful," Rian murmured, mostly to himself. But what good is beautiful if it's locked?"He designed it to be impenetrable," Victoria said. "Even I couldn't open it. I tried everything. Jewelers, safecrackers, even some of the best quantum engineers at Sterling Tech. No one could find a way in without destroying it."Rian felt a subtle pulse from the Aura-Link. It wasn't a command, not an alert, but a strange resonance. He focused his vision, trying to push past the surface. He needed to see into the mechanism. Not to hack it, but to read it. Like reading an ancient scroll.[Initiating X-RAY SCAN: MECHANICAL COMPONENTS. ETA: 0.05 seconds.]The world around him blurred, then resolved into a shimmering, wireframe overlay on the watch. He observed layers of complex levers, springs, and gears that interlocked with purposeful, flawless accuracy. Every particle and every tiny flaw was mapped by the Aura-Link. He looked for anything out of place as he scrolled through the layers of th