"How do you stop it?"
Kylus laughed once, bitter.
"You don't."
He reached to his belt and pulled out another capsule, holding it between two fingers.
"Helix-9," he said. "Temporary suppression. Forces the compound into a dormant phase. Scrambles its current pattern long enough for your body to breathe."
"How long?" Xavier asked.
"A month," Kylus replied. "Sometimes more."
His gaze hardened.
"But now… it only lasts weeks at a time."
He looked at Lyra again, something unsettled flickering across his face.
"Hers didn't even last an hour."
Requiem leaned closer. "If it's adapting that fast…"
"It means it's stronger in her," Kylus finished. "Or it's evolved differently."
Xavier didn't look away from Lyra.
"And have you been looking for a cure?"
"For ten years," Kylus said. "Every lab that wouldn't report me. Every underground biotech surgeon who didn't ask questions."
"And?"
