Valmont Series - Inheritance Code

Chapter 9.2 - Project: NOVALA

Now it did.

Invitation granted. Access cleared.

The system had probably acknowledged him—as a contributor.

The Maglev Capsule arrived without sound—just a shift in air pressure and a whisper of glass adjusting.

Aiden stepped in, and the doors sealed behind him.

Within seconds, the capsule launched—cutting through Avalon's elevated stratum, the city unfolding in silent, holographic motion beyond the tinted glass.

He arrived at the VXN Annex—twelve floors below the Luxem Spire's vaulted crown.

The entry bay recognized him on approach.

The doors parted into a corridor paneled in dark mirror glass, ambiently lit by underfloor lightstrips that adjusted with each footstep.

Inside The Ledger Vault, the meeting was just coming online.

Holographic screen pulsed awake. Seating adjusted to configuration.

Aiden arrived exactly as intended—neither early nor late.

Celia was at the center—composed, controlled, a data slate flickering in front of her. Yves looked up first, gesturing casually, his signature smirk already halfway formed.

But it wasn't Yves that made Aiden pause.

Aurora Waldorf was there.

Poised beside him. Not fully relaxed—her fingers fidgeted with the side seam of her sleeve—but her posture was upright, alert, and unmistakably present.

She wore a Dior ivory knit layered over a silk blouse, the collar edged with soft embroidery in Solara's sun-gold tones.

The look was weekend-formal, curated but unforced—an angel in off-duty couture.

Her hair was loosely gathered at the nape, catching the light like something mythic.

She looked up as he entered—caught his eye, blinked once, and looked away.

Composed, yes. But not unreadable.

She wasn't expecting him.

Neither was he.

Aiden took the seat between Yves and Aurora—measured, casual, intentional.

Aurora's tension softened; her fingers stilled.

Yves glanced over, just once. A flicker of annoyance, too composed to speak.

Aiden met none of it.

He wasn't here to ask permission.

Celia finally looked up—expression unreadable, but her eyes held a flicker of something unexpected. Not alarm. Just... a recalibration.

"Aiden. Good timing."

"This is Aiden Lancaster. Echelon."

Her gaze swept across the team. "If you don't know the name, you will."

Then she tilted her head toward the other three figures now fully visible at the far side of the table.

She gestured toward the others without pause.

"Meet Élior Westvale—Immersive UI Designer, Solara. Heir to Studio Westvale."

Élior gave the smallest nod, fingers mid-sketch inside translucent haptic gloves. His gaze didn't waver.

"Caleb Tharnwell—Legal Protocols, Dominion."

The boy stood briefly. A Luminary with a diplomat's spine, already scanning Aiden with the precision of a courtroom sensor.

"Bianca Takashiro—Strategy, Plot and Combat Design. Vanguard."

Bianca simply met his gaze with the precision of someone who knew how to measure impact in a single look.

"You know Yves and Aurora."

Aurora glanced over briefly. Yves didn't.

Aiden nodded once to each of them.

So this was Novala.

And for the first time in days, something else in him stirred—

Not suspicion. Not calculation.

But strategy.

He could work with this.

Celia turned slightly toward Aiden, her tone crisp, unhurried—more a continuation than an announcement.

"We've completed rollout phase one. Like I mentioned last week—behavior mapping is done. Passive threads were seeded into AVNX. User responses tracked. Pattern clusters isolated."

She tapped the panel. A projection rose—clean, layered, elegant.

"That phase wasn't meant to build. Just to observe."

Then she turned to Aiden—direct, unflinching.

"This is phase two. The construct begins now. Novala isn't surveillance anymore. It's creation."

Celia leaned forward, her tone smooth but sharpened.

"We built this for Avalon. But if it works—if it truly works—then Avalon's the prototype... not the target audience."

Yves shifted slightly in his seat.

"You're saying we scale it?"

He didn't sound surprised. Just... interested.

Aurora spoke, voice calm, deliberate.

"It has to feel like more than a simulation. Like something people want to be part of."

She didn't elaborate. Just left the thought suspended—unfinished, but undeniable.

No one interrupted.

For a second, the room was still—hoverpanels dimmed, ONYX ambient light shifting just slightly, as if syncing to the weight of what had been said.

Eight seats. Seven voices. One construct.

And for the first time in days, Aiden felt it:

The silence wasn't isolating.

It was alignment.

Celia tapped once on the table's interface.

"Welcome to Phase Two."

Next: NOVALA Begins – They came to code a world. She arrived with its soul.