Part 1 – Take Me to Your Leader
The final projection dimmed, and the chamber lights returned to their calibrated spectrum. Arika remained standing a moment longer, her palm resting against the edge of the table as the last combat frame dissolved from the air between them.
"Engagement concluded at 04:32 PM," she said. "Primary bioform destabilized through combined thermal and kinetic suppression. Medical bay perimeter restored. Casualty count: one confirmed deceased. One critical stabilized. Structural damage confined to Level Four east wing."
Arika, beneath her navy-blue jumpsuit uniform, drew her hand back and folded it behind her. "Containment achieved. Residual material secured under Dr. Mintra's custody."
Silence settled across the chamber.
King Kadavar sat at the far end of the oval meeting hall, facing the girl who stood before the holographic projection at the center of the round table. His posture remained grounded, hands resting on the table's surface. Light from the high windows caught the etched lines of the ceremonial blade at his side. He studied Arika without movement.
To his right, High Commander Suthep sat upright, his left hand brushing lightly against his moustache as though weighing whether to speak. His eyes shifted sharply from left to right, searching for the precise moment to interject.
To the King's left, Varak Hemrit leaned slightly inward, his gaze moving back and forth between Kadavar and Suthep, ready to cut in at the slightest signal. Quiet calculation lingered in his posture.
Dr. Mintra's expression remained composed, her eyes steady.
Morren observed the entire chamber from her diagonal seat. Her fingers rested lightly against the table's surface, as if sensing the faint vibration that kept the large circular structure suspended at its preset height without visible mechanical support. When she finally spoke, her tone carried controlled weight.
"How did the medical bay fail to contain the experiment that led to the death of one of its students? My vouched young beloved from the orphanage, 'Tang-mo', to meet her demise far before her hair had turned grey."
Her gaze sharpened as it settled on Dr. Mintra, the demand unmistakable.
"Dr. Mintra, please allow me to answer."
Donghan, dressed in a white gown over her light-blue medical bay jumpsuit, clasped her report slate tightly in both hands. She leaned slightly inward toward Dr. Mintra, who sat diagonally across from her. As if expecting the reaction, Dr. Mintra turned at once, met Donghan's eyes, and gave a small nod accompanied by her usual gentle smile.
Arika returned to her seat, positioned diagonally behind High Commander Suthep.
Donghan rose. She swiped her hand across the surface of the report slate with her pen marker, then clicked the lower tip. A projection expanded at the center of the floating round table.
"The organism entered dormancy after fluoroantimonic acid was applied during experimentation in the underground lab sector. Outer tissue desiccated. Surface calcified. It was assumed inert. In simple terms, we believed it was deceased. Therefore, transfer to the X-ray suite was authorized under controlled parameters. Radiation exposure triggered internal cellular reactivation. Subsequent reproduction correlated with ambient heat absorption. Growth rate accelerated under elevated corridor temperatures."
"Excuse me, Miss. May I ask, what is fluoroantimonic acid?" Varak said, raising his right hand politely.
"Yes, High Counsel Varak. It is the strongest known acidic substance. Only a very limited quantity can be procured, and its use is strictly restricted under Dr. Mintra's supervision."
Donghan answered, her voice strained, as if dried by nerves. She glanced toward the High Counsel, searching his expression for further objection before giving a small nod and continuing.
"And I reckon the part about the X-ray test that caused the young girl to fall… you failed to mention that, young lady?" Morren fired back, her voice rising sharply.
"Was it because Dr. Mintra failed to assess the full operational risk, or was it yet another consequence of your inadequate budget allocation, Dr. Mintra?" Morren's accusations came without pause, her glare fixed on the doctor seated diagonally across from her.
"Will you not…" Dr. Mintra began, but the King cut in before she could respond.
"Silence. Let the girl finish her report first. You will have your turn later."
Donghan's face drained of color. Her hands trembled around the report slate. She tried to steady her breath and continue, but before she could form the next sentence, another voice entered the chamber, calm and unhurried.
Lina spoke before anyone could silence her.
"Firewall integrity on Medical Bay Channel Three experienced a layered intrusion during the first surge," she said. "The signal source was masked through internal routing. The entry vector remains unresolved. The timestamp overlaps with the early expansion phase."
She remained half-seated behind Dr. Mintra. She neither stood nor raised her hand. Her legs, clad in loosely tied boots and black jeans, hung over the left armrest, and her head, styled in twin ponytails that day, rested casually above the right armrest.
Donghan shot her a frantic glare, pointing sharply at her own legs before lifting her index finger upward, signaling Lina to stand while addressing the chamber. Lina misread the gesture entirely. She gave a slight nod and a small grin, assuming Donghan was expressing gratitude for the timely intervention. In response, she raised her left hand with all five fingers spread horizontally and moved it up and down, almost as if keeping rhythm to the loud nu-metal track playing through the single earpiece she still had clanging in her right ear.
She continued smiling. "Data packet injection occurred across three nodes. Access logs indicate an internal clearance signature. The authentication path was corrupted during retrieval."
"Miss Lina, please observe decorum before the High Court," Wila interjected.
"It is quite all right, Miss Wila," the King replied calmly. "But young Lina, would you care to help these old bones understand what you are implying?"
"Your Majesty, it's an honor to be addressed directly," Lina said brightly. "To put it simply, OUR MEDICAL BAY WAS HACKED BY SOMEONE OPERATING FROM WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO OUR SETTLEMENT."
She rose briefly as she raised her voice for emphasis, then dropped back into her seat, breathing hard. One leg draped over the armrest, her posture almost resembling someone settling into nap rather than addressing the chamber.
Silence held for a measured span.
Morren stood up, glaring manically at Dr.Mintra, her fully black dress made her white pale face and long curly black hair stood out extremely frightful.
"Tangmo," she said, this time using the name without ceremony. "Entered the medical bay alive. Under supervision. Under containment protocol. Under this institution's assurance of safety."
Her fingers pressed flat against the table's surface.
"She left it on a stretcher."
Her gaze did not leave Dr. Mintra.
"If dormancy was assumed incorrectly, if transfer authorization was premature, then the failure is procedural. And procedure has oversight."
A pause.
"I request a formal review of laboratory command authority."
The words landed carefully placed, not shouted.
Donghan swallowed.
"If I may continue, Your Majesty."
The King inclined his head once.
Donghan expanded the projection. A secondary layer of medical readings surfaced above the table.
"Student Tangmo's vital collapse did not align fully with expected corrosive trauma from secondary exposure," she said, forcing her voice steady. "There were irregular neural spikes preceding systemic failure. The interval between exposure and arrest exceeded predicted thresholds."
She shifted to another frame.
"Additionally, dermal markers indicate localized trauma inconsistent with environmental contact alone," Donghan said, forcing each word through steady breath. She adjusted the projection, magnifying a faint discoloration along the posterior shoulder. "There is a puncture trace here. The surrounding tissue shows chemical reactivity prior to corridor exposure."
Another layer of data surfaced, biochemical readouts scrolling beside the image.
"Blood analysis also detected foreign compounds already present in her system before the containment breach. Concentration levels suggest deliberate administration rather than incidental contamination."
The chamber grew still.
"I cannot confirm external interference," Donghan added carefully. "However, the sequence contains anomalies that precede the laboratory event itself."
Varak's posture changed by a fraction.
Morren's jaw tightened. "Young girl, are you implying that Tang-Mo sabotaged the medical bay?" She rose from her seat, her glare fixed on Donghan.
Dr. Mintra stood as well. "Morren, my student stated no such claim. Unless you are choosing to interpret it that way."
"Silence, Morren." The King's voice cut cleanly through the chamber. "You have always carried yourself with composure. I understand that the death of a vouched student weighs heavily on you. Remain steady." His gaze shifted briefly between them. "I concur with Dr. Mintra. Donghan made no explicit accusation of sabotage. The anomaly may indicate the involvement of another party entirely."
King Kadavar's eyes moved once toward Lina.
"A third hand," he said evenly.
Lina gave a small thumbs-up from her reclined position.
"Tsk… King Kadavar, I have always been your loyal subject. Please, I beg you, do not let her death go unanswered." Morren raised her white handkerchief to her eyes, dabbing away tears as she slowly lowered herself back into her seat.
"It will not," the King replied. He glanced toward Varak and Suthep, receiving slight nods from both before returning his gaze to the center of the table.
"Medical Bay Autonomous system is to be isolated," he said. "All laboratory activity on-ground-and-an-underground sector are suspended pending audit."
His attention moved to Arika.
"Commander Arika."
She rose at once.
"You will conduct a direct reconnaissance of the biolab sector and its auxiliary nodes. You are authorized to secure all access corridors and detain any personnel interfering with investigation."
A slight pause.
"If destabilizing elements are confirmed, neutralize them."
Arika's answer came without delay.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"Lina, wake up. Lina, tsk…"
Donghan, still drained from the exhausting meeting, finally noticed that Lina had slumped sideways in her chair. The snore-prevention nose stop was already clipped onto her nose, and she had fallen asleep without the slightest concern.
Donghan quietly stepped behind Dr. Mintra and clamped a hand over Lina's mouth, pulling out the snore stopper before pinching her nose firmly enough to force her upright just as Wila cut in.
"All raised."
Lina straightened involuntarily. "Yes, raised," she muttered.
Chairs realigned toward the round table with a muted mechanical glide.
Each member brought both hands forward to chest height first. Palms faced upward, fingers together, as though supporting an unseen weight resting between them.
On the silent cue, their hands rose slowly from chest to eye level, but not high above the head, just elevated enough to suggest lift rather than praise. Wrists remained steady. Fingers extended but not rigid.
The motion was controlled, deliberate. As if they were feeling for resistance in the air itself.
"Hail to the Anti-Gravity."
At the final word, the palms rotated outward, turning from upward support to open release. The hands held suspended in that position for a measured breath, as though the invisible mass had been set free.
Then both arms lowered in unison, returning to their sides without flourish.
Only synchronized precision was displayed, all but one.
Lina, who followed the first half correctly, then let her palms drift apart to stifle a yawn.
"Hail to the Anti-Gravity."
A low harmonic tone resonated beneath the chamber floor. The circular platform at the center of the room descended in a controlled vertical glide. Light bands along its perimeter contracted inward before extinguishing. The floating surface lowered through the seam beneath it, and the surrounding floor plates shifted with precise alignment, closing flush without visible joint.
The holographic emitters retracted into concealed slots.
Within seconds, the chamber no longer resembled a war room.
It was once again the King's office.
King Kadavar remained seated.
"The matter is not concluded," he said quietly. "We will reconvene when findings are secured."
The room returned to calibrated silence.