The capsule slowed without announcement. A gentle deceleration. Then a soft hiss as the doors opened to a dim, unmarked dock.
No signage. No welcoming glow. Just silence—and the suggestion of something forgotten.
As Aria stepped out of the Maglev Capsule, the air hit her like precision—crisp, clean, laced with sharpened oxygen and purpose. The cool 18-degree climate wrapped around her like armor, engineered to keep the mind alert and the body ready.
This was Vanguard Sectra—Avalon's bastion of defense, tactics, and combat arts. Every structure around her pulsed with discipline and strategy, built not for comfort, but for conquest.
Her ONYX interface shimmered once.
Then again.
A faint pulse flickered across her visual layer—coordinates. Unlabeled. Off-grid. No Lyric signature.
Just a single line of text:
— Access permitted.
No fanfare. No prompt. No protocol.
But the Maglev capsule had already brought her here.
Which meant the system had granted her entry before she knew to ask.
Or something else had.
As she crossed the threshold, her ONYX dimmed—signal lost. No pulse. No trace.
It was like stepping off the grid... and into something the system hadn't written.
The absence of surveillance felt weightless. Almost unnatural.
As if the air itself had been stripped of expectation.
The entrance wasn't marked, but she knew it when she reached it. The light shifted—fracturing into ripples along a reflective wall. A moment's pause. Then the wall dissolved, revealing the garden beyond.
She stepped through.
And the world... changed.
The Mirror Garden wasn't curated. It wasn't beautiful in the way Avalon demanded beauty. It was wilder. Untamed. Silver-edged leaves caught and fractured the light, scattering it like secrets whispered too loudly to stay hidden. Bio-reflective vines pulsed softly across the dome's ceiling, bending reality with every mirrored bloom.
No ONYX trace. No ambient surveillance.
Just silence—untouched, intentional.
The air shifted as she stepped in.
No wind. No echo. Just a stillness so complete, she could hear her own breathing.
Each inhale sounded louder than it should. Each exhale, like it carried weight.
The space didn't ask for her name.
It didn't ask for permission.
It simply... received her.
She walked until the main path thinned into wild overgrowth — a quiet edge of the Mirror Garden where the system's reach faded. Fallen leaves muffled her steps. The air was too still, like even the plants had been watching.
Then—
A faint snap underfoot. A branch, maybe. Or a warning.
She didn't flinch. Just stood there, heart still burning, pride already gone... and let it happen.
YOU ARE READING
Valmont Series - Inheritance Code
Teen FictionWhat if your perfect life was just a rehearsal? On their twelfth birthday, Aria and Aiden Lancaster wake expecting luxury, freedom, and the future they were promised. Instead, they're given an ultimatum: Leave everything behind - their friends, thei...
