Valmont Series - Inheritance Code

Chapter 5.5 - Beneath The Tag

It was on him.

The AI modules in Avalon weren't designed for passive learning.

They responded to presence — micro-engagements, neural intent, even emotional drift.

If her thoughts wandered too long, her ONYX would issue a polite pulse — a silent vibration across her inner wrist. A nudge. A reminder. Focus is a choice. So is falling behind.

The pod adjusted accordingly.

Ambient lighting warmed by two degrees. The chair subtly shifted — recalibrating her posture for optimal cognitive endurance. A soft layer of scent-coded air moved through the panel above her: peppermint, sage, clean adrenaline.

This was a space meant to hold concentration. Sculpt it.

Eventually, her Core Academics session ended with a soft chime. Scrolls dimmed, and her ONYX confirmed module completion.

She should have left.

But she didn't.

Aria stayed in the pod — motionless, upright, eyes calm — as if she were still processing lesson data.

But she wasn't.

She flicked two fingers along the ONYX edge, subtle, almost thoughtless. Her feed realigned.

Luc Raveneau.

Lyric had mentioned him once — in that offhand, slightly wary tone she used for people who mattered more than they should.

Avalon legacy heir.

Origin: French.

Lineage: The Raveneau family — one of the founding political bloodlines under Dominion.

Old money. Old statecraft.

Old influence, rebranded as effortless charisma.

They weren't official rulers of France.

But rumors said no major policy passed without their fingerprints.

Not on the paper — behind it.

He didn't just belong here.

He was bred for it.

His Veritas profile hovered like a shadow. Sparse. Controlled.

Exactly what she expected.

No feed posts. No declarations. Just clean metrics — all Dominion-aligned, prestige-locked, visibility tiered so high she had to temporarily override her own ONYX's default limits just to access the summary view.

He was ranked Archon, of course.

Visibility tier: Top 5%.

Prestige volatility: low.

Link volatility: zero.

Of course it was zero.

Luc Raveneau didn't link people. He referenced them. He positioned them.

And yet—he had linked her.

No message.

No explanation.

Just a quiet system update the day after they met, as if the algorithm had decided they were aligned... without consulting either of them.

She had checked the feed more times than she cared to admit.

The link was still there.

Still active.

And now—beneath the tag—a system note had appeared: